I asked and I received! Someone commented on my first Hometown Hotspot post with a request to dig up some info on the home of a friend of theirs.
Where is this lovely locale?
The highlands of Dingwall, Scotland.
Its name, derived from the Scandinavian Þingvöllr meaning field or meeting-place of the thing or local assembly. That’s right people, Vikings.
In the early Middle Ages Dingwall was reputed to have the largest castle north of Stirling courtesy of King Alexander II.
Around 1710, Sir George Mackenzie the first Earl of Cromartie erected a large obelisk on the top of the thing mound. After his death in 1714 he was buried beside it, an act which has ensured the survival of the mound today. By 1917 the monument had begun to lean so dangerously it had to be removed, and in 1923 was replaced by the smaller structure we see today. In 1947 much of the mound was levelled to make way for a car park. Only the central part containing the burial place of the Earl now remains.
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