càrn

càirn [& cùirn], sm Cairn, heap or pile of stones loosely thrown together. 2 Peat-barrow. 3 Rock. 4 Sledge, car. 5(DU) Gairloch for a cart. 6(MS) Hold. [Cairns and barrows are very numerous in the Highlands, Ireland and Wales, as well as parts of Norway, Sweden and other Continental countries and there are a few in America. Some of them measure 300ft. in circumference at the base and 20ft. in height. They consist of loose stones and the whole is in the shape of a cone. In many instances where they have been opened, they contained sepulchral urns, which show that they were memorials of the dead. Many of these piles consist entirely of earth and this gave rise to the opinion that stone cairns were intended for malefactors, while those of earth were for the victorious and brave. We learn from ancient authors that malefactors were buried under heaps of stone, and it was a common practice among the Druids to erect cairns on spots where criminals had been burnt. Hence "fear air chàrn" means an outlaw, "tha e air a' chàrn," he is an outlaw. Is oil leam nach robh do luath fo chàrn, I do wish your ashes under a cairn; B' fheàrr leam a bhith fo chàrn, I had rather be under a cairn, (i.e. be punished as an outlaw). The ceremony in later times was continued in the Highlands, but its meaning was altered. A sudden death was bàs gun sagart and the dead person's soul was believed to be in the hottest part of purgatory, so every passer by was expected to put a stone on the cairn and to pray for the repose of the soul of the departed — hence the saying "cuiridh mi clach 'nad chàrn," I will add a stone to your cairn, which betokens a friendly intention and means that one's remembrance shall be kept alive. When the remains of anyone were carried a long distance for interment and the bearers had to take some rest on the way, a cairn was put up there also and those who passed by were expected of their charity to put a stone on it and pray for the soul of the deceased. Cairns are still frequently erected to mark the spot in which a funeral has rested and on whatever spot a person is found dead, a few stones are immediately put together. — **] Bho iomall nan càrn, from the edge of the rocks.

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