When we think of spring in Scotland, we don’t often associate it with wild fires – yet surprisingly the months between March and June are the most likely to see our hills, forests and moors ablaze than any other time of the year.
Despite our often wet winters, the combination of dead and dried out heather, leaves and grasses, and strong, drying winds in spring can spell disaster if a stray spark or cigarette finds its way onto the land. Once ignited, these fires can be very difficult to put out, not only damaging the landscape but also putting firefighters’ live at risk and threatening people, wildlife and property.
In 2023, it was reported that there was at least one fire every day between March and June – over a third of them in the Highlands. Since then, there have been a number of initiatives to identify the best ways to avoid wild fires. This is why Peatland ACTION is keen to highlight the role peatland restoration can have in preventing their spread. By rewetting the land, restoration makes it much more difficult for fires to start, or to spread across them from elsewhere.
When fire took hold across the forestry and moors above Lybster in Caithness in 2018, it burnt everything in its path – until it came to the recently restored peatland at Golticlay. The work here to smooth out the furrows and ridges left in the peatland after the forestry had been removed raised the water table. This meant the ground surface and vegetation were too wet for the fire to spread. It was a dramatic example of healthy peatlands’ ability to prevent the spread of wildfires.
The combination of the wetter surface, thanks to the higher water table, an increase in peatland vegetation, and the removal of scrub on the areas where peatland restoration work had taken place stopped the fire in its tracks—with the stark line between scorched black and lush green clear to see from the air. You can read the full case study on the Peatland ACTION website.
Peatlands in good condition are one of the most robust open habitats found in Scotland’s landscape, along with other wetlands. However peatlands that have been damaged, for example where drainage has been installed, are likely to suffer more severe fire damage and spread fires to neighbouring areas. They usually support the growth of heathy or grassy vegetation, increasing the amount of fuel available and drying out the layer of peat nearest the surface.
This evidence is more than anecdotal. The Fire Blanket project, a research programme led by a team from the University of Highlands and Islands from 2019-21, compared the fire resilience of blanket bogs under different management regimes using measures of vegetation, moisture, peat properties, satellite-derived “bog breathing” and water quality.
They used a major wildfire that happened at Strathy, in the Flow Country, in 2018 as the study site. The project concluded that ‘restoration is likely to increase wildfire resilience and reduce wildfire severity. This in turn should help minimise the carbon losses and biodiversity impacts associated with these events.’
Of course, in an ideal world we wouldn’t have these fires in the first place. Most of them are started either accidentally or deliberately by people, and by following a few simple guidelines many of them can be avoided. If you are out in the countryside, please follow Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s guidance https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/outdoors/wildfires/wildfire-prevention/
Follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code’s advice and never start a fire when a wildfire danger assessment is in place and during prolonged dry periods in areas such as forests, woods, farmland or peaty ground.
Don’t have BBQs on any flammable surface during very dry and prolonged weather. Instead have them within safe designated BBQ areas.
Don’t have campfires or any outdoor fire when a wildfire danger assessment is in place or during prolonged dry periods.
Always fully extinguish cigarettes and dispose of them responsibly.
Don’t leave litter; take it home with you and leave no trace. Glass in direct sunlight can cause a fire. Ensure none is lying around.
Where possible, use a stove rather than an open fire.
If you do light a fire, keep it small, controlled and supervised.
Make sure the fire has been fully extinguished and remove all traces of an open fire before you leave the area.
From drones to artificial intelligence (AI), new technologies are changing the face of wildlife management. In today’s blog, our wildlife management officer Nathan Berrie looks at some of the advantages – and limitations – of these new tools for monitoring deer populations.
Deer are an important part of our biodiversity, but in high numbers they can have a negative impact on woodlands, peatlands and other habitats. Sustainable deer management is vital if we are to meet ambitious and necessary targets to restore nature and tackle climate change.
In its report to the Scottish Government in 2020, the independent Deer Working Group highlighted the need to embrace technology to better understand the challenges and opportunities when managing deer. As the urgency around the nature and climate crises has increased, and with it a move towards more conservation management of deer, innovation in the sector has accelerated.
One area where tech is increasingly being developed and deployed is deer counting. Knowing how many deer use an area is important to determine how to manage populations sustainably. Historically, helicopters have been used and they remain our primary method of counting. However, alternatives are being explored to lower carbon emissions, cut costs and increase efficiency.
Most notably, thermal drones have offered an alternative method in specific situations. Working with B&H Wildlife Consultancy, NatureScot recently completed a thermal drone count at our Taynish National Nature Reserve. This count offered a valuable insight into deer populations at the reserve, including minimum population during the survey, species classification and population movements. Along with robust habitat impact assessments, this data can help support our decision making on deer management.
Thermal drones do have their limitations though. Legal flight requirements stipulate a maximum flight distance of 500 meters and keeping the drone within line of sight. The need to continually move to the next survey point risks disturbing deer and skewing the results. Alongside battery lifespan, weather conditions and limited ability to classify sex and age, drones can struggle to provide results in many landscape-scale situations.
Several other novel approaches may offer solutions. Supported by the Scottish Government’s CivTech programme, NatureScot worked with EOLAS to explore using existing satellites and a newly developed wildlife artificial intelligence (AI) image recognition tool. Although in its infancy, the technology showed promise and has the potential to provide swift and accurate data across a larger area of open land. With further development it could provide real-time and frequently updated population information.
Again, much like drones, the technology has its limitations. Limited image resolution currently makes it challenging to classify sex, age and possibly species of deer. Furthermore, if higher resolution images are developed, there are data storage implications due to the image size. But most of all it is the good old-fashioned Scottish climate that creates the biggest challenge. According to the Met Office, Scotland’s average annual sunshine hours over the whole country are 1,160, meaning that the sun shines just over 25 per cent of the time. Nevertheless, if conditions allow, this technology can be successful. So much so that it is now being used by EOLAS to help conservationists count African elephants.
Another alternative method may help overcome the cloud cover challenge. In phase two of the CivTech project, lightweight manned aircraft that can fly below the cloud cover were trialled. Significantly greener than helicopters, these light aircraft can cover large areas and collect high-resolution images which could be run through the AI software. This technology could allow deer to be classified as stags, hinds, calves and could also be more useful for looking at habitat type and condition—something which current satellites are incapable of.
Whether new or old, each monitoring method has its place depending on management needs. At present, helicopters will be faster and more efficient when faced with numerous priority sites that need counted. And while it can be easy to get excited about a new shiny bit of kit, in truth the conventional dung or foot count may give wildlife managers a better indication of how many deer are on the ground.
There’s no doubt that new technologies are already adding increased flexibility and efficiency for deer managers but looking to the future, it’s likely that a combination of new and traditional methods will be used to get the most accurate outcome.
This article first appeared in issue 69 (Spring 2024) of the Reforesting Scotland Journal.
Snow, wind, rain, wind, hail, frost – did I mention wind? The Scottish weather makes creating case study films of some of our peatland restoration projects interesting to say the least – and wind is our worst enemy!
Over the last two winters (when the majority of restoration work happens), our Peatland ACTION team has been working with a film-maker to create a suite of case study films to highlight what’s involved in peatland restoration projects. Most importantly we’ve been talking to the people directly involved in the work – landowners, land agents, contractors, and the Peatland ACTION project officers who help see the projects through from beginning to end. We hope that these films will encourage more people to restore their peatlands.
To do this takes a lot of organisation and co-ordination. We need to get several busy people out on site at the same time, often planning filming weeks in advance to ensure everyone can make it. Our film maker Richard is based in Edinburgh, while the sites we want to film, and the people we interview, may live and work hundreds of miles away in the Highlands – so travel and accommodation need to be booked a long way ahead.
This is all fine when the weather plays ball. We all turn up on site, Richard films the interviews, and then he can spend the next couple of days filming the contractors in action, and the restoration work both on the ground and using a drone.
But sadly the weather isn’t always on our side. Our interviewees are a hardy bunch, and have put up with horrendous conditions to allow us to film them talking about why they are doing a project, what the benefits are, and why they want to encourage others to get involved. We are eternally thankful!
But the peatlands themselves are not so accommodating! If the ground is frozen, it’s really difficult for the contractors to carry out the work, as the peat crumbles and breaks as they try to move it to create dams or reprofile hags and gullies. Heavy snow means they can’t see the ground to know where to work. Too much rain and the camera could get damaged if it can’t be kept dry.
And then there’s the wind. A key part of the films is the drone footage which gives a birds-eye view of the work going on, so that we can get the best view of the diggers in action, and see what has been done at scale. If it’s too windy, Richard can’t use the drone and may have to wait days or weeks for a weather window, needing a possible further 300-mile round trip to capture the footage. High winds can also make interviews tricky, as the noise as it hits the microphone can drown out the voices.
We are extremely proud of all the films we have made so far, and we hope they will inspire landowners, land managers and contractors to get involved in peatland restoration. You can watch them all on our Peatland ACTION YouTube playlist. However we thought readers might also like a peek behind the scenes to see what filming can really be like. So we asked Richard to create an ‘out-takes’ film to give viewers a taste of a Scottish bog in winter. You’ll be able to see us filming in snow, wind and rain, and understand why there are some times we just can’t film at all. We are so grateful to all our interviewees who braved some horrible weather to allow us to film them – they are true film stars!
Our thanks to Richard Nicholls of Swift Films, and all the fantastic interviewees who braved the weather to make our films possible.
If you’d like to know more about peatland restoration in Scotland, see our Peatland Action web pages.
Over the centuries, the plants that live on bogs have been ascribed a whole host of special properties – some magical, some practical. Earlier people living on the margins of peatlands managed to eke out a living by using their local bog as pharmacy, builders’ merchants and grocers.
Spagnum moss
Many people know that sphagnum moss was used as a wound dressing during the First World War. Even as late as the Second World War, girl guides were sent out to collect the moss for use in hospitals. The moss contains penicillin – an effective antibiotic. This was no cottage industry either. It was estimated that 500,000kg was processed every month, when it was cleaned, dried and put into thin muslin bags that could expand as the sphagnum absorbed the fluids from the wounds. Sphagnum moss has also been used as toilet paper and nappies because of its amazing ability to absorb liquids. And of course it’s the building block of peatlands for that very reason.
Sundews were ascribed much greater powers. The ‘dew’, the sticky globules on the leaves that the plant uses to catch insects, never evaporates in the sun. From this, people concluded that if you put the dew on your skin it would prevent you from aging, or at the very least cure your warts and freckles. Sadly, unlike sphagnum moss’s properties, these claims have not yet been found to have any basis in fact! More prosaically, it was used to make a yellow dye for wool, and more recently provided an ingredient for medicines for respiratory disorders.
Heather (sometimes known as ling) had a host of uses. The word ling comes from the Anglo-Saxon ‘lig’, meaning ‘fire’. But besides its widespread use as a fuel, ling was made into thatch, bedding, floor mats, insulation, fences, rope, ale, tea, baskets, medicines and brushes!
Bog myrtle was used as a midge repellent and was mixed into heather beds to keep parasites at bay – as well as keeping the bedding sweet smelling. Even today, it is used as an ingredient in commercial midge repellents.
The fluffy white seed heads of cotton grass carpet many peatlands in late spring and summer. While the fibres are too short to actually use as cotton, they were traditionally used to make candle wicks, stuffing pillows and even making wound dressings.
Nowadays we don’t need to look to these peatland plants to support our everyday living. However, just like the flora of the tropical rainforests, we still have a lot to discover about the possible uses of these fascinating plants, so we need to ensure they remain as a valuable resource for the future. And while we don’t rely on them these days, there are many kinds of wildlife for whom peatlands are vital to their existence, providing a home, food, shelter and a place to breed.
