Giant white stag made of boulders re-emerges on Aberdeenshire hill

A historic stag made of boulders has re-emerged from an Aberdeenshire hillside thanks to five years of work from volunteers.

The Mormond Hill Stag was originally created in 1870, but disappeared from sight over the years.

Local Doug Simpson became interested after hearing about it from a fellow rambler, and then pinpointed its location amid overgrown vegetation.

Gorse, heather, bracken and trees were removed to reveal the white boulders.

The stag was originally built more than 150 years ago on Mormond Hill near Fraserbugh by estate tenants to commemorate their laird's wedding.

They used locally-quarried white quartz set into trenches cut into the turf.

It is thought the tens of thousands of stones involved may have been moved by horse and cart to create the imposing artwork which measures 67m (220ft) by 73m (240ft).

As the years passed the hillside's 234m (769ft) height was used in all sorts of other ways, including for mobile phone masts.

However the Mormond Hill stag was lost, until keen walker Mr Simpson decided to get involved in what turned into an unusual piece of deer conservation.

It happened after one trek when one man said he was going to take the group of walkers to the great white stag.

The walker, who was in his 70s, had not been at the stag since he was a boy.

"He thought he knew the route but the route he took us was unpassable, absolutely overgrown," Mr Simpson told BBC Scotland's Landward.

"We just had to abandon that day."

But Mr Simpson's interest had been piqued, and he began investigating further.

He knew roughly where the stag was, and with the help of an old map located it.

"We ended up walking up through a burn, the water was coming down the hill, so we got up and got to the stag and wow, he was unbelievable, what a mess, absolutely covered," he recalled.

So he started a campaign to clear the site and make it visible again.

Posts on social media drew in many volunteers of all ages for the mountain of clearing work that lay ahead.

The initial months of work became years of hard graft for the dedicated team, which included schoolchildren.

Eventually, however, the stag re-appeared thanks to their efforts.

Now the ongoing job is to keep the stag looking pristine.

"I'm not sure if it was the stag that chose me, but I'm certainly drawn to it," said Mr Simpson, who admitted to getting quite emotional about the labour of love.

"Sometimes I look back and think, wow, it's incredible really.

"I just seemed to be driven on to get it done once I had got it in my mind, I've always been that way."

He hopes it will draw visitors from far and wide.

"Especially if they could do a bit of weeding when they're here," he joked.

"He's some beast, he really is."

Watch Now on BBC iPlayer: Landward: Episode 19