Schiehallion: Hill of the Ancestor Spirits of the Caledonian

[jimandandrea]

Fairy mountain, or maiden's pap - which to chose? Its not about hits on the report is it really? Fairy Mountain it is then.
Parked early - our last day before heading home and it looked good. If all went to plan this would be 12 Munro's we had done in a great week's holiday. The weather looked good, wind was minimal - lets go.

Schiehallion

If the first day had been like this I am not sure we would have needed a map - all you had to do really was walk and talk - although not always at the same time. After the cairn that marks the end of the John Muir Trust path, its a path that appears then dissappears then reappears then peaters out then oh stuff it - just head upwards.
Well it might have started out great on the weather front but by this freestyle section the cloud came down and visability dropped. Here we go again - compass - head west.
It was quite a surprise when it cleared (a bit) and you could see how steep the ridge to our left was and how far below the valley was. It never really seemed that you were going up. Too busy gabbing! Eventually the top was reached and it cleared - a bit.

View from the top

Although we were not best pleased at least we saw something. Felt sorry for the two guys in front who headed back as they thought it would not clear. It is always something when you get to see something from the summit.
As we descended it did clear a bit.

We even got to see the the Lawers range and Carn Mairg that we had been up on day one - and seen nought of and from.

Lawers range and Carn Mairg

It did clear though and Mr Sun came out again.

As we made our way back down it was a very pleasant end to our week. We had a wee rest and took in the view on the comfy chairs and shared a Tunnoch's Tea cake (oh joy!)

Actually, they are our 'emergency Tunnoch's' Only to be used in the event of a disaster: a very low blood sugar, we are lost and need encouragement or they are about to go out of date so what the hell we better eat them.
So that was our last day - some dull times but never a dull moment.

Back soon.

[ChrisW]

Great report and a couple of cracking pics - well done on waiting it out

[trekpete]

Looked a fair enough day. At least it cleared and gave you a view though. One of my favorite view points in winterm though I was denied the view back in November last year

Peter

[Graeme D]

Great pictures. I'm quite jealous of your week of 12 Munros! This was my first Munro - long overdue a return visit.

[jimandandrea]

Great pictures. I'm quite jealous of your week of 12 Munros! This was my first Munro - long overdue a return visit.

Cheers. It was a great week but it will be awhile before we are up again. So we are so envious that you have them on your doorstep. So we will keep our spirits up by reading all the reports .

[Caberfeidh]

Nice photos! It's been years since I've been there.That whole "fairy" thing is a poor translation. From the gaelic Sithean (pronounced shee-aan); this would be better translated as "ancestor spirits", as legendary figures are in many cultures. Often sites named as sithean -something, like cnoc na sithean (cnoc=hillock) or Glen Sithean (Glen Shee of skiing fame) have ancient archeoloigal sites, like burial mounds, standing stones or settlement patterns. Schiehallion's anglified name of Fairy Hill of the Caledonians sounds pretentious and peculiar; it makes more sense when translated as Hill of the Ancestor Spirits of the Caledonians,it is an ancient name dating from pre-Christian times. Southern "fairies" were purely mythical, Highland Sithean were based on real people: stone-age, bronze-age or iron-age whose exploits have gained legendary status down the centuries. Lets not damn them with faint praise.

[Klaasloopt]

That whole "fairy" thing is a poor translation. From the gaelic Sithean (pronounced shee-aan); this would be better translated as "ancestor spirits", as legendary figures are in many cultures.

Insightful! This sounds much more like Norse, Icelandic or Greenlandic place names. Especially in Greenland, there are a lot of ways to turn into a spirit (shamans, outcasts, murders, deceased) and there's a lot of places around settlements where these spirits are said to have their influence or residence. This all sounds much more logical (as something we would do ourselves, e.g. when naming a chair 'grandpa's chair') than all this fairy stuff.
Thanks!
klaas

[Caberfeidh]

archeoloigal

My apologies for the appalling spelling mistaks.

[morag1]

Hi, just to say that the Scots have always held a belief in the "fairy people" and stories of fairies, kelpies, sprites and guilleaugh dhu have long been passsed down the generations. Both Robert Burns and Walter Scott mention these beliefs in their poems, although Burns described them as superstitious nonsense. Fairy people were believed to live in the hollows of trees and often farmers would refuse to cut down or remove old trees from their lands in case the fairy people put a curse on them for doing so.

There was a long held belief in a Banshee that would appear and wail before someone's death. It used to be a common expression in Scotland to say that a women who was upset and crying was "screaming like a banshee".

I dont know what Schiehallion means but the I feel the connection to "shee" is too strong to ignore and the name might well mean "fairy mountain" although that probably does not go down well with your average Scottish male!!

[chickadee]

I love Schiehallion, or rather when I've been past it in a car I have thought it is lovely! I hope to get up there one day myself. Lovely photos!

[jimandandrea]

Nice photos! It's been years since I've been there.That whole "fairy" thing is a poor translation. From the gaelic Sithean (pronounced shee-aan); this would be better translated as "ancestor spirits", as legendary figures are in many cultures. Often sites named as sithean -something, like cnoc na sithean (cnoc=hillock) or Glen Sithean (Glen Shee of skiing fame) have ancient archeoloigal sites, like burial mounds, standing stones or settlement patterns. Schiehallion's anglified name of Fairy Hill of the Caledonians sounds pretentious and peculiar; it makes more sense when translated as Hill of the Ancestor Spirits of the Caledonians,it is an ancient name dating from pre-Christian times. Southern "fairies" were purely mythical, Highland Sithean were based on real people: stone-age, bronze-age or iron-age whose exploits have gained legendary status down the centuries. Lets not damn them with faint praise.

walking with ancestors.jpg

Quite right - your wish is our command- the title has been changed.

[Caberfeidh]

Thankyou! May the eagle of fortune soar over your lodge...

Alright boys, dismantle that wicker man, we wont be needing it after all...

[morag1]

[quote="morag1"]Hi, just to say that the Scots have always held a belief in the "fairy people" and stories of fairies, kelpies, sprites and guilleaugh dhu have long been passsed down the generations.

[Caberfeidh]

Hi, just to say that the Scots have always held a belief in the "fairy people" and stories of fairies, kelpies, sprites and guilleaugh dhu have long been passsed down the generations.

I dont know what Schiehallion means but the I feel the connection to "shee" is too strong to ignore and the name might well mean "fairy mountain" although that probably does not go down well with your average Scottish male!!

What did I just say a year and a half ago? She's been at the gin again....

[morag1]

Not sure what happened there, dont really want this surfacing again

She's been at the gin again

Guess what my new year resolution is going to be