Tag: Strathtay

St. Chad’s Well, Logierait, Perthshire

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Holy Well (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – NN 9677 5199

Also Known as:

  1. Fuaran Chad
  2. St. Cedd’s Well

Archaeology & History

All trace of this once renowned holy well seems to have gone.  It was located, according to the local historian James Kennedy (1927) “on the terrace behind the Church”; although Charles Stewart (1880) earlier told that it was found on the hillside above the church.  On our recent visit here, the level piece of land just above the River Tay, “on the terrace behind the Church” as Kennedy told, had no notable spring of water upon it—but we didn’t check the slope above the road to see if there was anything there. By all accounts it’s long since gone.

There’s also slight confusion regarding the dedication of this well.  Kennedy, once more, ascribed it to have been St Cedd’s Well, the brother of St Chad, and not Chad himself who was venerated here.  But this wasn’t the view of MacKinlay (1893) or Knight (1933) in their major studies.  But let’s leave that element to the hagiologists for the time being!

Tradition told that the spirit of the waters was deeply offended when the annual market in Logierait—dedicated to St Chad/Ched on his saint’s day of August 22—was stopped.  As a result the waters removed themselves and fell back to Earth.  This curious motif is found at a number of wells in other parts of the country.

References:

  1. Kennedy, James, Folklore and Reminiscences of Strathtay and Grandtully, Munro Press: Perth 1927.
  2. Knight, G.A.F., Archaeological Light on the Early Christianizing of Scotland – volume 2, James Clarke: London 1933.
  3. MacKinlay, James M., Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs, William Hodge: Glasgow 1893.
  4. MacKinlay, James M., Influence of the Pre-Reformation Church on Scottish Place-Names, William Blackwood: Edinburgh 1904.
  5. Mitchell, Hugh, Pitlochry District: Its Topography, Archaeology and History, L. Mackay: Pitlochry 1923.
  6. Morris, Ruth & Frank, Scottish Healing Wells, Alethea: Sandy 1982.
  7. Stewart, Charles, The Gaelic Kingdom in Scotland, Maclachlan & Stewart: Edinburgh 1880.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 

Clach na Croiche, Balnaguard, Perthshire

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Standing Stones:  OS Grid Reference – NN 94624 52118

Also Known as:

  1. Balnaguard Farm
  2. Gallows Stone

Getting Here

Site on the 1899 OS-map

Just as you’re coming into Balnaguard village on the B898 road from the eastern side (as if you’ve come via the A9 from near Pitlochry), just where the road crosses a small burn (stream), take the first farm-track on your right and walk down to the end where it meets the field.  Here, walk to your left left and you’ll see a gate that takes you into the field.  You should have already noticed the standing stone before you even open the gate!  It’s about 100 yards in front of you.  You can’t really miss it.

Archaeology & History

Clach na Croiche

Standing alone in this field a short distance south of the River Tay is this fine old standing stone, nearly seven feet high, from whose locale we gaze west to the opening of the Perthshire mountains—but in times gone by it wasn’t alone.  Less than 10 yards east of the Clach na Croiche stood another seven-foot tall standing stone and, some six yards further east (and along the same axis) there may have stood another one, some 7½ feet high.  This alignment ran east-west in line with the rising and setting of the sun at the equinoxes. (whether that was deliberate or not is another matter altogether) and was first noticed by the great antiquarian Fred Coles (1904) in one of his many megalithic ventures.  He wondered “whether they (were) fallen Standing Stones, or the covers of cists” and when they were looked at by Margaret Stewart in 1971 she found that one of them laid beside “a shallow socket outlined with packing stones”—meaning that it had stood upright.  The other stone didn’t seem as certain, although Stewart did report finding “a single cupmark…on the eastern side of the upper surface.”  We’ve yet to see a photo of this carving.

The Clach na Croiche also has its own cup-markings, just above the bottom of the stone on its southern-face.  Margaret Stewart described them  as being “strung out irregularly across the face.”  Sounds about right!  Sadly, somehow, I didn’t get any photos of these when I last visited, but will grab some the next time I’m there.

Looking to the west
Looking to the northeast

In the fields either side of the stones, ancient tombs have been found.  Around 1887, the Duke of Atholl dug under some of the stones in the field and found a “cup” or urn which Coles reported “was found in a cist in the haugh near Tom-na-Croiche.”  Then, in 1969, the farmer John MacBeth was ploughing the field and unearthed another cist some 15 yards north-west of the present upright.  The base of the cist was cobbled and whilst whilst the tomb itself was filled-in, the farmer moved the covering stone to the fence at the west-side of the field (NN 9455 5205).  Also, on the eastern side of the field in 1971, Stewart reported finding what she thought were the remains of cremated bones that seemed to have been part of another prehistoric structure.

