Alexander Kinnaird was a 17th century Scottish landowner, whose estate lay in a valley sheltered by many sand dunes that had developed through millennia to over a hundred feet in height. Kinnaird made a rather inadequate job of his estate and environs - some historians describing him as a wastrel. What did not help, of course, was that the land was slowly being covered by fine sand over a period of time, until all that was left was barely a third of the original estate.
The Barony of Culbin
The sand dunes grew, effectively protecting the estate from the ravages of the coast, but paradoxically slowly suffocating the life out of the farmland. The estate had been in the Kinnaird family for generations and the sands had been shifting for centuries but without the instant dramatic results of one night in 1693, when the sand dunes were blown on to the rest of the estate and farms, covering up the Barony of Culbin forever. Livelihoods were gone overnight and Kinnaird left Scotland a broken man, to join the Darien Project, never to return again.
The Advent of a Desert
The estate had originally been the mansion house, the factor's house, a few farms, a church, a manse, and workers' cottages. Nothing was left after the sandstorm. Every single field, farm, implement, acre, and building was totally inundated. That which had once maintained a small community was now a desert, a silent, windy, yellow stretch of fine sand that grew absolutely nothing, and as such remained until an enterprising landowner in the area decided to plant trees to stabilise the sands at the end of the 19th century.
Treeplanting
This was not successful as the sands eventually encroached the tree line, in some instances leaving only the treetops visible above the creeping desert. This was a desperate state of affairs, as there was great fear that the sands would gradually move across the wider, fertile area known as the Laich of Moray, which was, and still is, the local larder of the area. During the First World War, timber that could be salvaged was cut down for the war effort, giving rise once more to shifting sands, which further created fear in the local population.
Forestry Commission Rescue
For many years, the Culbin Sands was known as Britain's desert, until the Forestry Commission took over the tree planting project, introducing thousands of young deciduous and evergreen saplings that grew to the dense forestry that can be seen in the Culbin area today. The sands have been effectively halted, trees are visible on dunes that can be seen from the village of Findhorn, dunes that today inspire tales of a "lost people" who have become legendary.
Chimney Pot Legends
In this area of Moray, local folklore highlights tales of chimney pots visible in the sand and buried people living underground, shouting up the chimneys for help. Local superstition held sway until relatively recently, in that stories are told of the laird "playing cards with the devil" at midnight on a Saturday, on the cusp of the morning of the Sabbath, therefore his estate was inundated as a punishment. Generations of people have been fascinated by the fate of Culbin and the stories of the subsequent Culbin Sands.
Culbin Forest
Today, the area is known as the Culbin Forest and has been designated a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). It is a venue for environmental education, outdoor pursuits, wildlife awareness and a plethora of plants and mosses. It stretches the Moray Coast from Forres to Nairn, nearly a thousand acres of dense forestry, with woodland walks, picnic areas and cycle paths. It is the jewel of the coastline, attracting many visitors, human and otherwise.
References
The Moray Firth Partnership Accessed 26/1/10
Fisk, Stephen. "Abandoned Communities... Shifting Sands." Lambert Munro. Accessed 26/1/10
Doreen Taylor - Conscientious and committed to good writing, I will endeavour to do my best for all my writers. I adore reading and learning new things ...
