Category: Perthshire

Duncroisk Farm, Glen Lochay, Killin, Perthshire

megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 53159 36409

Also Known as:

  1. Canmore ID 24170
  2. Duncroisk 1 carving (Canmore)
  3. Garnet Stone

Getting Here

Duncroisk Farm stone & Garnet Rock behind

Pretty easy to find this.  Go up Glen Lochay for 3 miles or so, on the road past the brilliant Stag Cottage carvings for a couple of hundred yards where you’ll see an old run-down army-looking building and past that is a curious large wooden and wire construction.  Go up the farm-track next to this, past Duncroisk Farm, taking the footpath through the gates that go up to the side and behind the farm.  You’ll see a rounded grassy knoll ahead of you.  Head straight for it!

Archaeology & Folklore

This carving would appear to have been described for the first time by Mr Cormack (1952) in his longer essay on the cross-marked stones nearby.  He said briefly:

“On the top of a small rock-strewn knoll about 300 yards behind Duncroisk farmhouse is a recumbent boulder, at one corner of which is a group of five fairly deep cup-marks of 2- to 3-inch diameter.”

Little else has been said of the site and even Ron Morris (1981) only gave the carving a brief mention in his survey, saying in passing how “east of a prominent rocky knoll, on whose summit is a cup-marked boulder…”, as he journeyed further uphill to explore the fascinating Duncroisk 4 carving with its scant cup-marks, human figurine and other curious insignia.  And although this carving is probably only worthwhile for the real fanatics amongst you, I like the place — sad fella that I am!

Cup-marked stone, looking south
Close-up of cups

There are five very distinct cup-marks etched onto a small, almost triangular section of the rock, sat close to a couple of other larger stones on top of the grassy knoll overlooking the glen, not far from some iron age walling.  The cups are etched onto the topmost (northern) section of the rock, which is defined by a natural crack running across the surface, almost splitting one part of the stone from the other.  The five cups are in no discernible linear formation.  A possible sixth cup-mark and extended line may have been started on the other side of the crack on the stone, but its execution was stopped for some reason.  This is by no means certain though.

Of some note is the larger stone immediately adjacent on top of this knoll, which — as Paul Hornby pointed out  — is encrusted full of small garnets all over its surface.  This may or may not have some significance to the cup-marked stone here.  According to Mr Hornby, the nearby cup-and-ring stone at Duncroisk Burn also has garnets in it.

References:

  1. Cormack, E.A., “Cross-Markings and Cup-Markings at Duncroisk, Glen Lochay,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 84, 1952.
  2. Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Southern Scotland, BAR 86: Oxford 1981.
  3. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Stirling District, Central Region, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1979.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 


Corrycharmaig (3), Glen Lochay, Killin, Perthshire

megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 52774 35504

Also Known as:

  1. Allt Coire Charmaig

Getting Here

Corrycharmaig 3 stone, with Meall Dhuin Croisg rising…

Go thru Killin and, just past the Bridge of Lochay hotel, take the tiny road on your left.  Go down here for 3 miles till you pass the gorgeous Stag Cottage (with its superb cup-and-rings in the field across the road) for another 300 yards, until you see Duncroisk Farmhouse set back on your right.  On the other side of the road, go thru the giant deer-gates (close ’em behind you) to the river-bridge and across it.  Walk along the track till you reach the turning to Corrycharmaig House on the right (over the stream), but here, go up into the field thru the gate.  Walk up the hill ahead of you with its trees on the left, walking up onto the grassy level, then up again to the rounded knoll another 100 yards up.  You’re here!

Archaeology & History

This is the most visually impressive of the set of four cup-marked rocks along this ridge — although if you visit here when the light is poor, or the sky’s overcast, you’ll be lucky if you can actually see much of the material.  For example, I counted 38 cups on this particular stone on a day when the sky was bright, but upon checking later, found that Mr Morris (1981) described there being, “40 widely scattered cups of which, however, 29 well-defined cups are in a compact group of which 6 are in line.”  Whereas more recently the Canmore website told there to be,

Corrycharmaig-3 carving
Close-up of line of cups

“At least 48 cupmarks are visible on the most westerly exposure. The cupmarks range in size from 25mm in diameter and 5mm in depth to 100mm in diameter and 40mm in depth.  A straight line of six cupmarks arranged close together is orientated running from NW to SE.”

This line of six cups is very distinct and stands out as the most notable aspect on this carving, probably because it gives a sense of ‘order’ or linearity, whereas the rest of the carving (as with oh so many of them, thankfully) possess that non-linear feature of scattered cups and lines, dissolving reason and ego, and eliciting the natural meditative state, if one so cares to allow. On our most recent visit here, our eyes and fingers traced what appeared to be the faint remains of a carved line running along the bottom edge of the row of cups and then bending around the bottom cup in the same line — a little bit like the carved lines which run around the edges of the row of cups on Ilkley Moor’s Idol Stone.  You can just make this ‘line’ out in the photo, below.

Cup-mark and flint
Clusters of cups and faint line

On one visit to the site when we’d stayed with the late great Lindsay Campbell of Stag Cottage, other sections of this carving were visible that we’d previously missed, highlighting at least 45 cup-marks that we counted.  Several of the cups had been exposed by animals (sheep or deer – we couldn’t tell) cutting into the soaking wet earth and in carefully checking a couple of cups whose edges were exposed, found a small worked flint within one of the cups!  I looked at it, held it, puzzled over it, then laid it back where we’d found it.  You can see it in the photo here, on the right.

This carving obviously grows on you with time.  And like its carved companions of Corrycharmaig (1), (2) and (4) both left and right of here, the stone rests within a natural theatre of dreams, eliciting — if only in a slight way — the non-focal perspective necessary to receive the carvings as its executor knew…

References:

  1. Cormack, E.A., “Cross-Markings and Cup-Markings at Duncroisk, Glen Lochay,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 84, 1952.
  2. Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Southern Scotland, BAR 86: Oxford 1981.
  3. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Stirling District, Central Region, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1979.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Newtyle, Dunkeld, Perthshire

megalithix

Standing Stones:  OS Grid Reference – NO 04489 41057

Also Known as:

  1. Doo’s Nest
  2. Druid’s Stones
  3. New Tyle

Getting Here

Newtyle’s standing stones

From Dunkeld travel southeast on the A984 road to Caputh and after about 1½ miles, set back a few yards from the road amidst the trees below the Newtyle Quarries (whose mass of slate and loose rocks cover the slopes), you’ll see these two large monoliths.  There’s nowhere to park here, but there’s a small road a coupla hundred yards before the stones aswell as a space to park on the verge by the side of the road a few hundred yards after them.  Take your pick!

Archaeology & History

When we visited these two tall standing stones a few weeks ago, guerilla archaeologist Hornby and I were a little perplexed at the state of these stones, wondering whether they were a product of the fella’s who dug the quarries above here, or whether they were truly ancient.  It seems the latter is the consensus opinion!

They were described by the great Fred Coles (1908) in one of his lengthy essays on the megaliths of Perthshire, where he thought the two stones here were all that remained of a stone circle that once stood on the flat, above the River Tay, but whose other stones “were destroyed in the making of the road” which runs right past here.  Not so sure misself!  He told that,

“An old cart-track runs up between the stones, leading from the main road…up to the quarry. The mean axis of the two stones runs N 13° W and S 13° E (true), and although their broader faces do not point towards the centre of a circle on the west, it is certainly much more probable that the other stones were on this side, the lower and flatter ground, than on the east, where the ground slopes and is more broken and rough.

“Both stones are of the common quartzose schist, but they differ considerably in shape.  A is 6 feet 7 inches high at the north corner, but only 4 feet 10 inches at the south, and its vertical height at the east is only 3 feet.  The basal girth is 13 feet 3 inches, and in the middle 15 feet 9 inches.  The broad east face measures 5 feet.  Stone B is level-topped and 5 feet in height; it has a basal girth of 12 feet 4 inches, and at the middle of 11 feet 8 inches.  Its two broad faces are of the same breadth.”

Little else was said of the two stones for many years and, to my knowledge, no real excavation has been undertaken here.  But when Alexander Thom (1990) visited the site he found that,

“This two stone alignment showed the midsummer setting sun.  The south stone may possibly, by itself, have shown the setting Moon at major standstill.”

Aubrey Burl’s description of the stones was succinct and echoed much of what Coles had said decades earlier, telling:

“Two very large stones stand only 9 feet (2.7m) apart in an unusually closed-in environment for a Perthshire pair.  The ground rises very steeply to the east.  To the west the stones overlook the valley of the River Tay.

“Both are of local quartzoze schist and are ‘playing-card’ in shape.  As usual it is the westernmost stone that is taller, 7ft 2in (2.2m) in height.  Its peak tapers almost to a point.  Conversely, its partner is flat-topped and only 4ft 9in (1.5m) high.  The pairing of such dissimilarly shaped stones has led to the interpretation of them as male and female personifications.”

