Above, the "hill o' many stanes" - literally the hill of many stones. A few miles south of the croft. Just one of many Caithness sites with ancient standing stones and stone circles. When I get some time I'll visit some more ancient monuments near the croft and put the photos here. Caithness has more ancient standing stones then perhaps anywhere else on earth. Many of these monuments are older than the pyramids. Caithness was never conquered by the Romans, and its landscape is still largely unchanged.
Living in Caithness means having an unbroken connection with the ancient past. Over the next few months I hope to find time to talk about the myths and legends of Caithness. But for now, I will start with the croft and the ancient landmarks.
Above: Camster Cairn (a cairn is an ancient burial site), a few miles south of the croft. With eight chambers, it's one of the oldest and largest cairns in Britain. More important than Stonehenge
Most people have heard of Stonehenge, in the south of England, because it is so big. But size isn't everything. Stonehenge is only one stone circle. There are many more, and older stone circles and standing stones and burial chambers in Cathness.
Stonehenge was built around 2800 BC. Caithness burial chambers like Camster Cairn were built around 3500 BC. And Camster Cairns is just one of a whole series of ancient places. If you visit the Orkney Islands (just across the water from the croft) you can see even more stone circles and even visit a stone age village.
If you can't visit the ancient sites for yourself, the next best thing is to go to www.caithness.org, find the site map, and click on the links to history and archeology. You will see photos and descriptions and the latest archeology.
Above: the Ham Cairn, 3 miles north of the croft.
It's the most northerly chambered cairn in mainland Britain
The meaning of the stones
| There are hundreds of ancient sites, but what
does it all mean? A few years ago I met David Bews, a
man who has spent years researching the stones and
monuments of Caithness. You can read about his
findings at Caithness
Geometry According to David, the ancient sites of Caithness are arranged in patterns. The overall pattern is of a great pentagram, but there are smaller triangles at various places. |
Above: the main pentagram. Note that its top point is at the most northerly point on the British mainland: Dunnett Head, just a few short miles from the croft. The upper easterly line then passes below the croft. Below: I won't try to show all the small triangles - these are all explained on the Caithness Geometry site. This image does not show the triangles, but shows the lins that link the major groups.
Ley lines
Lines joining ancient sites are often called ley lines and are believed to have special powers. The map below shows the ley lines around the croft (the arrow points to the croft, just west of the castle of Mey). You will notice that the large pentagram lines and the lines joinign the smaller triangles both intersect near the croft. I am not claimin gthat the croft is the most important place in Caithness - many other polaces are mor important. But there is something very special about living here. Caithness was the junction of the ancient Celtic world, where travellers from the islands and Scandinavia would pass, Caithness itself is intersected with lines and junctions from long forgotten sacred sites. There is something magical about living here.
