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Arthur’s Seat

Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh: The Slidey Stone

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tiompan T
tiompan Oct 3, 2009 19:34:41
Replying to Branwen

Branwen wrote:
Oooh thanks. The reference made to it I had was:

Murthly Farm, Aberfeldy. Perthshire (PSAS vol18 p112 + Vol16 p98) - On the hillside near this farm there are several cup an ring marked boulders. One the top of one large boulder there are nine cup marks, and one cup and ring mark, below which, on the sloping side of the stone there is a smooth slide, ".....highly polished by persons sliding down it for amusement, as is also the case at the Witch's stone, near Ratho."

Haven't found pics yet but I have a 6 day tour to do in that area, planned for August next year, when we will be visiting a few sites.

Ahh that's (Mains of ) Murthly (there are two in Perthshire ).That one is not a Witches Stone though .
http://rockartuk.fotopic.net/c276894.html

B Branwen
Branwen Oct 4, 2009 14:59:33
Replying to tiompan

Thanks for clearing that up. I'm coming across that a lot, where stones close to one another have their attributes crossed. The internet is great but people that write pages without proper research send me off on the wrong track more often than not.

Sounds as if slidey stones can have any kind of name then Tiompan, not just be called witch stones. Maybe the sliding aspect was such fun, or barren women so persistant, that the practice lasted into modern times, and so became associated with witches at a later period.

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