Cup-Marked Stone (removed): OS Grid Reference – NZ 1480 6417
Archaeology & History
Ryton cup-marked stone
In a short piece read before Newcastle’s Society of Antiquaries in 1942, a Mr Cocks (don’t laugh!) told that when a friend of his was clearing out an old land drain in his garden, he found this fragmented cup-marked stone, “which had been made use of as a corner slab on the drain”! It was located “about 40 yards south-west of Tweedy’s Buildings,” on the west side of town. Broken from a larger piece of stone, the attached photo here shows the simple design of the basic cup-marks, measuring respectively 2½, 2 and 1⅝ inches across. Mr Cocks told that “there are also two finger-tip hollows on the stone tone which or may not be natural. A dark line running between the cups is a natural fissure.”
Last we heard, the stone was living in a box somewhere in the archives at the Great North Museum, Newcastle.
References:
Cocks, W.A., “A Cup-Marked Stone at Ryton,” in Proceedings Society of Antiquaries Newcastle-upon-Tyne, volume X, no.2, January 1943.
On the north side of Cookridge, find Smithy Lane and go to the western-end, where it meets up with a dirt-track. Walk straight along here by the side of the cricket-pitch and then take the first turn left where you walk along the other edge of the cricket pitch. About 150 yards along, the track hits the woods; keep along here for about another 200 yards where you’ll find a small footpath on your left goes into the woods. Once you’re in in the trees, walk to your right, following the wall, for about 50 yards where you’ll see a large flat stone by the holly trees. That’s it!
Archaeology & History
Rediscovered by the Leeds historian Don Cole in the 1940s, this complex multi-period carving etched onto a flattened rock surface is an unusual outlier from the Rombalds Moor complex several miles to the west. At its heart, around the semi-natural deep “cups” near the middle of the southern side of the stone, is the oldest part of the carving comprising a very faint incomplete triple-ring design which, as we move around it, almost has the look of a Newgrange-lozenge form to it. But I’m unsure…
Very faint incomplete triple-ring at top-middleWaves & cups and rings
More obvious (apart from the deep “cups”), and the first thing you notice as you approach the stone, are the later and much more well-defined elements on the east side of the stone: a curious wave-form writhes from the edge of the rock across its smooth surface, beneath which we find a cup-and-ring and a number of single cup-marks, some enclosed inside a rounded box, with others sat between the curved carved line and the stone’s edge. The “rounded box” with its three cups at first seems to be on its own, but as the light changes you’ll notice a much fainter (possibly older) rectangular box attached to it; no cups are visible inside this.
A hundred yards due south in the same woodland you’ll find the Gab Woods (2) carving.
One interesting feature is the name of the woodland in which the stone resides. In Thomas Wright’s massive dialect work, Gab is a northern dialect word meaning “to talk”, or “idle chatter” (and variants thereof); this is echoed in Blakeborough’s (1911) Yorkshire survey; and Wilkinson’s (1924) local study tells simply it to be “idle talk…able to talk glibly and with much plausibility—a Town Hall Square orator for instance.” This makes the place as something akin to being “the woodland that talks”, “the chattering woods” or “the talking woodland”, etc. You can make up your own mind as to what this might mean… *
References:
Blakeborough, Richard, Wit, Character, Folklore and Customs of the North Riding of Yorkshire, W. Rapp: Saltburn 1911.
Wright, Joseph, English Dialect Dictionary – volume 2, Henry Frowde: London 1900.
Acknowledgements: Huge thanks must go to Peter Murphy for recovering this impressive carving from beneath the carpet of soil and vegetation, and so enabling it to be seen by others once more. Also big thanks to the usual culprit of James Elkington, as well as Sarah Walker and Sarah Jackson.
* a Scottish dialect variant of gab relates to the mouth, tongue, taste.
Roughly halfway between Bettyhill and Tongue on the A836 road, keep your eyes peeled for the sign to Skerray (4 miles) and travel down that road. About 1¾ mile on, take the tiny lane on your left up the slope for 0.6 miles (1km), and just before the sharp bend in the road (across a small bridge) there’s a gate on your left. Go thru here and follow the tiny path alongside the burn (stream) westwards for half-a-mile until where the waters become a bog within a wide oval bowl in the landscape. At the far-side you’ll see two large boulders sat above this watery bowl. That’s where you need to be!
Archaeology & History
The big fella of the two
This is carving “number one” of two great incised boulders that are sat upon a natural ridge overlooking a dried-up lochan. An impressive spot that give a thoroughly distinct impression of altar stones above the sunken waters, from whence rites and proclamations were performed. It has that look and feel about it—and any animist would tell you the same. My hardcore dreams aside though…
This profile is for the larger of the two boulders that live here (Allt Thorrisdail 2 is here). It has very curious petroglyphic attributes—much like its compatriot—unlike many of those in these northern lands. The pair of them seem to have been described for the first time in Hew Morrison’s (1883) fine meanderings through the mythic history of the region. He told that,
“About a mile distant (from Torrisdale) two large cup marked boulders lie on the slope of a hill. The marks are disposed in groups of one large and nine smaller cups. On the larger boulder there are two of these groups and seven separate marks.”
There are slightly more than that, and this was pointed out when the Royal Commission (1911) lads came to see it:
“The largest boulder, that situated furthest west, is about 8 feet high and 14 feet in length. On its south side, chiefly on the flat and less abrupt face of the stone, are groups of cup-marks of from 2in to 3in in diameter, the deepest being about 1in in depth, while a number are now almost obliterated. The extent of the markings is not very definite, but there appear to be two groups containing about twelve cup-marks each.”
Another chorus of cupsLichen-dappled cupmarks
But this only tells of half the stone’s symbolic story. For on the vertical northern face of the rock, from just above ground-level, we have a distinct almost straight line of many cup-marks, going up diagonally, at an angle of about 35º. I took a number of photos of this aspect of the stone, but the covering of lichens didn’t highlight them clearly at all. When you’re stood looking at them they stand out like a sore thumb!
I have to be honest and say that I bloody well love this site! You have to paint the entire environment in the right light, as it was when the stone was first carved, surrounded by the scattered woodland of birch, pines and rowan all across where now we have stunning barren moorlands. Tis a ritual place indeed – without any shadow of doubt!
References:
Mercer, R.J., Archaeological Field Survey in Northern Scotland 1976-1979, University of Edinburgh 1980.
Royal Commission on Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Second Report and Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the County of Sutherland. HMSO: Edinburgh 1911.
Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to Sarah MacLean for her company and landscape knowledge in visiting this and other nearby antiquarian remains. And to Aisha Domleo, for getting me into this neck o’ the woods.
From Holymoorside, take the long straight Loads Road running west out of the town into Longside Road. ¾-mile along, past Home View and just before Well Lane (on the right), there’s a public footpath sign pointing into the fields on your left. Walk dead straight, dead south along the wallside for 450 yards, then walk straight left again along the other wall until you reach the tiny bit of moorland less than 150 yards away. The carved rock is just on the other side of the stile at the edge of the old walling. You’ll find it.
Archaeology & History
Rediscovered sometime in 2002, this would seem to be an isolated cup-and-ring stone. It was first mentioned in John Barnatt’s (2003) short gazetteer of Peakland petroglyphs, where he wrote,
“This irregularly-shaped small boulder was identified recently lying amongst post-medieval field clearance adjacent to a field corner and footpath… Its upper parts ar covered with 40-46 cupmarks. On the exposed irregular top they are badly worn and sometimes uncertainly identified. In one instance a cup is partly encircled by a worn ring, while a second partial ring nearby may be fortuituous. On a ledge near one edge of the boulder preservation is better and the cups are clearly defined and densely arranged.”
The stone looks as if it’s been moved into its present location, obviously for use in the walling. It’s original position would have been somewhere close by, but we know not where that might be.
References:
Barnatt, John & Robinson, F., “Prehistoric Rock Art in Ashover School and Further New Discoveries Elsewhere in the Peak District,” in Derbyshire Archaeological Journal, 123, 2003.
Standing Stone (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NT 074 698
Archaeology & History
A few hundred yards west of the commemorative Wallace Stone monolith could once be seen a standing stone of considerable size. It was described by James Primrose (1898) in his description of the standing stones of the Strathbrock region; but even in his day, remains of it were fragmentary. He wrote:
“On Drumshoreland Moor, within the grounds of Pumpherston Oil Company, there is a stone, popularly styled Bucksides — its correct designation being Backsides — from its position at the backside of Pumpherston. This stone, a huge whinstone boulder about 12 feet long and 8 feet broad, was blasted in 1888, to make room for the site of a bench of retorts; a few fragments of the stone, however, yet remain by the roadside. The ancient name of this stone was Ballengeich — apparently the Gaelic for “the township towards the wind”, — as if a croft once stood here, near Pumpherston Mains, in an exposed and windy situation.”
A visit to the local history department of the local library might prove fruitful in giving us more information about this place—that’s assuming the filthy tory central government’s theft of taxpayer’s money doesn’t close it! (does that sound a bit harsh? 😁 )
Folklore
The same historian told of a “tradition…that round this stone in days gone by the Broxburn folks, along with their neighbours, used to assemble at Fair time, in the month of August, in order to witness their favourite sport of horse-racing; but whether there was any more ancient custom associated with it, we have never learned.”
References:
Primrose, James, Strathbrock; or, the History and Antiquities of the Parish of Uphall, Andrew Elliot: Edinburgh 1898.
Make a day out of this one, visiting several old places on the way. From Comrie take the B827 road to Braco, turning right at the tiny Glen Artney road a half-mile along (easy to miss). 3 miles along, pass the derelict Dalness cottage, you can follow the directions to get to the Mailer Fuar (2) cup-and-ring stone; and from here go up the field past the Mailer Fuar (1) carving, through the gate and follow the fence to your right. Keep going till your reach the Allt na Drochaide cup-and-ring stone. From here you’re heading (south) towards the rounded crags of Cnoc Brannan. It’s boggy as fuck in parts so cautiously zigzag through this section up towards the small grassy rise about 350 yards from the cup-and-ring stone. You’ll find it!
Archaeology & History
From the old stone, gazing S
On one of the gentle rises below the northern slope of Cnoc Brannan we find this sturdy old fella, 3-4 feet tall (I didn’t measure it), looking across the stunning landscapes north, east and west along Glen Artney. Not previously recorded and seemingly isolated from other prehistoric remains, he looks all alone at first sight, but laid down in the grassy rushes (Juncus conglomeratus) to his side, is a slender seven-foot long stone which may have stood upright in the not-too-distant past, giving us another double stone setting in this area (at least two others existed in this area—the closest being at Craggish, 3.7 miles northeast). I have little doubt that other undiscovered prehistoric remains are hiding in the area. (there are a number of single cup-marked stones in the locale, although I tend to leave such examples off the catalogues as they can be somewhat dubious [and many are]. I mention this just in case any rock art students want to forage the area.)
Numerous ways to get here, it’s probably the easiest (direction wise) to reach here starting from Dick Hudson’s public house on the southern road surrounding Rombalds Moor. From the pub, head left (east) along Otley Road (passing Weecher reservoir) for 1.9 miles (3.1km) until you reach Reva reservoir where a track leads you to the waters. A small parking spot is on the left-side of the road. From here, go through the gate and up the footpath (north) for about 200 yards then turn right and go up the field towards the wall where, about 20 yards before it, you’ll see find the stone in question.
Archaeology & History
This long earthfast stone has two distinct cup-markings: one near its northern upper end, and the other near the lower southern end, as highlighted on the above photo. (forgive the poor image, but we took it when the sun was pretty high in the sky) It seems as if there are two or three other very faint cup-marks on the upper end of the stone, close to the most distinct one, but none of our photos show them with any clarity.
Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to Sarah Walker and Thomas Cleland for help with location and imagery for this stone.
From Comrie take the B827 road to Braco, passing the large Roman Stone monolith, turning right at the tiny Glen Artney road a half-mile along (easy to miss). 3 miles on, pass the derelict Dalness cottage, you can follow the directions to get to the Mailer Fuar (2) cup-and-ring stone; and from here go up the field past the Mailer Fuar (1) carving, through the gate and follow the fence to your right, then drop down into the great boggy reeds, over the burn and up as if you’re heading to the rounded hill of Cnoc Brannan. On a grassy knoll a hundred yards or so up the slope, you’ll see a rock or two. It’s thereby!
Archaeology & History
The stone in its setting
I came across this petroglyph not too long ago on the same day I found the Cnoc Brannan standing stone a little further up the slope from here. Covered in cup-markings over all except the northeastern portion of its surface, a faint ring seems to be around one of them on its northern side. Of the twenty-two cups on the stone, the majority of them, as the photos show, are clustered alongside a curved natural scar that runs across the topmost section of the rock. There are less pronounced faded cups on the more northern and western portions of the rock, with what looks like one on its near-vertical southern face. Despite its lack of complexity, it has an impressive feel to it.
Main cluster of cups
The home of this carving in its natural setting is what stands out when you’re up here and is certainly what gives it that vibe! The wooded greenery of Glen Artney stretches ahead of you to the east and west, with the craggish mountains of Beinn Dearg, Halton and their compatriots drawing you to the northern side. Tis a gorgeous arena indeed! So, if you’re going to visit its near neighbors at Mailer Fuar a half-mile below, stick this one on your itinerary and, if you’re the roving type, get your feet wet and look around for some more of them. There’ll be others, as yet unknown, hiding away nearby…
From Comrie take the B827 road to Braco and less than a mile out of town take the tiny Glen Artney road on your right. Past the derelict Dalness cottage 3 miles on, a half-mile further, there’s a gated road veering downhill on your right. Park in the small parking-spot at the left. Walk along 100 yards to the gate on your left and walk up the old path which bends back on itself before leveling out. As it does so, just where the Mailer Fuar (2) carving lives, head uphill to the derelict house and, before reaching the fence, check out the several isolated stones on your right. You’ll find it!
Archaeology & History
Several faint cupmarks
This is nowt special to look at and, as I always tend to say with carvings such as this, it’s probably only gonna be of interest to the petroglyphic puritans amongst you. It was described by George Currie (2006) as possessing just one cup-mark, but there are in fact at least three of them on this sloping rock face, possibly four. One of them may—may—have a half-ring around it, but this is very hard to see and might be little more than a trick of the light and just a forlorn hope of something better… It’s worth a brief look before you venture further uphill to the much more impressive Allt na Drochaide carving.
From Comrie take the B827 road to Braco and less than a mile out of town keep your eyes peeled for the tiny Glen Artney road on your right. Past the derelict Dalness cottage 3 miles on, a half-mile further, just where you hit a track-road veering downhill on your right, you need to park up in the small parking-spot on your left. Walk along the road 100 yards, keeping your eyes peeled again for the gate set back on your left (easy to miss!); go thru here, walk up the old path which bends back on itself before leveling out and, as it does, two or three small boulders lie just off the pathway on your right, one with its own petroglyph.
Archaeology & History
There are cups, rings and lines on this old stone, with the lines in particular being somewhat troublesome when it comes to working out their origin: some are natural, some made by modern farming implements (about a hundred years back), and some that were carved thousands of years ago—and it’s not that easy to work out which is which. You’ll be able to see what I mean by looking at the photos.
Rediscovered, it would seem, by M.D. King in 1991, he described it plainly as a simple
“recumbent cup-marked stone 1900mm by 1200mm by 300mm…found in a stone dyke running down the hill from the deserted farm of Mailer Fuar. The stone may have been moved down from its original position for inclusion in the now ruinous stone dyke. Fourteen cup-marks were visible on the stone.”
Complete cup-and-ringsCnRs and various lines
But there’s much more to it than that! There are rings around the cups for starters. Four of them. Two cup-and-rings next to each other at the southeast portion of the stone are just about complete, as you can see (right); the various lines that run either side and into them seem to be a mix of early and more recent scratches—although I think we’re best asking a petromorphologist to tell us which is which! We have a similar problem for another cup-and-ring near the centre of the stone, for it has two lines going right through its centre: one of them running almost the full north-south length of the stone giving the impression it was carved a long time back, yet looking much less ancient when it comes to its form and erosion; whilst the other line—almost at right-angles to the first—has a decidedly more archaic worn appearance.
General design in low lightLong line, curving at top
One of the more assured “ancient” carved lines is on the eastern section of the stone. (left) It’s an odd looking thing, not very clear on the photo, comprising an elongated curved line, with a fork at the bottom, almost like short legs on an elongated stick-man like the ones we drew as kids. The long line seems to eventually curve over and into one of the cup-marks. Adjacent to the bottom of this forked curve is a cup and faint incomplete ring with a faint line running out of its centre to a smaller faint cup to its west. You can see this reasonably well in the lower photo (right)
The carving needs a lot of attention if we’re to work out its original design, as the photos show. Even the millionaire computer-tech work of the Scottish rock art club didn’t really suss out the differences regarding chronological elements in this carving (I don’t think they even mentioned it), which shows how difficult some of these buggers can be! Personally, I’d love to see the impression of some good artists at this stone when the light’s just right and see what their mind’s eye brings to the fore.
After all this I’ve not even mentioned its position in the landscape. Go check it out and see for y’selves. It’s a bittova beauty! And then wander a little further uphill to look at the Allt na Drochaide (1) carving I found not long ago. The view’s even better from there!
