Of ‘Pights’ and ‘Speerits’…..The Cairns…. So Cute….Now’s Your Chance…
by Bernie Bell - 09:45 on 24 May 2023
Of ‘Pights’ and ‘Speerits’…..
Another most excellent piece from Sigurd Towrie…..
https://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/spirits-of-the-stones/
Looking at settlements such as Skara Brae …
…. it’s understandable if the ancient people who kind-of lived ‘underground’, through collective cultural memory became woven into tales of the Faery folk who inhabited the mounds/cairns.
********************************************************************
The Cairns…..
I ‘lifted’ this from the ‘Friends of The Cairns’ Facebook page ….
https://www.facebook.com/groups/398769848454325/
.... I hope that’s allowed!
“Soon be starting at The Cairns…..
In just a very few short weeks time, we'll be returning to the excavation of The Cairns in earnest. The broch interior and its floors will be a particular focus again this season. We'll be excavating features set in, and on, the floors, such as the hearth area delineated in this image of the Southeast room of the broch...
I likes The Cairns….
https://theorkneynews.scot/?s=The+Cairns+Bernie+Bell
The dates for the dig….
https://archaeologyorkney.com/2022/11/16/cairns-2023/
PS
This appeared on the OAS Facebook page this morning…. https://en-gb.facebook.com/OrkneyArchaeologySociety/ ….where there are pictures too!....
“Got the point...! Thanks to Sara Marinoni and Sue Dyke post-grad students with the UHI Archaeology Institute we have a new waterlogged peg fragment from The Cairns! Sue and Sara were processing samples from the broch well the other week, and came across quite a bit of worked wood of one kind or another. Amongst the pieces, was this sharpened wooden point. It immediately reminded us of the excavated wooden peg that was previously excavated and conserved from the well, and it was possible that the new point could be the end of that broken peg. However, after a trip to Orkney Museum today, where the conserved peg is temporarily stored, (and thanks to curator Dr Siobhan Miller) it was clear that the 'new' wooden point was obviously not part of the same artefact. This lends more support to our interpretation of these wooden fragments found at the base of the well as the remains of a brushwood base that was pinned into place using pegs/points. This brushwood base is radiocarbon dated to the 1st Century A.D., and we think it may have helped to trap silt and restrict it to the lowest part of the well, maintaining clearer water quality above.”
********************************************************************
So Cute….
One of the recurring bird visitors to our garden is a Robin. Recently we noticed that there were two Robins, and they weren’t fighting – they even shared the water dish without fighting, so we thought they were likely to be a pair.
Then, we regularly saw a Robin with nesting material in its beak and wondered where they might be nesting - must be somewhere nearby?
Then, on Tuesday, looking out the front window we saw a young Robin hopping about on the terrace and pecking at the nearby grass…AAAAHHHH….
A nice ‘action shot’ of it finding a morsel in a bit of moss…
Then digesting…
I don’t usually go in for ‘cutesyfying’ creatures – but – there’s no other word for it! The first of the young ones that we’ve seen this year.
Next thing, the bird feeder will need re-filling every day – which means that there are a lot of baby sparrers needing to be fed.
By the by – if you don’t like dandelions – a few days ago Mike saw a Linnet, three Goldfinches and two Greenfinches feeding on the seeds of the dandelions which have gone over. We used to fight the dandy’s – now we accept them……
https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/05/24/dandelions/
********************************************************************
Now’s Your Chance…
Scottish Covid inquiry: Public asked to share experiences of pandemic.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-65670990
********************************************************************
Here’s one I made earlier… https://theorkneynews.scot/2021/04/16/a-particularly-interesting-stone-at-barnhouse-neolithic-village/
Add your comment
