A film by Lív Brownlie, Lauren Blackburn, Beatrice Sumner, and Alex Thomson, with contributions from Rhiannon Bramham and Mara Campbell.
In the middle of Glencoe, at the foot of the three sisters, beside the white cottage at Achnambeithach, is Loch Achtriachtan. This loch presumably took its name after the township of Achtriachtan, where the remains of post-medieval houses, kailyards, and an old corn drying kiln lie alongside the later remains of a sheep farm.
Within the depths of Loch Achtriachtan, it is said that there lives a type of water beast – a Tarbh Uisge, or water bull. The Tarbh Uisge, a Gaelic mythological creature that is said to take the form of a bull with a dark and slippery appearance, owing to its amphibious nature. At night it leaves Loch Achtriachtanto eat crops (far more than mortal beasts) and would have interbred with the cattle from nearby Achtriachtan township (Fairweather, 1974, 5-6). The resulting offspring were said to be weaker animals (ibid).
During the field school this year the creative team explored the story of Loch Achtriachtan’sTarbh Uisge using sounds, sculpture, film, and the poetry of Jim McLean, from his piece Hush, Hush.
Film credits:
Edited and Mixed by Lauren Blackburn.
Featuring Elizabeth Robertson, Lív Brownlie and Rhiannon Bramham.
Videos shot by Beatrice Sumner, Alex Thomson, and Lauren Blackburn.
Contributions from Elizabeth Robertson and Gareth Beale.
Sounds recorded in Glencoe by Lív Brownlie and Rhiannon Bramham.
References
Fairweather, Barbara (1974) Highland Folklore, Glencoe and North Lorn Folk Museum: Glencoe.
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