Fred Cole’s 1904 sketch
Looking to the southeast

Nearly 250 yards to the west of the stone, in the adjacent field, a huge prehistoric cairn—known as the Sketewan Cairn—was uncovered and fully excavated in the late 1980s.  It originally stood some four feet high and was nearly seventy feet across.  Within the cairn complex, a small standing stone accompanied some cremations.  Unfortunately this entire archaeological site has since been completely covered over.  You wouldn’t even know it was there if you stood right next to it!  But if you want to see Balnaguard’s remaining tombs, head for the Fairy Mound right in the heart of the village…

References:

  1. Coles, Fred, “Report on Stone Circles Surveyed in Perthshire – North Eastern Section,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries Scotland, volume 42, 1908.
  2. Dixon, John H., Pitlochry, Past and Present, L. Mackay: Pitlochry 1925.
  3. Kennedy, James, Folklore and Reminiscences of Strathtay and Grandtully, Munro Press: Perth 1927.
  4. Omand, Donald (ed.), The Perthshire Book, Birlinn: Edinburgh 1999.
  5. Stevenson, J., “Prehistory,” in Omand’s The Perthshire Book, Edinburgh 1999.
  6. Stewart, Margaret E.C., “Perthshire: Balnaguard”, in Discovery & Excavation in Scotland, 1971.
  7. Swarbrick, Olaf, A Gazetteer of Prehistoric Standing Stones in Great Britain, BAR: Oxford 2012.
  8. Yellowlees, Sonia, Cupmarked Stones in Strathtay, Scotland Magazine: Edinburgh 2004.

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 

Drumchanachan, Edradynate, Weem, Perthshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 87937 52593

Also Known as:

  1. Lurgan

Getting Here

The stone in question

Various ways to get here, but it’s probably easiest if you’re coming via Aberfeldy.  From here, go over the river bridge to Castle Menzies and Weem, but turn right once you’ve crossed the bridge and follow the road parallel to the river for just over 3 miles (4.9km) where you’ll reach a tiny road on your left, going uphill.  You can park the car 150 yards up, on your right – then walk uphill (don’t drive any further).  Walk up the road for just over half-a-mile (0.95km) and take the right turn; go along here for 300 yards where the pond appears and keep walking along the same road for another 250 yards till you reach a cottage by a small crossroads.  From here, walk up (left) for another 300 yards where, near the top of the field, a large boulder sits close to the fence.  You’ve arrived!.

Archaeology & History

Drumchanachan carving

On the way back down from a bimble to the beautiful and haunted Loch Derculich, Naomi and I stumbled upon this large stone just off the track below Lurgan farmhouse and found there to be a number of cup-marks on its sloping upper surface.  Naomi was really truly excited! 🙂

On its northwestern surface there’s is a distinct scattering of cup-marks: one in particular near the middle of the stone that’s been deepened in more recent times, as if it was ready to be blown-up and destroyed but, once realised it was a stone of the fairy folk, the operation was terminated and the stone left here to live!  Thankfully…

Close-up of cups
Deep lines of cups

It’s a pretty basic design, consisting of at least eleven cup-marks, mainly running in a line upwards along its westernmost side,  following the edge of a natural ridged contour.  Of the two topmost cups, one of them may have a carved line running to it with a faint semi-circle then emerging from the line around the edge of the cup.  But it’s faint—if it’s real—and the daylight was fading when we came here so this and any other design elements that may exist weren’t too easy to see.  Hopefully I’ll get back up here pretty soon and see if there’s anything else hiding beneath the aged shadows.

It’s a wonderful arena above Edradynate, with countless other ancient sites peppered across the landscape hereby…

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 

Clach Mhor, Aberfeldy, Perthshire

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Cup-Marked Stone (destroyed?):  OS Grid Reference – NN 8575 4901

Also Known as:

  1. Clachmore

Archaeology & History

The Clach Mhor, or the Big Stone, is all but forgotten as an antiquarian relic in Aberfeldy.  It’s history is somewhat piecemeal.  First described in Hugh MacMillan (1884)’s essay on local cup-and-ring stones, he told that:

“A short distance above the village of Aberfeldy, where General Wade’s old road emerges from the houses, a huge stone, called the Clach Mhor, lies on the left-hand side in a slanting position half  erect, as if supported by the garden wall of which it forms a part. …In all likelihood it originally stood erect, and formed one of a group of similar stones, its companions having been broken up in the formation of the road. …On the upper face there are some small cup-markings, not quite so well formed as usual, owing to the hardness of the material… The fact that they occur on only one side of the stone, and are scattered indiscriminately all over its surface, are sufficient to convince any one who is skilled in the subject that they are genuine specimens of prehistoric sculpture.”

