Holy Well (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NN 9677 5199
Also Known as:
Fuaran Chad
St. Cedd’s Well
Archaeology & History
All trace of this once renowned holy well seems to have gone. It was located, according to the local historian James Kennedy (1927) “on the terrace behind the Church”; although Charles Stewart (1880) earlier told that it was found on the hillside above the church. On our recent visit here, the level piece of land just above the River Tay, “on the terrace behind the Church” as Kennedy told, had no notable spring of water upon it—but we didn’t check the slope above the road to see if there was anything there. By all accounts it’s long since gone.
There’s also slight confusion regarding the dedication of this well. Kennedy, once more, ascribed it to have been St Cedd’s Well, the brother of St Chad, and not Chad himself who was venerated here. But this wasn’t the view of MacKinlay (1893) or Knight (1933) in their major studies. But let’s leave that element to the hagiologists for the time being!
Tradition told that the spirit of the waters was deeply offended when the annual market in Logierait—dedicated to St Chad/Ched on his saint’s day of August 22—was stopped. As a result the waters removed themselves and fell back to Earth. This curious motif is found at a number of wells in other parts of the country.
References:
Kennedy, James, Folklore and Reminiscences of Strathtay and Grandtully, Munro Press: Perth 1927.
Knight, G.A.F., Archaeological Light on the Early Christianizing of Scotland – volume 2, James Clarke: London 1933.
MacKinlay, James M., Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs, William Hodge: Glasgow 1893.
MacKinlay, James M., Influence of the Pre-Reformation Church on Scottish Place-Names, William Blackwood: Edinburgh 1904.
Mitchell, Hugh, Pitlochry District: Its Topography, Archaeology and History, L. Mackay: Pitlochry 1923.
Just as you’re coming into Balnaguard village on the B898 road from the eastern side (as if you’ve come via the A9 from near Pitlochry), just where the road crosses a small burn (stream), take the first farm-track on your right and walk down to the end where it meets the field. Here, walk to your left left and you’ll see a gate that takes you into the field. You should have already noticed the standing stone before you even open the gate! It’s about 100 yards in front of you. You can’t really miss it.
Archaeology & History
Clach na Croiche
Standing alone in this field a short distance south of the River Tay is this fine old standing stone, nearly seven feet high, from whose locale we gaze west to the opening of the Perthshire mountains—but in times gone by it wasn’t alone. Less than 10 yards east of the Clach na Croiche stood another seven-foot tall standing stone and, some six yards further east (and along the same axis) there may have stood another one, some 7½ feet high. This alignment ran east-west in line with the rising and setting of the sun at the equinoxes. (whether that was deliberate or not is another matter altogether) and was first noticed by the great antiquarian Fred Coles (1904) in one of his many megalithic ventures. He wondered “whether they (were) fallen Standing Stones, or the covers of cists” and when they were looked at by Margaret Stewart in 1971 she found that one of them laid beside “a shallow socket outlined with packing stones”—meaning that it had stood upright. The other stone didn’t seem as certain, although Stewart did report finding “a single cupmark…on the eastern side of the upper surface.” We’ve yet to see a photo of this carving.
The Clach na Croiche also has its own cup-markings, just above the bottom of the stone on its southern-face. Margaret Stewart described them as being “strung out irregularly across the face.” Sounds about right! Sadly, somehow, I didn’t get any photos of these when I last visited, but will grab some the next time I’m there.
Looking to the westLooking to the northeast
In the fields either side of the stones, ancient tombs have been found. Around 1887, the Duke of Atholl dug under some of the stones in the field and found a “cup” or urn which Coles reported “was found in a cist in the haugh near Tom-na-Croiche.” Then, in 1969, the farmer John MacBeth was ploughing the field and unearthed another cist some 15 yards north-west of the present upright. The base of the cist was cobbled and whilst whilst the tomb itself was filled-in, the farmer moved the covering stone to the fence at the west-side of the field (NN 9455 5205). Also, on the eastern side of the field in 1971, Stewart reported finding what she thought were the remains of cremated bones that seemed to have been part of another prehistoric structure.