Alex Thom’s groundplan
Back of the smaller stone

Burl’s latter remark thoughtfully recognises that such animistic qualities are found in many other cultures in the world and this ingredient was also an integral part of early peasant notions in Britain; therefore such ingredients are necessities to help us understand the nature and function of megalithic sites.  We must be cautious however, not to fall into the increasingly flawed modern pagan notion of such male and female ‘polarizations’, nor the politically-correct sexist school of goddess ‘worship’ and impose such delusions upon our ancestors, whose worldviews had little relationship with the modern pagan goddess fallacies, beloved of modern Press, TV shows and pantomime festival displays.

Folklore

In Elizabeth Stewart’s history of Dunkeld, she narrates the tale told by an earlier historian who told that,

“these two upright stones at the Doo’s Nest, but says they are supposed to mark the graves of two Danish warriors returning from the invasion of Dunkeld.”

References:

Burl, Aubrey, From Carnac to Callanish, Yale University Press 1993.
Coles, Fred, “Report on Stone Circles Surveyed in Perthshire – Northeastern Section,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 42, 1908.
Stewart, Elizabeth, Dunkeld – An Ancient City, Munro Press: Perth 1926.
Thom, A., Thom, A.S. & Burl, Aubrey, Stone Rows and Standing Stones – 2 volumes, BAR: Oxford 1990.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Newhall Bridge, Kenmore, Perthshire

megalithix

Standing Stones:  OS Grid Reference – NN 7926 4668

Also Known as:

  1. Canmore ID 24910
  2. Newhall Stones
  3. Taymouth Standing Stones
Newhall Stones, Kenmore

Getting Here

Pretty easy to find.  At the eastern end of Loch Tay, go through the old village of Kenmore along the A827, towards Aberfeldy, for about a mile.  At least a mile past Kenmore, keep your eyes peeled for a small left turn which takes you back into the grounds of Taymouth Castle.  Go on this small road, pass the ornate walling, and you’ll see these two standing stones in front of you, before the trees, on the left.  If you reach the Croftmoraig Stone Circle, you’ve gone a few hundred yards past the turning.

Archaeology & History

Fred Coles’ drawing & lay-out

These fine-looking standing stones a mile northeast of Kenmore village, on the edge of the grounds of the superb Taymouth Castle, are worthy old monoliths, encrusted by the lichens of many centuries, resting within the long grass beside the track that runs to the castle.  But they have received little attention in archaeological terms.  When Fred Coles (1910) described them, he thought them to be the remains of a stone circle — an impression echoed by Margaret Stewart (1966) many years later (I got the same impression aswell), but no other stones have been found to substantiate this (although Mr Gillies’ folklore remnant is intriguing).  There is a notable rounded hillock immediately behind the two stones which may, or may not, have had other uprights surrounding it; though I can find no further data anywhere to substantiate such a thing.

In William Gillies’ (1938) historical survey of the area he related Mr Coles’ earlier findings of the two stones, telling us:

“There are two great standing stones just within the Principal Gate leading to Taymouth Castle.  The stone A (see plan) stands at a distance of 54 feet to the NNW of B — a somewhat greater diameter than is common among the Perthshire Circles.  These stones are almost equal in height — A is 4ft 9in, B is 4ft 7in — and they are both rugged blocks of a rough species of diorite.  Stone A measures round the base 10ft 8in, and stone B 14ft.”

The western stone
The eastern stone

But it seems that little else has been found about the place.  It’s in a gorgeous setting (but, round here, everything’s in a gorgeous setting!) and must have related to other sites in the area, but it’s hard to contextualize the place on a single visit.  If you stand behind the two stones, the shape of their ‘heads’ fits very nicely onto the rounded hillock on the northwestern skyline — which seems to have later been used as a hillfort.  Whether this has any astronomical potential, I aint checked. (though Thom says nothing about them)

In geomantic terms both of these stones possess a distinct female flavour to them; the easternmost thinner of the two, particularly so.  But then I could just be talking bullshit!  I’d have loved to have spent more time with these two stones — bimbling, sitting, focussing, dreaming — as people of olde naturally did; but we were on the move and had other places to see.  Tis a delightful spot indeed…

(NOTE – This site was first given a grid reference of NN 801 477 in Margaret Stewart’s (1967) fine essay on the standing stones at nearby Lundin; and the grid-ref has since been reproduced in texts by Burl (1993), Thom (1990) and others.  Please note that this grid-ref is incorrect and is nearly a mile away from the actual position of the stones.)

