On the bank of the Slidry stream, to the south of Arran, there is an elongated, ship-like cairn, exactly similar to the celebrated currach mound of Iona. It is thirty feet in length, with a smaller ridge attached, measuring nine feet. The sides of the tumuli are trenched with flat, flag-like stones, and at each end there stands a large monolith of red sandstone, encrusted with lichen and moss.
This monument is supposed to mark the grave of one of Fion-gal's heroes, about whom many strange stories are told. An anxious treasure-seeker who dug into the larger mound, is said to have found a huge bone, into the hollow of which he thrust down his foot and leg as into a boot.*
*Headrick's Arran, p148. Headrick was writing in 1807: a book called 'View of the Mineralogy, Agriculture, Manufactures and Fisheries of the Isle of Arran'.
It sounds like the cairn suffered a lot in the 19th century. The RCAHMS record suggests remains still exist (though the name "couldn't be confirmed locally" in 1977).
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Posted by Rhiannon
18th August 2007ce
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