Fred Cole’s 1904 sketchLooking to the southeast
Nearly 250 yards to the west of the stone, in the adjacent field, a huge prehistoric cairn—known as the Sketewan Cairn—was uncovered and fully excavated in the late 1980s. It originally stood some four feet high and was nearly seventy feet across. Within the cairn complex, a small standing stone accompanied some cremations. Unfortunately this entire archaeological site has since been completely covered over. You wouldn’t even know it was there if you stood right next to it! But if you want to see Balnaguard’s remaining tombs, head for the Fairy Mound right in the heart of the village…
Dixon, John H., Pitlochry, Past and Present, L. Mackay: Pitlochry 1925.
Kennedy, James, Folklore and Reminiscences of Strathtay and Grandtully, Munro Press: Perth 1927.
Omand, Donald (ed.), The Perthshire Book, Birlinn: Edinburgh 1999.
Stevenson, J., “Prehistory,” in Omand’s The Perthshire Book, Edinburgh 1999.
Stewart, Margaret E.C., “Perthshire: Balnaguard”, in Discovery & Excavation in Scotland, 1971.
Swarbrick, Olaf, A Gazetteer of Prehistoric Standing Stones in Great Britain, BAR: Oxford 2012.
Yellowlees, Sonia, Cupmarked Stones in Strathtay, Scotland Magazine: Edinburgh 2004.
Acknowledgements: Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland.
Various ways to get here, but it’s probably easiest if you’re coming via Aberfeldy. From here, go over the river bridge to Castle Menzies and Weem, but turn right once you’ve crossed the bridge and follow the road parallel to the river for just over 3 miles (4.9km) where you’ll reach a tiny road on your left, going uphill. You can park the car 150 yards up, on your right – then walk uphill (don’t drive any further). Walk up the road for just over half-a-mile (0.95km) and take the right turn; go along here for 300 yards where the pond appears and keep walking along the same road for another 250 yards till you reach a cottage by a small crossroads. From here, walk up (left) for another 300 yards where, near the top of the field, a large boulder sits close to the fence. You’ve arrived!.
Archaeology & History
Drumchanachan carving
On the way back down from a bimble to the beautiful and haunted Loch Derculich, Naomi and I stumbled upon this large stone just off the track below Lurgan farmhouse and found there to be a number of cup-marks on its sloping upper surface. Naomi was really truly excited! 🙂
On its northwestern surface there’s is a distinct scattering of cup-marks: one in particular near the middle of the stone that’s been deepened in more recent times, as if it was ready to be blown-up and destroyed but, once realised it was a stone of the fairy folk, the operation was terminated and the stone left here to live! Thankfully…
Close-up of cupsDeep lines of cups
It’s a pretty basic design, consisting of at least eleven cup-marks, mainly running in a line upwards along its westernmost side, following the edge of a natural ridged contour. Of the two topmost cups, one of them may have a carved line running to it with a faint semi-circle then emerging from the line around the edge of the cup. But it’s faint—if it’s real—and the daylight was fading when we came here so this and any other design elements that may exist weren’t too easy to see. Hopefully I’ll get back up here pretty soon and see if there’s anything else hiding beneath the aged shadows.
It’s a wonderful arena above Edradynate, with countless other ancient sites peppered across the landscape hereby…
Stone Circle (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NO 332 430 (approximation)
Archaeology & History
This stone circle wasn’t logged in either Barnatt (19890 or Burl’s (2000) standard megalith inventories. The only mention of it seems to be in Alex Elliott’s (1911) rare work on the region, in which he described it as being located “within the grounds of Mylnefield”. All trace of it would seem to have gone. Elliott told it to have been,
“elliptical in form and consisted of six large boulders – three at the east, three at the west, with a gap between capable of holding an equal number of stones.”
References:
Elliott Alexander, Lochee – As it Was and As it Is, J.P. Mathew: Dundee 1911.
Stone Circle (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NN 9020 0985
Also Known as:
Blackford Glebe
Brookfield House
Archaeology & History
In the 18th Century there stood, on the slight rise of the land about 150 yards south of Brookfield House, one of those “circles of stones…in the glebe”, of the sort that “are supposed to have been places of Druidical worship,” wrote John Stevenson. (1792) Sadly, sometime in the 19th Century, the entire site was uprooted and destroyed, leaving no trace of the place. Not good…. 🙁
References:
Stevenson, John, “Parish of Blackford,” in The Statistical Account of Scotland – volume 3, (edited by, John Sinclair) William Creech: Edinburgh 1792.
Simply follow the directions to reach the Dunruchan monoliths ‘D’ and ‘E’ and then zigzag through the heather to their immediate south—from just a few dozen yards away, to up to 300 yards west. Keep your eyes peeled for the stoney little rises in the heather as you walk back and forth and you’ll see at least some of these cairns.
Archaeology & History
Not to be confused with the large cairn scatter on the grassy plain of Aodann Mhor a short distance north-west (whereon stands the magisterial Dunruchan A monolith), many of which which may be just field clearance cairns. This small group found a short distance east, south and west of Dunruchan stones ‘D’ and ‘E’ are more typical burial cairns. They each average between five and six yards across and none are more than three feet high. We first noticed them about ten years ago and on subsequent visits kept looking them over, but the deep heather ensured they were hard to see. But, after a recent heather-burning exercise on the moors, they are at thankfully visible—for a short time at least.
Cairn SE of Dunruchan ‘D’Cairn S of Dunruchan ‘D’
At the time of writing, probably the best one to see is found 40 yards south of Dunruchan D and 47 yards north-east of Dunruchan E and may have the astronomers amongst you running for the theodolites! It has that distinct look about it when you see it in context with the landscape and adjacent standing stones. The westernmost cairn that’s (presently) known here is 300 yards west of the Dunruchan E stone, just past the Dunruchan enclosure, at NN 7873 1676. It’s likely that there are other unrecorded prehistoric sites in this area.
Low line of ancient walling
Amidst this section of the moors is a line of very low walling that runs a short distance east-to-west, towards the Dunruchan ‘E’ stone. A lot of old walling exists hereby, mainly visible in the fields to the east, but this particular line is much smaller and of a different age by the look of things, presumably older. It has the appearance of walling more usually associated with prehistoric hut circles, but in this case runs in a straight line towards the standing stone. Curious…
Folklore
The standing stones on this plain and the cairns here are said to be the graves of fallen Roman soldiers, slain by our tribal Scots two thousand years ago. In all honesty though, these are likely to be much older than any of those Roman savages.
Standing Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – NN 795 168
Archaeology & History
When Fred Coles (1911) visited the giant impressive Dunruchan standing stones, he told that “some distance to the east” of the Dunruchan E stone, “near the unnamed stream…my friend Mr James Simpson has seen another great Stone, but lying prostrate.” When he visited the area the weather beat him back (easily done up here!) and prevented him “from wandering far over the moor, and therefore this Stone was not observed.” It remains lost. (the grid-reference given for this site is an approximation)
From Comrie village, take the long winding steep road up past the Devil’s Cauldron towards Glen Lednock. After 1½ miles the road begins to level-out and you come out from the trees and about 400 yards along there’s a dirt-track on your left. Park here! OK, now walk further along the road (not the dirt-track) for less than 100 yards and take the footpath up the slope (if this is blocked—it shouldn’t be!—you can walk further along until your reach the next track on your left). Go up this footpath for 200 yards till you reach the track by the large bend; and then walk up it for another 200 yards where there’s another large bend. On your right, past the solitary big rock, you’ll see the sign…
Archaeology & History
Sign of the Kinkhoast Well
A little-known healing well that all but fell out of existence until, thankfully, some local folks recently decided to revive it. A sign stands above the back of this spring of water as it emerges from the Earth telling you that it’s the Kinkhoast Well. Its clear waters form into a very small pool, wherein are dozen of small white pebbles and and quartz pieces, very smooth and obviously worn by decades, if not centuries, of local folk giving the spirit of these waters—the genius loci—and offering in exchange for its healing virtues in the hope that it cures them of the whooping cough, of which this well is renowned.
It’s one of many whooping cough wells that are found in the Perthshire hills—and most are actually large boulders with hollows into which the rainwater collects and it is this that is used medicinally and not necessarily the spring water. A curious thing indeed…. and I’ve come across Highland folk who were taken to them when they were young children who’ve told me that their whooping cough was subsequently cured! Intriguingly, there is a large boulder just below this well, upon whose top is a natural bowl in which rainwater collects—and although I can find nothing specific telling of such a tradition here, above Comrie, it’s possible that the relationship between stones and wells, found at other places in the Highlands, also existed here.
Small pool full of white offering stonesWell & stone in close attendance
The name Kinkhoast itself (and variables thereof) is a Scottish dialect word, found from Galloway and into the Highlands. Jamieson (1880) describes it as literally “hooping cough”, with a brief note on the disease being cured by water drank from a shell. Meanwhile, in Grant & Morison’s (1960) massive work, they give numerous examples of the term, most of which relate to the same “whooping cough”, with some examples of folk remedies to abate the disease, including one of parents sending their children to take a drink from the “Kinker Steen Wall”—in that case from the parish of Logie. Examples of the very same tradition are known at other kinkhost sites. Check the place out when you’re in the area—and rest for a while to drink in the beautiful views…
References:
Anonymous, “Comrie Folklore – Kingcough Well,” in Crieff & District Post, no.31, August 2012.
Grant, William & Morison, David D. (eds), The Scottish National Dictionary – volume 5, SNDA: Edinburgh 1960.
Along the A85 road between Comrie and St Fillans, just over a mile out of Comrie, on the right-hand side (north) of the road is the small farm-track into the fields where the ruined stone circle of Tullybannocher lives. Walk up this track (known as Maam Road), past the stones, and keep going uphill for more than a mile (literally 1 mile up, another track turns sheer right, but ignore it) where the track eventually levels-out; keep walking for another 600 yards, slightly downhill, until you reach a distinct fork in the track where you need to veer right, uphill, and keep walking up the track for ⅔-mile (1km) where you’ll eventually see a cottage ahead of you. 150 yards before this, to your left, down the slight slope and just as it begins to slope back up again on the other side, there’s some olde walling with a coupla big stones in it. It’s there!
Archaeology & History
When James MacIntosh (1888) first visited this carving in the 19th century—which is close to the curious cairn of Druim na Cille just 75 yards to the west—he described there being a group of seven large stones forming, what he thought, might have been a large enclosure. I think he was right. Several of these stones can still be seen: each of them along some ancient walling that swerves in an arc to the east. One of these stones has a number of cup-marks on it.
Fred Coles’ 1991 sketchThe carving, from the track
The design isn’t too impressive when compared to others in this neck o’ the woods, but they’re very distinct. We visited the place on a truly dark grey day: conditions that don’t usually allow for good visibility regarding cup-marks; but thankfully the cups along this stone are quite deep and hard to miss. Running along one section of the stone are what Gow called, “eleven beautifully formed cups, varying from 2¼ to 4 inches in diameter and from half an inch to an inch in depth.” When Fred Coles (1911) came here he counted thirteen cup-marks. There may be fourteen.
The stone does possess some more recent groove marks made by a metal instrument, possibly a tractor or perhaps when local workmen stuck up a microwave tower close by. Thankfully it hasn’t directly affected the cups on the stone. Check it out when you visit the nearby ring cairn.
Along the A85 road between Comrie and St Fillans, just over a mile out of Comrie, on the right-hand side (north) of the road is the small farm-track into the fields where the ruined stone circle of Tullybannocher lives. Walk up this track (known as Maam Road), past the stones, and keep going uphill for more than a mile (literally 1 mile up, another track turns sheer right, but ignore it) where the track eventually levels-out; keep walking for another 600 yards, slightly downhill, until you reach a distinct fork in the track where you need to veer right, uphill, and keep walking up the track for ⅔-mile (1km) where you’ll see a cottage ahead of you. About 50 yards before the house, down the slope on your left, a large rounded mass covered in bracken is the site you’re after.
Archaeology & History
This is an odd site, in more ways than one. In the 18th and 19th century, local people told that it was “a very ancient churchyard, so old, indeed, that the grave-stones among the rank grass are scarcely discernible.” (Carment 1882) This lore was reinforced by the fact that, as James Gow (1888) put it,
“within living memory that a burial took place here, and the tradition is that people came to bury the “wee unchristened bairns” from long distances, such as Loch Tayside, Glendochart, Balquhidder, and Strathyre.”
Looking W, at the circleThe old mound, looking SE
That’s a lot of effort and a considerable distance for some people to travel! But the age and nature of this site is curious. It very name, Drum-na-kill derives from either “ridge of the burial ground” or the “hill of the chapel” (and variants thereof)—yet there are no records of any such early church or religious cell here. That doesn’t mean, of course, that there never was one. A wandering Culdee priest may have set up camp here more than a thousand years ago after doing his service with the fading druids of Dull, less than 20 miles to the north. Such things, never written down, will obviously have happened in these mountains and cannot be discounted merely due to a lack of scripts. But we simply don’t know. When Mr Gow described the place—as “a raised enclosure 25 to 30 feet in diameter, with, a turf-covered wall or rampart 3 or 4 feet high surrounding it”—he emphasized that “in former times (it) was used as a burying ground for unbaptised infants.” (large numbers of Highlanders weren’t in the slightest bit interested in the ways of the Church) So how far back in time did this tradition go…?
Well, Gow thought the place to be an early christian site. But when Fred Coles came here more than thirty years later, during his massive survey of the Perthshire stone circles, he deemed it to be a much earlier construction. A “cairn circle” no less—which would give it a more Bronze Age footprint. And this definition has stuck. Coles (1911) told that,
Coles’ 1911 diagramRaised ‘walling’ highlighted
“This Cairn-circle is about seventy yards east of the shepherd’s cottage, and it slightly resembles others already noticed in Perthshire. It measures from crest to crest of its circular ridge 44 feet 3 inches east and west by 37 feet 10 inches north and south. Several large blocks of stone lie exposed on the crest, and many others can be felt as one walks along it. The ridge is completely oval-circular, having no break or passage-way, and encloses a flattish, rather uneven space measuring about 34 feet in diameter. The height above the outside ground at the best-preserved portions is fully 4 feet.”
More than a century later, its not changed much—although if you were to believe the updated Trove website, “the cairn has been destroyed in the process of land improvement.” Which is untrue. As the albeit darkened photos here show (we visited it on a truly dark grey day), the raised cairn, despite being covered in a mass of deep bracken, is clearly in a condition similar to what Coles described. It looks like a typical example of this type of monument, of considerable size, with reasonably well-defined edges and comprising the usual scattered mass of stones in and around it. The large boulders that Coles described don’t seem to be in evidence, but these were apparently shifted a few decades back and added to the enclosure walling to the east. To honest, only the untrained eye would miss the place! Check it out when you’re looking at the cup-marked stone, less than a hundred yards to the east…
References:
Carment, Samuel, Scenes and Legends of Comrie, James P. Mathew: Dundee 1882.