If you’d like to know more about peatland restoration in Scotland, see our Peatland Action web pages.
Peatland ACTION recently released a new case study film about an impressive project in the Highlands that has so far carried out peatland restoration on an area almost a third the size of Inverness.
Strathvaich Estate lies high in the hills between Inverness and Ullapool, and began its peatland restoration journey in 2015. Six phases of work later, over 900 hectares of peatland have so far been put on the road to recovery, with plans to keep going with further restoration until all the most badly damaged peatland is restored. The estate’s owner, Patrick Creasey, estimates there might be as much as three to four times as big an area as they have already tackled still to restore – and he is committed to doing just that.
The film explains how the estate works closely with Peatland ACTION through its land agents to plan, develop and deliver the restoration work. It’s a complex site and a wide range of restoration techniques are being used to tackle the damaged areas of peat, including gully and hag reprofiling, drain damming, bunding and timber dams. These different techniques help to stop the water draining away from the peatland too quickly, raising the water table and helping the special mosses that need this wet environment to re-cover the bare peat areas.
What this means is that the hills hold onto their water for longer, helping to prevent flash flooding downstream after heavy rain. The biodiversity also improves, as the invertebrates thrive in the new vegetation, and the birds and other animals that rely on them for food benefit in turn.
But peatland restoration on remote, high altitude sites like this can be challenging. A lot of restoration work has to take place in the winter, to avoid disturbing breeding birds. That means contractors have to work during short, winter days, dealing with freezing conditions, rain, wind and snow. When the ground is frozen, it can hamper restoration techniques like reprofiling and revegetating, while constant, heavy rain can make navigating across the sodden peat extremely difficult. Contractors need to be skilled and experienced to get it right.
However for those interested in developing the skills, peatland restoration work offers new, green jobs that can benefit the rural economy and allow people to stay close to home for work. For example, Highland Conservation, which carried out the work at Strathvaich, started out with three or four operators and now has 12.
In the days before television or even electricity, our ancestors were very fond of dubh-fhaclan or riddles, and here is one such rhyming riddle with a nature theme:
Chì mi thugam air a’ bheinn,
Fear beag ’s beum na shròin,
Dà fhiacail fhada na chìr
Is cirb de bhlòigh na thòin.
‘I can see coming towards me on the mountain, a wee man with a split in his nose, two long teeth in his jaw and a ragged bit of a tail behind.’ The task of the audience in the taigh-cèilidh would have been to work out the subject of the riddle. It is, of course, the hare – a native mammal which is the subject of a considerable body of folklore in the world of the Gael.
The hare is generally referred to by one of two words in Gaelic, depending on dialect. The first is geàrr which is commonly heard in the traditional simile cho luath ri geàrr ‘as fast as a hare’. The word geàrr (pronounced GYAAR) literally means ‘short’ and arises from a reduction of the phrase geàrr-fhiadh, literally ‘short deer’. The inclusion of the word fiadh here is instructive because it is the root of fiadhaich ‘wild’ and other derivatives such as ath-fhiadhachadh ‘rewilding’, and both the fiadh and geàrr-fhiadh are considered in Gaelic folklore to be a link between the human world and wild nature. Through cruth-atharrachadh ‘shapeshifting’, a human can take on the form of a red deer or a hare. Outside the seal-people of the maritime west, the only other mammal that commonly permits folkloric shapeshifting is the cat and it might not be entirely coincidental that we call the wildcat an cat-fiadhaich. In all these examples, it is most commonly women, rather than men, that undergo such a transformation.
In one of many folkloric examples of hare-human transmogrification, a woman is said to have lived in a bothy near Baile a’ Chlaidh (Ballachly ‘the township of the cemetery’) in the parish of Latheron in Caithness. Her nickname was Am Fitheach ‘the raven’ (another animal with supernatural qualities); that name had arisen from the circumstance of a woman from Reay going to visit the wise woman to seek advice. However, when reaching her destination, rather than finding a woman, the visitor came upon a raven that was raking the grass with heather, presumably in an attempt to concoct a magic spell. The local woman had the reputation of being a witch and was blamed for the milking cows going dry. People had observed, not a raven but a hare, among the cows, and they suspected it of witchcraft – but neither they nor their dogs could catch the offending animal which would take off at speed towards the cemetery.
With stocks of butter and cheese running low, one man eventually set a snare, fixed to the ground with a peg of rowan wood, knowing that the rowan defends against witchcraft. A hare was trapped in the snare but when the man reached it, she had transformed into a woman – the local witch – confirmed as the source of the bad magic. She eventually left Caithness but the man who had trapped her suffered ill fortune and reputedly came to a sorry end in a drowning accident in the Thurso River. A little to the south of her home, beyond Stemster Hill – and I cannot confirm if the toponym bears any relation to her – is Cnoc na Gearra ‘the hill of the hare’. It might also be significant that the nearest hill to Ballachly is An SìtheanMòr (Sidhean Mòr OS) ‘the great fairy hill’ – a place where the supernatural might be expected.
While the Witch of Ballachly reputedly survived, many tales inform us that the only way of dealing with such a supernatural being would be to shoot her, while she was in the form of a hare, with a silver bullet – and several ‘witches’ were reputed to have been dispatched in such a manner. Many tales exist of a hare being injured in a nightly confrontation, only for local people to find that in the morning a local woman bears an identical injury. This common belief in the shapeshifting hare may be responsible for the animal apparently being rarely consumed as a food item in the Gàidhealtachd.
