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Scotland
Barpa LangassChambered Cairn
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Visited 21/05/09ce. After waiting in the (newish?) car park / picnic area on the A867 for an hour or so until the Uist Monsoon passed over, myself and Hugo the Megalithic Dog headed up the (also newish?) gravelly path which leads up the hill and around the cairn. We had the place to ourselves for a good 20 minutes, during which time I didn't pick up any unwelcoming vibes - maybe the presence of HtMD patrolling the perimeter kept any supernatural interference at bay. That said, I did only spend a brief amount of time actually inside the chamber, impressive though it is. Too much talk of potential for collapse playing on the mind, maybe… |
Posted by 1speed23rd May 2009ce |
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As I sat on top of Barpa Langass wondering just what was the probability of it collapsing, after standing for countless millenia, onto poor old me, I was treated to the magnificent sight of a Hen harrier as it cruised low and silent over the moor, like a Great White Shark of the air, searching for it's unsuspecting prey. Ah, wonderful!! |
Posted by follow that cow3rd April 2005ce Edited 15th January 2011ce |
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Barpa (pronounced Varpa) Langass - Cairn on the long ridge This was my first trip to the Outer Hebrides. We came off the morning ferry and straight to this site - the only Hebridean Passage Grave covered by a cairn which can be entered. Might as well get the best one in first. It sits in a wonderful location, as others have said, but there is a mystery. Why does it sit on the 50m contour, some 40m below the summit of the hill and why does the entrance face into the hillside? These are unusual features for passage graves but they occur in a number of Hebridean sites so it presumably is deliberate. We stayed there for about one hour with me nipping back into the chamber in between the steady stream of visitors. One of those visitors might appreciate Rhiannon's post. She entered the chamber not knowing I was in there until I spoke to her. Never seen anyone leave a chamber so quickly. " I thought you were the man from 2000 years ago" she said when she recovered her cool. I didn't correct her chronology. Visited 26 July 2004 |
Posted by greywether12th September 2004ce Edited 13th September 2004ce |
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This chambered tomb sits on a prominent position on the hillside and must be visible for miles around (weather permitting). On the day of our visit it was relatively clear and the view from a high level like this is probably the only place you can describe Uist as having any scenery! I am sure I read somewhere that it was a little unsafe and indeed the entrance seems to show some signs of collapse. If you can get past your fears then once inside you'll find a relatively roomy and well constructed inner chamber. |
Posted by wee_malky24th August 2004ce |
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If the dodgy stonework isn't enough to put you off entering the cairn, perhaps this story from Martin McCarthy's Ancient Scotland site will be.There is a tale of a visitor to this tomb who squeezed his way in with great effort, and then exitted with much greater speed and skill after--so he says--something kicked him in the kidneys. Yes, it's a stupid superstitious story; but after visiting the tomb you can't help but wonder.... |
Posted by Rhiannon24th August 2004ce Edited 24th August 2004ce |
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Wee_malky refers to the inside of the cairn possibly being unsafe. Certainly a consideration if you're sitting in there with the best part of 2m of cairn material above you! There is also evidence of a repair job having been necessary during the building of the cairn or while it was still in use. As you enter the cairn, you will see a 1.6m pillar with some cairn material to your right. The pillar supports the first lintel of the chamber (the one after the surviving passage lintel), the N end of which does not rest on a chamber stone in the way the other lintels do. Presumably the lintel broke or (more likely) was threatening to and the pillar was put in to support it. The cairn material to its right could be further support or the blocking off of that area. Erskine Beveridge in his 1911 North Uist , Its Archaeology and Topography (recently reprinted) says of this site, We have been assured upon the best authority that Langass Barp contains a second chamber with its separate access from the north side, our informant having entered this within the past thirty years; while it is also stated that even a third chamber exists. Upon this subject we can add little, except that the east chamber already disclosed occupies but a small proportion of the whole structure, ample space remaining for at least two others.No Hebridean Passage Grave has produced definite evidence of more than one chamber and, because many are ruined, the plans of most are known. Perhaps the locals were just having a little fun. |
Posted by greywether 21st September 2004ce Edited 13th August 2008ce |
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There are the remains of 20 chambered cairns on North Uist - that's about one per 15 square km (6 square miles). So it must have been an important place in Neolithic Scotland. Nearly all are of the type known (not surprisingly) as Hebridean Passage Graves. Typically, these will have a round cairn (averaging c 25m) with a small V-shaped forecourt leading to a short passage which opens into a round or oval chamber. The chamber walls are made of large contiguous orthostats and the capstones rest directly on these. Cairns have a ring of impressive peristaliths averaging about 1.5 to 2m high. The passages are orientated towards the E. Distribution is: all of the Outer Hebrides; Skye; and a few on the mainland as far S as Achnacreebeag near Oban. |
Posted by greywether 12th September 2004ce Edited 13th September 2004ce |
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