The Rough Bounds

Here's a snap showing some of the territory, up in Knoydart, which we covered at this time last year ...

... and gives me a chance to post Alec Finlay's poem about 'The Rough Bounds ' :


the western seaboard

Skye’s preeminent peaks are hidden from view
but north, south and east
còmhlan bheanntan, the company of mountains
sweeps across the mainland, from Knoydart
to Morar, Arisaig, Ardnamurchan & the Isle of Mull

imagine you could see through Beinn a' Chapuill’s ridge
to the dùns of Troddan, Grugaig & Telve,
the great ruined brochs crowning Gleann Beag
      
there are three peaks west of Beinn a' Chapuill
two form Beinn Sgritheall,
the third, Beinn na h-Eaglaise
south are the eminences of Beinn na Caillich
the arrowhead of Ladhar-Bheinn
& Stob a' Chearcaill

due west of the dùn is Meall Buidhe,
the yellow knoll,
and peeping over the skyline
above the port of Mallaig,
the crest of Mèith-Bheinn
      
sunk north of this peak
is Loch Morar's deepest freshwater

   deeper than
       the sea
       as deep
   as the ocean

south of Knoydart shine the silica-white sands
of Morar & Arisaig, which squeak as they sing,
looking south now, beyond Loch Ailort,
let your eyes settle on the widely-spaced summits
   that crown Rois-Bheinn 

this entire rugged skyline of Knoydart, Morar & Arisaig
is known in Gaelic as Na Garbh Chrìochan
   The Rough Bounds
      
a name faithful to a region
devoted to the Jacobite cause
which was terribly cleared

a clear day's panorama over Ardnamurchan
reaches south to the caldera of Mull’s great mountains
the greatest, Beinn Mhòr, spewed out the lava
which froze in the basalt columns of Staffa & Ulva

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Alec Finlay (1966 - )

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