You can come here from either Dunblane to the north, or Bridge of Allan immediately south: either way you reach the site by going along the A9 road until you reach the Lecropt Church, a half-mile north of Bridge of Allan. On the other side of the road is a somewhat battered wooden gate. Go through here and up towards the tree-covered hill, following its edges to the right for a few hundred yards, until you come to another very large mound covered in trees. That’s what you’re looking for!
Archaeology & History
Described on early OS-maps as a “Supposed Roman Camp,” this large fortified stone hillock has more recently been considered a creation of indigenous Scots. Hemmed in and hidden on most sides, by the rises of Knock Hill to the west and Gallows Hill to the east, the only lines of visibility out of the fortress is along a northwest to southeast corridor, keeping the site quite secret to outsiders. It would have been a fine place for a small community in ages not-so-long-ago, keeping the people hidden from the pestilent invasions of both Romans and english in bygone times.
The tree-clad fort, through blizzard
The large raised oval enclosure was walled around its sloping sides and edges, with remains of a walled embankment still visible running around the top of the slopes. What may have been traces of hut circles were on top of the hillock until recent times, but these have been much reduced by some digging near the middle of the site. It would appear that an ‘entrance’ was once visible on the southeastern side of the fort, but when we came here the other day, a lovely blizzard covered the place in snow, so this was difficult to see.
When the Royal Commission chaps came to visit the place in 1979, they didn’t really say much about the place, merely telling of its dimensions, saying:
“This fort measures 48m by 32m within the remains of a single rampart 4.5m thick and 1m high.”
I’m sure there must be much to be said of this lovely old site by local antiquarians, but I haven’t found much as yet. But if you’re wanting a nice quiet spot to sit for a while on the outskirts of Stirling and Dunblane, I’d heartily recommend visiting this place. Badgers and deer also seem to like the place!
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Stirling District, Central Region, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1979.
Go west out of Callander on the A84 road and after a mile or so turn left at Kilmahog, down the A821. After a few hundred yards, past the parking spot by the roadside, look up the small Bochastle Hill on your right and you’ll see a large singular boulder resting on top. That’s it!
Archaeology & History
When I first wandered up to this giant rock, I was hoping there may have been cup-markings on its surface, but none could be found. The stone is a glacial erratic. The Iron Age hillfort of Dunmore is 370 yards (338m) to the southwest.
Folklore
Samson Stone, close-up
In Mr Rogers’ (1853) fine historical tour of the region, he notes the Samson Stone “on the summit of one of the eminences of Bochastle,” a couple of miles west of Callander, but wondered “how it came to occupy this remarkable position.” If he’d have asked some of the old locals they may have told him what Rennie McOwan (1996) came across and described in his excellent work on the folklore of Scottish mountains. For the Samson Stone was traditionally thrown here by one of the Fingalian giants in ancient times. It was originally located upon Ben Ledi, nearly 3 miles northwest, and was one of several stones being thrown in a competition to see who was the strongest of the giants — and Samson was the name of the one who threw this huge rock. Another version of the same legend tells that the stone was originally thrown from Ben Lawers, 21 miles (34km) to the north.
References:
Bain, William, Around and about Callander, Callander & District Round Table n.d. (c.1978).
Overgrown Pendreich 2 cairn (Pendreich 1 in background)
Take the same directions to get to the Pendreich 1 cairn. Once on the hilltop, look across the moor a short distance to the north and you can just see this overgrown site a couple of hundred yards away. From Pendreich 1 walk down the grassy slope and then up the gentle ahead of you, till it levels out a bit, keeping your eyes peeled for the change in vegetation and colour that gives the game away!
Archaeology & History
Like its companion cairns — Pendreich 1 & 3 — little has been said of the place. Although much overgrown and visible as a small bumpy grassy mass, with the stones beneath the surface, it’s never been excavated as far as I’m aware. It was referred to in the Scottish Royal Commission inventory for Stirlingshire (1963), site no.4, as ‘Mound, Sheriffmuir Road 1’, in which they wrote:
“Another possible Bronze Age cairn is situated on a low ridge, 200yd N of (Pendreich 1), and at a height of a little over 800ft OD. It is a grass-covered, stony mound which measures 20ft in diameter and stands to a height of 9in above ground level.”
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments Scotland, Stirling – volume 1, HMSO: Edinburgh 1963.
Up, round the back of Stirling University, between Bridge of Allan to Greenloaning, take the steep zigzaggy Sheriffmuir Road uphill, until it levels out beyond the main wooded area where the hills open up on either side of you. There’s a little touristy parking spot further along the road, just below a small wooded bit. Keep going on the road for another ¾-mile, until you reach a small scattered copse of trees on your left. At the top of this copse, walk onto the moor on your left (west), following the old walling for more than another 500 yards, where a scatter of old trees live by the wallside. As this bends back downhill, note the rounded hill less than 100 yards above you (north). Go to the top of it!
Archaeology & History
There are several cairns hereabouts; yet despite several visits here, we still haven’t got round to checking them all out, as other little-known archaeological remains keep catching our attention (old walled structures and a possible enclosure). This is the most notable one of the bunch in the region — and easiest to find thanks to it being on top of the small hill where, many years ago indeed, was laid this small round rocky tomb of some long-dead chief, or granny, or someone!
There’s not been much written about this cairn, or its companions (Pendreich 2 & 3). It was referred to in the Scottish Royal Commission inventory for Stirlingshire (1963) where it’s listed as site no.3 as ‘Cairn, Sheriffmuir Road’, but their description is scant. They wrote:
“On a low ridge 800 yards WSW of spot-level 776 on the Sheriffmuir Road, and at a height of 800ft OD, there is a round cairn measuring 40ft in diameter and 2ft 8in maximum height. For the most part it is covered with grass, but a shallow depression in the centre, which may have been caused by excavation, reveals a few boulders.”
Pendreich cairn, looking westExposed section of cairn
Indeed! This cut into the centre of the cairn is somewhat larger than the 1963 description implies, as one of the images here shows. But the grassy mound is pretty clear and there’s certainly something buried beneath here.
The views from here are excellent and gave the spirits the usual panoramic flights across the land, as at many other ancient tombs. The great pyramidal hill of Dumyat rises to the east; and just a few hundred yards away to the north, we find the long laid-out standing stone of Pendreich Muir, whose mythic history has all-but been forgotten…
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments Scotland, Stirling – volume 1, HMSO: Edinburgh 1963.
Carlie Craig is the tree- covered cliff, centre of photo
If you’re coming from Blairlogie, a half-mile west of the village, take the B998 road to the university, but turn right up the first road that runs uphill into the trees. But if you’re coming from Stirling or Bridge of Allan, keep your eyes peeled for the barely visible B998 at the crossroads and go up the hill, and along, for a good mile, below the Uni, past the factory, then up the small road on your left. Up this road go past the church another 100 yards and you’ll see the derelict ruins of Logie Kirk on your right. Right above the ruin you’ll see the tree-lined cliff immediately behind. This is the Carlie Craig!
Folklore
Carlie Craig on the 1862 map
The tree-covered Carlie Crags above the old ruined church and graveyard of Logie Kirk immediately below (thought to have been built in 1684) has long been associated with legends of old witches. Deriving its name from ‘carlin’, a witch or old woman (cailleach), the Crags were traditionally the place of heathen rites (authentic ones, not your plastic pagan types). In David Morris’ (1935) essay on the local township, he told the common story that “an elder in Logie Kirk was of the opinion that the Carla’ Craig…was haunted.” At the end of the 19th century, Morris remembered a local lady known as ‘Ailie’, who was said by many old folk to be the traditional “witch of Logie.”
“Sickly children were brought to her for her blessing. Occasionally people came from as far as Stirling on this errand. Her method of giving the blessing was to blow her breath on the child, and this was supposed to ward off evil. It was also said that anyone buried in Logie Kirkyard on the first day of May, Hallowe’en, or other days of that kind, without her blessing, would not rest in his grave…”
Another legend told that,
“around 1720 witches were believed to rendezvous with the Evil One (i.e. the devil) who would appear in the form of a large black dog.”
A lengthier account of the belief in witchcraft and animistic pre-christian rites above the crags was told by Charles Rogers (1853):
“About the second decade of last century, there lived in the parish of Logie several ill-favoured old women, to whom the reputation of witchcraft was confidently attached. They were believed to hold nocturnal dialogues and midnight revels with the Evil One, and Carlie Crag was regarded as one of their places of rendezvous. Satan, though he was believed to appear to them in various forms, was understood, in his interviews with the dreaded sisterhood, to appear most frequently in the aspect of a large shaggy dog, in which form it was alleged he had repeatedly been seen by the minister. An elder of the kirk had been returning of an evening from a shooting excursion among the hills, with a trusty musket, which he had picked up some years before on the field of Sheriffmuir, and discovering on the top of Carlie an animal realizing the description of the Satanic mastiff, resolved to try upon it the effects of a shot. He knelt down cautiously near the foot of the crag, and after ejaculating a short prayer, and slipping into his musket a silver coin, fired with trembling heart but steady aim. His victim, evidently shot dead, tumbled to the base, and the delighted and astonished elder lost no time in personally communicating to the minister the success of his wonderful adventure. Though not a little superstitious, the minister was somewhat sceptical as to the mysterious dog being really dead. He however agreed to accompany his elder next morning to the foot of the crag to inspect the carcase; but on reaching the spot, they found the remains of no shaggy dog or evil genius, but the lifeless form of the beautiful pet goat of a poor and aged woman, a much respected parishioner. The minister and elder both shed tears. The wicked dog still lived, the innocent goat had perished. The elder however took credit to himself for his good intentions and valorous intrepidity ; and the minister deemed it proper to improve the subject in his pulpit prelections on the following Sabbath. Discoursing on the subject of resistance to the Devil, he remarked, that the Evil One might assume numerous shapes and forms; that he went about as a roaring lion was declared in the Word, but he might take to himself various other aspects. He might even appear as a black colley dog.” But whatever form he may assume,” added the minister, ” he cannot be overcome or destroyed by powder and shot. There is a gun, however, that will shoot him, and it is this — it is the Bible. Shoot him then, every one of you, with this gun, and he shall be shot.”
Whether the vicar’s biblical superstitions were adopted by local people—who were so much more used to the living animism of landscape and natural cycles—is questionable. The crag is a fine site for ritual magick and its associative devil-lore probably derives from Pictish shamanistic practices, remains of which are evident across the Scottish hillls and northern England, where they survived for some considerable time…
References:
Morris, David, B., “Causewayhead a Hundred Years Ago”, in Transactions of the Stirling Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1935.
Roger, Charles, A Week at Bridge of Allan, Adam & Charles Black: Edinburgh 1853.
Watson, Angus, The Ochils – Placenames, History, Tradition, Perth & Kinross District Libraries 1995.
Various ways to get here. Probably the easiest is via the golf course itself, walking up towards the top where the trees reach the hills, but keeping your eyes peeled for the large archetypal tumulus or fairy mound near the top of the slope. Alternatively, come up through the wooded slopes from Bridge of Allan and onto the golf course, keeping your eyes ready for the self same mound sat in the corner by the walls. You can’t really miss it to be honest!
Archaeology & History
This is an impressive-looking burial mound sat, intact, on the edge of those painful golf courses that keep growing over our landscape — and you can see for miles from here! It would seem to have been placed with quite deliberate views across the landscape, reaching for countless miles into the Grampian mountains north and west across the moors of Gargunnock and Flanders towards Lomond and beyond…
Fairy Knowe, facing westSir Armstrong’s old drawing
The Fairy Knowe was first excavated in 1868 by Sir J.E. Alexander and his team, when their measurements found it to be some 80 yards in circumference, 78 feet across and 21 feet high — compared to less than 60 feet across and only 8 feet tall today. The findings were recorded in one of the early PSAS reports, and more recently a synopsis of the account was made of it by the Royal Commission (1963) lads who summarized his early findings and told:
“The excavation revealed a cist in the centre of the cairn, laid on the original surface of the ground and measuring 2ft 6in in length, 1ft 6in in breadth and 3ft in depth. Its walls were formed partly of upright slabs and partly of small stones laid horizontally, while the floor and the roof each consisted of a single slab. Within it there was a deposit, 6in in depth, of black earth, charcoal and fragments of human bone among which pieces of a skull were conspicuous. The cist was covered by a heap of large stones, 8ft in diameter and 13ft in height, and this in turn was covered with earth, in which there were charcoal, blackened stones, fragments of human and animal bones and unctuous black earth. Among these remains were found six flint arrowheads, a fragment of what was once thought to be a stone spear-head, and a piece of pine which, it was suggested, might have formed part of a spear-shaft.”
Also, near the top of the cairn in the fairy mound, Sir Alexander’s team located a prehistoric beaker vessel and fragments of what they thought were other beakers pots. Archaeologist Richard Feachem (1977) also mentioned this site in his gazetteer, simply copying the words of previous researchers.
Other prehistoric cairns can be found nearby: one in Cuparlaw Woods less a mile north; plus the Pendreich cairns on the edge of the moors just over 1 mile to the northeast.
Folklore
Obviously an abode of the faerie folk in bygone times, the tales of the place are sadly fading from local memory… Mr Alexander (1868) thought this place may have been an important site for the Pictish folk, and he may well have been correct, as the legendary hill of Dumyat (correctly known as Dun Myat) 2 miles east of here has long been regarded as an outpost of one Pictish tribe.
The main piece of folklore attached to this place relates to its very name and how it came about. In R.M. Menzies (1912) rare work on the folklore of the Ochils, he narrates the local tale that used to be spoken, which describes a procession here from the Fairy Well, just over a mile to the east. Whether this folktale relates to some long lost actual procession between the two sites, we don’t know for sure. Mr Menzies told:
“Once upon a time, when people took life more leisurely, and when the wee folk frequented the glens and hills of Scotland, there was one little fairy whose duty it was to look after certain wells renowned for their curative properties. This fairy was called Blue Jacket, and his favourite haunt was the Fairy Well on the Sheriffmuir Road, where the water was so pure and cool that nobody could pass along without taking a drink of the magic spring. A draught of this water would have such a refreshing effect that the drinker could go on his journey without feeling either thirsty or hungry. Many travellers who had refreshed themselves at the Fairy Well would bless the good little man who kept guard over its purity, and proceed upon their way dreaming of pleasant things all the day long.
“One warm day in June, a Highland drover from the Braes of Rannoch came along with a drove of Highland cattle, which he was taking to Falkirk Tryst, and feeling tired and thirsty he stopped at the Fairy Well, took a good drink of its limpid water, and sat down beside it to rest, while his cattle browsed nearby. The heat was very overpowering, and he fell into a dreamy sleep.
“As he lay enjoying his noonday siesta, Blue Jacket stepped out from among the brackens and approaching the wearied drover, asked him whence he came. The drover said:
“‘I come from the Highland hills beside the Moor of Rannoch; but I have never seen such a wee man as you before. Wha’ may you be?’
“‘Oh,’ said the fairy, ‘I am Blue Jacket, one of the wee folk!’
“‘Ay, ay man, ye have got a blue jacket, right enough; but I’ve never met ony o’ your kind before. Do ye bide here?’
“‘Sometimes; but I am the guardian of the spring from which you have just been drinking.’
“‘Weel, a’ I can say is that it is grand water; there is no’ the likes o’t frae this to Rannoch.’
“‘What’s your name?’ asked the fairy.
“‘They ca’ me Sandy Sinclair, the Piper o’ Rannoch,’ was the reply.
“‘Have you got your pipes?’ asked Blue Jacket.
“‘Aye, my mannie, here they are. Wad ye like a tune? Ye see there’s no’ a piper like me in a’ Perthshire.’
“‘Play away then,’ said Blue Jacket.
“Sandy Sinclair took up his pipes and, blowing up the bag, played a merry Highland reel. When he finished, he was greatly surprised to see above the well a crowd of little folk, like Blue Jacket, dancing to the music he had been playing. As he stopped they clapped their little hands and exclaimed, ‘Well done Sandy! You’re the piper we need.’
“Thereupon Blue Jacket blew a silver whistle, which he took from his belt, and all the wee folk formed themselves into a double row. Blue Jacket then took the Highland piper by the hand, led him to the front of the procession, and told him to play a march. Sandy felt himself unable to resist the command of the fairy, and, putting the chanter into his mouth, blew his hardest and played his best, marching at the head of the long line of little people, who tripped along, keeping time to the strains of the bagpipes. Blue Jacket walked in front of the piper, leading the way in the direction of the Fairy Knowe.
“Sandy Sinclair never marched so proudly as he did that day, and the road, though fairly long, seemed to be no distance at all; the music of the pibroch fired his blood and made him feel as if he was leading his clansmen to battle. When the Fairy Knowe was reached, the wee folk formed themselves into a circle round the little hill, and sang a song the sweetest that ever fell upon the ears of the Highlandman. Blue Jacket once more took his whistle and, blowing three times upon it, held up his hand, and immediately the side of the knoll opened. Bidding the piper to play on, Blue Jacket led the procession into the interior; and when all were inside, the fairies formed themselves into sets, and the piper playing a strathspey, they began dancing with might and main.
“One dance succeeded another, and still Sandy played on, the wee folk tripping it as merrily as ever. All thoughts of Sandy’s drove had gone quite out of his head, and all he thought of now was how best to keep the fairies dancing: he had never seen such nimble dancers, and every motion was so graceful and becoming as made him play his very best to keep the fun going. Sandy Sinclair was in Fairyland, and every other consideration was forgotten.
“Meanwhile his cattle and sheep were following their own sweet will, the only guardian left to take care of them being his collie dog. This faithful animal kept watch as well as he could, and wondered what had become of his master. Towards evening another drover came along with his cattle for the same tryst. He knew the dog at once, and began to pet the animal, saying at the same time, ‘Where’s your master, Oscar? What’s become o’ Sandy?’
“All the dog would do was to wag his bushy tail, and look up with a pleading air, as if to say, ‘I don’t know; will you not find him?’
“‘My puir wee doggie, I wonder what’s come over Sandy? It’s no like him to leave his cattle stravaiging by the roadside. Ay ay man; and at the Fairy Well too! Indeed, this looks unco bad.’
“The newcomer, who was also a Highlander, made up his mind to spend the night with his own drove and that of Sandy Sinclair, thinking that the missing man would turn up in the morning. But when the morning came there was no sign of Sandy.
“Taking Sandy’s collie and leaving his own dog in charge of the combined droves, he said, ‘Find master, Oscar!’ The wise beast sniffed around for a little and then trotted off in the direction taken the day before by Sandy Sinclair and the fairies. By and by they reached the Fairy Knowe; but there was nobody there as far as the drover could see. The dog ran round and round the knoll, barking vigorously all the time, and looking up into the face of the drover as if to say, ‘This is where he is; this is where he is.’ The drover examined every bit of the Fairy Knowe, but there was no trace of Sandy Sinclair. As the drover sat upon the top of the Fairy Knowe, wondering what he should do next, he seemed to hear the sound of distant music. Telling the faithful dog to keep quiet, he listened attentively, and by-and-by made out the sound of the pibroch; but whether it was at a long distance or not, he could not be certain. In the meantime, the dog began to scrape at the side of the mound and whimper in a plaintive manner. Noticing this, the drover put his ear to the ground and listened. There could be no mistake this time: the music of the pibroch came from the centre of the Fairy Knowe.
“‘Bless my soul!’ exclaimed Sandy’s friend. ‘He’s been enticed by the fairies to pipe at their dances. We’ll ne’er see Sandy Sinclair again.’
“It was as true as he said. The Piper of Rannoch never returned to the friends he knew, and the lads and lasses had to get another piper to play their dance music when they wished to spend a happy evening by the shore of the loch. Long, long afterwards, the passers-by often heard the sound of pipe music, muffled and far away, coming from the Fairy Knowe; but the hidden piper was never seen. When long absent friends returned to Rannoch and enquired about Sandy Sinclair, they were told that he had gone to be piper to the wee folk and had never come home again.”
Go west outta Stirling along the Cambusbarron road and along the Main Street until it meets up with Touch Road. Go along here for a couple of miles, past Touch House and Seton Lodge until you reach the small West Lodge cottage where the road bends. From here go left up the footpath onto the fields immediately south. About 200 yards on, where the field rises to the crest of the hill, you’ll note the small mound right next to the track. If you start walking back down the slope again, you’ve walked past it!
Archaeology & History
Possible peristalith ruins
There’s not too much to see here as the site is very much overgrown, but it’s in a lovely spot looking across to the Ochil Hills eastwards. And if records are anything to go by, it’s a pretty isolated prehistoric site with no companions close by — though a prehistoric food vessel was located a short distance to the east on the Touch House Estate grounds many years ago. It’s quite a large, roughly circular mound. Several long stones are visible, laid down, on top of its western side, which archaeologists believe may represent the remains of an encircling stone ring that was built to define the cairn. As far as I’m aware the site remains unexcavated and its condition is still much as it was when the Scottish Royal Commission fellas visited the place in 1956. Following their brief excursion, they later (1963) wrote the following notes:
“It is circular on plan, measures 65ft in diameter at the base and stands to a height of 2ft 6in. Now covered with fine pasture, it appears to have been formerly under cultivation, and the flat top measures 50ft in diameter. The mound may represent a denuded cairn and three earthfast boulders which protrude through the turf near the W edge may be the remains of a peristalith. The largest stone has a bench-mark carved on it (125.9).”
A later brief report by the Royal Commission (1979) commented that the site was a cairn measuring 20m across and 0.7m high.
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments Scotland, Stirling – volume 1, HMSO: Edinburgh 1963.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Stirling District, Central Region, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1979.
To be found on the wooded hill about 160 yards north of Wallstale Farm, on the Polmaise Road on the western side of the M9, a mile or so south of Cambusbarron, below the hugely impressive Murrayshall Quarries. Walk up the steep slope into the woodland and when you reach the level you’ll find the stonework remains. It’s on the edge of the slope in the trees.
Archaeology & History
This old fortified walled structure is best seen in the winter months when all the vegetation has fallen back to Earth. If you come here in the summer, the woods are nice but the monument can’t be seen as clearly. Found at the top of the slope above the roadside, it was described in the Stirlingshire Royal Commission (1963) account as follows:
Ground-plan of Wallstale Dun (after RCAHMS 1963)Wallstale Dun, up there somewhere!
“It is almost circular in plan…measuring about 45ft in diameter within a ruined stone wall some 11ft in thickness. Except on the ESE side, where the entrance was probably situated, the wall can be traced continuously by patches of rubble core, and round the east half outer facing-stones are visible up to a maximum height of four courses. In contrast, the inner face is only exposed for a short distance on the ENE. The interior of the dun is featureless. On the NW side the dun is protected by a rock-cut ditch of substantial proportions which traverses the spur; it measures 26ft in width at the top and the scarp is 5ft 6in in depth.”
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments Scotland, Stirling – volume 1, HMSO: Edinburgh 1963.
Go through Killin past the Bridge of Lochay pub, turning immediately down the small lane by its side. After about 3 miles you’ll cross over the small river past Duncroisk. Keep going for another few hundred yards (if you reach Tullich you’ve gone too far), watching out for the gate on your left. Walk up to the top of this field, over the wall and up again. You’ll see a couple of tall trees with distinctive walling next to them, just on a ridge above you. That’s where you’re heading!
Archaeology & History
This is a fine-looking example of a prehistoric enclosure, perched on the edge of one of the grassy knolls on the far western extremities of the deserted village of Tirai. If you walk towards it from the derelict village east of here, the elliptical form of the site gives you the distinct impression that you’ve just chanced upon a seemingly unknown stone circle nestled upon the edges of this gorgeous Scottish glen; but this initial excitement is soon dispelled once you get into the heart of the site!
Southern line of wallingLooking east
Although you’ll find a couple of derelict post-medieval buildings on the western side of this structure, the lay-out of this monument would seem to be Iron Age origin, perhaps earlier. It certainly has all the hallmarks of a walled structure from that period and typifies many others that I’ve explored down the years.
The eastern and southern sections of the walls are in very good states of preservation, although the ground has obviously grown up and around the bases of the stonework. It has a total outer circumferences of about 95 yards (87m), with the many upright stones measuring between 12 inches to more than 3 feet in height. The western section of the enclosure is mostly overgrown but easily traced on foot. Near the centre of the site is a large flattish stone that gave the impression of having an oratory function from where one could speak to the rest of the people sat around the inner edges of the enclosure — but this was a purely subjective impression.
NE sections of enclosureOuter section & ‘standing stone’
On the southern side of the elliptical structure is another, outer line of walling, or a stone alignment of some sort just a few yards long, consisting of just a few upright stones — one of which stands considerably taller than all the others hereby, giving the impression of a standing stone. It has a large natural cup-marking on its southern face.
To my limited knowledge there’s been no excavations here, so one wonders whether or how or if the people of Tirai made use of this much earlier building. The Canmore entry of the place tells:
“The N side of this enclosure is a low turf and stone bank of height 0.3m and is 20m long, spread to about 1.2m. The E side is outlined by large stones set on edge with no evidence of intermediate stone walling or turf. A bank of similar more continuous stone extends to the W from the S of the main enclosure down sloping ground. This type of walling is different from any other on Tirai. The large stones set on end have suggested a prehistoric date for this enclosure.”
References:
Johnstone, A. & Wood, S., “Tirai (Killin Parish), Pre-Enclosure Settlements,” in Discovery & Excavation in Scotland, 1990.
The huge Pendreich Muir monolith, with Dumyat in the background
Nearly 600 yards west of the old Sheriffmuir Road (between Bridge of Allan to Greenloaning), you’re best approaching it up the zigzaggy lane from above Stirling Uni until it levels out beyond the main wooded area where the hills open up on either side of you. There’s a little touristy parking spot further along the road, just below a small wooded bit. Go past this and look out for the small peaked hill nearly a half-mile NW on your left. Take whichever footpath you fancy (if you see one) and get to the top of that hill!
Archaeology & History
This is a wonderful spot, located at the highest point on this small moorland region on the western edge of the Ochil Hills. I haven’t found too much written about this once proud, but now fallen monolith — which seems unusual considering its size, cos it’s huge! It would have stood out and been visible for miles around. Quite when it was felled, I cannot find. The only info I’ve got here (Royal Commission 1963) tells:
“Lying recumbent on a grassy patch among the heather, it is a four-sided pillar measuring 13ft in length, a maximum of 4ft 6in across the wider side, and a maximum of 1ft 6in across the narrower side.”
In enquiring about the nature of this stone a few years ago, a local chap who called himself ‘Wharryburn’ wrote to say, “I believe the laid-out stone is a fallen standing stone. My grandfather was gamekeeper at Airthrey Estate and responsible for the shooting on the moor there he passed it to my father etc… It’s the local volcanic stone, not an ice-dropped erratic. There are also a few biggish stones at points around that I tried to make some sense out of a few years ago, but no luck.”
The great hill of Dumyat rises to its east; a short distance north is a megalithic stone row with its upright Wallace Stone; whilst the overgrown prehistoric cairns of Pendreich 1, 2 and 3 live on the small hillocks a few hundred yards to the south.
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Stirlingshire – volume 1, HMSO: Edinburgh 1963.
