Standing Stone (destroyed?): OS Grid Reference – HY 3347 0450
Archaeology & History
Very little seems to be known of this long lost standing stone, that appears to have been described just once in 19th century notebooks of the Orcadian lawyer and antiquarian, George Petrie. Therein he told how,
“Mr Balfour of Balfour and Trenabie described to me a ball of freestone found close to a Standing Stone on the farm of the Bu of Orphir and near to the churchyard.”
Despite being reported as “destroyed” by the Royal Commission (1946) lads, recently a local man claims to have found what he thinks might be the missing stone, about 400 yards to the southwest, very close to the coast and standing some six feet tall. We await a secondary local report on this.
References:
Royal Commission Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Orkney and Shetland – volume 2, HMSO: Edinburgh 1946.
Standing Stone (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – HY 3035 1136
Archaeology & History
Very little is known of this standing stone that existed just a half-mile south of the major Stones of Stenness (to which it may have had some archaeo-linear relationship; or perhaps with the Brodgar circle a further half-mile away). It was destroyed sometime around 1860, with no description of its dimensions or appearance. When it was mentioned briefly by J. Fraser (1926), he told us that the position of the stone had subsequently been marked “by a wooden stake in the boggy land close to and north-east of Kethesgeo.”
References:
Fraser, J. “Antiquities of Stenness Parish”, in Proceedings Orkney Antiquarian Society, volume 4, 1926.
Royal Commission Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Orkney and Shetland – volume 2, HMSO: Edinburgh 1946.
Standing Stone (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – HP 5378 0425
Also Known as:
The Brough
Archaeology & History
This standing stone formerly stood close to the Burn of Forse, otherwise known as the Garth of Papal in the far north of the island. Described briefly in J.T. Irving’s (1887) essay on the prehistoric remains of the area, the upright was obviously of local stone being,
Papil stone (PSAS 1887)
“a broad flat slab, slightly lower at one side than the other and measuring 4 feet 2 inches in greatest height by 2 feet 10 inches in width, and varying from 18 inches to 6 inches in thickness. In one corner were the initials H I 1674 and M W 1683, with an old merchant’s mark, or something of that description… The late Dr Hunt of the Anthropological Society, dug under it in 1865, with the result that it was left to fall down, and be eventually broken up for building material to be used in the walls of a new school-house.”
Folklore
Irving (1887) told us that, “there is a tradition that a queen who came in a ship to Papal died there, and was buried beneath this stone.”
References:
Irving, J.T., “Notes on some Prehistoric Burial-places and Standing Stones in the Island of Yell, Shetland”, in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 21, 1887.
Royal Commission Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Orkney and Shetland – volume 3, HMSO: Edinburgh 1946.
Legendary Rock (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – HP 5223 0467
Archaeology & History
Whilst classifying this as a “legendary” rock, it was as much a functional stone that played an integral part of local village life in the 19th century and, most probably, way before that. This large stone possessed a large cavity in the shape of a giant human footprint, measuring 12 inch by 4 inch. It could be seen “above the Deeks of Bracon, North Yell, up Hena”, but when first described in 1865, it was said to be “no longer in existence.” Despite this, when an Ordnance Survey dood came looking for it in 1969, he reported it as “still in existence” and known of by local people. Is there anyone in the far far north who can tell us?
Folklore
The impression of the large footprint was natural, but the use to which local people made of it is valuable when we seek to understand pre-industrial customs. The Royal Commission (1946) lads echoed the folklore handed down by J.T. Irvine from 1865, telling that,
“Formerly the people used to wash in dew or rain-water that had gathered in the cavity and stand in it to get rid of warts. The tradition was that a giant had planted one foot here and the other on a stone on the Westing of Unst.”
Healing stones with such properties can be found everywhere on Earth.
References:
Royal Commission Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Orkney and Shetland – volume 3, HMSO: Edinburgh 1946.
