Five Sisters & Me

Born and bred at the foot of the most beautiful sisters in Scotland is something I am extremely proud to say that I am.

I’m a high school student about to make the momentous leap of living in the Highlands of Scotland to exploring the busy city and university life of the Central Belt.

So what’s the craic*? Well, this is my wee blog about living in the Highlands, being a young person in Scotland today, and how where I live and my experiences here have influenced me as a creative person.

If you’re reading this, then firstly, thanks for sticking with me this far. (Really. I’m shocked).  Secondly, I hope my stories, experiences, troubles and memories along the way provoke you to reminisce about your Scottish childhood and make you giggle with recognition. Or possibly if you are from further-a-field and are just having a nosey, I hope this blog will inspire you to visit my beautiful country or even just give you a taste of our culture and community.

Anyways, back to the sisters. Unfortunately, I was cursed with an enormous, big brother and not five stunning siblings. However, The Five Sisters of Kintail have looked over me from the day I popped into this world. The Five Sisters are a small, yet breathtaking, set of mountains at the head of Loch Duich. As the name suggests, there are five mountains each with a Gaelic name more lengthy and impossible to pronounce than the next;  Sgùrr na Ciste Duibhe, Sgùrr na Càrnach, Sgùrr Fhuaran, Sgùrr nan Saighead and Sgurr na Moraich.

Children in my area grow up hearing ‘old wives tales’ or folk tales. It is a strong tradition that these types of stories were not written down and therefore spread through word-of-mouth. An early memory of mine was when my primary school made a short film depicting the legendary story of how the Five Sisters got their name. An excitable 8 year old Mairi thought this was a very big deal. Me in a FILM? A film with REAL cameras? Yes, quite groundbreaking for this sheltered wain*. In retrospect, I think the biggest crowd that ever saw this masterpiece was our neighbouring primary school, Auchtertyre.

The legend goes that there was once a family of seven sisters and their father who lived in the small highland community of Kintail. One spring day, two unfamiliar brothers sailed down Loch Duich, as they came ashore, they fell in love at first sight with the youngest two sisters of Kintail. The men approached their father to ask for his blessing, however this old Highland man refused to allow the men to marry his youngest girls. The father firmly stated that his eldest daughters must be engaged first. The smitten two men pleaded and promised they had five other brothers who they would send to marry the other girls. But the old man persisted and said no. The night went on and the two foreign men nursed the old man with dram* after dram. Eventually, the intoxicated father relented, and agreed the visitors’ wish to marry and take his two youngest away. The next day, the old man woke and remembered of his agreement. This filled him with sadness but he was a man of his word, so he waved as the two couples set sail and drifted away. Days, weeks and months went by as the remaining five sisters waited for their promised husbands. The story has it that the sisters waited so long they turned to stone. And to this day, they remain at the head of Loch Duich awaiting their promised sailors to arrive.

This is one of my favourite folk tales because not only is it set in the place that I live but it doesn’t end like the Disney fairytales we’re used to. The old man was lied to and betrayed, and the poor five sisters were left behind, forever expecting their handsome young men to arrive. Folk tales always have a hidden meaning and moral lesson behind them. As a child we were told this meant not to trust strangers or make promises you can’t keep.

However, a promise I will be keeping is my next blog post topic! Next time I will tell you about our strong tradition of music, why it is so important to our community and my experience as I go to an exciting concert in Ullapool.

x

*craic – celtic slang for goings on/ or good fun

*wain – scottish slang word for small child

*dram – a measure of whisky

The Five Sisters of Kintail

Heading toward The Sisters from Glen Shiel