Mormond Hill

Mormond Hill rises above the flat fields of Buchan in Aberdeenshire, two rounded tops just north of Fraserburgh. The higher summit, Waughton Hill, reaches 767 feet while the lower stands at 754 feet. Strichen and New Leeds lie at the hill’s feet, and the land around is low and good for crops. The hill’s Gaelic name means ‘big hill’, and it stands out clearly in the flat landscape. Two villages sit close by, one called Strichen and the other New Leeds. The hill appears in old songs such as ‘Mormond Braes’, where a girl from Strichen decides to find a better husband after being left. Another song, ‘Farewell to Tarwathie’, also mentions the hill. Long ago, people had to cross the hill to reach Rathen Kirk for church and burials. A heap of stones called the Resting Cairn marks where pallbearers paused before the steepest climb. Sailors once used the hill as a guide, keeping it at a steady distance to avoid dangerous rocks. Two large hill figures look out from the slopes. A white horse made of quartz stones stands on the southwest side, said to honour a sergeant who gave up his horse in a skirmish in Holland. Nearby, a white stag rises on the southeast side, built in 1870 to mark a local laird’s marriage. The stag is much taller than the horse and has been cleaned and repaired many times. These are Scotland’s only hill figures of this kind, with the stag thought to be unique in the world.