Follow the same directions to reach either the Craig Hill cluster (3), no.4 or no.5 carvings. Once here, looking at the sloping moorland ahead of you, the elongated stone that’s closest to where the moorland slopes downhill is the one you’re after. Y’ can’t really miss it!
Archaeology & History
The sixth carving in this small close-knit cluster and, design-wise, the least impressive of the bunch. There are three distinct cup-marks on the rock: two on its more southern side and one near the middle of the stone. There may be another two cups, but these may have been part of the curious long, naturally-eroded line running along the length of the stone. Other man-made elements may have been cut into the stone, but it needs to be seen in perfect low light to tell us one way or the other.
Standing Stone (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NY 546 889
Archaeology & History
Stone shown on 1863 map
Once found living on the high moors four miles to the east of Newcastleton, close to the English border, all trace of the stone has gone. Highlighted on the 1863 OS-map, the stone was three feet high and was located at the highest end of Goose Rig. It was deemed by local people “to be of ancient origin,” but we know little else about it. A place immediately to the northwest is known as the Queen o’ Fairies Hole, whose history and folklore has also been forgotten…
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Roxburghshire – volume 1, HMSO: Edinburgh 1956, p.95
Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – NT 6504 2045
Archaeology & History
A little-known cup-and-ring stone that was uncovered in the forecourt of Jedburgh Abbey by Walter Laidlow in 1903, now lies all but forgotten in the abbey grounds. Laidlow’s original description of his find was very basic indeed: “a sculptured stone, with incised ring-and cup-symbols… of yellow sandstone, 1 foot 8 inches long, 9½ inches broad, 4 inches thick.” The Royal Commission (1956) lads did slightly better, saying:
“A slab of stone… measures 1ft 8½in by 9½in by 4in, and bears on one face six cup-marks ranging from 1in to 2½in in diameter. The largest of these is encircled by a ring 5in in diameter, in “pocked” technique; while slight traces of what may have been a similar ring can be seen around another cup, which is fractured.”
Laidlow’s 1903 photo
You can see from the photograph how the stone has been broken from a larger piece, strongly suggestive of a greater prehistoric design on the original slab—but there have been no subsequent finds that might show us its original form. In all likelihood, the stone originally came from a prehistoric tomb, but we know not where that might have been—much like the Mathewson’s Garden carving, also in Jedburgh.
The carving apparently still lies somewhere in the Abbey grounds, sleeping, but I’ve not visited the olde stone so I don’t know its exact position. If any local folk can tell us more, that would be great!
References:
Laidlaw, Walter, “Sculptured and Inscribed Stones in Jedburgh and Vicinity,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 39, 1905.
Morris, Ronald W.B., “The Cup-and-Ring Marks and Similar Sculptures of South-West Scotland,” in Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society, volume 14, 1967.
Morris, Ronald W.B., “The cup-and-ring marks and similar sculptures of Scotland: a survey of the southern Counties – part 2,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 100, 1969.
Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Southern Scotland, BAR: Oxford 1981.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Roxburghshire – volume 1, HMSO: Edinburgh 1956.
Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – c. NT 65 20
Archaeology & History
Apart from the petroglyph found at Jedburgh Abbey in 1903, there’s a distinct lack of known cup-and-ring stones in this area; so when the petroglyph pioneer George Tate was in town in 1860, he was fortunate to find a small “portable” stone with a rather impressive design on it. We don’t (yet) know the exact position of where the stone was located, as Tate simply told how,
“Lying among a heap of stones in Mr. Adam Mathewson’s garden, I detected, on a much weather-worn block, defaced sculpturing of the same family character as those in Northumberland. …There are five concentric circles, central cup, radial grooves, and a string of cups around the outer circle. Forty years ago this stone was built into the wall of a house; but whence it originally came is not known. Doubtless it belongs to the district, and probably had been connected with an interment.”
