A spot of sunshine motivates me to go for a walk in the woods so I head to Lintmill near Cullen, to inspect various features highlighted in a recent talk at the Cullen Deskford and Portknockie Heritage Group talk (events every first Monday of the month, heritage centre opening again in April – more details on Facebook). There was more to the derelict saw mill than I had expected and a few very nice trees, in fact things were going so well I decided to head to Foulford Bridge and the nearby cairns on the slopes of the Little Bin.
Approaching from the direction of the Garden Cottage (which you are only permitted to walk directly past Tuesday and Fridays!?), it was easy to find first the Foulford Bridge and then the immediate turn-off to the right. The track is mossed over and curves up to the foundations of an old building. The cairn next to it is only really noticeable because of the gash in it, it’s totally overgrown and has trees growing on it. Still, it was great to find it and pause at a lovely spot in the woods. I must confess I’ve been a bit down on cairns lately since they are often insignificant in the landscape as compared to other ancient monuments such as stone rows and recumbent stone circles, but I have realised the journey is often the best part. And after all, cairns such as the grey cairns of Camster and the tumuli surrounding Stonehenge are magnificent. Also on reflection, I did enjoyed seeking out nearby Tarrieclerack even if it was covered in fallen trees.
It is hard for us to know nowadays who was buried in the cairns when they have mostly been excavated/plundered already. I did read an excellent paper recently entitled ‘Mounds against the State” [open access – doi:10.1017/eaa.2024.14] which discusses how in south-eastern Norway, there are so many artificial mounds built around the same time period that it probably makes sense to consider them in terms of things constructed and utilised by an entire community rather than just for elite burials. In the same way, I get the impression these hills round Cullen were packed full of burial sites back in the day. William Cramond reported to the Banffshire Field Club in April 1897: “A remarkable series of tumuli exist, or rather existed till recent years, in the neighbourhood of Cullen. In the Ordnance Survey map of 1871, in a space representing two miles square, immediately to the west of the town, the word ‘ tumulus’ occurs no less than twenty times, and the additional information is frequently appended, “urns found here.””
Anyways, from the Moss Hill plantation (which is actually closest to the Foulford Bridge), I thought I’d walk down to the next one, snap a pic then find a track just beyond it to loop back round to the last cairn. Big mistake. I chuntered happily along down the slope until I became enmeshed in rhododendron branches. I didn’t even find the cairn but I reckon I saw whereabouts it was, completely blocked off by the rhodo. Millenia ago this cairn probably had a nice view down to the sea. The track that was supposed to be on the northern side of it was not to be found – it is quite amazing how quickly things can get reclaimed by the green stuff. It was completely gone so I wheeled back round, heading for the final double cairn destination.
The rhododendron closed in. I became sweaty and disorientated.
After a long stretch which felt like several days, the OS app told me I was near to a track, which led to manic laughter when I realised it was the track that didn’t exist. I had fooled myself! Feeling low, I decided to head uphill, still hoping to find the last two cairns. Fortunately the rhodo cleared and I found the cairns, again in a lovely spot.
There are two right next to each other, one excavated one not according to Canmore. These are at the top of the hill, close to a steep drop to the burn and path. I wonder whose final resting place it was.