This carving hasn’t seen the light of day, seemingly, since it was first reported by a local lady, a Miss Maitland in the 1930s—and who, it transpires, uncovered a number of petroglyphs in this neck of the woods. She found it on one of her many forays in the mountains hereby and took some old photos of it—although they’ve not reproduced too well for the sake of the site profile. (apologies)
Since Miss Maitland’s days, the hillside has been covered in forestry plantation, making it extremely difficult to locate the carving. However, due to the reasonably large size of the stone, it should still be there (smaller cup-and-ring stones have been damaged and destroyed by forestry over the years); and as we can see in the middle photo, a long thick vein of quartz runs roughly along the middle of the stone—an ingredient which may have been significant for the people who carved the stone. In her article in the Scottish Country Woman magazine, Miss Maitland told:
cup-marks, bottom leftLedard Stone
“On the hill directly behind Ledard, on the north side of Loch Ard, a little to the west of the burn and a little to the east of the first grouse-butt, exactly 700 feet above sea level, lies a large boulder. Ice has smoothed and fashioned it and on the worn surface may be seen twenty-one, or so, small round hollows, varying in size and depth. The pattern made is roughly diamond-shaped, pointing directly east and west. I saw them for the first time as the sun was setting on New Year’s Eve, 1932. It was a solemn moment, for as far as I know no one else had looked upon them with such joy, and even awe, for perhaps a thousand years!”
She may have been right. And by the sound of her words, she’d certainly caught the petroglyph bug!
Anyhow, the carving doesn’t appear to have been seen since then. A “cup-marked boulder” was noted in the Royal Commission’s (1979) listings, but with no further details. We assume it must be the same carving, although they never visited it. It’s also possible that they were referring to another lost cup-marked stone a short distance further up the hill from here. If any local explorers are able to re-locate the carving, please let us know, and maybe add some info and photos of it on our Facebook page.
References:
Maitland, Mrs, “Cup Marked Stones”, in The Scottish Country Woman, 1935.
Royal Commission Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Stirling District, Central Region, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1979.
Along the A84 road as you’re heading into Callander, just 300 yards before you reach the the Keltie Bridge caravan park, take the tiny road on your left (north) and barely 100 yards along where a small crossroads can be said to exist, go straight forward up the tiny single-track road ahead of you. Keep all the way up for a mile until you reach Bracklinn Farm (when you meet a split in the road, keep left – and make sure you have parked way further down track of here). Walk up the track past Bracklinn Farm for just over a mile (1.85km), until where the track and the large burn runs roughly alongside each other (past the small Eas Uilleam cairn up to your right) and go through the gate. From here, go immediately left (SW) and walk alongside the dead straight fence for just over 300 yards, then slowly zigzag up the sloping hill. If you reach the derelict walling, you’ve gone too far.
Archaeology & History
West Bracklinn from below
For a site marked as ‘Chambered Cairn’ on the OS-maps, you might be expecting a little bit more when you get here. Sadly, it’s not what it once was. Much of the covering stones from the cairn have been severely robbed and obviously used in the old and curiously-named ruin of Bothan na Plaighe below, and the large sheep-fold structures barely 50 yards to the north. All that’s really left to see here is the internal chamber, aligned roughly east-west, which seems to have originally been split into two sections. The remaining overgrown edges of the monument, barely two feet high at the most, measures roughly 8 yards by 9 yards, but is much denuded and can really only be noticed when you’re almost stood on top of it!
The landscape reaching out from here takes the eyes way way into the distance along the fading horizon, from north-east to south-east. This expansive view, this reaching landscape, may have been an important element in the placement of the tomb – and it’s certainly something to behold on a good day. It might be a bit of a walk to get here, but if you want some good countryside, scenery and a bit of ancient history, this is one helluva good place to go!
References:
Royal Commission Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Braes of Doune: An Archaeological Survey, RCAHMS: Edinburgh 1994.
