‘a glen commences with a hollow of a circular
form, in the mountains, called a corry.’
– Rev. James M. Crombie
– Rev. James M. Crombie
CORRIE
V
GLEN
U
Glaciation
forms U-shaped valleys; water erodes V-shaped corries. WJ Watson describes
a corrie as a ’more or less circular
hollow in the hills with only one outlet’.
KETTLE & SPOUT : CORRIE
KETTLE & SPOUT : CORRIE
MÀM : màm
SOME DOME : maol
THE TOP : mullach
HIGHER HIGH : beinn
ROUND-HEAD : càrn
SCRAPED SHAPE : hill
HILL CORRIDOR : corrie
the glaciers parabola: coire
EXIT / ENTRY : bealach
OVER-LAND : làirig
HOLLOW SKY : glac
A CUT ABOVE : cadha
SOME DOME : maol
THE TOP : mullach
HIGHER HIGH : beinn
ROUND-HEAD : càrn
SCRAPED SHAPE : hill
HILL CORRIDOR : corrie
the glaciers parabola: coire
EXIT / ENTRY : bealach
OVER-LAND : làirig
HOLLOW SKY : glac
A CUT ABOVE : cadha
UP THE RENT : clais
MIND THE GAP : slochd
THE CATCH : sneck
UPS AND DOWNS : leathad
HILL FLAGS : leac
RUGGED HEAD : tòrr
STONE-PATCHED HAGS : breac
TIP OF YOUR NOSE : sròn
HILL BILL : gob
I FELL IN A HEAP : meall
A SWOLLEN MASS OR ARSE : MEALL
MY OTHER POINT : stùc
THE SPEAR : sgor
MIND THE GAP : slochd
THE CATCH : sneck
UPS AND DOWNS : leathad
HILL FLAGS : leac
RUGGED HEAD : tòrr
STONE-PATCHED HAGS : breac
TIP OF YOUR NOSE : sròn
HILL BILL : gob
I FELL IN A HEAP : meall
A SWOLLEN MASS OR ARSE : MEALL
MY OTHER POINT : stùc
THE SPEAR : sgor
INLAND SKERRY : sgeir
A PINCH OF EARTH : CNOC
WEE TOP : cnoc
WEENIE TOP : cnocan
WEE SWELL : tom
BUSTED ROCK : scree
HIGH GRASS : ruighe
SUN HIGH : grianan
MASSED MOSS : mòine
FOLD-UP FIELD : in-by
THE MOUNTAINS BURNISHED BUTTON : tarn
WET EYE : sùil
COMING TOGETHER : inbhir
A PINCH OF EARTH : CNOC
WEE TOP : cnoc
WEENIE TOP : cnocan
WEE SWELL : tom
BUSTED ROCK : scree
HIGH GRASS : ruighe
SUN HIGH : grianan
MASSED MOSS : mòine
FOLD-UP FIELD : in-by
THE MOUNTAINS BURNISHED BUTTON : tarn
WET EYE : sùil
COMING TOGETHER : inbhir
RIM : DRUIM
MY broad shoulder : gualann
ON MY UPPERS : AONACH
A FINE GRAIN OF THE SEA : burn
A WEE GLASS : lochan
PRETTY LOUNGE : strath
GIRNER : gairneag
FREE-FALL : linn
A WEE SPURT : fùaran
MY broad shoulder : gualann
ON MY UPPERS : AONACH
A FINE GRAIN OF THE SEA : burn
A WEE GLASS : lochan
PRETTY LOUNGE : strath
GIRNER : gairneag
FREE-FALL : linn
A WEE SPURT : fùaran
Examples
of typical terms for land formations in the region, with place-names and grid
references.
