Township: Barrapol,Barrapol

Map Reference: Barrapol 10

Name Type: machair

Meaning: The green (literally grey) hillock

Other Forms:

Related Places:

Information:Said to be a fairy hill. The father of John MacPhail, Balephuil, would never walk past this after dark, but would walk home from Barrapol the longer way past Heylipol schoool, keeping a pin and oatmeal in his pocket for protection - Angus MacLean, Caolas, 11/1996. [this would be in the 1910s -JH].

The Gaelic Otherworld, ed Ronald Balack, p452:
Niall M Brownlie informs me that there is in fact a particular Fairy knoll in Tiree called An Cnoc Glas...He says, "There was a man from Balephuil who, if alone, would not use this right of way under any circumstances."

"There was an old woman in this township who was in the fairy mound. She was a midwife and if there was a baby being born anywhere they would come for her. This night there was a knock on her door and, something that has never been seen around here, there was a coach outside and two white horses. A man asked the midwife if she would attend his wife who was in labour....Away the midwife went. And there is a hillock on the Barrapol machair they call An Cnoc Glas. The coach and horses went right into the hillock and the ground closed behind it, leaving no mark. She delivered the baby and sorted everything out. But when she was washing the baby, a droplet splashed up into her eye and she suddenly was able to see everything inside the hillock for what it was....An old man came over and took hold of the baby and threw it in the middle of the fire...Afterwards the coach took the midwife home, but some time later she was out for a walk when she saw this couple coming along the road. She recognised them as coming from An Cnoc Glas and she stopped to talk to them. One of the women said, 'A drop of water must have gone in your eye.' 'Yes,' said the midwife, and at that the woman spat into her eye...An old man from Balephuil had a relation in Sandaig. When he was coming home, he saw the hillock open once." Donald Sinclair, SA1968.021


Local Form:

Languages : Gaelic

Informants: multiple

Informant 2: Hugh MacLean, Barrapol, collected by Ailean Boyd

Informant 3: Donald Sinclair, West Hynish, SA1968.021