Geàrr was clearly used in the old Caithness Gaelic dialect for ‘hare’. Sìthean na Gearra ‘the conical “fairy” hill of the hare’ lies in the heart of the Caithness Flow Country while Creag nan Geàrr ‘the rocky hill of the hares’ is to be found among the shapely Braemore hills in the south-east of the county on the border with Sutherland. However, in this instance the modern Ordnance Survey maps leave us a confusing picture, as an almost adjacent summit is given as Creag nam Maigheach, demonstrating usage of an alternative word for ‘hare’ in the same locality. Maigheach (pronounced MY-uch) – derives from magh ‘a plain’ – thus the hare is the ‘one that belongs to the plain’ (presumably referring originally to the Brown hare). It can also occur dialectally as moigheach and, interestingly, given the folkloric connections and their etymological origins, both geàrr and maigheach/moigheach are grammatically feminine. However, the OS Name Book tells us that the original form of Creag nam Maigheach was actually Creag nam Muthach. Although the OS maintains that they are alternate forms for ‘rock of the hares’, Dwelly’s dictionary tells us that muthach means ‘herdsman’ not ‘hare’.
To the west of this area, the word used in Dùthaich MhicAoidh, the Mackay Country of North Sutherland, is also geàrr, and Roy Wentworth’s dictionary of Gairloch Gaelic tells us that the local term there is geàrr, although moigheach is understood, and geàrr is given by Dieckhoff in his vocabulary based on the Glengarry dialect. However, Perthshire man, Robert Armstrong, in his 1825 dictionary, lists only maigheach, moigheach and the full compound noun geàrr-fhiadh.
In place names, there is potential for confusion between places named in geàrr for hares and those named in gearran for geldings or Highland ponies, with gearran being the ‘official’ genitive plural form of both, despite the form nan geàrr ‘of the hares’ being found in some toponyms. (As an aside, the English word garron ‘Highland pony’ comes from Gaelic gearran, meaning ‘one that has been castrated’). In their Name Books, the Ordnance Survey tell us that most gearran names such as Meall nan Gearran and Coire nan Gearran between Glengarry and Glenmoriston, and Cruach nan Gearran near Loch Fyne in Argyll, refer to horses. On the other hand, Càrn nan Gearran Bàna on the watershed between Glens Strathfarrar and Orrin means ‘the hill of the white hares’. There are, in addition, places named with the element maigheach in the genitive plural. I know of three hills called Meall nam Maigheach ‘the rounded hill of the hares’ – two are in Perthshire close to Glen Lyon and another lies at the northern end of Ardgour.
Càrn nan Gearran Bàna ‘the hill of the white (mountain) hares’ lies to the north of Glen Strathfarrar, west of Inverness. The altitudes are in feet.Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland
The animal was used traditionally in a number of medicinal treatments. The gall of the hare was used to treat eye problems, the blood was applied to skin blemishes and the brain was eaten to relieve severe headaches. A mixture of hare blood and skin was used to treat urine retention and bladder stones.
Hares also appear in a number of sayings and proverbs. For example: Cho luath ʼs gu bheil a’ gheàrr, beirear oirre ‘however swift the hare is, she can be caught’. And Is deacair geàrr a chur às an tom anns nach bi i ‘it is difficult to chase a hare from a tuft where she is not’. It was believed that a hare escaping from the final patch of grain to be cut was a lucky omen, whereas encountering a hare at the start of a long journey was a sign of bad luck. The Welsh polymath Edward Lhuyd noted that in the Highlands of Scotland meeting with a hare on high ground was reckoned to bring about misfortune.
The last presumably concerns the Mountain hare (Lepus timidus) which in Gaelic is the Geàrr-bhàn or Maigheach-bhàn ‘fair/white hare’ (reflecting its winter coloration) although bàn can be replaced by geal ‘snow-white’ or monadh ‘upland’ i.e. maigheach-mhonaidh in both compound names. In most instances of Gaelic cultural reference, the lowland Brown hare (Lepus europaeus) is not differentiated from the mountain species, as they share the same generic. However, we can specify the Brown hare by using the Gaelic colour descriptor donn ‘brown’ i.e. Maigheach-dhonn or Geàrr-dhonn.
The young hare – a ‘leveret’ in English – is known in Gaelic as a cuilean-maighich, isean-gearra, piseag-ghearraidh or gearrag, and the ‘form’ or nest is a cuach-gearra. Cuach means a hollow shaped somewhat like a bird’s nest (hares do not burrow but make a grassy nest) and is the origin of the Scots quaich, as it also means a shallow drinking vessel. As in other cultures, there was an ancient belief that a harelip was caused by an expectant mother’s exposure to a hare. Two terms for such a condition are milleadh-maighich and gearradh-maighich, both named for the hare.
Two other instances of the hare in Gaelic culture are the simile cho craicte ri geàrr as t-earrach ‘as daft as a hare in Spring’ which may have been influenced by the English saying ‘as mad as a March hare’ – reflecting on the species’ erratic behaviour at that time of year, and the beneficent nighttime wish cadal na maighich ort or cadal nam maigheach ort ‘may you have the sleep of the hare(s) – an equivalent to the English ‘may you sleep like a baby’. The sentiment is genuine (I was the recipient of such a good wish when I was among the Gaels of Cape Breton Island in Canada), but I have sometimes reflected on the fact that cailleachs in the form of hares would often spend the night working bad spells among the milking cows and that the phrase might originate in some, as yet perhaps unappreciated, supernatural reference.
This blog was written by Inverness-based writer, broadcaster and storyteller Roddy (Ruairidh) Maclean, whose work highlights the connections between the Gaelic language and Scotland’s environment.
Anns na linntean ro thelebhisean no eadhon cumhachd an dealain, bha ar sinnsirean gu math measail air dubh-fhaclan. Seo fear co-cheangailte ri nàdar:
Chì mi thugam air a’ bheinn,
Fear beag ’s beum na shròin,
Dà fhiacail fhada na chìr
Is cirb de bhlòigh na thòin.
B’ e obair muinntir an taigh-chèilidh ciall a dhèanamh dhen dubh-fhacal. Tha mi cinnteach gu bheil e agaibh – ’s ann air a’ gheàrr a tha e a-mach – ainmhidh a nochdas gu tric ann am beul-aithris nan Gàidheal.
