Rhanich Farm is a small sheep farm in the North of Scotland over 35 years we had many volunteer helpers and agriculture students. We are still a commercial hill farm (i.e. we sell our lambs at market). We also produce and use our own organic milk and eggs and we have an organic kitchen garden that provides us with fruit and vegetables for much of the year. We have around 100 sheep (not counting lambs), 3 goats, some free range chickens and a friendly sheep dog (Bess).

Location

Farm life involves the hill and the sea. From its perch at 120 meter above sea-level, the Rhanich overlooks the Firth of Dornoch. In winter that sometimes means that the snow stays on the ground longer than it does in the valley by the sea. But in summer the sea mists (the "haar") often keep Tain and Edderton under a damp cover while the Rhanich gets the sun above. In winter it is common to see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) during the long nights while in mid-summer the sky never really gets dark at all. At latitude 57.801, the Rhanich is level with the North tip of Denmark, the town of Goeteborg in Sweden and just below the latitude of Juneau, the capital of Alaska.

Ecology

There are a few fields near the house "in-bye" that have been improved to lush grass but most of the land surrounding the farm is heather and rough grazing. Wild ducks, curlew, partridge and birds of prey are seen frequently. Because of the grain stores there are armies of sparrows and other small song birds hanging around the house and stables. Jackdaws and crows frequent the farm in large numbers and across the valley a pair of ravens have been nesting for many years. Recently we have had the pleasure of watching red-kites soar over the farm. Just across the valley lies Morangie Forrest which is one of the last refuges of the endangered cappercaillie. Both roe-deer and red-deer roam widely over our land. Foxes sometimes stalk the back of some of the in-by fields at lambing time. Also part of the farm are fields in Edderton and by the sea (i.e. the Firth of Dornoch). The fields are next to a designated area for the protection migratory birds (bar-tailed godwit and greylag goose) who use the mudflats to rest and feed. Icelandic swans regularly stop by on the fields by the sea on their seasonal journeys. The Firth is known to be visited by seals, dolphins and even the occasional whale.

History

The area around the Rhanich has been home to people for a very long time. A Pictish stone with the carving of a fish can be found in a field in Edderton, the local village and another stone stands by an old church next to some of the Rhanich's shore-side fields. Ancient chambered cairns, hut circles and brochs are dotted around the area. All are testimony that ancient man found this an ideal place to live : the sea for food and transport at his doorstep and the hill for shelter and for grazing his animals behind him.

Reputedly, "Rhanich" means "place of weeping". Since before the early middle ages, the North East of Scotland had been under permanent threat from Viking marauders who would sail across from Norway or up from their English colonies (e.g. York) and pillage the small communities that were settled by the sea shore. Edderton, the village below the farm, seems to have been raided regularly. When this happened, the villagers would flee into the hills, perhaps following the "Black Burn" until they were safely hidden behind several bends in a deep ravine formed by the burn. There they would wait until the Vikings had departed and while they waited they would no doubt weep for the loss (yet again) of their harvest and their livestock - if not indeed for the loss of anyone who might have been left behind in the panic.

The land that is now the farm at one time held about 4 buildings and there are ruins of houses and animal enclosures that can still be seen.

At the Eastern end of the farm lies a hillock called in Gaelic "Cnoc nan Gaimhnean" which has an old cairn (pile of rocks) on its side. "Cnoc" is the word for a rounded hill and "Gaimhnean" means young male calve or stirk. In the past, cattle from the North of Scotland used to be "driven" to markets in the South by walking them along established routes over land for many days or even weeks. One of these "drove routes" went over Cnoc nan Gaimhean and the cairn may well be a way-marker for the drovers. The hill was an established place to rest the cattle over night. And because sleeping in the heather is very romantic but not very comfortable, an entrepreneurial spirit very soon built an ale house near the hillock where the drovers could get a pint and a soft bed if they could afford it. The "Aultnamain Inn" was still run as a pub until the 1990's when it was converted to a private house.

Volunteers and Agricultural Students

From the beginning, we have had the help of countless enthusiastic volunteer helpers. The Rhanich has been member of the international Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) scheme since 1981. We have had a lot of helpers through a German website called www.Ecojobs.de which has been very welcome. We are grateful for all the help over the years but are no longer hosting volunteers any more.