The cairn itself has never been subject to an archaeological excavation, however it is mentioned in Audrey Henshall’s inventory of the Chambered Cairns of Orkney as a probable chambered cairn, as the entrance to a ruined passage can be discerned. It is described by Henshall as being 72ft across and 10ft high. On its landward side in Stronsay it faces the farm of Huip, which has been one of the principal residences on the island for centuries, being first mentioned in the 1422 Records of the Earldom of Orkney. The name Huip is derived from the old norse Høp (hope), which means sheltered bay or bight.
Huip is associated with several Orkney folktales. Ernest Marwick interviewed a man who’d seen the practice of ‘penning in the trows’ in the mid 1800’s at Huip. Trows are mystical creatures who cause ‘mischief about the house’, so the residents of Huip formed a circle and made loud noises by banging pails to frighten the trows into their mound before nightfall.