Màm, màim: G., breast-shaped or rounded hills; A’ Mhàim (no 133 900), The Tit, on Morrone ¶ Maol: G., bare hill, brow, literally a bald head; Glas Maol (no 167 766), Greeny Hill, in Glen Shee ¶ Mulach: G., point, top, rounded like roof; Am Mullach (NO 375 904), The Top, in Glen Muick ¶ Beinn: G., ben, mountain, the highest hill in a region; Beinn Bhreac, Speckled Ben (NO 059 971) ¶ Càrn: G., cairn, natural rock pile, heap, or burial cairn; these conical round-topped peaks are common in the area, though some càrn hills are grassy not rocky; Càrn Eas (NO 122 992), Linn hill, on Ben Avon ¶ Hill: Old English hyll, a natural rise in the land, The Hill of Candacraig (NJ 346 000), Rockhill End, in Glen Gairn ¶ Corrie: Sc., coire G., hollow on the side of a hill formed by glacial action, literally a kettle ¶ Bealach: G., pass, way between two hills, originally a route; Watson also gives the alpine col, lowest point of a ridge; Bealach Eadar Dhà Chreagan (no 122 975), Between-the-two Way, pass between two cliffs, between Quoich and Gairn, by Carn Eag Dubh and Creag an Dail Mhòr ¶ Làirig: G., pass through the mountains, a longer ascent across a watershed than bealach; Lairig Ghru (NO 973 012) Seeping-burn Pass, the famous pass through the Cairngorms, between Braeriach and Ben Macdhui ¶ Glac: G., hollow; Glac Aitinn (no 331 938), Juniper Dene, the hollow of juniper, on the Coyles of Muick ¶ Cadha: G., way up a steep hill; John Murray notes that bealach vary in dimension, but cadha are always narrower and steeper; Cadha nam Fiann (NN 948 929), The Fair Bands Pass, pass of the Fingalian warriors, or pass of the crowberry, leading between Beinn Bhrotain and the Monadh Mor ¶ Clais: G, cleft or rift in rocky ground to climb up by; steeper than bealach or cadha; Clais Mhèirleach (no 218 96) Raiders Dene, the hollow of thieves, near Inver ¶ Slochd, Sloc: G., pit, chasm, gap; Slochd Mòr (NJ123025), Big Slough, the glen between Beinn a’ Bhuird and Ben Avon ¶ Sneck, Sc., Sneag G., notch, nick, latch, catch; The Sneck (NO 118010), The Snib, col between Ben Avon and Beinna’ Bhuird ¶ Leathad: G., slope, side of a hill; Leathad Gheallaidh (no 022 892), Brightwater Slope, by the confluence of the Geldie and Dee ¶ Leac: G, slab, flagstone; Leac Ghorm (no 222 954), Blue Slate, the blue slate, named for the flat, slate-like rocks near the summit ¶ Tòrr: G, crag-topped hillock; Torr nam Fiann, Crowberry Knowe, on Morrone (NO 127893) ¶ Breac: G., speckled, pockled, spotted, like the effect of heather and rock, it relates to breacan, tartan ¶ Sròn G., Strone, Sc.: nose, promontory, headland rising from a mountain; the Gaelic equivalent for the English shoulder of a hill; Sc. neb; The Strone, Strone Yarrich, Stranyarroch, or Sròn Ghearraig, (NO 272 933), The Neb, conical hillock beside the old drove road to Crathie, used as a landmark by travelers ¶ Gob: G., hill or mountain with a beaked form ¶ Stuc, Stuic: G., projecting hill that juts out, like a beak, or G., gob, steep on one side and rounded on the other; The Stuc o’ Loch nan Eun (no 227 852), Birds-loch Jut, above Loch nan Eun, Beinn nan Chìocan ¶ Meall: G., Middle Irish mell, lump, hill, also a ball, round mass, swelling, or buttocks; Meall Gorm (no 185 946), Bluey Hill, above Invercauld; Sgor: G, sharp pinnacle; Sgòr Fithich (no 218 935), Raven’s Peak, crag west of the Inver ¶ Sgeir: G., skerry, rock protruding from the sea, but also inland ; Na Sgeirean, The Skerry, rocks above the loch at Lochnagar ¶ Cnoc, Cnocan: G., hill, knowe, Sc., knock; Knock Castle (NO 352 952), Knowe Castle ¶ Tom: G., rise, round hillock or knoll, swell; Tom a' Challtuinn (NO 196 932) Hazel Knowe, a hillock and former farm near Invercauld Bridge ¶ Scree: Old Norse, skritha, a bed of loose stones on a mountain, Coire Bhrochain (NO 956 996), Scree Corrie, the meaning is corrie where 'everything is in little bits', a steep corrie whose floor is filled with scree and boulders, or, sometimes, corrie of porridge ¶ Ruighe, Shiel, Shieling: G., summer-pasture; ruighe commonly refers to an upland shieling, and Watson relates it to ridhe, an arm or forearm of a hill; Ruighe Ealasaid (no 003 869), Elizabeth’s Summer-pasture, a former house and shieling near the confluence of Geldie Burn and Bynack Burn, known to non-Gaelic speakers as The Reid Hoose ¶ Grianan: G., sunny hillside or hillock; Càrn Griannach (NO 115 825) Sunny Cairn, near the confluence of the Clunie ¶ Mòine, mòinteach: G., peat moss, mossy moor; Mòine Taibhseach (NJ 313 026 ), Eerie Moss, the Gaelic means ghostly peat-moss, between Cairndoor Hill and Tom Liath ¶ Inby: Sc., enclosed fields adjacent to a farm, also known as Infield ¶ Tarn: from Old Norse, tjǫrn, mountain loch ¶ Sùil, G; Swail, Sc.: spring, from the eye-shaped green flushes that show up against the darker hillside; Coire Suilean Dhuba (NO 097934), Dark-eyed-corrie, springs in Glen Quoich ¶ Inbhir: G., confluence; Inverenzie (NJ 330 006), The White-one’s Mouth, confluence of the Glenfenzie Burn and the River Gairn ¶ Druim: G., ridge, spine, as in English it originally referred to the human back; Druim an t-Seilich (no 166 926), Willow Back, near Invercauld ¶ Gualann: G., a broad shoulder ¶ Aonach: G., a high ridge ¶ Burn: Sc., stream; a grain is a small stream small burn, tributary branch, or fork of a stream or river; The Bruntian Burn (no 317 950) Burntland Burn, Sc. brunt, burnt, the burnt land burn, rises on Creag nam Ban, flows into Girnock Burn ¶ Lochan: G., small loch; Lochan Dubh, Black Lochan, Glen Gelder (no 270 865) ¶ Strath: G., broad river glen ¶ Gairneag: G., rowdy little stream ¶ Linn: Sc., rocky gorge with pools; from G., linne, which can stand for the waterfall or its pool; Linn of Dee (NO 062 896), Falls of the Goddess ¶ Fùaran: G., pool or spring; Fuaran nan Aighean (no 331 90), The Hinds’ Well, Glen Muick.
