Field Visit
Date June 1986
Event ID 1048427
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1048427
A Latin cross is incised on the SE orthostat of the façade of a chambered cairn situated 1.5km from the E shore of Loch Fyne and 300m SE of Auchnaha, at an elevation of 115m OD. It is carved 0.22m below the apex of the S face of the orthostat, which measures 1.5m in visible height by 1.4m width and is of coarse quartzose gneiss. The cross measures 0.18m in height by 0.11m across the transom, which is well defined and has sunken terminals. Whereas the shaft is also firmly incised, the upper arm is weathered and irregular.
The caption of the drawing of the cairn made by Skene in 1834 does not mention the cross, but records that the cairn was known as ‘‘Clachan Tagart’ or the Priests stones’. Similar names were given in the Highlands to boulders used as Roman Catholic meeting-points in the post-Reformation period, but in this case the cross was probably intended to sanctify a site with pagan associations, and it may be of Early Christian origins.
RCAHMS 1992, visited June 1986
