heritage – Page 55

Creich Manse, Brunton, Fife

04/05/201406/07/2019 megalithix

Ring Cairn: OS Grid Reference – NO 31894 21041

Also Known as:

Canmore ID 31819

A variety of ways to get here, all depending on which directions you’re coming from, obviously! Simply get to the sleepy old hamlet of Brunton, SW of Creich Castle ruins, and at the north end of the village where the road hits a T-junction, turn left and stop at the next house (hidden amongst trees) a coupla hundred yards along on the right-hand side. Knock on the door of The Manse (marked as such on the OS-maps) and ask. The fella who we met here, Liam, was very helpful and guided us to the site up the far end of his garden.

Archaeology & History

A truly fascinating and enigmatic arena for a host of reasons. The small and well-preserved ring of stones up the slope behind Creich Manse — looked after and recently cleared of covering vegetation by the present tenant — wasn’t born here, but originally lived more than a mile to the southwest, on the grounds of Luthrie House near the OS grid-reference NO 313 195.

Curiously omitted from the giant surveys of Aubrey Burl (2000) and other modern academics, the place was first mentioned in the New Statistical Account of the parish by Alexander Lawson. It told that in 1816 “trenching operations” were being undertaken in Luthrie village when, at some point, the men came across a curious group of stones that seemed to have faint carvings upon them — in the centre of a ring of stones! The land-owner and parish minister were called to the site and they found that a double stone circle had been unearthed. The account told:

“In the centre was placed, in an upright position, a cylindrical sandstone, one foot two inches high, and having the diameter of its base one foot. Around this stone, as a centre, at the distance of three feet, were sixteen other stones, placed also in an upright position, and in the form of a circle. The stones of which it was composed were of various sizes, from fifteen to twenty inches in height; from eight to eighteen in breadth, and from four to nine in thickness. Due south of the centre, and between it and the inner circle, there were placed in a horizontal position, two stones containing hieroglyphics in alto relievo, very entire. The remaining space between the centre and the circle was laid with pavement. At the distance of seven feet and a half from the same central pillar, there was another circle of stones, thirty-two in number, placed in an upright position, and very much resembling those of the inner circle. The stones in both circles were placed close together. Between the circles there was neither pavement nor stone of any description. Neither were perfect circles, the diameter of one from north to south, being fifteen feet one inch, while its diameter from east to west was only fourteen feet nine inches; in the same manner, the diameter of the other, from east to west, was five feet ten inches, while from north to south it was it was six feet one inch.”

The account went on to describe there being a deposit of “burned human bones and charcoal” at the centre, below the larger of the two petroglyphs. Additionally, one of those peculiarly common traits found at a number of megalithic remains related to the construction of the inner and outer circles of stone. The Royal Commission (1933) lads pointed it out, saying,

“It is remarkable that all the stones of the inner circle were of sandstone, which is not found nearer than Cupar, seven miles away, while those of the outer circle were of the local whinstone.”

Another description of the site was given in James Campbell’s (1899) updated and revised magnum opus on the parish of Balmerino, where some additional remarks were made about the petroglyphs. He told:

“Under one of the sculptured stones were found small burnt human bones and ashes. They were not enclosed in a cist, nor was there any building under the surface. Certain of the figures cut on one of the slabs of this monument are very similar to the figures on the sculptured slab of the one already mentioned. There are what appear to be representations of the soles of a pair of shoes, a circle with a cross within it — the limbs of the cross being: at right angles to each other — which may be intended to represent a wheel. On one of the stones is the figure of a spade. What the other figures represent is more uncertain. The sculptures raise difficult questions in regard to the time of the erection of these monuments. It is evident that cremation had been then practised at Creich, though the degree of culture and art indicated by the sculptures seems to point to a time subsequent to the abolition of this pagan custom elsewhere.”

The carvings illustrated here are pretty unique in terms of them being standard prehistoric petroglyphs, as they seem to comprise more of a mix of Iron Age and Romano-British designs – though potentially we must take into account that they could be a form of Pictish. This region is littered with the remains of Picts, in place-names, folklore and archaeology. As such, it would be very helpful if someone qualified in Pictish studies could examine these designs. We do find petroglyphs of similar forms to this in Bronze Age Scandinavia and Iberia − but not Fife!

Folklore

In the only account of any folklore relating to this site, James Campbell (1867) told that local people said the place was “supposed to have marked the tombs of distinguished chiefs.”

