The King's Ferry
Were you ever on ‘the King’s ferry’? Do you know where it is? It
services a maritime route in Easter Ross, between Cromarty and Nigg.
The kings of Scotland were coming that way to get to Tain. Many people
respected Saint Duthac. King James IV was a pilgrim to the saint’s town
– Tain. He went there as a pilgrim eighteen times.
I went on the ferry from Cromarty to Nigg recently, on a beautiful
summer’s day. The views were beautiful. There were two vehicles waiting
in the queue. It was good that nobody else was waiting because the
vessel takes only two vehicles. It’s pretty small.
Its name is Renfrew Rose. It once worked on the River Clyde. It was a
ferryboat that was going across the river. I wouldn’t like to be on her
in a big sea.
She has been running between Cromarty and Nigg from 2016 onwards. She
took the place of the one that was there before her – Cromarty Queen
and, before that, Cromarty Rose. The service runs in summer, from June
to September. So, if you want to go on her this year, you’ve only got a
short time left.
On the other side of the crossing, a short distance up the road, there
is a gem [pearl] – the Nigg old church. Before that day, I hadn’t ever
been in it. It’s beautiful. It’s pretty certain that King James IV was
on that site when he was on the way to Tain. But the church as it is
today didn’t exist then. It was built early in the seventeenth century.
However, it’s thought that Christian worship has taken place on that site
for twelve hundred years. Why am I saying that? I’ll tell you next week.
Aiseag an Rìgh
An robh sibh riamh air ‘aiseag an Rìgh’? A bheil fios agaibh ca’ bheil e?
Tha e a’ frithealadh slighe-mhara ann an taobh sear Rois, eadar Cromba agus
Bàgh an Eig.
Bha rìghrean na h-Alba a’ tighinn an rathad sin airson faighinn gu Baile
Dhubhthaich. Bha meas mòr aig mòran air Naomh Dubhthach. Bha Rìgh Seumas IV
na thaistealach gu baile an naoimh – Baile Dhubhthaich. Chaidh e ann mar
thaistealach ochd tursan deug.
Chaidh mi air an aiseag bho Chromba gu Bàgh an Eig o chionn ghoirid, air
latha brèagha samhraidh. Bha na seallaidhean air leth. Bha dà charbad a’
feitheamh anns a’ chiudha. Bha e math nach robh duine eile a’ feitheamh oir
gabhaidh an soitheach dìreach dà charbad. Tha i gu math beag.
’S e a h-ainm an Renfrew Rose. Bha i uaireigin ag obair air Abhainn
Chluaidh. Bha i na soitheach aiseig a bha a’ dol tarsainn na h-aibhne. Cha
bu mhath leam a bhith oirre ann am muir mhòr.
Tha i air a bhith a’ ruith eadar Cromba is Bàgh an Eig bho dhà mhìle is
sia-deug (2016) a-mach. Ghabh i àite na tè a bha ann roimhpe – Cromarty
Queen agus, roimhe sin, Cromarty Rose. Bidh an t-seirbheis a’ ruith as
t-samhradh, bhon Ògmhios don t-Sultain. Mar sin, ma tha sibh am beachd a
dhol oirre am-bliadhna, chan eil ach beagan ùine air fhàgail agaibh.
Air taobh thall na slighe, pìos beag suas an rathad, tha neamhnaid – seann
eaglais an Eig. Ron latha sin, cha robh mi riamh air a bhith innte. Tha i
brèagha. Tha e an ìre mhath cinnteach gun robh Rìgh Seumas IV air an
làraich sin nuair a bha e air a shlighe gu Baile Dhubhthaich. Ach cha robh
an eaglais mar a tha i an-diugh ann am bith aig an àm sin. Bha i air a
togail tràth anns an t-seachdamh linn deug.
Ge-tà, thathar a’ smaoineachadh gu bheil adhradh Crìosdail air a bhith ann
air an làraich sin airson mìle is dà cheud bliadhna. Carson a tha mi ag
ràdh sin? Innsidh mi dhuibh an-ath-sheachdain.
