Beinn a' Bheithir (Mountain of the Thunderbolt)
The mountain at whose base tourists to Glencoe are landed was first called Beinn Ghuilbin but is now known as Beinn Bheithir. It got this name from a dragon which, long ago, took shelter in Corrie Liath, a great hollow in the face of the mountain and almost right above Ballachulish Pier. This dragon was apparently a terror to the surrounding district. From the lip of the corrie she overlooked the path round the foot of the mountain and, if the unsuspecting traveller attempted to pass by her, she would leap down and tear him to pieces.
No one dared attack her nor could anyone tell how she might be destroyed until Charles, the Skipper, came the way. He anchored his vessel a good distance out from the site of the present pier and, between the vessel and the shore, formed a bridge of empty barrels lashed together with ropes and brisling with iron spikes. When the bridge was finished he kindled a large fire on board the vessel and placed pieces of flesh on the burning embers. As soon as the savour of burning flesh reached the corrie the dragon descended by a succession of leaps to the shore and thence tried to make her way out on the barrels to the vessel. But the spikes entered her body and tore her up so badly that she was nearly dead before she reached the outer edge of the bridge. Meantime the vessel was moved from the bridge until a wide interval was left between it and the last barrel. Over this interval the dragon had not sufficient strength left to leap to the deck of the vessel and, as she could not return the way she came, she died of her wounds where she was, at the end of the bridge.
Climbed one of the peaks of this mountain a few weeks back, through hail and high winds, over ice and flooded streams. Reached the summit just as the sun set over the sea, and descended in the deepening dusk.
Had never heard this story before, but I can well believe the ancients thought of this as a place of monsters and terror. Was gripping my ice axe so tightly that I still have the blister…
Pic, because it did happen:
—atop Sgorr Dhonuill, with Sgorr Dhearg in the background, watching the sun set over the (sea-)Loch Linnhe.
