Field Visit

Date 1977

Event ID 622063

Category Recording

Type Field Visit

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/622063

NM 428 516. Fish-trap, Loch a' Chumhainn: A tidal fish-trap of unusual form is preserved at the head of Loch a' Chumhainn, some 230m SW of Dervaig Church (NM45SW 11.00). The gap of about 85m between the tidal island of Eilean na Carraidh and the promontory called Druim na Carraidh on the SW shore is spanned by an irregular wall of dry-stone construction incorporating two V-shaped inlets, each about 6m in width at the mouth and 8m in length. The superstructure, which stands to a height of 1.8m and is composed of small boulders, evidently owes its excellant state of preservation to the continuous maintenance undertaken by successive generations of a local family. The lowest course of the wall, however, which is constructed of massive boulders and has an average width of about 1.9m, appears to be of considerable antiquity. At the head of the SW inlet a 'gate' filled with small stones is formed between two large squared blocks set 1.2m apart. This feature was evidently designed to allow fish into the trap at states of the tide when water did not reach the top of the wall.

It is worthy of mention that the names 'Eilean na Carraidh' and 'Druim na Carraidh' apparently contain a variant of the Gaelic 'cairidh' - a fish-trap, by which the structure is still known today.

RCAHMS 1980, visited 1977.