Mormond Hill (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well ...

A' Mhormhonadh, meaning the great hill or moor; known as ''Mormounth'' in Old Scots) is a large hill in Aberdeenshire,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, not far from

Fraserburgh Fraserburgh (; sco, The Broch or ; gd, A' Bhruaich) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the 2011 Census at 13,100. It lies at the far northeast corner of Aberdeenshire, about north of Aberdeen, and north of ...

. Its peak is .''Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Graphic and Accurate Description of Every Place in Scotland''
Frances Hindes Groome (1901), p. 1363 The villages of

Strichen Strichen is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It sits on the A981, connecting it to New Deer to the southwest and Fraserburgh to the north-northeast, and the B9093, connecting it to New Pitsligo about due west. The village got its name ...

and New Leeds can be found at its southern foothills. It also has a smattering of disused satellite dishes and masts on top, remnants from Cold War

U.S. armed forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

communications and British Telecom having a presence on the site. The hill is mentioned in the traditional Scottish ballad known as ''Mormond Braes''. The word 'Brae' comes from ''bràigh'' ("top") in

, while the rest of the

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

is a mix of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and Scots, with references to ' Strichen toon'. The ballad is about a girl who's lost her lover and is preparing herself to face the world and get another. The hill is also referenced in the poem ''Farewell to Tarwathie'' by George Scroggie of Strichen, published in 1857, and now better known as the song published in Volume 1 of the Greig–Duncan collection (c. 1909). As of 1990, there were the ruins of a hunting lodge, built in 1779.

The White Horse and the White Stag

A white horse is depicted on the side of the hill made from white

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...

that has been placed into position to make the shape; its location is some 1500 m NE of Strichen. It is believed to have been carved into the hillside in 1773, possibly to record the visit of Dr Johnson and James Boswell that year. The "Cortes Stag", made in 1870, is much larger than the nearby horse, is about above sea level. It is long and unlike the other figures it is constructed from quartz rocks about in diameter. Tree growth below the figure is increasingly blocking the view. The stag was made by the tenants of the Laird to commemorate his wedding. There is some disagreement as to whether its original form was an outline figure or solid figure. At some stage it has been in outline only, but is now solid. The stag was cleaned in 1939, 1946, 1955, 1984 and in 1994/95. Unusually, these are the only two hill figures located in Scotland. There are three more in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and roughly 50 more in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The White Horse is one of sixteen horses in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The stag is one of two stags in the

, although the other, in the Rheidol Valley, near Aberystwyth, is a mining feature which merely resembles a stag and not a true

hill figure A hill figure is a large visual representation created by cutting into a steep hillside and revealing the underlying geology. It is a type of geoglyph usually designed to be seen from afar rather than above. In some cases trenches are dug and ...

References

Bibliography

External links

Satellite Dish Information-
NATO and Telecommunications Details
{{coord, 57, 36, N, 2, 04, W, display=title, region:GB_type:mountain_source:GNS-enwiki Hill figures in Scotland History of Aberdeenshire History of telecommunications in the United Kingdom Military communications of the United Kingdom Military history of Scotland Military installations in Scotland Mountains and hills of Aberdeenshire North Sea energy Telecommunications in Scotland Transmitter sites in Scotland