The Stones of Rudha Glas (3)
Rudha-na-Buitean
Although this headland lies directly across the narrows from my Grandfather's house, getting to it involved a long walk round the head of the bay or a trip across the narrows in a boat. As children we were not encouraged to do either. I cannot recall ever being there as a youngster. If Rudha Glas was a magical place for us children to visit, and it really was, then Rudha-na-Buitean was a place to avoid at all costs. There was a small bay there and when the tide went out it left an 'Ob lathaich', which we were told would swallow us up if we ventured near. I doubt if that would have kept us away if it had been easier to get to. What really made it an eerie place for me was my mother's story of the three graves which were to be found there, each one marked with an upright stone. The graves were said to be those of three sailors whose bodies had been cast up on the shore in the vicinity of Bagh-ceann-na-muice, in the dim and distant days before the Island was crofted. Who they were or when or where they lost their lives is not known to me.
Some
years ago I went to Rudha-na-Buitean specially to look
for these stones. I found three upright natural stones
in an area of even ground not far from the Ob lathaich.
These had obviously been put there by the hand of man
and could well be grave markers. I took relevant measurements
at the time but they have since been mislaid. I survived
the trip without being gobbled up by the lathaich! The
real stones of Rudha Glas are, of course, those used
to build the houses in which the people lived, but that
is another story.
Article by Angus Morrison, Blairgowrie (ex-Burnside, Laggandoin).