Easternmost stone from another angle

Folklore

There is the possibility that this site once played a part in an important megalithic stone row.  Mr Gillies (1938) once again notes an old tradition told by local people which “says that at one time there was a paved way connecting the circle, of which these stones are the remains, with the great Croftmoraig circle.”  Very intriguing indeed…

References:

  1. Burl, Aubrey, From Carnac to Callanish, Yale University Press 1993.
  2. Coles, Fred, “Report on Stone Circles Surveyed in Perthshire,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 44, 1910.
  3. Gillies, William A., In Famed Breadalbane, Munro Press: Perth 1938.
  4. Stewart, M.E.C., “The excavation of a setting of standing stones at Lundin Farm near Aberfeldy, Perthshire“, in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 98, 1966.
  5. Thom, A., Thom, A.S. & Burl, Aubrey, Stone Rows and Standing Stones – 2 volumes, BAR: Oxford 1990.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Acharn, Killin, Perthshire

megalithix

Standing Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 56141 31601

Getting Here

Acharn’s standing stone

This one’s easy as it’s right by the roadside, so making it dead easy for those lazy ones amongst you who don’t like walking!  You can find it just past the turn-off (signed) for Acharn Lodge, a few hundred yards along the A827 road (off the A85 by the garage) from Lix Toll, less than a mile before reaching Killin.

Archaeology & History

This solitary standing stone, not much more than about three feet tall, originally stood in the adjacent field and was moved to the edge of the road sometime ago.  It was described briefly in William Gillies’ Breadalbane (1938) where he said, “Its height is 3 feet 10 inches and its girth at the base 6 feet 2 inches… This solitary stone is possibly the sole survivor of a group that once formed a circle,” though gives no more information to support this idea.  It seems more likely that the stone accompanied a cairn, that was levelled by farming sometime in the 19th century.

References:

  1. Gillies, William A., In Famed Breadalbane, Munro Press: Perth 1938.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Monzie Carving, Crieff, Perthshire

megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 88161 24176

Getting Here

Andy Finlayson’s original piece

From Gilmerton village, take the A822 Dunkeld road north.  Go for about 200 yards and take the little road to Monzie; watching carefully another 200 yards on for the dirt-track on the left taking you across the fields.  Go along the track, watching out for the small stones in the field on your right less than 200 yards along.  You can’t really miss ’em!  This small ring of stones is the Monzie Cairn Circle.  The carving is just in front of it!

Archaeology & History

Although we know this brilliant carved stone has some relationship with the Monzie cairn circle only five yards away (it was linked via a man-made stone causeway, running between the circle and the carving), the stone itself is very much deserving of its own entry here — and at the same time I can give Andrew Finlayson’s (2010) excellent book a decent plug aswell! (the superb drawings of the stone, top & bottom, are from Andy’s work)

Allen’s 1882 drawing
Carving & proximity of circle

First mentioned (I think) in Simpson’s (1867) early survey, the carving was described soon after by J. Romilly Allen (1882), who gave us an early drawing of the stone.  Thought by some to have originally stood upright, the carving was described by Aubrey Burl (2000) as being, “decorated with forty-six cupmarks, cup-and-rings, nine double, one triple, there are grooves and a pair of joined cups.”  It’s certainly an impressive carving!

Although the carving has been posited by some archaeologists as an outlier to the Monzie circle, it’s probable that the circle emerged from the carving — a concept that some may find difficult to understand.  I’m not aware of any modern excavations here (the last, I think, was in 1938), but my guess would be that the stone causeway laid between the cup-and-ring stone and the circle ran towards the circle from the carving, and not the other way round.  The carving is probably older than the stone ring — though of course, without excavation, my idea could be utter bullshit! (there are also some cup-marked stones in the circle aswell – though none as impressive as this)

The carving in shadow (© Andrew Finlayson)

One of my truly favourite megalith fanatics (despite some of his alignments being out), Alexander Thom, came here and thought this old carving “coincided with a rough stellar alignment from the centre-point of the cairn” (Hadingham 1974); though his notes in Megalithic Rings (1980) tell that,

“from the cupmarked stone beside the circle, the midsummer sun sets above an outlier some 800ft distant.”

The “outlier” that Thom mentions is known as the Witches’ Stone of Monzie, which Simpson (1867) appears to have mistakenly thought was the name of this very carving.

References:

  1. Allen, J. Romilly, “Notes on some Undescribed Stones with Cup Markings in Scotland,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries Scotland, volume 16, 1882.
  2. Burl, Aubrey, The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale University Press 2000.
  3. Finlayson, Andrew, The Stones of Strathearn, One Tree Island: Comrie 2010.
  4. Hadingham, Evan, Ancient Carvings in Britain, Garnstone: London 1974.
  5. Simpson, James, Archaic Sculpturings of Cups, Circles, etc., Upon Stones and Rocks in Scotland, England and other Countries, Edmonston & Douglas: Edinburgh 1867.
  6. Thom, Alexander, “Megalithic Astronomy: Indications in Standing Stones,” in Vistas in Astronomy, volume 7, 1966.
  7. Thom, A., Thom, A.S. & Burl, H.A.W., Megalithic Rings, BAR: Oxford 1980.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Duncroisk Burn, Glen Lochay, Killin, Perthshire

megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 5281 3635

Also Known as:

  1. Canmore ID 24177
  2. CEN 19 (Morris)
  3. Duncroisk 2 Carving (Canmore)
  4. Tirai Wall Carving
  5. Tullich (Morris)

Getting Here

A ring of cups, encircling cups

Go thru Killin and, just past the Bridge of Lochay hotel, take the tiny road on your left.  Go down here for 3 miles till you pass the gorgeous Stag Cottage (with its superb cup-and-rings in the field across the road) for another 300 yards, past Duncroisk Farmhouse set back on your right, then over the small river bridge.  Just over the bridge there’s a gate on your left.  Go thru this and up the track until you get to another large gate.  Go thru this, then walk immediately left where you’ll notice a large-ish boulder sat on the nearby slope ahead of you in a part of some very old walling.  That’s your target!

Archaeology & History

The title of this carving is slightly misleading, as the stone concerned is about 50 yards west of the fast-running burn.  But it’s pretty easy to locate.  When we visited the stone recently, as the photos show, the rock was all-but covered in a beautiful patchwork of lichen and moss, inhibiting the visibility of a quite impressive carving.  But we have to let this be.

The carving’s on the big rock by tree, in the walling
Line of walling clearly evident

The carved rock plays an important part in a line of ancient prehistoric walling, which looks Iron Age in nature, but without an excavation we’ll not know for certain.  The walling is quite extensive and is an integral part of the extended derelict village of Tirai, with its standing stones and other monuments.  This begs the questions: was the carving executed before or after the walling was created?  Was the stone carved in traditional neolithic/Bronze Age periods and later accommodated into the walling?

Even in the grey overcast light of a winter’s day when we first visited here, many cups were clearly visible on the rock’s surface, but they were difficult to contextualize in terms of artificial and natural aspects of the stone.  Later visits here at the end of Spring enabled a much better assessment — though capturing the surrounding “rings” proved difficult.  The carving is shown highlighted on Ron Morris’ (1981) map of the cluster of Duncroisk carvings, and described as a:

“domed schist boulder, 2½m by 2m, 1¼m high (8ft x 6ft x 4ft).  On its top, mostly where sloping…are: 2, and possibly 3, cups-and-one-ring, much weathered and only visible when wet in very low sun, probably un-gapped, and at least 32 cups.  Diameters up to 17cm (6½in) and depths up to 1cm.”

But this is only half the story.  Despite what Mr Morris and the more recent Canmore records tell us about this carving, there are in fact at least 52 cups on the surface of the rock, at least two of which have definite ring-like forms around them.  The largest of the cups has linear features around a large section of it, but to ascribe these elements as ‘rings’ is also stretching it a bit — as one of the photos here clearly shows.  The ‘ring’ consists more of two separate straight lines with curvaceous ends: more like a right-angled carving with a swerve than any traditional ring.  It’s a quite unique feature by the look of things.

Faint cup-and-ring and cups…and…
Cups & right-angled lines

The majority of the carved cups and lines occur on the eastern side of the boulder, with only a few singular cups almost fading their way onto its western sloping sides.  And of primary visual interest are the swirl of cups that surround two small cups at the ESE corner of the rock.  These give the impression of running into another swirl of cups that hedge their ways around the edges of the largest cup-and-right-angled-lines, until bending back up and along the southern-side of the stone.  This possibly deliberate sequence of cups then continues in roughly the same form back upwards to near the top-middle of the rock and onto a complete cup-and-ring.  Just above the top of this runs a short pecked line just detached from the cup-and-ring, but of obvious mythic relevance in the story which this carving once told.

