Glen Shiel

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Glen Shiel
Five Sisters.jpg
Four of the Five Sisters of Kintail and the river Shiel from Shiel Bridge at the foot of Glen Shiel
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Glen Shiel
Location within the Highland council area
Civil parish
  • Glenshiel
Council area
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Postcode district IV 40, IV 63
Police Scotland
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
List of places
UK
Scotland
57°12′37″N5°25′26″W / 57.2103°N 5.4239°W / 57.2103; -5.4239

Glen Shiel (Scottish Gaelic : Gleann Seile; also known as Glenshiel) is a glen in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland.

Contents

The glen runs approximately nine miles (14 kilometres) from southeast to northwest, from the Cluanie Inn (216 metres or 709 feet) at the western end of Loch Cluanie and the start of Glenmoriston to sea level at the village of Shiel Bridge and Loch Duich. [1] The northern side of the glen lies within the Kintail and Morvich estate owned by the National Trust for Scotland. [2] The lower part of Glen Shiel, including both sides of the glen from the site of the Battle of Glen Shiel down to Dornie on the shores of Loch Duich, lies within the Kintail National Scenic Area, [3] one of the forty national scenic areas in Scotland. [4]

Roads

The A87 Road to the Isles runs the full length of the glen, reaching a high point of 271 metres (889 feet)two miles (three kilometres) west of the Cluanie Inn. [5] The remnants of the military road connecting Fort Augustus to the Bernera barracks in Glenelg built between 1750 and 1784 by William Caulfeild, the successor to General Wade, can be seen 14 mile (400 metres) west of the Cluanie Inn. [6]

The Cluanie Inn at the head of Glen Shiel, with the A87 (right) and the South Glen Shiel ridge (background) The Cluanie Inn.jpg
The Cluanie Inn at the head of Glen Shiel, with the A87 (right) and the South Glen Shiel ridge (background)

Geography

The Forcan ridge of The Saddle (centre) Saddle and sgurr na sgine 06-07 086.jpg
The Forcan ridge of The Saddle (centre)

The North Glen Shiel ridge that forms the northern side of the glen consists of the Five Sisters of Kintail (Sgùrr na Ciste Duibhe, Sgùrr na Càrnach, Sgùrr Fhuaran, Sgùrr nan Spàinteach and Sgùrr nan Saighead) in the lower part of the glen, and Sàileag, Sgùrr a' Bhealaich Dheirg and Aonach Meadhoin in the upper part.

To the south of the glen, the South Glen Shiel (or South Cluanie) ridge (Creag a' Mhàim, Druim Shionnach, Aonach air Chrith, Maol Chinn-dearg, Sgùrr an Doire Leathain, Sgùrr an Lochain and Creag nan Damh) occupies the upper part, and in the lower part are The Saddle, according to W. H. Murray "the best mountain of the region both in distant shape and close acquaintance," [7] and Sgùrr na Sgine. [8] From Glen Shiel these last two mountains are only accessible by the side glens – Allt Mhalagain is the most popular – that run off Glen Shiel, unlike the North and South Glen Shiel ridges whose slopes can be reached directly as they run along the glen.

John Macleod writes of the glen that:

The descent of Glen Shiel, on the road to Skye, takes you through one of Scotland's most spectacular mountain passes: it is almost a cliché of Highland scenery – foaming river, burns streaming white, crags frowning from on high, often mist, generally rain. The road winds, turns and falls. Here and there the eye catches a tumbled ruin.

[9]

The river running down the glen is the river Shiel, which flows into Loch Duich. [6]

At the last census (2011), the population of the civil parish (spelled Glenshiel) was 215. [10] The area of the parish is 57,328 acres (23,200 hectares). [11] Loch Duich community council covers this area. [12]

Flora and fauna

Part of the afforested section of Glen Shiel looking south-east from the slopes of Saileag, with the A87 running up to Loch Cluanie (out of sight, top left) Upper Glen Shiel.jpg
Part of the afforested section of Glen Shiel looking south-east from the slopes of Sàileag, with the A87 running up to Loch Cluanie (out of sight, top left)

The glen contains native tree species such as common alder, downy birch, sessile oak and rowan. Parts of the northern flanks of the upper glen have been afforested with a mix of Scots pine, Sitka spruce and Norway spruce. Glen Shiel was within the former Forestry Commission's Fort Augustus Forest Division, and in a 2008 report the Commission wrote "Consideration is being given to restoration of ancient woodland sites in dramatic landscapes like the Great Glen and Glen Shiel." [13]

