Mormond Hill

St Eddren's Slack, on the eastern side of the hill, is said to have been the hermitage of Ethernan, an obscure saint who founded the church of Rathen. Before the parish of Strichen was created in the 17th century, the people of the district were obliged to travel north across the hill in order to attend services in Rathen Kirk. The dead were taken there for burial, and a heap of stones known as the Resting Cairn marks the point at which pallbearers would pause before passing over the steepest part of the hill. Because of its prominence in the flat Buchan countryside, Mormond Hill was an important landmark for navigators. An old rhyme warns sailors to keep the hill at a constant distance so…