Tour Scotland photograph of a cairn on Beinn Challuim, a Scottish mountain located in the very northern part of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, 4 miles west north west of the village of Tyndrum. The word cairn derives from Scottish Gaelic càrn, which is essentially the same as the corresponding words in other native Celtic languages of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, including Welsh carn, and carnedd, Breton karn, Irish carn, and Cornish karn or carn. Cornwall, Kernow, itself may actually be named after the cairns that dot its landscape, such as Cornwall's highest point, Brown Willy Summit Cairn. Burial cairns and other megaliths are the subject of a variety of legends and folklore throughout Britain and Ireland. In Scotland, it is traditional to carry a stone up from the bottom of a hill to place on a cairn at its top. In such a fashion, cairns would grow ever larger. An old Scottish Gaelic blessing is Cuiridh mi clach air do chàrn, " I'll put a stone on your stone ". In Highland folklore it is believed that the Highland Clans, before they fought in a battle, each man would place a stone in a pile. Those who survived the battle returned and removed a stone from the pile. The stones that remained were built into a cairn to honour the dead.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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