The village of Ballachulish (
or , from
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...
) in
Lochaber
Lochaber ( ; gd, Loch Abar) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig, as they were before being reduced in extent by the creation ...
,
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, is centred on former
slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
quarries
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...
. The name Ballachulish (Ballecheles, 1522 – Straits town) was more correctly applied to the area now called North Ballachulish, to the north of
Loch Leven Loch Leven may refer to:
;Bodies of water in Scotland
* Loch Leven (Kinross), a freshwater loch in Perth and Kinross
** Loch Leven Castle, a fortress on the loch
** William Douglas of Lochleven, later the 6th Earl of Morton
* Loch Leven (Highlands) ...
, but was usurped for the quarry villages at East Laroch and West Laroch, either side of the
River Laroch, which were actually within
Glencoe and South Ballachulish respectively.
Overview
![Balachulish by Lessthankris](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Balachulish_by_Lessthankris.jpg)
The principal industry is now
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
.
The name Ballachulish (from
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...
, ''Baile a' Chaolais'') means "the Village by the Narrows". The
narrows
A narrows or narrow (used interchangeably but usually in the plural form), is a restricted land or water passage. Most commonly a narrows is a strait, though it can also be a water gap.
A narrows may form where a stream passes through a tilted ...
in question is
Caolas Mhic Phàdraig – Peter or Patrick's son's narrows, at the mouth of Loch Leven.
As there was no road to the head of
Loch Leven Loch Leven may refer to:
;Bodies of water in Scotland
* Loch Leven (Kinross), a freshwater loch in Perth and Kinross
** Loch Leven Castle, a fortress on the loch
** William Douglas of Lochleven, later the 6th Earl of Morton
* Loch Leven (Highlands) ...
until 1927, the Ballachulish Ferry, established in 1733, and those at Invercoe/Callert and ''Caolas na Con'' were essential. The Ballachulish ferry closed in December 1975 when the
Ballachulish Bridge
The Ballachulish Bridge is a bridge in the West Highlands of Scotland.
It crosses the narrows (Caolas mhic Phadruig - Patrick's Narrows) between Loch Leven and Loch Linnhe, linking the villages of South Ballachulish (Argyll) and North Ballac ...
finally opened.
The Ballachulish Hotel and Ballachulish House (until recently
010a country house hotel) are located near the narrows at (south) Ballachulish Ferry rather than in the "modern" village some east. Ballachulish House was reputed to be haunted, and the drive leading to it was ridden by a headless horseman.
The hamlet of
Glenachulish lies in Gleann a' Chaolais, the glen that runs down to the narrows. This is the subject of the
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
song
Gleann Bhaile Chaoilwritten by John Cameron (1865–1951) and known locally both as the Paisley Bard and by his local nickname ''Iain Cealaidh''. He is often confused with another local bard also called
John Cameron, known locally as ''Iain Rob'' (1822–1898). Gleann a' Chaolais is ringed by
Beinn a' Bheithir
Beinn a' Bheithir () is a mountain south of Ballachulish and Loch Leven in the Scottish Highlands. It has two Munro summits: Sgorr Dhearg (''Sgòrr Dhearg'' ) at and Sgorr Dhonuill (''Sgòrr Dhòmhnaill'') at .
The mountain forms a horseshoe ...
, a massif which contains two
munros
A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevis ...
-
Sgorr Dhearg
Beinn a' Bheithir () is a mountain south of Ballachulish and Loch Leven in the Scottish Highlands. It has two Munro summits: Sgorr Dhearg (''Sgòrr Dhearg'' ) at and Sgorr Dhonuill (''Sgòrr Dhòmhnaill'') at .
The mountain forms a horseshoe ...
and
Sgorr Dhonuill
Beinn a' Bheithir () is a mountain south of Ballachulish and Loch Leven in the Scottish Highlands. It has two Munro summits: Sgorr Dhearg (''Sgòrr Dhearg'' ) at and Sgorr Dhonuill (''Sgòrr Dhòmhnaill'') at .
The mountain forms a horseshoe ...
. In recent years a number of new houses have been built locally along with holiday chalets and an
art gallery
An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...
. Also the fields of Gleann a' Chaolais have been turned into the 9-hole Dragon's Tooth
golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...
.
Overlooking the narrows is the monument to
James of the Glen
James Stewart of the Glen, (Gaelic: ''Seumas a' Ghlinne''; c. 1698 - 8 November 1752) also known as James of the Glens, was a leader of the Scottish Clan Stewart of Appin. He was wrongfully accused and hanged as an accessory to the Appin Murder, t ...
, "hanged on this spot for a crime of which he was not guilty".
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
based his novel ''
Kidnapped
Kidnapped may refer to:
* subject to the crime of kidnapping
Literature
* ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson
* ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...
'' around the story of the
Appin Murder
The Appin Murder () was the assassination of Colin Roy Campbell, the Clan Campbell tacksman of Glenure, on 14 May 1752 near Appin in the west of Scotland. The murder occurred in the aftermath of the Jacobite Rising of 1745 and led to the exe ...
. Whoever did kill ''The Red Fox'' (Campbell of Glenure) is still not known.
Shinty
Shinty
Shinty ( gd, camanachd, iomain) is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread in Scotland, an ...
is a popular local sport and the narrows is the traditional boundary of the north–south divide in shinty, with teams north of narrows playing in the North district's competitions and those South playing in their respective competitions.
