Читать книгу An Island Odyssey - Hamish Haswell-Smith - Страница 21

KERRERA

. . . the bays afford all sorts of shellfish in great plenty; as oysters, clams, mussels, lobsters, cockles, etc., which might be pickled and exported in great quantities.

Some years ago we moored Jandara in Ardantrive Bay at the north end of the pleasantly rural island of Kerrera. Kerrera, which forms a natural breakwater for the important harbour of Oban, once had a population of nearly 200 and still supports about forty residents. The island’s main function for many years was a stepping-stone for the annual cattle drive from Mull to the mainland.

It was a damp evening and Peter, Ian and I retired below to find the saloon chilly and unwelcoming. Craig, who is our expert on such matters, disappeared into the lazaret and twenty minutes later warm air was circulating pleasantly. He had fitted a larger diesel jet in the heating system, he explained.

Some time later, food, sea air, warmth and wine were having their inevitable effect. The ship-to-shore radio spluttered occasionally in the background. Someone was calling Oban Coastguard about a yacht which was on fire and there appeared to be no one aboard.

‘Where are you?’ asked the Coastguard.

‘Ardantrive,’ said the caller.

We grabbed our cameras and rushed on deck. Our motivation may have been heroic dreams of rescue or a photographic scoop – but more likely it was pure mindless curiosity.

We peered through a dense cloud of black exhaust fumes coming from our heating system and with great difficulty saw the red-faced skipper of the adjoining craft asking the Coastguard to cancel the call as it now appeared that there were four men aboard the yacht and that they had the emergency under control.

We switched off the heating system, thanked both the helpful caller and the Coastguard for their concern, and retired shame-facedly to our bunks.

Most of Kerrera’s 3000 acres have belonged to the Clan MacDougall since Somerled’s time in the 12th century. Although it is so close to bustling Oban it is a world apart with lovely views and quiet walks. An easy climb up Càrn Breugach through shrub woodland is rewarding for its magnificent view of the Lorn coast.

Gylen Castle

It was in Horseshoe Bay in the beautiful Sound of Kerrera that Alexander II’s fleet anchored in July 1249. Alexander slept aboard ship. In the morning he said he had dreamed that St Columba had come aboard and told him he should return home immediately. Alexander’s nobles felt he should heed the warning but Alexander scoffed at the idea and went ashore. But as he stepped off the vessel onto Kerrera’s soil he stumbled and before he could be carried back on board he died. The land behind the bay is still called Dalrigh – ‘the field of the king’.

The tall ruin of Gylen Castle – ‘castle of the springs’ – is on the south coast of Kerrera above natural springs which provided ample fresh water in case of siege. It was built in 1587 by the 16th MacDougall chief, on the site of an earlier fortification. In 1647 during the Covenanting Wars it was besieged by General Leslie who promised the defenders safe passage if they surrendered. They accepted, but as soon as they had left the castle every single one of them was slaughtered and the castle burnt. On a gloomy day the ruin still looks formidable poised above the steep and rocky coastline and an inscription inside seems to say – ‘Trust in God and sin no more’.

Gylen Castle was the repository for the MacDougalls’ famous Brooch of Lorn which is said to have belonged to Bruce. It is a large disc of Celtic silver filagree with a cavity for sacred relics and a huge rock-crystal circled by eight jewelled obelisks. For two centuries the MacDougalls believed that it had been destroyed in the fire but in 1825 General Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochnell confessed to having inherited it. His ancestor, Campbell of Inverawe, one of Leslie’s officers, had looted it after all the defenders had been massacred and before the castle was burnt down. The General chose to make amends by presenting it to his neighbour, MacDougall of Dunollie, at a public ceremony.

Achadun Castle