Described by Tam Ward and Douglas Graham (1989) as “the only surviving standing stone in Clydesdale” (which isn’t quite true), this lovely looking monolith, leaning to one side, appears to have several cup-markings on its surface, but they’re actually Nature’s handiwork. The stone aligns to the hill a short distance north, Bodsbury Hill, upon which a fortress was later built sometime in the Iron Age.
I must have a wander round this region sometime: there’s some very attractive place-names nearby crying out for archaeo-attention to rub myself up and down upon!
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historic Monuments of Scotland, Lanarkshire: An Inventory of the Prehistoric and Roman Monuments, HMSO: Edinburgh 1978.
Ward, Tam & Graham, Douglas, Ancient Monuments of Clydesdale, CDC: Lanark 1989.
Dead easy! From Kilmartin go north towards Oban and turn right a mile onwards, to Ford and Loch Awe. Keep on the tiny road for about 2 miles and if you hit the small Loch Ederline, you’ve gone too far. To your left is a small hill-cum-small-mountain, scattered with trees and a great rocky face. That’s it! Whichever way you wanna approach its height is entirely up to you!
Archaeology & History
I clambered up and down this steep ‘crag of the horse’ many-a-times when I lived below here at the old farmhouse at Auchinellan. Tis a grand old hill with good views all round. The hillfort however has little left worth seeing, much of the stone being nicked by locals for drystone walls and barns. The best preserved section seems to be at the northeast side of the old hill. Archaeologists think that the mass of rubble nearby was also part of the fort walls in bygone days. Not being much of a hillfort fanatic, I can’t really comment!
On a decidedly mycological note, the magickal fungus of legendary repute, ergot (Claviceps purpurea), grows like the plague at the bottom of the hill (opposite the Creagantairbh standing stone). I wonder if our ancestors used it for owt in particular…?
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historic Monuments of Scotland, Argyll – volume 6, HMSO: Edinburgh 1988.
From Ilkley town, head up the road as if you’re going to White Wells but keep following the moorland road up towards Whetstone Gate and the TV masts on the very tops (you’ll have to walk the last half-mile). Shortly before you get them, you can’t miss this relic by the track-side on your right-hand side.
Archaeology & History
Possibly a christianised monolith, erected here in an attempt to divert local people away from the impressive Badger Stone where they may have held springtime gatherings. There used to be an old monolith laid on the ground a few yards away from the cross, which may have stood upright before the cross was erected. Also on the south-facing side of the cross were four cup-markings, indicating great age. These may also have been added when the cross was erected. (We know this occurred at other sites in the region, e.g., Churn Milk Joan, Midgley Moor, where such cup-marks were added sometime in the 15th or 16th century.) However, thanks to some idiotic halfwits in more recent years going up here and vandalizing Cowper’s Cross, the prehistoric cup-markings that were on this relic have been destroyed. The upright shaft of the cross that’s here now is a re-worked gatepost that replaced the old shaft with its authentic ‘pagan’ carvings.
1920s postcard of the Cross
But it’s had other bits of bad luck through the years. The site was struck by lightning many years back, splitting the stone in half, but has since been rebuilt and stands adjacent to its original position, right next to the old Roman road that crosses Ilkley Moor. Historian Allan Butterfield suggested this site to have originally been an old boundary markstone, christianised many centuries ago. The name ‘Cowper’ derives from the local Ilkley family of Cawper.
Those of you interested in the early christian history of these moors should also have a look at the little-known Black Knoll Cross, less than a mile south of here in the middle of Morton Moor.
Folklore
Folklore relates that markets were held at this old stone cross many years ago. This gives added weight to the idea that the nearby cup-and-ring marked Badger Stone, where markets were probably held around the time of the equinoxes, was the original site for such gatherings. Note that another site, the Reva Hill Cross, on the eastern side of this moor, has much the same history.
References:
Bennett, Paul, The Old Stones of Elmet, Capall Bann: Chieveley 2001.
Cowling, E.T., Rombald’s Way, William Walker: Otley 1946.
The Royal Commission for Historic Scotland (1974) recorded this “stone that formerly stood within the area now occupied by Connel Station,” which was thought to have been destroyed shortly before construction of the said building. Thankfully the Ordnance Survey lads recorded its position on their cartographic ventures here in 1871. Mr R.A. Smith (1874) also mentioned the site, albeit briefly, in his fine series of essays on the antiquities of Loch Etive, telling us:
“Above Connell Ferry we come to a small brook called Lusragan, and a few houses with a mill called Clachaleven. To the east, in a field above the road, is a large standing stone, and around it marks where others, well remembered, lately stood.”
But sadly it seems, these have all gone.
References:
Royal Commission for Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Argyll – volume 2: Lorn, HMSO: Edinburgh 1974.
Go through Laycock village and take the left turn along the lovely, hidden country lane towards Slippery Ford (called Todley Hall Road) until you get near the end of this beautiful wooded valley (called Newsholme Dean). Just by Grey Stones Hill, on your left, is a track heading down to a large farm building with numerous rocks and boulders in the fields either side of you. Stop! – and look in the field on the right.
Archaeology & History
Cluster of cup-marks
This particular stone is in the field to the right of the track, over the wall, right near the top of the field. Described for the first time in Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) survey where they describe “at least eight cups” on the rock; and it’s listed on the MAGIC Map survey as having 6 cups — which are the ones you can plainly see on the very top edge of the stone. What may be three other faint ones can be discerned on the sloping sides of the rock.
Cob Stone Field carving
Another ‘possible’ cup-marked stone can be seen lower down the field, past the large Cob Stone. There is also another cup-marked stone in the adjacent field at SE 00610 40841 (listed as stone no.2 in Boughey & Vickerman, 2003) with apparently 17 cups on the large rock there, but this can be difficult to see unless lighting conditions are just right.
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, West Yorkshire Archaeology Service 2003.
In Thomas Pennant’s A Tour in Scotland and Journey to the Hebrides, 1772 (1790:226), he described there being three prehistoric cairns about four-hundred yards west of Ardminish, or a couple or hundred yards north of the Achamore Standing Stone, on Cnoc na Croise, but they seem to have been destroyed. At least two of them were between 4 and 5 yards across and contained cists. A search for the site by the Royal Commission lads in the 1960s found nothing—although they may have been looking in the wrong place (the grid reference given above is an approximation). Does anyone know anything more about these seemingly lost sites?
References:
Royal Commission for Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Argyll – volume 1: Kintyre, HMSO 1971.
The Scottish Royal Commission (1971) reported a very large
“standing stone that stood 185m NNW of Achmore House (that) was removed at the beginning of the 19th century. It was reported that is measured 4.9m in height (16ft), 1.2m in breadth and 0.2m in thickness.”
A prehistoric cairn seemed to have accompanied this monolith—as reported by Thomas Pennant in 1772—but it too has been destroyed. Pennant told us how the monolith was,
“a great rude column, sixteen feet high, four broad and eight inches thick.”
Not bad at all! It was still extant, although leaning to the southwest in the year 1790 (OSA 1791-9); appearing to have been removed about 1800. No trace of it remained when the Ordnance Survey lads looked here in 1869.
References:
Royal Commission for Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Argyll – volume 1: Kintyre, HMSO 1971.
Stone Circle (destroyed): OS grid-reference – SD 821 613
Also known as:
Druid’s Hill Circle
Druid’s Circle
Archaeology & History
Speight’s 1895 map – showing position of circle
Not included in any previous archaeological surveys of megalithic rings, this circle of stones was apparently visible from quite a distance away, sitting on the hillside where now there is woodland. It was described by the great Yorkshire historian Harry Speight (1892, 1895), though today it seems that all remains of it have vanished.
An early description of it came after an excursion to the site by local antiquarians, who told that “at Cleatop, about a mile to the south of Settle, are the remains of an ancient stone circle.” (Horsfall-Turner 1888) A few years later, Mr Speight gave us more details of the place, saying:
“A little above Cleatop Farm (near Rathmell)…is Cleatop Wood. Cleatop derives its name from the A.S. cleof, a rocky aclivity; Latin clivus, a bank or slope. Near the northeast side of the wood there was once a very noticeable Druid’s Circle, about 60 feet in diameter; indeed, Mr Thomas Brayshaw of Settle, informs me that within the memory of persons still living, it was so regular and well-defined that one or two gaps caused by the removal of stones could be easily distinguished. The eminence at the rear of the site has, from time immemorial, been known as Druid’s Hill.”
Some years later, that very same local historian Tom Brayshaw (1932) wrote:
“The Ordnance map marks, on the steep slope to the north of Cleatop Wood, ‘site of Stone Circle’. It needs a very keen eye to identify the few stumps that remain today, and it is deplorable that this most interesting monument, after enduring for so many centuries, has been destroyed during the last eighty years. In 1847 a description of the circle, as it then was, was sent to Captain Yolland of the Ordnance Survey.
“”I suppose the circle of stones in Cleatop High Park to be aboriginal British or Druidical remains from the following appearances: the circle is complete and the large stones are set on end, some of them several tons weight. The stones are twelve in number now standing, beside several others that seem to be rolled a short distance, as it is placed on the ascent of a steep hill and commands a beautiful and extensive prospect (more so than any given point of the same altitude in the vicinity). The circle is 36 feet in diameter.”
“A few stones were still standing in 1883. The hill above long bore the name Druids Hill. The Enclosure Acts passed towards the end of the 18th century greatly increased the number of drystone walls in the parish, and it is probable that many old stone monuments were destroyed in making them and in their subsequent repair”.
We have no references of burials or other excavations here to give us any idea of whether human remains had ever been found. It’s an intriguing place in the landscape though…and worthy of further explorations…
References:
Brayshaw, Thomas, A History of the Ancient Parish of Giggleswick, Halton & Co.: London 1932.
Horsfall-Turner, J. (ed.), ‘Antiquarian Excursion to Giggleswick and Settle,’ in Yorkshire Folklore Journal, vol.1, T. Harrison: Bingley 1888.
Speight, Harry, The Craven and Northwest Yorkshire Highlands, Elliott Stock: London 1892.
Speight, Harry, Tramps and Drives in the Craven Highlands, Elliot Stock: London 1895.
Pretty easy to get to. It’s in one of the fields above the old farmhouse of Boreland on the western edge of Fearnan, a couple of hundred yards away on the other side of the road from the Clach an Tuirc.
Archaeology & History
Clach-na-Cruich in 1884
In the field we find this great chair-shaped boulder with a great ‘bowl’ on it where the seating section is, and on its top and sides are a few cup-markings — MacMillan (1884) noted seven of them, two of which had half-rings around them, “associated together in a singular manner, and forming a figure like the eyes of a pair of spectacles.”
Folklore
Regarded in local legends to be an ancient initiation seat, this was taken over and ordained as being the seat of St. Ciaran at some time when the Celtic church started having influence up here.
The ‘seat’ of this great stone regularly fills up with rainwater and was, wrote William A. Gillies, “regarded as an effectual cure for measles, and there are persons still residing at Fearnan who were taken as children to drink from the water in the hollow of Clach-na-Gruich, the Measles Stone.” His lengthy account of the site told:
“In the district of Breadalbane, Perthshire – which has in it the Pool of St Fillans, famous for its supposed power of curing mentally afflicted persons – there are two boulders with water-filled cavities, which have a local reputation for their healing virtues. One is at Fernan, situated on the north side of Loch Tay, about three miles from Kenmore. It is a large rough stone with an irregular outline, somewhat like a rude chair, in the middle of a field immediately below the farmhouse of Mr Campbell, Borland. The rest of the field is ploughed; but the spot on which it stands is carefully preserved as an oasis amid the furrows. The material of which it is composed is a coarse clay slate; and the stone has evidently been a boulder transported to the spot from a considerable distance.
“In the centre on one side there is a deep square cavity capable of holding about two quarts of water. I found it nearly full, although the weather had been unusually dry for several weeks previously. There were some clods of earth around it, and a few small stones and a quantity of rubbish in the cavity itself, which defiled the water. This I carefully scooped out, and found the cavity showing unmistakeable evidence of being artificial. On the upper surface of the stone I also discovered seven faint cup-marks, very much weather-worn; two of them associated together in a singular manner, and forming a figure like the eyes of a pair of spectacles.
“The boulder goes in the locality by the name of Clach-na-Cruich, or the Stone of the Measles; and the rain-water contained in its cavity, when drunk by the patient, was supposed to be a sovereign remedy for that disease. At one time it had a wide reputation, and persons afflicted with the disease came from all parts of the district to drink its water. Indeed, there are many persons still alive who were taken in their youth, when suffering from this infantile disease, to the stone at Fernan; and I have met a man not much past forty, who remembers distinctly having drunk the water in the cavity when suffering from measles.
“It is is only within the lifetime of the present generation that the Clach-na-Cruich has fallen into disuse. I am not sure, indeed, whether any one has resorted to it within the last thirty years. Its neglected state would seem to indicate that all faith in it had for many years been abandoned.”
References:
Gillies, William A., In Famed Breadalbane, Munro Press: Perth 1938.
MacMillan, Hugh, ‘Notice of Two Boulders having Rain-Filled Cavities on the Shores of Loch Tay, Formerly Associated with the Cure of Disease,’ in PSAS 18, 1884.
Although the lads at the Scottish Royal Commission (1974) initially described this site as a ‘Standing Stone’, it is in fact,
“an erratic boulder of granite roughly shaped in the form of a cross… It measures 0.8m in height, 0.6m in width at base, and 0.4m in width at the top…(and) the stone is supposed to have marked a boundary.”
The site was evidently of some mythic importance, as the great Cathedral of St. Moluag was built next to the stone — unless the giant cairn of Cnoc Aingil, 500 yards away, was to blame. A holy well of this saint’s name (an obvious heathen site beforehand) is also nearby.
Folklore
Although this stone was dedicated to swans, I’ve not found the story behind the name. There were no buried swans here, but local tradition told that this old boulder could give sanctuary to anyone who touched it, or ran round it sunwise. The Hebridean folklorist Otta Swire (1964) told that,
“anyone who claimed such sanctuary had his case considered by ‘the Elders.’ If they considered his plea justified, they ‘came out and walked sun-wise round the Swan Stone.’ If they did not approve of his right to sanctuary, they walked round it anti-clockwise and the man was then given over, not to his enemies, but ‘to Authority’ to be tried.”
This old tradition derives from well known pre-christian rites. Swire also reported that even in the 1960s here, “at funerals the coffin is always carried round the grave sun-wise before being laid in it.” An old cross placed in the Field of the Cross next to the stone was an attempt to tease folk away from heathen rites of the stone, but failed.
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Argyll – volume 2: Lorn, RCAHMS: Edinburgh 1974.
Swire, O.F., The Inner Hebrides and their Legends, Collins: London 1964.
