03 March 2010

Ben Bulben

Whenever I see an isolated hill or a mesa, my first thought is that thousands of generations of humans must have worked their way to the top either for the view or to spot game.

This is the north face of Ben Bulben, in Ireland (apparently access from the south is much easier).  I should think the first modern humans to reach the summit must have found artifacts dating back for millennia.

Via Titam et le Sirop d'Erable.

7 comments:

  1. I've had the pleasure of seeing Ben Bulben in person- that photo does not do it justice.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Clearly that is an old dwarf fortress from ancient times. The dwarves used it to collect toll from bypassers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful, so imposing and majestic. You could dress in some period style clothing and stand on top and feel as though you had litterally turned the clock back!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Or tombs of powerful queens.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medb

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is almost as if you are seeing into another world. Magical.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Let's not forget the last lines of Yeats' "Under Ben Bulben" (near his family's home in Sligo):

    VI
    Under bare Ben Bulben's head
    In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid.
    An ancestor was rector there
    Long years ago, a church stands near,
    By the road an ancient cross.
    No marble, no conventional phrase;
    On limestone quarried near the spot
    By his command these words are cut:
    Cast a cold eye
    On life, on death.
    Horseman, pass by!

    ReplyDelete