href="#ulink_c99ad905-06a2-53c1-8ef5-aab3657729ac">Plate 12 shows what seems to be a large cut in the rounded flank of The Shee. More prosaically than its name implies, the Fenian-sized sword blow of Ciste Buille a’ Chlaidheimh has actually been caused by an igneous dyke intruding into the surrounding quartzite and leading to a landslip at the junction between the two rock types after the retreat of glaciers at the end of the ice age. It is a pity that Gillies remains silent about the story that must surely lie behind the massive sword blow.
The Lay of Fraoch – Laoidh Fhraoich
Unlike the exploits of Fionn and the Fianna, the ballads celebrating them, can be dated. Those which circulated orally in the Highlands after 1600, were in most cases, composed between the 12th and 16th centuries (Meek 1991). Most Gaelic ballads of that period are linked with Fianlore. This canon of work is characterised by outdoor adventures, an engagement of story with landscape and the use of local place-names in narrative action.
The Lay of Fraoch, where Fraoch means heather, but is also the name of the hero involved, involves the healing properties of rowanberries, gathered from a heathery island in a loch. In the 18th century the legend was associated with an island in (plate 13) two miles west of Amulree (NN864376) in Perthshire. It is believed that, before it was named after Fraoch, who came from Connacht in Ireland, the loch was called after the Glen where it lies, Glen Quaich - Gleann Cuaich (NN797396), which runs west from Amulree. Both names were known in the 18th century. It is thought that the Lay of Fraoch was an early Irish legend, probably composed in Roscommon (ibid). It was transferred to this location in the Perthshire Highlands, because it was similar enough topographically to be able to support the storyline, or the landscape included place-names comparable to those found in the original setting. In summary, the tale is as follows.
Plate 13: Loch Freuchie - Loch Fraochaidh and the island where Fraoch gathered rowan berries, Amulree, Aberfeldy, Perthshire.
Fraoch mac Fhiodhaigh falls in love with the Fionnabhair, the daughter of Queen Maeve of Connacht. Maeve is jealous and feigns an illness. It can only be remedied with rowanberries gathered from an island in a loch. Unfortunately, a monster lurks in the water, protecting the medicine tree. Maeve commands Fraoch to fetch berries by swimming to the island. On his return, Maeve is not content with what our hero has gathered and orders him back to fetch an entire branch plucked from the root. On his second visit to the island and as he tries to sever the rowan branch, Fraoch awakens the water-monster. He is attacked and killed after the beast has first bitten off his hand. In the legend, which is recorded in the Book of the Dean of Lismore, Fraoch’s body is buried at Càrn Fhraoich – Fraoch’s Cairn. Other place-names cited are Cluain Fhraoich - Fraoch’s Meadow – whence his body was borne on a bier, Cruachan, Loch Maighe and Càrn Laimhe - Cairn of the Hand. The latter commemorating a detail of Fraoch’s luckless demise. Unfortunately, none of these places-names can be found on the 1:25000 OS map of Loch Freuchie.
Important points of reference in the story cannot be traced, perhaps because many orally transmitted place-names were lost from the area, when its population was cleared between 1830 and 1835, well before OS mapping commenced in the late 19th century. The loch does have an island (NN362376) 30 metres from its shore labelled ‘Crannog’, where rowan trees could have grown in the past. At the time of writing it supports a stand of larch. If such a species can grow in these conditions, then so could rowan trees. Although there are no place-names containing fraoch in the area mapped by OS, heather moorland is widespread in the hinterland. This may have been enough to make the actual landscape serve as a theatrical backdrop to the recitation or singing of the story. By relocating an Irish ballad to a Scottish setting to support its performance, the incoming narrative could be grounded in the indigenous landscape and so would lend additional poignance to the words for a local audience (Meek 1998). The legend was also transferred to islands on Loch a’ Lathaich – Loch of the Mire in the Ross of Mull and to Fraoch Eilean – Heather Island, near Kilchurn – Cill Chùirn, on Loch Awe. Its inclusion in the Book of the Dean of Lismore implies that such relocations in Scotland happened in the 16th century (Meek 1991).