Notable plant species growing on the grassy flanks of the mountains include fragrant orchid, butterfly orchid, pale butterwort and mountain azalea (Loiseleuria procumbens). [14]

Herds of red deer and wild goats roam the glen. [15]

The Battle of Glen Shiel

The Battle of Glenshiel 1719 by Peter Tillemans, 1719 Peter Tillemans - The Battle of Glenshiel 1719. Figures probably include Lord George Murray, c 1700 - 1760; Rob Roy MacGregor, 1671 - 1734; and General Joseph Wightman, d. 1722 - Google Art Project.jpg
The Battle of Glenshiel 1719 by Peter Tillemans, 1719

The Battle of Glen Shiel took place on 10 June 1719 midway up the glen. It was fought between British government forces and an alliance of Jacobites and Spaniards, and resulted in a victory for the British forces. It was the last close engagement of British and foreign troops on mainland British soil. The battle is sometimes considered an extension of the 1715 rising, but is more correctly a separate rebellion and was the only rising to be extinguished by a single military action. [16] It is "Scotland's only battle site with contemporary remains still visible – including the stone dyke enclosure where the Jacobite munitions were stored". [17]

Sgurr nan Spainteach (middle background left) and Saileag (centre) from the east. The Spanish troops retreated up the southern slopes of the mountain from Glen Shiel (left). Saileag.jpg
Sgùrr nan Spàinteach (middle background left) and Sàileag (centre) from the east. The Spanish troops retreated up the southern slopes of the mountain from Glen Shiel (left).

The natural strength of the Jacobite position, which was positioned on easily defendable crags in the glen, had been increased by hasty fortifications. A barricade had been constructed across the road, and along the face of the hill on the north side of the river entrenchments had been thrown up. Here the main body was posted, consisting of a Spanish regiment, Clan Cameron of Lochiel with about 150 men, about 150 of Lidcoat’s and others, Rob Roy MacGregor with 40 men, 50 men of Clan Mackinnon and 200 from the Clan MacKenzie. British forces included 150 grenadiers under Major Milburn, Montagu’s Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence, a detachment of 50 men under Colonel Harrison, Huffel's Dutch Regiment, four companies of Amerongen's regiment from the Clan Fraser, Clan Ross and the Clan Sutherland, 80 men of Clan MacKay, Clayton’s Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Reading and about 100 men of the Clan Munro under George Munro of Culcairn. [18]

Battle of Glen Shiel Memorial, Glen Shiel Battle of Glen Shiel Memorial.jpg
Battle of Glen Shiel Memorial, Glen Shiel

One of the peaks on the northern side of the glen, Sgùrr nan Spàinteach (Peak of the Spaniards), derives its name from the 200 Spanish troops [19] who fought a rearguard action on the side of the defeated Jacobite rebels and who retreated over the peak. [18] This peak's parent mountain is Sgùrr na Ciste Duibhe, which means peak of the black chest. Irvine Butterfield writes that "although some of the coins they [the Spanish soldiers] dropped were later found there is no mention that they fell from a black chest [...] the black chest is in reality the deep hollow of the Allt Dearg on the south-west slope [of Sgùrr na Ciste Duibhe]." [20]

The painting The Battle of Glenshiel 1719 by the Flemish painter Peter Tillemans (c. 1684–1734) [21] shows the opposing forces in the glen; the figures in the foreground probably include Lord George Murray and Rob Roy MacGregor on the Jacobite side and General Joseph Wightman on the British side. [22] This "highly accurate" [23] painting, which hangs in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, was originally catalogued as The Battle of Killiecrankie, 1689. [23]

Charles Edward Stuart, painted in 1745 by Allan Ramsay Lost Portrait of Charles Edward Stuart.jpg
Charles Edward Stuart, painted in 1745 by Allan Ramsay

Prince Charlie's Stone

The steep south-west slopes of Sgùrr na Ciste Duibhe contain a large boulder known as "Prince Charlie's Stone", where Charles Edward Stuart, known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie", spent a day in the summer of 1746 hiding from Government troops once he had left the Isle of Skye. At the time he had a £30,000 bounty on his head, having fled after the Battle of Culloden. [24] After he reached Glen Shiel, Charles was sheltered by the "Seven Men of Glenmoriston", who "lived in a cave called Corriedhoga, high in Glenmoriston where the glen closes toward Loch Cluanie", some ten miles (16 kilometres) east of Glen Shiel. They sheltered the prince for a week during July 1746, vowing

That their backs should be to God and their faces to the Devil; that all the curses the Scripture did pronounce might come upon them and all their posterity if they did not stand firm to the Prince in the greatest danger...

