Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 56136 01939
Getting Here
We took the route up from the hidden Braeval car-park, on the left-side of the road, ⅔-mile (1km) east of the Aberfoyle roundabout (on the edge of town). From here, walk up the dirt-track and bear left 350 yards up where the track splits. Walk up here for 1½ miles, through and beyond the ruined forest until, on the far side of the remaining trees (they may have been cut when you’re reading this) the path eventually brings you out into pasture. At this point, veer immediate right and follow the fence/wall on your right for literally ⅓-mile (0.54 km). This is boggy and uneven all the way as there’s no path here. You’ve gone up and over a ridge and, as you’re coming down the slope, hop back over the wall where there’s a gap and walk about 30-40 yards into the debris. You’re damn close!
Archaeology & History
This is one of several previously unrecorded carvings I came across recently on the northwestern edge of the massive Ballochraggan rock art complex, on the slopes above the Lake of Menteith. I found it during one of the red-hot days we’ve just had —and, sadly, it had me running for home much quicker than usual! The heat beat me on this day (I’ve never been a lover of the sun), so hopefully you’ll forgive me if I missed a bit! 🙂 I was heading for the nearby Solar Stone carving near the bottom of the slope, when this partially-covered rock caught my eye—and I’m glad it did! For scattered along its long slender topmost surface, a number of the usual curious prehistoric symbols had been etched…
The first thing I noticed were a scatter of cup-marks at the western end of the stone: four of them in a close-knit cluster (this section reminded me of an old favourite on Shipley Glen), with several others seemingly running in a curved line down the slightly sloping stone with, possibly, one or two others also streaming away below this same cluster. But the main feature, as the photos and sketches illustrate, is the cup with a large double-ring near the middle of the stone, above a long natural crack that almost cuts the stone in half.
On either side of the double-ring are quite separate single cup-and-rings with (roughly) equal layers of erosion—although the central cups were probably re-carved, so to speak, many times over the centuries, as their erosion level is considerably less than that of the rings. This is a feature found at countless carvings across Britain and suggests regular “re-use” or rather re-animating the design on a regular basis. A faint half-ring can be seen round one of the smaller cups near the bottom of the carving. And a peculiar feature near the middle of the design is a simple ‘ring’ that was started but never finished (perhaps?), with no cup-mark in the centre. This is a feature found on quite a few Perthshire carvings, with some of the shallow ‘rings’ being nearly 12-inches across in some instances. Most odd!
Several of the single cup-marks on here appear to have started life as natural pock-marks in the stone, which would have made carving the design a little easier than just starting from scratch! And, about 10 yards below this carving, a small sloping rock has a distinct eroded ‘bowl’ on it, about six inches across and several inches deep and is perhaps relevant to this carving in a pragmatic sense (mulching colours, herbs, etc). These ‘bowls’—be they natural or enhanced—are much-overlooked features and their existence needs to be taken into consideration when they’re found within a mass of cup-and-ring stones, such as found here, on the outskirts of olde Aberfoyle. Check it out when you’re next up here…
Acknowledgements: Big thanks to Prof Hornby for getting us up here on a scorching day!
© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian
