Beinn Dòrain

Beinn Dòrain rises above the Bridge of Orchy in Argyll and Bute, a steep-sided Munro of 1,076 metres. The mountain’s Gaelic name means ‘hill of the otter’, and it overlooks the railway station that shares its name. Duncan Ban MacIntyre, the 18th-century Gaelic poet, spent his youth working as a gamekeeper in these hills. His best-known poem, Moladh Beinn Dòbhrainn, celebrates the mountain in lines still quoted today. The poem’s opening verse calls Beinn Dòrain the most glorious of all hills seen beneath the sun. A clear path starts from Bridge of Orchy station and climbs to the bealach between Beinn Dòrain and Beinn an Dothaidh. Walkers often tackle both peaks in a single outing from this point. In 2007 the Scottish composer Ronald Stevenson set MacIntyre’s poem to music. The work calls for full chorus, chamber chorus, symphony orchestra and chamber orchestra, using both the original Gaelic and Hugh Macdiarmid’s English translation. It was first performed in Glasgow on 19 January 2008 by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and several choirs.