Kingdom of Dalraida

**Mael Coluim** · 10th January 09, 05:56 PM

Chris you are an outstanding photographer! I am also impressed with your love of the Pictish boar.

Here are some photos that were taken when I visited in 2004.

From the top of the fort/hill.

[

**Mael Coluim** · 10th January 09, 05:58 PM

Standing stones and cairn near Kilmartin.

As a member of Clan MacCallum Malcolm Society I tested my DNA through Family Tree DNA. My results show my Scottish heritage started in Northern Ireland, thousands of years, ago. Today you can see a swath of this same DNA type across Northern Ireland and the Argyll!

**Beertigger** · 10th January 09, 07:51 PM

Great photos!

Thanks for taking the time to post.

**Jock Scot** · 11th January 09, 12:42 AM

One needs to be a bit careful about making too much of piles of stones. When the land was organised for "modern" agriculture in the, I think, 1700's onwards, thousands of tons of rocks that were strewn about by glaciers were cleared and dumped in piles in and around the fields. We still do it today. Only a few years ago we had some boffin get really excited at a pile of stone and was convinced that it might well be an ancient Broch. He was not very happy when one of my sons told him that it was just a pile of stones and boulders that we had cleared from a field a few years before. Ho hum! Great pictures nonetheless.

**Ancienne Alliance** · 11th January 09, 01:24 AM

Thank you for the photos and the history.

Simply fascinating !

Best,

Robert

**Darkislander** · 11th January 09, 02:28 AM

Super

**Redshank** · 11th January 09, 02:37 AM

[QUOTE=Mael Coluim;653398][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="3"]Chris you are an outstanding photographer! I am also impressed with your love of the Pictish boar.

Here are some photos that were taken when I visited in 2004.

From the top of the fort/hill.

With reference the Pictish boar carving at Dunadd, I stated earlier that it is hardly visible now due to the wind and rain and natural erosion, add to that the fact that your friends walking boots do it no favours either, he is standing right on top of it, but this photo serves a purpose as a marker for future visitors to it's location.

Personally I think it should be better protected and preserved, after all it is carved in the pictish style, and historians believe that this area was not inhabited by the picts, surely it deserves some further research by them.

Many thanks Mael for the inclusion of your wonderful photo's, I am afraid all my photo's taken from the top of Dunadd are lost to technology with the demise of my old laptop, will have to get back up there again, and visit my beloved boar.
Thanks also for the compliments, appreciate you, and everybodies input.

Chris

**Redshank** · 11th January 09, 02:49 AM

Originally Posted by Mael Coluim

[SIZE="3"]

SIZE]

Looks as though you found a couple of previously undiscovered cairns down by the burn Mael in the top photo, I wonder if these 2 are worth excavating, or shall we just put them down as per Jock's explanation, I think Jock's right on this occasion, however the second photo is of Glebe Cairn, the northern most in a series of 5 all in linear allignment, it was excavated in 1864, the major find was a necklace made from Jet, a black stone, now on display at the museum.

**macneighill** · 11th January 09, 10:33 AM

WOW! Chris, great photos. Interesting you posted this as, Dalriada (or Dál Riata) has been the focus of my studies for the past couple of months. Very intriguing history. Thanks again for sharing the pics.

**Stravaiger** · 11th January 09, 11:27 AM

[QUOTE=Redshank;653551]

With reference the Pictish boar carving at Dunadd, I stated earlier that it is hardly visible now due to the wind and rain and natural erosion, add to that the fact that your friends walking boots do it no favours either, he is standing right on top of it, but this photo serves a purpose as a marker for future visitors to it's location.

Personally I think it should be better protected and preserved, after all it is carved in the pictish style, and historians believe that this area was not inhabited by the picts, surely it deserves some further research by them.

Redshank - According to the local Monuments Officer, the carving that you see isn't in fact the original, but an artificial composite replica which is overlaid on the original in order to protect it from weathering. If true then they've done a good job!