‘Torbhlaren 2’ … packing exposed if you squint at this image. This packing has held the bottom end aloft while tilting the unsupported top end downward so it has nosed into the turf.
Image credit: Mike Purslow
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May 29, 2025
Perhaps this should be called Torbhlaren 2… I saw this distant shape from the gate which gives access to the standing stone, went over and saw packing now exposed by livestock erosion at the prominent end. I’m sure it’s a ‘faller’. At 16’ it’s dwarf the other stone even if securely earthfast when upright. Wish it was…
Image credit: Mike Purslow
Seen from the road to the fort… I didn’t wish to intrude. Cared for in its manicured sylvan surroundings.
Image credit: Mike Purslow
May 28, 2025
Located off the ardamore road, the gate is marked by a handwritten standing stone sign. 400m down the path is a sectioned off field on the left with the stone row and outlier. From this angle it reminded me of a giant hand reaching out of the soil, but I often see rocky digits if the stones are slender enough. I reckon they marked a boundary, but some suggest an astral alignment. Lovely surrounds too and a helpful farmer.
Image credit: Me
Carn Liath, Trantlemore on Google Maps
This was to prove an interesting and exciting climb. Parking at Edzell’s Old Parish Church I headed uphill, north, in the field to the west of Drummore Hill. A beautiful day, very little snow and no wind – very decent hill walking conditions. Keep going until clear of the trees and a track will be found. Follow this north until it ends, jump the fence and keep going.
All of a sudden I heard shouts in the wind, a saw a row of people in the field behind all carrying red flags along with two small tractors heading up and down the field, then I heard shooting – a pheasant shoot was following me up the hill. That ensured I sped up over the last field, jumped the fence and headed straight north via couple of fences to the trig.
The trig sits on top of fantastically positioned but ruined cairn. They couldn’t take away the views which today – absolutely stunning. There is earthfast kerb on the south and bits of cairn material – the remains of the 6m wide by 0.5 high site.
There’s a lot to see on this hill, better head south west.
Visited 04/01/2025.
In ancient times, the dead were buried in a cairn on this high vantage point. Islanders lit fires to send signals to passing vessels or kept lookout for friends or foes arriving by water. In 1615, on low ground to the south, the MacDonalds and Campbells of Calder clashed over ownership of the island, leaving behind a cannon ball and flints. Now the waters carry ferries to Islay and beyond.
From ‘Visit Gigha‘
Around 4000 years ago, eight or more people were buried in Càrn Ban. One was a woman, laid on one side with her legs curled up to fit into the small stone chamber. White quartz rocks and pottery urns were buried with her, perhaps because they were believed to be important in the afterlife. In 1792, four of these chambers or cists were uncovered by local people as they took the stone away to build dykes, but when they opened them, they were hit with an intolerable stench that gave them violent headaches.
From ‘Visit Gigha‘
Since the Bronze Age or earlier, Carragh an Tairbeirt standing stone has marked the narrowest point of Gigha, tall enough to be seen from the sea from both east and west. The name might be familiar – there are several places named Tarbert (An Tairbeart or Tairbeirt in Gaelic) across Scotland, on narrow necks of land where boats could be drawn or carried from water to water. The stone marks this isthmus, but it’s likely to have had deeper meaning. Was its placement linked to cycles of the Moon or to the midsummer sunset?
Local legend knows it as the Giant’s Tooth, pulled and thrown by a giant with toothache. It’s also known as the Hanging Stone, where people convicted at nearby Cnoc an Eireachdais – the Hill of the Assembly – were hanged from the cleft at the top. Or perhaps you prefer the story of betrothed couples who shook hands through the gap for luck.
From ‘Visit Gigha‘
A small group of people lived near Ardaily aroud 1,500 to 2,500 years ago during the Iron Age. They had a great vantage point from which to trade and fish and keep a watchful eye to the west. Dùn an Trinnse is just one of at least seven forts scattered along the length of Gigha. Another – Dùn Chibhich – sits on top of the little hill on the far side of Mill Loch and Dùnan an t-Seasgain sits to the left of the track leading back to Druimyeonmore.
From ‘Visit Gigha‘
With its strong stone walls, built partly along the edge of a 10-metre cliff, this was perhaps Gigha’s most imposing ancient fortification. It is said to have belonged to Chibhich (or Keefie), the son of a Norse king, whose story is entwined with the Irish legend of Diarmuid and Gráinne. Gráinne was daughter to the Irish king. Escaping marriage to the aging warrior, Fionn MacCool, she fled north with her lover, Diarmuid, but on Gigha she fell for Chibhich. Diarmuid fought Chibhich, killing him, and the latter is said to be buried in a grave south of the summit.
From ‘Visit Gigha‘
Visited 25.06.14
Carn Liath, Trantlemore is the site of a ruined broch on the S edge of Trantlemore, an isolated settlement adjacent to the A897 in Sutherland. It is located on a natural knoll. There are remains of an outer wall up to c. 1.2m high on the NE Arc. Canmore ID 6824 estimates that the outer wall had an outer diameter of 17.6m and a thickness of 4.2m. There is a trench on the NE Arc c. 4.5m long, 3m wide and 1.2m deep which may been the original entrance. Remnants of parallel walls defining the entrance are visible.
There are two ruined brochs in Trantlemore: Carn Liath, Trantlemore Broch and Trantlemore which is located c. 0.7 mile N of Carn Liath, Trantlemore in the township.
BODACH & CAILLEACH
At noon and night these stones are said to walk the heaths of Gigha. To us they are the Bodach and Cailleach, the old man and old woman in Gaelic. The Cailleach, the smaller stone, is the goddess of wilderness and winter. They may have links to pre-Christian Ireland over 1,500 years ago – Irish sailors still placed offerings here in the 19th century. But they are not alone. Similar-shaped bodachs are found in Perthshire, while other bodachs and cailleachs are woven into Highland and Hebridean landscapes. Tradition tells us that our Bodach must always face Ireland and that it’s bad luck if he falls – so tread carefully!
From ‘Visit Gigha‘
Scientists in Spain say they have discovered the oldest full human fingerprint after unearthing a rock which they say resembles a human face and suggests Neanderthals could make art.
The east side of the cairn on the skyline, top centre.
Image credit: Mike Purslow
Bodach stands on guard. A pilgrimage here for seafarers wishing safe passage to Jura and Southern Ireland beyond. Bless him and he will bless you.
Image credit: Mike Purslow
The cairn is the high point in the centre of the image. Those Paps beyond…
Image credit: Mike Purslow
This, which I think is another probable cairn, overlooks the two cairns on a bluff a hundred yards north, to the east of the road. It would be a skyline feature discernable from the mainland.
Image credit: Mike Purslow
Seen in the tree line clearing from the farm track that leads to the beaches at Cuddyport.
Image credit: Mike Purslow
Another view of the site’s drop off, looking N, defined by the old fence posts. Beyond, in the mid distance, the island’s highest point, and, on the horizon, the Paps of Jura.
Image credit: Mike Purslow
The drop off on the northern side of this very probable cairn defined by a change in bracken height. What sights beyond…
Image credit: Mike Purslow
This site is unrecorded… it is the Achamore Gardens Viewpoint, the gardens highest point, looking out from a conifer shelter belt to the western side of the island, several other sites in view. I noticed a 60’+ wide domed boulder spread which is enmeshed by tree roots and worn down by visitors. There is a distinct, shaped ‘drop off’ on the northern side. I met the island’s Ranger at the gardens – oh, what a sleeping giant of a place is waking here, they’ll be stunning when fully restored after years of neglect – and when I mentioned what I’d found and my conclusion as to what it was she said I was by no means the first to think so. On that basis I’m adding it here as a site. See accompanying photos.