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.
Go along the minor single-track road on the south-side of Loch Earn (between Edinample and the ugly Lochearn Leisure Park) and roughly halfway along the loch, there’s rough parking near Ardvorlich House (the starting spot for walking up Ben Vorlich). Walk east past the track to Ardvorlich, staying on the lochside road, for about 400 yards and then go up the dirt-track on your right. Walk up here for about 200 yards and, before you reach the trees, notice a small gate in the walling above you on your right, about 70 yards up the slope. Go through here and bear immediately left, up to the large oak on the large dome of rock. From the oak, with your back to the wall, take about 10 steps forward. You’re here!
Archaeology & History
Deep cups & faint rings
The singular short reference to this impressive design was by George Currie (2011) who told us that it “bears at least 17 cup marks, three of which have single rings.” But there are in fact six of them with rings, possibly seven—with a few additional cup-marks scattered across the wider rock surface. It’s quite impressive, although on our visit here the daylight was gray and so the photos I have of the site do not do it justice. The sun popped out a couple of times, but only for a few minutes and we weren’t able to take advantage of it quickly enough.
The distinctive section of this petroglyph are the deep cup-marks on its northern side: fourteen of them, three of which have faded shallow rings around them—or rather, uneven oval-shaped surroundings. The cup-marks have obviously been worked and re-worked over the centuries, whereas the rings were given less repetitive attention, for whatever reason. This is a pattern found at a great number of cup-and-ring stones across the country.
Shallow cups, faint ringsAnother angle of deep cups
From this cluster of deep cups, walk two or three yards south onto the slightly lower smooth rock surface, where we find a much less pronounced scatter of several shallow cup-marks—may be five, may be six—but three of them have faint rings around them. They were difficult to see on our visit here due to the poor light. There’s what may be another incomplete cup-and-ring another two or three yards further along on the same rock face: a cup, certainly; the faint ring, perhaps. We need to revisit this in better light.
The rock surface continues for quite some distance all round here in the shape of a large dome, much of it covered in vegetation of varying depths. There are openings showing the bare rock and, at several other spots there are several other cup-marks, although none are as deep as the ones we’ve just described. On the edge of one piece, about three yards north of the deep cups, a couple of worn cup-marks are near the edge of one rise; two others are clearly notable a yard or so WNW of the deep cups; whilst there are several other single cups near and not-so-near of the main design. It all requires a lot more work before we see the entire picture.
It’s a gorgeous site: silent with the feel of winds and waters and the scree of buzzards touching the senses: elements that, at some petroglyphs, had mythic relevance…
References:
Currie, George, “Comrie: Balimeanach (BC 2), Cup-marked Rock”, in Discovery & Excavation Scotland, New series – volume 12, 2011.
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.
Along the A822 road from the Gilmerton junction on the outskirts of Crieff, heading up towards the Sma’ Glen, after literally 1¾ miles (2.8km) on the right-side of the road you need to follow the route to reach the Connachan rock art cluster by walking up the dirt-track leading up past Connachan Farm. Walk past the carving of Connachan (2) and up the track past Connachan (4), then onto the level ground and walk right to the low-lying ruined Connachan cairn. From here, look up the gentle slope to the fence. A small-ish stone protrudes out 40 yards away. Head straight for it!
Archaeology & History
Close-up of line of cups
You’ll check this out when you’re doing your tour of this petroglyph cluster and sit here to admire the view. It’s the last of the small bunch of carvings, on level ground, close to the denuded cairns. It consists of just eight cup-marks, all of which are carved close to the edge of the stone on its upper sloping surface; although this doesn’t tally with Margaret Stewart’s (1967) description of any of the carvings hereby. There’s nowt much more to be said about it to be honest; apart from saying how it’s highly likely that other carvings remain hidden, undiscovered, not far from this stone along the edge of these hills.
