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Deas air Gleann Afraig, tha beinn le ainm annasach – Taigh Mòr na Seilge. Tha i letheach-slighe eadar Loch Afraig agus Loch Cluanaidh. Taigh Mòr na Seilge – the big house of the hunt. Carson a tha ainm cho annasach air beinn?

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý An robh daoine a’ sealg an sin anns an t-seann aimsir? No an e mearachd a tha ann? Anns na leabhraichean-ainm aig an t-Suirbhidh Ã’rdanais tha pìos sgrìobhte ann am peann dearg. Tha e ag ràdh gur e an t-ainm ceart air a’ bheinn Tom Mòr na Seilge. Agus tha e ag ràdh ‘Altered by authority of Mr. Mackay, Inverness’.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Ach tha nota eile anns an aon leabhar a tha ag ràdh gu feumar tuilleadh rannsachaidh a dhèanamh air an ainm air òrdugh an ‘Director General’. Bha a’ chùis air a dhol gu mullach an OS!

ʼS e Tom Mòr na Seilge a tha air a’ mhapa aon-òirlich a chaidh fhoillseachadh anns a’ bhliadhna naoi ceud deug (1900). An-diugh, ʼs e Taigh Mòr na Seilge a tha air na mapaichean.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý ʼS e an rud a tha iongantach mun bheinn sin, gu bheil ‘taigh’ oirre. Tha an togalach faisg air mullach na beinne aig àirde naoi ceud meatair. Cha robh mi fhìn ann, ach bha mi a’ bruidhinn ri fear a bha ann, agus a chuir dealbhan dhen structar thugam. Tha e faisg air Loch a’ Chòinnich.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Tha an togalach còrr is seachd meatair ann am fad agus ceithir meatair ann an leud. Tha e na thobhta a-nise.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý An e taigh seilge a bha ann? Mas e, carson a bhiodh e cho àrd air a’ bheinn? Rinn mo charaid rannsachadh air a’ chùis agus cha do lorg e iomradh sam bith air an togalach.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Ach thàinig aon bheachd inntinneach thuige – gur e taigh a chaidh a thogail leis an fheadhainn a bha a’ dèanamh nam mapaichean anns an naoidheamh linn deug. Bha an luchd-obrach sin a’ campachadh a-mach am measg beanntan na Gàidhealtachd nuair a bha iad ag obair. Canaidh daoine ‘Colby Camps’ ri a leithid, an dèidh fear Tòmas Colby. Innsidh mi dhuibh tuilleadh mu dheidhinn-san anns an ath Litir.

South of Glen Affric, there is a mountain with an unusual name – Taigh Mòr na Seilge. It’s halfway between Loch Affric and Loch Cluanie. Taigh Mòr na Seilge – the big house of the hunt. Why does a mountain have such an unusual name?

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Were people hunting there in olden times? Or is it a mistake? In the Ordnance Survey name books there is a piece written in red pen. It says that the mountain’s correct name is Tom Mòr na Seilge. And it says ‘Altered by authority of Mr. Mackay, Inverness.’

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ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý But there is another note in the same book which says that more research must be done on the name by order of the ‘Director General’. The matter had gone to the top of the OS [Ordnance Survey]!

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Tom Mòr na Seilge is what is on the one-inch map that was published in the year 1900. Today, it’s Taigh Mòr na Seilge that is on the maps.

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ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý It’s the amazing thing about that mountain that there is a ‘house’ on it. The building is close to the mountain’s summit at an altitude of 900 metres. I haven’t been there but I was speaking to a man who was, and who sent me photos of the structure. It’s near Loch a’ Chòinnich [the loch of the moss].

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý The building is more than seven metres in length and four metres in width. It’s now a ruin.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Was it a hunting lodge? If so, why would it be so high on the mountain? My friend researched the matter and he never found any mention of the building.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý But he received one interesting opinion – that it is a house that was built by the people who were making the maps in the nineteenth century. Those workers were camping out among the mountains of the Highlands while they worked. People call such places ‘Colby Camps’, after a certain Thomas Colby. I’ll tell you more about him in the next Litir.