Catacol

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Catacol is a small village on the Isle of Arran, located on the north west side of the island, just a few miles along the coastal road from Lochranza. It derives its name from the old Norse, referring to the 'gully of the cat'. This may have been a reference to the steep valley it lies at the bottom of, Glen Catacol.

Its main feature is the row of cottages called the 'Twelve Apostles', built to house those cleared from the surrounding countryside, when much of the interior of the island was set aside for deer. The theory was these former farmers would turn to fishing, and with this in mind, each of the twelve cottages had a differently shaped first floor window. This would allow the woman of the house to signal to her husband out fishing in the Firth of Clyde by placing a candle in the window. The husband would know who was being signalled by the shape of the window. In reality, most of the dispossessed moved away to other parts of the island in protest against their eviction.