Dunearn is a

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post- ...

located south south east of

Nairn Nairn (; gd, Inbhir Narann) is a town and royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nairn enters the Moray Firth. It is the t ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. It is situated on a steep-sided hill called Doune rising to approximately above

ordnance datum In the British Isles, an ordnance datum or OD is a vertical datum used by an ordnance survey as the basis for deriving altitudes on maps. A spot height may be expressed as AOD for "above ordnance datum". Usually mean sea level (MSL) is used ...

just south of Dulsie Bridge (which provides a modern crossing of the

River Findhorn The River Findhorn (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Fionn Èireann) is one of the longest rivers in Scotland. Located in the north east, it flows into the Moray Firth on the north coast. It has one of the largest non-firth estuaries in Scotland. The riv ...

) in the parish of Ardclach."Dunearn"

Canmore Canmore may refer to: * Canmore (database), a Scottish national online database of ancient monuments; *Canmore, Alberta, a town in Canada; *the House of Dunkeld, a royal house that ruled Scotland in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, including **Mal ...

. Retrieved 27 May 2018. The site commands uninterrupted views in all directions of the valley of the Findhorn including towards the pass of Streens in the west, which leads to upper Strath Dearn.

Etymology

The modern name, which is shared by a nearby farm is from the

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 ...

, ''Dùn Éireann'' meaning "Hill(fort) on the Findhorn". Although Gaelic in origin the derivation of the name of the River Findhorn itself is not absolutely clear. Watson (1926) states that it is derived from ''Fionn Èire'', meaning "white Ireland" which "doubtless refers to the white sands of the estuary". The

dative In grammar, the dative case ( abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jaco ...

''Èireann'' gave rise to the use of the anglified 'earn' or 'erne' in other local names such as Invererne, Cullerne and Earnhill.

Structure

The slopes up to the fort are steep from all directions save the west. The summit is S-shaped and was surrounded by two parallel walls which closely followed the contour that delineates the summit plateau. The visual evidence of the inner rampart is simply scattered stones and boulders along with some evidence of

vitrification Vitrification (from Latin ''vitreum'', "glass" via French ''vitrifier'') is the full or partial transformation of a substance into a glass, that is to say, a non-crystalline amorphous solid. Glasses differ from liquids structurally and glasses pos ...

, suggesting that the fort may have been burned at some point in its history. The outer wall lies about beyond the inner and is a "mere crest-line, dotted rather sparsely with stones and boulders". The proximity of the two walls to one another suggests it was designed as a single structure with stabilising timbers in the centre. The entrance lies to the south west and the enclosed area is roughly in extent. Remains of Dunearn Fort to the left with Dulsie Farm buildings centre right

Remains of Dunearn Fort to the left with Dulsie Farm buildings centre right

Local comparisons

Dunearn is one of a group of larger, more open, structures such as

Craig Phadrig Craig Phadrig (Scottish Gaelic: Creag Phàdraig, meaning Rock of Patrick) is a forested hill on the western edge of Inverness, Scotland. A hill fort on the summit is generally supposed to have been the base of the Pictish king Bridei mac Maelcho ...

, which is thought to have been constructed in the 4th Century CE and Ord Hill of Kessock, both to the west near modern-day

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histo ...

. There are various smaller structures in the area, such as Doune of Relugas, and Dun Earn lower down the Findhorn valley and Dun Evan and Castle Finlay in the Nairn valley. The existence of another large hill fort at Cluny Hill in

Forres Forres (; gd, Farrais) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions. There ...

, which extends to was confirmed in 2017.Isaksen (2017) p. 37

Modern uses

It is thought that the relatively level summit of the hill was farmed for many years until 1906, including ploughing and it is likely that the stone remains of the fortification are "slight" as a result. An artillery base was established in the fort during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* RCAHMS Emergency Survey.(1943
Manuscripts (vol.2)
* Feachem, R. (1963b) A guide to prehistoric Scotland. 1st. London. Page(s): 140 RCAHMS Shelf Number: E.2.FEA * Isaksen, Leif (2017
The Hilltop Enclosure on Cluny Hill, Forres description, destruction, disappearance".
Lancaster University. Retrieved 28 May 2018. * * Watson, W. J. (1994) ''The Celtic Place-Names of Scotland''. Edinburgh. Birlinn. . First published 1926. {{River Findhorn Hill forts in Scotland Vitrified forts in Scotland Archaeological sites in Highland (council area) Iron Age sites in Scotland