References:
Stewart, Margaret E.C., “Connachan, Crieff – Cup Marks and Hut Circle,” in Discovery & Excavation, Scotland, 1967.
Along the A827 Loch Tay road, halfway between Fearnan and Lawers just beyond the forestry, a track goes up into the fields across from Feadan house (big shed above you in field). Careful, or you’ll miss it. Go up here and head all the way up the steep winding track for 700 yards (as the crow flies) until, where the land starts levelling out, you hit the long straight line of old walling. Go over it and walk to your right (northeast) for a few hundred yards until it bears sharp left (NW), keep walking along it for another 45 yards and, where the fence turns down to the water, just keeping walking up the slope to the scatter of rocks. Look around!
Archaeology & History
Looking down at the cups
When you consider there are multiple-ringed carvings close by on the same geological ridge as this carving, there’s little wonder this fella hardly gets any attention: the design here is nothing special compared to its close neighbours. That aside: on this small flat surface we have six or seven simple cup-marks; most of them quite small, with the largest of the lot having what looks like a small carved arc around one side of it—although I couldn’t make my mind up one way or the other to be honest. A few more visits might prove more conclusive.
Folklore
The stream at the side of this carving and others nearby—the Allt Coire Phadairlidh, or Padderlie’s Burn—was the haunt of an urisk, who gave his name to the waters. He lived a little further up on the knoll. Several other carvings are just below here. Urisks were plentiful in this area. They are variously described as demonic creatures, referred to by Alexander Carmichael as “a monster, half human half goat, with abnormally long hair, long teeth and long claws.” (teeth aside, that sounds like me! 🙂 ) They mainly live by lonely waterfalls and a small beautiful fall is very close by. They are associated in some places with cup-marked stones, where offerings of milk were made to placate them. In truth, these nature spirits seem to be folk remnants of solitary shaman figures cast into the edges of hills. A local lady who lived in this area said she’d met an urisk near here and he was anything but the fearful creatures they are made out to be…
References:
Currie, George, “Kenmore: Allt Coire Phadairlaidh (AP1): Cup-Marked Rock,” in Discovery & Excavtion Scotland, vol. 9 (new series), 2008.
This is a relatively new find that was uncovered in 2019 by members of the Association of Certified Field Archaeologists, on the western edge of a small bowl of blackthorn trees, just past one of the Corrycharmaig East carvings — and it’s a bit of a beauty!
Topmost part of carving
Corrycharmaig (9) stone
Described, albeit briefly, in the superb survey by Gardiner, King & MacInnes (2024), the carving here has been cut into a sloping straight line of rock along the ridge of a very tiny cliff and consists of cups, single rings and multiple rings. At its crown, so to speak, where the rock surface levels out and is flat, a very well-preserved multiple cup-and-ring greets our senses: a cup-and-four rings to be precise. The outermost edge of the rings cuts into a natural crack that runs to the edge of the stone; and close to where this crack reaches the edge, another standard cup-and-ring rests against it. On this same section you’ll see a single cup which, by the look of it, was intended to have a much wider ring surrounding it—but for some reason it was never executed.
Second multiple-ringer
Second multiple-ring
From the topmost section, the rock then slopes gradually downward and the design is broken by several natural splits in the stone before we reach a single unfinished cup-and-ring and a solitary cup-mark. These occur shortly before we reach a near-duplicate of the multiple-ringer that we’ve just seen on the flat top of the stone. The outer ring of this is broken and the edges of it are intruded (again) by natural cracks in the stone (a not uncommon feature). The erosion level of this and its fellow four-ringed compatriot at the top are much the same, suggesting that the two were executed at around the same time.
Lower-half with cup&rings
Close-up of cup&rings
As we move down the slope of the rock with its veritable scattering of geological splits, the rest of the design consists of several single cup-and-rings—at least three of them—over its lower-half, almost in a gentle arc over the surface. The one closest to the four-rings has a single cup-mark attached to its outer edge and another single one just a few inches away from it. The others don’t seem to have any additional carved features attached to them; although one or two other singular cup-marks can be seen on this, the lowest section of the carving.
Looking to the hills
From the bottom up
An interesting feature noted here is the direction that this line of rock points to: a dip between two distinct rocky peaks on the horizon and which is close to the winter solstice sunset. I should point out however, that the relationship between open air petroglyphs and astronomical alignments (in Britain at least) is very debatable. Even alignments from one carving to another are pretty meaningless, despite the attempts of some modern archaeologist to show otherwise. In my younger days when I raced into rock art studies, I threw everything I had to show astronomical and other alignments were involved in these carvings—but it turned out not to be…. Instead, it turns out that some of these seeming ‘alignments’ (and only a few) relate to pathways and ancient routes: pointers, if you like, to the way ahead. Makes sense…
References:
Gardiner, M., King, L. & MacInnes, Dugald, In the Glen of the Dark Goddess, Bell & Bain: Glasgow 2024.
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.
Loch Earn (between the villages of Lochearnhead and St Fillans) has a road running on each side: the north-side is the A85, the south-side is a minor single-track road. You need to be on the south-side. Roughly halfway along the loch, there’s rough parking near Ardvorlich House; and from the track to Ardvorlich, keep on the lochside road, walking east for about 400 yards and then go up the dirt-track on your right. Walk up here for 450 yards until your reach the cottage. There’s a field above you to the left with some small crags near the top: walk uphill (through the gate) for 175 yards and on the topmost crags you’ll see a telegraph pole. The cup-and-ring stone is right next to it!
Archaeology & History
The first and only reference to this stone followed its rediscovery by George Currie (2011) in one of his many bimbling forays seeking out these old carvings. He told, in his usual minimalist manner that,
“A stretch of bedrock adjacent to a telegraph pole on a terrace above Balimeanach farmhouse bears thirteen cup marks, at least two of which have single rings, including the largest at 70 x 25mm.”
Line of cup-and-rings
View from above
The two cup-and-rings are next to each other on the northen side of the stone, with one based on a small concave depression in the rock itself; but next to this is what seems to be another, third and very faint incomplete cup-and-ring (you can see it in some of the photos here). We walked round and round this and whilst it seems quite obvious, some elements of it appear to be based on natural cracks in the stone, accentuated with minimal pecking by the artist. These three cup-and-rings are next to each other in a veritable Orion’s Belt formation, with a single cup hanging down from the middle.
Carving, looking south
Looking across the design
The other main section of the carving consists of a series of plain cups, scattered in a typically chaotic form and clustering mainly round the centre of the stone; whilst on its southern tip a single cup sits quietly.
When we peeled the turf back to see the entire carving, we found there was a considerable scatter of broken quartz all along the western edge of the stone. This element was also found at the Balimeanach (2) carving less than ten yards away and we’ve found this at a number of other petroglyphs in Perthshire and beyond. Even more intriguing was a large carved stone spearhead covered in soil alongside the quartz scatter! We left this where we found it.
In all probability, there are other carvings that remain undiscovered beneath the turf all along this ridge. Get y’ gardening gloves out!
References:
Currie, George, “Comrie: Balimeanach (BC 3), Cup-marked Rock”, in Discovery & Excavation Scotland, New series – volume 12, 2011.
Less than ten yards south of the Balimeanach (3) petroglyph, this innocuous-looking cup-marked stone can be seen. Paul Hornby and I came across it when looking for the adjacent carving. Comprising of between three and five very faint shallow cups, when we peeled some of the turf over we found a broken hand axe resting on the rock itself. We assumed that this had been the instrument that had been used to knock the cups into being. There were also many small shards of quartz crystal all along the inner edge of the stone: a feature that we and others have found at quite a number of carvings in the Scottish mountains. We left the ruined hand axe where we found it.