…to be continued…

References:

Burl, Aubrey, The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale University Press 2000.
Campbell, James, Balmerino and its Abbey – Volume 1, William Blackwood: Edinburgh 1899.
Lawson, Alexander, “Ancient Circles of Stone Discovered Under Ground in the Parish of Creich,” in Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany, November 1817.
Lawson, Alexander, “Notes of Urns and Sepulchral Monuments Discovered at Various Times in the Parish of Creich, Fifeshire,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 7,
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, HMSO: Edinburgh 1933.

Druidsfield (02), Lochearnhead, Perthshire

01/04/201402/08/2019 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 58759 23087

Also Known as:

The Druidsfield 2 stone

Canmore ID 24126

Getting Here

Follow the same directions as if you’re going to the much overgrown, earthfast Druidsfield 01 carving. Adjacent is an upstanding block of large rock, right next to which is the flat surface of this Druidsfield 2 carving. If it’s overgrown, rummage around. You can’t miss it!

Archaeology & History

This carving and its compatriots have almost been forgotten about it seems. Buried beneath rolls of vegetation, this long flat rock covered in cup-markings seems to have played a part in some larger megalithic structure—but whatever it was is difficult to work out. As you walk around the place it gives the distinct impression that some form of tomb was once in evidence, which may have been the case. The Scottish archaeology giant Audrey Henshall is said to have found no evidence of a chambered tomb, but this may have been something smaller, less impressive.

When Mr Haggart (1888) wrote about this carving, he too thought that the carvings had been part of a tomb—this being the horizontal surface at the bottom. He wrote that,

“the one forming the floor area of the dolmen being a square-shaped boulder of diorite, having fifty cups, varying from three and a half inches to an inch in diameter, the outlines of which look as fresh as if chiselled a year or two ago.”

This indicates it had only recently been uncovered. There are lots of other archaeological remains scattered all round here, from different periods of history; but the other Druidsfield 1 and 3 carvings are found right next to each other, indicating this very spot was some site of neolithic or Bronze Age importance. An accurate excavation of the site and the adjacent Druids Circle would be worthwhile. I counted at least 44 cups on this rock when we visited last week, many of which are still quite clear.

The most recent Royal Commission (1979) briefing of the stone added nothing of relevance. They listed the site but it seems they never visited the place.

The portable bullaun-like deep-cut rock known as the Druid’s Stone is kept in private grounds nearby. When members of Scottish heritage came to visit an adjacent site a few years ago, the lady of the house told how they walked right past it without giving it any notice. “They didn’t even see it under their noses,” she said. Nowt new there!

Folklore

The carvings here were said by one of the locals to have been part of a “druid’s circle, which we played in as children, and were always told had been a special place of the druids in ancient times.”

References:

Coles, F.R., “Report on stone circles in Perthshire principally Strathearn,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 45, 1911.
Haggart, D., “Notice of the discovery of a stone cup and cup-marked stones at Lochearnhead,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 22, 1888.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Stirling District, Central Region, Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1979.

Acknowledgements – Huge thanks to Messr Paul Hornby for help and use of his photos.

Druidsfield (01), Lochearnhead, Perthshire

26/03/201402/08/2019 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 58761 23087

Also Known as:

Canmore ID 24126

Getting Here

From Lochearnhead village going south along the main A84 road to Callander or Stirling, take the very last road on the right just as you’re going out of the village, up o Craggan and park up by St. Angus’ Church. Walk back down onto the A84, turning right and walk along for 100 yards. Then go back up into a boggy field, where you’ll notice some walling above you. Head to the top right of this, up to the edge of a garden. Hereby is a cluster of rocks in a jumble. That’s your spot!

Archaeology & History

Cup-marks along the edge and bottom of the stone

This takes a bit of finding in the undergrowth and is best checked out at the end of Winter. Once overgrown it truly takes some finding. But beneath the vegetation is a slender earthfast rock with a long ridge, a little bit like a spine, running from one end of the stone to the other. Along this topmost spinal column we find a cluster of ten cup-markings, getting smaller in size the further along the spine we travel. It’s a curious feature. At the widest end of the rock where the widest and deepest cup-marks occur, another four cups have been etched into the northeastern sloping face below the largest cups.

When we came here, the sunlight was blocked by the surrounding trees, so we were unable to see if other elements had been carved onto the stone. It is found in conjunction with two other rocks—Druidsfield 2 and 3 carvings—right next to each other, with designs of quite different visual structures, seemingly unconnected in any linear sense. There also seemed to be a possibility that this was once part of a prehistoric tomb. Later we found that both D. Haggart (1888) and Fred Coles (1911) had made similar comments, with Haggart specifically telling there to have been a collapsed tomb here in the 19th century. He may have been right. Extensive walled structures abound hereby−including one which old locals told us were remains of a Druid’s Circle, which we found close by.

Folklore

References:

Coles, F.R., “Report on stone circles in Perthshire principally Strathearn,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 45, 1911.
Haggart, D., “Notice of the discovery of a stone cup and cup-marked stones at Lochearnhead,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 22, 1888.

Acknowledgements – Huge thanks to Messr Paul Hornby for help and use of his photos.

Dalchirla (east), Muthill, Perthshire

23/03/201430/07/2019 megalithix

Standing Stones: OS Grid Reference – NN 82446 15893

Also Known as:

Canmore ID 25355

Getting Here

Dalchira's standing stones — Dalchira’s standing stones

Along the A822 road between Crieff and Muthill, take the small western country lane just as you’re coming out of Muthill. Nearly 2 miles on, take the turn to the right, and then 100 yards or so from there turn sharp left. Keep along this country lane for about a mile till you reach the third track on your left. Walk down the track and you’ll see the standing stones in the field on your left. A gate into the field is by the house.

Archaeology & History

A fascinating pair of relatively large standing stones 317 yards (289.5m) SSE of the tall singular monolith of Dalchira North in the adjacent field. Traditionally said to have once been part of s stone circle, it was marked as such when the Ordnance Survey lads came here in 1863, but there is very little evidence of such a megalithic ring today—and even the small stone lying in between the two uprights is probably a more recent addition to the site. It certainly wasn’t mentioned by Fred Coles (1911) when he came here, who gave only a brief description of the place.

Dalchira East & the skyline notch of Lurgan Hill

The stones were included in Margaret Stewart’s (1968) list of megalithic pairings as measuring 7ft 6in x 4ft 3in x 2ft and 4ft 3in x 3ft 6in x 1ft respectively, and 8ft apart. There is a small stone laid down in between them which has cup-marks on it, but these indentations are natural nodules in conglomerate rock. But the measurements and angles of Dalchira East were examined by the late great Alexander Thom (1967; 1990) who thought they had been positioned specifically to observe and predict lunar movements across the sky, saying that the alignment of these stones “shows the declination of the Moon rising at the minor standstill.” He may have been right.

Thom's geometry of Dalchirla — Thom’s geometry of Dalchirla

In Aubrey Burl’s notes to Thom (1990) he told that the size and shapes of these stones “have been interpreted as anthropomorphic, the taller, or alternatively the more pointed , usually at the west, being the male, the lower or flat-topped he female.” He subsequently included this site in his own work on megalithic stone rows (Burl 1993), without further comment.

Tis a peculiar site inasmuch there doesn’t seem to be much ‘feeling’ to the place. I’m sure the site is gonna have its days, but more than likely the neat and tidy farmed theatre has subsumed the genius loci to all but the most auspicious of times—most likely generated when the pull of the Moon still tugs at any geomagnetic background memory… Still, it’s definitely worth looking at.

References:

Burl, Aubrey, From Carnac to Callanish, Yale University Press 1993.
Coles, Fred, “Report on Stone Circles Surveyed in Perthshire, Principally Strathearn” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 45, 1911.
Finlayson, Andrew, The Stones of Strathearn, One Tree Island: Comrie 2010.
Heggie, Douglas C., Megalithic Science: Ancient Mathematics and Astronomy in Northwest Europe, Thames & Hudson: London 1981.
Stewart, Margaret E.C., “Excavation of a Setting of Standing Stones at Lundin Farm near Aberfedly, Perthshire,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 98, 1966.
Thom, Alexander, Megalithic Sites in Britain, Oxford University Press 1967.
Thom, A., Thom, A.S. & Burl, Aubrey, Stone Rows and Standing Stones – 2 volumes, BAR: Oxford 1990.

Dalchirla (north), Muthill, Perthshire

19/03/201430/07/2019 megalithix

Standing Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 82274 16125

Also Known as:

Canmore ID 25356

Getting Here

Along the A822 road between Crieff and Muthill, take the small western country lane just as you’re coming out of Muthill. Nearly 2 miles on, take the turn to the right, and then 100 yards or so from there turn sharp left. Keep along this gorgeous country lane for about a mile till you reach the third track on your left and park up. Walk down the track and you’ll see the standingh stone in the field on your right. Go all the way to the bottom where the farm is and go through the gate into the field.

Archaeology & History

Less than 2 miles southeast of the megalithic titan of Dunruchan A, we find a slightly smaller monolith positioned on lower ground and humbled by a more manicured landscape close to the farmhouse. But it’s still a big fella, albeit hemmed in by a mass of field clearance rocks piled up and around the base (two of which have odd carvings on them). The stone is about ten-feet tell, being very slim on its north-south side and much wider on its east-west face. For some reason I got the impression that the stone wasn’t standing in its original position; though in searching through my megalith library for further information on the site, l found that very little has been written about it. The earliest literary evidence comes, as usual, from Fred Coles (1911), who simply told us:

“In a field south of Machany Water and NE of Dalchirla farm-steading 260 yards, there stands this tall and striking monolith… In essential features this stone much resembles most of the great schistose blocks which characterize the main portion of the Strathearn area; but it tapers upwards to a very thin and narrow summit that rather distinguishes it from its fellows. It stands 9 feet 4 inches above ground, and girths at the base 7 feet 11 inches. It is set with its longer axis due north and south. Around its base there are several large masses of stone—not earthfast—amid a conglomeration of smaller pieces evidently cleared off the field.”

Fred Coles' 1911 drawing — Fred Coles’ 1911 drawing

The prehistoric cairn of Torlum to the north may have had some significance to the setting of the stone, but without excavation and details of its original site, we’re just grasping at straws when it comes to evaluating any potential geomancy or landscape relationships—with the megalithic stone row in the next field perhaps being an exception!

The moorlands above here, stretching for many a mile, is apparently lacking in any prehistoric remains if you listen to the official records. But with the Dunruchan megalithic complex only two miles away and the once-giant tomb of Cairnwochel over the southeastern horizon, we know that cannot be possible… Watch this space!

References:

Coles, Fred, “Report on Stone Circles Surveyed in Perthshire, Principally Strathearn” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 45, 1911.
Finlayson, Andrew, The Stones of Strathearn, One Tree Island: Comrie 2010.

Corrie (1), Gartmore, Perthshire

11/02/201431/03/2024 megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – NS 49502 95052

Also Known as:

Canmore ID 43472

Getting Here

On the A81 road from Aberfoyle to Strathblane, about a mile south of Aberfoyle take the tiny right turn (keep your eyes peeled!) to Gartmore. At the end of the village, turn right at the T-junction. Just over a mile along the tiny road, just over the tiny road-bridge, turn right again up up the dead straight road to Drymen for nearly a mile and park up. A dirt-track is on your right: walk along here for ¾-mile (1.2km) and in a large field on your left a huge rock sits (no carvings on it). Keep walking on the track and where the field ends, a path to your left runs above a small burn. Naathen, 150 yards along here, look down at the waters and there’s a clump of large rocks. Check ’em out!

Archaeology & History

This stone and others were mentioned in MacNair’s (1973) essay in the popular history guide to the region, after it had seemingly been rediscovered a few years earlier by Ron Morris (1967; 1969), who listed it in his petroglyph catalogues. It was originally located at the top of the slope above the burn, but was rolled down here shortly after Morris discovered the cup-and-rings on it. The farmer at the time had made a bore-hole into the rock with the intention of blowing it up, but Morris found it just in time and the stone managed to survive!

It’s a large rock with a decent ornate design that was clearly visible when Morris surveyed it (see photo, right). It comprises of, “a cup-and-two-rings, 18cm (7in) diameter, 6 cups-and-one-ring (2 of which are tangential) and at least 8 cups. All rings are complete. Greatest carving depth 2cm (¾in).” There also appears to be a line of four or five small cup-marks running in a short line by one of the lower cup-and-rings, but these are very faint indeed. The double cup-and-ring mentioned by Morris is the one at the top-centre in my photo, but the next cup-and-ring down may also be a double-ring. At the top-right of the photo is where two cup-and-rings are conjoined.

Since being rolled down the slope to the side of the burn, the carving’s much more in the shadows and is more difficult to work out. Sadly on the day when I visited here, Nature bestowed on me a wet and cloudy day, so the design was even more difficult to see, as my photos illustrate.

Morris (1981) told that “other stones in the immediate vicinity bear possible cup-marks,” and one of these may exist just a couple of stones away (Corrie 2), leaning up into the grasses: this is another rock that has been pushed down the slope and has curious natural cup-markings on it, with one or two that could be man-made, but we need a geomorphologist to have a look at it and tell us one way or the other.

References:

Edlin, Herbert L. (ed.), Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, HMSO Edinburgh 1973.
MacNair, A.S., “History,” in Edlin’s Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, HMSO 1973.
Morris, Ronald W.B., “The cup-and-ring marks and similar sculptures of Scotland: a survey of the southern Counties,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 98, 1967.
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.

Aithernie, Scoonie, Fife

04/02/201404/07/2019 megalithix

Tumulus (destroyed): Grid Reference – NO 3769 0339

Also Known as:

Canmore ID 31344

Archaeology & History

A mile or so WNW of the fantastic standing stones of Lundin, and just a coupla hundred yards above where the lesser standing stone of Balgrummo lives, we could once see an impressive prehistoric burial mound on the small hilltop of Aithernie. Sadly, like oh too many prehistoric sites in our landscape, it was vandalised and destroyed in the 19th century by the prevailing stupidity of the period. Thankfully we have a couple of accounts describing the place.

The site had already passed into memory when the Ordnance Survey fellas got up here in 1854, but an account of it was made in the ‘Object Name Book’ of the parish a decade earlier. Thankfully the story of the site was known locally and, along with the New Statistical Account describing the olde mound, A.S. Cunningham (1906) told the story of when it was “opened” and then of its subsequent demise. He wrote how,

“…in 1821 a much more interesting relic of antiquity…was opened in a field on the estate of Aithernie. When digging moulding sand for Leven Foundry, the workmen struck right into the heart of an ancient tumulus. This cemetery of prehistoric times contained as many as twenty rude stone cists. These cists were typical of the prehistoric burial places found throughout the country. They were constructed of slabs placed on edge, with a covering stone, and cemented with clay puddling. Above the coffins was a covering of stones, the stones having hundreds of years before been so firmly cemented together with clay and sand that the workmen required the aid of picks to enable them to “rifle the tombs.” Small urns were found in two of the coffins, and five of them contained larger urns, 14 inches in diameter and 24 inches in depth, and in another cist quantities of charred wood beads were discovered. All the coffins, except the five in which were the large urns, contained human bones, and innumerable bones were found outwith the mouths of the cists.”

When the Royal Commission (1933) lads visited the place in 1925, they reported “no existing indication of a tumulus” remained. Gone!

References:

Cunningham, A.S., Rambles in the Parishes of Scoonie and Wemyss, Purves & Cuningham: Leven 1906.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Counties of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, HMSO: Edinburgh 1933.

Bandrum, Saline, Fife

02/02/201404/07/2019 megalithix

Standing Stones: OS Grid Reference – NT 0348 9188

Also Known as:

Canmore ID 49710

Getting Here

Go east on the B913 through Saline for a mile till you reach Steelend. Across the road from the houses there’s a dirt-track running uphill (south) into the fields. When you’re near the top, turn west into the fields, following the straight line of fencing towards the small clump of trees on the skyline. Near the top, a few hundred yards along you’ll see the large fat stone up against the wall. But keep walking east and another stone appears before your eyes!

Archaeology & History

Near the very crown of this long hill, right by the gate separating the fields, you cannot miss this huge and very heavy-looking standing stone, whose position in the landscape was evidently of some importance to the people who put it here. It’s in a gorgeous spot. You can see in all directions for some considerable distance particularly to the west, and the eye catches other points on the land where prehistoric monuments of other forms speak to each other. (that’s assuming you visit here on a clear bright day, as opposed to when Paul Hornby and I visited the spot when, for much of the afternoon we could barely see 100 yards as the land all around us was cloaked in fog!)

And through the fog, from the little fella to the big fella

The site was included in Alexander Thom’s (1990) magnum opus on megalithic stone rows, in which he cites it as a debatable 2-stone row monument. For if we walk westwards, along the walling, we find another large, possibly prehistoric upright about 50 yards along. In Aubrey Burl’s (1993) work on the same subject, he merely copies Thom’s earlier questioning of the second stone in his listings. But in Mr Beveridge’s (1888) regional history work more than a century earlier, he told clearly that on “the ridge of the hill behind Bandrum House, there are built two standing stones.” Of their origin and purpose, Beveridge could find none; but a few years later, A.S. Cunningham (1902) thought simply that

“of the two standing stones on the march fence behind Bandrum House…it is questionable if they ever served any other purpose than a dividing line for properties.”

The site was highlighted on the earliest OS-maps of the region in 1854—albeit with only the largest of the two stones marked, at the meeting of the gates—and then many decades later those other official doods, the Royal Commission (1933) lads, made their way up here and included the site in their inventory, where they told:

“On the crest of rising ground at an elevation of 700 feet above sea level, at the end of a dole near to the extreme east end of Saline golf course about a quarter of a mile due west of Bandrum farmhouse, stands a huge whinstone boulder of irregular form. It measures 7 feet 10 inches in height to the highest point of a somewhat rounded top, and has a slight inclination towards the west. Its girth at the base is 13 feet 7 inches and at the middle 14 feet 10 inches. The broadest faces are to the north and south… At a distance of 162 feet due west, there is another large boulder measuring 3 feet 10 inches in height and approximately 10 feet in circumference at the middle, set with a marked inclination towards the east and built into a continuation of the same dike. The two suggest the remains of a stone circle, the rest of which has been swept away by the cultivation of the neighbouring fields. There is however, no record of other stones having been removed.”

Thom’s (1990) account of the site was simply put: “Bandrum. NT 036 915. Huge whin boulder, 7ft 10 (2.4m) h. 162ft (49m) W another 3ft 10 (1.2m) h.” He gave no indication of astroarchaeological alignments.

References:

Beveridge, David, Between the Ochils and Forth, William Blackwood: Edinburgh 1888.
Burl, Aubrey, From Carnac to Callanish, Yale University Press 1993.
Cunningham, A.S., Romantic Culross, Torryburn, Carnock, Cairneyhill, Saline and Pitfirrane, W. Clarke: Dunfermline 1902.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Counties of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, HMSO: Edinburgh 1933.
Thom, A., Thom, A.S. & Burl, Aubrey, Stone Rows and Standing Stones – volume 2, BAR: Oxford 1990.

Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to Paul Hornby for his photos of these standing stones. Cheers Paul!

Craigkennockie, Burntisland, Fife

02/02/201406/07/2019 megalithix

Tumulus (destroyed): OS Grid Reference — NT 237 861

Archaeology & History

Very little is known about a prehistoric tomb that once existed near the coast at Craigkennockie. Its existence was briefly described in Andrew Young’s (1913) fine history of the township where he told that it had been highlighted on an old Estate Map of the area and marked as, “an artificial cairn, probably a place of sepulture.” On old maps just below the cited place we find the place-name of ‘Lammerlaws’, which may indicate a name once given to the site, as the element -law is commonly found relating to prehistoric cairns.

Although the modern place-name researchers in central Scotland have opted that the word ‘law’ is primarily “a rounded hill”, they have curiously forgotten or omitted its other derivation. Throughout northern England and beyond, the English Place-Name Society finds that many ‘law’ place-names derive from the old English and Saxon word, hlaw, which is originally told to be “a mound, a hill.” This has been the reference cited throughout in Taylor & Markus’ (2006-2012) otherwise fine multi-volume analysis of Fife county. But there’s much more to it than that. I hope that readers will forgive me reciting A.H. Smith’s (1956) full entry about this simple term, as it can (and many times does) show our history is much richer than initially thought. Prof Smith told that law, hlaw, hlæw, has the following etymological origin:

“(1) In OE (old English) the common meaning in literary contexts is ‘an artificial mound, a burial mound, a mound in which treasure is hidden’, as in Boethius Metr. 10.43, ‘in what hlæwa do the bones of Weland cover the ground?; Beowulf 2802, ‘Bid them make a hlæaw…on Hronesnæsse’; Guthlac 4 ‘there on the island was made a great hlæw, which through the lust for treasure had been dug up and broken into’; or Gnomic Verses 26, ‘a dragon shall be on hlæw’, an allusion (as in Beowulf 2773) to the Germanic tradition that mounds containing valuable grave-goods were guarded by dragons. The word glosses Latin, agger, ‘something heaped up, a mound, a rampart’ (Wright’s Anglo-Saxon & Old English Vocabularies 355.4). This meaning ‘tumulus, artificial mound, burial mound’ is well attested in place-names. According to Grundy, it always denotes a tumulus in the OE charters and doubtless those place-names in which it is combined with personal names are the burial places of the men so named; at Taplow at least a remarkable burial treasure was discovered and Cuckhamsley, Berkshire, is named from Cwichelm, the West Saxon king who died in 593. The majority of such places-names belong to the heathen period when this method of disposing of the dead was practised. Particular compounds also suggest that it could be an artificial mound which formed the centre of a place of assembly; Oswaldslow Hundred (Place-names of Worcestershire, 87), for example, was created in 964 and it was to meet at a place to be henceforth called Oswaldeslaw in honour of Bishop Oswald (Cartularium Saxonica 1135).

“(2) The meaning ‘hill, a conical hill resembling a tumulus’ is also found in OE, as in Leechdoms Vol.3, 52, ‘they rode over the hlæw’, and local topography establishes this meaning as a common one in place-names and dialects in certain parts of the country; it survives as law in Durham and Northumberland and as low in northwest Midlands…

“(3) The two forms hlaw and hlæw are on record, the latter being better evidenced in literary use, especially in West Saxon texts, and the former in place-names; hlæw normally becomes low, north country law, whilst the i-mutated hlæw (found in place-names only in the south and south Midlands) later becomes lew, as in Lew, Oxfordshire, Lewes, Sussex and is more frequent in middle-english spellings; it is often later replaced by –low as in Dragley, Lancs, Cuckhamsley, Berkshire…”

Smith continues with many topographical evidences regarding a ‘burial-mound’ derivation for the place-name ‘law’, finally adding notes on relative linguistic similarities, like the “Gothic hlaiw, ‘grave’; old High German hleo, ‘grave mound, hill’; old Saxon hleo, ‘grave mound’…” It seems pretty convincing, and so we need to take this into account in our walks over the hills if we are exploring ancient history.

As if to emphasize this derivation—’law’ as prehistoric tombs—we find it is cited in the massive Scottish National Dictionary (6,1:16) where—alongside the ’rounded hill’ aspect—Mr Grant (1962) tells it to be,

“An artificial mound or hillock, specif.: (1) a tumlus or barrow, grave-mound….”

thereafter giving a number of Scottish examples. The same meaning is echoed again in the modern version of Concise Scots Dictionary (2005), along with the rounded-hill. Jamieson’s (1885) Scottish Dictionary cites similarly, ‘law’ as both hill, aswell as “a tomb, grave or mound.”

This association of ‘law’ with ancient burial mounds in Scotland should not be that surprising. Despite it having an Anglo-Saxon origin, we must remember that the Saxon kingdom is known to have stretched all the way up to the Firth of Forth (Edinburgh) and across to Glasgow. So if the linguistic roots have any credibility at all, it doesn’t take much stretch of the imagination to have this simple word travel further north amongst the people. Perhaps this is why, more recently, Margaret Gelling (2000) has said that the association of hlaw with burial mounds up here lessens in Scotland. Nonetheless, let us not presuppose one meaningful definition of the word above another, as it can, consciously or otherwise, be seen as more symptomatic of the all too common English attitude of papering over another country’s rich and ancient heritage by depleting its language—again…

(Law has another element attached which has all but fallen out of historical analysis. Prof Smith touched briefly upon it, mentioning ‘law’ as being a meeting place—otherwise known ‘moots’. Moots occurred everywhere in early times: in England, in Europe and in Scotland too. They were originally where local tribal gatherings took place, for the purpose of what we might call council or political decisions, amongst other things. Some of these moots occurred on burial mounds of great age, aswell as stone circles—and evidence indicates that some of them originated way back in prehistoric times. Although written accounts of many such moot spots have fallen from historical texts, the term law or low (and their variants) is again found in Scottish etymological and topographical lore. Mr Grant again cites it to mean:

“Law cairns, or court cairns…the judicial sites of baronial court of justice…”

Thereafter giving numerous citations of its use in both the common tongue and sites where it is known. As far north as the Shetland Isles, where such law-courts aer known from the Scandinavian ting of thing, the 18th century Statistical Account of Tingwall states there being “the Law Stone” at the cite of the parish court.)

Folklore

Also in Mr Young’s (1913) work, he told how this old tomb was a place that seemed cursed or should not be disturbed, saying,

“About 50 years ago, any illness in the neighbourhood of Craigholm was ascribed to the influence of this burial place…”

adding that an adjacent spring of water, of high esteem, was close by.

References:

Grant, William (ed.), Scottish National Dictionary – volume 6, SNDA: Edinburgh 1962.
Jamieson, John, Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, W.P. Nimmo: Edinburgh 1885.
Robinson, Mairi (ed.), Concise Scots Dictionary, Aberdeen University Press 2005.
Smith, A.H., English Place-Name Elements – volume 1, Cambridge University Press 1956
Young, Andrew, History of Burntisland, Fifeshire Advertiser: Kirkcaldy 1913.

Split Stone, Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire

28/01/201420/07/2019 megalithix

Standing Stone: OS Grid Reference – NS 81116 99311

Getting Here

Take the same directions as if you’re gonna find the Pendreich Moor cairn up the hills behind and north of Stirling University (there are 2 very close to each other). Once upon the cairned hill, walk dead straight WNW for 100 yards or so, or down the slope into the small valley, then westwards. You’ll hit an overgrown length of very old walling. Keep walking along here and, below it, you’ll find these stones laying down in the shallow grasses on the south-side of the all-but dried stream. The large Cuparlaw Wood cairn is 0.4 miles west of here.

Archaeology & History

This is something of an anomaly. There is no previous written history about the place (that I can find) and archaeologists and historians on The Prehistoric Society and CBA forums can offer no other explanation when asked: is this a standing stone that, many centuries ago, was cut and prepared to be erected, but never made it into the intended monument? (wherever that might have been) And so, I offer it onto TNA and ask the same of any readers, geologists or archaeo’s who might have an explanation for this curious, large split piece of stone, that lays silently on the western moorland edges of the Ochils, asking the same question.

When I first came across this site I was simply perplexed as to the why’s and wherefore’s of who had cut such a large rock into approximate halves. I must have walked around it many times, puzzling what the purpose would have been of doing such a thing, and how long ago the ‘split’ had been performed. About a year later I ventured up again and, when leaving to head back into Stirling, found no resolution to my puzzlement. It had me truly stumped!

It wasn’t until I visited the prehistoric Witches’ Stone about 15 miles away near Monzie Castle last year, that one of those ‘eureka!’ events occurred. The last thing on my mind was the curious split rock above Bridge of Allan. Fellow antiquarian Paul Hornby and I were taking photos of the Witches’ Stone, when one of us remarked how unusually flat and smooth one face of this upright standing stone was – in fact, incredibly flat and smooth – and that’s when it hit me! As I walked round and round the Witches’ Stone, the similarity between this upright example and the one laid on the ground about 15 miles away got stronger and stronger.

A week or two later, archaeology student Lisa Samson and I went back to the Split Stone to have another look at it. Without doubt, the appearance and size and type of rock were one and the same. The only real difference between the Witches Stone and this Split Stone on the edge of Pendreich Moor, is that one stands upright and the other is laid down.

As you can see from the photos, we have a large rock, 5-6 feet long, which was, at some time many centuries ago, split almost straight down the middle, following a natural line of weakness or mineral deposit running through the stone. In all probability this was a standing stone prepared and ready to be used in some neolithic or Bronze Age monument not too far way—but for some reason it never made the journey to its intended spot.

The age of this split rock needs assessing correctly by geologists. Walking around the earthfast halves, it is difficult to see any recent evidence of mason marks that might help us determine when the rock was cut like this. In looking at erosion marks on cut-and-dressed quarried stone from post-medieval periods, we find no equivalent scars on this Split Stone. There is what may be faint evidence of some cuts into the stone at the top and side, but these are very debatable; and very probably it seems that the stone must have been cut a very long time ago, thousands of years back, in order to erode all obvious mason marks. But it would be good to get a geologist to have a look and confirm or deny such things.

…And, as if this isn’t a mystery unto itself: walk across the dried stream and go up the slope right in front of you immediately north. There’s a small, almost level ridge you’ll reach after 30 yards up, before the hill then rises further. If you notice, in the grasses and heather around you, there’s much more of the overgrown ‘walling’ here along this ridge—and some of it, with dips here and there and about three feet tall in places, is in a circle! It’s man-made, it’s a ring of stones, you can see it on GoogleEarth pretty clearly, and it’s not in any official record books.

Watch this space!