Greadal Fhinn

The day brought a stiff northwestly wind, a wind direction we don't often see, cold but strong enough to blow most of the clouds away. So we took a walk along the back of Ormsaigbeg, eastwards towards Ormsaigmor, roughly following the 100m contour. It's a great walk, as the views are all southward, down the Sound, and the whole village is laid out below.

At the back of the crofts at Ormsaigmor, on a slight knoll called Greadal Fhinn (Fingal's Griddle), is the remains of a stone circle and burial chamber. The history books suggest that it was originally Celtic but was re-used for one of the Viking chiefs who died on the west coast, one Ketil Flatnefr (Flatnose). Ketil originated from Raumsdal in Norway, but, following the upheavals there during the early 9th Century, he shipped all his family to western Scotland, where he was known in the Hebrides as Caittil Fin. He is described as 'a sea-robber', and Ardnamurchan would have been ideally suited as an ambush point for waylaying ships hugging the coastline in their voyage along the west coast. His death is dated at 880AD, and it seems appropriate that his resting place should have a fine view southeastwards down the Sound of Mull towards Ben Talla.

The chamber sits on a mound about 25 metres across. A rough, outer ring of large, flat stones surrounds the two 'chambers' visible in this photograph, the nearer one very much the smaller.

It's a bleak and lonely spot but Ketil has company: a small herd of Highland cows.