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Came here with Martin and Norie in late 2000. After walking through the woods past Dumgoyach Hill, we sat and watched the comings and goings of a gardener at Duntreath Castle and the ramblers at the summit of Dumgoyne Hill, through the binoculars. This alignment (of which only one stone remains standing)is set on top of a shallow raise in the green Strathblane, between the Kilpatrick Hills to the west and the Campsies to the east. I didn't feel at all well that day, but typically did not tell anyone.
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We went on a family holiday in about 1978 or '79 in Tulliallan, near Drogheda, and during the holiday we visited Newgrange.
I remember thinking that day that the surrounding wall looked a bit like the Battle of Bannockburn memorial rotunda which is an odd modernist, 60's stylised thing which is a few hundred yards from where we lived at the time.
I definitely remember squatting down with my Dad who was trying to explain something about the sunlight coming through a passage on a certain special day.
I want to come back here and try to see past all the touristy stuff.
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This stone disappeared for a while during the 80's/90's. The stone has been re-erected in a concrete base on an embankment at the side of Hermitage Road and has been clumsily patched up, also with concrete - it looks as if it broke into 3 pieces along natural fissures in the stone.
Its difficult to tell if the Airthrey Stone, which stands 800m to the east, was visible from the Pathfoot Stone (and vice versa) before the 5-stories student blocks were built just accross the road to the east.
I restudied an 1898 map and a modern map and I think the stone has been re-erected pretty much in the original spot - certainly within 5 metres (god I'm getting sadder- it took me ages to work this out, imperial, metric, angles etc.)
The stone was the focus of the growth of the village of Pathfoot and this was the site of a large, annual cattle tryst (market) in the 18th century. The estate owner in the early 19th century, 'discontinued the village', rehousing the inhabitants elsewhere and knocking down the buildings. There is no trace of the village today.
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At the other side of the man-made Loch Airthrey from the Airthrey Stone (about 800m W of it) stands the Pathfoot Stone.
This 11 ft giant sits on top of an embankment at the side of Hermitage Road close to the Stirling University student blocks. When you stand at the bottom of the embankment, the stone imposes itself over you with trees behind it. It really has a huge presence.
Despite it being a bit patched up with concrete and the surrounding university building and landscaping(see misc.), its a great place to just come, sit, chill out, people watch and have your lunch, as I've done a few times before.
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I've been up here once before , in November 2000. I walked up through the old copper mine wood from Bridge of Allan. The old copper mines possibly made this whole place a place of added power during the bronze age.
The cairn sits at the edge green 11 of the Bridge of Allan golf course. It is a lot smaller than it used to be according to Faechem's Prehistoric Scotland - a lot of the stones were removed for the usual dyke building. I think there were some goodies found by the victorian robbers, although I'll update this when I get Faechem's book from the library again.
The view sitting on the cairn is amazing - the hills rise up slowly from the other side of Strathallan and then further away to the NW the higher highland mountains are THERE. The Forth Valley and Stirling town are spread out down to the west.
I made my way back down to Bridge of Allan, following the old cattle droving road.
I'll be back here with a camera.
03/02/02 And back I came. Well worth the climb from Bridge of Allan.
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There have been many 'fairy' stories surrounding this site throughout the ages.
A local writer, R. Menzies Fergusson wrote a collection of stories which were first published in 1912, called 'the Ochil Fairy Tales'. This book contained some tales from his own imagination, and some stories which were adapted from previous local folklore.
One of the stories which he adapted from existing lore went roughly as follows.
Sometime before the union (pre 1707) a man named David Rae ,a farmer from Tullibody fell in love and married a local woman, Janet Cokley.
Janet was vain and flirtatious and gained a reputation in the small village, to David's dismay.
David met a fairy while working one day, and he confided in the wee guy re. his marital strife. The fairy (named 'Red Cap') told him to put a magic stone into her broth which would change her ways. David tried this but Janet found the stone and threw it out the door.