Tha mi a’ gabhail geàrr air a leithid de mhamail, mar a bhios gu leòr eile (thig sinn gu maigheach nas fhaide air adhart), ach ’s dòcha nach eil e follaiseach gur e giorrachadh a th’ ann dhen abairt geàrr-fhiadh, a’ ciallachadh ‘fiadh beag’ agus a chithear ann an seann fhaclairean. Tha mar a thathar a’ dèanamh ceangal leis an fhiadh inntinneach oir tha an dà ghnè seo air an aithneachadh mar chreutairean a ghabhas ri cruth-atharrachadh ann am beul-aithris. Tro chruth-atharrachadh, thèid daoine (mar as trice boireannaich) ann an riochd gearra no fèidh. Taobh a-muigh muinntir nan ròn air cladaichean an taoibh siar, ’s e an t-aon mhamail eile air an tig cruth-atharrachadh – an cat. Nuair a nì sinn iomradh air a’ chat-fhiadhaich a bheil sinn a-mach a-mhàin air a nàdar no a bheil sinn ag aithneachadh cruth-atharrachadh le ‘fiadh’ anns an ainm?
Ann an aon eisimpleir (de mhòran) de chruth-atharrachadh, thathar ag ràdh gun robh bana-bhuidseach a’ fuireach ann am bothag faisg air Baile a’ Chlaidh ann an sgìre Lathairn ann an Gallaibh. B’ e a frith-ainm Am Fitheach (eun le buadhan os-nàdarrach) oir bha boireannach à Meaghrath ann an ceann an iar-thuath Ghallaibh air a dhol a Bhaile a’ Chlaidh airson comhairle fhaighinn bhon tè a bha a’ fuireach ann. Ge-tà, nuair a ràinig an tè-siubhail a ceann-uidhe, an àite a bhith a’ lorg boireannach, ’s ann a thachair i ri fitheach a bha a’ ràcadh an fheòir le fraoch, feuch geas air choreigin a chur an sàs. Bha muinntir an àite a’ coireachadh na bana-bhuidsich sin airson an crodh-bainne a bhith seasg oir chunnaic iad geàrr nam measg. Dh’fheuch iad fhèin agus an cuid chon ris a’ gheàrr a ghlacadh ach dh’fhàilnich orra oir bhiodh i a’ teicheadh mar an donas (agus cho luath ri geàrr!) don chladh.
Len cuid ime agus càise a’ fàs tearc, chuir duine ribe an sàs, agus e ceangailte ris an talamh le cipeanan a bh’ air an dèanamh de dh’fhiodh caorainn, oir bha fios aige gum biodh am fiodh sin a’ dìon gach rud an aghaidh droch bhuidseachd. Chaidh geàrr a ghlacadh ach nuair a ràinig an duine an ribe, bha i air a dhol ann an riochd boireannaich – a’ bhana-bhuidseach fhèin. Aig a’ cheann thall, dh’fhàg a’ bhana-bhuidseach Gallaibh ach thàinig droch fhortan air an duine a ghlac i agus chaidh a bhàthadh ann an Uisge Theòrsa. Beagan deas air an làraich-thaighe aice tha Cnoc na Gearra, ged nach urrainn dhomh a ràdh a bheil an t-ainm ceangailte rithese ann an dòigh sam bith. Agus ’s e an cnoc as fhaisg’ air an taigh aice An Sìthean Mòr (Sidhean Mòr SO) – àite far am bite an dùil gum biodh gnothaichean os-nàdarrach a’ tachairt.
Ged a thathar ag ràdh gun do mhair Bana-bhuidseach Bhaile a’ Chlaidh beò, ann am mòran sgeulachdan is naidheachdan dhen t-seòrsa, bhite a’ cur peilear airgid anns a’ bhana-bhuidsich nuair a bha i ann an riochd gearra. Agus tha sgeulan ann mu ghearran a chaidh a leòn air an oidhche agus mar a lorgadh boireannach sa mhadainn air an robh an dearbh lot. Math dh’fhaodte gur e mar a bhiodh daoine a’ creidsinn gun robh a’ gheàrr os-nàdarrach as coireach nach biodh na Gàidheil, a rèir choltais, gan ithe ro thric.
Gu cinnteach, bhiodh na seann Ghàidheil Ghallach a’ cantainn geàrr (seach maigheach), oir tha Sìthean na Gearra ann am meadhan Dùthaich nam Boglaichean agus tha Creag nan Geàrr ann am Monadh a’ Bhràigh Mhòir ann an ceann an earra-dheas na siorrachd, làimh ri crìoch Chataibh. Ge-tà, anns an dàrna cùis seo, chithear Creag nam Maigheach faisg air Creag nan Geàrr air mapaichean SO an latha an-diugh. Chan eil e ro choltach gum biodh muinntir an àite a’ cleachdadh dà fhacal eadar-dhealaichte airson an aon ainmhidh, agus tha na seann mhapaichean a’ sealltainn dhuinn gur e Creag nam Muthach a bh’ air Creag nam Maigheach. Tha Faclair Dwelly ag innse dhuinn gu bheil muthach a’ ciallachadh ‘buachaille’. Tha maigheach – a tha a’ tighinn bhon fhacal magh ‘raon còmhnard’ – a’ nochdadh cuideachd mar moigheach ann an cuid de dh’àiteachan.
Gu siar air an sgìre seo, thathar ag ràdh geàrr cuideachd ann an Dùthaich MhicAoidh, agus tha am faclair a rinn Roy Wentworth mu dhualchainnt Gheàrrloch ag innse dhuinn gur e geàrr a chanar an sin, ged a thuigear moigheach cuideachd. Ann an Gleanna Garadh, tha Dieckhoff ag innse dhuinn gur e geàrr a bh’ aca. Ge-tà, tha Raibeart Armstrong, a bhuineadh do Shiorrachd Pheairt, a’ toirt dhuinn maigheach, moigheach agus geàrr-fhiadh anns an fhaclair aige (air fhoillseachadh ann an 1825).