Màm, màim: G., breast-shaped or rounded hills; A’ Mhàim (no 133 900), The Tit, on Morrone ¶ Maol: G., bare hill, brow, literally a bald head; Glas Maol (no 167 766), Greeny Hill, in Glen Shee ¶ Mulach: G., point, top, rounded like roof; Am Mullach (NO 375 904), The Top, in Glen Muick ¶ Beinn: G., ben, mountain, the highest hill in a region; Beinn Bhreac, Speckled Ben (NO 059 971) ¶ Càrn: G., cairn, natural rock pile, heap, or burial cairn; these conical round-topped peaks are common in the area, though some càrn hills are grassy not rocky; Càrn Eas (NO 122 992), Linn hill, on Ben Avon ¶ Hill: Old English hyll, a natural rise in the land, The Hill of Candacraig (NJ 346 000), Rockhill End, in Glen Gairn ¶ Corrie: Sc., coire G., hollow on the side of a hill formed by glacial action, literally a kettle ¶ Bealach: G., pass, way between two hills, originally a route; Watson also gives the alpine col, lowest point of a ridge; Bealach Eadar Dhà Chreagan (no 122 975), Between-the-two Way, pass between two cliffs, between Quoich and Gairn, by Carn Eag Dubh and Creag an Dail Mhòr ¶ Làirig: G., pass through the mountains, a longer ascent across a watershed than bealach; Lairig Ghru (NO 973 012) Seeping-burn Pass, the famous pass through the Cairngorms, between Braeriach and Ben Macdhui ¶ Glac: G., hollow; Glac Aitinn (no 331 938), Juniper Dene, the hollow of juniper, on the Coyles of Muick ¶ Cadha: G., way up a steep hill; John Murray notes that bealach vary in dimension, but cadha are always narrower and steeper; Cadha nam Fiann (NN 948 929), The Fair Bands Pass, pass of the Fingalian warriors, or pass of the crowberry, leading between Beinn Bhrotain and the Monadh Mor ¶ Clais: G, cleft or rift in rocky ground to climb up by; steeper than bealach or cadha; Clais Mhèirleach (no 218 96) Raiders Dene, the hollow of thieves, near Inver ¶ Slochd, Sloc: G., pit, chasm, gap; Slochd Mòr (NJ123025), Big Slough, the glen between Beinn a’ Bhuird and Ben Avon ¶ Sneck, Sc., Sneag G., notch, nick, latch, catch; The Sneck (NO 118010), The Snib, col between Ben Avon and Beinna’ Bhuird ¶ Leathad: G., slope, side of a hill; Leathad Gheallaidh (no 022 892), Brightwater Slope, by the confluence of the Geldie and Dee ¶ Leac: G, slab, flagstone; Leac Ghorm (no 222 954), Blue Slate, the blue slate, named for the flat, slate-like rocks near the summit ¶ Tòrr: G, crag-topped hillock; Torr nam Fiann, Crowberry Knowe, on Morrone (NO 127893) ¶ Breac: G., speckled, pockled, spotted, like the effect of heather and rock, it relates to breacan, tartan ¶ Sròn G., Strone, Sc.: nose, promontory, headland rising from a mountain; the Gaelic equivalent for the English shoulder of a hill; Sc. neb; The Strone, Strone Yarrich, Stranyarroch, or Sròn Ghearraig, (NO 272 933), The Neb, conical hillock beside the old drove road to Crathie, used as a landmark by travelers ¶ Gob: G., hill or mountain with a beaked form ¶ Stuc, Stuic: G., projecting hill that juts out, like a beak, or G., gob, steep on one side and rounded on the other; The Stuc o’ Loch nan Eun (no 227 852), Birds-loch Jut, above Loch nan Eun, Beinn nan Chìocan ¶ Meall: G., Middle Irish mell, lump, hill, also a ball, round mass, swelling, or buttocks; Meall Gorm (no 185 946), Bluey Hill, above Invercauld; Sgor: G, sharp pinnacle; Sgòr Fithich (no 218 935), Raven’s Peak, crag west of the Inver ¶ Sgeir: G., skerry, rock protruding from the sea, but also inland ; Na Sgeirean, The Skerry, rocks above the loch at Lochnagar ¶ Cnoc, Cnocan: G., hill, knowe, Sc., knock; Knock Castle (NO 352 952), Knowe Castle ¶ Tom: G., rise, round hillock or knoll, swell; Tom a' Challtuinn (NO 196 932) Hazel Knowe, a hillock and former farm near Invercauld Bridge ¶ Scree: Old Norse, skritha, a bed of loose stones on a mountain, Coire Bhrochain (NO 956 996), Scree Corrie, the meaning is corrie where 'everything is in little bits', a steep corrie whose floor is filled with scree and boulders, or, sometimes, corrie of porridge ¶ Ruighe, Shiel, Shieling: G., summer-pasture; ruighe commonly refers to an upland shieling, and Watson relates it to ridhe, an arm or forearm of a hill; Ruighe Ealasaid (no 003 869), Elizabeth’s Summer-pasture, a former house and shieling near the confluence of Geldie Burn and Bynack Burn, known to non-Gaelic speakers as The Reid Hoose ¶ Grianan: G., sunny hillside or hillock; Càrn Griannach (NO 115 825) Sunny Cairn, near the confluence of the Clunie ¶ Mòine, mòinteach: G., peat moss, mossy moor; Mòine Taibhseach (NJ 313 026 ), Eerie Moss, the Gaelic means ghostly peat-moss, between Cairndoor Hill and Tom Liath ¶ Inby: Sc., enclosed fields adjacent to a farm, also known as Infield ¶ Tarn: from Old Norse, tjǫrn, mountain loch ¶ Sùil, G; Swail, Sc.: spring, from the eye-shaped green flushes that show up against the darker hillside; Coire Suilean Dhuba (NO 097934), Dark-eyed-corrie, springs in Glen Quoich ¶ Inbhir: G., confluence; Inverenzie (NJ 330 006), The White-one’s Mouth, confluence of the Glenfenzie Burn and the River Gairn ¶ Druim: G., ridge, spine, as in English it originally referred to the human back; Druim an t-Seilich (no 166 926), Willow Back, near Invercauld ¶ Gualann: G., a broad shoulder ¶ Aonach: G., a high ridge ¶ Burn: Sc., stream; a grain is a small stream small burn, tributary branch, or fork of a stream or river; The Bruntian Burn (no 317 950) Burntland Burn, Sc. brunt, burnt, the burnt land burn, rises on Creag nam Ban, flows into Girnock Burn ¶ Lochan: G., small loch; Lochan Dubh, Black Lochan, Glen Gelder (no 270 865) ¶ Strath: G., broad river glen ¶ Gairneag: G., rowdy little stream ¶ Linn: Sc., rocky gorge with pools; from G., linne, which can stand for the waterfall or its pool; Linn of Dee (NO 062 896), Falls of the Goddess ¶ Fùaran: G., pool or spring; Fuaran nan Aighean (no 331 90), The Hinds’ Well, Glen Muick.
photography
Corrie
and Allt Darrarie: Hannah Devereux, 2015
Coire Yaltie: Alec Finlay, 2015
Glac Anthon, Corriemulzie: Hannah Devereux, 2015
Meall Gorm, Lochnagar: Hannah Devereux, 2015
Tom Mhoraire, Glen Isla: Hannah Devereux, 2015
Sron in Glen Clunie or at Loch Muick: Hannah Devereux, 2015
Linn of Muick: Joanna Monks, 2015
Coire Yaltie: Alec Finlay, 2015
Glac Anthon, Corriemulzie: Hannah Devereux, 2015
Meall Gorm, Lochnagar: Hannah Devereux, 2015
Tom Mhoraire, Glen Isla: Hannah Devereux, 2015
Sron in Glen Clunie or at Loch Muick: Hannah Devereux, 2015
Linn of Muick: Joanna Monks, 2015
bibliography
Rev. James M. Crombie: Braemar:
its’s Topgraphy and Natural Scenery
VA Firsoff: On Foot in the Cairngorms
Peter MacNiven: The Place-names of Glenshee
John Murray: Reading the Gaelic Landscape
Adam Watson: The Place Names of Upper Deeside
Adam Watson: The Cairngorms: SMC District Guide
VA Firsoff: On Foot in the Cairngorms
Peter MacNiven: The Place-names of Glenshee
John Murray: Reading the Gaelic Landscape
Adam Watson: The Place Names of Upper Deeside
Adam Watson: The Cairngorms: SMC District Guide
Gathering was commissioned by Hauser & Wirth, for the
Fife Arms Hotel, Braemar; the project was launched in 2015 and will conclude in
2018.
The artist
residency at University of Aberdeen is funded by The Leverhulme Trust; the
project was launched in July 2016 and will conclude May 2017.