Old Kilpatrick

Auchentorlie, Old Kilpatrick, Dumbartonshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stones (lost): OS Grid Reference – NS 444 747

Archaeology & History

A couple of interesting multiple-ringed carvings were found high up on the slopes above Bowling, not far from the Bow Linn waterfalls, near the end of the 19th century. John Bruce (1893) told that, shortly after the discovery of the Cochno carvings,

“in the year 1889, two cup and ring marked stones were discovered in a dyke near the old farmhouse of Auchentorlie while the reservoir for the district water supply was being excavated close by.”

But since then, they seem to have disappeared. Searches for them by the old petroglyph writer Ron Morris in the 1960s and the Royal Commission lads in the 1970s both drew a blank. If we’re lucky, they might be hiding in a box somewhere, in the storage rooms of Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Museum. As you can from the sketches done by W.A. Donnelly, they’re quite impressive. The drawings give the impression that they were small portable carvings, which may suggest they were once part of a prehistoric cist or cairn, although no such site has been found in this locale. If this isn’t the case, their small size is an oddity.

References:

Bruce, John, The History of the Parish of West or Old Kilpatrick, John Smith: Glasgow 1893.
Morris, Ronald W.B. & Bailey, Douglas C., “The Cup-and-Ring Marks and Similar Sculptures of Southwestern Scotland: A Survey,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 98, 1966.
Royal Commission Ancient Historical Monuments, Scotland, The Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Dumbarton District…, HMSO: Edinburgh 1978.

Dumbuck Hill, Milton, Dumbarton, Dumbartonshire

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Cup-Marked Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – NS 419 747

Archaeology & History

Very little is known of this site. It was discovered in the 1890s by a Mr W.A. Donnelly who was responsible for some of the early drawings of the famous Cochno Stone carving (found a few miles east of here), but it seems that he made no such sketch of this particular carving—although it doesn’t sound too impressive when we compare it to some of the others in this area. It was thankfully mentioned, albeit briefly by John Bruce (1893), who told that it was “a boulder with a large basin and a duct heading therefrom…at the foot of Dumbuck Hill.” The carving may well have been destroyed by quarrying.

References:

Bruce, John, The History of the Parish of West or Old Kilpatrick, John Smith: Glasgow 1893.
Morris, Ronald W.B. & Bailey, Douglas C., “The Cup-and-Ring Marks and Similar Sculptures of Southwestern Scotland: A Survey,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 98, 1966.
Royal Commission Ancient Historical Monuments, Scotland, The Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Dumbarton District…, HMSO: Edinburgh 1978.

Dunarbuck, Old Kilpatrick, Dumbartonshire

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Cup-Marked Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – NS 449 740

Also Known as:

Dunerbuck
Greenland (5)

Archaeology & History

This small and visually trivial cup-marked stone is one of a number in this neck o’ the woods that have either been destroyed or simply lost. This stone has the “lost” label stamped on it! It was first described in John Bruce’s (1893) classic local history work where he told it to be “a boulder of sandstone with three cup-marks…(that) lies on the slope of the Hill of Dun, about 100 yards north of Dunerbuck farmhouse.” It doesn’t appear to have been seen since, as none of the classic petroglyph writers described seeing it and a search for it in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Museum in the 1960s drew a blank. The carving has subsequently been added to archaeological inventories with the standard, “this cup-marked boulder cannot now be located.” It may yet be found, overgrown by grasses and mosses, just that hundred yards or so above the buildings behind Dunarbuck. That entire area needs scanning to be honest…

References:

Bruce, John, The History of the Parish of West or Old Kilpatrick, John Smith: Glasgow 1893.
Bruce, John, “Notice of Remarkable Groups of Archaic Sculpturings in Dumbartonshire and Stirlingshire,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, volume 30, 1896.
Royal Commission Ancient Historic Monuments, Scotland, The Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Dumbarton District…, HMSO: Edinburgh 1978.

St. Patrick’s Well, Old Kilpatrick, Dumbartonshire

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Holy Well (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NS 4631 7307

Also Known as:

Trees’ Well

Archaeology & History

Sadly there are no longer any remains of this holy well which was found, “beside the church dedicated to St Patrick — which was said to be built on soil brought from Ireland in honor of its patron,” wrote John Bruce in 1893. He told that its waters had “been used until lately from time immemorial by the villagers, but now has been found unfit for use and consequently ordered to be closed up.” Although its waters were used for baptisms, he made no mention of any medicinal repute, which it surely would have possessed.

The original position of the well, according to Mr Bruce, was “adjoining the church” but, according to the Ordnance Survey lads, when they came here in 1963 they located a drinking fountain on the other side of the road about 80 yards to the west and designated that as being St Patrick’s Well. The place had earlier been given a wooden sign saying “St Partrick’s Well.” Local tradition attributes St. Patrick as originally coming from this village, whose saint’s day is March 17.

The place was also known as Trees’ Well, suggestive, perhaps, of a local person, although I can find no reference as to who or what that might have been.

References:

Bruce, John, The History of the Parish of West or Old Kilpatrick, John Smith: Glasgow 1893.

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.