This 2 meter high granite stone is all that is left of a rumoured circle and it still stands taller than the crops. It is in the perfect place for such a monument and has good views of Bennachie.
Leave the B993 at Keithhall taking the road to Dyce, go thru the village of Kinmuck and turn first left towards Peathill farm. About 1/4 of mile down this road cars can be parked, on the right. The stone, which leans at a precarious angle, is in the next field, keep to the tractor marks.
Part of an encampment still remains in the moor of Kinmuck, where tradition records that a great battle took place between the Danes and the Scotch. The latter are said to have slain a boar in their advance, and hence the name of Kinmuck, or boar's head. The place of combat bears the name of Blair Hussey, or field of blood. In a large barrow or tumulus, about eighty yards from a Druidic stone, a chance visitor observed an urn partially uncovered. It was found to contain calcined bones. Two larger urns were subsequently found in a reversed position to the other, and were taken out in fragments. The bones in all three were put into a box, and buried in the original spot.
It's a nice touch that the bones were reburied. This from the New Statistical Account.
This granite standing stone is over 2 metres tall. An urn was apparently found almost underneath it "some time ago" (according to a source in 1866). It was also recorded that:
It is remarkable that the corn grows very luxuriant around this solitary pillar to a distance of fifteen yards, and has always been eighteen inches higher than the crop immediately beside it.
This surely implies some pretty special fertility-promoting quality of the stone. When visited in 1996 the field was in cultivation, so perhaps you can check its powers for yourself.
Follow the directions to the Peathill standing stone and walk another very easy 80 yards to the North East. This barrow, indicated as a tumulus on some maps (reclassified as a cairn by Canmore), is all but gone and will be eventually ploughed out. It is less than 30 cm high and is almost 14 meters in diameter. Only a few stones remain a faint reminder of ancient times.
Very easy to reach and sadly, I would think, soon to vanish! The leg is in one bit but a wee bitty sore, The Boar's Head Pub is nearby, it would be a shame not to have a look.
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