The following Halloween while returning from a party near the hill of Airthey, David met his wee friend again and explained that the stone plan had went to pot. Red Cap told Dave he'd arrange that if Jan didn't change in the next year, he and his wee pals would escort the dirty whore off to fairyland the following Halloween.
Jan didn't change and the powers of the local kirk became involved in the whole thing and Jan became ostracised.
The next Halloween, instead of going to one of the local parties, Dave persuaded Jan to go to bed early.
The next morn Jan was gone and Dave discovered that the front door was still barred. Local folk who'd been to parties the night before, told Dave that they'd seen a funny little cloud with Jan on it, moving toward Dumyat Hill (monkey style?!?) and on to the Fairy Knowe.
Fergusson reports that there were actual church records in Stirling and Dunblane proving the existence of Janet, which worries me.
This woman was by all accounts only flirting.
*John, I'm only dancing, she turns me on, but I'm only dancing, she turns me on, don't get me wrong, I'm only dancin'*
Was it the fairies?,
or the presbytery?
or poor (paranoid, jealous) Dave who arranged for her removal?
Hopefully, for 15th century Jan, it was the fairies.
Fergusson adds that this story has long been a warning to 'those wives who were tempted to forget their home duties and obedience to their lawful husbands,' an example of how our lore was used to control and possibly to cover up truths which people didn't want to tell or hear.
Another story,'Wee Tommie', tells of a lost child, who was rescued by the fairies and was taken through a secret opening in the side of the mound into a cavern in the knowe where he was looked after by the fairies before being returned safely to his parents.
I've added a couple of links for another 2 of Fergusson's adaptations.
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Julian Cope said in an interview with the Fire and Water literary website that he didn't want to include the stone in the book, because of the confusing history/folklore.
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The stone was said to have been a sacred symbol dedicated to (and/or containing the spirit of ) the pagan sea-god, 'mannan' or 'mannau', where the stone and the district gets it's name.
There are 2 suggested original locations for the stone.
The first one is about 600 yds south of the present location at the bottom of Lookabootye brae (see bit about Robert Bruce), at the very edge of the carselands, which were at the edge of the post glacial sea loch which flooded this area about 8000 years ago. Although the stone is certainly not that old, if this is the true location, perhaps the anscestral memories were taken to the neolithic, to when the stone was erected. It is also possible that the surrounding flat lands which were once the sea bed (also originally named after mannan/mannau) were seen as a gift from mannau after the seas receded. This land may also have been prone to tidal flooding in the neolithic.
Another suggested location is on an island nearby on the tidal River Forth, possibly Inch island 2.5 miles away or Tullibody Inch, 3 miles away.
King Robert the Bruce is said to have visited the area in the 12th century, and left a glove, called a mannan, on top of the stone. On return the glove was missing and he ordered a squire to find it telling him, 'look aboot ye!' This is a second, less likely and less accepted origin for the stone's name. The local council's motto is 'look aboot ye' and is emblazoned on some of the litter bins in the area.
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I first saw this stone when I was still at school and used to hang around here with a friend who lived nearby.
This sturdy, giant, 12 foot stone stands in the centre of the small county town of Clackmannan.
The stone almost certainly doesn't sit in the original landscape but has been revered in history and folklore throughout different ages and now is a symbol of the fierce independance of the old county of Clackmannanshire.
You wont usually find this a particularly serene place, but it is worth the visit, if for no other reason, than to check out the extraordinary phallic nature of this monument - the main part of the stone is at a slight angle and has a large and seperate boulder sitting on top.
It's an absolute rager, sitting right in the middle of this traditional and sleepy looking Scottish town centre.
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-In memory of Dixie and Jeanette-
This stone sits in a field just off the main Alloa to Kincardine road. Comely bank is the raised glacial beach between Alloa and Clackmannan, which overlooks the carselands of the Forth Valley to the south with a sweeping view of the [Ochil] Hillfoots to the north.
The stone is a striking slab, which leans at a slight angle, and when you see it from the main road it's 9ft sits on the horizon.
The only feature which gets mentioned is a cross which has been carved onto one side. If the intention of the christian carver[s] were to take mystery and power away from this stone, then it has worked in the sense that it is pretty much ignored nowadays (this of course, could also be a good thing in a way) as the carving makes the stone very unusual and difficult for the historians to fit it easily into any one culture - it just seems to throw everyone. The cross is pretty crude and certainly less intricate than the usual pictish/celtic stones (as has been the suggested origin of the stone) and looks pretty much like a paranoid and rushed christianisation of a previously revered and ancient thing. For these reasons, it seems, no-one wants to claim or talk about this stone. It doesn't even really have a name.
I first visited this site 5 years ago at 2 in the morning with Norie (of the photos) and 2 other night travellers Dixie and the sober Jeanette. Dixie was enthusiastic about this site, had (proffesionally) photographed it several times and that night offered to be our guide while the ever patient and benevolent landlady, Jeannette taxied us there. The guys waded through, what we christened mad grass, a thick stalky crop which took forever to get through, while Jeannete waited with the engine running. We got there eventually (although it should be easier to visit now as the field is more accessable now and folk will of course be more responsible and clearer of mind than we were).
Despite all the confusion, this stone is worth the visiting.
This stone, like Hully Hill, now has it's own nearby MacDonalds for spiritual and bodily nourishment.
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We visited this site in Feb. 2000. We just wandered around this valley floor all day - you need loads of time for all the jewels that the people left us here. The great X is one of them. We wandered and wondered round this unique monument.
The overall alignment of this whole monument is approximately the same as the cairn cemetry, the valley and the river. I cant say any more - it's like much of this valley - a beautiful mystery.
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The 2 circles here, sit high on moorland on the Braes of Fowlis above the hamlet of Fowlis Wester.
We headed for a strange looking dark, brick ruin and found the circles.
The stones in both circles have either fallen/pushed or were originally boulder like, but the circles remain obvious and tight. The 9 stoned eastern circle, once had 12 stones and has a rocked cairn mound in the centre.
There is also an outlying monolith close to the circles, which stands upright and strong, contrasting with the low lying circles.
According to the Ancient Scotland website (see links) Aubrey Burl visited this area and wasn't too impressed - the writer suggested our Aub was having a bad day.
It is a strange site. The only thing you see on approach is the monolith and you only get the whole site when it is under your nose.
I felt it was well worth coming here, and we wanted to hang about longer, but the sun was down and I was probably hungry.
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Wow!
I've checked out the photos at the website link provided by Dude Skywalker.
The small stones have recently been re-erected and I'll have to make a point of visiting soon.
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This intriguing site sits in a large grassed field, between the A985 on the north and a freight railway to the south. The Tuilyies stone is visible from the main road, just west of the Torryburn roundabout.
From the site, the Firth of Forth is visible through the trees near the railway to the south.
The site consists of the main standing stone, (an 8ft., stunning, worn and cup marked thing, which sits in the field like an old flipper, or praying hands), and three smaller and less weathered boulders which sit in the field nearby.
Myself and a freind visited this site in late 1999 and hung about for a while. I took a walk around the large field to see if there were any other surprises. There is what looks like an old WW2 defensive brick built thing nearby and funny, but recent looking earthworks. There were a couple of faint undulations in the field which made me wonder.
Probably the River Forth estuary (which is about a mile away) and possibly Cairnpapple (about 10 miles to the south, on the other side of the river) were important to this place. I forgot to check the Cairnpapple thing out - I'll make a poiint of this the next time I'm passing.
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Feb.2000
We almost made it.
We parked the car near the gate to the field. We squelched our way through the mud and then stopped!
There was 3 or 4 big black bulls surrounding the cairn in the middle of the field and they were staring at us.
And being townies we turned back quickstyle.
Another day?
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Feb. 2000
It had been raining heavily earlier in the day and slipped on the mud and I dropped my camera into a deep pool in the rocks.
Darn that Ver.
To be honest I love the rain.
Bill Clinton said at Wimbledon that it was what makes our islands so green. And how often do we moan about it.
