Àirigh Shamhraidh ‘summer shieling’ is the focus of our regular Gaelic article by Roddy Maclean. This month he looks at the name Àirigh which recalls a time when people would leave the townships with their cattle and benefit from the resources of the mountains.

’S ann air an àirigh a tha prosbaig Ruairidh MhicIlleathain anns an alt Ghàidhlig againn. Tha seann àirighean sgapte air feadh na Gàidhealtachd, a’ cuimhneachadh dòigh-beatha a thug daoine agus àrainneachd a’ mhonaidh còmhla a h-uile samhradh.

Remains of old drystane walled sheilings at Little Assynt estate. ©Lorne Gill/SNH/2020VISION

B’ e an samhradh àm air leth airson falbh don àirigh, cleachdadh a bh’ aig na Gàidheil fad iomadh ginealach. Bhiodh iad a’ falbh len crodh airson brath a ghabhail air fàs an fheòir sa mhonadh agus airson ìm is càise a dhèanamh. Bha an àirigh air leth cudromach cuideachd ann an seagh chultarach; ’s iomadh bàrd a mhol i agus ’s iomadh fear a rinn suirghe air tè, agus iad air falbh bho shùilean a’ bhaile! Tha grunn àiteachan air a bheil Àirigh Shamhraidh – agus nach snog an t-ainm! Tha tè sa mhonadh ann an Lathairne, taobh an earra-dheas don Òban, agus tè eile (‘Àirigh Samhraidh’) faisg air Carabost san Eilean Sgitheanach. Tha treas tè ann an Morbhairne faisg air Cuaraidh Ghleann Shannda; ged a tha i an ìre mhath an cois na mara, tha i pìos air falbh bho bhaile sam bith. Tha na ficheadan de dh’àiteachan eile ann le Àirigh san ainm, far an urrainn dhuinn a bhith cinnteach gun do chuir ar sinnsirean seachad an samhraidhean. Carson nach toir sibh fhèin sùil air tè as t-samhradh seo – agus coimheadaibh airson tobhtaichean nam bothan agus guirmead an fheòir a chaidh adhbharachadh le buachair cruidh thar nan ginealach.

Ruined croft houses at Torr a Bheithe, birch mound, Ru Arisaig, Lochaber. ©Lorne Gill/SNH

Summer was a pivotal time for the traditional practice of transhumance in the Scottish Highlands, when groups of people would leave the townships with their cattle and utilise the resources of the mountains to make dairy products and relieve the grazing pressure at home. It was also a time for personal, spiritual (and romantic!) renewal for many, much lauded in Gaelic song and poetry. The connection of samhradh ‘summer’ and the àirigh ‘shieling’ is celebrated in several places called Àirigh Shamhraidh ‘summer shieling’ (pronounced approximately ‘AA-ree HOW-ree). There is one in the hills of Lorne, south-east of Oban, and another in an elevated position near Loch Harport on Skye, while a third occupies a coastal site, but in rugged country remote from villages, near Glensanda Quarry in Morvern. There are dozens of other places with the name Àirigh where one can be certain that our ancestors spent their summers. Why not visit one this summer and see if you can find evidence of the people and their cattle, both in groups of ruined stone structures and green sward on ground that was fertilized by cow dung for generations?