Scotland – Page 45

Allt a’ Chaisteil, Bettyhill, Farr, Sutherland

02/12/201826/10/2025 megalithix

Stone Circle: OS Grid Reference – NC 7251 5756

Getting Here

Allt a’ Chaisteil 4-poster remains

From Bettyhill village, take the A836 road west, down the hill from the village. Just before crossing the metal bridge over the River Naver at the bottom, go down the tiny road on the left. A mile or so along, go past the small loch by the roadside for another few hundred yards until you reach a quarry on the right. From here, cross the road and walk along the track towards the impressive Allt a’ Chaisteal Broch up the gorge. About 100 yards above this, on the south-side of the fence, keep your eyes peeled for two small standing stones. You’ll find ‘em!

Archaeology & History

There seems to be no previous mention of this site in any of the archaeology records. We were fortunate in venturing upon the place when Aisha, Lara and I were doing a typically circuitous meander to what I call the ‘Queen’s Cairn‘ of Strathnaver, above Skelpick Long.

The southernmost stones

The site on its raised platform

Approximately 10 yards in diameter, a raised platform 2-3 feet high consisting of thousands of small rocks in a roughly circular formation, is set on the edge of a slope above the Allt a’ Chaisteal Burn. Two small upright standing stones are set near the southern edge of the platform, with a third on the northwestern bank of rubble, leaning or fallen into the stone mass. A fourth stone to the northeastern edge is almost covered in rubble.

When we found the site, much of the heather had been burned away; if this had not been done, the site would not have been visible. Even with this however, accurate visibility was troublesome as the heather had began to grow back and the infestation of bracken was raising its tick-infested fronds.

Close-up of the southern stones

The site seems to be a good example of what Aubrey Burl (1988) calls a “four poster stone circle” – a number of which seem to be architectural ritual developments between cairns and stone circles. It exists within the immense Strathnaver prehistoric complex – a literal ‘Valley of the Kings’ – where dozens of large cairns, and a number of immense megalithic tombs exist. It is very similar in size and lay-out to the recognized four-posters at Druid’s Altar in Yorkshire, the Glenshervie Burn in Glen Almond, etc. It seems in relative isolation from other four-posters, the nearest known one being at Balnakeil (which Burl terms as being “uncertain”), more than 20 miles west of here; and the next being the Aberscross site some 35 miles away. However, the remote landscape would explain its seeming isolation, as many more prehistoric sites remain unrecorded in the area.

References:

Burl, Aubrey, Four Posters: Bronze Age Stone Circles of Western Europe, BAR 195: Oxford 1988.

Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to the big heart of Aisha Domleo – and her sproglett Lara – for gerrin us up here, enabling its rediscovery.

Achamore Hut Circles, Bettyhill, Farr, Sutherland

02/12/201815/10/2025 megalithix

Hut Circles: OS Grid Reference – NC 74219 58055

Also Known as:

Canmore ID 6262

Getting Here

Achamore’s NE ‘hut’ circle, looking E

Along the A836 road a mile east of Bettyhill, a track goes south onto the moors just before Loch Salachaidh. Walk along here for several miles, past the windmills and past the Achadh Thaibstil Cairn, until you reach the remote green fields that are the remains of the clearance village of Achamore. As you walk into the green grasses, a ruined building is to your left. In front of you, a large raised round structure almost entirely covered in grass. You’re here!

Archaeology & History

This is a curious structure – and were it not for being labelled as a ‘hut circle’ by the lads at Ordnance Survey, on first impression I’d be more tempted to classify it as either a collapsed broch, or a large cairn circle. This is entirely due to the size of the thing, as it’s big for a hut circle!

NW arc of the circle

Eastermost embankment

Circular in form, the sides of the structure on its eastern face are nearly three feet high, piled at an angle of nearly 45 degrees, and several feet across before you reach the internal section of the said ‘hut circle.’ As you walk around it, the height of the piled stones diminishes to between 1-2 feet, but the diameter of the walling all round is consistently wide – increasing the thought of it being a collapsed or robbed-out broch. The diameter of the structure is some 20 yards across, with an approximate circumference of 64 yards.

