Spirit Cairn
The Spirited Stitchers of Easter Ross built in textiles a cairn of memories. A stitched stone structure to represent all that the Spirit of the Highlands means to them - our past and our present.
This is their story.
The hands of the people of the Highlands and Islands raised these cairns of memory. Each stone has meaning, and mystery.
Some, like the crenellated tower of a sea-castle, or the girders of Ballachulish Bridge, are clear enough. But others are not, like the Selkie, one of the seal-women who swim up from the depths around Orkney and Shetland, shedding their sealskin as they slither onto land to make mischief. Or the Pictish rosette symbol of the sort carved on hundreds of stones, part of an unknown alphabet of a lost language once spoken all over the Highlands and Islands.
The Selkie looks at a powerful image, a Celtic cross emblematic of the coming of Christianity from Ireland in the 6th century. Holy men like Brendan, Columba, Moluag and Maelrubha first planted the flags of faith on the Atlantic shore and preached the Word of God beneath their crosses. Below it runs the warp and weft of checked cloth, what became tartan, woven in all its vibrant colours, worn by Highland warriors as they raced into the charge on a hundred battlefields. The cairn is built from stones of remembering and forgetting, of fleeting, shifting images of places like no other.
The Spirit Cairn full of memories and stories.Image provided by Kirstie Campbell
Ready to get going with artist Andrew Crummy and co-ordinator Kirstie Campbell.Image provided by Paul Campbell
The Spirited Stitchers made the first stitch of the entire tapestry!Image provided by Paul Campbell
The stunning materials in an array of vibrant colours which were stitched into the cairn.Image provided by Paul Campbell
The Spirited Stitchers met regularly to discuss what the 'spirit' of the area was to them, how they would capture this in their work and what icons truly represented the heritage and landscape of the Highlands. As well as stitching the cairn and imbuing its 'spirit', the stitchers created many other journey stones to represent their personal stories.
Read the stories of the Spirited Stitchers
WITH THANKS TO THE SPIRITED STITCHERS OF EASTER ROSS
This panel was stitched by Diane, Jenni, Julie, Patricia, Norma, Anne and Yvonne who gave their time, skill and energy to completing a fantastic artwork for their area.
If you would like to see the panel up close and admire the detail of their work, please look out for the panel at an exhibition near you soon. To find out more, follow Inverness Castle Experience on Facebook for all the latest updates on the Tapestry of the Highlands and Islands and the new visitor experience in Inverness, open 2025.