About a quarter of a mile to the southeast of the crannog in Loch Freuchie there was an old ruin on a hillock, which may have been the seat of Maeve and the storytelling bard (Ross 1939). Curiously, there is a hillock 800m distant called Tom Òrain – Song Hillock (NN865367) from which the island in the loch can be seen, as plainly as in any theatrical backdrop. Does this mark the spot where Laoidh Fhraoich was performed for the multitude of the glen? Just over a mile to the east of the loch there is another hillock called Tom an Dannsaidh (NN918383), where dances may have taken place. These two small mounds suggest that song and dance must have been outdoor entertainments in Gleann Cuaich. The wider landscape may have provided a continuous canvas for the telling and retelling of stories.
The Lay of Diarmaid – Laoidh Dhiarmaid
The Lay of Diarmaid - Laoidh Dhiarmaid, like the Lay of Fraoch has Irish links. These can be traced to Ben Bulben in Sligo (Irish: Binn Ghulbain – Snoutlike Mountain). The ballad has also been located, and indeed perhaps originated in Scotland (Meek 1991). Ben Gulabin - Beinn Ghulbainn (NO102722) in Perthshire’s Glen Shee - Gleann Sìodh, is as snout-shaped (plate 14) as Ben Bulben. The distinctive profile of these hills is an exaggerated symbol of the long lumpy profile of the wild boar’s proboscis, who plays a key part in the ballad. The story, another love triangle, is as follows.
Plate 14: Ben Gulabin - Beinn Ghulbainn, Glen Shee, Perthshire.
Diarmaid Ó Duibhne, one of the Fianna, elopes with Fionn’s unloving wife Gràinne. She is the daughter of Cormac mac Airt, High King of Ireland. The two men appear reconciled, but Fionn has never completely forgiven his cousin. The treacherous Fionn sends Diarmaid on a hunt to slay the immortal boar of Beinn Ghulbainn, expecting his friend to be killed in the endeavour. The noise of the clamorous warriors awakens the beast of legend. Diarmaid attacks, and after the boar has broken his spear shaft three times, he eventually succeeds in slaying the brute with an ancient and trusty blade. Fionn, who had thought Diarmaid would be killed by the animal, now tells him to pace out its length from snout to tail. It is sixteen feet long. Fionn asks him to repeat the measurement from tail to snout, against the grain as it were. Whereupon a sharp bristle from the boar’s pelt pricks Diarmaid as he paces out the length of the beast again. Unfortunately, he has an ‘Achilles heel’ in the form of a mole on the sole of his foot and is poisoned by a bristle from the dead boar. As Diarmaid dies, Fionn asks what might make him feel better. Diarmaid replies; ‘A drink of water from your own hands’. This would have been a life-saving draught from Fionn’s healing cup. Fionn fetches water from a well, but as he returns he thinks jealously about Gràinne and begins to spill the healing draught. Then guilty thoughts return as he reflects on his mortally wounded old friend. He continues his mercy mission. Then his thoughts return to Grainne and he spills yet more of the precious panacea. Sadly, Fionn has delayed too long and Diarmaid expires.
The ballad spread across the Highlands in the 18th and 19th centuries, which accounts for its many versions and their different, staged locations. There is a Ben Gullipen 7km north east of Aberfoyle in the Trossachs (NH894176) and a Beinn Ghuilbin 8km north of Aviemore in the Cairngorms. It is thought that Beinn Tianavaig (NG512410), 4km south east of Portree, though it never changed its name permanently to Beinn Ghulbainn, provided yet another setting for the tale (Meek 1991). All three hills are certainly snout-shaped. The story has been sited in Glen Elg, Wester Ross and near Ben Loyal (NC578488 & plate 56) in Sutherland, where Diarmid’s Grave - Uaigh Dhiarmaid (NC583515) can be located.
