a fool’s mind
I could scatter
the clouds over
Monadh Ruadh
blow the thistle-
down off Tom
Chluaran
shine every last leaf
on the birches of
Coire nan Craobh-bheithe
pluck you a flake
of sharp flint
from Blar-nan-Saighead
plait you the tale
of a crepuscular tiger
in Fluich Adagan
look away if you
get a rise out
of Clach a’ Bhodaich
wrap the stone
with new wool
by Allt nan Cuigeal
warm the White Calf
in the snows
of The Brown Cow
gather the rose
from the fold
of Allt Fileachaidh
carry you safe
over the Water
Splash
find where hazel grow
by the fleet-water
of Allt Challa
but mending a fool’s
mind’s something
I cannot do
Composed after Andrew Schelling’s translation of a poem by the 14th
century Kashmiri poet Lal Ded.
The place-names include: Tom Chluaran, the hillock of the thistles, on the
lower slopes of Sròn Dubh, the black
snout. Coire nan Craobh-bheithe, the corrie of the birches, west of
Lochnagar. Blar-nan-Saighead,
(now Blar-nan-Saighde on OS maps), the
arrows moss, in Glen Feshie. Fluich-adagan (correct spelling
Fliuch-adagan), the wetted rush-stooks,
also in Glen Feshie; rushes were used for roofing material. Clach a’
Bhodaich, the stone of the old man,
or, more earthily, the old-man’s pintle, a
ruined farm named for the crag above it, which have may been associated with
fairies, spectres, or warlocks, thought to use such sites for leaping from. The
crag is also known in Scots as Clash-vottach, the carle’s knowe. Allt
nan Cuigeal is the distaff
burn, which flows
into the Pollagach Burn. Distaffs are wood spindles for winding wool onto,
though Peter Drummond notes that Edward Dwelly gives the Gaelic guigeal as a
distaff hand-rock, in his Dictionary.
The Brown Cow's White Calf is a long-lasting snow wreath in the corrie
of Brown Cow Hill. The hill name is unsual because the English is a direct
translation of the original Gaelic, Bho Dhonn. Allt Fileachaidh is the pleat burn, or burn of
the fold, possibly referring to the bending corrie beneath Creag na
Slabhraidh, the little rocky hill of a
chain, in upper Glen Muick. The Water Splash is where the road
crosses Allt a’
Mhadaidh-allaidh, the wolf burn, in Glen
Lui. Allt Challa, the
fleet burn, is named for for its fast flowing water,
or the Gaelic caltainn, hazel tree, or, relating it to the house, Invercauld,
as I will discuss later. Macdonald suggests Invercauld is
the confluence of the narrow part of the
strath, from Inver Caoil. The Allt Challa rises on Craig Leek, the
rockslab crag, and flows to the Dé.
bibliography
William Alexander: The Place-Names
of Aberdeenshire
Peter Drummond: email to Alec Finlay
Richard Perry: In the High Grampian
Andrew Schelling: Love and The
Turning Seasons
Adam Watson: The Place Names of
Upper Deeside
Adam
Watson: Place-names in much of North-east Scotland
photography
Allt Challa name-label: Alec Finlay,
2015
Allt Fileachaidh name-label: Alec
Finlay, 2015
Thistle: Hannah Devereux, 2015
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.