The Boys' Brigade Mountaineering Club

Aonach Beag is the 7th highest peak in the British Isles. Its height in meters is remarkably easy to remember. It lies towards the southern end of a 2-mile long ridge that runs roughly north-south parallel to the Càrn Mòr Dearg ridge, immediately to its west. At the north end of this ridge is its slightly shorter companion Munro, Aonach Mòr. It is a broad stoney plateau with steep drops on each side. There is another Munro called Aonach Beag near Ben Alder, hence their names will be qualified with Nevis or Alder in brackets. Apologies for the pink and green snow on the Google Earth image!

See its entries on Walkhighlands or Wikipedia or view it from above on Google Earth.

Aonach can mean Steep Place, Ridge or Large Upland Moor. For mountains, it usually refers to a steep-sided ridge-shape. A good translation would be Ridged Mountain.

Beag actually means Little, Small or Short. So, Aonach Beag could be translated as Little Ridged Mountain. It is interesting to note the similarity between Beag and its Welsh equivalent Bach. This is no coincidence, as Beag comes from the Old Irish word Bec which comes from the reconstructed Proto-Celtic word Bikkos. While the Welsh word Bach comes from the reconstructed Proto-Brittonic word Bich, which also comes from the reconstructed Proto-Celtic word Bikkos. For more information on Celtic languages, see Virtual Linguistics.

The choice of name seems strange, as it is 15 m taller than its companion Aonach Mòr (meaning Big Ridged Mountain), one mile away northwards along the ridge. It is possible that Mòr and Beag refer to bulk rather than height (Mòr can also mean Bulky). But they could also have been given these names because, from most vantage points where the heights of the two peaks can be compared (i.e. from the north), Aonach Mòr is nearer and appears higher.