Glen Cannich

Glen Cannich (Gleann Chanaich) is a long glen in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland and through which runs the River Cannich. Emerging from the reservoir of Loch Mullardoch, the river flows east to merge with the River Affric at the village of Cannich, their combined waters forming the River Glass.

Downstream of Loch Mullardoch are the smaller natural lochs of Loch a' Bhana, Loch Sealbhanach, Loch Carrie and Loch Craskie through each of which the river flows. Other lochs within the Cannich catchment include (from west to east) Loch an Fraoich-choire, Coire Lochan, Loch a' Choire Dhomhain, Loch a' Choire Bhig, Loch Tuill Bhearnach and Lochan a' Mhill Dhuibh. Within the narrow confines of the eastern end of the glen the river plunges over two waterfalls; Eas Maol Mhairi and Eas an Fhithich. Innumerable burns drain the mountain slopes to the north and south of the river, the largest of which are the Abhainn a' Choilich and Abhainn Sithidh which arise on the eastern slopes of the peak of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan.

A minor public road runs up Glen Cannich from Cannich as far as the Mullardoch dam. Other than water capture for the hydro-electric scheme, the major land uses in the glen are forestry and deer stalking.

History
Glen Cannich is an important location to the history and martyrology of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Between 1735 and 1746, the Glen was the home and base of operations for three outlawed Roman Catholic priests of the Society of Jesus; Frs. Charles (Maighstir Teàrlach, an t-Athair Teàrlach Mac Fhearchair) and John Farquharson (Maighstir Iain, an-tAthair Iain Mac Fhearchair) and future Catholic martyr Fr. Alexander Cameron (Maighstir Sandaidh, an t-Athair Alasdair Camshròn).

According to Colin Chisholm and Dom Odo Blundell of Fort Augustus Abbey, the three priests' residence and secret Mass house was inside a cave known as (Glaic na h'eirbhe, lit. "the hollow of the hard-life")  which was located underneath the cliff of a big boulder at Brae of Craskie, near Beauly (A' Mhanachainn) in Glen Cannich.

According to Monsignor Thomas Wynne, "It was in the nature of a summer sheiling, a command center for monitoring the traditional activities of cattle reivers; as such it combined a civilising role with the building up of a Catholic mission outside Cameron territory in a way which must have reassured Lochiel on both counts."

This secret dwelling remained the centre of the Catholic mission in Lochaber at the time, where Fr. Cameron and the two Farquarson brothers secretly ministered to the local Catholics and secretly visited the covert "Mass houses" at Fasnakyle, Crochail, and Strathfarrar (Srath Farair).

Whenever it was not possible for the three priests to safely leave the cave, their parishioners would come to the cave at Brae of Craskie for Mass, the sacraments, and, especially, for the illegal Catholic baptisms of their children. A natural cup stone known as (Clach a Bhaistidh) was used by the three priests as a baptismal font.

According to Colin Chisholm, the cup stone had been used for performing baptisms, "from time immemorial". This may mean that the natural cup stone was used in baptisms before the Scottish Reformation in the now ruined 10th-century monastery and Christian pilgrimage site of (Kilbeathan) at (Clachan Comar), which is alleged to have been founded by St Bean, an Abbot of Iona Abbey, kinsman of St Columba, and missionsry who is said locally to have spearheaded the Christianisation of Strathglass, near the holy well known as (Sputan Bhain). Another possible origin site for the cup stone may have been Beauly Priory, a 13th-century Valliscaulian monastery located in near Beauly.

Furthermore, the Bullaun, or natural cup stone, known as (Clach a Bhaistidh) and used by the three Jesuits to perform secret Catholic baptisms in the cave at Glen Cannich, was removed from the Cave, "in order to protect it from damage", by Black Watch Regiment Captain Archibald Macrae Chisholm and placed upon a stone column, where it is now venerated as a relic by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen at St Mary and St. Bean's Roman Catholic Church at Marydale, Beauly, Glen Cannich, which was built, despite the depopulation of much of the surrounding countryside by the Highland Clearances, following Catholic Emancipation in 1829, completed in 1866, and solemnly consecrated in 1868.

Folklore
In local Scottish folklore, Fr. John Farquarson remains a popular folk hero. He is said to have once had a face to face confrontation with the Devil upon Cannich Bridge and to have forced his opponent to dive into the River Cannich with a hissing sound.

Books

 * Odo Blundell (1909), The Catholic Highlands of Scotland. Volume I: The Central Highlands, Sands & Co., 21 Hanover Street, Edinburgh, 15 King Street, London.
 * Robert Forbes (1895), The Lyon in Mourning: Or a Collection of Speeches, Letters, Journals Etc., Relative to the Affairs of Prince Charles Edward Stuart. Volume I, Printed at the University Press by T. and A. Constable for the Scottish History Society.
 * Thomas Wynne (2011), The Forgotten Cameron of the '45: The Life and Times of Alexander Cameron S.J, Print Smith, Fort William, Scotland

Periodicals

 * "Simon, Lord Lovat's Warning", by Colin Chisholm, The Celtic Magazine, Volume 7, November 1881, pp. 49-52.
 * "Rev. John Farquharson, Priest of Strathglass", by Colin Chisholm, The Celtic Magazine, Volume 7 1882, pp. 141-146.
 * "A Highland Mission: Strathglass, 1671-1777", by Very Rev. Alexander Canon Mac William, Volume XXIV, Innes Review, pp. 75-102.
 * "The Conversion of Alexander Cameron", by Thomas Wynne, Volume XLV, Innes Review, Autumn 1994, pp. 178-187.