Tomnahurich, which translates to “Hill of the Fairies,” is a massive, wooded hill that rises abruptly from the flat Inverness landscape. Long before it became a cemetery, it was a site of deep Celtic folklore. Local legend says that the hill is the resting place of Thomas the Rhymer, a 13th-century prophet and poet who was taken by the Queen of Elfland. It is believed that the fairies live inside the hill and that the hollow sound heard when walking on its slopes is the echoing of their subterranean halls.

The most famous story associated with the hill is that of the Two Fiddlers. In the 18th century, two musicians were lured into the hill to play for a fairy ball. They believed they stayed for only one night, but when they stepped back out onto the streets of Inverness, they found the people dressed in strange clothes and their own families long dead. A hundred years had passed in a single night. Distraught, they went to a church to pray, but as soon as they heard the word of God, they crumbled into dust.

In 1863, the hill was converted into a cemetery, designed to be one of the most beautiful “garden graveyards” in the UK. The paths wind in a spiral up to the summit, lined with elaborate Victorian monuments. The most striking of these is the Guardian Angel, a life-sized marble statue that watches over the graves of the wealthy merchant families of Inverness. Another notable resident is Frank Bostock, a world-famous lion tamer who is buried beneath a monument of a sleeping lion, a fitting tribute to a man who lived his life in the circus ring.

Today, Tomnahurich is a peaceful haven for wildlife and a popular spot for a quiet walk. The hill provides one of the best viewpoints over the Caledonian Canal and the Great Glen. Despite its modern use as a cemetery, the “Fairy Hill” nickname persists, and many locals still feel a sense of “otherness” when the mist rolls off the river and clings to the dense trees that cover its slopes, keeping the ancient Highland legends alive in the heart of the modern city.