RWB Morris’ sketch of the design

It’s an absolutely fascinating carving which gives the distinct impression of narrating a myth of journeying, by either a person, tribes or ancestral beings.  Of course we’ll probably never know for sure what story it once told; but its tale may have been known by the people of the once proud village of Tirai which was only destroyed a couple of centuries ago, along whose fallen walls this great stone still rests within…

And finally, for those students exploring the potential relationship that cup-and-rings may have with water: please note that in wet conditions, a spring of water emerges right underneath the very base of this large rock.

…to be continued…

References:

  1. Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Southern Scotland, BAR 86: Oxford 1981.
  2. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Stirling District, Central Region, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1979.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Duncroisk (3), Glen Lochay, Killin, Perthshire

megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 53447 35669

Also Known as:

  1. Canmore ID 24181
  2. Duncroisk 5 (Canmore)

Getting Here

Duncroisk 3 Carving
Duncroisk 3 Carving

Two real ways to get here. Either (i) follow the directions to get to the Stag Cottage carvings of Duncroisk 1, then walk down to the fence by the riverside and walk along to the left for a coupla hundred yards till you reach a second metal fence-post sticking out of a rock on the other side of the deer-fencing; or (ii) from the roadside burn a coupla hundred yards along the road before you reach Stag Cottage, follow it down to the riverside, then head along the footpath behind the fencing, parallel with the river’s edge.  It aint far.  Within 100 yards you’ll reach the stone with the metal pole sticking out of it and the carvings are on this!

Archaeology & History

Confusingly redesignated as Duncroisk 5 carving by the usually efficient Canmore people, we’re sticking with this stone’s original name given by Ronald Morris (1981) in his British Archaeological Report of this and nearby carvings — and a quite fascinating carving this is as well!

C.G. Cash’s drawing
Duncroisk 3 stone

As with many cup-and-rings, erosion and lighting has a powerful effect on seeing the design correctly.  On my visit here in recent months there were quite distinct additional elements in the carving which haven’t been noted by previous archaeologists.  But in saying that, there were also some elements that were reported by the earliest antiquarians that proved difficult to see in the grey light of day when I was here.  The earliest report of the carving by C.G. Cash (1912) told there to be five rings, whereas today only 3 or 4 are visible (though this will probably change when viewed in other lighting conditions).

When Mr Cash told of this stone in his essay on the antiquities of Killin it sounded as if it was lucky to have survived, as it had previously been dug out and left by the roadside, before then being reused by a local to fix a fence-post in!  Mr Cash told us that the local,

“had used it as the foundation stone of the stretching post at the south end of the easternmost fence on the farm, and there I found it, near the brink of the river, buried in sand and turf.  I cleared it and then in pouring rain crouched over it to make a hasty sketch.  It bears eighteen cups, of which five are surrounded by rings.  The largest cups are 2½ inches and the rings 6 inches in diameter.”

Ron Morris’ images

When I visited the place the weather was much the same as Mr Cash described: lovely teeming rain, typical of the mountains, with the surrounding trees breathing moisture onto the slopes as ever.

Years later when Ronald Morris (1981) came here he saw “4 cups-and-one-ring…probably complete rings, up to 12cm (5 in) in diameters and 10 cups up to 2cm deep.”

If you stand and face the stone, the cup-marking on its lower right side (see Morris’ old photo, above) has a pecked line running from it further to the right and down to the edge of the rock.  You can clearly make it out on the top photo.  This carved line also seemed to touch another carved line which can be seen running along the outer edge of the stone — although the poor light didn’t allow me to view this with absolute confidence.  I’ll have another look at it again when I’m up in the area in May and hopefully confirm or deny it with greater confidence (and if anyone else gets here in the meantime, have a look and see what y’ think).

References:

  1. Cash, C.G., “Archaeological Gleanings from Killin,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, volume 46, 1911-12.
  2. Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Southern Scotland, BAR 86: Oxford 1981.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Carse Farm (north), Dull, Perthshire

megalithix

Stone Circle:  OS Grid Reference – NN 8022 4873

Also Known as:

  1. Carse Farm I
  2. Weem circle

Getting Here

To get here, follow the same directions to reach its nearby colleague of Carse Farm south — but instead of walking down the track to where its companion is found, this small ring of stones is found a coupla hundred yards into the first field by the roadside.  Unless the field’s fulla corn (in which case, give it a miss cos even if you do find it, you won’t be able to make much out), y’ can’t really miss it!

