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The Parish of Rosskeen. 33^
must have been done long ago. I propose to search the flooi-,
when, perhaps, something may be found to lead to the object of its
erection.
C'LAcn-A'-MHRiRLicri.—About a mile and a half west of Tnvergordon,
in a field north of the County road, is a standing stone
called " Clach-a'-mheirlich," the thief s stone. There is an archaic
device upon it said to resemble a portion of Bramah's foot.
Though a few hundred yards beyond the march of the parish
of Rosskeen, there are two interesting cairns I would not wish to
overlook. They are situated in the valley extending from Achnacloich
to Scotsburn, at Kenrive, in the upper part of the parish
of Kilmuir. A ti-adition is common among the old people of the
district that in a hostile incursion of the Danes in the ninth or
tenth century, the Danes, who were put to flight by the natives,
made their final stand here, where they were all slain, hence the
name '' Cearn-an-ruidhe," the end of the chase. One of the cairns,
the most interesting of them, is now nearly removed, but a descrij)tion
can be given of what it was. About thirty years ago the
crofter on whose land the cairn stood had his attention attracted
towards it by his dog chasing a rablnt thither. The dog's persistent
barking at a bole near the top of the cairn induced the man
to go to the dog's assistance, and after removing a few stones witli
the intention of getting hold of the rabbit, he discovered a vault,
but superstitious awe prevented him from prosecuting his search
alone. He got the assistance of a canny neighbour who joined in
a private exploration, expecting a lucky find which would keep
them in comfort during the remainder of their lives. They removed
the stones from above the vault, and at the dei)th of a few
feet, came upon a flag stone; which, on being removed, made an
opening large enough for them to get down. Their find was only
a layer of black earth. A man who frequently visited the vault
gave me a description of it. It was about nine or ten feet long,
over five feet wide, had side walls of large flagstones, five feet
high, the roof formed of flagstones corbelling inwards and finishing
with large flags closing in both sides at a height of about eight
feet from the flDor.
Such a discovery as this was not, in the opinion of the two
worthies (now both dead), a thing that ought to be divulged, and
for a space of eight years it was found to be a very convenient
malt deposit and whisky warehouse, and might have been so still
had not Preventive Officer Munro, and his assistants, discovered
the "bothy" in a naturally formed cairn in the face of tlio hill,
north of the farm offices of Inchandown.