Latest Folklore

A small knoll partly destroyed in the flood of 1829, called Lord Auchindown’s cairn, marks the spot where Sir Patrick Gordon of Auchindoun is said to have died after the battle of Glenlivet in 1594.

NSA 1845.

The solitary pillar of the circle at Ballinrait is said to have served the purpose of a sun dial, just as a tree or post in the same neighbourhood was the clock of the clachan. The other stones of the circle were broken up some sixty years ago. It is related that one old man used every morning to walk round the circle three times before beginning work, from the belief that his so doing would bring him good luck.

From ‘History of Nairnshire’ by George Bain, 1893.
archive.org/stream/historyofnairnsh00bainuoft#page/4

Glenlivet Estate History.

It was some 160 years ago that the farm of Auchorachan was farmed by a captain Grant, having returned from the Napoleonic wars. As a military officer, he like to have his own way and was of a stirring and enterprising disposition. On his return from the wars he set about improving the land and started work on a new farm steading. One great complication that arose however, was the lack of suitable building stone which was somewhat deficient in the area and it seemed that the work would be brought to a standstill. But the captain was not a man to be easily put off and with a keen eye for building stones soon spotted the resources of the neighbourhood and one day said to his servant Sandy Gordon “Aye Sandy, this is a fine state of matters isn’t it? Glenlivet seems better supplied with water for making whisky than with stones for building houses” “But it behoves us to make good use of the material we have at hand, so today you will yoke the oxen to the sledge and bring over that big stone standing on the brow of the brae there: it will make a capital lintel for a byre door”.

“What na’ that stane, sir?” said Sandy, “ye dinna mean the Standing Stane?”

“I mean that stone on the brae” said the Captain

“its of no use there, but only in the way of the plough”

“Weel sir” said Sandy seriously, “Stanes may be scarce, but I wadna advise you to meddle wi’ that ane2

“Why not?” asked the Captain sharply.

“Weel you see sir, it’s nae a common stane an’ shouldna be put to a common use. I’ve heard that it was ance pairt o’ a kirk or place o’worship, or in some way conneckit wi’ religion, an’ therefore sacred. It’s nae lucky to meddle wi’ things o’ that kind”.

The Captain ignored this advice and Sandy had to do what he was told. the stone was duly removed from the field and built into the wall and by and by the steading was completed and filled with valuable cattle.

Such is the perversity of fate, for within a few weeks, the cattle were struck down by a mysterious disease and one by one began to perish. No cure that was tried had any effect and all the cattle doctors of the district both professional and amateur were called on and consulted. It seemed all would die and the Captain would face ruin.

“By George Sandy” said the Captain as another animal was buried
“This is the most terrible enemy I have ever encountered”

“I think I ken what’s the matter wi’ the beasts” sandy replied

“You do? Then what the dickens is it?”

“It’s no the dickens – nor the dockens- but the stane – the standing stane that ye have me tak’ from the brae yonder.”

“By George” came the reply 2there certainly may be something in that tale of yours after all”.

Despite all his gusto, the Captain was not one to deny a mistake and soon summoned the masons to set about removing the stone, which, in order to wipe out all cause of offence he replaced with his own hands in its exact old position in the field.

Sure enough as tradition has it, the disease abated and the remaining cattle lived. Whether it was the stone or simply the disease running it’s natural course may never be known, for despite the scarcity of building stone to this date, none have ever meddled with the Standing Stone of Auchorachan, and there it stands in the field to this day, despite the inconvenience it may cause to modern farm machinery.

From Glenlivet Lilts by R. H. Calder (1925)

Glenlivet it has Castles three,
Drumin, Blairfindy and Deskie,
And also on distillery
More famous than the castles three.

Glenlivet it has peaty hills,
And rushing burns, and sparkling rills,
Where scores of wee unlicensed stills
Were busy filling kegs and gills.

Glenlivet it has raised it’s name,
To shine upon the brow of fame,
And neighbours, near and distant, claim
A right to profit by the same.

Glenlivet has a Gallowhill,
Whereon the hangman plied his skill;
But, though the name suggests it still,
No culprit does a gallows fill.

Glenlivet has a standing stone,
A relic of age bygone;
Its history can be told by none;
Itself had best be left alone.