Archaeology & History

As with its nearby companion of Carse Farm south, this small “ring” of four stones is found along the Tay valley floor and, though cited as a stone circle in many archaeology tomes, should more accurately be defined as a cairn circle of sorts.  Structurally akin to other four-posters, it reminded me of a distant companion in North Yorkshire more than 200 miles south: the Druids Altar at Bordley, which is also a robbed prehistoric tomb and not a stone circle.  But it’s a fine little site sat amidst the majestic temple of surrounding hills on all sides, bar east, where the Tay valley reaches into the distance.

Faint cup-marks
Carse Farm, looking north

Like its damaged companion in the field below, some of the stones in this circle also have well-defined cup-markings on top of the uprights; although when we visited here, low cloud and late daylight conditions prevented us from getting good images of the cup-marks concerned (as the photo of one of them here illustrates).  The cup-markings are, curiously, carved on the top of the small standing stones.

Described briefly in Alexander Thom’s Megalithic Rings (1980), he regarded its geometry as “circular” in structure.  Aubrey Burl (1988) gave the lengthier archaeological history of the site, telling:

“On the ‘carse’, or lowland…this 4-poster was excavated in 1964.  When Coles saw it in 1907 only three smallish stones remained standing although “it seems clear that at this site there were originally four Stones as in so many other Perthshire groups”… The SW stone was missing but halfway between the NW and SE stones a long, thin slab lay half-buried.

“Coles noticed that there were cupmarks on the tops of both the NE and SE stones.  The SE had three carvings but the top of the NE had no fewer than 17, the largest ‘cup’ being 4 by 3½in (10 x 9cm).  In the group were two ‘dumb-bells’.  In the same field the farmer had dragged away a buried stone which was also cupmarked.* (my italics, PB)

“Of the three standing stones, the NE is 3ft 11in (1.2m) high; the SE, 5ft 1in (1.6m); and the NW, 4ft 1in (1.3m).  These heights…are almost double those cited by Coles (1908: 126).

“”The 1964 excavation discovered the SW stonehole.  The 5ft 10in (1.8m) long stone lying at the centre of the 4-Poster was erected in it, a task made easier by the fact that its base had been keeled… The base was unweathered showing that the stone had been toppled in quite recent times as had the stones of the two Fortingall 4-Posters…3¾ miles to the WSW. The four stones stood at the corners of a rectangle 12ft by 8ft (3.7 x 2.4m) on a long ENE-WSW axis.  They also stood on the circumference of a circle 14ft 5in (4.4m) in diameter.

“A tapering pit was discovered against the inner face of the NE stone, about 2ft 6in (76cm) across and 1ft 2in (37cm) deep.  It was filled with cremated bone and sticky black earth and charcoal.  At the bottom, a collared urn lay on is side, its rim decorated in geometrical designs.  A flint flake lay near it.  Within the 4-Poster there were three shallow pits, two between the NW and NE stones, another between the SE and SW.  Their edges were clean and they had been backfilled with brown loam.  The excavators thought they might have “been used for stabilising props during the erection of the stones.” …As the heaviest block, that at the NW, weighed about 6 tons it would have required 20 to 30 people to drag it upright…and the use of such props would have made their insertion safer.”

Burl’s collated ground-plan
Fred Coles’ 1908 drawing

Unless the people building this site were dwarves, we’ve gotta re-assess this latter remark (which Burl quotes from the earlier archaeologist’s report from the 1960s).  Having personally been involved with the creation of modern stone circles with stones larger than the ones here, we know that the uprights here could have been erected by 8-10 people at the very most.

Archaeology and folklore records describe many other prehistoric sites along this section of the upper Tay valley, but it’s also very likely that other “circles” or cairns of similar structure to the two known at Carse Farm once existed close by that are not in modern literary accounts.

References:

  1. Burl, Aubrey, Four Posters: Bronze Age Stone Circles of Western Europe, BAR 195: Oxford 1988.
  2. Coles, Fred, “Report on Stone Circles Surveyed in Perthshire – Northeastern Section,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, volume 42, 1908.
  3. Stark, Gordon (ed.), Cupmarked Stones in Strathtay, Breadalbane Heritage Centre 2005.
  4. Stewart, M.E.C., “Carse Farm 1 and 2,” in Discovery & Excavation, Scotland, 1964.
  5. Thom, A., Thom, A.S. & Burl, H.A.W., Megalithic Rings, BAR 81: Oxford 1980.

* Is anyone aware of further details about this carving? Do we have any sketches of it?

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Carse Farm (south), Dull, Perthshire

megalithix

Stone Circle:  OS Grid Reference – NN 8026 4847

Also Known as:

  1. Carse Farm II
  2. Tegarmuchd

Getting Here

Carse Farm Standing Stone

Pretty easy to find – assuming it aint at the height of summer and the crops are approaching maturity, otherwise you’re only gonna see its head!  But, this aside: from Aberfeldy, take the B846 road over the river bridge that bends you along the valley of the River Tay towards Appin of Dull.  After some 2 miles you’ll pass the right-turn up to Dull.  Go past this for another coupla hundred yards or so, watching out for the left-turn down towards the farmhouse of Carse and park up where you can (if you go past it, there’s the second turn up to Dull, again on your right, where you can turn round). As you walk down the track towards Carse Farm, watch out on your right in the field below Carse I, in the second field down.  You can’t really miss it. (and the farmer here is spot on if you ask to check the stone – as long as the crops aint growing)

Archaeology & History

Although all that’s left of what is thought to have been a once proud stone circle is the singular upright standing stone in the middle of the field.  Aubrey Burl (1988) thought that this was one of the typical “four poster”rings that scatter our isles, but I’m not so sure misself.  There were other stones associated with the site when Burl described it, but these were covered over in our visit here a few months back — which is a pity, as two of the stones are reported as possessing cup-markings (if/when we revisit the site, I’ll try get some images of the respective stones and add them on TNA as individual carved stones).  The site gives the distinct impression of it having a funerary character of some sort and not a true stone circle — and this was strongly suggested by some of the finds inside the “ring”, described below.

Fred Cole’s old drawing
Aubrey Burl’s groundplan

Both this and its associated “circle” a few hundred yards away — known as Carse Farm north — sit on a flat level of ground in the Tay valley, with rounded hills all most sides.  This landscape setting was obviously of some importance to the people who put the circle here in the first place but, not living in the region, it’s difficult to assess the mythic relevance some of the hills will have obviously played in the siting of these stones.

In bygone days, it was reported that the much of the site was ploughed away due to agricultural excesses, so there was obviously much more to it in earlier centuries.  Describing the solitary stone that’s left today, along with the earlier excavation results, Mr Burl (1988) wrote:

“The stone still standing, of quartziferous schist, is 6ft 3in (1.9m) high.  Its longer faces are aligned NW-SE.  32ft 6in (9.9m) to its SW is a large prostate block, sub-elliptical and about 8ft long and 4ft 3in wide (2.4 x 1.3m).  It has probably fallen outwards. (my italics, PB)  If so, when standing near the top of its inner face were four cupmarks in a cross pattern.

“About 32ft ((9.8m) to its NW is a fallen and enormous schist slab, 11ft long and 5ft wide (3.4 x 1.5m).  It also appears to have toppled outwards.  Near the bottom of its inner face are two cupmarks.  The situation of these three stones suggests that they once stood at the corners of a rectangle some 32ft (9.8m) square, the pillars of a huge four-poster nearly six-times the national average and with an internal area ten times bigger than the small 4-poster (Carse Farm north, PB) just to its north.

“Excavation  in 1964 found the socket from which the great prostrate slab had been dragged… Cash (1911) had noted the presence of a small stone inside the ring about 20ft (6.1m) west of the standing stone.  It proved to be 4ft (1.2m) square with a carefull-dressed face.  It had been set upright, standing about 1ft 4in (41cm) above the ground.  Three sides of the worked face ‘had been carefully chiselled away to a straight edge.’ It may have been a slab lining the inner central space of a destroyed ring-cairn.  Burnt bone was found near it. There was also a rounded river pebble with a worked hollow on one side…”

Folklore

Carse Farm stone

Stewart (1964) described the site as having been “christianized” not long ago, by having the northernmost standing stone in the ring removed.  This is intriguing inasmuch as “north” is the place of greatest symbolic darkness in the pre-christian mythos, and represented death and illumination in magickal terms.  North was also the point taken by witches and shamans in their excursions into Underworlds, usually via the North Star, which tethered the Earth to the heavens (see Godwin’s Arktos [1993], and Grant, The Magical Revival [1973])  In the removal of this northern stone for the reasons given, that implies some magickal events or folklore were in evidence here when this took place.  Anyone got any further information along these lines, or has it long since been subsumed?

References:

  1. Burl, Aubrey, Four Posters: Bronze Age Stone Circles of Western Europe, BAR 195: Oxford 1988.
  2. Coles, Fred, “Report on Stone Circles Surveyed in Perthshire (Aberfeldy District),” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, volume 44, 1910.
  3. Stewart, M.E.C., “Carse Farm 1 and 2,” in Discovery & Excavation, Scotland, 1964.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian