Càrn na Marbh

Càrn na Marbh (meaning "mound" or "

and commemorates the plague victims who were buried here in the 14th century. A tablet on the stone is inscribed with the words:

“Here lie the victims of the Great Plague of the 14th Century, taken here on a sledge drawn by a white horse led by an old woman.”

Local legend says it was the focal point of an ancient Samhain (Halloween) festival. A great fire or Samhnag was lit on top of it each year. The whole community took hands when it was blazing and danced round the mound both sunwise and anti-sunwise.

', the bonfire being the absolute centre of attention until it was consumed. The Samhain celebrations here apparently came to an end in 1924.

The mound of ‘Càrn na Marbh’ is located in the same village as the Fortingall Yew,^[3] and the general area is famed for its Bronze Age burial mounds, and preserved standing stones. The site was Christianised during the Dark Ages, perhaps because it was already a sacred place. Place-name and archaeological evidence hint at an Iron Age cult centre at Fortingall which may have had this ancient tree as its focus.

References

56°35′50″N 4°03′10″W / 56.59736°N 4.05268°W / 56.59736; -4.05268