Amongst the oldest relics of man in Gigha is Carn Ban (the White Cairn) of the Late Bronze Age. It is of circular type, with no passage, and the cists are closed, with no divisions. The site is on a bench or shelf 30 feet above sea level, a few yards back from the beach, in a sea of heather and bracken, half a mile south south of Port Righ (King’s Port). In 1792, the cairn was denuded of almost all its stone by dykebuilders, who were unaware of its purpose until they laid bare the internal chambers.. They told how when they opened these they were greeted by an intolerable stench, which obliged them to drink spirits and keep on the windward side; and when they omitted these precautions they had violent headaches.
The Magic of Gigha – Freddie Gillies