Ann an ainmean-àite faodar a dhol ceàrr le ainmean anns a bheil gearran oir dh’fhaodadh iad a bhith a’ dèanamh iomradh air eich bheaga no air a’ mhaighich. Anns na Leabhraichean Ainm aca, tha an t-Suirbhidh Òrdanais ag ràdh gum buin a’ chuid as motha de na h-ainmean sin, leithid Meall nan Gearran agus Coire nan Gearran eadar Gleanna Garadh agus Gleann Moireasdain, do dh’èich’; mar an ceudna do Cruach nan Gearran faisg air Loch Fìne ann an Earra-Ghàidheal. Air an làimh eile, ’s e a’ gheàrr a tha ainmichte ann an Càrn nan Gearran Bàna eadar Gleann Srath Fharair agus Gleann Oirrinn. A bharrachd air sin, tha àiteachan ainmichte le maigheach anns an tuiseal ghinideach iolra. Is aithne dhomh trì mill air a bheil Meall nam Maigheach – a dhà dhiubh ann an Siorrachd Pheairt faisg air Gleann Lìomhann agus fear eile aig ceann a tuath Àird Ghobhar.
Tha Càrn nan Gearran Bàna ag ainmeachadh na gearra-bàine a bhios a’ tighinn beò gu h-àrd sa mhonadh. Tha e tuath air Gleann Srath Fharair, siar air Inbhir Nis. ’S ann ann an troighean a tha na h-àirdean. Dealbh le cead Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba.
Bhathar a’ cur na gearra gu feum ann an diofar leigheasan. Bha a domblas air a chleachdadh airson tinneasan sùla, bhathar a’ cur a fala air spotan air a’ chraiceann agus bhathar ag ithe a h-eanchainn mar leigheas airson ceann a bha fìor ghoirt. Bha measgachadh de dh’fhuil agus bian gearra air a chur gu feum airson dèiligeadh ri stad-maistir agus clachan aotromain.
Bidh gearran cuideachd a’ nochdadh ann an abairtean agus seanfhaclan. Mar eisimpleir – Cho luath ʼs gu bheil a’ gheàrr, beirear oirre agus – Is deacair geàrr a chur às an tom anns nach bi i. Bhathar a’ creidsinn gun tigeadh deagh fhortain air duine nam faicte geàrr a’ ruith anns an oisean mu dheireadh de dh’achadh far an robhar a’ buain arbhair. Ge-tà, thigeadh droch fhortan ort nam biodh tu a’ coinneachadh ri geàrr aig toiseach turas fada. Sgrìobh an Cuimreach ioma-thàlantach, Edward Llwyd, gum biodh na Gàidheil Albannach diombach de gheàrr a thigeadh faisg orra air talamh àrd.
Tha dùil gum biodh sin a’ buntainn ris a’ Gheàrr-bhàin no Maigheach-bhàn (Lepus timidus); ’s urrainn geal no monadh (m.e. maigheach-mhonaidh) a dhol an àite bàn anns an ainm fhillte. Anns a’ chuid mhòir de shuidheachaidhean beul-aithriseach, chan eilear a’ dèanamh sgaradh eadar a’ mhaigheach-dhonn no geàrr-dhonn (Lepus europaeus), a tha a’ fuireach air talamh ìosal, agus tè bhàn nam beann.
Canaidh sinn cuilean-maighich, isean-gearra, piseag-ghearraidh no gearrag ris an fheadhainn òga agus cuach-gearra ris an nead. Cha bhi gearran a’ cladhach toll no coinicear mar a bhios coineanaich; tha iad a’ dèanamh nead feurach le cumadh cuaiche air. Mar ann an cultaran eile, bhathar a’ creidsinn o shean gun robh milleadh-maighich no gearradh-maighich (harelip ann am Beurla) a’ nochdadh an dèidh do mhàthair a bha an dùil leanabh tighinn tarsainn air maigheach air a’ bhlàr a-muigh.
Tha an samhla againn – Cho craicte ri geàrr as t-earrach; chan eil e soilleir ach math dh’fhaodte gun tug an abairt Bheurla ‘as mad as a March hare’ buaidh air sin; co-dhiù, bidh gearran gan giùlan fhèin ann an dòigh mhireach as t-earrach. Bidh daoine a’ guidhe deagh chadal air cuideigin eile le bhith ag ràdh riutha, cadal na maighich ort no cadal nam maigheach ort. Chaidh sin innse dhomh barrachd air aon turas am measg Gàidheil Cheap Bhreatainn nuair a bha mi thall. Chan eil e soilleir dhomh am bi gearran a’ faighinn cadal math ann an dha-rìridh oir nach bi iad aig amannan air an casan air an oidhche, a’ cur bainne nam bò fo gheasaibh?! Math dh’fhaodte gu bheil an abairt ceangailte ri gnothach no creideamh a bhuineadh do linn nam pàganach no don t-saoghal os-nàdarrach.
Bha am bloga seo air a sgrìobhadh le Ruairidh MacIlleathain, a tha na sgrìobhadair, craoladair, eòlaiche-nàdair is sgeulaiche, stèidhichte ann an Inbhir Nis.
It’s spring, and many of our birds have love on their minds! But once ground-nesting birds start thinking about breeding, anyone involved in peatlands has to start thinking about the far less romantic practicalities. They will need to ensure any restoration work they are planning won’t disturb our breeding birds.
Peatlands are the favoured habitats for some of our most iconic and beautiful birds, including red-throated diver, black-throated diver, merlin, hen harrier, golden eagle, short-eared owl, greenshank, dunlin, golden plover, wood sandpiper, Arctic skua, great skua, and whimbrel. All of these birds are legally protected.
