Moidart

Moidart (ˈmɔɪdɑːrt ; Mùideart ˈmuːitjarɣʃt̪) is part of the remote and isolated area of Scotland, west of Fort William, known as the Rough Bounds. Moidart itself is almost surrounded by bodies of water. Loch Shiel cuts off the eastern boundary of the district (along a south-south-west to north-north-east line) and continues along part of the southern edge. The remainder of the southern edge is cut off by Loch Moidart. The north is cut off by Loch Morar and Loch Ailort. Moidart is currently part of the district of Lochaber, in the Highland council area. It includes the townships of Dorlin, Kinlochmoidart and Glenuig. At Dorlin is Castle Tioram, a former fortress of Clann Ruaidhrí and the Clanranald branch of Clan Donald. Moidart forms part of the Morar, Moidart and Ardnamurchan National Scenic Area, one of 40 such areas in Scotland, which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection by restricting certain forms of development. Following raids by vikings, Moidart became part of the Kingdom of the Isles, a Norwegian dependency. It was in this period that Moidart acquired its name, from the Old Norse mod, meaning mud, and the Norse suffix -art, derived from fjord; the whole name thus means muddy loch, and refers to Loch Moidart in particular (whose name is thus tautologous). In the late 11th century, Malcolm III of Scotland made a written agreement with Magnus Barelegs, the Norwegian king, which moved the border to the coast; Moidart thus became Scottish. In the early 12th century, Somerled, a Norse-Gael of uncertain origin, came into possession of Moidart and the surrounding region; no reliable record explains how this happened, but at some point in the 1140s, David I of Scotland's control of the region had been eroded. In the early part of the century, in the 1130s, Somerled launched a coup in the Kingdom of the Isles, which resulted in that kingdom joining his other possessions, as a single independent state.