Galashiels

Gala House Museum (2), Galashiels, Selkirkshire

03/01/202403/01/2024 megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – NT 49165 35897

Archaeology & History

One of two petroglyphs housed in the Gala House Museum, whose background is somewhat of a mystery. When the northern antiquarian Paul Hornby visited the museum, his enquiries regarding its history and place of origin drew a blank. This small squared block of stone has obviously been broken from a larger piece, but the whereabouts of its adjoining fragments are unknown. The section that remains that we see here is somewhat more complex than it’s companion petroglyph, comprising as it does (in the photo on the right) a concentric cup-and-two-rings,with another arc above it that has a carved line running vertically into it. An elongated cup-mark sits to the side of this line. On the lower-left side we can see where a fragment of the stone has been broken off and here is a cup marking with a double arc above it, that may originally have been another cup-and-two rings. The curious angular lines at the bottom of the stone look like more recent scratches, perhaps from an industrial machine (tractor?) created when the stone was moved from its place of origin. If anyone knows anything about this carving, please let us know.

Acknowledgments: Big thanks to Prof Hornby for use of his photo.

Gala House Museum (1), Galashiels, Selkirkshire

03/01/202403/01/2024 megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – NT 4917 3590

Archaeology & History

A curious stone, inasmuch as nothing seems to be known about it! When the northern antiquarian Paul Hornby visited the Gala House Museum he was pleasantly surprised to find this multiple-ringed petroglyph on display. Upon enquiring as to its history and original location, he was informed that it had been donated locally but nothing was known about it. Incredible! One of two carvings in the museum (the origin of the other carving is equally mysterious), this portable petroglyph has three rings surrounding the central cup, which has a short line running out of it and to the edge of the third ring. The petroglyph may have come out of a nearby prehistoric tomb. If anyone knows anything about this carving, please let us know.

Acknowledgments: Big thanks to Prof Hornby for use of his photo. 🙂

Bishop’s Well, Stow, Midlothian

01/09/202101/09/2021 megalithix

Holy Well (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NT 4598 4454

Archaeology & History

At the edge of the ruins known as the Bishop’s Palace, up the slope behind the ruined church in Stow, could once be seen the waters of the Bishop’s Well which, wrote Thomas Wilson (1924), fed the palace hereby and was used by the clergy. Apart from a barely discernible circular depression at the edge of the old manse ruins, no trace of this site remains.

References:

Royal Commission Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Counties of Midlothian and West Lothian, HMSO: Edinburgh 1929.
Wilson, Thomas, The Stow of Wedale, Aberdeen Newspapers 1924.

Willie Bold’s Well, Galashiels, Selkirkshire

14/07/201715/07/2019 megalithix

Healing Well (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NT 49384 35696

Archaeology & History

An all-but-forgotten well that was said to be named after a local forester and ranger in the 18th century—called Willie Bold, obviously. It was located a few steps away from the main hunting lodge in the village, known locally as the Hunter’s Ha’ (also long since gone), from which an ancient pathway ran up to the local Toothill. The Well was described in Robert Hall’s (1898) definitive history of Galashiels, albeit in the past tense, even in his day:

“Willie Bold’s well was about ten yards distant from the east end of the peel, the road which led to it being about four feet wide and fenced on both sides with a high stone wall. The well was circular and about three feet deep, but in order to reach the water, it was necessary to go down two steps. Here the village children of a past generation quenched their thirst, lifting the water with a “tinnie,” which was always returned to Willie’s house, where it remained till again required.”

In 1863, the first OS-map of the area highlights a ‘Well’ very close to the position cited by Mr Hall, which we presume msut be the Well in question. .

References:

Hall, Robert, The History of Galashiels, Alexander Walker: Galashiels 1898.

Hawksnest, Langshaw, Melrose, Roxburghshire

11/10/200815/07/2019 megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – NT 499 403

Archaeology & History

The Scottish Royal Commission reported how,

“in 1936 a cup-marked boulder measuring 3ft 10in in length, 3ft 8in width and 1ft 8in in thickness, was found in a cultivated field half a mile southeast of Hawksnest and 75 yards north of the road from Hawksnest to Ladhopemoor.”

The carved stone had been scarred a little by the plough, but had “23 shallow cup-marks on its upper surface varying from 1in to 1.75in diameter.” This carving is curiously omitted from Ronald Morris’ Prehistoric Rock Art of Southern Scotland (1981), so perhaps the carving has been lost. Does anyone know owt more about it?

References:

Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Roxburghshire – volume 2, HMSO: Edinburgh 1956.