The majority of wild birds will start breeding activity towards the end of March and April, though egg laying generally starts towards the end of April or early May for many bird species found on peatlands. The breeding season ends at the end of July for many species too, but some species may continue well into August. Other species, birds of prey in particular, may start breeding as early as February, and in some cases their nests require protection at all times of the year.
If they are disturbed, birds may desert the nest, abandon eggs to get cold, allow chicks to starve, or give predators a chance to take eggs or young ones when they are flushed. Definitely something everyone wants to avoid.
A bird’s nest at Loch Leven.
So this seems like a good time to highlight the Bird Breeding Guidance that Peatland ACTION has published for project designers and contractors. This helps them decide whether it will be possible to continue work on some other parts of a large site if breeding birds are only present in specific areas, or whether they will need to wait until the breeding season is over.
In order to decide if restoration work can be carried out on these peatland habitats during the breeding season, scheme designers and contractors need to know:
the species present
their legal status
where they are located
the time they arrive on the breeding grounds
their egg laying dates
whether chicks remain in the nest or are more mobile.
A curlew chick
To help with this, NatureScot has published a table of bird breeding season dates relevant to Scotland. The table shows ‘sensitive’ time periods, equating to the beginning and end of a bird’s breeding season in Scotland.
The guidance explains what the law says, what species are of particular concern, and has a check list of all the actions, surveys etc that need to be carried out to ensure it’s safe to work on the site without disturbing any breeding birds. You can find it here.
Even if you aren’t planning on restoring peatlands yourself any time soon, it’s still worth bearing in mind the impact you might have on breeding birds when you’re out in the countryside. Ground nesting species in particular are very sensitive to disturbance. If you have a dog, please do keep it under close control if you’re anywhere where there’s likely to be sensitive species. And please follow any signs asking you to avoid walking across an area of peatland, or climbing on cliffs, for example, if these species are present.
Ground nesting birds are some of our rarest and most threatened species, as well as some of the most beautiful. We all need to protect them.
Being a ranger on an estate like North Harris is quite a unique experience. Caring for over 25,000 hectares of hills, glens, and lochs means paying attention to more things than one can reasonably manage, and I am fortunate that most of our environment is healthy and not needing too much attention. The specificities of the area makes me quite familiar with our golden eagles, who are often regarded as the highlight of Harris’ natural heritage. But it is a more elusive branch of the living world that occupies many of my working hours: trees.
One would not naturally associate Harris and Lewis with the word “tree”, and for good reasons: you will not see them in the landscape too often, apart from in gardens. Harris has native trees of old though. Small groves are to be found throughout the estate, albeit rarely within sight of the paths and roads. The dùthchas also remembers them through placenames: Loch nan Coilltichean (Loch of the Woodlands), Craobhag (Little Tree), Lonndabhat (River of the Grove), Allt a’ Chaorainn (Stream of the Rowan), Geodha na Craoibhe (Cove of the Tree). People remember finding ancient tree stumps, especially when cutting the peat, and the local lore tells us of the old forest that used to be here. With the work being done today, this part of the dùthchas will come out of people’s memory and back into the ground.
From around the year 2000, the people of North Harris started to plant native broadleaf trees in parts of the estate: birch, hazel, alder, rowan, oak, willow, and some Scots pine. They have taken well at Àird Mhulaidh and in Gleann Mhiabhaig, which we now tentatively describe as woodland. Now over 160,000 trees are destined to take root in Gleann Lacasdail and on the braes of Trolamul and Beinn Tharsainn in a large planting area in the south-east of the estate. The trees are being planted in pockets throughout this area, where conditions are right and the peat is not too deep, as we do not wish to damage our precious existing habitats in the process. The planting area has its fair share of healthy, old trees along Allt Lacasdail, Abhainn Lonndabhat, Allt a’ Chaorainn, Gleann Trolamaraig, and on the shores of Loch Trolamaraig. Although it is hoped that a highly fragmented and degraded native woodland habitat will be strengthened, the aim is to support the health and productivity of mammals, birds, insects, plants, migrating fish, livestock, and people – all of which will benefit from a healthier and more diverse native habitat.
This habitat regeneration programme is what led me to pay more attention to our ancient trees. When I explore the hills of North Harris now, I stay on the lookout for signs within the landscape: a deep gully, a crag with exposed soil, or a steep incline above the shore. Recording that data has made me realise how important these small pockets of remnant woodland are to our landscape. While I often only find the odd willow or rowan hanging off a crag, I also recorded quite a few groves of dozens – and sometimes up to over a hundred – ancient trees. They feel like an oasis in the moor. Heather retreats, replaced by green grass, bilberries, mushrooms, and other species that can thrive there. If you visit Harris and are willing to make your way off the path for a wee while, you will find our ancient trees – birches, rowans, hazels, willows, junipers, and aspens. Explore our gullies and shores, and you will see old, beautiful trees. With patience, we will one day hear people talk about the “bens, glens, peatlands, and woodlands of Harris”.
The North Harris Trust established a ranger service in 2009. Fañch has been employed as their Ranger for the last two years, supported by funding from NatureScot. Like other NatureScot-funded posts, his role helps deliver Connecting people and places – a policy statement on rangering in Scotland, including action to address the challenges that arise from visitor pressures, biodiversity loss and climate change and also promoting wider participation in outdoor recreation and physical activity, and to realise the potential benefits for health and well-being, in particular among disadvantaged communities and hard to reach groups. The Ranger post has also been supported by Bòrd na Gàidhlig and Community Land Scotland Gaelic Communities Funding, and this has given Fañch the unique opportunity to connect people with places through the medium of Gaelic.
Feumaidh mi sùil a chumail air còrr is 25,000 heactair de bheanntan, de ghleanntan, is de lochan is mi na mo mhaor-dùthcha ann an Ceann a Tuath na Hearadh. Tha beartas cho mòr ann ’s nach b’ urrainn dha duine sam bith aire cheart a thoirt air a h-uile rud, agus is buidhe dhomh gu bheil an àrainneachd a’ cumail oirre gun cus feum ormsa. Nuair a thig daoine dha na Hearadh, ’s e iolairean-buidhe a tha iad airson faicinn, agus dh’fhàs mi fhìn gu math eòlach orra gu dearbh. Ach ’s e pàirt eile den dùthchas againn a ghlac m’ aire, pàirt nach eil cho follaiseach sin: craobhan.
