JON MACLEOD: FROM LAG A BHOGAN TO GEO AN SHEOMA
There is a running narrative of names walking through the landscape from my house down to the sea – these are oral Gaelic names known in my village but not down on any standard map. These names are as handy as street signs for describing where you have been and where you want to go. Some have stories attached to them, with others the meaning is lost, and you can speculate on what they refer to and create your own fictions.
Starting at my house I pass Lag a’ Bhocan (the hollow of the ghost), Creagan Buidhe (the yellow hillocks) Eilean Ard na Reimh (the high island of the oars) and An Daim (The dam). Nearing my destination along the clifftop I pass Geo an Sheoma (the rocky inlet of the room – where the sea has carved out a space big enough for a family to sit down to supper).
There is also a running narrative of plants as I walk through the croft to the sea, starting with Cuckoo Flower (Cardamine pratensis) and slowly progressing with Butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris) and Bog violet (Viola lanceolata), until on the cliff top above the sea I am in amongst Maritime Sunburst Lichen (Xanthoria parietina) and Sea Pink (Armeria maritima) – I clutch a dried kelp stalk as I walk to the edge of the cliff and the cusp of ocean
Beyond the cliffs another form of naming takes place. ‘Sea marks’, mnemonics describing fishing grounds, but also a plethora of names to describe the sea in all its variety exist, such as Strùplaidh (The backwash of sea on the shore usually during Northerly gales or heavy seas)’or Saobh-shruth (whirling contrary eddies).
Words are important here, instead of distancing you from nature they bond us deeper to it.
Starting at my house I pass Lag a’ Bhocan (the hollow of the ghost), Creagan Buidhe (the yellow hillocks) Eilean Ard na Reimh (the high island of the oars) and An Daim (The dam). Nearing my destination along the clifftop I pass Geo an Sheoma (the rocky inlet of the room – where the sea has carved out a space big enough for a family to sit down to supper).
There is also a running narrative of plants as I walk through the croft to the sea, starting with Cuckoo Flower (Cardamine pratensis) and slowly progressing with Butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris) and Bog violet (Viola lanceolata), until on the cliff top above the sea I am in amongst Maritime Sunburst Lichen (Xanthoria parietina) and Sea Pink (Armeria maritima) – I clutch a dried kelp stalk as I walk to the edge of the cliff and the cusp of ocean
Beyond the cliffs another form of naming takes place. ‘Sea marks’, mnemonics describing fishing grounds, but also a plethora of names to describe the sea in all its variety exist, such as Strùplaidh (The backwash of sea on the shore usually during Northerly gales or heavy seas)’or Saobh-shruth (whirling contrary eddies).
Words are important here, instead of distancing you from nature they bond us deeper to it.
JON MACLEOD
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ABOUT THE ARTIST
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JON MACLEOD is a multi-disciplinary artist, writer and curator based in the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides.
His work explores human entanglements with nature, cultural identity and symbiotic sustainabilities. Recently he has recently taken part in exchanges and residencies in Norway, Finland, Newfoundland and Senegal. He is project curator and residency programmer for the arts organisation An Lanntair. www.lanntair.com https://resartis.org/listings/an-lanntair/ [email protected] [email protected] |