Tour guide hits back at 'gibberish' spoken about Gaelic Scotland

A new book is seeking to redress the “gibberish” shared with tourists about Gaelic history and culture on their travels through Scotland.

Coinneach Maclean, of Skye, who trained as a tour guide after retirement, said he wrote Travels in Another Country, A Guide to Gaelic Scotland to counter the “distortion and invention” surrounding the Gaels, their traditions and stories which are routinely made up, embellished and shared with visitors.

The book journeys through Gaelic speaking areas, past and present, and uses place names, archive material, songs and poetry to illustrate the landscape, the stories and the characters which deeply defined the places through time.

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He said a lack of understanding of Gaelic culture among tour guides meant that vast chunks of history were often either missed out - or manufactured.

Mr Maclean said: “Often because guides cannot get a grip on Gaelic culture in Scotland, what happens is that people, rather than talk about the landscape in the period that Gaels were there, talk about monuments, Bronze Age monuments, so about 2,000 years of Gaelic history in Scotland is just ignored.”

He said one of the “worst offenders” was the Isle of Skye, given the many tales surrounding some of its most popular attractions such as the Fairy Pools, Fairy Glen and the now-magical waters that flow under the Sligachan bridge that used to connect the island to the mainland.

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Mr Maclean said there had been “so much invention” that visitors may be unable to separate “fact from fiction”.

Mr Maclean, who trained in archaeology and latterly worked in the heritage sector, said: “Skye is one of the worst offenders. In 1979 they replaced the old Telford Bridge and it now sits in the landscape as a feature. People have had to invent a tale about the waters underneath the bridge.

“You see people there dipping their heads into the pools because if you do that, come out and let the sun and the wind dry your face, your beauty will be retained eternally. Where did that come from?

“Of course it is utter gibberish. There are no associations with anything at that location other than droving in the 1820s and 1830s.”

Stories and the new folklore surrounding the bridge have then escalated to include a potion - or maybe even tears - being added to the water by the supposed lover of Cù Chulainn (‘Culann’s hound’), best described as a Gaelic mythological demigod. Some believe the Cuillins, where he is said to have hunted, were named after him.

Mr Maclean added: “It gets worse and worse and worse. After creating the nonsense in the first place, you have to add yet further information to justify why the waters have become so important in preserving the beauty of people. It goes on and on and on."

Mr Maclean said the Fairy Pools on Skye only became known as such in the past 20 years or so. When he was growing up, all the stories around the Glenbrittle beauty spot, now a major tourist draw, were related to the last clan battle between the Macleods and the Macdonalds in the early 1600s.

He added: “A book written in the early 1900s writes of four locations where fairies could be seen on the isle of Skye - none of them were the Fairy Glen or the Fairy Pool. No reference is made to them.

“You say that to people and they say ‘don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.’

“There are many many traditions associated with those locations but what happens is that people overlay it with this stupid glop which has no reference and no connection with the culture and traditions of the Gaelic people. The Gaelic narrative has been obliterated.”

Travels in Another Country, A Guide to Gaelic Scotland, by Coinneach Maclean is available from Acair Books from June 18.