Rock, Ravine, and a Dragoon
I decided to take a slight detour and leave the Dava way and walk down a steep bank to seek out Huntly’s Cave, also known as Lord Huntly’s Cave. The legendary location of the rock face, cave, ravine, and stream was the hiding place of George Gordon. An information board described how he apparently, hid there during the Montrose’s campaign of 1644-45, after his Royalist force was defeated by Archibald Campbell, the 1st Marquis of Argyll.
After carefully walking down to the ravine, I sat on a rock and thought about what it was like to hide there. How accessible was this ravine in the 1600s, with no railway line to follow?
Hindsight Leads To Foresight…
It took effort to climb down the ravine, but once I was there, I enjoyed my lunch by the stream. However, the problem with climbing down into the ravine is; you have to climb out. I would like to say I gracefully climbed the steep bank, but it was more of a crawl. My journey continued, and the landscape started to change into a dramatic moorland. It was quiet apart from the occasional echo of motorbikes passing on the A96.
Further down the track, hidden between the trees, I came across the wooden statue of a Red coat. This statue represents the Dragoon’s march south to fight the Jacobites at the Battle of Cromdale. It is believed that the Dragoon stands on the track that was used for the journey. I imagined the sound of all the Dragoon’s relentless footsteps echoing along the path.
“Scratch marks are also visible across the soldier’s throat and at the back of the back of its head, suggesting attempts had been made to decapitate it.” Press and journal
Mackay, D. (2018). Vandals saw off hand and try to decapitate statue erected to remember historic Speyside battle. [Online]. Press and journal. Last Updated: August 2, 2018,. Available at: https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/moray/1532784/vandals-saw-off-hand-and-try-to-decapitate-s [Accessed 10 December 2022].
Looking at this statue now, it seems to have been carefully restored, and I wonder if this dragoon’s battle is now over? Is he safe guarding the Dava Way?
For more information on this section of the Moray Way, please visit the link below.