|
 Log in |
Register
|
|
|
GranishClava Cairn
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
0 discussions
Show map (inline Google Map)
|
|
|
Images (click to view fullsize) |
 Add an image |
|
Fieldnotes |
Add fieldnotes |
|
17/06/2017 – As this site had got the Greywether/Gladman/Drew seal of approval I had been looking forward to my visit. A few ways to this one. We decided to make a little walk of it and start from Boat of Garten. Heading down the Speyside Way first and then carrying straight on were the Speyside Way turns left under the trainline. After about 1km we took the track west to visit the lovely cairn at Avielochan then back again to head SW for another 1km to Granish Clava Cairn. This really is a good one. A large cairn surrounded by heather, very different to the grassy setting of the smaller Avielochan cairn nearby. I loved the tree in the middle. We sat for a good while just taking in the view and feel of the place with a brew and a butty or 3. A visit to Granish and Avielochan makes for a fine walk. Even better maybe take the steam train from Aviemore to Boat of Garten and then walk back via these two, sounds a good day out to me. Very impressed with both cairns. |
Posted by thelonious26th June 2017ce Edited 26th June 2017ce |
|
Granish is an absolute belter of a site and remains in good condition and is as described in Gladman's superb notes. Like Gladman my map reading skills seemed to fail. I parked at the first layby on the A95 north of Aviemore thinking the site was almost next to the road. After leading, AC, RM and B on a wild goose chase I checked the OS map and found it to be the other side of the railway to the north east. Whistling Last Train To London I jumped the fence, got a row for doodling on the track, jumped the next fence and wandered through some trees to find the site. What a site and like Mr G I think the tree adds to the place. 31/7/2016. |
Posted by drewbhoy24th August 2016ce |
|
The substantial Granish lies a little under a mile to the south of the wondrous Avielochan clava cairn; as such it 'should' be a relatively easy matter to combine a visit to both these fine monuments. I say 'should' because I unfortunately made a complete and utter hash of my - albeit ultimately successful - attempt. Jeez, what a muppet! Give me an open hillside and compass and I'll (more often than not) find the proverbial needle.... however add forestry tracks to the equation and I usually end up just 'getting' the needle. However it doesn't have to be that way... it really is quite simples, in fact. If you pay attention, that is. Stop talking at the back, Gladman. From Avielochan... cross the railway bridge and follow the path to the right, passing Recharr farm before proceeding through a gate - again, to the right - labelled 'Speyside Way'. Now this is the crucial part, assuming you wish to avoid wandering around for a couple of extra miles in the pouring rain upon the aforementioned Speyside Way. Nice as it is, not the place to be when totally lost and unable to fix your position. Therefore take the next (unsignposted) right, marked with a post bearing an acorn image, and ignore all subsequent deviations. This will eventually lead you to Loch nan Carraigean, where you will locate the monument overlooking its far (southern) shore. Hey, even I did in the end, so my thanks to the unnamed Scot who, albeit inadvertently, was responsible for me stumbling upon a signpost marked 'Loch nan Carraigean 1.5 miles'. It's only funny in retrospect, believe me. So was it worth it? Well, as Meg Ryan (I think) exclaims in that dodgy 80's film... "Yes!, Yes!, Yes!" Only difference is I'm not faking it. Yeah, despite the driving rain, despite the remaining couple of large circle stones of this Clava ring cairn lying prostrate upon the ground... and despite the debris from 'happy campers' littering the environs... this site is awesome. No, really. It is. Canmore (Henshall 1963) reckons the cairn is 56ft in diameter, and it's clearly pretty well preserved, too. This is big by any standards. Add perhaps the most substantial retaining kerb - upon the southern arc, anyway - I've seen this side of Beltany and the conditions are more or less immaterial. Apart from forcing me to put away the DSLR and grab a few images on me Dad's compact, that is. The cairn is topped by a 'double-trunked' tree. Which seems appropriate, somehow. Everything is substantial about this ring cairn. Even the weather. Not to mention the walk to get here. But it doesn't have to be like that..... if you can read a map! |
Posted by GLADMAN4th July 2011ce Edited 4th July 2011ce |
|
See access notes for Avielochan or approach by one of the many footpaths at the N end of Aviemore crossing the railway at Knockgranish. Excellent ring cairn with some fallen stones from external circle. |
Posted by greywether3rd December 2003ce Edited 3rd December 2003ce |
Folklore |
Add folklore |
|
It is not surprising that the Grenish Stone Circle should be supernaturally protected, if it was truly the crowning place of the Pictish kings. This tradition was reported by Otta Swire in 1963: 'The last king to be crowned there was King Brude, so the old gardener we had at Kingussie told me.' He had been told this as a boy by his grannie who came from Aviemore, and she had heard it from her grannie, a noted wise woman or witch. Acording to the gardener's grannie, when a Pictish king died, all who hoped to succeed him gathered at the circle, where the Druids invoked the spirits who told them which claimant to crown and other things besides. When the spirit was summoned at the death of the forty-eighth king, he told them to cron King Brude but he would be the last they crowned. Thinking this meant the downfall of the Pictish kingdom, they asked more questions but only got an enigmatic answer: Living die, Dying live When the king was crowned it was customary to raise three spirits, and for the King to ask each a question, the first of which must be: What of my reign? When Brude asked this question, he couldn't understand the reply: the spirit was that of an Irish champion who spoke only Gaelic, while Brude only spoke the Pictish language. Fortunately a bilingual Druid was on hand to translate, telling Brude that one greater than he would come out of the sea, rule in his kingdom above him, and make him great. The prophecy referred to the coming of St Columba and his conversion of King Brude to Christianity. As with a number of Otta Swire's stories, it is uncertain if this is a popular tradition or a romantic fiction. In some respects it sounds suspiciously like the revelation in Macbeth of Banquo's royal descendants, although it is of course entirely possible that Shakespeare based his scene on a report of ancient Scottish custom. |
Posted by drewbhoy 4th January 2024ce Edited 4th January 2024ce |
|
Stones from religious sites whether ancient or modern should not be removed. Such is the prevalent , recorded at Fyvie Castle (near Turriff) and the Hill O' many Stanes (Northern Highlands) among other places. C. G. Nash, in 1906, recorded that a stone taken from the circle at Grenish was once taken to be used as a lintel over the doorway of a byre, but when it was in place the cattle were afraid of entering. Consequently it was taken back to the circle and an ordinary slab used, which the cattle were happy to pass. The Lore Of Scotland - A Guide To Scottish Legends Westwood & Kingshill |
Posted by drewbhoy 4th January 2024ce Edited 4th January 2024ce |
Top of page