Ben Bhraggie

Ben Bhraggie stands above the village of Golspie in the Highlands, a grassy hill rising to 397 metres. From many miles away in east Sutherland the 100-foot statue of the first Duke of Sutherland can be seen on the summit. The Duke, George Leveson-Gower, became notorious for his role in the Highland clearances of the early 19th century. His wife, the Countess of Sutherland, managed the estate while he provided the funds for its reorganisation. The couple decided to resettle thousands of tenants to make way for large sheep farms inland. In 1819 alone, 425 families were evicted, an event the Observer called the Devastation of Sutherland. The monument was paid for by public subscription after the Duke’s death in 1833. The stone came from the hillside itself, and the statue by Sir Francis Chantrey was carried up in pieces by horse and cart. Locals call the statue the Mannie, and it has watched over the region since 1837. Some people have tried to remove or damage it, including a campaign in 1995 and damage in 2011. Yet many residents see it as a reminder of history rather than something to be destroyed. Visitors climb the hill through open moorland until they reach the broad plinth and the towering figure above. Graffiti sometimes marks the stonework, and loose blocks lie nearby from past attacks on the plinth. On the slopes below, the Highland Wildcat Trails offer mountain bike routes of varying difficulty. The longest singletrack descent runs for about seven kilometres down to Golspie. The hill also appears in the Scots song Granny’s Hieland Hame, linking it to local culture.