[25]

Notable people

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loch Shiel</span> Freshwater loch in Scotland

Loch Shiel is a freshwater loch situated 20 kilometres (12 mi) west of Fort William in the Highland council area of Scotland. At 28 kilometres long it is the 4th longest loch in Scotland, and is the longest to have retained a natural outflow without any regulation of its water level, being 120 m (393 ft) deep. Its nature changes considerably along its length, being deep and enclosed by mountains in the north east and shallow surrounded by bog and rough pasture in the south west, from which end the 4 km River Shiel drains to the sea in Loch Moidart near Castle Tioram.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Glen Shiel</span> Part of the Jacobite Rising in 1719

The Battle of Glen Shiel took place on 10 June 1719 in the West Scottish Highlands, during the 1719 Jacobite Rising. A Jacobite army composed of Highland levies and Spanish marines, was defeated by British troops, reinforced by a Highland Independent Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sgùrr na Sgine</span>

Sgùrr na Sgine is a mountain in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. Its height is 946 metres (3,104 ft), making it a Munro. It lies eight kilometres south of Shiel Bridge in the Glenshiel Forest, between Glen Shiel and Loch Hourn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sàileag</span> Mountain in Scotland

Sàileag is Scottish mountain located on the northern side of Glen Shiel, 27 kilometres south east of Kyle of Lochalsh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A' Chràlaig</span> Mountain in Scotland

A' Chralaig is a mountain in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, north of Loch Cluanie and south of Glen Affric. It is a Munro with a height of 1,120 metres (3,670 ft). It is the highest peak along Glen Shiel and can be easily climbed from the Cluanie Inn on the A87. The eastern slopes of the mountain, are owned by the Forestry Commission and are part of the Kintail National Scenic Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sgùrr Fhuaran</span> Mountain in Scotland

Sgùrr Fhuaran is a Scottish mountain that is situated on the northern side of Glen Shiel, 23 kilometres (14 mi) east south east of Kyle of Lochalsh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sgùrr na Càrnach</span>

Sgùrr na Càrnach is a mountain in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, one of the 'Five Sisters of Kintail'. It is on the northern side of Glen Shiel, 24 kilometres southeast of Kyle of Lochalsh. It reaches a height of 1,002 metres (3,287 ft) and is classed as a Munro. The summit is rough and boulder-ridden, living up to its Gaelic name which means "peak of the stony place".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sgùrr na Ciste Duibhe</span> Mountain in the Scottish Highlands

Sgùrr na Ciste Duibhe or Sgùrr nan Cisteachan Dubha is a mountain in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, one of the 'Five Sisters of Kintail'. It is on the northern side of Glen Shiel, 27 kilometers southeast of Kyle of Lochalsh. Its height is 1,027 metres (3,369 ft) and it is classed as a Munro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kintail</span>

Kintail is a mountainous area sitting at the head of Loch Duich in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, located in the Highland Council area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ciste Dhubh</span>

Ciste Dhubh is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands, between Glen Shiel and Glen Affric. With a height of 979 metres (3,212 ft), it is classed as a Munro. It is almost surrounded by glens: Fionngleann (north), An Caorann Mòr (east) and Allt Cam-bàn (west), with the Bealach a' Chòinich pass (south) linking it to the mountain of Sgùrr an Fhuarail. Its name comes from Scottish Gaelic A' Chiste Dhubh, "the black chest", possibly referring to the dark rocky summit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aonach Meadhoin</span> Mountain in Scotland

Aonach Meadhoin is a Munro mountain situated in the Kintail region of Scotland. It stands on the northern side of Glen Shiel some 31 kilometres south east of Kyle of Lochalsh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sgùrr a' Bhealaich Dheirg</span>

Sgùrr a' Bhealaich Dheirg is a mountain in Kintail on the northern side of Glen Shiel in the Scottish Highlands. With a height of 1,036 metres (3,399 ft), it is classed as a Munro. It is the highest of three Munros known as the "Brothers of Kintail" in contrast to the Five Sisters of Kintail which lie just to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Am Bàthach</span>

Am Bàthach is a Scottish mountain situated at the head of Glen Shiel, at the western end of Loch Cluanie some 38 km (24 mi) south east of Kyle of Lochalsh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sgùrr Thuilm</span> Mountain in Scotland

Sgùrr Thuilm is a mountain in the Glenfinnan area of the Highlands of Scotland. It stands at the head of Glen Finnan approximately 7 kilometres (4 mi) north of Loch Shiel.

