argyll-1971/01-044

Transcription

INTRODUCTION

to the Inventory of the Ancient and Historical
Monuments of Kintyre

PART 1. GENERAL
THE LAND AND ITS RESOURCES

KINTYRE is a peninsula which projects south-south-westwards from the mainland of
Argyll, forming a barrier between the Atlantic and the Firth of Clyde. It is about 65 km
long, varies in breadth from 9 km to 15 km for the greater part of its length, and ends
in a wider block measuring 15 km by 18 km. The high, steep-faced Mull of Kintyre, which
forms its south-west corner, must have loomed as a formidable sea-mark to early mariners
navigating the North Channel, and the name Kintyre, often mentioned in the Irish records,
no doubt originated with them - Ceann Tire meaning "Head of the Land" or, perhaps better,
"End of the Land". That a name Sáil Tire, "Heel of the Land", was also in use at some time
is inferred from its Norse adaptation Saltiri. 1 The Mull was evidently known in Classical
times, as Ptolemy, on his map of North Britain, marks it as '[----] or Epidium pro.
montorium, with the tribal name Epidii immediately to the north. This name, meaning "The
Horse-people", is derived from an early British word epos, "horse", and shows that at the date
in question Kintyre was occupied by a British-speaking tribe associated in some way with
horses.2 An Irish record of Aird Echdi i Cinn Tíre, "The headland of Echdc in Kintyre",
represents the Gaelic equivalent of [----].3 The Mull is no more than 22 km, at
nearest, from the Irish coast; the south-east corner of the peninsula is similarly some 43 km
from Galloway; and the east side varies between 5 km and 16 km from Arran. As a result, the
outlook to seaward from the southern cliffs seems to be over a wide, landlocked basin, con-
necting rather than separating the surrounding communities. The northern end of the
peninsula is an isthmus, 1.5 km wide, between East and West Loch Tarbert, the former
opening to Clyde waters and the latter to the Atlantic; the Gaelic place-name Tairbeart is
typical of an isthmus site, as it means "carry-over" or "portage". The west side of the peninsula,
for the northernmost 15 km of its length, is bordered by West Loch Tarbert, itself nowhere as
much as 2 km in breadth. Off the west coast lie the islands of Gigha and Cara, and the seaward
approaches to the Sound of Jura.

1 Watson, W. J., The History of the Celtic Place-names of Scotland
(1926), 92.
2 That certain early Celtic tribes went in for something in the
way of animal totems is suggested by such names as Catti
(Caithness), Orci (Orkney), or Boccraige (in Ireland), and this
explanation of the name seems preferable to Watson's
(op. cit., 23 f.).
3 Ibid., 24. In this connection Watson points out that Kintyre
was the home of the MacEacherns, whose name derives from
Mac Each-thighearna, "Son of the Horse-Lord".

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