The River Glass () is a river in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

which flows northeastwards down

Strathglass Strathglass is a strath or wide and shallow valley in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland down which runs the meandering River Glass, Strathglass, River Glass from the point at which it starts at the confluence of the River Affric and Abhainn De ...

. It begins at the confluence of the River Affric and the Abhainn Deabhag, near the village of Tomich. It is joined by the River Cannich near the village of

Cannich Cannich (Gaelic: ''Canaich'') is a village at the southern end of Strathglass, in the Highlands of Scotland, about west of the city of Inverness. It is at the furthest point of the A831 that loops around the Aird from Beauly to Drumnadrochit. ...

, then flows as far as a confluence with the River Farrar near Struy, from which point the merged waters are known as the

River Beauly The River Beauly (, ) is a river in the Scottish Highlands, about 15 km west of the city of Inverness. It is about 25 km long, beginning near the village of Struy, at the confluence of the River Farrar and the River Glass, Strathglass ...

The river is crossed by several bridges: *Fasnakyle Bridge, unclassified road *Comar Bridge, near Cannich, carries the A831 *Mauld Bridge, near Struy, unclassified road

History

Following the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process whereby Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of Scotland. It forms part of the wider European 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Fr ...

in 1560, the modern site of the Fasnakyle bridge was for many years the location of a secret Mass house whose parishioners were served, like the rest of the Catholic population of

, by outlawed "heather priests" of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

. According to Odo Blundell, the Mass house was situated so that it could only be approached by a

Mass path A mass path is a pedestrian track or road connecting destinations frequently used by rural communities, traditionally leading to a church celebrating Sunday Mass. They were most common during the centuries that preceded motorised transportation ...

, "leading from the lower end of Strathglass, eighteen miles distant." Among the priests of their Order who offered

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

at Fasnakyle before the

Suppression of the Jesuits Suppression may refer to: Laws * Suppression of Communism Act *Suppression order a type of censorship where a court rules that certain information cannot be published * Tohunga Suppression Act 1907, an Act of the Parliament of New Zealand aimed ...

were Frs John Farquharson (1699-1782), Alexander Cameron (1701-1746), and Norman MacLeod (c.1715-1777).

In popular culture

* After his clerk was arrested by

Lord Lovat Lord Lovat () is a title of the rank Lord of Parliament in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1458 for Hugh Fraser by summoning him to the Scottish Parliament as Lord Fraser of Lovat, although the holder is referred to simply as Lo ...

for fishing for

Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Hucho taimen, Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlan ...

in the River Glass near the Mass house at Fasnakyle, a satirical Scottish Gaelic poem was composed, in retaliation for Lovat's refusal of an in person request for the clerk's release, shortly before the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...

by Fr. John Farquharson. While denouncing the clan chief for both his disloyalty to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

and for making lavish promises of his loyalty to ''both'' the House of Hannover and the

House of Stuart The House of Stuart, originally spelled Stewart, also known as the Stuart dynasty, was a dynasty, royal house of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and later Kingdom of Great Britain, Great ...

at the same time, Fr Farquharson correctly predicted that Lord Lovat's body would soon be without his head and that he would be despised as a traitor "to both kings". After hearing the poem recited aloud, Lord Lovat, who did not wish to provoke "any more disagreeable prophecies", immediately ordered the clerk's release. "Simon, Lord Lovat's Warning", by Colin Chisholm, ''The Celtic Magazine'', Volume 7, November 1881, pp. 49–52.

References

Glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

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