A misty moisty morning near the mull of kintyre

I keep singing the song by Steeleye span when we set out to find Saddell abbey. Because it is indeed “a misty moisty morning and cloudy is the weather”.

Singalong

Sing along by clicking on the youtube video

Occasionally I change my tune because we will later visit Saddell beach, where the clip for Mull of Kintyre was filmed. More about that later.

Clouds and mist hover between trees and in the valley, as we drive short while along the long and winding road. There is another songline for you. Then we reach Saddell glen, sitting prettily in this green and pleasant land. Here also lie the remains of what was once Saddell abbey.

Saddell Abbey

There is not much left of the abbey But you can see why monks would choose to live here. This small and secluded friendly valley boasts a stream, indispensable for providing clean water. Moreover, it offers easy access to the sea. Both would be welcome assets for monks, who occasionally still had to flee from marauders.

The notice on the visitors board reads:

Welcome to Saddell, the quiet glen where the Saddell Water flows into the Kilbrannan Sound on the sheltered east coast of Kintire.

The beginnings

As so often, recorded history of Saddell Abbey is somewhat shrouded in the mists of time. We do know a date: 1140. This is when Irish Bishop Malachy of Armagh comes to Kintyre to seek a site for a Cistercian monastery.

Somerled

Somerled, a powerful nobleman, of whom we will hear more shortly, grants land to the bishop. The abbey is built and 1148 and monks from the Cistercian Abbey at Mellifont in County Armagh, Ireland come to Saddell. So, through Somerled, Saddell has a connection with one of Scotland’s most enigmatic warrior-heroes.

Saddell Abbey – in the footsteps of Somerled

For the information about Saddell glen and the abbey I am indebted to two websites. One is Undiscovered Scotland. The other is called the hazel tree by National trust writer Jo Woolf.They come both highly recommended. If the small glimpse I give here peaks your interest. They tell much more, and in far more detail, than I do here.

Not just any old nobleman.

The warrior Somairle or Somerled (literally, ‘summer-wanderer’) is thought to have come from a Norse-Gaelic family. Somerled proves a powerful benefactor. All the more so when in 1158 he makes a powerful move and frees the Highlands and Islands from Norse rule and proclaims himself Ri Innse Gall or King of the Isles.

Ri Innse Gall

Somairle or Somerled (literally, ‘summer-wanderer’) is a warrior with some claim to the throne of the Isles. The kingdom of the isles is ancient, but in the 12th century, it is under influence of the Norse kings. Somerled cleverly defies both the Scottish and Norwegian kings with his fleet of beautifully-built birlinns or galleys. As a consequence of using the latest in naval technology, namely the use of a rudder, Somerled’s Kingdom of the Isles was not subservient anymore but a separate kingdom, independent of both Norway and Scotland.

King of the Isles

Somerled comes from a Norse-Gaelic family. He marries Ragnhild, daughter of the Norse King of Man; When he rises to power, he declares himself Rí Innse Gall or King of the Isles. Lording it over a wide territory that stretches across the Hebrides and parts of mainland Argyll. Somerled’s descendants are the MacDonald Lords of the Isles, who ruled the west of Scotland until 1493, when their lands and titles were seized by James IV of Scotland.

The summer wanderer

In 1164 Somerled is killed. To this day there is an enduring clan tradition that his body was brought to Saddell for burial in the south wall of the choir of the church. Though, others sources say he was buried on Iona.

The End of of Saddell Abbey

Somerled’s son Raghnall, or Reginald, re-endowed the abbey in 1160 and it seems to have continued in being for a further three and a half largely unrecorded centuries. The end probably came in the years after 1493. That was the year in which James IV finally gave up on his hopes to control the western seaboard of Scotland through a subservient Lord of the Isles and took personal control of the title. Saddell Abbey was allowed to subside into ruin, leaving just fragmentary remains and the powerful, haunting, effigies of some of those who were buried here to show how important this place once was.

Exploring

As I explore I am only dimly aware of this shroud of history that covers the place not unlike the light mist that hangs in this valley and gives it a pleasant if somewhat mysterious atmosphere.

The graveyard is ancient with some modern additions and abounded in glimpses of times and lives gone by.

More and more details appear.

A door in the green

All the time I hear water rushing close by. As I go deeper and deeper into to overgrown parts it feels as if I enter a green cave. The lush but hushed green of the trees, the sound of rushing water, the expectancy of hearing drops of water to falling, add to this atmosphere

Suddenly in the middle of that mossy and moist thicket: an ancient stone portal.

Will it lead me to the stream I can hear gushing close by? This begs for more exploration and investigation.

Portal to another world?

The iron gate in the stone archway creaks open, and I wonder for a fleeting moment to what other parts of this most enchanting forest the path leads. Alas, all fairy tales must come to an end. The other side appears completely impenetrable. Besides that, my own knight in (bright blue) shining armour is calling out and wondering what keeps me so long in this small and overgrown bit of wood. So I turn round and go back through the beautifully spiralled iron gate.

Tranciense

Just before I stepped out into the clearing there was one more glimpse of the transient quality of life.