Dùn Anlaimh, also known as Dùn Amhlaidh, and Eilean nan Cinneachan, is a

crannog A crannog (; ; ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually constructed in lakes, bogs and estuary, estuarine waters of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were built ...

(an artificial island), located within Loch nan Cinneachan on the

Inner Hebridean The Inner Hebrides ( ; ) is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides compri ...

island of

Coll Coll (; )Mac an Tàilleir (2003) p. 31 is an island located west of the Isle of Mull and northeast of Tiree in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Coll is known for its sandy beaches, which rise to form large sand dunes, for its corncrakes, and fo ...

. Upon the crannog there are the remains of walls and several buildings. These remains are not unlike those of other fortified islands found throughout the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islan ...

, and it is likely that Dùn Anlaimh dates from the

late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

. According to local tradition on Coll, the fort was once the home of a Norse chieftain who was defeated in battle somewhere nearby. The early 20th century

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic sit ...

Erskine Beveridge considered it as one of the four most interesting fortifications, on Coll (along with Dùn an Achaidh,

Dùn Dubh Dùn Dubh is a hillfort, located on the Inner Hebridean island of Coll. The fort is one of three associated with a local tradition which states that they were once the fortresses of Norsemen before being defeated by a Maclean chieftain. The earl ...

, and Dùn Morbhaidh). The site of Dùn Anlaimh is located at . The

RCAHMS The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) was an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government that was "sponsored" inanced and with oversightthrough Historic Scotland, an executive ...

classifies the site as a 'crannog' and an 'island dwelling'.

Description

Analysis of the island

Dùn Anlaimh is a small artificial island located in Loch Nan Cinneachan on Coll (grid reference ). The loch lies directly north of Loch Anlaimh which also has an artificial island within it. Confusingly, Dùn Anlaimh sometimes appears as "Eilean nan Cinneachan" on maps (see OS map pictured left) and the island in Loch Anlaimh is known as "Eilean Anlaimh". According to the 20th century

Erskine Beveridge Erskine Beveridge FRSE FSAScot (27 December 1851 – 10 August 1920) was a Scottish textile manufacturer, historian and antiquary. He was the owner of Erskine Beveridge & Co. Ltd., which had been founded by his father in 1832 and was the larges ...

, the two lochs probably were joined at one time, and that this would explain why Dùn Anlaimh is not located within Loch Anlaimh. Beveridge also thought the names of the lochs were suggestive. According to him, the Gaelic ''Loch nan Cinneachan'' and ''Eilean nan Cinneachan'' mean loch and island of the "" or "

gentiles ''Gentile'' () is a word that today usually means someone who is not Jewish. Other Groups claiming affiliation with Israelites, groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, have historically used the term ''gentile'' to describe outsider ...

". During the early Middle Ages the pagan

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

were sometimes styled as "Gentiles" within the

Irish Annals A number of Irish annals, of which the earliest was the Chronicle of Ireland, were compiled up to and shortly after the end of the 17th century. Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days. Over ti ...

. The Gaelic

personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...

''Anlaimh'' can also be linked with the Norsemen as it is a Gaelicisation of the Norse personal name ''Anlaf''. The island upon which Dùn Anlaimh occupies is roughly oval, almost circular in plan, and was about water level when visited by the

in 1975. The RCAHMS recorded the dimensions of the island at about on the north–south axis and about on the east–west axis. In 1995, Mark W. Holley surveyed the site and measured it at the base of the island. The island is composed of about 80% medium-sized boulders and 20% large boulders. The island is situated on the north end of Loch nan Cinneachan and is connected to the east shore by a partly submerged

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

. Holley noted that the causeway had two defensive features. One was a 25 degree bend at the middle of the causeway; and the other was a rocking stone which tilts when under pressure. Holley recorded the depth of the loch around the island at to deep, with the deeper water on the western side. He noted that the surrounding water-bed was heavily silted, concealing the bottom; at least deep..

Analysis of the ruins

According to the RCAHMS, it is difficult to estimate the age of the remains of Dùn Anlaimh. The ruins seem to resemble later fortified islands found in the Outer Hebrides, and it is likely that those of Dùn Anlaimh date to the mediaeval period. Although the site has no recorded history, the local tradition concerning Dùn Anlaimh appears to support the view that it was occupied in the

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

. The remains of on a

dry-stone Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. A certain amount of binding is obtained through the use of carefully ...