Bill was probably reconnecting with his ancestral roots when he talked of the pishing rain - he doesn't live here now of course, and he doesn't need encouragment in root connection.
JC's theory of sacred water collection on these horizontal sheets, is so simple, and makes sense in these damp islands. Of course, the neolithic folk of Britain knew well that the rain was a lifegiver and surely the culture celebrated this big style.
What better way.
That day reminded me of the sanctity of the holy water fonts of my RC upbringing. But that's another story.
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The road seems to seperate this place from the rest of the Kilmartin sites - and all the little stones in the middle seem to seperate it from the usual stone circle thing.
I should have been paying more attention I suspect, because in retrospect, this is one of the most unusual sites I've been to.
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Feb. 2000
This is a strong place. Could it be a compact and artistic, tribute to the linear nature of the (older??) Nether Largie cairns?
We just walked about for ages, trying to savour this place.
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Feb. 2000.
We walked up the valley and visited all the cairns.
When I was posting the photos, I couldn't remember which cairn was what.
I do remember lying in a cist on the valley floor and thinking that this was the most comfy, warm place in the world, and that I could have stayed there all day.
I sense that it bothers some folk that the alignment is not precise. This non precise alignment suggests that it is not a lunar or solar monument.
It would have been too easy to set these places in a precise straight line in the neolithic and the valley is in pretty much a straightish line anyway.
Maybe the decisions were made to have the line slightly out of kilter, as a compromise, or a deliberate quirk of the precise - cos that is sometimes what does work.
17/12/01 -I was just thinking about the rough SSW-NNE alignment of the cairns, the river, the valley and the Dunaad footprint (Iwas just reading the Dunaad entry from Gyrus).
The geology and subsequently the rivers and lochs of the whole of the Dalriadic Kingdom and indeed the whole of North Western Scotland follows this alignment. The most important journeys would have been in this direction, by foot and boat along the great sea lochs, glens and freshwater lochs. Look at any map of Scotland and it's there. These journeys in peace and war, would have been physical and spiritual journeys at the time they were made, and would have become the stuff of legend and ritual.
Everything would have been in that alignment, such is the almost inpenetrable and fjord like nature of the sides of these great valleys. Even the Gulf Stream, which today brings much of West Scotlands weather (and I assume has for thousands of years) would have roughly followed this alignment.
Most of the storms, thoughts, dreams, fears, plans and total conciousness, would have all been in this direction, here and in much of the North West highlands.
just a thought?!
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We visited this place in Feb. 2000.
I dont know what this is.
And I dont have theories that set me on fire.
But one thing is for sure - this is a very amazing place and I'm glad we came here.
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We visited this site 2 years ago. It occurred to me that this may have been a very important place, given it's situation in the Earn Valley.
Dundurn, just up the valley, was an important place 2000 years ago, certainly, and probably was for a long time before. This place was apparently at the border of the pictish and celtic kingdoms and has no doubt marked a boundary between the rugged highland westlands, and the fertile farmlands on the east since the neolithic.
This site is marked on the map as a former circle and now just the 2 stones remain.
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I know nothing of this place.
We visited this stunning site 2 years ago, and I've bored people since with my pure enthusiasm since.
I've not seen this place as an entry in any gazzeteer or anything, but it deserves to be mentioned and not for the the usual compact aesthetics and feelings that other places have.
This whole hillside has the feel of one monument - and a powerful one at that! It is a must when visiting Perthshire!
Visit the stone on the green valley floor as a pre cursor and make your way up the hill to the first stone (a powerful thing that belies it's 5 foot presence). Off up to the left and there is a MF of a thing which dominates the valley from all directions. This 12ft monster is surrounded by what looks likes untampered cists.
Sitting in a hollow in the hillside is a vicious stone at a terrible angle and then further south is a 6 footer with nearby untampered cists, marking the end of this special monument.
Every stone is visible from at least on other in the hillside and that seems to be important.
I can't say enough about this whole place and what it did to me, and it was not all love and peace !
Next time I come here, I intent to visit the stones at Dalchirla, just down the valley.
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