Drochaid an Obh (1)
There is a ‘bridge’ that is not a bridge in the eastern Highlands. It’s north of Inverness on the border between the low country of Easter Ross and East Sutherland. It’s near Tain.
It’s called Drochaid an Obh. It’s a sandbank/shoal – a sandbank. It’s at the mouth of the Dornoch Firth, between Dornoch and the Morrich More. It’s a danger to mariners. The sea there is shallow and it is very rough at times.
Before the road bridge was built across the Dornoch Firth, people were crossing the firth on a ferry. In 1809, the ferry sank at Drochaid an Obh. Scores (of people) were drowned.
In December 1864, the schooner, the Sarah, was sailing between Portmahomack and Tain. The weather wasn’t too bad but there were big waves at Drochaid an Obh.
The vessel’s keel went on the sand. It wasn’t long until the vessel sank. Five of the six crew members on board lost their lives.
Drochaid an Obh also has an English name. That is ‘Gizzen Briggs’. In Lowland Scots, Gizzen Briggs means ‘leaky bridge’. The great place names expert – William Watson, who belong to Easter Ross – was of the opinion that it was from the Old Norse language that the name came. In Old Norse, it also means ‘leaky bridge’.
The Obh was a supernatural marine creature. It is also recorded as aobh or baobh. That means a ‘wicked, mischievous, female spirit’. A creature that would take mariners to their death.
There is another tale about the sailing vessel, the Rotterdam. Her captain was a rogue. He reckoned that the ship was so good that he ought not to fear anything. But he came to the Dornoch Firth. And the Gizzen Briggs sank him.
Are the Gizzen Briggs natural? Well, according to oral tradition, they were constructed. I’ll tell you the tale in the next Litir.
Drochaid an Obh (1)
Tha ‘drochaid’ nach eil na drochaid air taobh an ear na Gàidhealtachd. Tha i tuath air Inbhir Nis, air a’ chrìch eadar Machair Rois agus Machair Chataibh. Tha i faisg air Baile Dhubhthaich.
’S e Drochaid an Obh an t-ainm oirre. ’S e oitir a tha innte – oitir-ghainmhich. Tha i aig beul Linne Dhòrnaich, eadar Dòrnach agus a’ Mhormhaich Mhòr. Tha i na cunnart do mharaichean. Tha a’ mhuir an sin eu-domhainn agus bidh i gu math garbh aig amannan.
Mus robh an drochaid-rathaid ann thar Linne Dhòrnaich, bha daoine a’ dol tarsainn na linne air bàt’-aiseig. Ann an ochd ceud deug ’s a naoi (1809) chaidh am bàta fodha air Drochaid an Obh. Bha na ficheadan air am bàthadh.
Anns an Dùbhlachd ochd ceud deug, seasgad ’s a ceithir (1864), bha an sgùinear, an Sarah, a’ seòladh eadar Port mo Cholmaig agus Baile Dhubhthaich. Cha robh an t-sìde ro dhona ach bha tuinn mhòra ann aig Drochaid an Obh.
Chaidh druim an t-soithich air a’ ghainmhich. Cha b’ fhada gus an deach an soitheach fodha. Chaill còignear dhen t-sianar air bòrd am beatha.
Tha ainm Beurla air Drochaid an Obh cuideachd. ’S e sin ‘Gizzen Briggs’. Anns a’ Bheurla Ghallta, tha Gizzen Briggs a’ ciallachadh ‘drochaid aoidionach’ no ‘leaky bridge’. Bha an sàr-eòlaiche air ainmean-àite – Uilleam MacBhàtair, a bhuineadh do Mhachair Rois – dhen bheachd gur ann bhon t-Seann Lochlannais a thàinig an t-ainm. Ann an Seann Lochlannais, tha e cuideachd a’ ciallachadh ‘drochaid aoidionach’.
’S e creutair-mara os-nàdarrach a bha anns an Obh. Tha i air a clàradh cuideachd mar aobh no baobh. Tha sin a’ ciallachadh ‘wicked, mischievous, female spirit’. Creutair a bheireadh maraichean dom bàs.
Tha sgeul eile mun t-soitheach-seòlaidh, an Rotterdam. Bha an sgiobair aice na thrustar. Bha e dhen bheachd gun robh an long cho math ’s nach bu chòir eagal sam bith a bhith air ro rud sam bith. Ach thàinig e gu Linne Dhòrnaich. Agus chuir Drochaid an Obh fodha e.
A bheil Drochaid an Obh nàdarrach? Uill, a rèir beul-aithris, chaidh a togail. Innsidh mi dhuibh an sgeul anns an ath Litir.
