Legendary Rock: OS Grid Reference – NN 82519 22021
Also Known as:
Samson Stone on 1866 map
Tale the A85 road between Comrie and Crieff and, roughly halfway between the two towns, take the minor road south to Strowan (it’s easily missed, so be aware!). A few hundred yards along, stop where the trees begin and walk into the fields immediately east. Keep walking, below the line of the trees, and you’ll get to it within five minutes.
Archaeology & History
Samson’s Stone, looking east
Mistakenly cited by some as a standing stone, the large boulder which rests here on the hillside just below the woodland is a glacial erratic. Highlighted on the 1866 OS-map of the region, I hoped that we might find some rock art on the stone, but cup-and-rings there were none. However, there is a curious ‘footprint’ on top of it, similar to the ones found at Dunnad, at Murlaganmore and other places (see Bord 2004); but I can find no previous reference to this carved footprint.
‘Footprint’ on top of stone
In 1863 the site was described in the local Name Book, where it was reported to be “a large oblong shaped stone lying on the surface, eight feet long, four wide, and three thick”; but, much like today, it was also reported that “There is no tradition respecting it in the neighbourhood. Supposed to have received the name in consequence of its great size.”
Most peculiar…..
References:
- Bord, Janet, Footprints in Stone, Heart of Albion Press 2004.
© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian
Samson Stone is certainly not a glacial erratic!
This boulder is in the exact centre of 29 ancient sites, has a carved footprint on its surface as well as a basin holding rainwater (both badly eroded).
It is mica schist on top of conglomerate.
There is a very similar boulder at Kilmahog, near Callander, some 25 miles away.
Both boulders are 350 yards away from vitrified forts.
The forts and the boulders are all on top of the Highland Boundary Fault.
Glaciers do not drop shaped boulders on top of hills and on geological faults.