This is a view of the mound from the east. Various different spellings of the name will be encountered (this may be because the form used on the map, and for the title of this item, does not follow the usual conventions of Gaelic spelling; or it may be for other reasons).
Mr James Robertson (see
NN6207 : The Robertson Family Memorial), minister of the Parish of Callander, and author of the report on that parish that appears in the Old Statistical Account (1794), writes that "there is a curious conical hill or mount at Callander, where the old church stood. This mount, which seems to be artificial, is called TOM-MA-CHESSAIG, the HILL OF ST KESSAIG; and, according to tradition, was used for butts, where the people, upon Sabbath evenings, exercised themselves with their bows and arrows, according to an ancient [Scottish] law for that purpose. There is another hill, larger than Tom-ma-Chessaig, at Little Leny, where Norie's Chapel stood, and which is still used as a cemetery by those of the name of Buchanan".
(For pictures of the hill at Little Leny, and of the ruined chapel and the Buchanan Burial Ground that are located there, and for further information about them, see
Link and
NN6207 : Buchanan burial ground, Callander.)
Elsewhere in the same report, James Robertson mentions that "the greatest fair is held on the 21st of March, or the 10th old style, which is called Fil-ma-chessaig, or the Festival of St Kessaig".
Other views of the mound:
NN6207 : Tom Na Kessaig (Hill of St. Kessog) /
NN6207 : Tom na Chisaig, Callander. See
Link (at Canmore) for further archaeological details.
From the New Statistical Account, where the report is by the minister P Robertson (son and successor of James; again, see
NN6207 : The Robertson Family Memorial): "there is a beautiful circular mount adjoining the church-yard of Callander called Tom-ma-Chessaig, the hill of St Kessaig, who was the tutelar saint of this place. A market is still held here, annually, in the month of March, which goes by the name of Feill-ma-Chessaig, i.e., the festival of St Kessaig".
For the "church-yard of Callander" mentioned there, see
NN6207 : Callander Burial Ground (which is a view from the top of the mound); see
Link for related images.