Perthshire – Page 2

Ardoch (2), Fowlis Wester, Perthshire

22/08/202409/09/2024 megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 91123 25978

Also Known as:

Buchanty Hill
Constellation Stone
Footprint Stone

Ardoch (2) carving, with Milquhanzie hillfort behind

We took the long route to get here, via Fowlis Wester village, up to the car-park near the standing stones, then walk for 1¾ miles along the track: past the stones, veering right to go downhill then uphill, past the Ardoch (1) petroglyph and bearing right at the next split in the track, then right again at the next split. Then, crossing a small burn and curving round the next bend, keep your eyes peeled for the track-cum-footpath that reaches uphill on your right (NE). A shorter route is via the Foulford golf course (found along the A822 roughly halfway between Gilmerton and the entrance to the Sma’ Glen): take the track from there, eastwards into the hills, and literally ¾-mile along you reach the pylon; keep walking along the track for another 200 yards and on your left watch out for the same track-cum-footpath. Walk up there for about 400 yards and, 35 yards to the right of the fence, you’ll see a large flat stone.

Archaeology & History

This is a most curious design, sitting way up near the top of this unnamed hill on its western face. It’s curious as there are number of odd elongated cup-marks which, to me at least, should be described as footprints. We find such designs on a few carvings (such as the one at Dunadd, and St. Columba’s Stone, etc), but they’re pretty rare. The best can be found on the Cochno Stone a few miles north of Glasgow, with additional toes on the design… but that’s for another site profile – and an essay, perhaps, should I ever get round to writing it! Anyhow…

It was first described, albeit briefly, by a Mr Comrie in 1972, who told us that,

“On a south-west facing slope of Buchanty Hill at 950ft is a boulder measuring 1.60m x 1.40m with 22 cups and 11 dumb-bells, 6 of which are distorted by a fault of quartz in the stone.”

But his description of what he saw as eleven “dumb-bells” is somewhat extravagant. Six, perhaps seven would seem the more probable. I was hoping to find that the Scottish Rock Art Project doods might have spent some of their million quid in doing a computer enhancement of this carving in order to confirm it one way or the other, but this was one of hundreds that they never looked at. Very poor… (and they only described two so-called dumb-bells here!) The only other mention I’ve found of the place is in Finlayson’s (2010) fine survey of local megaliths, but only in passing.

The dumb-bells or “footprints” on this carving are small: fairy footprints, one might say. The main ones are seen near the middle of the stone on its flat smooth surface. Another—perhaps two—occur along a curious geological cut that runs in a straight line, north-south (roughly) over the rock. This curious line has a series of deeply cut elements, mainly cup-marks, which give the impression of being enhanced or worked upon in much more recent centuries, looking almost as if they possessed some utilitarian function. They’re most odd and are certainly much younger than the very worn cup-marks that are scattered across the stone in no particular order. One of them seems to have a very faint ring around it. You can just make it out in one of the photos.

So we’re looking at a multi-period carving done (probably) over several centuries. Some of the cup-marks are barely visible unless the light is just right. On my first visit here, the day was grey and overcast and some elements of the design were all but invisible; but on my second visit, one a beautiful evening, then wetting the rock, it shone out in all its splendour…. Well – as good as could be expected considering it may be five thousand years old! But the footprints are the stand-out features of the design.

In a lengthy essay on this motif that’s found on numerous European petroglyphs, Miroslav Verner (1973) points out several traditional and theoretical meanings ascribed to the symbol, which may be relevant to the stone here. The footprints may mark the rock as a pilgrimage site; or a representation of the location of a theophany, or genius loci. In some places it can be a signature of the so-called artist; or a symbol of victory; and even a symbol which possesses the power to cure fevers and other ailments. This latter tradition was known to have been practiced at the mightily impressive Blarnaboard (3) carving near Aberfoyle.

Another important feature of this carving its position in the landscape: more than a thousand feet above sea level, you sit here and the vista ahead of you reaches far far away into the distance from east to south to west. The skies above and around it are open and seemingly endless from here. It’s impressive and, most likely, these attributes are mythically significant to its meaning. Have a look at the place: take a day out and sit here for a while and get your own impression of the place. You’ll like it…

References:

Comrie, J.E.M., “Fowlis Wester parish: Cup-marked Stone”, in Discovery & Excavation Scotand, 1972.
Finlayson, Andrew, The Stones of Strathearn, One Tree Island: Comrie 2010.
Verner, Miroslav, Some Nubian Petroglyphs on Czechoslovak Concessions, Universita Karlova: Praha 1973.