Nearly thirty years after this initial description, MacMillan (1901) found that it had previously been a part of The Tullich stone circle, and following its destruction the Clach Mhor was moved and used as “part of a garden wall on the old military road passing along its base.”

More than fifty years later, the Aberfeldy historian N.D. Mackay (1954) told that up to 1910 the Clach Mhor was a conspicuous object, standing “as it were overlooking and to some extent overhanging the roadway down near the Square.” However, it

“was blasted and broken up in 1910 in the course of road widening operations, but a considable part of it was built into, and still forms the lower corner of, the garden boundary wall, nearest The Square, of the house which bears its name, ‘Clachmhor’.  Its present position is slightly east of the site it occupied when I first knew it and, unless Wade’s men did actually move it, the site it occupied for centuries.”

Mackay also mentioned what he called the “indentations” on the stone which MacMillam deemed as cup-marks, but he pointed out that one Rev. John MacLean “believed they were made by the levers, jacks, etc, of (General) Wade’s men” when they cut the road into Aberfeldy in the 18th century, whilst

“A third solution was given by the son of a one-time local strong man called Big Robert, “What a strong man my father was,” he said, “he lifted that stone. Don’t you see the marks of his fingers on it?””

It’s not known what became of the Clach Mhor and whether it remains hiding in some walling, or whether it has met its demise….

References:

  1. Mackay, N.D., Aberfeldy Past and Present, Town Council: Aberfeldy 1954.
  2. MacMillan, Hugh, “Notice of Cup-Marked Stones near Aberfeldy”, in Proceedings Society of Antiquaries Scotland, volume 18, 1884.
  3. MacMillan, Hugh, The Highland Tay, Virtue: London 1901.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

The Tullich, Aberfeldy, Perthshire

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Stone Circle (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – NN 857 489

Archaeology & History

In an early essay on the rock art around Aberfeldy, Hugh MacMillan (1884) remarked on what he thought was a tumulus on the southern slope above the town and where a large old petroglyph once lived.  Subsequently (MacMillan 1901), in his beautiful artistic foray through upper Tayside, he revised his earlier remarks telling that:

“On the side of a high, tree-covered hillock, rising up abruptly behind the central part of Aberfeldy, called the Tullich, there was once a Druidical circle, one of the huge stones of which, called the Clachmore, forms part of a garden wall on the old military road passing along its base.”

The circle was mentioned in Mackay’s (1954) excellent work, albeit in the past tense, and he could add no more to it other than his memory of the whereabouts of the Clach Mhor (as it was more accurately known), on which were numerous cup-markings. (Note: the grid-reference to this site is an approximation)

Folklore

In bygone times the people of Aberfeldy observed the celebration of Samhain, the old pre-christian New Year’s Day—a.k.a. Hallowe’en—on November 11th.  Interestingly for us, “bonfires were numerous and there was always a great blaze on the Tullich,” said Dr John Kennedy. (1901)  Considering the small area of The Tullich, it would be unusual if such festivities did not have some relationship with the stone circle.  Samhain relates primarily to the passing over of the dead in the cycle of the year: the spirits of the ancestors moving through the worlds.  If this circle had such a relationship with the bonfires, it may have been a ring cairn and not a free-standing stone circle.

References:

  1. Kennedy, John, Old Highland Days, Religious Tract Society 1901.
  2. Mackay, N.D., Aberfeldy Past and Present, Town Council: Aberfeldy 1954.
  3. MacMillan, Hugh, “Notice of Cup-Marked Stones near Aberfeldy”, in Proceedings Society of Antiquaries Scotland, volume 18, 1884.
  4. MacMillan, Hugh, The Highland Tay, Virtue: London 1901.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Balnabeggan, Grandtully, Aberfeldy, Perthshire

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Cup-Marked Stone (lost):  OS Grid reference – NN 918 524

Archaeology & History

On the hillside a short distance (probably) south of old Balnabeggan farmhouse, up against some walling at the edge of some natural birch wood, could once be seen—some fifty or sixty years ago—a large, ornately inscribed, quartz-enriched cup-marked stone.  And, although seemingly lost, it shouldn’t be too hard to uncover with a  little bit of bimbling and dedication.  It was described in some considerable detail in John Dixon’s (1922) survey of the Strathtay petroglyphs as being,

Balnabeggan stone, c.1920
1921 sketch of the stone

“roughly hexagonal in shape, but one side is partly hidden by an old dry-stone wall built above it.  The greatest width is 7 feet, whilst a diameter at right angles measures 6 feet.  The thickness or depth of the stone is at least 2 feet, but it may be more underneath, as the stone stands in a wet place in which it may have settled down.

“On the upper surface of the stone are fifty-nine cups of various sizes, the largest measuring 2½ inches in diameter, and from 1 inch to ½ inch, or less, in depth.  A special feature is that four equidistant cups (three in a row and the fourth at a right angle to the centre of the row) are connected by grooves slightly less broad and deep than the cups.  Three pairs of cups are also similarly connected.  The cups connected as described are discernible, but the group of four cups on the low left side of the stone does not appear in the photograph to have its fourth cup (the lowest)  connected, as it really is, with the central cup of the group.”

Mr Dixon’s additional clue as to its whereabouts is that it’s “about 500 feet above sea level.”  So what, pray, has become of it…?

References:

  1. Dixon, John H., “Cup-Marked Stones in Strathtay, Perthshire,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 56, 1922.
  2. Kennedy, James, Folklore and Reminiscences of Strathtay and Grandtully, Munro Press: Perth 1927.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Tobairandonaich, Strathtay, Aberfeldy, Perthshire

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Cup-Marked Stone (lost):  OS Grid reference – NN 8866 5320

Also Known as:

  1. Sunday Well
  2. Tobar an Donich

Archaeology & History

Tobairandonaich stone, c.1920

Located some 30 yards south of a holy well known (in English language) as the Sunday Well, this carving was rediscovered shortly before John Dixon (1922) wrote his survey of petroglyphs in the Strathtay region.  It would seem to have been a large “portable” cup-marked stone that had been placed, face-downward, into an old doorstep at the stable at Easter Tobairandonaich and forgotten about, long long ago.  Then, at the beginning of the 20th century when the people living here had to clear a drain beneath the stable, the stone was moved and the cup-markings were noticed.  The carving was a pretty simplistic design, as you can see, which was described by Mr Dixon as follows:

“The stone…has nineteen cups all on the same face.  The largest cup is 3¾ inches in diameter and 2 inches deep.  The next largest has the same diameter, but is 1½ inch deep.  Other five of the cups are very nearly the same size.  The smallest cup is 1¾ inch in diameter and ½ inch deep, but weathering has effected much towards almost obliterating some of the smaller cups.  The stone is of whinstone with slight veins of quartz.  It is oval in form and varies in thickness from 2½ inches to 4 inches.  Its greatest diameter is 3 feet 2 inches, and its least diameter 2 feet 8 inches.”

Tom MacLaren’s 1921 sketch

The stone would seem to have disappeared as no one has seen it for fifty years or more.  It may (hopefully) be in one of the walls, or perhaps buried somewhere under the soil.  Or maybe, tragically, some fuckwit has destroyed it.  Twouldst be good to find out one way or the other.  The photograph above, taken by Mr Dixon sometime around 1920, is the only thing that remains of the carving.

In this small part of Strathtay we are fortunate in finding a cluster of petroglyphs with folklore about them relating to our faerie and witch folk. Some larger man-made stone “bowls” in the area were also used as “praying stones.”  I have little doubt that the people who originally used this carving as a doorstep were fully aware of the cup-marks—and I’d suggest that they even put it here on purpose, probably as a form of protection from the fairies who might have stolen or caused sickness to the horses.

References:

  1. Dixon, John H., “Cup-Marked Stones in Strathtay, Perthshire,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 56, 1922.
  2. Kennedy, James, Folklore and Reminiscences of Strathtay and Grandtully, Munro Press: Perth 1927.
  3. Yellowlees, Walter, Cupmarked Stones in Strathtay, Scotland Magazine: Edinburgh 2004.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Craig Hill cluster (5), Kenmore, Perthshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 81305 44422

Getting Here

Craig hill cluster (5) stone

From Kenmore go east up the steep mountain road towards Glen Quaich, or if you’re coming from Amulree, go west along the same glen.  After 2½ miles (4km) up the Kenmore route (nearly 9 miles on the Amulree route) you’ll reach a small lochan on your left (you’ve got a very small parking spot a coupla hundred yards before the loch).  A gate and stile past the loch takes you east along a track into the moors.  More than a mile on, the track splits, but you need to keep to the left and follow the track along the wall-side for another 400 yards or so, where you’ll see a small crag of rocks 100 yards down the slope on your right. Once here, the deformed triangle-shaped stone to the left-side of the cluster is the one you’re looking for.

Archaeology & History

About four yards west of the Craig Hill cluster (3) carving, this gently smooth sloping rock was initially noted to have between six and seven cup-marks on it.  Under the grey skies it was difficult to see any of this clearly, and so we wet the surface when Nature gave us some short bursts of light through the clouds which then enabled us to get a much better look at the design—but it’s still far from clear.

Curious eye motif
Central elements of carving

We found at least eight cups on here, two of which had single rings: the one near the top of the stone seems to be complete, whilst the other nearest the bottom of the stone looks to be incomplete.  Another cup had a curious double ring; whilst the one nearest the middle of the stone has what may be three rings, with what could be a carved line running from its centre—but it’s very difficult to say with certainty until we’ve made another visit.  I have little doubt that there’s more to this petroglyph than we could make out beneath the grey skies.  On the west-side of the stone, the “curious” double-ring has, as its outer surround, an “eye” motif, or lozenge, which is also found on the Craig Hill cluster (3)  stone a few steps away.  The eye motif on both stones have the same levels of erosion and, I would suggest, were carved within a century or two of each other; perhaps even around the same time.

This one’s well worth checking out!

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks to Prof Paul Hornby for use of his photos in this site profile; and to Myrna Hurley for getting us up there.  Cheers doods. 😉

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Craig Hill cluster (3), Kenmore, Perthshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 81307 44419

Getting Here

Craig Hill petroglyph cluster

From Kenmore go east up the steep mountain road towards Glen Quaich, or if you’re coming from Amulree, go west along the same glen.  After 2½ miles (4km) up the Kenmore route (nearly 9 miles on the Amulree route) you’ll reach a small lochan on your left (you’ve got a very small parking spot a coupla hundred yards before the loch).  A gate and stile past the loch takes you east along a track into the moors.  More than a mile on, the track splits, but you need to keep to the left and follow the track along the wallside for another 400 yards or so, where you’ll see a small crag of rocks 100 yards down the slope on your right. That’s your target!

Archaeology & History

The stone in question

One of at least six rocks next to each other that possess cup-and-rings, this is the most notable of the bunch inasmuch as it’s the one that stands out above all the others.  At first sight it doesn’t look impressive: a shallow scatter of nine or ten cup-marks can be seen when the light’s alright, but that’s about it.  This is what George Currie (2005) noticed when he first came across it in 2004, describing it simply as “a boulder with 10 cups” a few yards away from one of it’s fellow petroglyphs (CR19, or the Craig Hill cluster-2 carving).  But there’s much more to it than that.  Unfortunately when we visited here, we weren’t blessed with good daylight, so were unable to get a decent appraisal of the entire design and have most probably missed some elements.

Curious double-ringed eye
General overview of design

On the top sloping surface are  six or seven cup-marks; another two or three are on a secondary lower level of the stone.  Of those on the top, at least two of them have surrounding rings: one with a carved line coming out to the south-east; the other having a more extravagant appearance, surrounded by what looks like a secondary outer “oval”, or eye-shaped design.  It’s unusual.  Other lines intersect these cup-and-rings, but it was difficult to say with any certainty whether they were Nature’s handiwork, or had been modified by humans.  Below these on a slightly lower level are two or three single cup-marks, one of which, close to the edge of the rock, appears to have an incomplete ring round it—but this might have just been a trick of the light.  Another visit is required for a better appraisal…

References:

  1. Currie, George, “Craig Hill (Dull parish): Cup-and-Ring Marked Rocks,”in Discovery & Excavation Scotland, NS Volume 6, 2005.

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks to Prof Paul Hornby for use of his photos in this site profile; and to Myrna Hurley for getting us up there.  Cheers doods. 😉

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Craig Hill cluster (6), Kenmore, Perthshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 81307 44422

Getting Here

Craig Hill cluster (6) stone

Follow the same directions to reach either the Craig Hill cluster (3), no.4 or no.5 carvings.  Once here, looking at the sloping moorland ahead of you, the elongated stone that’s closest to where the moorland slopes downhill is the one you’re after.  Y’ can’t really miss it!

Archaeology & History

The sixth carving in this small close-knit cluster and, design-wise, the least impressive of the bunch.  There are three distinct cup-marks on the rock: two on its more southern side and one near the middle of the stone.  There may be another two cups, but these may have been part of the curious long, naturally-eroded line running along the length of the stone.  Other man-made elements may have been cut into the stone, but it needs to be seen in perfect low light to tell us one way or the other.

References:

  1. Currie, George, “Craig Hill (Dull parish): Cup-and-Ring Marked Rocks,”in Discovery & Excavation Scotland, NS Volume 6, 2005.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian