When the sun shines

A lovely day today. Blue skies and sunshine. What a difference it makes, as this picture shows.

We had a fabulous lunch at The Three Chimneys – wonderful food, beautifully presented, a real treat. Then we headed on towards Glendale and Neist Point, the westernmost headland on Skye. A dramatically situated lighthouse is what most people head for, but the headland itself is sufficiently dramatic for me, as I climbed above it instead.


The blip is a photograph taken on our way back to Dunvegan. These curiously-shaped, flat-topped mountains, are the MacLeod Tables. Healabhal Beag (1601 ft) and Healabhal Mor (1538 ft). They are a gentle contrast to the jagged peaks of the Black Cuillins. Look large.

According to legend, the flat summits were created after the visit of Saint Columba to the island. He was not well received by the Chief, who at this time lived in a Dun on the shores of Loch Bracadale, and was refused any hospitality.

St. Columba was invited to preach a sermon in the local church and chose as his theme: "The rabbits have their warrens, the birds have their nests but the messenger of the Lord has nowhere to lay his head".

During the sermon, the skies blackened and the ground shook, culminating in an almighty crash. On leaving the church, the congregation discovered that the tops of the two local mountains had been struck off, creating a bed for St. Columba to sleep on and a table for him to dine at. Well that would teach them wouldn't it!!

One of the reasons I wanted to blip these is that a few years ago, when we were here, I bought an oil painting of the MacLeod Tables from an artist living and working close by and it has hung on our wall ever since. I just wanted to look at them again and we happen to be staying not that far away.