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river dee waterlines 262 x 104cm ( dibond/matt ultra)
River Dee, Uisge Dé, Water of the Goddess
'The Dee runs like a
dark vein across the knuckle of Northeast Scotland. According to the old ways,
water mothers the landscape, and this explains why river names are the most
ancient to appear on the map.
The ‘most important voice in their landscape was
that of rivers’, says Peter Levi, speaking of the sacred culture of
the ancient Greeks – he could be just as well describing the shining and pure
waters of the Geldie and Avon: ‘It is amazing how important in mythology a stream that seemed obscure
or undistinguished can turn out to be. The relation of the river to its own
landscape and the special character it has, are often expressed in ways one had
not imagined…‘
Imagination matters. Many of the
ancient myths of the Cairngorms have long been forgotten, but water is still a
visceral force: rushing over rocks, spate black, depositing reddish alluvials,
and changing course overnight. Rivers and burns defined clan territories,
provided food, enriched the earth, and now produce renewable energy.
Like distorting mirrors
ancient river names reflect deep time. The sounds – pronunciation is the secret
to understanding toponyms – of their names allow us to listen in to our Pictish
forebears who knew the Dee as a goddess, Dewa,
paired with the Don, Devona. There
are rivers dedicated to the dark
goddess, Dee, in Galloway and Wales. She is known in Spain as Deba and
Deva, and in Ireland as Abhainn
Dé, or Dea. The Dye, Shiel, Shin, Farrar, Naver, and the dark and
fair rivers, Deveron and Findhorn, all have names that derive from Indo-European'
Extract from ' Gathering' , Alec Finlay
A place-aware guide to The Cairngorms
Inspired by the place-name collections of Adam Watson
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