Morvern
Not to be confused with Morven
Morvern is a peninsula in south west Lochaber, on the west coast of Scotland. The name is derived from the Gaelic A' Mhorbhairn, the Sea-Gap. The highest point is the summit of the Corbett Creach Bheinn which reaches 2,800 feet in elevation.
Morvern is approximately 250 square miles with a current population of about 320.
History
Morvern was formerly known as Kinelvadon, which William J. Watson takes to be from Cineal Bhaodain, that is that lands of the Cenél Báetáin, a division of the Cenél Loairn named after Báetán, a putative great-grandson of Loarn mac Eirc. The Senchus fer n-Alban states that "Baotan has twenty houses".
The ruined Ardtornish Castle was in the possession of Somerled in the 12th century and then the Lords of the Isles, whose ownership was recalled in a poem of the same name by Sir Walter Scott. Kinlochaline Castle was once the seat of the MacInnes clan. It was largely destroyed by the army of Oliver Cromwell and restored in 1890.
Before the Highland clearances the population of Morvern was about 2500.
The history of the parish of Morvern in the nineteenth century has been detailed in Philip Gaskell's Morvern Transformed.
Some residents of St Kilda were relocated to Lochaline, the main village of Morvern, when the island was evacuated in 1930.
Present Day
Ferries depart from Lochaline, at 56°32′12″N 05°46′29″W / 56.53667°N 5.77472°W, to the Isle of Mull. Rahoy has a deer farm supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise. The Morven Community Development Company, the local development trust, was established in 1999. It aims to provide increased employment opportunities, particularly for the young, and to create a wind energy project.
References
- Gaskell, Philip (1968) Morvern Transformed: A Highland Parish in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge University Press.
- Maclean, Charles (1972) Island on the Edge of the World. Edinburgh. Canongate.
- Murray, W.H. (1977) The Companion Guide to the West Highlands of Scotland. London. Collins.