Editing Cairn (section)

==== Ireland and Britain ====

The word ''cairn'' derives from [[Irish language|Irish]] (with the same meaning), which is essentially the same as the corresponding words in other native [[Celtic language]]s of [[Ireland]], [[Brittany]] and [[Great Britain|Britain]], , including [[Welsh language|Welsh]] {{lang|cy|carn}} (and {{lang|cy|carnedd}}), [[Breton language|Breton]] {{lang|br|karn}}, [[Irish language|Irish]] {{lang|ga|carn}}, and [[Cornish language|Cornish]] {{lang|kw|karn}} or {{lang|kw|carn}}.<ref name=":0" /> Cornwall ({{lang|kw|Kernow}}) itself may actually be named after the cairns that dot its landscape, such as Cornwall's highest point, [[Brown Willy Cairns|Brown Willy Summit Cairn]], a 5&nbsp;m (16&nbsp;ft) high and 24&nbsp;m (79&nbsp;ft) diameter mound atop [[Brown Willy]] hill in [[Bodmin Moor]], an area with many ancient cairns. Burial cairns and other [[megalith]]s are the subject of a variety of legends and folklore throughout Ireland and Britain. In [[Ireland]], it is traditional to carry a stone up from the bottom of a hill to place on a cairn at its top. In such a fashion, cairns would grow ever larger. An old Scottish Gaelic blessing is {{lang|gd|Cuiridh mi clach air do chàrn}}, "I'll put a stone on your cairn".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cairns of Scotland |url=https://www.scotland.com/blog/cairns-of-scotland/ |access-date=2022-09-20 |website=Scotland.com |language=en-US}}</ref> In Highland folklore it is recounted that before Highland clans fought in a battle, each man would place a stone in a pile. Those who survived the battle returned and removed a stone from the pile. The stones that remained were built into a cairn to honour the dead.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}} Cairns in the region were also put to vital practical use. For example, [[Dún Aonghasa]], an all-stone [[Iron Age]] Irish [[hill fort]] on [[Inishmore]] in the [[Aran Islands]], is still surrounded by small cairns and strategically placed jutting rocks, used collectively as an alternative to [[Defensive wall|defensive earthworks]] because of the [[karst]] landscape's lack of soil.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}} In February 2020, ancient cairns dated back to 4,500 year-old used to bury the leaders or chieftains of [[Neolithic]] tribes people were revealed in the Cwmcelyn in [[Blaenau Gwent]] by the Aberystruth Archaeological Society.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Lewis|date=2020-03-29|title=The new Neolithic site that's been discovered in Blaenau Gwent|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/new-neolithic-site-thats-been-17986546|access-date=2020-09-09|website=WalesOnline}}</ref>{{clear|left}}