Nuair a bhios daoine a’ smaointinn air Leòdhas agus na Hearadh, cha tig am facal “craobh” thuca. Agus tha adhbhar air a shon: chan fhaicear craobhan sna h-eileanan gu tric, seach ann an gàrraidhean dhaoine agus mun cuairt air Caisteal Leòdhais. Tha craobhan sna Hearadh ge-tà, ged nach fhaic sibh iad faisg air an rathad mar as trice. Tha cuimhne air na craobhan ann an dùthchas na Hearadh, gu h-àraidh ann an ainmean-àite: Loch nan Coilltichean, Craobhag, Lonndabhat (“Abhainn na Doire”), Allt a’ Chaorainn, Geodha na Craoibhe. Tha cuimhne aig daoine a tha air mòine a bhuain air bunan-craoibhe a lorg far am b’ àbhaist dhaibh a bhith mus tàinig riasg. Mar a thuirt Peigi Ann Dhòmhnallach: “Coille na Hearadh. The forest of Harris. ’S tha glè bheag an-diugh a chreideas gu robh craobhan riamh ann, ach ’s e craobhan a bh’ ann. ’S e forest a bh’ ann.” (Sgoil Eòlas na h-Alba, SA1977.186.A1). Leis an obair a tha a’ dol ann an Ceann a Tuath na Hearadh an ceartair, bidh seo fìor a-rithist dha na ginealaichean a tha romhainn.
O chionn grunn bhliadhnaichean a-nise, thòisich muinntir Ceann a Tuath na Hearadh a’ cur craobhan dùthchasach: beithe, calltainn, feàrnach, caorann, darach, seileach, cuileann, is beagan giuthais-Albannaich. Tha iad a’ fàs glè mhath ann an Àird Mhulaidh agus Gleann Mhiabhaig, agus a-nise bidh còrr is 160,000 craobh eile ga cur ann an Gleann Lacasdail is air bràighean Trolamul is Beinn Tharsainn. Tha na craobhan a’ dol far nach eil a’ mhòine domhainn, oir chan eil sinn ag iarraidh cron a dhèanamh air an àrainneachd phrìseil againn. Tha seann chraobhan is doirean mu cheithir timcheall, agus tha e ga mo bhrosnachadh a bhith a’ smaoineachdainn gum fàs na doirean sin nas làidire leis an obair againn. A thuilleadh air na seann chraobhan, tha sinn an dùil gun cuidich na coilltean ùra beathaichean is eòin, biastagan, lusan, èisg-imrich, agus daoine.
’S ann tro obair ath-neartachadh nan coilltichean a thòisich mi a’ fàs mothachail air na seann chraobhan. Gach turas a thèid mi dha na beanntan, bidh mi an dùil ri comharran a dh’innseas dhomh gu bheil craobhan ann: gil dhomhain, creag far a bheil pìosan mòra den ùir, no cladach cas gorm. Dh’fhàs e soilleir dhomh cho cudromach ’s a tha na seann chraobhan is mi gan clàradh. Mas ann tric a chì mi caorann no seileach aonaranach air creag, chan ann ainneamh a lorgas mi doire cheart far a bheil na deichean de chraobhan, agus uaireannan fiù ’s còrr is ceud. Dhòmhsa ’s ann mar eileanan gorma falaichte an teis-meadhan na mòintich a tha iad. Tha am fraoch a’ teicheadh agus feur gorm a’ tighinn na àite, làn de na balgain-bhuachair, cnàimhseagan, agus gnèithean eile cho beòthail ’s a ghabhas fo dhìon nan craobh.
Ma tha sibh sna Hearadh agus ag iarraidh a dhol far a’ cheum cheart, chì sibh na seann chraobhan againn: beithean, caorainn, calltainn, seilich, cuileann, staoin, is critheann. Chì sibh iad sna gilean is air a’ chladach, is tha cuid dhiubh gu math sean is eireachdail. Cumaidh mise orm a’ clàradh nan doirean, agus cumaidh a’ choimhearsnachd oirre a’ cur chraobhan, agus an ceann grunn deicheadan eile, bruidhnidh daoine mu dheidhinn “beanntan, gleanntan, is coilltean na Hearadh” gu nàdarra.
Thòisich Urras Ceann a Tuath na Hearadh seirbheis maoir-dhùthcha ann an 2009. Tha Fañch air a bhith na mhaor-dùthcha aca airson na dà bhliadhna mu dheireadh, le taic-airgid bho NàdarAlba. Coltach ri dreuchdan eile dha bheil NàdarAlba a’ cur taic, tha an obair aige a’ cuideachadh ri aithris-poileasaidh air obair maoir-dhùthcha ann an Alba a chur an gnìomh. Tha seo a’ gabhail a-steach dèiligeadh ri dùbhlain a thig leis an àrdachadh de luchd-tadhail, call na bith-iomadachd is atharrachadh na gnàth-shìde agus cuideachd a’ brosnachadh chur-seachdan a-muigh is gnìomhachd chorporra le barrachd dhaoine, agus a’ toirt gu buil nam buannachdan slàinte is sunnd, gu h-àraid am measg coimhearsnachdan mì-leasaichte. Tha dreuchd a’ mhaoir-dhùthcha a’ faighinn taic bho Bhòrd na Gàidhlig agus Maoineachadh Choimhearsnachdan Gàidhlig aig Fearann Coimhearsnachd na h-Alba, agus tha e air cothrom air leth a thoirt dha Fañch ceanglaichean a thogail le daoine sa Ghàidhlig.
Scotland's Nature 
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