drewbhoy

The Daugh Of Corinacy is a very neglected cairn in a very beautiful place high above the River Deveron. Ben Rinnes can be seen to west, Craig Dorney to the north and not to far away the handily placed Grouse Inn, a great place for a refreshment or 5.

From the A941, Cabrach road, head east at Bridgend taking the 2nd minor road which goes in a north easterly direction. Keep going until Oldtown of Corinacy. Don’t believe the maps, paths and tracks are long gone. I headed straight south passing a pile of boulders, thru boggy land, pot holes until I reached the firmer heather. The cairn can be seen as a green patch amongst a see of brown, the heather having being burnt recently. It stands at 8 meters wide and is just over 0.5 meters in height with a possible one kerb still in situ. Some ‘houking’ has also happened.

Sadly this cairn will vanish from sight and memory due to agriculture and the beasts. Therefore not a lot to see except a glimpse of former glories. Still, the present scenery is hard to beat.

Visited 19/7/2012.

For a change I headed home via the B9102 Archiestown road opposite the A95 on the other side of the Spey. Just before the first minor road heading south, to Cromdale, I noticed two stones in the field. Only now that I’ve made it home, I’ve found out that there another two stones nearer the farm. They’ll have to wait another day, but there are a few sites near here to discover so I’ll be back soon enough. (Strathie, take note!)

NJ05332912, the tallest of the stones, to the west is almost 1.75 meters tall. Packing stones and ‘chokes’ can be seen at the base of the stone.

NJ05402913, is only 1 meter in height and is the furthest east of the stones nearest the road.

It appears the only connection between all four stones is that they are close together and the view. Very spectacular views plus there is the River Spey.

Visited 6/7/2012.

After the battering of Finbuie a good rest was required so I decided to drive well to the south to Grantown On Spey and the excellent ‘chippie’ in the square. South of Grantown take the A95, then the A939 Tomintoul old military road. It is only a wee jump over the fence and a walk of about 100 meters.

The cairn is in a clearing to the east of the road after the trees on the same side. This must have been a superb cairn, it still is. Several kerbs remain in place, however it has been well robbed the stones being used to make dykes and buildings. Still, it remains at 10.5 meters wide and is 0.7 meters high. Fantastic location, still a fantastic site.

Visited 6/7/2012

Head south on the A940 after it’s junction with the B9007. Take the second minor road east and stop at the farm of the same name. Dallbraughty Cairn is a bit of a mess, how it survives is probably something of a miracle. Field clearence has been dumped on it some resembling kerbs. Fred Coles suggested there was once a circle here, a local farmer said that long stone near the cairn once stood, but he’d never seen any more. Looking around there are plenty of these ‘stone circley’ types lying all over place. Once upon a time or at best maybe.

The cairn now is turf covered, had some houking damage to the centre, 10 meters wide and 0.7 meters tall. Sadly no kerb! Views to south were hidden a little bit today, so atmosphere made up for the scenic difficulties. The hill is also covered in a cairnfield, these small cairns have almost been battered out of recognition.

After this I hiked up the Hill Of Gaschyle to the north east in dense christmas tree forest, some of the climb on my knees, in other bits throwing myself thru vegetation to make a way thru but to no avail, after a severe battering almost on a par to Mulloch Hill I stopped, darkness and the weather closing in thwarting my efforts. The Finbuie Cairn will have to be found another day. another nice day’s climbing :-)

Visited 6/7/2012.

After a somewhat disastrous visit to nearby Upper Balfour, attacked by whins, soaked by a heavy shower and amount of discoveries registered at zero I headed towards the minor road to west and headed south towards the Durris school junction. From there I headed east and took the first forestry track heading south, taking the second track to the west. Head south when track finishes, when the south path ends head back east over the hill. After a short but steepish climb the cairn comes into view nestling in a clearing.

A fair bit of ‘houking’ has occurred here and the cairn seems to be spread over a wide distance, it is probably over the 14 meters as Canmore states. At it’s highest it certainly is over 1.5 meters tall. There doesn’t seem to be any sign of a kerb. Unusually today it was warm and dry, Clune Wood makes for a superb walk. Take time to look at the small stories on the posts, the local children have done a good job. Follow the path to the south and the RSC will be found.

Visited 5/7/2012.