Argyll - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 93

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imitations). One of the most remarkable exhibits is a large carved stone head, found
in a garden in Port Appin just a few years ago and which is thought to be around
two thousand years old. It's worth noting that the museum staff offer superb, free
two-hour guided walks of the cairns, usually on Wednesdays and Saturdays, though
it's best to check in advance.

Kilmartin church
Kilmartin church shelters several richly sculptured graves and crosses, while a separate
enclosure in the graveyard houses a large collection of medieval grave slabs of the
Malcolms of Poltalloch. These are believed to have been crafted by a group of sculptors
working around Loch Awe in the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Carnasserie Castle
Kilmartin's own castle is ruined beyond recognition; head instead for the much less
ruined Carnasserie Castle , built in the 1560s on a high ridge a mile up the road towards
Oban. Architecturally, the castle is interesting, too, as it represents the transition
between fully fortified castles and later mansion houses, and has several original, finely
carved stone fireplaces and doorways, as well as numerous gun-loops and shot holes.

Mòine Mhór
To the south of Kilmartin, beyond the linear cemetery, lies the raised peat-bog of
Mòine Mhór (Great Moss), now a nature reserve and home to remarkable plant, insect
and birdlife. To get a close look at the sphagnum moss and wetlands, head for the
Tileworks Walk , just off the A816, which includes a short boardwalk over the bog.

Dunadd
Mòine Mhór is best known as home to the Iron Age fort of Dunadd , one of Scotland's
most important Celtic sites, occupying a distinctive 176ft rocky knoll once surrounded
by the sea but currently stranded beside the winding River Add. It was here that
Fergus, the first King of Dalriada, established his royal seat, having arrived from Ireland
in around 500 AD. Its strategic position, the craggy defences and the view from the top
are all impressive, but it's the stone carvings (now fibreglass copies) between the twin
summits which make Dunadd so remarkable: several lines of inscription in ogham (an
ancient alphabet of Irish origin), the faint outline of a boar, a hollowed-out footprint
and a small basin. The boar and the inscriptions are probably Pictish, since the fort was
clearly occupied long before Fergus got here, but the footprint and basin have been
interpreted as being part of the royal coronation rituals of the kings of Dalriada. It is
thought that the Stone of Destiny was used at Dunadd before being moved to Scone
Palace, then to Westminster Abbey in London, where it languished until it was
returned to Edinburgh in 1996.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING KILMARTIN GLEN

Dunchraigaig House One mile south of Kilmartin
T 01546 510396, W dunchraigaig.co.uk. This large
detached Victorian house situated opposite the Ballymeanoch
standing stones offers five spotless en-suite rooms with either
woodland or Jura Island views, and you can enjoy terrific
home-made clootie dumpling for breakfast. £80

Kilmartin Museum Café Kilmartin Museum T 01546
510278. Smoked salmon fishcakes and hot steak and
mushroom baguette make this a great pit-stop for lunch,
and there's lots of delicious home-baked fare to feast on
too, not least a divine selection of cakes and buns. Daily:
March-Oct 10am-5pm; Nov & Dec 11am-4pm.

Knapdale
Forested Knapdale - from the Gaelic cnap (hill) and dall (field) - forms a buffer zone
between the Kintyre peninsula and the rest of Argyll, bounded to the north by the
MOUNT STUART P.61 >