The Tinkers' Heart is a

Scottish Travellers Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

' commemorative monument near

Loch Fyne Loch Fyne ( gd, Loch Fìne, ; meaning "Loch of the Vine/Wine"), is a sea loch off the Firth of Clyde and forms part of the coast of the Cowal peninsula. Located on the west coast of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It extends inland from the Soun ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

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 ...

. It is also known as the Gypsy's Heart, Gypsies' Heart or Gypsy's Wedding Heart. A field visit in 2012 shows the Heart as being made up of a heart-shape of 25 visible

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 ...

pebbles, with a 26th pebble in the centre, and measuring by . Research done by

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment ...

in 2015 concluded that from the evidence available, it was the only example in Scotland of a permanent physical Scottish Travellers' memorial.

Origins

The Scottish travelling community maintain that the Heart was established as a monument to local tinkers who joined the

Jacobite Rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took ...

, and weddings have been celebrated at the site since the mid-1800s. The Heart was removed during roadworks in 1928, but local protests forced its reinstatement. The monument's location was originally at the junction of the Strachar Road and the Hell's Glen, but this junction was bypassed by new road building in the 1970s, thus placing the monument in a field.

Campaign for scheduled monument status

In 2008, Argyll and Bute council proposed a programme of restoration work for the Heart, however local citizens objected to the cost (£34,500) and undertook to care for the site themselves.

Scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

status had been investigated in 2012 but refused on the basis that the site did not meet the necessary criteria. In May 2014, author

Jess Smith Jesse W. "Jess" Smith (1871 – May 30, 1923) was a member of President Warren G. Harding's Ohio Gang. He was born and raised in Washington Court House, Ohio, where he became a friend of Harry M. Daugherty.John Wesley Dean, ''Warren G. Hard ...

lodged a petition with the Scottish Parliament, asking the Scottish Government to require Historic Scotland ‘to investigate what action can be taken to ensure the restoration and preservation of the Heart’. In February 2015 Historic Scotland announced that they would reconsider the application, this time taking equalities issues into consideration. Historic Scotland launched a programme of research including a public consultation in March 2015, aimed initially at the travelling community, and local area residents. The consultation differed from those usually undertaken in similar situations, in that it took account of the significance of the oral tradition to the community to which the monument was of importance. The research concluded in May 2015, and the site was added to the Schedule of Monuments in June 2015. The campaign was supported by the MSP for

Michael Russell. Of the new methodology used in the consultation, Historic Scotland Director of Heritage Management Barbara Cummins said she hoped it would "pave the way for how we undertake our work in future.”

References

External links

*{{Historic Environment Scotland, num=SM13615, desc=Tinkers' Heart, Scottish Travellers' commemorative monument 820m E of Ardno Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Argyll and Bute