Glenlivet has a battlefield
On which brave Argyle was forced to yield,
Bur brave MacLean his brand did wield
Till Huntly’s might o’ercame the chield.

Glenlivet it had wond’rous sights
Of fairies, witches, ghost and lights
And oh, the shaking, quaking frights
“Feart places” gave on darksome nights!

Glenlivet now has got a hall,
The very thing, one might it call,
A comfort and a joy to all
At concert, soiree, play or ball.

Near this cairn and the cup-and-ring-marked rock is a stone called Clach Ceann a’ Mheoir. I can’t find a photo of it. But it gets named on the OS map so I think it must be quite sizeable. It’s got its own folklore:

In the parish of Rosskeen there is a large boulder-stone called Clach ceann nam meur, the “Stone of the Finger Ends,” at the east of the Farm of Dalnacloich, “the field of the stone.” Connected with this stone is a tradition which shows it as a horrible memorial of feudal times – that a laird of Achnacloich, when settling marches, asked a youth, whom he had taken to witness the settlement, whether he would remember that as the march-stone. On his replying that he would, the Laird commanded him to lay his hand flat upon the stone, and with a stroke of his sword cut off the tips of the lad’s fingers, saying, “You will remember it now.” And posterity still remembers it.

This seems so unwarranted and unpleasant I can’t help wondering whether the name comes from something else.. yes I’m just looking for a cupmarky connection. Sometimes stones are said to bear the fingermarks of some giant or devil. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some fingermarks on the stone... if you’re passing you could look?!

Quote from ‘Names of Places in Easter Ross’ by the Rev. William Taylor, in The Scottish Geographical Magazine, v2, 1886.
archive.org/stream/scottishgeograph02scotuoft#page/16/

Holy Well, Humphrey Head. -- This celebrated medicinal well is said to have been used by lead miners from the time of the Romans. The patients come for a two or three days’ stay to “get the poison out of their systems.” The site is three and a half miles nearly due south from Cartmel. The water, which has a very peculiar taste, comes down from the hillside and flows into a small artificial basin or grotto. The key of the door is kept at a neighbouring farmhouse. Close to the well is an untenanted building formerly used by indigent sufferers. The wooded cliff forming “The Head” is of singular beauty, overlooking the waters and sands of Morecambe Bay. On Hennet’s map of Lancashire (1828) the well is called “Spa Holy Well.” ..

Mr. W. O. Roper, in his Churches, Castles, and Ancient Halls of North Lancashire, writes: “One other appendage to the Priory of Cartmel should be mentioned, and that is the well known as the Holy Well. On the sea-shore, close under the towering cliffs of Humphrey Head, and almost immediately below the natural arch of rock which leads to the recess known as the Fairy Chapel, bubbles the well to which in former days the Priors journeyed in state from their neighbouring Priory, and to which in more recent times large numbers of people resorted, hoping to derive benefit from its medicinal qualities.”

Mr. James Stockdle, in Annals of Cartmel, writes: “Near to this holy well (Humphrey Head) are two cavities in the mountain limestone rock called the ‘Fairy Church’ and the ‘Fairy Chapel,’ and about three hundred yards to the north there used to be another well, called ‘Pin Well’, into which in superstitious times it was thought indispensiable that all who sought healing by drinking the waters of the holy well should, on passing it, drop a pin; nor was this custom entirely given up till about the year 1804, when the Cartmel Commoners’ Enclosure Commissioners, on making a road to Rougham, covered up this ‘Pin Well’. I have myself long ago seen pins in this well, the offerings, no doubt, of the devotees of that day.”

Mr. Hope, in his Holy Wells of England, says that “this is a brackish spring celebrated as a remedy for stone, gout, and cutaneous complaints..”

From ‘The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire’ by Henry Taylor, in Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society (v21, 1903).
archive.org/stream/transactionslan17socigoog#page/n44

The stone was moved to the village of Pilsley where it was used as a pig trough....but pigs died and the landowners suffered bad luck until the stone was replaced on the barrow.

There is a curious mound by the side of the Blackadder, on the north of the stream, called “the King’s Grave,” which may be a natural eminence, or may have been formed by the debris of a rush of water through a ravine nearly opposite to it, but which certainly has the appearance of having been stirred – dug into – on a part of its extent, the tradition connected with which, seems to carry the mind back to the same stern times [of the sixth century].

