I visited the mother land with my mum one August. After so many yrs living abroad & becoming very spoiled, I'll never forget the shock on the girl's face at M&S when asking for thermal clothing. We were surrounded by shorts & tshirts 😆 Still, I miss that land & ppl tremendously. Thanks for sharing.

Tha e math air a bhith a’ faicainn gaidhlig air an channel agad, chan eil torr daoine a deanamh seo. Gle math, cumail e saus a balaich👍

@cowalhistory7598

3 жыл бұрын

Se do bheatha!

I enjoyed that. I'm not convinced that the cairn up top dates as far back as you think. I wonder that a hilltop stone would endure centuries of lightening. I've seen the state of a hilltop after a strike. Folks also like to like to set up a cairn if one doesn't already exist. When I've gone up, I've taken the forestry road that comes off the B836 in Glen Lean, then a gully straight onto the top. Keep up your videos!

@cowalhistory7598

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, David! I agree we can't be sure about the cairn, and piles of stone are very hard to date in isolation. Even if they ever found the money to send some archaeologists to do some digging up there, they might still find nothing to provide a supporting date. But its the network of evidence in the surrounding area that I find make a compelling case. In isolation, each bit of evidence for the Druim na-Alban running through Cowal seems circumstantial at best, but once they all come together and you go up there to see it for yourself with an eye to what you're looking for, then you start to consider there may just be something in it... When I was planning the route, they were logging the hillside at Glen Lean and I didn't want to use the Forestry tracks above Clachaig - I think I can see the gully you're talking about on the OS map though. The ridge is almost entirely skirted by forestry on all sides - if the forestry tracks are clear I'd definitely recommend your route over fighting through the trees at Gleann Ban like I did!

@davidmccracken9444

3 жыл бұрын

@@cowalhistory7598 I agree that most historical theories start with seeing some old bits, such as names, with new connections. And then those new connections cast light on other things in new ways. As a way to correlate your theory, you might want to trace out the centres of various polities at different times, such as Dumbarton or Dunadd. I liked the visual line from Sgorach Mor to Dumbarton. So at the time you were considering, what were the centres of population and commerce, and what were the hinterlands? One could postulate that natural boundaries could run along ridgelines and watercourses behind the hinterlands. Are you in Dunoon?

@cowalhistory7598

3 жыл бұрын

​@@davidmccracken9444 I am indeed in Dunoon! I should have included this in the video, but in doing research on the area, I found a map of the old parish boundaries of Cowal in the Dunoon library. Parish boundaries more often than not reflect historical boundaries in the landscape which can be dated back to the medieval period, although some can be traced even further back into the early medieval. One of the parish boundaries in Southern Cowal (or 'Nether Cowal' as the antiquarians called it) closely follows my theorised route of the Druim na-Alban west along Glen Lean as far as Sgorach Mor before turning north and following the ridge line of Carn Ban towards Sron Criche. Some more good supporting evidence there and I'm a bit miffed at myself that I left it out! You also make a good point at looking at the political centres in the early medieval period. Dalriada wasn't a settled political entity in itself, rather more of a grouping of the minor kingdoms, of septs or 'cenels' of the Scots Gaels. At times, one sept would rise to the fore and achieve dominance over the rest, such as their famous King Aedan macGabhrain of Kintyre who extended his power to dominate large swathes of Northern Britain until 603AD. Cenel Loairn based around Oban would also have its turn, rising up to later dominate the Dalriadan Gaels until the arrival of the Vikings at the end of the 8th century. In between the rule of these overlords, the kings of the individual cenels jockeyed for influence and power, seemingly able to enjoy a measure of autonomy. Cowal was an independent cenel / minor kingdom and enjoyed a measure of power in the 640s, achieving dominance over Kintyre and mid-Argyll. To achieve this, they appear to have allied themselves to the Alt Clut Britons at the expense of their Dalriadan cousins for the second half of the 7th century, which would have reduced the Druim na-Alban to a bit of a 'soft' frontier. Cenel Cowal's seat of power is reckoned to be at Kingarth at the southern tip of Bute, based around the hill fort at Dunagoill and the early medieval monastic complex of St Blane's. The next nearest political centres are Alt Clut, the seat of power for the Clyde Rock Britons (a very powerful faction in the 7th and 8th centuries until the rise of northern Pictish powerhouse of Fortriu), Dunaverty at the southern tip of the Kintyre Peninsula (seat of Cenel Gabhrain), Dunollie by Oban (seat of Cenel Loairn) and the fortress of Guidi (Stirling - seat of the Manau-Gododdin until the expansion of the Northumbrians seem to have reduced them in the mid 7th century). In the 7th century, the Alt Clut Britons would've controlled the southern banks of the Clyde, along with the lands which would become the medieval earldom of Lennox certainly east of Arrochar, and probably the Cumbraes. The Dalriadan Cenel Cowal held Bute, whilst Cenel Gabhrain held Kintyre, Arran and part of Mid-Argyll (a little further north than Dunadd). Amongst these, the Cowal peninsula was a frontier borderland - even more so if my theory is right and the Druim na-Alban frontier ran right down the middle of it. There is no archaeological evidence (yet at least) of any significant population centres from the period in the Cowal peninsula. There is some useful land in the valley floors, but this would've been eclipsed by that available on Bute (later known as the 'breadbasket of the Stewarts'), so for a polity based at the southern end of Bute, it could be argued that possessing the whole of the Cowal peninsula for reasons of resource control wouldn't have been seen as a hill worth dieing on. I have my suspicions that there are ancient settlements of note to be found in Cowal - the round enclosure of the churchyard at Strachur is a clue that its early medieval and its big enough that a church of that size wouldn't have existed in isolation. I'd imagine there'll be evidence of something under the surrounding houses and roads. Similarly at StrathLachlan - the castle and the associated church although medieval are probably built on top of something much older. On the 'Brittonic' side of the Druim na-Alban frontier in Cowal, I'm not so sure. Kilmun is certainly an ancient site and it became one of the premier churches in Scotland in the high medieval period - that could echo earlier importance? Strath Eachaig certainly experienced some attention and settlement by the Gall-Ghadheil (Norse-Gaels) from the later 9th/10th century (the place name 'Uig' near Benmore Gardens stems from Old Norse 'Vik', or 'bay'), which arguably could be founded on top of something older which was seized from the previous (Brittonic?) occupants. Hopefully at some point in the not too remote future, some archaeology could throw up some answers. Sorry for the length of this reply, but its a fascinating topic! Are you local to Cowal yourself, David?

@davidmccracken9444

3 жыл бұрын

@@cowalhistory7598I'm in Dunoon some of the time. I'll be here until the 30th. Not sure when I'll be back next, but I'm thinking the spring. Fancy meeting for a pint and spread some maps across the table? It would be interesting to plot out a couple of targets for walks while I'm here and then to think through some more for my next visit.

@cowalhistory7598

3 жыл бұрын

@@davidmccracken9444 I'd be glad to! This week sometime might be best for me (except Wednesday) as I'm off work until the 19th. Pub opening times are a bit curtailed at the moment so it might need to be an afternoon? Pick a pub in Dunoon and let me know what suits!