Breakachy Burn (, meaning "Stream of the Speckled Field") is a mountain stream in the
Highland council area
Highland (, ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the United Kingdo ...
of Scotland. Despite its narrow width, the burn covers a large
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
with many smaller tributaries running off the hillside into it. The Breakachy Burn passes no human settlements on its course, before flowing into the
River Beauly
The River Beauly (, ) is a river in the Scottish Highlands, about 15 km west of the city of Inverness.
It is about 25 km long, beginning near the village of Struy, at the confluence of the River Farrar and the River Glass, Strathglass ...
near Teanassie Primary School.
According to a 1763 document known as the ''Warrand of Buchter'', Breakachy (listed as ''"Brackachy"'') and its surrounding lands were a
davoch
The davoch, davach or daugh is an ancient Scottish land measurement. All of these terms are cognate with modern Scottish Gaelic '' dabhach''. The word ''dabh'' or '' damh'' means an " ox" (cf. oxgang, ''damh-imir''), but ''dabhach'' can also refer ...
town in the
Earldom of Ross. The area was likely used for sheep-grazing, as with most upland in the surrounding
Strathglass
Strathglass is a strath or wide and shallow valley in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland down which runs the meandering River Glass, Strathglass, River Glass from the point at which it starts at the confluence of the River Affric and Abhainn De ...
.
Breakachy Burn features in several of the novels of Scottish author Iain R. Thomson, including ''The Long Horizon'' (1999) and ''The Endless Tide'' (2005).
Dun Mor Hillfort
One point of interest surrounding the burn is the presence of an
Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
hillfort
A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...
, likely Pictish, known as Dun Mor (Scottish Gaelic: ''Dùn Mòr'', meaning "Big Hillfort"). This is located on the burn's south side, on the lip of a crag several miles from the main road. The hillfort is best accessed from the northeast, as multiple tracks traverse the rough surrounding terrain from Farley Wood.
Dun Mor is large for hillforts of its kind, measuring 24m x 16m (78 ft x 56 ft) with a stone wall around 5 m (16 ft) thick. Despite its interest however, the hillfort has never undergone any extensive excavation, and is largely forgotten due to its remote location.
References
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Rivers of Scotland