Glen Cannich

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Glen Cannich. River between Loch Mullardoch (far right) and Loch Carrie Glen Cannich - geograph.org.uk - 230910.jpg
Glen Cannich. River between Loch Mullardoch (far right) and Loch Carrie

Glen Cannich (Scottish Gaelic : Gleann Chanaich) is a long glen in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland and through which runs the River Cannich. Emerging from the reservoir of Loch Mullardoch, the river flows east to merge with the River Affric at the village of Cannich, their combined waters forming the River Glass.

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Downstream of Loch Mullardoch are the smaller natural lochs of Loch a' Bhana, Loch Sealbhanach, Loch Carrie and Loch Craskie through each of which the river flows. Other lochs within the Cannich catchment include (from west to east) Loch an Fraoich-choire, Coire Lochan, Loch a' Choire Dhomhain, Loch a' Choire Bhig, Loch Tuill Bhearnach and Lochan a' Mhill Dhuibh. Within the narrow confines of the eastern end of the glen the river plunges over two waterfalls; Eas Maol Mhairi and Eas an Fhithich. Innumerable burns drain the mountain slopes to the north and south of the river, the largest of which are the Abhainn a' Choilich and Abhainn Sithidh which arise on the eastern slopes of the peak of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan.

A minor public road runs up Glen Cannich from Cannich as far as the Mullardoch dam. Other than water capture for the hydro-electric scheme, the major land uses in the glen are forestry and deer stalking. [1]

History

Glen Cannich is an important location to the history and martyrology of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Between 1735 and 1746, the Glen was the home and base of operations for three outlawed Roman Catholic priests of the Society of Jesus; Frs. Charles (Scottish Gaelic : Maighstir Teàrlach, an t-Athair Teàrlach Mac Fhearchair) and John Farquharson (Scottish Gaelic : Maighstir Iain, [2] an-tAthair Iain Mac Fhearchair) and future Catholic martyr Fr. Alexander Cameron (Scottish Gaelic : Maighstir Sandaidh, an t-Athair Alasdair Camshròn). [3]

According to Colin Chisholm and Dom Odo Blundell of Fort Augustus Abbey, the three priests' residence and secret Mass house was inside a cave known as (Scottish Gaelic : Glaic na h'eirbhe, [4] [5] lit. "the hollow of the hard-life") [6] [7] which was located underneath the cliff of a big boulder at Brae of Craskie, near Beauly (Scottish Gaelic : A' Mhanachainn) in Glen Cannich. [8] [9]

According to Monsignor Thomas Wynne, "It was in the nature of a summer sheiling, a command center for monitoring the traditional activities of cattle reivers; as such it combined a civilising role with the building up of a Catholic mission outside Cameron territory in a way which must have reassured Lochiel on both counts." [10]

This secret dwelling remained the centre of the Catholic mission in Lochaber at the time, where Fr. Cameron and the two Farquarson brothers secretly ministered to the local Catholics and secretly visited the covert "Mass houses" at Fasnakyle, Crochail, and Strathfarrar (Scottish Gaelic : Srath Farair). [11] [2]

Whenever it was not possible for the three priests to safely leave the cave, their parishioners would come to the cave at Brae of Craskie for Mass, the sacraments, and, especially, for the illegal Catholic baptisms of their children. A natural cup stone known as (Scottish Gaelic : Clach a Bhaistidh) was used by the three priests as a baptismal font. [12]

According to Colin Chisholm, the cup stone had been used for performing baptisms, "from time immemorial". [13] This may mean that the natural cup stone was used in baptisms before the Scottish Reformation in the now ruined 10th-century monastery and Christian pilgrimage site of (Scottish Gaelic : Kilbeathan) at (Scottish Gaelic : Clachan Comar), which is alleged to have been founded by St Bean, an Abbot of Iona Abbey, kinsman of St Columba, and missionsry who is said locally to have spearheaded the Christianisation of Strathglass, near the holy well known as (Scottish Gaelic : Sputan Bhain). [14] [15] Another possible origin site for the cup stone may have been Beauly Priory, a 13th-century Valliscaulian monastery located in near Beauly.

