Strathmore (acharainie) burial ground, Caithness
Strathmore is a small and very remote and burial enclosure. A high dry-stone wall keeps deer and cattle out. Why did they not leave space for a gate when it was errected? The built-in steppingstones make access for the pall-bearers difficult and for the elderly or disabled virtually impossible.
Inside, the burial enclosure feels very different from other graveyards in Scotland although there aren’t many as small as this. It is covered in gravel, stone upon stone, a grey place to rest and be remembered.
Most of the headstones are indecipherable now. Time has taken its toll amongst the engravings. But there is one war grave among the withered stones, to the memory of John William Campbell of the Royal Engineers, who died January 3rd, 1944, at the age of 27. A man mourned by his family and friends in this remote and scarcely populated part of the country close to the river Thurso.
He had been a sapper. “A sapper, also called a pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses, and road and airfield construction and repair.“ (Wikipedia)
„The name is derived from the French word sappe (“spadework,” or “trench”) and became connected with military engineering during the 17th century, when attackers dug covered trenches to approach the walls of a besieged fort.“ (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Did he grow up here? Did he learn his trade here? Did his parents, John and Dolina Campbell, of Braehour come often to remember him? They lived only 2 miles away. John William Campbell is listed as either buried or remembered in this strange little cemetery in Caithness. No mention is made of where and how he died. Quite possibly the parents were never told. If they were still alive at the time of their son’s death.
Liked the read? There’s more here…
The stories of this book have been discovered and gathered for my blog, Graveyards of Scotland, over many years. Find treasure all over Scotland with my latest book. I am Nellie Merthe Erkenbach, journalist and author.The fairy hill in Inverness, a nitrate murder on Shetland, a family of left-handers, wolves, Robert the Bruce and William Wallace shown in a new light, the secret bay of the writer Gavin Maxwell, a murdering poet and so many things you didn’t know about Scotland, its clans and its history.
My main sources were historical travel guides from the 18th and 19th centuries, where the finds were scary, beautiful, funny, and sometimes, cruel.
This unusual approach to a country’s history has produced amazing results. You don’t have to share my passion for cemeteries to enjoy this book; only a small number of the stories in this collection take place in graveyards, though they do all end in them, so perhaps it helps.
Graveyards of Scotland 
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