This is one of at least fourteen petroglyphs in this parish that have been either lost or destroyed since their initial description in the 19th century. It was described in George Kinihan’s (1884) survey as a “flat irregular stone, sloping slightly towards the east: the cups are seven in number”, in a design similar to that of the constellation of Cassiopeia. When the Archaeological Survey of Ireland looked for the carving in 1990 it could not be located. Corlett (2014) suggests that a collection of rocks in a hollow to the north may conceal this and some of the other carvings in this cluster.
References:
Corlett, Christiaan, Inscribing the Landscape: The Rock Art of South Leinster, Wordwell: Dublin 2014.
Kinihan, George H., “Proceedings: Cup-marked and Inscribed Stones in the Counties of Wicklow and Wexford”, in Journal Royal Society Antiquaries Ireland, (4th series) volume 6, 1884.
Cup-Marked Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – SG 21584 42271
Also Known as:
Ballykean ‘Stone K’ (Kinihan 1884)
Archaeology & History
This is one of at least fourteen petroglyphs in this parish that have been either lost or destroyed since their initial description in the 19th century. It was described in George Kinihan’s (1884) survey as being, “a small peaked stone, having on the western side two small cups.” The carving has not been seen since then and he seems to have made no sketches of the stone. When the Archaeological Survey of Ireland looked for the carving in 1990 it could not be located.
References:
Corlett, Christiaan, Inscribing the Landscape: The Rock Art of South Leinster, Wordwell: Dublin 2014.
Kinihan, George H., “Proceedings: Cup-marked and Inscribed Stones in the Counties of Wicklow and Wexford”, in Journal Royal Society Antiquaries Ireland, (4th series) volume 6, 1884.
Cup-Marked Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – SG 21537 42375
Also Known as:
Ballykean ‘Stone F’ (Kinihan 1884)
Archaeology & History
Kinihan’s 1884 rubbing of the stone
This is one of at least fourteen petroglyphs in this parish that have been either lost or destroyed since their initial description in the 19th century. It was described in George Kinihan’s (1884) survey as being, “a slightly dome-shaped stone, its surface being nearly level with that of the ground. The cups are both numerous and deep…although bits of the surface have been flaked off by fire.” He took a rubbing of the stone which showed nineteen cup-marks on its upper surface. When the Archaeological Survey of Ireland looked for the carving in 1990 it could not be located; and when Christiaan Corlett (2014) described this and the other carvings in this cluster, he thought that a group of stones dumped “in a hollow area north of the field” might possibly be where it had been moved to—although no such carvings have been identified there.
References:
Corlett, Christiaan, Inscribing the Landscape: The Rock Art of South Leinster, Wordwell: Dublin 2014.
Kinihan, George H., “Proceedings: Cup-marked and Inscribed Stones in the Counties of Wicklow and Wexford”, in Journal Royal Society Antiquaries Ireland, (4th series) volume 6, 1884.
From Comrie village, take the long winding steep road up past the Devil’s Cauldron towards Glen Lednock. After 1½ miles the road begins to level-out and you come out from the trees and about 400 yards along there’s a dirt-track on your left. Park here! OK, now walk further along the road (not the dirt-track) for less than 100 yards and take the footpath up the slope (if this is blocked—it shouldn’t be!—you can walk further along until your reach the next track on your left). Go up this footpath for 200 yards till you reach the track by the large bend; and then walk up it for another 200 yards where there’s another large bend. On your right, past the solitary big rock, you’ll see the sign…
Archaeology & History
Sign of the Kinkhoast Well
A little-known healing well that all but fell out of existence until, thankfully, some local folks recently decided to revive it. A sign stands above the back of this spring of water as it emerges from the Earth telling you that it’s the Kinkhoast Well. Its clear waters form into a very small pool, wherein are dozen of small white pebbles and and quartz pieces, very smooth and obviously worn by decades, if not centuries, of local folk giving the spirit of these waters—the genius loci—and offering in exchange for its healing virtues in the hope that it cures them of the whooping cough, of which this well is renowned.
It’s one of many whooping cough wells that are found in the Perthshire hills—and most are actually large boulders with hollows into which the rainwater collects and it is this that is used medicinally and not necessarily the spring water. A curious thing indeed…. and I’ve come across Highland folk who were taken to them when they were young children who’ve told me that their whooping cough was subsequently cured! Intriguingly, there is a large boulder just below this well, upon whose top is a natural bowl in which rainwater collects—and although I can find nothing specific telling of such a tradition here, above Comrie, it’s possible that the relationship between stones and wells, found at other places in the Highlands, also existed here.
Small pool full of white offering stonesWell & stone in close attendance
The name Kinkhoast itself (and variables thereof) is a Scottish dialect word, found from Galloway and into the Highlands. Jamieson (1880) describes it as literally “hooping cough”, with a brief note on the disease being cured by water drank from a shell. Meanwhile, in Grant & Morison’s (1960) massive work, they give numerous examples of the term, most of which relate to the same “whooping cough”, with some examples of folk remedies to abate the disease, including one of parents sending their children to take a drink from the “Kinker Steen Wall”—in that case from the parish of Logie. Examples of the very same tradition are known at other kinkhost sites. Check the place out when you’re in the area—and rest for a while to drink in the beautiful views…
References:
Anonymous, “Comrie Folklore – Kingcough Well,” in Crieff & District Post, no.31, August 2012.
Grant, William & Morison, David D. (eds), The Scottish National Dictionary – volume 5, SNDA: Edinburgh 1960.
Cup-Marked Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – SG 21640 43035
Also Known as:
Ballykean Stone A (Kinihan 1884)
Archaeology & History
Kinihan’s rubbing of the stone
This is one of at least fourteen petroglyphs in this parish that have been either lost or destroyed since their initial description in the 19th century. First noticed by a Mr Hugh Jones of Ballykean House, it was the northernmost carving in the cluster. When the Archaeological Survey of Ireland looked for the carving in 1990 it could not be located—although they did note a stone of similar size in the field boundary to the north-east, but could find no cup-marks on it.
Ballykean (14 ) stone
When George Kinihan (1884) described the stone, he told it to be a block of granite, “about 5 feet by 5.3 feet, and standing 3.3 feet high” in a field known as the Fort Field (although there are no remains of a fort here). Kinihan took a rubbing of the carving, which highlighted eleven cup-marks on its upper surface, as illustrated here. More recently, in Corlett’s (2014) rock art survey, he told that there were “several large dumps of granite boulders” north of the field and wondered whether these might be where this, and the other stones, had been moved. Does anyone know…?
References:
Corlett, Christiaan, Inscribing the Landscape: The Rock Art of South Leinster, Wordwell: Dublin 2014.
Kinihan, George H., “Proceedings: Cup-marked and Inscribed Stones in the Counties of Wicklow and Wexford”, in Journal Royal Society Antiquaries Ireland, (4th series) volume 6, 1884.
Cup-Marked Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – SG 21584 42230
Also Known as:
Ballykean ‘Stone M’ (Kinihan 1884)
Archaeology & History
Ballykean (2) or “Stone M”
This is one of at least fourteen petroglyphs in this parish that have been either lost or destroyed since their initial description in the 19th century. When the Archaeological Survey of Ireland looked for this carving in 1990, it could not be located. It was first described by George Kinihan (1884), who told that it was, a “block about 6 by 5.5 feet, and 2.25 feet high. The upper surface has eight cups, two of which are joined by a channel.” The site was included in Corlett’s (2014) fine survey, who could add no additional data about the stone.
References:
Corlett, Christiaan, Inscribing the Landscape: The Rock Art of South Leinster, Wordwell: Dublin 2014.
Kinihan, George H., “Proceedings: Cup-marked and Inscribed Stones in the Counties of Wicklow and Wexford”, in Journal Royal Society Antiquaries Ireland, (4th series) volume 6, 1884.
Cup-Marked Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – SG 21648 42072
Also Known as:
Ballykean ‘Stone N’ (Kinihan 1884)
Archaeology & History
This is one of at least fourteen petroglyphs in this parish that have been either lost or destroyed since their initial description in the 19th century. The carving was, wrote Kinahan (1884) in his day, “in the field south of Ballykean House.” But when the Archaeological Survey of Ireland looked for the stone in 1990, it could not be located. Kinihan told that it was,
“a large flattish stone, which slopes SW. On the SW surface near the top margin is one cup. In the vicinity of this block there are others, but on none of them were cups remarked. Most of these have been split, while others are said to have been broken up to build Ballykean House, with the farm buildings and walls.”
References:
Kinihan, George H., “Proceedings: Cup-marked and Inscribed Stones in the Counties of Wicklow and Wexford”, in Journal Royal Society Antiquaries Ireland, (4th series) volume 6, 1884.
Along the A85 road between Comrie and St Fillans, just over a mile out of Comrie, on the right-hand side (north) of the road is the small farm-track into the fields where the ruined stone circle of Tullybannocher lives. Walk up this track (known as Maam Road), past the stones, and keep going uphill for more than a mile (literally 1 mile up, another track turns sheer right, but ignore it) where the track eventually levels-out; keep walking for another 600 yards, slightly downhill, until you reach a distinct fork in the track where you need to veer right, uphill, and keep walking up the track for ⅔-mile (1km) where you’ll eventually see a cottage ahead of you. 150 yards before this, to your left, down the slight slope and just as it begins to slope back up again on the other side, there’s some olde walling with a coupla big stones in it. It’s there!
Archaeology & History
When James MacIntosh (1888) first visited this carving in the 19th century—which is close to the curious cairn of Druim na Cille just 75 yards to the west—he described there being a group of seven large stones forming, what he thought, might have been a large enclosure. I think he was right. Several of these stones can still be seen: each of them along some ancient walling that swerves in an arc to the east. One of these stones has a number of cup-marks on it.
Fred Coles’ 1991 sketchThe carving, from the track
The design isn’t too impressive when compared to others in this neck o’ the woods, but they’re very distinct. We visited the place on a truly dark grey day: conditions that don’t usually allow for good visibility regarding cup-marks; but thankfully the cups along this stone are quite deep and hard to miss. Running along one section of the stone are what Gow called, “eleven beautifully formed cups, varying from 2¼ to 4 inches in diameter and from half an inch to an inch in depth.” When Fred Coles (1911) came here he counted thirteen cup-marks. There may be fourteen.
The stone does possess some more recent groove marks made by a metal instrument, possibly a tractor or perhaps when local workmen stuck up a microwave tower close by. Thankfully it hasn’t directly affected the cups on the stone. Check it out when you visit the nearby ring cairn.
Along the A85 road between Comrie and St Fillans, just over a mile out of Comrie, on the right-hand side (north) of the road is the small farm-track into the fields where the ruined stone circle of Tullybannocher lives. Walk up this track (known as Maam Road), past the stones, and keep going uphill for more than a mile (literally 1 mile up, another track turns sheer right, but ignore it) where the track eventually levels-out; keep walking for another 600 yards, slightly downhill, until you reach a distinct fork in the track where you need to veer right, uphill, and keep walking up the track for ⅔-mile (1km) where you’ll see a cottage ahead of you. About 50 yards before the house, down the slope on your left, a large rounded mass covered in bracken is the site you’re after.
Archaeology & History
This is an odd site, in more ways than one. In the 18th and 19th century, local people told that it was “a very ancient churchyard, so old, indeed, that the grave-stones among the rank grass are scarcely discernible.” (Carment 1882) This lore was reinforced by the fact that, as James Gow (1888) put it,
“within living memory that a burial took place here, and the tradition is that people came to bury the “wee unchristened bairns” from long distances, such as Loch Tayside, Glendochart, Balquhidder, and Strathyre.”
Looking W, at the circleThe old mound, looking SE
That’s a lot of effort and a considerable distance for some people to travel! But the age and nature of this site is curious. It very name, Drum-na-kill derives from either “ridge of the burial ground” or the “hill of the chapel” (and variants thereof)—yet there are no records of any such early church or religious cell here. That doesn’t mean, of course, that there never was one. A wandering Culdee priest may have set up camp here more than a thousand years ago after doing his service with the fading druids of Dull, less than 20 miles to the north. Such things, never written down, will obviously have happened in these mountains and cannot be discounted merely due to a lack of scripts. But we simply don’t know. When Mr Gow described the place—as “a raised enclosure 25 to 30 feet in diameter, with, a turf-covered wall or rampart 3 or 4 feet high surrounding it”—he emphasized that “in former times (it) was used as a burying ground for unbaptised infants.” (large numbers of Highlanders weren’t in the slightest bit interested in the ways of the Church) So how far back in time did this tradition go…?
Well, Gow thought the place to be an early christian site. But when Fred Coles came here more than thirty years later, during his massive survey of the Perthshire stone circles, he deemed it to be a much earlier construction. A “cairn circle” no less—which would give it a more Bronze Age footprint. And this definition has stuck. Coles (1911) told that,
Coles’ 1911 diagramRaised ‘walling’ highlighted
“This Cairn-circle is about seventy yards east of the shepherd’s cottage, and it slightly resembles others already noticed in Perthshire. It measures from crest to crest of its circular ridge 44 feet 3 inches east and west by 37 feet 10 inches north and south. Several large blocks of stone lie exposed on the crest, and many others can be felt as one walks along it. The ridge is completely oval-circular, having no break or passage-way, and encloses a flattish, rather uneven space measuring about 34 feet in diameter. The height above the outside ground at the best-preserved portions is fully 4 feet.”
More than a century later, its not changed much—although if you were to believe the updated Trove website, “the cairn has been destroyed in the process of land improvement.” Which is untrue. As the albeit darkened photos here show (we visited it on a truly dark grey day), the raised cairn, despite being covered in a mass of deep bracken, is clearly in a condition similar to what Coles described. It looks like a typical example of this type of monument, of considerable size, with reasonably well-defined edges and comprising the usual scattered mass of stones in and around it. The large boulders that Coles described don’t seem to be in evidence, but these were apparently shifted a few decades back and added to the enclosure walling to the east. To honest, only the untrained eye would miss the place! Check it out when you’re looking at the cup-marked stone, less than a hundred yards to the east…
References:
Carment, Samuel, Scenes and Legends of Comrie, James P. Mathew: Dundee 1882.
From Blair Atholl village along the B8079 road, take the minor road signposted to the Bridge of Tilt and go all the way to the top, taking the same directions as if you’re visiting the large prehistoric cairn of Monzie. As you walk towards Monzie farmhouse, you need to look at the large end-facing wall and on the ground at the bottom-left corner you’ll see this old cup-marked stone, next to an old bullaun. It’s probably polite to knock and ask the farmer—who we found to be very helpful indeed. (huge thanks fella!)
Archaeology & History
This is an intriguing carving, inasmuch as its present habitat isn’t it original home. When we visited the old stone recently, the farmer was very helpful and told us what he knew of it, which was, he said, “not much.” In pointing out where it had originally come from, he pointed south, “past the fields – somewhere over there. My dad knew about it,” he told, and thought that he may have been the one who found it. Anyhow, it was his dad who brought it to the place where it now sits: right up against the edge of the house on its southeast corner.
“It looks like it might have come from a tomb,” I said, but he didn’t know about that. The giant cairn in the fields past his farmhouse certainly wasn’t where it had come from. Quite the opposite direction… And so it transpired when I looked at the very menial archaeological notes that have been written about it.
When archaeologist Margaret Stewart noted the carving in the 1960s, she told how the stone had reportedly been found in 1953 by the ruined lime-kiln (NN 9052 6672), just above the western shore of Loch Moraig. But what she didn’t know was that the lime-kiln was built at the edge of the prehistoric tomb that was known to local people as Carndeshal, or Cairn Deshal. The word deshal means sunwise, or the direction taken by the sun, clockwise, as in the word deosil. It is usually associated with a ceremonial procession. The cup-marked stone probably came from this cairn when it had been demolished and was thankfully saved by the farmer.
Altogether there are 24 or 25 mainly well-defined cup-marks on this thin slab, covering most of the surface. In a couple of places on the stone, two of the cups are conjoined. There are apparently no cup-marks on the other side of the stone.
Acknowledgements: To my awesome Naomi – for getting us up here.
