Highland (Mainland) forum 8 room
Image by thesweetcheat
Highland (Mainland)

Contemporary natural shrines upon the landscape.

close
more_vert
drewbhoy D
drewbhoy Jul 1, 2012 14:29:42
Replying to GLADMAN

At least one 'wee cairn' is to a small child who sadly died in a road accident. Spoke to one person last time I was there who was putting flowers down for an elderly relative who was a keen hillwalker and loved this area. Pretty apt memorial and place for it I thought if you consider the view, which from Cairn O Mount (imo) is very special.

Don't know about down your way but I find it quite strange that lots of 'modern' cairns e.g. those built with stones and cement seem to appear on hills quite a lot up here, especially those dedicated to landowners and various lords and ladies in the 1800's onwards. Some of these people probably deserve their memorial but others are probably guilty of destroying circles and cairns etc., so somewhat ironic to have a cairn built to remember them.

G GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jul 1, 2012 18:18:58
Replying to drewbhoy

drewbhoy wrote:
Don't know about down your way but I find it quite strange that lots of 'modern' cairns e.g. those built with stones and cement seem to appear on hills quite a lot up here, especially those dedicated to landowners and various lords and ladies in the 1800's onwards. Some of these people probably deserve their memorial but others are probably guilty of destroying circles and cairns etc., so somewhat ironic to have a cairn built to remember them.
No hills down my way to put cairns on, Mr D. Not that you'd call hills, anyway. I mean, you Scots call The Cuillin 'hills', do you not? Guess the Essex equivalent are little roadside shrines to traffic accidents.

I guess what these cairnfields seem to have in common is easy access... and a fantastic view. So why the latter? What's the connection between remembering a loved one and doing so whilst looking at a fabulous view? Why the linkage to nature at its most glorious? Very pagan, is it not? To me there does seem to be a definite echo in these contemporary actions of Bronze Age people placing their cairns in such glorious locations

T thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jul 1, 2012 18:24:28
Replying to drewbhoy

drewbhoy wrote:
Don't know about down your way but I find it quite strange that lots of 'modern' cairns e.g. those built with stones and cement seem to appear on hills quite a lot up here, especially those dedicated to landowners and various lords and ladies in the 1800's onwards. Some of these people probably deserve their memorial but others are probably guilty of destroying circles and cairns etc., so somewhat ironic to have a cairn built to remember them.
The big "beacon" cairn on Dunkery Beacon (Exmoor) has one of those, if that's the kind of thing you mean.

http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/103160/dunkery_beacon.html