Gizzen Briggs

Central to anyone's experience of the Highlands and Islands is the landscape. It shapes our daily lives and reminds us of the lives of those people who called the Highlands home before we did.

Our panel is an ode to the myths and legends of our area which have been immortalised in our landscape. In the statue of the Balintore Mermaid, the intricate carvings which the Picts left behind, and the fossils which litter rocky beaches.

Our panel is titled 'Gizzen Briggs.' The Gizzen Briggs is a large sandbank which stretches out from Dornoch almost reaching Morrich More. According to folklore, the Gizzen Briggs are the remains of an attempt to build a bridge from Ross-shire to Sutherland.

The chief of the Mackays was sent a box of worker fairies to build the bridge. The messenger was forbidden from opening open, but curiosity got the better of him and he was immediately surrounded by hordes of fairies yelling "Obair, obair, obair," Gaelic for "Work, work, work".

The quick-thinking messenger sent the fairies to weave ropes of sand. They are still there toiling away today at their impossible task. Sometimes, with the wind in the right direction, you can hear the fairies lament in the roaring of the waves, sad that they will never go back to their old way of life.