Kintraw Monolith and Cairns (The Danish King's Grave)

All pictures copyright © 1999 Martin McCarthy

The monolith at Kintraw with Loch Craignish behind. The remains of a kerb cairn lie behind and to the left of the stone. Large image (46k 412x618) Sunset over Loch Craignish. Large image (25k 599x390) Looking north - the monolith on the left and the large cairn on the right. Large image (26k 596x331) The monolith stands about 13 feet in height. Large image (56k 432x656) The monolith and, to the lower left, the remains of a kerb cairn. Large image (40k 584x457) Looking northeast with a kerb cairn in the foreground and the least robbed cairn behind the monolith. Large image (76k 468x572) Behind and to the left of the monolith, just below where the road bends to the right, can be seen a low mound which is the remains of a third cairn. Large image (56k 428x582) In the foreground is one cairn, another to the right of the monolith, and a third in the coarse grass to the left of the monolith. Large image (52k 607x393) The thirteen-foot monolith, looking south. Large image (67k 611x447)

Kintraw is a couple of miles north of Kilmartin, where the road heads down towards Loch Craignish. In a field by the road stands a thirteen-foot tall monolith with three cairns around it. Local folklore says that the stone was erected to mark the burial place of a Norse prince and is known as The Danish King's Grave. The large cairn also goes by that name. The monolith fell during the winter of 1978/79. It was re-errected and set in a concrete plinth, but has been twisted from its original alignment. The large cairn was excavated in 1959-60 and then rebuilt. A single burial was found in a cist only a short distance within the kerb. An eight-foot monolith was found lying within the cairn, and there was a gap in the centre where a wooden post had stood and later disintegrated. Six ornamented jet beads, a bronze buckle and shells and animal teeth were found amongst the stones, but there is no particular reason to believe that these were contemporary with the contstruction of the cairn. The remains of two other cairns are close by.