The residence, according to this old tale, of a British Chief was surprised by Saxon assailants in his absence, and all who belonged to him were murdered or carried away, with the exception of one infant child who was a twin, who happened to have been carried out at the time in the arms of his nurse, and was by her concealed and preserved.

Many years afterwards this British Chief met a Saxon army, and the place of meeting must have been some where near to these lines. It was proposed by the Saxon leader and agreed to, that the matter in dispute between them should be decided by combat, one champion being chosen from each army. The Saxon champion was the Briton’s stolen son, whose life had been spared by his enemies when they put to death the other members of his family who were in their power. It was his twin brother who represented the British host – and the two kinsmen both fell – mutually slain, and lie buried, as the tradition which I seek to give says, under the large and contiguous cairns on the “Twinlaw,” a prominent eminence of the Lammermuir range, a few miles to the west. The armies having afterwards engaged in battle on the southern descent of the Lammermoors, near to Wedderlie, the British Chief was himself either mortally wounded or slain in the action, and, on the route of his dispirited army, was interred in that lonely mound by the Blackadder.

It’s not very convincing is it? If I’d met my long lost twin I don’t think I’d set to murdering him. But that seems to be the story. There is a ballad about it too, which you may read some of in the rest of the article by the Rev. John Walker, here:
biodiversitylibrary.org/item/110629#page/124
in volume 2 of the History of the Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club (1864). There’s also a version in vol 30
biodiversitylibrary.org/item/110767#page/326/mode/1up

Ffynon Fair (St. Mary’s Well). -- This is a spring and well near the church. It was a holy well and under the guardianship of the Virgin. Its water was used for the sacred uses of the Church, as in the font for baptism, etc. , and in years gone by it was held in great repute for its curative properties, especially as a bath for rheumatic complaints and cutaneous disorders. It was formerly held also to have talismanic properties as a protective against curses, witchcraft, and other evils of life. But what was the superstitious cantrap necessary to be used to make it efficacious is not now known.

This is from ‘A parochial history of Llanfair Caereinion’ in ‘Collections Historical and Archaeological relating to Montgomeryshire and its borders’ (1868). You can read about the several other wells in the area and their curative powers.

archive.org/stream/montycollections16powyuoft#page/340

‘The church or chapel of St Manires (or Chapel Majore, according to Alexander), who flourished in the 6th century, stood in a knoll between Lebhal and Rhynabaich, surrounded by a burial ground used within living memory for unbaptised children. There is a (probably) a prehistoric standing stone which McConnachie says was used as a reading desk for the chapel and was said to be the remains of a stone circle. Keith writing in 1732, mentions ‘The Chappel of Hermitesas Miacras or Micras’ as being extant.

McConnachie 1898, Alexander 1952, Spalding Club 1847-69.

“Prehistoric Monuments and their Superstitions” is a chapter in Sir Edgar MacCullogh’s ‘Guernsey Folklore’, which you can now read on the Internet Archive. There is also a chapter on “Natural Objects and their Superstitions”. The book was edited and published in 1903, but much of the information was gathered many years before that.

If the rocks look like this, I’m not surprised.

Under the cliffs of Peninnis Head on St Mary’s there is a cavern, termed the Piper’s Hole, which extends a long distance under ground, and is absurdly said to communicate with another cave of the same title, the entrance to which is in the island of Tresco. This legend would make the length of the cavern at least four miles; and the inhabitants of the locality tell you of dogs let in at the one entrance coming out, after a time, at the other with most of their hair off, so narrow are some parts of the cave. So there is a tradition in Scotland of a man getting through a similar cave, but paying the penalty in the loss of all his skin.

From ‘Rambles in Western Cornwall’ by J O Halliwell-Phillipps (1861).

On this down and its environs, are a number of rocks and columnar stones, of various sizes and in various figures. They are thus noticed by a correspondent of Dean Milles:

“On Maddoc-common, one stone is of a remarkable size, and one only. It is of a conic figure, not so large at the base, as near its center, occasioned by the sheep rubbing against it. At the center, it measures fifteen feet four inches. The height, about which I could not be so exact, I take to be eleven feet, if not more. In a line parallel to this great stone, from south to north, and at the distance of twenty-four paces, lies a trunk of stone, about a foot from the ground, whose diameter is two feet eight inches. About twelve paces distant from this, in a line from west to east, is a stone not a foot above the ground, and about a foot in diameter. Were there another to correspond to the large one, these four would include a space of ground, whose opposite sides would be equal.

I counted more than an hundred clusters of stone in different parts. In some places, six, eight, or more are to be seen together, but not remarkable for their height. At one groupe of six, the eye is particularly engaged. These stand circular-wise, and are the only ones in which the circular figure can be discovered. At the distance of four paces from this circle, is the trunk of a stone, nearly three feet above the surface, whose diameter measures about three feet.

The opinion of the country is, that the first stone I have described being one entire solid stone, was erected by human hands. Concerning these stones, we have two traditions. One is, that there was a battle fought between Biry, or Berry, and Maddoc, two potent lords; and that Maddoc erected these monuments to perpetuate his victory.

The other tradition is, that two Lords had a battle on this spot of ground, and that, though the conqueror is forgotten, the name of the vanquished was Maddoc, and that the slain were all buried in a common adjoining to this, hence called Deadbury common: Yet I could perceive no tumuli there.”
Thus writes a Gentleman from Barnstaple in 1751.

[.. Another correspondent] writes “On the north-side of the parish of East-Down, is an estate which, though now inclosed, still bears the name of Maddoc’s-Down. On this place stands a remarkably large stone of the spar kind – in the midst of a plain, about twelve feet above ground, and of a size too large ever to have been fixed there by art. At the distance of some yards, are several other stone, lying flat – which they call the Gyants’ Quoits.”

From Volume 1 of Richard Polwhele’s ‘Historical Views of Devonshire’ (1793).
books.google.co.uk/books?id=Rm9bAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA63

Local myth tells that Maggie Redhead was a witch who lived locally. Unfortunately she was put to death. Before being caught she managed to hide her gold underneath one of the many rocks.

Sean MacGowan.

When at the Longstone or Mote-stone which gave its name to Mottistone, in the Isle of Wight, the other day [the writer] was told by an inhabitant of the locality that the two stones were said to have been thrown there from St. Catherine’s Down (seven miles away as the crow flies), the larger one by a giant and the smaller by the Devil; and that the giant had to stoop to throw his stone because it was so heavy.

From the Hampshire Antiquary and Naturalist (v1, 1891, p136).
biodiversitylibrary.org/item/72513#page/148/mode/1up

Further to Tiompan’s fieldnotes, Canmore gives the following regarding the origin of the name of this cairn – which, translated, means ‘Cairn of Kenneth’, or ‘Kenneth’s Cairn’.....

‘A very large barrow called Carn Chainichin, The Cairn of Kenneth. Chalmers (1887) links this tradition with ‘Kenneth IV, King of Scotland’ who was slain in battle in 1003 AD at Moigh-a-bhaird, now corrupted into Monivaird. Anderson gives the text of various Chronicles. It is clear that Chalmers statement is incorrect. No Kenneth IV is listed as King of Scotland and in fact Kenneth III reigned from AD 997-1005. There are inconsistencies in the accounts but Chalmers “Kenneth IV” is apparently Giric (called erroneously Grim) son of Kenneth III who was killed in Monzievaird between 997 and 1005. Anderson suggests that he ruled over some district under his father Kenneth. He was buried in Iona.

Statistical Account (OSA) 1793; A O Anderson 1922‘

[An] interesting derivation is suggested by local tradition, which was mentioned to me many years ago by an intelligent neighbouring farmer. (The late Mr. Wm. Charlton of Rushy Law, which is the next farm to Pitland Hills eastward. His father lived to the great age of 102 years. Both were well-versed in the folk-lore of the district. Pickland Hills is still the more common local pronunciation.)

He informed me that his “fore-elders” called the place not Pitland, but ”Pictland or Pickland” Hills, and that the ancient people, the Picts, or “Picks,” as he preferred to pronounce the word, had a settlement here, and in working for iron and coal in the shallow pits on the moor first used the implements which our miners still call “picks,” thus named after the people who introduced them.

