For those not familiar with a Cairn, it can be explained as follows:
• A cairn is a human-made pile or stack of stones with the word cairn
coming from the Scottish Gaelic: càrn (plural càirn).
• Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes, from
prehistoric times to the present. It is a symbol used for various reasons usually
a memorial.
• Stones are usually carried from another area and in the case of the Scots
they were usually carried into battle.
The Hunter Valley in general and the Upper Hunter in particular was, for the better part, taken up and developed by the Scots who either came under their own steam or were part of the Highland Clearances and of course some were convicts. Quite a number of these migrants were in fact indentured and were bought out initially as shepherds or in later time’s workers for the Abattoirs here in Aberdeen.
Families such as Macqueen of Segenhoe, Macintyre of Kayuga, Fleming of Kelvinside and MacDonald of the Cuan are but a few in this Upper Hunter Region. We should also note the MacKay family whose empire stretched from Ravensworth to the top of the Rouchel as well as the MacDougall family of Singleton.
Wherever the Scots landed they would with them part of Scotland and this was normally
displayed in property or area names.
The Aberdeen Cairn is situated at Taylor Park, New England Highway.