Stratha'an or Strathavon is the main valley of the River Avon, (pronounced "River A'an" ^{[1] [2]}), in the Strathspey area of Moray, Scotland.

The upper reaches of the strath are in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park and the River Avon only leaves the eastern edge of the Park about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from its confluence with the River Spey near Ballindalloch.

The majority of the rocks within the Cairngorms National Park belong to the Dalradian Supergroup, a thick sequence of sands, muds and limestones that were deposited between about 800 and 600 million years ago on the margins of the former continent of Laurentia. ^[3] These rocks were intensely faulted, folded and metamorphosed during the Caledonian Orogeny between about 490 and 430 million years ago. ^[4]

The subsequent collision of Baltica with Laurentia involved further folding and faulting of the Dalradian rock sequence and large plutons of granite rose up amongst the Dalradian rocks and then cooled in situ. ^{[4] [5]} The largest of these plutons is the granite mass which forms the Cairngorm mountains themselves. ^[4] An outlier of Lower Old Red Sandstone occurs around the Tomintoul area. ^[6]

The ice ages of the last 2.5 million years have however left their mark both in terms of erosional and depositional features. The Cairngorm landscape displays a wide range of features associated with glaciation and periglaciation including corries and glacial troughs, moraines, kames, eskers and meltwater channels. ^[7] Amongst the most significant glacial troughs are those of Loch A'an. ^[8]

The source of the River Avon is conventionally said to be Loch A'an situated between the mountains of Cairn Gorm and Ben Macdui. ^{[9] [10]} The headwaters of the strath are however the burns that tumble down from the summits of these two hills and from the 1,120 m (3,670 ft) Càrn Etchachan into Loch A'an. ^[11] The river thus begins it's journey in the heart of the Cairngorm Mountains which

are never wholly free from snow; the forests cannot extend themslves to a great height on their sides nor a tree rear its head within the region of the cold; even pasturage itself fails, and their rocky summits are covered with a downy coat of yellow sapless moss. ^[12]

On the lower slopes of Càrn Etchachan near the rivulet of Garbh Uisge Mhor a titanic block of granite called the Shelter Stone rests on some smaller boulders. There is a cramped space under the stone that can provide some respite from the elements. ^{[13] [14]} In the 1830s, the Stone was described as being capable of containing 12 or 15 men. ^{[15] [a]}

Loch aan

From there the river then continues east into Glen Avon to the north of Ben Mheadhoin, passing the Fords of Avon where there is a refuge hut maintained by the Mountaineering Council of Scotland. ^{[11] [16] [b]}

Ben Avon, for 10 miles before turning north towards the village of Tomintoul and Strath Avon.

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Over the first few miles flowing east through the Forest of Glenavon the Avon gathers to itself numerous small burns, the most notable of which are the Burn of Loin and the Builg Burn originating at Loch Builg. The latter flows down Glen Builg to enter the Avon on its right bank just downstream of the Linn of Avon. ^[11]

A mile to the southwest of Tomintoul, the Water of Ailnack enters from the confines of a precipitous gorge - the higher reaches of this watercourse are known as the Water of Caiplich. Downstream of Tomintoul, the Conglass Water originating at the Lecht, enters from the east and the Burn of Lochy enters from Glen Lochy to the west. Above Bridge of Brown, the Lochy is fed in turn by the Burn of Brown. The lowermost tributary of the Avon is the River Livet which enters from Glenlivet on the right bank at Drumin just as the Avon leaves the national park. ^[11]

Regarded from the point of view of river and mountain scenery, is perhaps the most perfect Glen in Scotland. For in the whole 38 miles, from its source above Loch Avon, to the Spey, there is not a single dour passage, and every phase of highland landscape is presented. From the wild barren grandeur of Ben Macdhui to the luxuriant beaches of Dalnashaugh, under whose shade the river flows deep and dark to meet the Spey. It is rash to discriminate among the beautys of such a glen, but perhaps not the least attractive are those in the middle reaches, where the hills are friendly rather than fearsome, where groves of silver birches break and soften the valley side, where the alder dips its branches in the singing water, and where the oyster-catcher sweeps and cries above the shingle.
— Sir Henry Alexander (1875 - 1940) ^[17]

Some authorities state that, in common with various other examples of Avon, the river takes its name from the Scottish Gaelic abhainn meaning 'river' or 'stream'. The word, in common with the Welsh afon, is thought to originate from an early Indo-European root ab or aub. ^{[18] [19]} Watson takes the view that the derivation is from the " early British Abone not Gaelic abhainn", the former being the precursor of both Pictish and Gaelic. ^[20] Whatever the exact derivation, all agree that the name has the tautological meaning of 'river river'.

Stratha'an was a provincial lordship first recorded between 1194 and 1198, and it was coextensive with the parishes of Kirkmichael and Inveravon. ^[21]

The Lordship of Stratha'an may have been acquired c. 1190 by Earl Duncan of Fife, and commemorated by the naming of Ben Macdui on the lordship's western boundary ( Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Mac Duibh, lit. 'MacDuff's Mountain') after the Earl's kindred Clan MacDuff, though the existence of a burn called Allt an Gille Mícheil on the south eastern boundary of the lordship may commemorate the earlier Earl Gille Míchéil, suggesting the lordship may have been associated with the Earls of Fife as early as the period of the defeat of Oengus of Moray at the Battle of Stracathro in 1130. ^[21] The relationship between the lordship and the Earls of Fife was certainly well-established by 1214, when Earl Malcolm granted the church of St. Peter of Inveravon to the Diocese of Moray "with all the parish of the whole of Stratha'an", and the Earls' lordship was described as being held "in ancient times" in a charter of Robert I dated between 1315 and 1329. ^[22]

In September 1861 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited Loch A'an on an outing from Balmoral Castle. ^[10]

There is a River Avon Fishing Association that promotes tourism in nearby towns and fishing along the river. ^[23]

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

• Barrow, G.W.S. (1988). "Badenoch and Strathspey, 1130-1312. 1: Secular and political". Northern Scotland. 8 (1): 1–15. doi: 10.3366/nor.1988.0002.
• Grant, John; Leslie, William (1798). A Survey of the Province of Moray; Historical, Geographical, and Political (Facsimilie by Moray District Libraries, 1984 ed.). Aberdeen: Isaac Forsyth.
• Gordon, J.E.; Sutherland, D.G. (1993). "Quaternary of Scotland" (PDF). Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Chapter 9. Eastern Grampian Mountains. Retrieved 29 July 2024.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: location ( link)

• Keay, John; Keay, Julia, eds. (1994). Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland. Hammersmith, London: HarperCollins.
• Ordnance Survey. OS Maps Online (Map). 1:25,000. Leisure.
• Ross, Alasdair (2015). Land Assessment and Lordship in Medieval Northern Scotland. Turnhout: Brepols. ISBN  978-2503541334.
• Thomas, C. W.; Gillespie, M. R.; Jordan, C. J.; Hall, A. M. (2004). "Commissioned Report No. 064: Geological Structure and Landscape of the Cairngorm Mountains". Scottish Natural Heritage. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
• Watson, William J. (1926). The History of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland (2005 reprint by Birlinn ed.). Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons.
• Munro, D. M.; Gittings, B. M. (2006). Scotland: an encyclopedia of places & landscapes. Edinburgh: Royal Scottish Geographical Society/Collins.

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