4? faint cups in a square
The impression we got here is that the cups are so shallow because the design was never actually completed. Instead, perhaps, they turned to look at the stone ten yards away and thought it was a better choice to cut a more ornate design… Perhaps… It seems pretty likely that other unrecorded carvings will be found close by on the many turf-covered rocks in this area.
Acknowledgements:Huge thanks to Paul Hornby for use of his photo in this site profile.
From Kirkmichael village take the A94 road 2 miles south to the Balnabroich standing stone and another 100 yards past it, on the left (east) take the dirt-track uphill, following the directions to reach the Balnabroich hut circles. You’ll see the large prehistoric rock pile of the Grey Cairn on the near skyline just above the huts and roughly on the same level, 50 yards away to the south, you’ll see this scruffy lumpy dump of a cairn, all overgrown.
Archaeology & History
The cairn, looking S
Amidst the veritable scatter of a thousand clearance cairns (yes, that’s the estimate), there are a few up here that had more funerary functions than the rest. This being one of them. When Allan Stewart (1795) wrote about them all in the Statistical Account, he couldn’t have missed this one—and yet he made no mention of it. We had to wait another seventy years before the outside world became aware of its existence. Then, along with “a band of between twenty and thirty workmen,” John Stuart (1865) set out to see what lay beneath the rocky pile. In truth, much more attention was given to the huge Gray Cairn close by (understandably so), but at least some attention was given here. Stuart described this cairn as,
“about 9 yards across, defined by large boulders, with a raised ridge around, and a cup in the centre. The raised ridges and centre were all formed of small stones and earth. A trench was cut through it from the southeast, which showed that in the centre, at a depth of 2 feet, a deposit had been made, of which the remains were charred wood and fragments of charred bone, with traces of blackish matter, which had filtered into the yellow subsoil, as in the case of the graves at Hartlaw.’ Many fragments of white quartz pebbles appeared near the centre, as in other cairns to the east.”
Indeed, at least one of the “cairns to the east” is made entirely of quartz stones! Since Mr Stuart’s dig into the tomb, it has widened out slightly as rummaging cattle and other damage has been inflicted, and the grasses have coloured the tomb with their life. Check it out when you’re up here!
References:
MacLagan, Christian, The Hill Forts, Stone Circles and other Structural Remains of Ancient Scotland, Edmonston & Douglas: Edinburgh 1875.
Ramsay, John S., Highways and Byways of Strathmore and the Northern Glens, Blairgowrie Advertiser 1927.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, North-East Perth: An Archaeological Landscape, HMSO: Edinburgh 1990.
Stewart, Allan, “Parish of Kirkmichael,” in Statistical Account of Scotland – volume 15, 1795.
Stuart, John, “Account of Excavations in Groups of Cairns, Stone Circles and Hut Circles on Balnabroch, Parish of Kirkmichael, Perthshire,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 6, 1865.
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.
From Callander head east along the main A84 road and nearly 300 yards past the entrance to the Keltie Bridge caravan park, take the tiny road on your left (north) and barely 100 yards along turn right and go up here for exactly 1 mile. Walk up the track from here and follow the directions to find the Black Park (1) cairn; and then the nearby small Black Park (2) cairn. From here you need to walk north-east round the small rounded hillock in front of you, and cross a small burn (stream) up to the next small grassy rise. Altogether this is about 200 yards from the Black Park (2) cairn. On this grassy rise lives the Black Park (3) cairn!
Archaeology & History
As with its compatriot Black Park (2) cairn 200 yards southwest, this can be hard to see. It’s an overgrown small singular cairn (it looks like a tumulus now) of no great note to look at: probably the resting spot of an individual or just a small family. Measuring some 5-6 yards across and less than a yard high at the most, its easily missed unless you’re really mean to find it. More impressive are the ones on the hill immediately above you to the east. Head there next!
References:
Royal Commission Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Braes of Doune: An Archaeological Survey, RCAHMS: Edinburgh 1994.
