Beinn na Cailleach Cairn(s) View all content for Beinn na Cailleach

Rather non-commital Canmore description of the summit cairn: On the summit of Beinn na Caillich, the conspicuous hill rising to a height of 2403' about 2 1/2 miles west of Broadford, is a cairn of stones measuring some 50' in diameter. The body of the cairn measures 8' in height, but seems to have been originally higher, as the top is surmounted by a cone of stones rising another 6' in height, doubtless of late construction. Although local tradition says that it was erected over the grave of a Norwegian Princess, without excavation it is impossible to say if it is a prehistoric monument. Hill top cairns of large dimensions and at considerable altitudes are found in many parts of Scotland.

Posted by thesweetcheat 22nd March 2011ce

Comments (5)
It is one of the few of the countless Scottish summit cairns that just might be a site of a burial . As there has been no excavation and as the site has lots of visitors who have probably added to the cairn over the years it's a fair assessment from Canmore .	Posted by tiompan 22nd March 2011ce
If it were Welsh, Coflein might have been more likely to guess at the prehistoric origins, based on the visible material of the cairn. But I guess more of the Welsh sites have yielded cists and prehistoric finds than the Scottish equivalents (to date).	Posted by thesweetcheat 22nd March 2011ce
That one is relatively modest compared with many summit cairns but they tend to be modern .It is because of it's situation i.e relatively accessible ,at the edge of a spur , and therefore not actually the summit , a suggestion that the siting is meant to be seen from below rather than a viewpoint from ,which puts it into the Welsh /Cumbrian and rare Scottish types .	Posted by tiompan 22nd March 2011ce
Interestingly many of the Welsh summit/upland cairns can only be seen from on high (other summits, surrounding hills etc). There seems to be a determined effort to make them invisible from the valleys below. I was surprised we could see (just) the cairn on Beinn na Cailleach, as we never really got above about 50m, which would not be a height to view Welsh summit cairns from. I guess the bigger Scottish mountains attract billions of visitors, so plenty of rearrangement/adding/subtracting no doubt goes on.	Posted by thesweetcheat 22nd March 2011ce
I was under the misapprehension that the welsh cairns were visible from below . Yep various reasons for building cairns , tradition , Cuiridh mi clach air do chàrn = I'll put a stone on your cairn , fun i.e. building "stone men " ,there was until recently a fine group on Geal Charn at Drumochter , markers i.e when in mist on a featurless summit plateau it provides a point that you can then use to navigate from (although when there are others it's less of a help ) landowners providing employment , raising the height of the hill to a magic figure or just bigger than the next estates etc .	Posted by tiompan 22nd March 2011ce
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