caithness-1911/05_179

Transcription

[Page] 100 -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION.

PARISH OF REAY.

(pl. XXXIV.). In diameter it measures over all 50' and in elevation
about 6'. On the top is a slight circular depression some 12' to 13'
in diameter. Facing ENE., some 16' in from the outer edge, an
entrance is exposed 3' 6" in width passing beneath a lintel 8' 4" in
length, 2' 10" in breadth, and 9" in thickness. Immediately in rear
of this lintel is a second, similar in length and breadth but 1' 9" in
thickness. The sides of the passage supporting these massive
blocks of stone are built and are exposed for a length of 6' 6".
The entrance is filled to a height of 1' 7" from the lintels. The
uncovered upper sides of the lintels are almost level with the top
of the mound and there is no indication of the cairn having risen
above them. The inner side of the back lintel is 28' distant from
the edge of the mound at the back. In rear of the back lintel two
upright flags, set edgewise to the wall of the passage, are visible.
This appears to be a chambered cairn and the height and width of
the entrance passage are very remarkable. There is no indication
of excavation.
Some 60' to the N. are the indefinite remains of another construc-
tion, of slight elevation and entirely overgrown with turf. From the
surface here and there protrude the heads of thin slabs set on end,
but without excavation the plan and character of the construction
cannot be determined.
O.S.M., CAITH., xvii. Visited, 11th August, 1910.

365. Chambered Cairn (horned, long), Brawlbin. - On the moor of
Brawlbin, about 100 yards NW. of Loch a' Mhuilinn, are the remains
of a horned long cairn. It lies with its longest axis NNE. and SSW.,
rising and expanding in the former direction. The body of the cairn,
except the high portion at the NNE. end, which probably contains the
chamber, has been removed for the sake of its stones, a mere line
along each side being left. At the SSW. end the existence of the
horns is apparent, but as they are entirely overgrown, their exact
dimensions are not accurately obtainable without excavation. The
distance between what appears to be their outer points is 45', and the
length thence to the centre of that end of the cairn is 28'. At the
NNE. end the horns are not evident. The total length of the cairn
is some 200', its breadth at the NNE. end 54' and across the body
at the SSW. end 30'. The elevation at the former end is about 10'.
A slight circular depression, about 8' in diameter at the high end,
probably indicates the position of the chamber. On the W. side,
towards the S. end, the outer constructional wall is still quite
evident. Some 60' from the SSE. end a large upright slab, standing
at right angles to the main axis, possibly indicates the site of a
chamber.
O.S.M., CAITH., xvii. (unnoted). Visited, 11th August 1910.

366. Cairns, Hill of Shebster. - On the S. end of the Hill of
Shebster, to the E. of the church, and some 200 yards N. of the road,
is the site of a cairn. Material has been removed from it quite
recently.
Some 40 yards to the E. of it is a small, low cairn or mound with
a diameter of about 16'. In the centre there is exposed a cist lying
E. and W., measuring 4' 3" in length to the W. end of the side slabs,

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