Shiel Bridge is a hamlet on the south east shore of Loch Duich at the foot of Glen Shiel, in the Lochalsh area of the Scottish Highlands. It is in the council area of Highland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Glen Affric</span>

The Battle of Glen Affric took place in 1721 in Glen Affric, in the Scottish Highlands. It was fought between Government backed forces of the Clan Ross against rebel the forces of the Clan Mackenzie and their allies the Clan Macrae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capture of Eilean Donan Castle</span>

The Capture of Eilean Donan Castle was a land-based naval engagement that took place in 1719 during the British Jacobite rising of that year, and the War of the Quadruple Alliance. A British naval reconnaissance force of three ships attacked the castle of Eilean Donan on the west coast of Scotland, which was held by Spanish troops. After a naval bombardment, the British government forces stormed the castle, and the defenders surrendered. The castle was subsequently destroyed with gunpowder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lochalsh</span>

Lochalsh is a district of mainland Scotland that is currently part of the Highland council area. The Lochalsh district covers all of the mainland either side of Loch Alsh - and of Loch Duich - between Loch Carron and Loch Hourn, ie. from Stromeferry in the north on Loch Carron down to Corran on Loch Hourn and as (south-)west as Kintail. It was sometimes more narrowly defined as just being the hilly peninsula that lies between Loch Carron and Loch Alsh. The main settlement is Kyle of Lochalsh, located at the entrance to Loch Alsh, opposite the village of Kyleakin on the adjacent island of Skye. A ferry used to connect the two settlements but was replaced by the Skye Bridge in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mullach Fraoch-choire</span> Mountain in Scotland

Mullach Fraoch-choire is a 1,102-metre (3,615 ft) mountain – a Munro – in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland on a ridge extending north for 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) between Loch Cluanie in Glenmoriston and upper Glen Affric. It is within the Glen Affric National Scenic Area and Glen Affric National Nature Reserve.

References

  1. Murray, p. 251
  2. National Trust for Scotland information on Kintail Accessed 28 January 2009
  3. "Map: Kintail National Scenic Area". Scottish Natural Heritage. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  4. "National Scenic Areas". Scottish Natural Heritage. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  5. OS Landranger, 33, Loch Alsh, Glen Shiel & Loch Hourn
  6. 1 2 Murray, p. 252
  7. Murray, p. 276
  8. The Munros, ed. D. Bennet, SMC, 1985, pp. 158–61, 172–7
  9. John Macleod, Highlanders: A History of the Gaels, London: Sceptre, 1997, ISBN   0340639911 p. 24
  10. Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Population, publ. by National Records of Scotland. Web site http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ retrieved April 2021. See "Standard Outputs", Table KS101SC, Area type: Civil Parish
  11. Census of Scotland 1931. Preliminary Report. Table 17 - Population and Acreage of Civil Parishes alphabetically arranged. Publ. H.M.S.O. 1931
  12. Highland Council web site - www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/file/4396/lochduich_community_council.pdf Retrieved April 2021
  13. Forestry Commission Scotland, All Forests Visitor Monitoring: Survey of visitors to FCS forests, p. 7. Accessed 29 January 2009
  14. Douglas Botting, Wild Britain: A Traveller's and Naturalist's Handbook, London: Ebury Press, 1988, ISBN   0852236093 p. 182
  15. Wild Britain: A Traveller's and Naturalist's Handbook, London: Ebury Press, 1988, ISBN   0852236093 p. 182
  16. Michael Lynch, Oxford Companion to Scottish History, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 349, ISBN   978-0-19-923482-0
  17. National Trust for Scotland information on the battle Accessed 28 January 2009
  18. 1 2 A. H. Millar, F.S.A. Scot. The Battle of Glenshiel, 10 June 1719. Note upon an Unpublished Document in the Possession of His Grace the Duke of Marlborough Archived March 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine . For Spanish retreat, see p. 68. Accessed 28 January 2009
  19. Murray, p. 278. Other sources give the figure as 300
  20. Irvine Butterfield, The Magic of the Munros, Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1999, ISBN   0715321684 p. 134
  21. Peter Tillemans on Artnet Accessed 30 January 2009
  22. National Galleries of Scotland online collection Accessed 30 January 2009
  23. 1 2 Provenance of The Battle of Glenshiel 1719 Accessed 1 February 2009
  24. John Macleod, Highlanders: A History of the Gaels, London: Sceptre, 1997, ISBN   0340639911 p. 173
  25. John Prebble, Culloden, London: Penguin, 1967, p. 303
  26. Biography at Scottish Liberal Democrats site Archived 2014-02-02 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 29 January 2009

Bibliography