The following relates to Chapter 56 and 57 in my 1st Book A Storm in Any Port describing some of the places the crew visited.

The crew of the Emerald sailed back across the Firth of Lorne, up the west side of Luing, before steering through the narrow channel that separates the islands of Easdale and Seil.

They were all in need of some light refreshments, which invariably means finding a Hotel where they can sample some beer and local spirits, so it was Grunt, who suggested they head for Puilladrobhain – translated in Gaelic as ‘the pool of the otters’.

There was a Hotel only a short walk from the anchorage, so they headed for the Tigh na Truish Hotel – translated as The House of the Trousers.

It’s named this because several years after the Jacobite rebellion—when the British government tried to suppress Gaelic culture banning kilts, tartan, bagpipes, and language—islanders heading for work on the mainland would change into trousers here and back into their kilts when returning home.

The Tigh na Truish Hotel is at Clachan Bridge which is famous for it’s ‘Bridge over the Atlantic’.

This humpbacked bridge spans a narrow channel waterway called the Clachan Sound. Because both ends of the sound spill into the Atlantic Ocean, the little one-arched bridge has been dubbed the “Bridge Over the Atlantic.”

The stone overpass threads the Hebridean island of Seil to mainland Scotland. It was originally designed by John Stevenson of Oban in 1792 and built by engineer Robert Mylne between 1792 and ‘93.

#tigh na truish, #seil #kilmartin hotel #firthoflorne