Acorn

Cairn burial tombs are found throughout Britain, Ireland, and Scotland. These magnificent structures are awe-inspiring.

One is unique among all the rest and is known affectionately as Acorn.

A myth tells of a father who lost his only girl child when, while playing in an oak tree, she fell and broke her neck.

Grief-stricken, the clan chief had his people build a gigantic cairn and placed the child’s crypt at its center.

Knowing how much the child loved the oak, he placed a single acorn in her right palm, wrapped her body in the finest cloth, and finally placed it inside the hide of a wolf to ensure her protection in the afterlife.

Years passed, and the girl was long forgotten until a boy who should not have played on the cairn stepped on a rock, causing it to fall into the structure.

The following morning, a local shepherd was surprised to see the slender top of an oak tree sticking out the cairn.

The old ones came to see the sight, and it was they who remembered the story of the child who loved the oak so much that she was buried with its seed.

Over time, the tree grew tall and strong, and with it returned the people’s belief in the mighty oak as a symbol of enduring love.

The child’s name is long lost in time. Today, she’s affectionately called Cnò-daraich or Acorn.