Ballachulish Camanachd Club
Ballachulish Camanachd Club is a shinty team from Ballachulish, Lochaber, Scotland. The club was founded in 1893 the same year as the Camanachd Association. One of the sport's most famous clubs, they won the Camanachd Cup four times before Worl ...
play in the South Leagues. However, Ballachulish is still considerably far North in relation to most of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. The club has won the
Camanachd Cup
The Camanachd Association Challenge Cup known as the Camanachd Cup (or less commonly the Scottish Cup) is the premier competition in the sport of shinty. It is one of the five trophies considered to be part of the Grand Slam in the sport of shin ...
four times.
Railway
![Ballachulish Ferry Hotels, James Valentine photograph c](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Ballachulish_Ferry_Hotels%2C_James_Valentine_photograph_c._1870.png)
In 1903, a branch of the
Callander and Oban Railway
The Callander and Oban Railway company was established with the intention of linking the sea port of Oban to the railway network. This involved a long line from Callander through wild and thinly populated terrain, and shortage of money meant that ...
, from , was opened to Ballachulish. The site of the former railway halt of , the last stop on the line before the
Laroch quarries
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...
, was next to Ballachulish House, some inland from the ferry. Traces of the line, which closed in 1966, remain between here and Connel Ferry. The old terminus station at Laroch (Ballachulish) is now a doctor's surgery. The station, and stationmaster's house, at , is now a private house and the station at , some south, has been refurbished in its old traditional
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...
brown. The station at
Kentallen ( south of Ballachulish) included a pier. When the Oban-Ballachulish branch line closed, the station buildings were bought over by Scottie & Bridget Stewart who ran the renowned Kentallen Station Tearooms for more than 15 years until finally retiring in 1974. Afternoon tea served here was a spectacular feast according to visitors books from the day. This station has now been turned into The Holly Tree Hotel & Leisure Club. Much of the old railway line has been re-used as part of
National Cycle Route 78
National Cycle Route 78 runs from Campbeltown to Inverness. It was officially launched as the Caledonia Way in 2016 as part of the wider redevelopment of Scotland's cycle network.
It runs from the Kintyre peninsula to the Great Glen and the ro ...
, once again giving the beautiful views previously seen from the train.
Slate
![Ballachulish slate quarry](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Ballachulish_slate_quarry.JPG)
Slate from the East Laroch quarries, established just two years after the infamous
Glencoe Massacre
The Massacre of Glencoe ( gd, Murt Ghlinne Comhann) took place in Glen Coe in the Highlands of Scotland on 13 February 1692. An estimated 30 members and associates of Clan MacDonald of Glencoe were killed by Scottish government forces, alleged ...
of 1692, was used to provide the roofing slate for much of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
and
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
's skyline in the succeeding centuries. It is of good quality but one weakness is the presence of
Iron Pyrite
The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral.
Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue giv ...
in the rock. These crystals quickly rust away when exposed to the weather, leaving clean square holes and a brown rusty streak. Over 75% of the slate cut from the quarries was unusable as roof covering for this and other reasons. In 1955 the quarries closed. Leaving Slate waste mountains in their wake for the then abruptly unemployed and quickly impoverished villagers to sort out.
Between 1902 and 1905 the Ballachulish community was badly affected by two protracted conflicts in the slate quarries. The first began in July 1902, involved a twelve months
lockout
Lockout may refer to:
* Lockout (industry), a type of work stoppage
**Dublin Lockout, a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers 1913 - 1914
* Lockout (sports), lockout in sports leagues
**MLB lockout, lock ...
, and lasted eighteen months. The workers objected to the summary dismissal of the medical officer Dr.
Lachlan Grant from both his work in the quarries and his post as Medical Officer for the Parish Council District of Ballachulish. They also objected to the unsatisfactory labour contracts, inadequate wages and excessive charges for the powder, coals and other materials supplied by the company.
The second dispute started in the summer of 1905 when members of a hostile crowd charged the quarry manager with autocratic, dictatorial and unfair behaviour towards both Dr. Grant and members of the quarrying labour force and the community.
A new company was formed in December 1907 and quarrying continued at Ballachulish until 1955.
[''Custom and Conflict in 'The Land of the Gael': Ballachulish 1900-1910''. by Neville Kirk. The Merlin Press Ltd. 2007.]
Local Highland Games
Graveyard
The
graveyard
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
of the former
St John's Episcopal Church has an "exceptional collection of 19th-century finely inscribed and carved"
gravestone
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...
s made from Ballachulish
slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
.
See also
*
Cameron of Lochiel
Cameron may refer to:
People
* Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan
* Cameron (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Cameron (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
;Mononym
* Cam'ron (born 19 ...
*
Clan Cameron
Clan Cameron is a West Highland Scottish clan, with one main branch Lochiel, and numerous cadet branches. The Clan Cameron lands are in Lochaber and within their lands lies Ben Nevis which is the highest mountain in the British Isles. The Chief ...
*
Eilean Munde
Eilean Munde is a small uninhabited island in Loch Leven, close to Ballachulish.
It is the site of a chapel built by St. Fintan Mundus (also known as Saint Fintan Munnu), who travelled here from Iona in the 7th century. The church was burnt i ...
References
{{Authority control
Populated places in Lochaber
Slate industry in the United Kingdom