Beinn na Caillich (Red Hills)

Beinn na Caillich
Beinn na Caillich and Goir a' Bhlàir from Broadford
Highest point
Elevation	732 m (2,402 ft)
Prominence	696 m (2,283 ft)[1]
Listing	Graham, Marilyn
Coordinates	57°14′16″N 05°58′34″W / 57.23778°N 5.97611°W / 57.23778; -5.97611
Naming
English translation	mountain of the old woman
Language of name	Gaelic
Pronunciation	Scottish Gaelic: [peɲ ə ˈkʰaʎɪç]
Geography
Beinn na Caillich Skye, Scotland
Parent range	Red Hills
OS grid	NG601233

Beinn na Caillich (Scottish Gaelic for 'mountain of the old woman or Cailleach') is a mountain with a height of 732 metres (2,402 ft), west of Broadford on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. It is one of the Red Hills, or Red Cuillin. There is another Beinn na Caillich at Kyle Rhea on Skye, with an identical height.

The summit is adorned by an especially large cairn, reputedly marking the site where Saucy Mary, a Norwegian princess and former resident of Castle Moil in Kyleakin, is buried. Local legend claims that she was buried at the top of the mountain so that she could face the land of her birth forever. An alternative version of events suggests the monument was dedicated to "a gigantic woman in the days of Fingal".^[2] Thomas Pennant climbed the hill while staying with Mackinnon of Corriechatachan (or Corry); Samuel Johnson and James Boswell did not.^[3]

On the eastern slopes is Goir a' Bhlàir, "the field of battle" (grid reference NG624234^[4]). The battle concerned was apparently a decisive action by the Gaelic Clan Mackinnon against the Norsemen^[4]

• Early descriptions of Skye from the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal Volume 5 Number 5