St Mary and St Bean's Roman Catholic Church, Beauly. St Marys RC Church, Beauly.jpg
St Mary and St Bean's Roman Catholic Church, Beauly.

Furthermore, the Bullaun, or natural cup stone, known as (Scottish Gaelic : Clach a Bhaistidh) and used by the three Jesuits to perform secret Catholic baptisms in the cave at Glen Cannich, was removed from the Cave, "in order to protect it from damage", by Black Watch Regiment Captain Archibald Macrae Chisholm and placed upon a stone column, [16] [17] where it is now venerated as a relic by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen at St Mary and St. Bean's Roman Catholic Church at Marydale, Beauly, Glen Cannich, [18] which was built, despite the depopulation of much of the surrounding countryside by the Highland Clearances, following Catholic Emancipation in 1829, completed in 1866, and solemnly consecrated in 1868. [19]

Folklore

In local Scottish folklore, Fr. John Farquarson remains a popular folk hero. He is said to have once had a face to face confrontation with the Devil upon Cannich Bridge and to have forced his opponent to dive into the River Cannich with a hissing sound. [2]

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References

  1. ↑ Ordnance Survey Explorer map sheets 414, 415, 430
  2. 1 2 3 Christianity in Strathglass, From the Website for St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Beauly.
  3. ↑ MacWilliam, A. S. (1973). A Highland mission: Strathglass, 1671-1777. Innes Review xxiv. pp. 75–102.
  4. ↑ Odo Blundell (1909), The Catholic Highlands of Scotland, Volume I, London, page 203.
  5. ↑ "Rev. John Farquharson, Priest of Strathglass", by Colin Chisholm, The Celtic Magazine, Volume 7, 1882, pp. 141-146.
  6. ↑ Malcolm MacLennan (2001), Gaelic Dictionary/Faclair Gàidhlig, Mercat and Acair. Page 182.
  7. ↑ Collected by Fr. Allan MacDonald (1958, 1972, 1991), Gaelic Words from South Uist and Eriskay – Edited, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Second edition with supplement, published by the Oxford University Press. p. 113.
  8. ↑ Odo Blundell (1909), The Catholic Highlands of Scotland, Volume I, London, page 203.
  9. ↑ "Rev. John Farquharson, Priest of Strathglass", by Colin Chisholm, The Celtic Magazine, Volume 7, 1882, pp. 141-146.
  10. ↑ Wynne, Thomas (30 August 2010). The Conversion of Alexander Cameron. The Innes Review . 45 (2): 178–187.
  11. ↑ Wynne, Thomas (30 August 2010). The Conversion of Alexander Cameron. The Innes Review . 45 (2): 178–187.
  12. ↑ "Rev. John Farquharson, Priest of Strathglass", by Colin Chisholm, The Celtic Magazine, Volume 7, 1882, pp. 143-144.
  13. ↑ "Rev. John Farquharson, Priest of Strathglass", by Colin Chisholm, The Celtic Magazine, Volume 7, 1882, p. 144.
  14. ↑ Clachan Comar, Strathglass Heritage Association
  15. ↑ Christianity in Strathglass, Website of St Mary and St Bean's Roman Catholic Church, Beauly.
  16. ↑ Odo Blundell (1909), The Catholic Highlands of Scotland, Volume I, London, page 202.
  17. ↑ "Rev. John Farquharson, Priest of Strathglass", by Colin Chisholm, The Celtic Magazine, Volume 7, 1882, p. 144.
  18. ↑ "Rev. John Farquharson, Priest of Strathglass", by Colin Chisholm, The Celtic Magazine, Volume 7, 1882, p. 144.
  19. ↑ History of the Marydale Church, From the Website "Christianity in Strathglass."

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