enclosure are sometimes visible on the stony part of the island. The north part of the outer face of these remains stand at a maximum of about . A small inlet, located in the south-west corner of the island, may indicate the site of a boat landing. The island's summit is about above the level plane of the island, and is heavily overgrown with vegetation. The summit is also the site of the remains of three round-angled conjoined buildings that are rectangular in shape. All three buildings are aligned north–south, with their long axis parallel to the shore closest. The two main buildings are situated in a linear plan, aligned north–south. The walls of both structures are of dry-stone construction and are on average about thick; standing to a maximum height of . ''Building A'' is long and wide, with a doorway about wide located on the north end of the west side wall. ''Building B'' is long and wide internally. ''Building C'' is a smaller building which abuts the west wall of the main range. It lies adjacent to the entrance doorway of ''building A''. It is long from the north-east to south-west corner, and transversely. The walls are on average thick. The entrance to the building is located on south-west end wall.. Like several other crannogs on Coll—such as those of Loch Anlaimh, Loch an Duin, and Loch Cliad—Dùn Anlaimh appears to have defensive features, in form of a bending causeway, incorporated within it. If the curving causeways of these crannogs were meant to lie under several feet of shallow water, these bends would have served to impede the advancement of enemies unaware of the correct route.

Tradition of Anlaimh of Dùn Anlaimh

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several Coll traditions were published which concerned several fortifications (

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 ...

s, duns, and crannogs) on the island—one of which was Dùn Anlaimh. One such tradition was collected by Rev.

John Gregorson Campbell John Gregorson Campbell (1836 – 22 November 1891) was a Scottish folklorist and Free Church minister at the Tiree and Coll parishes in Argyll, Scotland. An avid collector of traditional stories, he became Secretary to the Ossianic Socie ...

, a former parish minister of

Tiree Tiree (; , ) is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The low-lying island, southwest of Coll, has an area of and a population of around 650. The land is highly fertile, and crofting, alongside tourism, and fishing are ...

, and published in 1895 Campbell's version runs as follows: According to Beveridge in 1903, the forts mentioned within this tradition are Dùn Anlaimh,

Dùn Beic Dùn Beic is a dun (fortification), dun located on the Inner Hebridean island of Coll. It is located at and is thought to date to between 1000 BCE to 1000 Common Era, CE. The etymology of the dun's name is uncertain; one possibility is that it c ...

at Totronald, and

. The ''Iain Garbh'' mentioned was a son of Lachlann Bronnach, chief of the Macleans of Duart (d. after 1472). Iain Garbh (b. 1450) is claimed to be the ancestor of the Macleans of Coll.. Beveridge also made note of traditions of another battle fought near Grishipol, in which Iain Garbh and his followers defeated a force led by his

step-father A stepfather or stepdad is a biologically unrelated male parent married to one's preexisting parent. A stepfather-in-law is a stepfather of one's spouse. Children from his spouse's previous unions are known as his stepchildren. In fiction Thoug ...

Gilleonan, chief of the MacNeils of

Barra Barra (; or ; ) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by the Vatersay Causeway. In 2011, the population was 1,174. ...

. Beveridge reasoned that this particular battle against the MacNeils probably took place around 1470–1480;. and wondered if there could be some sort of confusion between this conflict with the MacNeils and that of the Norsemen. Crannog on Loch nan Cinneachan

In 1903, without prior knowledge to Campbell's tradition, Beveridge published another version of the 'Norsemen tradition' quoted above; one in which he had obtained ''

viva voce ''Viva voce'' is a Latin phrase literally meaning "with living voice" but most often translated as "by word of mouth." It may refer to: *Word of mouth *A voice vote in a deliberative assembly *An oral exam ** Thesis defence, in academia *Spoken ev ...

''. According to Beveridge, the events within this version of the tradition were said to have taken place at the precise date of 1384. However, he conceded that this date was calculated by the fact that when the Macleans of Coll sold their estate on the island in 1854, it was believed that they had owned their lands there for exactly 472 years. Beveridge also noted that the first historical connection between any Maclean and the island of Coll appears in a charter of confirmation, dated 1495, which states the Macleans were granted a charter to the island in 1409.. Beveridge's version of the tradition runs as follows: A version very similar to Beveridge's appears in the 1906 monograph written by Rev. Dugald MacEchern which was published in 1922. MacEchern acknowledges the work of Beveridge and his version runs as follows: The tradition of Dùn Anlaimh has led some modern historians and scholars to regard the defeated Anlaimh as a possible progenitor of the MacAulays of North Uist, a family who are traditionally said to have settled on

Uist Uist is a group of six islands that are part of the Outer Hebridean Archipelago, which is part of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. North Uist and South Uist ( or ; ) are two of the islands and are linked by causeways running via the isles of Ben ...

after emigrating from the

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides ( ; ) is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides compri ...

.. via

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

Notes

References