His final remark would seem most likely and has subsequently been echoed by several other rock art students. A few years after Tate’s initial find, the carving was mentioned in Sir James Simpson’s (1867) classic work, who told us:
Dr Falla’s 1866 sketch
“Sometime ago Mr Tate, of Alnwick, discovered in the garden of Mr Matthewson at Jedburgh a stone cut with concentric circles, possibly a sepulchral cist, but peculiar in some respects. The stone is roundish, but broken off at one side, and about eighteen inches broad. Its face is covered by five incised concentric rings, and through the central cup pass at right angles two straight lines, which completely bisect all the circles. The outermost circle is about fourteen inches in diameter. Some inches to the left of the central cup is a second, with one incised circle around it. Arranged circularly outside of the outermost circle is a series or ring of points or stars, each cut out—so Dr Falla writes me—”as with a single stroke of a pick, rather than hewn out.” I am indebted to the same gentleman for the sketch of this stone.”
Subsequently all other written accounts repeat the same basic description—and each account remained (as we still are) perplexed as to its original location, wondering where on Earth the Rev Adam Mathewson’s garden was in Jedburgh (surely someone must be able to find out?!). Thankfully the carving itself has been saved and presently lives in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow. Whether it ever had any relationship with the petroglyph at Jedburgh Abbey, we don’t yet know.
References:
Laidlaw, Walter, “Sculptured and Inscribed Stones in Jedburgh and Vicinity,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 39, 1895.
Morris, Ronald W.B., “The Cup-and-Ring Marks and Similar Sculptures of South-West Scotland,” in Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society, volume 14, 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 cup-and-ring marks and similar sculptures of Scotland: a survey of the southern Counties – part 2,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 100, 1969.
Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Southern Scotland, BAR: Oxford 1981.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, Roxburghshire – volume 1, HMSO: Edinburgh 1956.
Simpson, J.Y., “On Ancient Sculpturings of Cups and Concentric Rings,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 6, 1866.
Simpson, James, Archaic Sculpturings of Cups, Circles, etc., Upon Stones and Rocks in Scotland, England and other Countries, Edmonston & Douglas: Edinburgh 1867.
Tate, George, “The Ancient British Sculptured Rocks of Northumberland and the Eastern Borders,” in Transactions of the Berwickshire Naturalists Club, volume 5, 1864.
This little-known iron-bearing spring can still be found in the woodland known today as the Heugh of Mawse, a mile north of Blairgowrie. It was included in the Object Name Book of 1863, where they referred to an earlier account in the New Statistical Account, which told that,
“On the south end of it is a chalybeate spring much resorted to by the people of the locality. “There are one or two chalybeate springs in the parish; but they have never been chemically analyzed. There is one very fine spring called the “Heugh Well” It springs from the face of the “Heughs of Mause” (a mortar cliff of singular appearance; which descends abruptly into the bed of the river with an almost perpendicular declivity of about 200 feet) and judging from its colour, contains a considerable quantity of ferruginous matter. The use of its water has been found to be very beneficial in cutaneous eruptions, & affections of the Stomach.””
Heugh Well on 1867 map
Subsequently highlighted on the 1867 OS-map, a singular footpath led to the site and no further. It was mentioned by the regional historians J.G. McPherson (1885) and John MacDonald (1899), albeit briefly, where they respectively told that its waters were “formerly much resorted to by persons in the neighbourhood.” It possessed considerable medicinal properties which, according to tradition, were “found very beneficial for skin diseases and derangement of the stomach”! Doubtless such attributes will still be effective.
Holy Well (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NO 180 452
Archaeology & History
The Well Meadow in the middle of Blairgowrie was once the place where the 5th century Apostle of the Southern Picts, or St Ninian, baptised local folk into the so-called “new faith”. It’s long since gone. The local historian John MacDonald (1899) told that it was located opposite the buildings on the north-side of the square, adding:
“St Ninian, one of the earliest Christian Celtic missionaries, on his tour through Scotland, pitched his camp where the Wellmeadow now is, and quenched his thirst at an old well or spring which ever afterwards bore the name of “St Ninian’s Well,” until it was covered in and the water led into the town drains.”