It is noteworthy that the cairns scattered over our wild Northumbrian uplands, as at High Shield Green previously described in this paper, and on those of the Scottish Borders, are often associated with that fierce race of invaders from the north, whose name and deeds became a terror to the Romanised Britons of the Lower Isthmus, and probably for long afterwards.

“On the moors of Northumberland, such heaps are pointed out as places where a Pict’s apron-string had broken, as he was carrying a load of stones to some of his superhuman erections.” (Rambles in Northumberland p104.)

archive.org/stream/archaeologiaaeli12sociuoft#page/248/mode/1up

From the ‘Recent Explorations’ article linked to below.

The remains of the chapel are on the valley side below Castle Dyke.

A legend exists of Lidwell, Lithewell, or Lady-Well under Haldon, not far from Dawlish, that a monk resorted to the practices of a highwayman to gain means to enjoy the luxuries of the table. He assumed nightly the garb of a wayfarer, and trudged along the roads, demanding “Your money or your life” of well-dressed and wealthy travellers.

He would decoy women to his chapel, and after robbing them, would throw them into a disused well. Hence the name of this place. After the suppression of the chapel this well was found to contain a large number of human bones, which it is affirmed on examination were those of women and young children. The shadowy forms of women are frequently seen hovering over the spot, while the wailing cries of children fill the air.

S. Hewett.

....

Lidwell Chapel is a ruin situated under the brow of Haldon, not far from Dawlish, in which, in 1881, the Holy Well long lost sight of and supposed in recent times to have been outside the building, was discovered, in exact accordance with the old story, to be within the walls and close to the altar.

The late Rev. R.H.D. Barham, in 1882, conducted the members of the Teign Naturalists’ Field Club to the ruins and pointed out the well. It is to be seen at the north-east corner of the chancel [...] He remarked that about the beginning of the present century an attempt was said to have been made to explore this receptacle, as it was thought to be, of the murderer’s booty but after descending a considerable distance the adventurers were driven back, so they declared, by evil spirits.

According to another tradition the well is of unfathomable depth, passing under the Teign, and at length finds issue in Kent’s Cavern, where articles dropped down the opening at Haldon, have re-appeared.

P.F.S.A.

From ‘On Devonshire Folklore’ at archive.org/stream/reportandtransa00artgoog#page/n86/mode/1up
‘Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association’ v 26 (1894).

I’m afraid another slightly-off location, it seems to be next to the church though ( cholm.siteiscentral.com/torry/2-06/ ) .

My wife had inquiries to make concerning occupants of her relative’s household, and in one case an incident was related to us which seems worth recounting here, as showing how ancient superstition in connection with remarkable stones still lingers in a secluded district.

With regard to this incident, it is first necessary that I should refer to the Glenveigh evictions, which were carried out with great harshness fifty years ago, and which at that time made the neighbourhood of Gartan notorious. The evictions were the work of a new proprietor, Mr Adair, who had come from the South of Ireland with every desire to be fair to the peasantry, but with whom he quarrelled as to the exclusive right of sporting over his new posession. Mr Adair by these evictions had become the aversion of all the neighbourhood.

Reverting now to the retainer of the Gartan household, at first no reply was given to my wife’s inquiry, and then with bated breath the reply came, “Oh, she had a dreadful death! She was engaged in washing, and fell into a boiling cauldron, from which she could not be got out alive.” But the awful thing about her death was, that the very morning it occurred she had been heard to be bargaining with a man to go on her account for a payment of £5 to Tory Island, off the Donegal coast, where there is a stone which, if it could be turned, and the name of Mr Adair repeated over it, would have been sure to bring about his death within a year. [..] It would have been interesting if we could have visited Tory Island to have seen this baleful stone; but there was no direct communication from Gartan, and the island is a considerable distance from the mainland.

I mean actually I’ve no proof it’s this stone at all, but it certainly sounds like the sort of stone-turning belief you get with a ballaun stone, and this is the only ballaun marked on the Island. Unfortunately the National Monuments Service record (DG006-001002) doesn’t have any details yet.

