Preas nam Meàrlach

A Gaelic place name guide by Joe Dorward

Preas nam Meàrlach - 21st August 2007

Preas nam Meàrlach is the wooded area around the point where the track between Derry Lodge, and Corrour Bothy fords the Laoigh Beag.

As a place name Preas nam Meàrlach – means copse of the robbers, and is colloquially (always) known as Robbers’ Copse.

Although the name is suggestive of the place where robbers – lying in wait – would rob travellers, I believe it’s more likely that cattle raiders spent the night here before driving their new property the rest of the way through Làirig Dhrù.  In Haldane (1952) – the author suggest that cattle were driven about 10 miles a day, and interestingly Preas nam Meàrlach is about 10 miles from the forest of Rothiemurchus. 

At Preas nam Meàrlach the Laoigh Beag cuts across the track forcing a fording, or detour upstream to the bridge built by the Cairngorm Club.  From here Gleann Laoigh Beag turns northward, continuing as a place name for another mile or so.