A sense of place.....
Richard Davison • November 9, 2019
Rum from Boreraig, Skye
As a walk guide, you visit some special places – where the sum is greater than the individual parts. One such place is Boreraig on the Isle of Skye. There is a strong sense of history through the walk and lots of interest.
The usual route to Boreraig starts at Cill Chriosd on the Broadford to Torrin road. Cill Chriosd is the ruined church for the parish of Strath, which included the cleared villages of Boreraig and Suisnish. There has been Christian worship here since the 7th Century. The present ruined church probably replaced the first medieval stone church in the 16th Century. The first Protestant minister of the church (in 1627) is “remembered primarily for his meanness and his greed”!
Nearby are the remains of some old marble mines. You can see the remains of a horizontal winding wheel which lifted railway trucks up the steep incline beyond it. The mines here were worked from the early 18th Century until they closed in 1912. A railway line to Broadford was opened in 1907.
As you head southwards along a good path, you start to drop towards the ruined settlement of Boreraig, with superb views opening up across to Rum and the Sleat peninsula. Boreraig was cleared in 1853 by the agents of Lord Macdonald to make way for sheep. About 120 people lived in 22 households in the village – some higher up the slope and some right down by the shore. Most of the walls are still there – no people but still quite a few sheep!
At least 8 of the households were sponsored through the Highlands & Islands Emigration Scheme to emigrate to Australia. On one day in June this year, the weather was gorgeous and there were very few people about. On walking down towards the village, a lady was walking back up the hill. We stopped and talked for a few minutes. She was on holiday from Australia and her ancestors were one of the 8 families which emigrated – she spoke with emotion on seeing the home of her ancestors for the first time. The family had settled in Queensland, a long way from the land they knew back on Skye. Her words added real value to the walk and strengthened the sense of place immeasurably.
Spare a thought, though, for those who didn’t or weren’t able to take up the emigration scheme. These families often went to other townships but encountered even worse hardship, often not able to find a house to live in. I wonder what the stories of their descendants are?
Over one of the burns that run through the township is a single slab footbridge. Local folklore suggests that this was lifted into place by one man – called Glagan-gluine, which means “knock-knees”!
From Boreraig, the path follows a stunning stretch of coastline, hemmed in by cliffs of mudstone and gabbro. Vegetation seems to cling onto the cliffs and there are several narrow waterfalls. This coast looks south and on a good day can be warm and sunny. If you’re lucky you might see an adder warming itself on a rock.
You eventually go up and over a headland which takes you to Suisnish and a great view of the Cuillins, the Blabheinn group of hills and the Red Cuillins. On a clear day, the views alone are worth the walk. But this area has many stories to tell……
Cill Chriosd, Skye
View of Bla Bheinn from near Suisnish, Skye
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