From ‘Cup-Marked Stones’ by James Sconce, in v5 of the Transactions of the Edinburgh Field Naturalists and Microscopical Society (1902-7).
archive.org/stream/transactionsofed05edin#page/416

I regret to say the co-ordinates I’ve put in for this site probably aren’t very good as I’m having problems understanding the archaeology.ie mapbrowser (any advice welcomed, it’s record DG044-021002).

Anyway, this is a Cup-marked Stone with Folklore and thus cries out to be added anyway. There’s a photo of it here
a-wee-bit-of-ireland.com/eire_2007/gartan_06.html
where you can see it stained with coins (you have been warned).

I have spoken of Gartan as being held on very reliable records to have been the birthplace of St Columba, and I may further mention that a great celebration was held there in 1897, on the 1400th anniversary of his death, similar to that which, it may be remembered, was held at the same time at Iona.

The family of the saint occupied a princely position, and for four generations, since St Patrick himself had converted and baptised the great-great-grandfather of the saint, the family had been Christian. Their permanent abode or fort was about ten miles from Gartan. But at Gartan there is the “natal stone” as it is called, which is said to be the actual spot where St Columba was born. His mother, the Princess Ethne, so tradition says, had been brought here for the birth.

This stone, to my surprise when I visited it, I found to be at one end covered with cup marks. Whatever these marks mean or were made for, there seems to be little doubt that they were connected with some pagan rite or practice; and the interest attached to this particular stone to my mind is that a Christian family still held it in so much veneration, probably for good luck, as to have brought the lady to it from her own home at such a critical time.

The size of the stone is about eight feet long by six feet broad and one and a half feet thick, fairly flat, and slightly raised from the ground around it. It bears no trace of any building, either permanent or temporary, having ever been raised over it. Its situation is on a slightly elevated ridge of cultivated land, from which there is a good lookout all round. I saw no other stones like it in the immediate vicinity.

Besides this stone being held in reverence as the actual spot of St Columba’s birth, a curious belief is attached to it, that whoever sleeps on it will never know home-sickness; and many a man starting for America is said to have tried the remedy. May this be a reverential reflection on the grace obtained by St Columba, who was able to transfer his affection from the land of his birth in pious devotion to the land of his adoption?

From ‘Cup-Marked Stones’ by James Sconce, in v5 of the Transactions of the Edinburgh Field Naturalists and Microscopical Society (1902-7).
archive.org/stream/transactionsofed05edin#page/418

Drewyn Gawr made Caer Drewyn in Deyrnion, the other side of the river from Corwen. And to his sweetheart he made that Caer, to milk her cows within it.

From ‘The Giants of Wales and their Dwellings’ by Sion Dafydd Rhys, c.1600. Gawr = a giant (because you’d need to be a giant to build something like Caer Drewyn. Maybe they were even giant cows?). The 1917 translation by Hugh Owen is at the Celtic Literature Collective here:
maryjones.us/ctexts/giants_wales.html

From ‘The Giants of Wales and their Dwellings’ by Sion Dafydd Rhys, c.1600.

In the land of Merioneth in the parish of Dolgelly in the commote of Talybont, is a mountain that is called Cader Idris. And about the foot of this large hill are several lakes. Large and high is the mountain, and though so high, and so though difficult to cross over, yet (so they say) if a stick be thrown into any of those waters, you will find that piece of wood in the other lake on the opposite side of this mountain. And as it is not easy to believe that it can go over the top of a mountain as high as this, it is supposed that there is some cave or hollow from one lake to the other under the mountain, so that a thing that is in one lake can be moved to the other.

And on the highest crown of this mountain is a bed-shaped form, great in length and width, built of slabs fixed around it. And this is called the Bed of Idris, though it is more likely that it is the grave in which Idris was buried in ages past. And it is said that whoever lies and sleeps on that bed, one of two things will happen to him – either he will be a poet of the best kind, or go entirely demented.

And from one of the lakes that is under the mountain runs a large river. And when a very dry summer happens there is a lack of water to grind the mills built on the bank of that river. So it was frequently necessary to release the water from the lake. And (so they say) no water was ever released from that lake without at once there being some storm and downpour of rain, and thunder and lightning, happening in the same spot.

