X Marks the Spot
I always find it curious that for some reason, at the top of mountains and at the edge of cliffs, or somewhere equally as precarious or impressive; some crazy bastard has seen fit to build a cross, often of stone, but not exclusively. Generally speaking these things are built to last. The mind boggles about how their creator either transported or constructed them there. About what feat of engineering or determination of sheer will it took to do something so pointless. I’m sure they would tell you that this was something about the glory of god. But I know otherwise. It’s really man’s latent desire to mark the landscape. Stone graffiti that says ‘I was here’, x literally marks the spot.
A strange variant of this can be seen at my country’s most northerly point. At Banba’s crown, not far from an empty husk of a military fort, spelled out in stone on the brow of the land is the word ‘Eire’, writ large enough to be seen from the sky. Just like how a landmass is labelled on a map. Here on the edge of Ireland on a clear day you can see the mainland, a mere spit, or stones throw away. I exaggerate, though only a little. The story goes that this titular land mark was created for the benefit of German pilots during the Second World War. Ireland was neutral, and labelled itself to avoid any confusion. We didn’t want to be bombed by accident of proximity thank you very much.
Nowadays, visitors to Malin Head feel compelled to write their name in stones in the grass. Tiny miniature declarations of ‘I was here’, in various shapes and sizes and names from all nationalities. A mosaic of graffiti tags, though none quite as impressive as the country’s title. It kind of goes with out saying, but if you look for it, amid the rocks and ocean breakers, you’ll find a cross there too.
