Tappoch

NJ16NW 22 144 673

See also NJ16NW 65.

(NJ 1448 6734) Stone Coffin containing Human Remains and bead ornaments found AD 1859 (NAT),

(NJ 1446 6731) Human Remains found AD 1866 (NAT)

OS 6" map, Morayshire, 2nd ed., (1906)

Crowning the Hill of Roseisle is a cairn known as the "Tappock" of Roseisle. It was excavated, probably in 1859, by Lady Dunbar of Duffus, Sir Alex. Cumming and Dr Taylor of Elgin. They found two cists; the centre one contained two skulls, bones and an urn (Lady Dunbar 1862). Encroachment on the cairn by ploughing exposed other burials, one, a short cist, was found 12 yards north of the cairn in the summer of 1857 and human remains were found in 1866 according to the Name Book (1870). In the former, the farmer, James Jeans, found human bones and a jet necklace which he kept. Lady Dunbar made a drawing of it which she sent, on 18th January 1858, to the Soc Antiq Scot. but it is not there now. This showed it to have had two tri-angular plates, ornamented with a double row of punctured lines, and sixty-four rounded beads of oblong shape.

Lady Dunbar 1862.

The discrepancy between the find-dates of the jet necklace is probably due to confusion by Sir A Dunbar, in 1870, of Lady Dunbar's excavation of 1859 with James Jean's find of 1857.

Information from S Willy to OS 23 July 1965.

NJ 1447 6734. The mound known to the above authorities as the 'Tappock' has every appearance of being a natural sandy hillock. It is approx. 36.0m diameter and 3.0m high, and has a trig-pillar built on top of it.

Surveyed at 1:2500.

Nothing could be seen at NJ 1448 6736 where the jet necklace was found, or at NJ 1447 6732 where human remains were found in 1866.

Visited by OS (W D J) 23 September 1963.