Ardoch (1), Fowlis Wester, Perthshire

21/08/202413/10/2024 megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 91195 25511

Getting Here

From Fowlis Wester village, head up the road for just over ½ a mile (veering sharp left at a junction) to the dusty car-park on the left-side of the road near the standing stones. From here walk along the track, past the standing stones, veering right to go downhill and cross the burn by the loch near the ruins of Ardoch house; then keeping uphill on the track for another half-mile or so and, just before a split in the dirt-track, you’ll see a reasonably large rounded boulder just a few yards above the track on your right. Y’ can’t really miss it!

Archaeology & History

This previously unrecorded cup-and-ring carving was rediscovered a few years ago by local lady Fiona McLaren: an absolute fount of knowledge when it comes to ancient sites in this area. It’s a pretty basic carving but is certainly worth looking at on your way up to see the much more unusual petroglyph of Ardoch (2).

When we visited this stone for the first time recently, the design was difficult to make out due to the grey overcast skies. The first thing you’ll notice is the single cup-marking on the left-side (west) of a natural crack near the top of the rock. It’s pretty easy to make out. But the cup-and-ring immediately left of this is much harder to see—or at least is was when we came here! But spend a bit of time with it, adjusting your sight, wetting the stone and, slowly but surely, you’ll notice the shallow ring surrounding another smaller cup-mark. You can make it out in the photo. A possible smaller cup-mark on the sloping northern face seems more likely to have Nature’s signature on it.

Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to Fiona McLaren of Abercairney for first uncovering this carving and pointing us towards it.

Duchlage, Crieff, Perthshire

11/08/202412/08/2024 megalithix

Standing Stone (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NN 8655 2079

Archaeology & History

There is seemingly no trace left of this once impressive tall, slender standing stone that had lived for thousands of years on the south-side of Crieff. It was destroyed by some retard in the middle of the 20th century (anyone know their name?). Highlighted on the 1866 Ordnance Survey map of the area, it was visited and described by the late great Fred Coles (1911) when it still stood at the side of the road. He told that it was,

“In shape a narrow rhomboid at the base, this Stone rises to an acute angle at a height of 6 feet. Its longer axis is E.S.E. 52° by W.N.W. 52°, and in basal girth it measures 8 feet 11 inches.”

Some 200 yards to the south-east there used to be the curiously-named Stayt of Crieff burial mound which had been used as a court hill for many centuries. This outlying standing stone may have been the “witness” on which oaths were sworn before the court. Sadly the history of the Stayt of Crieff mound is also somewhat sparse and it too has, appallingly, been destroyed. The destruction of these antiquities and their ancient traditions is nothing short of a fucking disgrace.

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.

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.

Seat Knowe, Fowlis Wester, Perthshire

09/08/202411/08/2024 megalithix

Cairn: OS Grid Reference – NN 93616 24689

Also Known as:

Blairmore
Murray’s Hill Wood

Getting Here

You need to hit the village of Fowlis Wester, which is easiest to approach from both east and west along the A85, between Crieff and Perth: nearly 3 miles east of Gilmerton and about 6½ mile west of Methven. Keep your eyes peeled and take the road up (north) where the large rounded tree-covered tumulus stands and up to the village. Go through the village and uphill for literally ½ a mile (veering sharp left at a junction) where a gate on your right leads into the fields. (a large parking spot is 300 yards further uphill) Walk ¼-mile east and through the other side of the small woodland, over the fence, you’ll see the mound of a typical tumulus. That’s it!

Archaeology & History

If you’re going to visit the megalithic remains of Fowlis Wester ¾-miles to the west, the antiquarians amongst you might as well give this old burial mound your attention too. It’s not grandiose by any means, but its position in the landscape is quite superb. It’s built upon a long geological promontory with extensive views that reach from south-east to south to south-west for many miles into the distance with the Ochils framing the majority of the southern horizon, but also with the notable pap of the West Lomond hill 20 miles to the south-east mimicking the shape of the tomb itself. It was obviously built here with the extended landscape having some ancestral importance. Visit it and see for yourself!

Despite being a notable mound, this tumulus-cum-cairn only seems to have been written about for the first time as recently as 1998, when archaeologist Ian Armit visited the site. Roughly circular in form, it’s about 12 yards across and more than six feet in height. A small pile of stones crowns the very top, placed here in much more recent times. At ground level on its northern side, an arc of low lying stones define the edge of the tomb. The stones probably continue all the way round the entire structure, but it’s overgrown by centuries of soil and vegetation and we lose sight of it as we walk round. When Mr Armit (1998) wrote about the site, he and colleague wrote:

Seat Knowe, looking NW

Seat Knowe, looking north

“A grassed-over stony cairn lies on the highest point of Seat Knowe, a ridge commanding extensive views to the south. The cairn has a diameter of c.10m and is up to 2m high. A modern cairn occupies it summit. The low turf foundations of a rectilinear structure, some 6 x 8m, occupy its south flank, and thee are extensive cultivation and field system remains in the vicinity.”

Check it out! You won’t be disappointed.

Folklore

An interesting piece of relatively recent folklore about Seat Knowe, described in the Perthshire Name Book around 1862, told that,

“One of the Earls of Strathearn, desirous of having a church in the vicinity of his Castle, stood on an eminence, on which he had a summer seat, and resolved to erect it where the sun first shone, which was on the spot where it now stands.”

References:

Armit, Ian & Hall, M., “Seat Knowe (Fowlis Wester parish): Cairn,” in Discovery & Excavation Scotland, 1998.

Craggan Top, Hosh, Crieff, Perthshire

29/07/202429/07/2024 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 85602 24795

Getting Here

It’s a helluva zigzag to get here. Just out of Crieff along the A85 road to Comrie, turn right up the minor road to Hosh and Glenturret Distillery. Just past the distillery, over the small river bridge, turn left and go up the tiny road for literally ⅔-mile (1.1km) and park up just before the cattle-grid. Naathen, up the slope into the trees at a diagonal behind where you’re parked, walk up and up for half-a-mile where the land levels out and you reach a gate (and my bath, in the undergrowth to your right). A track goes up above the gate (not the one through it) and bends round where, 100 yards up, you reach a gate. Go over it and look at one of the stones in front of you!

Archaeology & History

This is another one of those petroglyphs that only the purists amongst you will want to see. On the lower section of this typically smooth female stone, you’ll see a singular cup-mark, half-natural half-carved, a couple of inches across, with a less discernible cup-mark of similar dimensions further up the rock, but entirely man-made. When we visited here yesterday, the shadows of the trees above made it very difficult to get any decent photos of the cups. Give it your eye on the journey up to the impressive standing stone of Stonefield a few hundred yards further up the hill; and if you manage to get any good photos, stick ’em on our Facebook group.

Stonefield, Hosh, Crieff, Perthshire

29/07/202429/07/2024 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 8515 2484

Archaeology & History

There’s little to see here. In the 1990s, students from the Royal Commission found what they described as “a single cupmark”, 3 inches across by 1 inch deep, on a rock measuring 2-feet by 1½ feet, on the north side of this large (seemingly) natural mound with large scatters of field clearance stones all over its northern face. When I visited the place yesterday (on my way to see the impressive Stonefield monolith 260 yards to the north-east), I zigzagged back and forth over the rocky mound and was unable to find it, although it may have been beneath the summer vegetation. A winter visit may prove more fruitful.

Connachan (7), Crieff, Perthshire

27/07/202427/07/2024 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 8806 2746

Getting Here

You’re going from Crieff, up the A822 road from the Gilmerton junction and head up towards the Sma’ Glen. And if you’re visiting this stone, you’ve already walked past the carvings of Connachan (2), (4), (5) and (6). So just another 100 yards or so up the dirt-track past Connachan (4), (5) and (6), just where there’s a bend in the track, the land just about levels out (if you’ve reached the gate and fence you’ve gone too far). At this point walk onto the grassland on your right for barely 50 yards, just where the land sweeps back downhill. Look around for a small stone at the edge of some very low indistinct walling. You’ll find it!

Archaeology & History

A site that’s shown on the modern OS-map as a “cairn” but which is, by the look of things, actually a hut circle — and a somewhat indistinct hut circle at that! You could very easily walk right through it without even noticing you’d done so. However, the cup-marked stone on the outer edge of its southern wall does grab your attention! Once you’ve found the stone, if you pace round a few times you’ll begin to see the vague outline of this prehistoric, probably Bronze Age abode.

The carving was probably placed here after the hut circle had been built; or perhaps even built deliberately upon the petroglyph itself—but only an excavation would give us the answer. Its incorporation in the hut circle was probably functional, somewhat like the Man Stone carving in North Yorkshire, which is found at the doorway there. But this site is in such a state of neglect (and is somewhat overgrown) that I couldn’t ascertain whether it was at the entrance or not. If it was, then most likely there was a mythic relationship between the design of the cups and the person who lived therein. This relationship was probably a long standing traditional one attached to a particular family, or tribal leader, or even a shaman figure which no doubt stretched over many centuries. (as seems likely with the aforementioned Man Stone)

The carving itself is somewhat basic, as you can see, comprising of a small irregular cluster of between 18 and 20 tightly packed cups on a small stone. The hut circle is about 14 yards across. About 100 yards to the east is a severely robbed-out cairn.

References:

Stewart, Margaret E.C., “Connachan, Crieff – Cup Marks and Hut Circle,” in Discovery & Excavation, Scotland, 1967.

Ninewells, Caputh, Perthshire

03/07/202403/07/2024 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – NO 07566 43598

Getting Here

Take the directions to reach the Ninewells ring cairn on the hills east of Dunkeld. Once here, if you can work your way through the dense mass of prickly vegetation in and around the circle, on its western side you’ll find three elongated monoliths (if you stood them upright they’d be taller than all the rest) laid next to each other. On the smallest of these three, next to an upright, almost pyramidal stone, you’ll find what you’re looking for. Persevere! (someone needs to clean up this impressive site and keep it in good condition)

Archaeology & History

This minor-looking petroglyph can be found on the upper surface of the westernmost stone in the cairn circle. It’s nowt much to look at and will only be of interest to the hardcore rock art freaks among you. Carved onto the flattened edge of the stone are at least four shallow cup markings, close to each other. When we visited here, the light wasn’t good, but it seemed that a fifth cupmark was sat amidst the small cluster. You can make them all out (just!) in the photo. Another visit on a better day would tell us one way or the other…

References:

Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, South-East Perth: An Archaeological Landscape, HMSO: Edinburgh 1994.

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.

Connachan, Crieff, Perthshire

24/06/202426/06/2024 megalithix

Cairn: OS Grid Reference – NN 88098 27498

Getting Here

A couple of miles east of Crieff, take the A822 road from the Gilmerton junction and head up towards the Sma’ Glen. After literally 1¾ miles (2.8km), on the right-side of the road, you can park-up right opposite the dirt-track that leads up to Connachan Farm a half-mile away. Walking up and then past the farm, go past the Connachan (2) petroglyph, keeping on the same track uphill and just past the (Connachan 4) carving the land levels out where the track curves. From here, walk to your right, into the grasses, and about 90 yards along you’ll see a small rise in the ground with two or three fallen stones in the middle.

Archaeology & History

There’s nothing truly notable about this much-overgrown cairn and you could very easily walk past it without noticing it was even there! Much of its original mass has been removed and, no doubt, its stones reused in the old walling a few yards to the north (a long section of that walling appears to have a prehistoric provenance). It measures roughly 10 yards across and its outer edges are clearly visible as a raised grass-covered mound all round, just one or two feet high at the most. Obviously it was much larger when first built, but all that we see now are its final ruins, four or five thousand years after its birth… The one thing of great note here is the view: you’re looking from east to south to west across an awesome landscape for many many miles. Check it out!

References:

Stewart, Margaret E.C., “Connachan, Crieff – Cup Marks and Hut Circle,” in Discovery & Excavation, Scotland, 1967.

Barry Hill, Alyth, Perthshire

23/06/202423/06/2024 megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – NO 262 503

Archaeology & History

In an excursion to the Iron Age Hillfort on Barry Hill in the early 1960s by some members of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science, near the very top on its southwestern side they discovered “a small cup marked stone.” (Longworth 1962) It hasn’t been seen since. And whether it was in the walling of the fort, or was a carved earthfast rock, they neglected to tell. When I visited here several years ago I couldn’t find the damn thing and presume that it’s simply been overgrown by the vegetation. In the event that you manage to rediscover the carving, see if you can catch us a good photo or two and stick ’em on our Facebook group.

References:

Longworth, Ian, “Dundee, Angus,” in Discovery & Excavation, Scotland, 1962.