Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – NT 12905 69666
Also Known as:
- Tormain ‘G’ (Allen 1882)
Archaeology & History
Two or three yards from the impressive Tormain (1) carving you’ll see this elongated stone, cracked into three separate pieces. Its sloping southeastern section is possessed of a single cup-marking, an inch or two across, which, if you found it anywhere else, you’d just shrug your shoulders and walk on by. It’s only due to this stones proximity to the more impressive carvings that it’s received any attention (ordinarily I wouldn’t even have added this to the database). It was first noticed when Romilly Allen (1882) visited the area. The Royal Commission’s (1929) survey of Tormain Hill mentioned “a single cup on one boulder,” but didn’t specify which of the three examples up here they were referring to.
References:
- Allen, J. Romilly, “Notes on some Undescribed Stones with Cup Markings in Scotland,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries Scotland, volume 16, 1882.
- Royal Commission Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Counties of Midlothian and West Lothian, HMSO: Edinburgh 1929.
© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian
