Eilean Aoidhe - 'the island of strangers' - West Cowal, Argyll. An early medieval stronghold? A thread @EarlyScotland @NorthAges @amaldon #earlymedieval

One of the perks of living in Argyll when under tier 4 - but before the current limitations - is the opportunity to explore the history of your local area! This , along with CANMORE, and a copy of the OS map become the tools of adventure @VisitCowal #YCW2021 @UHIArchaeology

Eilean Aoidhe (identified as 'the island of the strangers' in Canmore) is a hammerhead shaped peninsula c. 900m by c. 300m off west Cowal, connected to the mainland by a low, 30m long causeway. The local area is called Stillaig and it is littered with archaeology. #cowal #Argyll

Access is via a farm track off the Millhouse to Portavadie Road. The 1st site is an early medieval chapel and D-shaped enclosure, on the hillside of Cnoc Pollphail ('Hill of the hollow in the rampart'). The stone wall survives to about 0.7m high. That's Kintyre and Jura behind me

The chapel is about 8x4m, with drystone walls 1m thick. The enclosure is 36x28m. The camera struggles to pick the detail out amidst the bracken, but the site has an impressive situation with views across Loch Fyne. There're a dozen other early med. sites like this across Cowal.

Canmore dates the chapel from c10th-c12th, but no excavation has yet been undertaken. The chapel well recorded on the map 170m SSE is a natural spring, which probably played a part in choice of the chapel's location.

Walking on down the track (past a lot of cows!!) the next site is a standing stone by Creag Loisgte ('Burned Crag'). Canmore holds that it is prehistoric, possibly a boundary marker for the chapel's territory. A few paces down the track Eilean Aoidhe emerges into view...

Could the standing stone be a territorial boundary marker between the land of the island's inhabitants and those who lived on the upland pastures? Eilean Aoidhe's name - 'Island of strangers' - implies outsiders settled there. The land up to the standing stone would still...

afford some pasture land for the island's inhabitants. Rounding the edge of Creag Loisgte, the double bay and causeway in the lee of the island can be seen. Salann Bay ('bay of the heel') to the left is used by the BB outdoor centre here to launch sailing dinghies, offering...

sheltered waters to cast off or beach boats. The gently shelving bay's floor is mud, not rocky and would be safely navigable for larger boats. Port Leathan ('broad bay') is similar but much bigger. The spot is clearly an excellent harbour for the perennial seamen of the early med

Vikings, or the Gall-Gaill as the Irish chroniclers termed them, ranged across the seas of Northern Britain from the late c8th, their attacks leading to the collapse of the Western Kingdom of Dalriada - closely commensurate to modern Argyll - by the mid c.9th. These waters were..

their stomping grounds until Somerled took over as the Lord of the Isles in the c12th. The primary sources are slim on what was happening in the northwest at this time. It is unsure if Cowal was held by the Kings of Alba or by the Gall-Gaill. At Eilean Aoidhe, I'd argue this...

was a Norse coastline and they are the eponymous 'strangers'. Its a perfect anchorage, with easy access to the Firth of Clyde and Kintyre (held by the Norse certainly at least from the 1090s after the king of Scotland surrendered it to King Magnus Barelegs of Norway). The land...

onshore allows pastural farming, whilst the low twin peaks of the island offer excellent locations for fortified encampments and lookout posts. A perfect spot for a Norse settlement, and within the zone of their activity.

There are ruins on the island, but likely farmhouses of a later date. This was a beautiful place to explore and just a taste of the history Cowal has to offer. Thanks for reading if you made it this far! #historicscotland