Norrie Campbell and the Mammoth

There is a great Islay story, some had been rude enough to call it a myth, which says that the late and much lamented Norrie Campbell, peat cutter, DJ and raconteur extraordinaire had, once upon a time managed to do what no mere archaeologist has ever done - found incontrovertible proof of the existence of mammoths on Islay.  Norrie, it was said, had found a mammoth's tusk buried deep in the peat of Islay during the course of his work, and being a responsible chap, had called in the relevant authorities and handed over his find. 
The story said that the mighty tusk had been taken away and examined, but that the results of the analysis had shown that far from being a mammoth's tusk, what Norrie had found buried in his peat bank was nothing more than 'a modern horn, probably from India'.  The story was embellished by suggesting that it had been merely brought back to Islay as a souvenir by a member of the British Raj, who had at some point become bored with it and tossed it into a bog.

Norrie, needless to say, never saw his mammoth tusk again.  And so the story might have remained, being gently massaged down the years, until someone was kind enough to send Bruichladdich Distillery a very remarkable photograph, which we attach here.  Now if I had been in Norrie's boots, and I had found a tusk like that buried in a Scottish peat bank, I would have gone for a mammoth ID, no matter what some mere archaeologist might say.  Indeed I reckon we should start a campaign to find out who it was that took Norrie's mammoth tusk, and have it returned to its rightful home...

The Daily Telegraph informs us how to clone a Mammoth

Full Story - The Daily Telegraph

The INHT September talk! - Wednesday 29th Sep

This month's talk at the Natural History Centre is from our very own Carl Reavey. Carl will be taking a night off from his prolific blogging to talk to us about Eating The Wildlife - A look at what may have been on the menu for Islay's first settlers.

Carl's long-promised talk will look at the kinds of food and animals that our ancestors would have been hunting and gathering here on Islay and the surrounding islands as far back as the Mesolithic era, which I think is when this talk was first proposed. I've had a sneak preview and can promise a bit of everything, some  archaeology, paleontology, anthropology and geography accompanied by some of Carl's terrific photos.

The talk will take place at 7:30pm on Wednesday 29th September at the Natural History Centre in Port Charlotte, and INHT members continue to get free admission. There's a small entrance charge for non-members, but refreshments are included. Hope to see you all there.