Strathnaver

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A broad river valley in Sutherland, northern Scotland, known for its history of the Highland Clearances ; a British passenger liner operated by the P&O shipping line
2. A strath or wide glen in the far north of Scotland, once cleared of its tenants in the nineteenth century ; a steamship of the Peninsular and Oriental company used for voyages to Asia
3. The valley region of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland ; a large ocean-going passenger vessel built for the P&O line in the early twentieth century

Etymology: Strathnaver takes its name from the Gaelic "srath," a broad river valley, combined with the River Naver that runs through it in the far north of Sutherland. The name describes the landscape first, and the glen became known for its people only later. In the nineteenth century the glen became one of the most bitterly remembered sites of the Highland Clearances. Tenants were evicted to make way for large sheep farms, and their homes were burned. Rev. Donald Macleod later recorded the removals from the viewpoint of those who were forced out. The name was later given to a steamship of the Peninsular and Oriental company, one of a line of liners named after Highland glens and used on the long routes to Asia.