Sgorach Mor is a 601m tall hill perched on the end of the ridge between Glen Massan and Glen Lean in the Cowal peninsula, Argyll. To the hillwalkers today who wander up Cowal's hills, it casts a looming presence which stands out against the skyline.
In the ancient and early medieval world however, Sgorach Mor seems to have been a landmark which meant so much more. Examining place name evidence, the surrounding topography and an ancient site at its summit, this video argues that the Sgorach Mor was a key part of the 'Druim na-Alban' - an ancient frontier boundary between the territory of the Scots Gaels of Dalriada to the west and the brittonic speaking kingdoms of the Alt Clut Britons and the Picts to the east. First recorded in the 7th century AD, when St. Columba crossed the Druim na-Alban (or the 'spine of Britain') on his way from Iona to the court of the king of the Northern Picts near Inverness, evidence at Sgorach Mor could prove the line of this ancient frontier extended all the way south to the shores of the Clyde.
Walk with me in this video as I explore from the floor of Glen Lean to the ancient site at the top of the Sgorach Mor ('Great Scourge' in Gaelic) in search of an ancient frontier and those who lived on it.
6:35 View over Holy Loch and Sandbank
14:39 view from the top of Sgorach Mor with description of surrounding landmarks