‘Hut circle’ atop of nearby hill

Another “hut circle” is immediately visible some 80 yards to the south, on top of the nearby grassy hilltop. The majority of this is also covered in meadow grasses, with edges and upper surfaces all but hidden. On its southeastern edge is what looks like a structural stone ‘entrance’ some two yards across and three yards long.

Other smaller hut circles in the area indicate that this region – like others nearby – was a place of consistent human habitation from prehistoric (probably Neolithic) times, unbroken all the way through until the 18^th century.

Achadh Thaibstil, Bettyhill, Farr, Sutherland

02/12/201826/04/2025 megalithix

Chambered Cairn: OS Grid Reference – NC 7398 5899

Also Known as:

Canmore ID 6228
Clachan Burn

Getting Here

Achadh Thaibstil cairn, looking W

Along the A836 road a mile east of Bettyhill, a track goes south onto the moors just before Loch Salachaidh. Walk along here for several miles, past the windmills, past a small quarry on your left, and a hundred yards or so along, to the right of the track, you’ll notice a rounded hillock covered in stones and rock on the top (aswell as bracken in the summer and autumn). That’s the spot!

Archaeology & History

Achadh Thaibstil cairn

This little-known cairn, close to the prehistoric hut circles on the other side of the track, is a medium-sized Neolithic or Bronze Age monument. Not included in Audrey Henshall’s (1995) survey of the region, the tomb was built upon a small natural rise with the usual thousands of small and medium-sized stones rising up 4-5 feet high. Near its crown we find an exposed chamber, typical of chambered tombs, measuring more than a yard across and two yards long, with flat slabs defining its sides. It appears that the inner ‘chamber’ may have been split into two sections, as an oblong slab of stone runs parallel down the central ‘chamber’ a third of the way across. The Canmore account simply tells how the cairn is on low knoll and

“measures about 10.5m in diameter and 1.0m high. It has been opened and a centrally placed slab lined cist revealed, the southern side of which is missing. The cist measures 1.4m east-west, with the east and west slabs 1.2m long and 0.6m high.”

Looking down into the chamber

From the chamber, looking N

On the horizon to the far north, the peak of the giant tomb known as Fiscary 2 rises up, indicating the cardinal direction. This may have had geomantic significance, as ‘north’ signifies Death and darkness: the symbolic point where light never emerges; the point linked to the North Star, Alpha Draconis in the neolithic era, or Polaris in our present Age: the point to and from which shamans travel into the Land of the Gods. These elements may or may not have been relevant here.

References:

Henshall, Audrey S. & Ritchie, J.N.G., The Chambered Cairns of Sutherland, Edinburgh University Press 2005.

Raith Gardens, Kirkcaldy, Fife

01/12/201806/07/2019 megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – NT 27131 91374

Getting Here

The multiple-ringed petroglyph of Raith, Kirkcaldy

On the more south-side of Kirkcaldy, head for the roundabout at the meeting of the A910, B925 and B9157, heading out west along the Auchtertool road; but just 60-70 yards past the roundabout, take the first right along Raith Drive. Wibble along here for a few hundred yards until you reach Raith Gardens. Walk down here for 50 yards and cross onto to the grasses opposite where a path runs parallel with a large old stone wall. Barely 2 feet above ground level, keep yer eyes on the walling!

Archaeology & History

Close-up of the carving

This is a peculiar one. A very peculiar one! Found embedded in some very old walling, it is similar in size, style and design to the curiously un-eroded multiple-ringed Binn-1 petroglyph 3.9 miles (6.2km) southwest, this concentric four-ringed ‘cup-and-ring’ stone actually seems to have no central cup. That aint too unusual. But the oddity here is its complete isolation—not merely from any other petroglyphs, but from any other neolithic or Bronze Age site.

The concentric rings are incomplete on the outer two rings, with openings or gateways to the inner two rings (a common element). Several parallel scars are clearly visible that have been cut across the surface of the stone, affecting the clarity of the carving. Whether these scars are geophysical, or were caused when the carving was moved and fit into the wall, we do not know.

The stone may or may not have been a portable one, typical of those attached to cairns or tomb-covers; or it may have been broken from a large piece of rock. We just don’t know. The design is typical of those found in relation to prehistoric tombs, yet none are known to have been here. In 1872 The Antiquary Journal covered the story of four stone coffins being found when the first Co-op building was being built in Kirkcaldy, on top of which was “an earthen urn” – but where was that exactly? Did the carving come from there? We do know that the walling in which the carving has been fixed was once part of an old Abbot’s Hall – but whatever was here before that, history seems to have forgotten.

A fascinating little mystery this one…..

Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to Penny Sinclair for showing us to this little-known site. Cheers Pen. 🙂

The Binn (01), Burntisland, Fife

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Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – NT 22741 86948

Also Known as:

Binn House
Canmore ID 269301
Craigkelly
Silverbarton Farm

Getting Here

Penny pointing the way

From Burntisland, go up the Cowdenbeath road for just over half-a-mile, then turn right and walk into the woods up the footpath. Go uphill, over the first stile until you reach the field less than 200 yards above. Follow the line of the trees, right, along the edge of the field for about 100 yards, then walk uphill into the trees again until you reach a small rocky outcrop. That’s the spot!

Archaeology & History

Rediscovered in the summer of 2003, this is one in a small cluster of little-known petroglyphs on the western slopes of the hill known as The Binn. Found less than a yard away from another carving, this ornate-looking fella consists of a wide cup-mark with three very well-defined concentric rings around it. A carved line runs out from the central cup, down the gentle slope of the rock and out of the rings entirely; whilst 60° left of this line, a second one runs from the central cup to the inner edge of the third concentric ring. To the left of the 3-rings is another concentric system, with one clear ring around a faint shallow inner-cup and what seems to be a faint outer secondary ring. A possible third isolated cup-mark is to the top-left of the multiple rings.

The carving under the overhang

Close-up of the multiple rings

This is one of two carvings that are right next to each other and it is curious inasmuch as the erosion on it seems negligible. This may be due to the overhanging rock which shelters it considerably from normal weathering processes. Indeed, if the carving was uncovered from beneath a covering layer soil, the lack of erosion on it makes complete sense. However, I have to say that I was slightly skeptical about assigning any great age to this particular design—and until we get an assessment from a reputable geologist we should perhaps be cautious about giving it a definite prehistoric provenance. It’s still very much worth seeing though. The carving on the adjacent rock however, is a different kettle o’ fish altogether!

Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to Penny Sinclair for guiding us to this little-known site. Cheers Pen. 🙂

Craigenkirn, New Kilpatrick, Dumbartonshire

23/11/201819/10/2025 megalithix

Long Cairn: OS Grid Reference – NS 51839 78157

Getting Here

Aerial view of the cairn

Take the A809 road several miles north out of Glasgow, between Bearsden and Drymen. Once out of the suburban sprawl, passing Milngavie, you’re heading to the famous Carbeth hutters. Before this, note the gold course on your right (east). Park here and cross the road where a gate and overgrown footpath takes you onto the grassy hills. Keep to the fence-side for about 700 yards until it veers downhill. Don’t walk downhill! Keep in the same direction into the short grasses and, veering gradually left, downhill for a couple hundred yards ahead and, across a small boggy area, you’ll note some large upright stones in front of a mound. That’s it!

Archaeology & History

The SE stone ‘entrance’

There is no previous reference to this site which was found, quite fortuitously, by Nina Harris of Organic Scotland a few years ago. She visited the site a number of times, puzzling over the curious line of possible standing stones at the edge the grass-covered mound—wondering if it was anything at all. A few months ago she took us to see the place…

Modern gunshot cup-marks on entrance stone

The site has been damaged and elements of it have been stripped for walling that are visible all around here. The cairn is more than 55 yards in length, running from its southeastern stone ‘entrance’ to the gradually diminishing northwestern edges. At its widest it is 14.6 yards (13.5m) across, near its southeastern end. The main three standing stones at its entrance are four-feet tall at the highest, with one of them leaning upon another; an adjacent fourth stone, smaller than the main three, is more embedded into the cairn mass a couple of yards away. Cup-marks on one of the three larger uprights here are recent gunshot marks; whilst the possible cup-marks on the largest upright are natural.

Line of ancient wall runs up and over the cairn

Looking NW along the cairn mass

In standing on top of the long cairn, just above the large stones, you can see how sections of it have been stripped away. Just beneath the surface is a line of internal walling, with what seems to be another one running parallel. These run for a few yards until we reach a large circular depression within the overall cairn mass, a yard deep and 6-7 yards across; on the northern edge of which we can clearly see a section of walling beneath the surface. When we look at the aerial view of this on Google Earth, we can clearly see how this walling actually begins way outside of the cairn mass itself, as a much denuded line of it (probably medieval in origin, though possibly Iron Age) curves across the grasslands from the west, crosses the long cairn and re-emerges on the other side of the adjacent boggy ground at its southeastern edges and continues on its way: indicating that the cairn mass beneath the wall is much older than the walls running across it.

“X” marks the spot!

The main three ‘entrance’ stones

Audrey Henshall (1972) described the existence of another prehistoric chambered tomb like this one at Cairnhowit 1.95 miles (3.14km) southwest, and we find the Stockie Muir long cairn 3.12 miles (5.02km) to the northwest, clearly showing that the incidence of this monument is not an isolated one. Others can be found not much further away. The existence of the raised geological plate known as Carneddans Wood just over a mile south may have once been home to another chambered cairn.

Please note that the grid reference for this site fixes on the southeastern section of the cairn, where the upright stones are.

References:

Henshall, Audrey S., The Chambered Tombs of Scotland – volume 2, Edinburgh University Press 1972.

Acknowledgements: First and foremost to Nina Harris, for unknowingly finding the place; also to Paul Hornby and Marion Woolley for visits to the site.

Cochno (05), Duntocher, Dumbartonshire

23/11/201813/12/2025 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – NS 50301 73655

Also Known as:

Auchnacraig
Canmore ID 44536

Getting Here

Along the A810 Bearsden to Dunochter road, 100 yards past the Faifley roundabout, turn right up Cochno Road. Go up for literally 1 mile and hit the car-park. Go back onto the road and walk uphill. Barely 50 yards up, turn right and walk down the track. About 350 yards along its bendy route, some grasslands appear on your right and there, about 40 yards away, is the large Cochno-5 carving.

Archaeology & History

First described by James Harvey (1889) in association with adjacent carvings, he told that “there are eight isolated cups, two of which have a diameter of 2½ inches” on this stone. Harvey was one of those who loved the idea that our ancestors were etching cup-marks as receptacles for collecting blood and similar christian fantasies. It was a bittova fad at the time.

As we can see, the kids have sprayed their own ID onto the stone. It’s highly unlikely that they were even aware of this being a prehistoric site as there’s nothing to indicate it as such, and I know of archaeologists who wouldn’t have even seen the cup-marks on the stone, so we can’t really apportion blame. (We must recall that businessman Tom Lonsdale and Ilkley Council branded such things as “twenty-first century informal unauthorised carvings” when they sought and succeeded to get large amounts of cash to justify their own ‘brand’ of vandalism and called it ‘art’. Very common amongst those social types.)

References:

Harvey, James, “Notes on Some Undescribed Cup-Marked Rocks at Duntocher, Dumbartonshire”, in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 23, 1889.

Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to the awesome Aisha Domleo and her little dynamic duo for helping us get to this site.

Priest’s Well, Tullibody, Clackmannanshire

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Holy Well: OS Grid Reference – NS 86069 95324

Also Known as:

Canmore ID 47056

Getting Here

Priest Well on 1866 map

Along the A907 Stirling to Alloa road, turn onto the B9096 through Tullibody, turning up Menstrie Road until, on your right, you reach the old graveyard. Walk along the track past the old section and go into the new graveyard. The second pathway down, keep your eyes peeled on the floor and you’ll see it.

Archaeology & History

Just a flat carved stone laid in the expanded graveyard is all that remains to mark the site of this once sacred well. On it, the inscribed slab reads, “Site of the old Priest’s Well – 1905.”

In the 19th century when the waters were still used by local villagers, Robert Kirk (1890) wrote the following,

Site of the old well

Carved commemorative stone

“Like the trees, we will now keep outside the dyke (round the old graveyard) and come to the Priest’s Well. This well, an adjunct of the ancient building, appears to be coeval with the Old Church, and lay a few yards south of the Parsonage, which was demolished at the Reformation. A small piece of ground in the immediate vicinity is known as the ‘Priest’s Croft’, and the adjacent field, tradition imagines to be the site of the original hamlet. When this well, from its proximity to the Churchyard, was condemned as unfit for human use, one old wife was heard to exclaim, “Na, na, I aye like a drink o’ the guid sweet priest.”

Despite being cited in the various Scottish holy wells reports, all mythic history of the site seems to have been forgotten.

References:

Morris, Ruth & Frank, Scottish Healing Wells, Alethea Press: Sandy 1982.
Kirk, Robert, Historical Sketch of Tullibody, Alloa 1890.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Counties of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, HMSO: Edinburgh 1933.
Simpkins, John Ewart, County Folklore – volume VII: Examples of Printed Folk-Lore Concerning Fife, with some Notes on Clackmannan and Kinross-Shires, Folk-Lore Society: London 1914.
Walker, J. Russel, “Holy Wells in Scotland,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries Scotland, volume 17, 1883.

Tillicoultry House Carving, Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire

23/11/201812/10/2024 megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – NS 9240 9752

Also Known as:

Canmore ID 48255

Archaeology & History

A recent visit to try find this intricate carving—the only one of its kind in Clackmannanshire—proved unsuccessful, and so I add it here in the hope that someone might know where it is and bring it back to light. It looked like quite an impressive petroglyph. If the stone isn’t hiding in undergrowth at the edge of someone’s garden, it may well have been destroyed—which would be appalling. As a unique design, this important carving should have been preserved. Even when the Victorian explorers found it, the covering stone circle had been greatly damaged and many stones in the ring had been removed. This carved stone remained intact however. When Mr R. Robertson (1895) and his friend visited the site, it was covered in sand and dirt and had fallen to the side of an internal cist:

“On clearing this away a remarkable feature was brought to light. The block was found to be elaborately ornamented on its sides and upper surface, with rings, spirals and lines. The labour of cutting these in the hard granite with primitive tools of the period must have been very great. Several successful photos of the stone and its carvings were taken by Provost Westwood, Dollar…. This stone has now been removed to the vicinity of Tillicoultry for safety.”

In the same article, George Black told slightly more of the design:

“The covering stone of the cist…bears on the face a series of concentric circles, and spirals springing from one of the groups of circles, Four grooves also unite the same set of circles with the left-hand edge of the stone. On the edge shown in the photograph there is another group, consisting of two concentric circles. The unevenness of the surface of the stone appears to have been of no moment to the sculptor of the circles, as the incisions follow the surface into its sinuosities and depressions.”

Not long after Robertson & Black’s visit, the great megalithomaniac Fred Coles (1899) came here—and he found that the “spirals” that Mr Black described were nothing of the sort.

“The huge irregularly-shaped diorite boulder which covered the cist has several cup-and-ring marks on one face and one side…. These marks are now, so I was informed when inspecting them, very much less distinct than they were when the photograph was taken (above) in 1894. It would be difficult now to describe the incised markings with accuracy; it is difficult even to see them when wet. But…I must take exception to the term ‘spirals’ as applied to any of these ‘rings.’ There are three groups of rings so placed as to make the outermost ring in each group touch that of the others (not an uncommon form), but there is no one true volute.

“…What is more noteworthy is the group of four long parallel, nearly perpendicular grooves issuing (probably) from the outermost ring of the group of five rings, and ending at the edge of the boulder.”

Cole also noted that the carvings were to be found on the upper surface of the stone. It would seem very probable that the excessive erosion which Cole described was due to the fact that the stone was, many centuries earlier, exposed to the elements within the stone circle and not buried as it later came to be. It makes sense.

The excessive erosion was spoken of by the Royal Commission (1933) lads, aswell as the last person to describe the site, Ronald W.B. Morris (1981), who said that during his visits here between 1966-75,

“the author has only found traces of possible cups visible on the rough surface, which has flaked badly.”

Morris (1981) said that the stone measured “1½m by 1¾m by ½m (5½ft x 4½ft x 2ft)”—and was last known to be some 10 yards NW of the Tillicoultry House cottage, but we could locate no trace of the stone or its carving. If anyone is aware of the whereabouts or fate of this important neolithic carving, please let us know.

References:

Coles, Fred R., (1899b) ‘Notices of the discovery of a cist and urns at Juniper Green, and of a cist at the Cunninghar, Tillicoultry, and of some undescribed cup- marked stones’, in Proceedings of the Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 33, 1899.
MacWhite, Eoin, “A New View on Irish Bronze Age Rock-Scribings,” in Journal Royal Society Antiquaries, Ireland, 76:2, 1946.
Morris, Ronald W.B., ‘The cup-and-ring marks and similar sculptures of Scotland: a survey of the southern Counties, part II’, in Proceedings of the Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 100, 1969.
Morris, Ronald W.B., “The Cup-and-Ring and Similar Early Sculptures of Scotland; Part 2 – The Rest of Scotland except Kintyre,” in Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society, volume 16, 1969.
Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Southern Scotland, BAR: Oxford 1981.
Robertson, R., Black, G.F. & Struthers, J., ‘Notice of the discovery of a stone cist and urns at the Cuninghar, Tillicoultry‘, in Proceedings of the Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 29, 1895.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, HMSO: Edinburgh 1933.
Young, Alison, “Cup-and-Ring Markings on Craig Ruenshin, with some Comparative Notes,” in Proceedings of the Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 72, 1937.

Stone of Mannan, Clackmannan, Clackmannanshire

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Legendary Stone: OD Grid Reference – NS 91114 91891

Also Known as:

Canmore ID 48321
Clackmannan Stone
King Robert’s Stone

Getting Here

The Stone of Mannan

Take the A907 road between Alloa and Kincardine, and up the B910 into Clackmannan. To get into the village, depending on which route you’re coming in, go up the Kirk Wynd or the Cattle Market—both of which lead you to the Main Street where, beneath the old clock tower, you’ll see the Market Cross and its companion erection just to the side. You can’t really miss it!

Archaeology & History

The phallic upright!

The history of this curious-looking giant phallic stone, sat quietly on the Main Street of sleepy Clackmannan village, isn’t as heathen as you’d expect when first seeing the huge upright—but there are mysteries and myths gathered about it. The county of Clackmannan itself takes its name from this stone—but not the entire stone that we see today; merely the rounded, smaller element on top. For it’s this that’s the real Mannan Stone. The rest of it, the tall upright pillar, was only attached to the smaller rounded stone—the Stone of Mannan— in the first-half of the 19th century.

First mentioned as a place-name in 12th century writings, the story of the stone was best told by Peter Miller (1889), who wrote:

“The old ‘clack’ or stone that forms the prefix to the name-word Clackmananmust be of considerable antiquity. Its form and appearance have nothing to excite remark. The two larger portions of the stone are battened together with iron, and the portion forming the cleft appears to be detached from the larger one. It is only the legend or tradition respecting its history and its association with the name-word Clackmanan that makes it interesting to the antiquary. Its dimensions are as follows: —It is over 3 feet in length, 2 in breadth, and about the same in thickness. Its form is oval, and it has a deep cleft on its upper side. The stone has nothing peculiar about it to indicate what it may have been originally, or the uses it was made to serve in early times. There is no appearance of its ever having had an inscription or any ornamentation upon it. It is simply a boulder-stone stone of whinstone, such as are found in abundance at the Abbey Craig near Cambuskenneth. It was placed on the tall boulder slab on which it now stands, brought from the Abbey Craig in the year 1833 by the late Robert Bruce of Kennet, and the late Professor Fleming, who was then minister of the parish. Previous to that time it lay on the ground alongside of the old jail and court-house of Clackmannan, close by the old cross of the town…”

Clackmannan Stone (after Miller)

The old stone & its upright

Mr Miller then went on at some length to show the derivation of ‘Clackmannan’ to be from the old Irish, meaning “the stone of the monks.” It seems a plausible theory too. Despite this, Watson (1926) deemed it to be the ‘Stone of Manau’, being deemed vaguely as the people of the land north of the Forth. The great Celtic scholar John Rhys (1888) declared Clackmannan to derive from the Irish deity or hero-figure, Manannan, as have other academic authorities since then. But it’s all just a bit vague if we’re wanting ‘certainty’…

When T.C. Crouther (1936) wrote about this, he said how the Stone of Mannan had originally come from a position only a few hundred yards south of its present spot, at a place known as Lookabootye Brae (NS 912 911), just above where the land begins to drop down closer to sea level. This doesn’t seems too improbable. Close to this spot could once be seen the sacred site of the Lady Well.

At the turn of the 21st century the stone was caged by the local council as it was beginning to crumble and was in danger of collapse; and so, the local council repaired the great upright and its sacred top-stone—albeit at the staggering cost of £160,000!!! As the local people and other masons know to this day, the job could have been done for a fraction of that cost with equal efficiency.

Folklore

Said by T.C. Crouther (1936), the local council, and others to have got its name from the sea god Mannan, other legends have grown around this fascinating old rock. When Edwin Adams (1863) wrote about it, these were the tales that local people gave him:

“Its legendary history is curious. When King Robert Bruce was residing in Clackmannan tower, and before there was a town attached to that regal mansion, he happened, in passing one day near this way on a journey, to stop awhile at the stone and, on going away, left his glove upon it. Not discovering his loss till he had proceeded about half-a-mile towards the south, he desired his servant to go back to the clack (for King Robert seems to have usually spoken his native Carrick Gaelic), and bring his mannan, or glove. The servant said, ‘If ye’ll just look about ye here, I’ll be back wi’t directly,’ and accordingly soon returned with the missing article.

£From this trivial circumstance arose the name of the town which was subsequently reared about the stone, as also that of a farm at which the King stopped, about half-a-mile from the south, on the way to Kincardine, which took its name from what the servant said, namely, ‘Look about ye,’ and is so called to this day.”

But as the various dates in this tale simply don’t add up, it seems that the writer had been easily fooled.

References:

Adams, Edwin, Geography Classified, Chapman Hall: London 1863.
Drummond, James, Scottish Market-Crosses, Neill & Co.: Edinburgh 1861.
Drummond, James,”Notice of Some Stone Crosses, with Especial Reference to the Market Crosses of Scotland,” in Proceedings Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 4, 1862.
Gordon, T Crouther, The History of Clackmannan, Civic Press: Glasgow 1936.
Miller, Peter, “Notices of the Standing Stones of Alloa and Clackmannan,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 23, 1889.
Rhys, John, Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated by Celtic Heathendom, Williams & Norgate London 1888.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Counties of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, HMSO: Edinburgh 1933.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, The Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Clackmannan District and Falkirk District, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1978.
Simpkins, John Ewart, County Folklore – volume VII: Examples of Printed Folk-Lore Concerning Fife, with some Notes on Clackmannan and Kinross-Shires, Folk-Lore Society: London 1914.
Small, John W., Scottish Market Crosses, Eneas Mackay: Stirling 1900.
Watson, W.J., The History of the Celtic Place-names of Scotland, Edinburgh 1926.

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Nataraja’s Foot – Skullduggery

Acknowledgements: Big thanks to author Marion Grace Woolley for use of her photo in this site profile. 🙂