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Daily Planet is a collection of short news items -- one each weekday -- that evoke and illuminate the far corners of the world. To read previous items, visit the Daily Planet archive. Send all tips to DailyPlanet @salon.com.

Clava Cairns dates back to the third millennium B.C. It is made up of three rounded, upright mounds of rock that surround burial chambers. Circling the cairns is another ring of stones. The tourist's note explained that he had found his small stone near the site and, thinking it was a Stone Age tool, brought it home as a souvenir.

Upon returning to Belgium, the man experienced a run of very bad luck. First, his daughter broke her leg. Then his wife fell seriously ill. Then he lost his job. When he broke his arm, he began to trace his bad luck and realized it had all begun when he took the stone.

In a BBC report, Bob Hunter-Dorans, visitor services assistant at the Inverness Tourist Information Center, said, "He thought he was cursed ... He said in the letter, 'I know you will probably be laughing at me, but while you are laughing could you please take this stone back to Clava Cairns.'"

Hunter-Dorans added that there is a great deal of local superstition surrounding the site -- few residents will visit the area at night. He himself returned the stone the day after the tourist center received it, but he did not keep it overnight in his house. Just in case, he left it in the garage.
salon.com | Jan. 31, 2000

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