THE PLANTING OF THE SAND DUNES AT CULBIN. 2 1 



Scots pine on the bog land and the flat of sand, as well as on the 

 spaces between the sand-hills, amounts to 220 acres. The large 

 sand-hill proceeding eastwards is about 35 acres in extent, while 

 the area it has completely passed over amounts to 50 acres. The 

 ages of the trees on this area range from i to 20 years, and give 

 a fairly accurate idea as to the rate of progress of the hill. 



Although the Maviston Sands have a grandeur of their own, 

 they are comparatively insignificant when contrasted with the 

 main body of sand at Culbin, three miles farther eastward. With 

 the permission of the author, Mr Bain, Nairn, the following 

 details regarding the appearance and tragic history of this at one 

 time fertile but now desert region are largely borrowed from his 

 books, the Story of a Buried Estate, and The Findhorn River, 

 which deal with the subject. 



The Culbin Sands proper cover an area 4 miles long by 

 2 miles broad. Towards the north they are covered with sand 

 piled up into ranges of hills and valleys in seemingly endless 

 succession. From the top of these hills, which often exceed 

 200 feet in height, an excellent view is obtained of the surround- 

 ing country, and of the far distant hills of Cromarty. In the 

 valleys, the old land surface often comes to view. The furrows 

 made by the plough two hundred years ago are still visible. 

 Here and there beds of peat, shingle beaches, heaps of oyster 

 and other shells are to be seen, while collectors find the place a 

 happy hunting-ground for antiquarian treasures. Flint arrow- 

 heads, scrapers, and stone axes are often discovered, and bronze 

 pins, coins and rings have frequently been picked up. In 1898, 

 a Roman coin of date 21 e.c. was found. The old bed of the 

 Findhorn, which watered the alluvial meadows that at one time 

 formed the most fertile agricultural land of Moray, can still be 

 traced. The river ran westwards for a considerable distance on 

 the north side of the estate. 



The history of the estate is associated with that of the family 

 of Kinnaird. About the middle of the twelfth century Freskin 

 or Freskinus, a rich Flemish merchant who gave the King 

 financial assistance, acquired large tracts of land in the North of 

 Scotland. In these remote regions he and others were outposts 

 of European civilization amid the primitive Gaels, missionaries 

 of the feudal system which David I. sought to establish 

 throughout his realm in place of the clan or tribal polity. The 

 doughty Fleming, Wilkin Flammock, in Sir Walter Scott's 



