View from the Viewpoint. Rainbow over Brunachan. Cladh Ulleim
Less than a mile from Bohuntinville, between the road and the river is “Sron Dubh an t-Sithein” - Black promontory of the fairy dwellings. Fairies were supposed to live here and to revel and dance on the green swards at certain times. Just a few yards away on the other side of the road and opposite Cranachan farm which is on the other side of the river stands a block of sandstone known as the Mass stone. Behind Cranachan, Gleann Glas Dhoire and Gleann a’ Bhòcain stretch away into the distance. These remote glens were once thickly populated as evidenced by the many ruins of houses and ‘lazy beds’ still to be seen. It is said that the Beatons left for Nova Scotia from Gleann Glas Dhoire.
The bridge over the river to Cranachan farm has been demolished and access is now by a forestry road from Bohenie. Down near the River Roy below Cranachan can be seen the ruins of an old graveyard, Cladh Ulleim but its history has been lost. One tradition had it that burials took place there when it was impossible to get to Cille Choirill owing to floods. On the other side of the road opposite the Mass stone is to be seen one of the many ‘smiddies’ peculiar to the area. Iron ore used to be brought here from the south of Scotland to be smelted in the then thickly wooded Lochaber. Today you can still see mounds of the waste iron, clinkers etc. in many parts of Lochaber.
About a mile further on we come to Achadh na Beitheach, ‘field of the birches’ now popularly known as the Viewpoint. There is a large tarmacadam parking and turning place where visitors can obtain a magnificent view of Glen Roy and where the famous parallel roads can clearly be seen. They are the successive levels or beaches of a great loch which filled Glen Roy at the close of the Ice Age. Three distinct terraces run along each side of the glen. Further on we see towering above us the forbidding looking rocks of Coire Mheannan. Local tradition has it that Prince Charlie spent the day in a cave there when fleeing from the Redcoats. There is a small waterfall in the vicinity called Steall a Phrionnsa ‘The Prince’s Waterfall’
Another mile on is the now derelict house of Ach a’Mhadaidh (Achavaddy), the ‘field of the wolf’ where Lochaber worthy Iain Odhar is supposed to have shot the last wolf in Lochaber.That he was an expert with a bow and arrow is preserved in two place names. From ‘Goirtean na Saighde’ ‘green of the arrow’ Iain is supposed to have killed a man on ‘Tom na Saighde ‘on the Cranachan side of the river. See separate article.
It was also the home of Drover Alexander MacArthur who went bankrupt around 1844. It is believed his baby daughter was the last person to be buried in Cladh Ulleim. He was married to the youngest sister of Archibald MacDonald of the Hudson Bay Company referred to in the book “Glencoe and the Indians”
Two miles further on is the Briagach, a beautiful green sunny piece of ground overlooking the Bohuntin sheep fanks. This part of Glen Roy was thickly populated as is evinced by the number of ruins of houses. It was here that Iain Odhar lived and the ruins of his house can still be seen. One of his favourite hiding places was a narrow cave just below his house which he had to make use of often since he was a very quarrelsome man.(See separate article)
After passing the Briagach on the left can be seen the dark, almost precipitous slopes of Beann Iarrain gashed from summit to base by mountain torrents. The largest of these burns comes from Coire an Eoin ‘the bird’s corrie) which divides the massive bulk of Beann Iarrain in two. From this corrie flows the Allt an Eoin.
On the right on the other side of the river a bit further along are Blarnahinven and Bohasky. Many good salmon pools can be found between here and the head of the glen. Most of them have English names bestowed on the by English sportsmen of the last century who operated from Braeroy Lodge. Names such as Fank Pool, Bullock Pool, Long Pool, Luncheon Pool, Priest’s Pool, Poacher’s Pool, Stone Pool, and Adam’s Pool where a Mackintosh fugitive from the Battle of Mulroy was supposed to have made a desperate leap across to safety.
The road now turns sharply to the right and rounding the corner we can see more of the glen unfold to view. On the right is Brunachan backed by three corries - Coire Chouplaig, a perfect example of an armchair corrie, Coire Bhrunachan and Coire Rianaich. Corrie Bhrunachan means corrie of the quern stones. People came from near and far to get quern stones for grinding their oats into oatmeal.
