Cup-and-Ring Standing Stone: OS Grid Reference – NR 6928 4184
Also Known as:
- Canmore ID 38589
- Gaigean
Archaeology & History
This lovely-looking 5-foot tall standing stone, marking an old boundary line in the Muasdale parish, is a curious one with elongated cups, some of which have the appearance of natural beach-side erosion caused by molluscs — unlikely though it may be. It first appears to have been described in an early PSAS article by Duncan Colville (1930), who told us:
“The writer was informed by the Rev. D.J. MacDonald, the minister of the parish, of the existence of this cup-marked stone forming a gatepost in the boundary wall between the arable and hill ground on the farm of Gaigean. The gate referred to is situated on the top of a steep bank on the south side of a small stream, a short distance uphill to the east of the farm steading of Gaigean. The front of a stone is now set an angle of about 45° to the ground facing almost southwest (105° magnetic across the face). Underneath the stone is another boulder similar in size, with several smaller stones wedged between the two, thus preventing further inspection.”
![North Beachmore](https://www.thenorthernantiquarian.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/north-beachmore-4.jpg?w=254)
Some years later when the Scottish Royal Commission (1971) lads described the site in their Kintyre survey (monument no.97), they gave a more detailed description of the cup-and-rings, saying:
“The markings consist largely of plain cups, but one cup is accompanied by a partial single ring which measures 0.11m across. At the foot of the lower half of the stone four cups linked by broad gutters form a curious branched pattern, and a similar combination of three cups and gutters occurs in the upper half, while in two other instances a pair of cups are joined by a short straight channel to form a dumb-bell figure. The remainder of the markings comprise twelve oblong or kidney-shaped hollows measuring up to 0.15m in length by 0.064m in breadth, and thirty-one plain cups ranging from 0.038m to 0.076m in diameter, the largest being 0.019m deep.”
References:
- Colville, Duncan, “Notes on the Standing Stones of Kintyre” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 64, 1929-30.
- Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Argyll – volume 1: Kintyre, HMSO: Edinburgh 1971.
© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian