Tag: Scottish heritage

Black Park (1), Callander, Perthshire

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Cairn:  OS Grid Reference – NN 66612 07349

Also Known as:

  1. Black Wood
  2. Sruth Geal

Getting Here

Black Park (1) cairn, looking south

Less than a mile east of Callander on the main A84 road, nearly 300 yards past the entrance to the Keltie Bridge caravan park, take the tiny road on your left (north) and barely 100 yards along turn right and go up here for excatly 1 mile (give or take a few yeards) where  track goes into the forest on your left and you can park-up here.  Walk up the track into the silence for just under a mile where, as the track splits and you kink to the right, a gate appears.  On the other side of the gate, turn immediately left, almost walking back on yourself, just above the curving waters of a burn, through boggy reeds, keeping to the fence-line until, less than 300 yards along, you’ll reach what you’re looking for.

Archaeology & History

Black Park (1), looking W

This reasonably large cairn and its neighbours (Black Park [2], [3], [4] and [5]) would appear to be relatively new discoveries as I can find nothing about it prior to the Royal Commission’s 1994 survey.  They are even absent from Moray MacKay’s (1953) excellent work on the area!  Hence, descriptions of it are scant and visitors to the place are few indeed (we did meet a local who knew about the old tomb, but said that nothing was known about it); but it is, nonetheless, a fine, albeit denuded and very overgrown cairn, living today amidst a quiet mass of reeds and surrounded by boggy ground—so make sure you’ve got your boots on!

Internal line of stonework
Black Park (1), looking SE

At its height, today, it stands less than four feet tall and measures roughly 16 yards across at its widest.  Through one section of the tomb there runs a raised line of stonework that almost looks like internal walling, which may have been where a chamber once existed.  It’s been hollowed out by someone in the not-too-distant past but, as I said, there are no records of such a thing, so whether or not that was a chamber or merely a fortuituous collapse of stone in a straight line, we can’t really say.  Along its more northern edges there seems to be a small raised wall of stone defining its edge, although once again it requires a more discerning examination to work out whether this is part of its original facade, or is a result of some of the stone mass falling to the edges.

Visit the old place and sit with its silence for a while…

References:

  1. Royal Commission Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Braes of Doune: An Archaeological Survey, RCAHMS: Edinburgh 1994.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Lamancha, Newlands, Peeblesshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NT 200 522

Also Known as:

  1. La Mancha

Archaeology & History

Simpson’s 1867 drawing

This is what I’ve come to term dyslexic cup-and-rings, due simply to the fact that it’s a cup-and-ring stone carving, but the cup in the centre hasn’t been carved out or pecked away.  They’re rare – but for some odd reason, a small cluster of them occurs in this part of lowland Scotland.  The Drumelzier carving 13 miles SSW is one; the Carnwath carving 14 miles west is another; 14 miles to the south, the multiple-ringed carving in the Woodend cairn had no defined pivotal cup; and in Childe & Taylor’s (1938) short piece on the Hawthornden petroglyphs near Roslyn (less than 10 miles northeast), they noted—like Simpson & Thawley (1972) years later—the peculiarity of “the complete absence of cups”, akin to Lamancha’s carved rings. (although we should be cautious about the archiac nature of the Hawthornden carvings)

The carving here was first mentioned by one of the great petroglyphic pioneers James Simpson (1866; 1867):

“A broken slab, about two feet square, covered with very rude double rings and a spiral circle, was found by Mr Mackintosh, at La Mancha, in Peeblesshire, in digging in a bank of gravel.  There were some other large stones near it; none of them marked.  Possibly this stone, therefore, is sepulchral in its character.”

Lamancha carving (G. & A. Ritchie, 1972 )

Eoin MacWhite (1946) was somewhat sceptical of Simpson’s “sepulchral” association, simply due to there being no account of a burial here.  But in Simpson & Thawley’s (1972) survey of passage grave art, they thought the Lamancha carving was from “a possible cist slab.”  We might never know for sure one way or the other.

The carving ended up living in Edinburgh’s National Museum where it should, hopefully, still be on display.  As a result of this, it received the attention of the Royal Commission doods who gave a good description of the design in their Peeblesshire Inventory (1967).  They state that it

“is irregular in shape and has maximum dimensions of 2ft 6in by 1ft 10in; it averages 4in in thickness. The markings, which have all been formed by the pecking technique, occur mainly on one face, the most common symbol being single or double rings. There are four complete double-ring symbols, in which the outer rings measure from 5in to 7in in diameter, and the inner rings from 2in to 4in.  Round the margin of the face there are the broken arcs of five more double-ring symbols and of five single rings and one small V -shaped figure. As well as the ring markings there is a double-spiral, each lobe of which measures about 4in in diameter.  In one lobe the spiral has two and a half turns and in the other only one turn.  In addition, in a space which is otherwise free of  markings, there is an area, about 4in square, heavily pitted with punch-marks measuring one-eighth of an inch across and one-sixteenth of an inch in depth.  A remarkable feature of the stone is that three incomplete single ring symbols have been made on one edge. They have been formed by the same technique and measure 3in across; as in all the other symbols, the grooves themselves  measure about half an inch in width and about one-eighth of an inch in depth.”

References:

  1. Childe, V.G. & Taylor, John, “Rock Scribings at Hawthornden, Midlothian,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 73, 1938.
  2. McWhite, Eoin, 1946 “A New View on Irish Bronze Age Rock-Scriblings”, in Journal Royal Society Antiquaries, Ireland, vol. 76, 1946.
  3. Morris, Ronald W.B., “The Cup-and-Ring Marks and Similar Sculptures of South-West Scotland,” in Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society, volume 14, 1967.
  4. 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.
  5. Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Southern Scotland, BAR: Oxford 1981.
  6. Ritchie, Graham & Anna, Edinburgh and South-East Scotland, Heinnemann: London 1972.
  7. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Peeblesshire – volume 1, Aberdeen University Press 1967.
  8. Simpson, D.D.A. & Thawley, J.E., “Single Grave Art in Britain,” in Scottish Archaeological Forum, no.4, 1972.
  9. Simpson, J.Y., “On Ancient Sculpturings of Cups and Concentric Rings,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 6, 1866.
  10. Simpson, James, Archaic Sculpturings of Cups, Circles, etc., Upon Stones and Rocks in Scotland, England and other Countries, Edmonston & Douglas: Edinburgh 1867.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Tweed Ford, Drumelzier, Peeblesshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone (removed):  OS Grid Reference – NT 12364 32627

Also Known as:

  1. Drumelzier Carving

Archaeology & History

Position of stone in cairn

A carving that was located at the edge of a cairn on a knoll on the east-side of the River Tweed, this is an odd design that now lives in Edinburgh’s central museum: odd, inasmuch as the design looks as if it’s a typical cup-and-ring carving, yet none of the cups on this stone were ever hollowed or pecked out, and so the “cups”, so to speak, are actually small rings (if that makes sense!).  There are a number of similar unhollowed “cups” on other carvings that are found associated with prehistoric tombs, so perhaps this aspect was something of a burial trend—amongst a very small tribal group, perhaps… It’s an element that was remarked upon in Simpson & Thawley’s (1972) examination of petroglyphs in neolithic tombs that were called “passage grave style” carvings: a sort of dyslexic cup-and-ring design no less!  The intriguing thing about this carving is that it’s one in a small cluster of dyslexic cup-and-rings that are found in this part of Scotland—in an area where rock art itself is pretty scarce.  Which begs the question: was it a local tribal style?  Anyhow…

The carving was first uncovered when J.H. Craw (1930) excavated the aforementioned cairn, finding therein a number of cists.  There’s speculation that the petroglyph might originally have been a covering stone for one of the cists, but we don’t know for sure. Craw described the carving as follows:

Craw’s 1930 sketch
Ron Morris’ 1981 sketch

“The ring-marked slab…measures 3 feet by 2 feet by 6 inches.  It lay at the north side of the cairn (highlighted in sketch, PB), outside the encircling ring, but may originally have been the cover of cist No.2.  On the upper side are five shallow ring-markings, four being double and one single.  The former measure 3 inches to 4 inches in diameter, and the latter 1¾ inch.  The figures are thus much smaller than in typical cup-and-ring-marked stones, and the lines are only ¼ inch in width.  The only similar markings known to me are on a slab which I found a number of years ago near the site of several former cairns, and forts at Harelawside near Grant’s House, Berwickshire.  The stone is now in our Museum.”

The “museum” in question being Edinburgh’s National Museum (I don’t know if it’s in a box somewhere or on public display, which is where it needs to be).  If anyone can get a good photo of this carving, please send it to us or add it on on our Facebook group.

References:

  1. Craw, J.H., “The Excavation of a Cairn at Drumelzier, Peeblesshire,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 65, 1930.
  2. 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.
  3. Morris, Ronald W.B., “The Cup-and-Ring Marks and Similar Sculptures of Scotland: A Survey of the Southern Counties – part 2,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 100, 1969.
  4. Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Southern Scotland, BAR: Oxford 1981.
  5. Ritchie, Graham & Anna, Edinburgh and South-East Scotland, Heinnemann: London 1972.
  6. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Peeblesshire – volume 1, Aberdeen University Press 1967.
  7. Simpson, D.D.A. & Thawley, J.E., “Single Grave Art in Britain,” in Scottish Archaeological Forum, no.4, 1972.

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Easter Brackland, Callander, Perthshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 65736 07989

Getting Here

The carved stone in situ

Less than a mile east of Callander on the main A84 road, nearly 300 yards just past the entrance into the Keltie Bridge caravan park, take the tiny road on your left (north) and barely 100 yards along where a small crossroads can be said to exist, go straight forward up the tiny single-track road ahead of you.  Literally 0.62 miles, or 1km up, park on the right-side of the road where a small grassy track runs up the slope.  From here, you need to keep walking up the road itself, bearing right just past the small bridge and, about 350 yards along you’ll see a notable rise in the field on your right less than 100 yards in.  Head straight for it!

Archaeology & History

Despite this being a very basic simplistic design, I’m somewhat disappointed in myself as when we visited here, She was pouring with rain and for some reason or other I didn’t indulge myself in the soaking muddy ground and peel back the dung-infested turf to see the entire surface of this stone—and so, as a result, didn’t see the carving in its entirety.  I’d have got soaked and been covered in shit! 🙂  But later this day we were visiting an antique centre and book-dealer straight afterwards, so for once I couldn’t play in the mud.  Damn those neat and tidy folk!

It’s nowt special to look at in all honesty, but it’s in a good state of preservation as it was seemingly uncovered in pretty recent times beneath the curious large mass of loose stones right next to it.  The stone mass gives the impression of it being a ruined cairn, but seems more likely to be a clearance cairn that was piled up, quite fortuitously, next to the cup-marked rock.

The carving consists of eight cup-marks (not all shown in these photos): five large and prominent, one not so prominent, and two that are small and very shallow.  The more distinct cups would seem to have been worked and re-worked many times, obviously possessing a practical nature of some sort.  As we can see in the photos, four of the larger cups stand out, whilst the small ones can be difficult to see.  If there are any petroglyphic locals who fancy getting up here to clear the rest of the stone to see if there are more cup-marks underneath the soil, please let us know!  Perhaps check it out when you’re looking at the nearby cairns at Ballachraggan and beyond.

References:

  1. Main, Lorna & Page, R., “Easter Brackland, Stirling,” in Discovery & Excavation Scotland, volume 2, 2001.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Woodend, Mossfennan, Broughton, Peeblesshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NT 12136 31360

Also Known as:

  1. Mossfennan Farm

Archaeology & History

Carving, looking W: courtesy Jim Ness

A little-known multiple ringed carving was discovered a few years ago during the excavation of a prehistoric cairn just immediately east of the A701 roadside, several miles south of Broughton.  The cairn itself had been recognised many years prior to the recent excavation, when one of two cists inside it was noted by R.B.K. Stevenson (1940), and which was subsequently described in slightly more detail in the Royal Commission Inventory (1967).  But when the modern investigation was undertaken by the Biggar Archaeology Group in 2008, a damaged but impressive carving was uncovered that somehow hadn’t been noticed before.  It was described in Tam Ward’s (2008) excavation report where he told that,

Carving in situ (photo courtesy Jim Ness)
Carving looking N: courtesy Jim Ness

“lying almost immediately on the east side of Cist 1 is an angular rock…measuring 1m long and over 0.3m wide on the uppermost face, itself lying at an angle facing SW and away from  the cist.  The rock has fractured due to weathering in post deposition times, as indeed several other surface stones had, but on the widest part of the upper surface are at least seven concentric lines faintly pecked into the smooth flat surface of the stone. The lines are up to 10mm wide and appear to have been intended to form semi ovals on the edge of the rock.  The outer ring forms an arc of c270mm on the long axis by c140mm on the short one (the former measurement being straight between the ends of the lines and the latter being a radius across the design). The terminals of the inner curved line are about 80mm apart. The lines are slightly irregular in distance from one another. Although it is far from certain, it does not appear that the rock has been part of a larger one with a more complete design on it, rather the pecking appears not to have been finished since the surface of the rock is similar in appearance overall while the abrasion of the carving varies.”

Fractured design (photo courtesy Jim Ness)

The carving remains in place with the cist, which was covered back over when the excavation had been finished.

Carvings such as this are uncommon in this neck o’ the woods; although less than a mile downstream from here, on the other side of the river, another petroglyph—known as the Drumelzier carving—accompanied another prehistoric tomb.  Apart from this, there’s a great scarcity of carvings scattering the Lowlands—although it’s likely that there are others hiding away, waiting to be found on these hills…

References:

  1. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Peeblesshire – volume 1, Aberdeen University Press 1967.
  2. Stevenson, R.B.K., “Cists near Tweedsmuir,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 74, 1940.
  3. Ward, Tam , “Excavation of a Bronze Age burial cairn at Woodend, Mossfennan Farm, Upper Tweeddale,” Biggar Archaeology 2008.

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks to Jim Ness and Tam Ward of the Biggar Archaeology Group for use of the photos in this site profile. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Witch’s Stone, Bankfoot, Perthshire

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Standing Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NO 04236 37526

Getting Here

Witch’s Stone, looking NW

Travel along the B867 road from Bankfoot to Dunkeld (running roughly parallel with the A9) and you’ll reach the hamlet of Waterloo about one mile north of Bankfoot.  As you approach the far end of the village, keep your eyes peeled for the small turning on your left and head up there for just over a mile.  The road runs to a dead end at Meikle Obney farm, but shortly before reaching there you’ll pass this large standing stone on the right-side of the road, just along the fence-line.  It’s almost impossible to miss!

Archaeology & History

This is one of “the large rude upright stones found in the parish” that William Marshall (1880) mentioned briefly, amidst his quick sojourn into the Druidic history of Perthshire.  It’s an impressive standing stone on the southern edges of the Obney Hills that doesn’t seem to be in its original position.  And it’s another one that was lucky to survive, as solid metal staples were hammered into it more than a hundred years ago when it was incorporated into the fencing, much like the massive Kor Stone 6½ miles south-west of here.

Site shown on 1867 map
Witch’s Stone at roadside

Shown on the first Ordnance Survey map of the area in 1867, its bulky 6½-foot-tall body stands all alone on this relatively flat plain, with open views to the east, south and west.  It gave me the distinct impression that it was once part of a larger megalithic complex, but I can find no additional evidence to substantiate this.  Call it a gut-feeling if you will.  Intriguingly, the closest site to this are two standing stones just out of view literally ⅔-mile (1.07km) to the northeast, aligned perfectly to the Witch’s Stone!  Most odd…

Folklore

The story behind this old stone is a creation myth that we find all over the country, but usually relating to prehistoric tombs more than monoliths.  The great Fred Coles (1908) wrote:

“the common legend is told of a witch who, when flying through the air on some Satanic behest, let the Stone fall out of her apron.”

Looking West
Fred Coles’ 1908 sketch
Looking East

References:

  1. Coles, Fred, “Report on Stone Circles Surveyed in Perthshire – North-eastern Section,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 42, 1908.
  2. Marshall, William, Historic Scenes in Perthshire, William Oliphant: Edinburgh 1880.
  3. Stewart, Elizabeth, Dunkeld – An Ancient City, Munro Press: Perth 1926.

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Kor Stone, Logiealmond, Perthshire

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Standing Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 9733 3004

Also Known as:

  1. Car Stone
  2. Carse Stone

Getting Here

The huge Kor Stone

Take the tiny long winding B8063 road that runs west off the A9 at Luncarty, meandering eventually to the entry of the Sma’ Glen.  If you’re coming via Luncarty, after going west for 8 miles (12.9km) you pass the hamlet of Harrietfield and just a few hundred yards further a dirt-track on your right goes uphill to Milton.  If you’re coming via Crieff/Sma’ Glen direction, along the B8063 road, cross the Bridge of Buchanty and after nearly 3 miles (4.7km) just past a bit of a hairpin, you’ll see the track up to Milton on your left.  Walk up, past all the newly modernised houses and go through the gate, bearing right where, in the field on your right (thru another gate) you’ll see this big fella standing alone 200 yards to the east along the fence-line.

Archaeology & History

Looking N to Crochan Hill

This is a bit of a hidden beauty!  Standing nearly ten feet tall on the crest of an elongated ridge with the land ever so gently declining either side of its proud stand, it beckons the impression of partners long since gone (or something truly olde)… and so it proved to be.  Very little has been written about the place, despite its impressive stature.  It seems to have been described firstly in J.W. Thomson’s essay on the local parish in April 1837 (subsequently published in the NSA in 1845) where, ascribing it as usual to the druids of olde, he told that,

“at the western extremity of Logiealmond, there is one remarkable block about 12 feet high and 18 feet in circumference, standing upon its narrow end, with three other stones in its immediate vicinity.  It is commonly called the Kor Stone.”

Kor Stone, looking SE

Fred Coles’ 1911 sketch

William Marshall (1880) also mentioned these three additional standing stones, saying that they were “apparently part of a row.”  But they are long gone and we know not what became of them.  They were probably uprooted and included in some of the nearby walling or buildings (quite a lot of suspicious-looking stones scatter the edges of many fields around Logiealmond).  If we look closely at the surface of our Kor Stone, in earlier times someone has fixed metal loops into the monolith to make it part of an early fence or gate.

The stone was highlighted on the 1867 OS-map of the area and described in the accompanying Name Book,

“Carse” Stone on 1867 map

“A stone about ten feet high, supposed by some people to be the remains of a Druidical Circle, by others to be a mark on a division of lands: in support of the latter supposition they bring forward the fact of a large stone at Dunkeld and one near Fowlis – both similar to this one – and The Carse Stane being in the same straight line.”

The great Fred Coles (1911) also gave the place his attention, but apart from a brief description of its size and position, he found no additional lore about the other three stones, telling us simply:

“It is an imposingly large and erect block of rugged whinstone, 9 feet 9 inches in height, with a basal girth of 15 feet 10 inches, but at about midway of its height the girth increases to fully 17 feet. The view…shows the Stone as seen from the east.”

In truth, the location of this giant stone on the ridge strongly suggests it was once part of a much greater megalithic neolithic monument.  But whatever that might have looked like, we may never know.  It’s an awesome site though.  Well worth checking out if you’re in the area.

References:

  1. Coles, Fred, “Report on Stone Circles Surveyed in Perthshire, Principally Strathearn” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 45, 1911.
  2. Finlayson, Andrew, The Stones of Strathearn, One Tree Island: Comrie 2010.
  3. Marshall, William, Historic Scenes in Perthshire, William Oliphant: Edinburgh 1880.
  4. Thomson, J.W., “Parish of Moneydie,” in New Statistical Account of Scotland – volume X: Perth, William Blackwood: Edinburgh 1845.

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Hallyne, Peebles, Peeblesshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone (removed):  OS Grid Reference – NT 1872 4072

Archaeology & History

Included in the standard catalogues by Ronald Morris (1967; 1969), this carving was brought to light fortuitously by the local farmer who, thankfully, recognized its archaeological importance.  Etched into a small flat broken block of stone, he noticed a cup-marking and the remains of a triple-ring around it, with grooves running out from the central cup.  It was described in detail by the Royal Commission (1967) lads in their county survey where they told:

R.W.B. Morris’ 1967 photo

Hallyne carving in Peebles Museum

“During the excavations at the Roman fort at Lyne…in June 1959, a stone bearing cup-and-ring markings was found lying beside the fence that crosses the North Annexe.  According to local information it was found while ploughing in the field on the NE side of the fence.  It is a sandstone block, measuring 1ft 5in by one foot, and with an average thickness of 8in.  It is clearly a mere fragment of what must have been a larger slab, but it is impossible to estimate its original dimensions.  The markings consist of a single well-formed cup, 2in in diameter and three-quarters of an inch in depth, now partly surrounded by the broken arcs of three rings, which, if complete, would measures about 4in, 7in and 10in in diameter respectively.  The rings are all half an inch in width and one eighth of an inch in depth.  From the innermost ring two radial grooves, set one inch apart, extend outwards for a maximum distance of 4in.  They interrupt the two outer rings, which stop short on either side of them, leaving a gap of about half an inch.  The grooves are slightly narrower and shallower than the rings.  The whole symbol has been formed by the pecking technique and punchmarks are still remarkably fresh.  Outside the outermost ring there is a very shallow depression, one inch in diameter, which may be another cup-mark; in addition there are several recent scars caused by the plough.”

It was moved to the museum in Peebles shortly after being found and remains there to this day, apparently.  I’ve not seen it.

References:

  1. Morris, Ronald W.B., “The Cup-and-Ring Marks and Similar Sculptures of South-West Scotland,” in Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society, volume 14, 1967.
  2. 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.
  3. Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Southern Scotland, BAR: Oxford 1981.
  4. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Peeblesshire – volume 1, HMSO: Edinburgh 1967.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Stroness (3), Fowlis Wester, Perthshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 9285 2754

Getting Here

Stroness (3) stone

If you can make your way to the Stroness (2) carving, then walk down the slope for less than 50 yards past quite a few other earthfast stones, you’ll eventually run into the stone shown here in the photos.  You’ll find it easily enough.

Archaeology & History

This carving was found when I was heading down the hillside to meet up with my antiquarian colleague 500 yards lower down.  The sun was just setting, so visibility wasn’t good, but as I rushed from stone to stone feeling each one in the hope of finding a carving, this one gave my fingers that distinct feedback of a cup-marking; then another; and what seemed like another.  I had a small amount of water left in a bottle and quickly sprayed it over the surface of the stone and saw that there were indeed a number of cups on it.  Two or three certainly – but possibly as many as five.  I laid on the wet ground and looked across its even surface from several angles and caught what seemed to be a very faint semi-circle around one of the cups.  But I wasn’t sure it was real.  However, on a number of quick photos I took, several of them do appear to show such an arc around one of the cups.  But I’m very cautious about it.  Only when we (or you) go back up and have a look at it in good light will we be able to affirm or discount it.

One additional feature that needs mentioning is a small low arc of walling just above this stone.  It’s man-made, it’s very old, but I couldn’t work out what it might be: hut circle, cairn (there’s one further up the hill), enclosure walling.  I’m not sure, but it needs to be looked at when we have a full day.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Stroness (2), Fowlis Wester, Perthshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 92774 27569

Also Known as:

  1. Buchanty Hill

Getting Here

Stroness (2), looking SW

The minor road that runs roughly north-south between the hamlets of Fowlis Wester and Buchanty is probably your best bet.  Nearly 2 miles north of the village up the tiny winding lane, where the moorland at the roadside finishes and the fields begin – is where to take the track, left, up onto the hillside.  But after just 75 yards, go left over the rickety-gate and follow the walling until your reach the burn.  Follow this up all the way to its source (it’s boggy as hell) and, once you’re there, walk due north for 250 yards until you reach a cluster of rocks.  Look around!

Archaeology & History

It’s a long way to come to see such a simplistic design —but for the real petroglyph researchers among you, it’s worth it the trek.  It’s had scant attention.  George Currie (2004) seems to have been the only person to mention this stone, giving the standard bland description typifying archaeology.  He wrote:

“SE-facing slope, 1.2m long pointed rock aligned E-W; three shallow cups, 30-40 x 6-10mm.”

Inspiring stuff, ey?!  Anyhow… As usual, there’s more to it than that.  If we assume that the carving described above is the same one I visited yesterday (Mr Currie’s grid-ref is slightly different), even despite the poor daylight, it was obvious there was more than three cup-marks on this.

Lower cups & upper cups

Cups on top

When I got to this stone, the evening sun was literally touching the horizon and so the light cutting across half the rock highlighted very little indeed.  I was rushing, trying to fondle and see as much as I could before the darkening sky clouded everything, and as I almost frenetically sprayed showers of water across its surface, the two or three cups that I could see near the crown of the stone suddenly doubled in number.  Two cups along one edge became three; whilst the sloping surface above these that had one cup suddenly seemed to have a companion.  On the highest part of this gently sloping stone, the form of one of the two distinct cup-marks that first caught my eye seemed to slowly morph into one of the carved “footprint” designs, akin to those clustered on the Ardoch (2) carving 1½ miles south-west of here.  However, this element needs looking at again, as it may have been a curious playful trick between stone and light showing me something that wasn’t there!  Things like that happen with stones.

Altogether there are at least six cup-marks on here, but perhaps as many as eight.  Obviously, if we (or you) visit the site when the light is much better, an even larger design might emerge from this old rock.

I spent perhaps just five minutes here, before heading back down to meet my companion 500 yards below in the midst of the boggy moorland.  Usually a carving gets my fondles for a an hour or two, but conditions weren’t good for us to form a healthy relationship. And so, as I headed downhill, another unrecorded cup-marked stone appeared beneath my rushing feet (Stroness [3] carving)— and I spoke with that for only a couple of minutes.  We need to come back up here and zigzag to find other companions that lay sleeping, forgotten for countless centuries…

References:

  1. Currie, George, ‘Buchanty Hill (Fowlis Wester parish): Cup-marked Rocks’, in Discovery & Excavation Scotland, volume 5, 2004.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian