Sweeny's Bothy: Thorns

TIME

tine

Suibhne's wounded mind – the thorns he sleeps among
recall the spears of battle



 

BIRDSONG
IN THE CANOPIES

suibhne


the poet is cursed by Ronan
to go naked and become feathered
like a bird

A  v   I F O R M

                                                                           v 

                                                                               v

    v

after Trevor Joyce's translation of Suibhne

WAN SHARP SWOOP

hen harrier

SHARP TURN

tern

LEAP

eigg


Suibhne's farthest leap was to the Isle of Eigg
where he stayed for six weeks

SEA-HIGH
SEA-LOW

littoral

A BOWL OF SEA

bay

a view of Camas Sgiotaig, The Bay of The Whisk,
Isle of Eigg

MOUTH

cave

The remarkable geology of Eigg features many caves
such as this one on Tràigh a' Bhìgeil, The Strand of The Chirping Sand

THE BLOCKS

OF THE WORLD

dùn

a thought I adapted from the artist Sean Scully, whose lyrical description

of the 'blocks of the world' also features in the road north.

This poem is a homage to the ability of Neolithic culture(s)

to analyse and adapt to the forms of the landscape, as here

at Dùnan Thalasgair, Isle of Eigg

PLOT

pilot


a view of the Isle of Skye from Talm,
the northerly point of Eigg

POINT

pine

The Point of the Pine, Isle of Raasay
viewed from Dùnan an Aisilidh

BROW OF

THE HILL

font

an ongoing series of photographs of the same poem-label,

considering the landscape as a site of thought

THE GREAT WALL

an sgùrr

the pioneering Scottish geologist Hugh Miller
described An Sgùrr as Babylonian, and a natural version
of The Great Wall of China, in The Cruise of the Betsey

CUILLIN

keel


the name of the Cullin of Skye and Rum derives
from the Norse: 'kjollen', keel-shaped; this view
of Rum is from Cleadale

NOUST

nest

from the Norse, a noust is a traditional stance for a boat

THE HARVEST
OF CLEADALE

sunset


Cleadale will be the home of Bothan Shuibhne

KIST

CREST

cairn

Drùim na Croise

this low hill on the Isle of Eigg

features a Neolithic cairn

EYE-GLINT

gorse

WILD RAMBLER

rose

FLAG OF
THE GRUGACH

yellow


Lòn nan Grugach
The Pool of the Water Nymphs

BOW BELLS

red campion

A WEE THRILL
ON THE EDGE

thrift

DOG VIOLET

blue heart

IN THE LEE
LOOKING OUT
FOR THE LIGHT

bluebell

SHOE OF THE CUCKOO

bluebell


after the Gaelic name for these flowers

FROND

friend





THE FERNS
CROOKED FINGER


C'mon over

THE WATERS STAMP

mint


water mint, sorrel and thyme
are some of Suibhne's wild foods

SORROW

sorrel

A SWEET AGE

thyme

IMPRESSION

moss

PRIMROSE

pixil

NIGHTWOOD

ivy

THE GLEN'S LAMP

birch

after Trevor Joyce's Suibhne

FINGERS UNCURL
BY WATERS

rowan

THE RIVER'S WAND

hazel

MOON

seal

FLUKE

spore

OO
W       L
OO

The place-name Oo, as in The Pond of Oo, Rousay,

derives from the Norse for wool

SAINT'S PILLOW

stone

An example of the ascetic tradition of Early Christianity

RUIN

rowan

BIRDALANE IN
THE CANOPIES

Suibhne





SCHILTRON

hawthorn

the spear-prickly battle formations of the old Scottish armies
were known as schiltron

 OLD-FASHIONED WEAVE

bower

ext RA
                S P ecial


another of Sweeney's wild food delights

GOOD RIDDANCE

blossom

the blossom, which we 'bawm', becomes the rags, or 'clouts',
with which we wish good riddance to illness

AMUSED
INTRUDER

yaffle


the green woodpecker, known or his laughter

Thorns

AF, for Trevor Joyce

for Bothan Shuibhne

St Bride’s Day, 2013

expanded following a field-trip
to the Isle of Eigg, June 2013

further expanded during field-trips to
The Peoples Republic of Carbeth
and Jupiter Artland, June 2013


with thanks to Lucy Conway and Hanna Tuulikki

Bothan Shuibhne | Sweeny’s Bothy

Alec Finlay & The Bothy Project

commissioned as part of Creative Scotland’s

‘Year of Natural Scotland, 2013