|
Souterrain
|
|
|
The souterrain here is right on top of the hill. The RCAHMS record says it has 10 steps down to a sandy floor. The walls and ceiling are pieces of sandstone, with no mortar. There is a carved stone '6" square, marked by thin concentric lines, with a circular hollow in the centre, 3" in diameter and 1 1/4" deep', but it's said not to be in the cup-and-ring 'class', so make of that what you will.
Supposedly, the souterrain was discovered in 1878, although '1200' is said to be engraved on a stone, with the implication made that this was a date of previous discovery. Whatever, this spot is surely the place of the following folklore (the hill is now 'Coalyard Hill' on the map) and maybe a dim awareness of the souterrain added to its strange reputation.Calliard Hill - A gradually rising eminence betwixt St Monance and Elie, reported in tradition as the principal arena where warlocks, witches, kelpies, and other imaginary beings, hold their midnight revels, and carry on their incantations, seizing the benighted travellers, dragging them off their course, or tossing them in the air like feathers in the whirlwind. Even in the nineteenth century, a man was taken from that enchanted eminence and carried nine times round Kilconquhar Loch, without the use of any of his locomotive faculties. Such is stated to have been the declaration of the spell-bound individual himself. From An Historical Account of St. Monance Fifeshire by John Jack, 1844.
There was also supposed to be another souterrain, now gone, at NO 5027 0094.
|
Posted by Rhiannon
8th October 2012ce
Edited 8th October 2012ce
|
|
Log in |
Register
Top of page