And in this high mountain formerly lived a big giant, and he was called Idris Gawr. And in this same parish is a mountain called Moel Yscydion, the abode of a great giant called Yscydion Gawr. And not far from Moel Yscydion in the parish of Llanfachreth is a hill called Moel Ophrom, where formerly lived Ophrom Gawr. And in the parish of Llanelltyd is another hill called Moel Ysbryn, because Ysbryn Gawr had his dwelling there. And all these giants were of enormous size, and in the time of Idris Gawr, and Idris was king and chief over them.

Edited from the 1917 translation by Hugh Owen at the Celtic Literature Collective, here:
maryjones.us/ctexts/giants_wales.html

According to Eric Jones who I believe must be a local

” This is one of a number of standing stones in the area. All are Victorian Follies, erected on the summits of knolls and drumlins of his estate by General Sir Hugh Rowlands V.C of Plastirion SH5262. As children we were taught that old ‘Syr Huw’ added another stone each time he won a battle.”

Although the RCAHMW believe one of them to be authentic

Llanrhaiadr-Yn-Mochnant.
Its parochial history and antiquities.
By Thomas W. Hancock.

Careg-y-Big; (the stone of contention, or the Bickering stone). – This stone is surrounded by curious traditions. The following remarks respecting it, from a MS note by the Rev. Edward Edwards, Rector of Llanymynech, have been kindly furnished us by the Rev. Robert Williams, of Llangadwaladr.

“1790. About 150 years ago, Llanrhaiadr-yn-Mochnant was remarkable for its ‘Careg-y-Big,’ a pyramidal stone pillar in the village. To ascend this pillar, and to say ‘Captain Care-y-Big,’ was a general challenge which was sure to end in mischief and bloodshed. These riots often happened on a Sunday evening, and the common enquiry on Monday was, as to how many were killed at Llanrhaiadr the evening before. Mr. Maurice of Penybont [Llanerchemrys], removed the stone and buried it in a deep pool near his own house. There is a tradition that he was drowned in that pool, and the country people believed that the misfortune was a punishment for removing Careg-y-Big.”

The stone was removed doubtless at the instance of the Rev. David Parry, the vicar of Llanrhaiadr, from 1675 to 1682. The poet Huw Morris, in the following stanzas addressed to the Rev. David Parry, alludes to this stone.

“Cas wyd, coeg wyd, cegiden – cweryl,
Careg big y gydben,
Cwynaw tolciaw – can talcen;
Codiad bai yw cadw dy ben.

Lle byddai’r ffraeau rhy ffrom – gwaith rhydost,
A gweithredoedd Sodom,
Duw o’i ras a wnae drosom,
Bwyntio sant i Bant y Siom.”

[Vile art thou, deceitful art thou, the elf – of quarrels,
The bickering-stone of struggles,
There are groans – the bruising of a hundred heads;
To preserve thee is to uphold sin.

Where there existed frays, very severe – shocking work,
And the deeds of Sodom,
God in his grace hath for us,
Appointed a devoted man, to this vale of discontent.] T.W. H.

Tradition says that Mr Maurice removed the stone with a team of oxen, to his residence at Penybont, and that upon its arrival there quite a grotesque scene took place among the horned and unhorned beasts of all kinds in the place. The evil genii accompanying the stone set the whole group in a ferment, and a furor possessed them; and they indulged in all sorts of wild and eccentric antics, each strove to possess the ‘captaincy’ of the stone, in imitation of the Llanrhaiadr frays. Gory fights among them were the result, so that the good gentleman was glad with all speed to remove the stone and cast it into the depths of the nearest pool in the river Tanat. Mr. Edwards describes the stone as ‘pyramidal’; ‘Big,’ verily has the meaning of ‘pointed’ or ‘pyramidal’, but it also means ‘spite,’ ‘bickering’ &c. Stones called ‘Careg-y-big’, are still found, and not unfrequently, in Wales. It is not certain what was the exact shape, or size of the stone. Some old people state that it was used as a horseblock; if so, it probably had an ancient history.

archive.org/stream/collectionshisto06powyuoft#page/320/mode/1up
From v19 of ‘Collections Historical and Archaeological relating to Montgomeryshire and its borders’ (1868).

A number of Monks/Friars were returning from a trip and were robbed by three villains, they in turn were cursed by the monks turned into stone.