Latest Folklore

A Jar of Honey
by George Mackay Brown

A woman came from every house that morning to the croft of Scar. Slowly, like holy women, they moved through the fields. Seven men stood at the end of the byre of Scar: five young men, an old man, a boy. The oat fields were yellow, gulls dipped and squabbled over the mackerel in the bay. The men stood outside the ceremony, unwanted and useless. One of the young men shared the holy look of the women, but he too was outside their ceremony. The other men did not have a thing to say to him. They kept turning away from him. He stood there in a double isolation. A woman with huge hands and a face like stone crossed the fields, Bella of Windbeck. She walked slowly, by herself. The door of Scar opened and shut on this priestess. Now it was noon. The men at the end of the byre smoked their pipes, all but the lonely one. Once the boy chased a butterfly with a shout but the old man checked him and the boy sat down at a fissure in the wall, watching bees oozing in and out. A girl, an acolyte, crossed over to the burn from Scar for water. With a pure white look on her she passed the men and returned, silent and intent, a heavy brimming pail at each side of her. Another woman came out for peats, her arms red from the flame. The sun dragged through the afternoon like an ox through furrows. Suddenly the water girl stood in the open door of Scar, her arms wild circles. ‘Simon!’ she cried. ‘Come now.’ The young man turned his burnished face to the house. He wouldn’t move. He was afraid of the elemental women inside there, with their water and fire, the terrible priestess and her servers, swaddlers, shrouders, guardians of the gate of birth and the gate of death. He couldn’t move. The other young men were laughing all around him now. They laid earth-coloured hands on him. They buffered him gently. They turned his face towards the open door. Two of them walked with him, one at each side, to the threshold. He went inside alone. The boy sat at the end of the wall, gray wax at his mouth, his fingers threaded with honey. The old man knocked out his pipe, spat, lifted six creels from the wall, and slowly walked down to the boats.
A young man lifted scythe from the end of the barn. He began to whet it on a red stone.
The gate of life had been opened.
Between that and the dark gate where the fish and the fleece and the loaf, the oil jars and the jars of salt and the jars of grain, and the one small jar of honey.

The only hill, in this parish, is Couthboanlaw, now by corruption, called Quothquanlaw.-- The late Dr McFarlane, so celebrated for his knowledge in antiquities, was of opinion, that this hill derives its name from these two Erse words, Couth boan, which in that language, signify a beautiful, or smooth hill: And indeed, it is one of the most beautiful little hills, that is to be seen in any country. It is about 600 feet above the level of the Clyde, and is green to the very top. On this hill, the common people, to this day, point out, with much fond admiration, WALLACE’s chair, where he had his abode, and held conferences with his followers, before the battle of Biggar. The chair is a large rough stone, scooped in the middle.

From the Statistical Account of 1791-99, v2 p235 (Libberton and Quothquan, County of Lanark).

Geograph shows the hilltop in less than romantic style with its addition of a traffic cone. But hopefully if you find a common person they can still point out where the chair is. I do hope so.

Cairnsmore of Fleet has two summits, and there are (admittedly dilapidated) cairns on both. It’s very dramatic landscape though so I guess that doesn’t really matter.

In the side of this mountain, facing Dromore station, we believe there is a cave of incredible dimensions, which is said to have been at one time the safe retreat of the gipsy king and robber Billy Marshall, and his lawless followers, and the hiding-place of their ill-gotten spoil. In Blackwood’s Magazine we find the following amusing anecdote of Billy Marshall and this cave, stated to have been derived from “Black Matthew Marshall,” grandson of the said chieftain: –

“Marshall’s gang had long held posession of a large cave or cavern in the high grounds of Cairnsmore, in Galloway, where they usually deposited their plunder and sometimes resided secure from the officers of the law, as no one durst venture to molest the tribe in that retired subterraneous situation. It happened that two Highland pipers, strangers to the country, were travelling that way, and falling in by chance with this cave, they entered it to shelter themselves from the weather, and resolved to rest there during the night. They found pretty good quarters, but observed some very suspicious furniture in the cave, which indicated the profession and character of its absent inhabitants. They had not remained long till they were alarmed by the voices of a numerous band advancing to its entrance. The pipers expected nothing but death from the ruthless gipsies. One of them, however, being a man of some presence of mind, called to his neighbour instantly to fill his bags (doing the same himself), and to strike up a pibroch with all his might and main. Both pipes accordingly at once commenced a most tremendous onset, the cave with all its echoes pealing back the ‘Pibroch of Donuil Dhu’ or such like. At this very unexpected and terrific reception – the yelling of the bagpipes, issuing from the bowels of the earth, just at the moment the gipsies entered the cave – Billy Marshall, with all his band, precipitately fled in the greatest consternation, and from that night never again would go near their favourite haunt, believing that the blast they had heard proceeded from the devil or some of his agents. The pipers next morning prosecuted their journey in safety, carrying with them the spolia opima of the redoubted Billy and the clan Marshall.”

There are three mountains in the Stewartry named Cairnsmore, – the old rhyme
“There’s Cairnsmore of Fleet, and Cairnsmore o’ Dee,
And Cairnsmore of Carsphairn, the highest o’ the three.”
being, doubtless, familiar to most of our readers.

In ‘Rambles in Galloway’ by Malcolm McLachlan Harper (1876).

Also – ..amongst their wild rocks are pieces of beautiful spar found, termed by the country people Cairns-moor diamonds.

and elsewhere, that Tradition says, that no human eyes ever beheld the back side, or farthest extremity of this cave [the Co’ O’ Caerclaugh]; that a dog once went in at its mouth and came out at the door o’ Cairnsmoor, a place nearly ten miles from it; and when the tyke did come out he was found to be all sung (singed), as if he had passed through some fire ordeal or other.

(from the amusing and highly recommendable Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia, by John MacTaggart, 1824)

Notes on Stones used as a Cure at Killerry, near Dromahair, and on certain Bullauns.

The ancient graveyard of Killerry is situated on the borders of Sligo and Leitrim, about two miles to the west of Dromahair. In it may be seen a rough horizontal slab, on which are set out seven smooth, rounded stones, ranging from 6 to 10 inches in diameter; at one side of the slab a small peg-shaped stone is fixed upright in the ground. The caretaker of the place, in pointing out the stones, stated that there was a spring of good water under the slab. As the latter lies on the ground, there is no sign of water, nor from its position is it likely to have much under it. The mention of water, however, is not without interest, as in many cases where collections of round stones occur they are placed in hollows or rock-basins, and these retain water to which useful properties are ascribed. In this instance there are no basins, and the assertion that there is water under the stone may be due to a general idea that water in some form should be associated with monuments of the kind.

The people of the surrounding district frequently resort to these stones for the cure of strained sinews. The procedure is as follows:-
A friend of the sufferer goes to Killerry and brings a piece of thread, which should in strictness be of unbleached linen, though this condition is not always adhered to. On arrival at the place, the thread is wrapped round the peg-like stone mentioned above; the round stones are then turned separately while a prayer is said; afterwards a thread left by some former visitor is taken up, brought to the patient, and wound round the affected part; the cure soon follows. This process is called ”Lifting a strain thread“; it is equally effective for the cure of horses or cattle.

A resident in the neighbourhood informed me that in his case the thread had been entirely successful; it was applied at night, and next morning he was quite well and able to go to work as usual.

The story told locally to account for this custom is that St. Patrick when travelling through the district was refused a passage at the ford of Sligo, and had to proceed round Lough Gill. In the rough ground about Killerry his horse strained a sinew, and the Saint then arranged these stones so as to cure the animal and avoid delay to his journey. When departing he blessed the stones, and left them ready to cure strains in men and animals for ever. These stones may be compared with the better-known ”St. Brigid’s Stone,” situated about twenty miles further east, near the old church of Killinagh, at Blacklion, in the County Cavan.

From Henry S Crawford’s article in The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland v3 no.3, 1913.

As the weather and season favoured we came amongst pleasant corn fields on the farm of Sron- t-Soillear. [..] Before coming to the house a great circle was seen made of boulder stones, as all those of this district are. The stones are doubled irregularly on the west side. In Aberdeen and Kincardine the custom is to lay a great stone on the southerly side. [..] This circle, which remains entire, is 60 feet in diameter, a very favourite size, and one that seems to have been chosen for a reason. We saw it lonely among hay, itself enough to give interest to the whole valley even had the sun been absent.

A couple of fields off, after passing along graceful mounds and good grass, was seen Diarmid’s pillar (Clach Dhiarmaid or Carrach Dhiarmaid). And now we were in the very midst of a land of legends. No story is more persistently told than the story of Diarmid; no story has the places connected with every transaction more minutely give; but, unfortunately, some half dozen places claim the originals. [..]

[.. When Diarmid] was dying of his wound and nothing but fresh water could help him, Fingal pretended to bring some, but always spilt it, and Diarmid died. The account we got at Lochnell was that the magic water must be brought in the hands of the most beautiful women, to make the cure certain; but the ladies could not manage to bring any – the way was long and rough and the day was hot, so that before they arrived their hands were empty.

[..] Here at Lochnell is a pillar called after him and a grave beside it. The pillar is about 12 feet high, rough, and seems as if squared artificially. The grave or small stone circle has twelve stones – boulders. None of the farmers cared much for Diarmid, since all were strangers [newcomers]; but when some persons lately were looking for a stone kist in this place which is called his grave, a poor woman going by said, in great anxiety, “Oh, oh, they are lifting Diarmid.” He is not forgotten yet.

There are many names here connected with the great boar hunt [..] the farm next the pillar is Tor an Tuirc – the boar’s hill. A shepherd coming down the hill and asking for sheep was told in our hearing to take them up Ben Gulbain; so here is the classic name in common use. Up this hill is a well called Tobair nam bas toll – the well of the empty palms. This is a memory of the hands coming down dry to poor Diarmid. On the slope is Gleann nam Fuath – the glen of spirits. Fuath, in the singular, also means hate or spite, and Gleann na Fuath would be the glen of spite, referring to Finn’s conduct here: his proverbial nobleness did not shine at the death of Diarmid.

[..] It was thought well to walk up from the more interesting pillar of Diarmid to a knoll on the side of the hill, a place called Cleidh-na-h-annait. It is an old burial ground, walled round, and remarkable for having two small cairns in it, as if it were a meeting of heathen and Christian habits [..].

From ‘Loch Etive and the Sons of Uisnach’ by Robert Angus Smith (1879).

Possibly lost now, but maybe it’s there just under the surface waiting to be rediscovered, full of moss and dirt, waiting to twist your ankle?

Here (Fig. 19) is a representation of a Bullan situated, and almost buried, in the centre of a low earthen mound upon the northern side of Loch Drumgay. The material is red sandstone – diameter of basin, one ft. three in.; depth, eleven in. This mound has all the appearance of [a] pagan site. The spot is considered very sacred, though far apart from church or cemetry; and the usage is, that after the patient or pilgrim has prayed and laved, the rag used in applying the water to the eye or eyes must be hung upon one of the surrounding white-thorns. At the time of my visit, in December, 1874, several such tattered offerings yet remained, showing that the place had been still recently resorted to for cures.

On Certain Markings on Rocks, Pillar-Stones, and Other Monuments, Observed Chiefly in the County Fermanagh
W. F. Wakeman
The Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland
Fourth Series, Vol. 3, No. 23 (Jul., 1875), pp. 445-474

A strange folklore snippet from ‘Excavation of a Horned Cairn at Aghanaglack, Co. Fermanagh’ by O. Davies, in The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (March 1939):

The monument of Aghanaglack, though marked on the Ordnance Survey and alluded to by Wakeman, was first brought to the notice of the scientific world by Lady Dorothy Lowry-Corry [.. and] it is said to have been partially opened by Plunkett, though no account was published. I heard tales also of digging by local people, who were scared by the appearance of an enormous cat.

In December, 1927, Mr. Wm. McIlroy, owner of the farm on the edge of which stands this remarkable monument, had occasion to widen an entrance to one of his fields, and in doing so had to remove a protruding stone. He found it to be one of the top stones of souterrain, of which there were two chambers, with the passage of one or more others, blocked up. The souterrain presented no unusual features, being built in the ordinary manner with the side walls of the chambers corbelled inwards, narrowing towards the top, and kept in their position by the usual long stone slabs laid horizontally across, forming the roof [...]

The question arises, why did the builders not utilise the Hole Stone? Within a couple of hundred yards of it on either side are two souterrains with a hundred or more of these long stones used in the roofs. Here was a suitable stone immediately to hand, and yet they would not disturb it.

I can think of no prehistoric monument of whose written history we know nothing the use and purpose of which have been so well preserved by inviolable tradition as the Hole Stone. From times long prehistoric a ring was regarded as part of the ceremony of Arrhae or betrothal prior to the marriage ceremony itself. To this day, through all the changes of race and peoples that have occurred in County Antrim, particularly South Antrim, the tradition that the Holestone is a betrothal, if not a marriage token remains unbroken, and couples from all the district round still plight their troths by clasping fingers through the ring or hole in this stone. Here then appears the probability that the souterrain builders refrained from using the Hole Stone, because it was sacred in their pagan religion, if not actually a deity.

Well if you say so. From some ‘Tentative Deductions’ about the stone in The Irish Naturalists’ Journal, Vol. 3, No. 5 (Sep., 1930) by HC Lawlor.

In the shire of Inverness and parish of Ennerallen ther is an old ston-monument called the chappell of Tilligorum, alias, Chappell maakmulach, which is full of graves, and was within the memorie of his (my informer’s) father (who is a man of nintie six or ninetie seaven years) an ordinary place of buriall at least for poor people, and continues to be at this day for children who die without baptisme & for strangers.

From a letter to John Aubrey from James Garden, dated March 1693. Quoted in ‘The occult laboratory: magic, science, and second sight in late seventeenth-century Scotland’, by Michael Hunter and Robert Kirk (2007).

I think this is probably the right place, because elsewhere a ‘female brownie’, with a name suspiciously like maakmullach, is mentioned – for example in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1803), Sir Walter Scott says

“... that of Tullochgorm, by May Moulach, a female figure, whose left hand and arm were covered with hair .. [was] a familiar attendant upon the clan Grant.”

and Thomas Crofton Croker, in ‘Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland’ (1828) says:

Formerly ever family of consequence had its Brownie, but now they have become more rare. The two last that were known in the Highlands belonged to the ancient family of Tullochgorm in Strathspey: they were a man and his wife. The man, of a droll and merry disposition, often made game of people; he was particularly fond of pelting those who passed by with lumps of earth, whence he received the name of Brownie-clod. However, with all his good humour, he was rather simple, and was tricked by those whom he himself intended to trick. The best instance is an agreement which he was foolish enough to make with the servants of Tullochgorm, and by which he engaged himself to thrash as much corn as two men could do in the whole winter; for this he was to receive an old coat and a Kilmarnock cap, to which he seemed to have taken a great fancy. While the servants lay down in the straw and idled away their time, poor Brownie thrashed without ceasing: in short, before the agreement was completed, the men, out of gratitude and compassion, put the coat and cap into a corn measure in the barn. He instantly left off work, and said contemptuously, that as they had been simple enought to give him the coat and cap before the end of his task, he would take good care, and not thrash a single sheaf more.

His wife, on the contrary, instead of being the sport of the maids with whom she worked, was a sort of mistress among them. She was seldom on good terms with them, on account of the fidelity with which she acquainted her master with every neglect of their duty. She had a profusion of hair on her head, whence she was called hairy Mag (Maug vuluchd). She was an honest and able housekeeper, and particularly clever in waiting at table. The care with which she invisibly set out the table was a most entertaining sight to strangers; the thing asked for came as if by magic, and placed itself on the table with the greatest speed and nicety: she had no equal in the whole country for cleanliness and attention.

I can’t find a story for the hill of Knockdolian itself, but I was here in the summer, and it’s the most stupendous landmark, looking just like the nearby giant limpet-shaped island of Ailsa Craig from some angles. I liked the hill a lot and I imagine the views from the top would be marvellous. It’s topped by a ‘grass covered cairn .. composed of large and small stones, with rock outcrop protruding in places.. 2m high.. a few large kerb stones are visible’, according to the info on Coflein. But here’s some local stoney folklore:

An old family once lived in a house called Knockdolion, which stood on the banks of the Water of Girvan in Ayrshire. There was a black stone at the end of the house, and a mermaid used to come and sit on it, combing her hair and singing for hours on end. The lady of the house could not get her baby to sleep because of the loud singing of the mermaid, so she told her men-servants to break up the stone. This they did, and when the mermaid came on the night that followed she found no stone to sit upon. She at once flew into a rage, and cried to the lady of the house:-

Ye may think on your cradle-
I think on my stane;
There will ne’er be an heir
To Knockdolian again.

Not long after this the baby died. He was the only child in the house and when his father and mother died the family became extinct.

A harsh punishment but you mustn’t go messing with stones.

From ‘Wonder Tales from Scottish Myth and Legend’ by Donald Alexander Mackenzie (1917).

Canmore describes how there was a fort covering the summit of this hill – only the south side is easily approached because the other sides are so steep. It’s just over 200m NNE of the parish church, where there was once a stone:

A large stone, popularly called the “Witches’ Stone,” stood upright, near the church, in a field on Lodge-house farm.* The tradition is that a witch flying with it, to demolish Craigie Kirk, her apron strings gave way, and it fell down on the spot which it afterwards occupied. It was in all probability a druidical remain; probably a rocking-stone. It stood upon three stones, so high that a man could crawl under. It was destroyed in 1819, to build houses. The farmer’s wife, it is said, took some antipathy to it, and would not give her husband rest until he consented to have it removed. A person of the name of Jamieson, and an assistant, were employed to blast it, which was accordingly done. When broken up, it filled twenty-four carts. Such was the feeling of sacrilege occasiioned by the removal of the stone, that it was observed the farmer’s wife became blind, and continued so for eight years, when she died. Jamieson, who blasted it, never did well afterwards. He drank and went to ruin.

Further warning not to Mess With Stones.

*Now called Lodgebush, according to the Canmore record.

Also, the source of this (’History of the County of Ayr’ by James Paterson, 1847) next says:During the era of smuggling, Craigie hills are known to have been the depository of a large share of the contraband goods landed at Troon and other parts of the coast. The broken nature of the crags afforded many secure places of secrecy. The old worthies who took part in this exciting trade have scarcely yet all died out.

On both sides of the Shannon in this neighbourhood Christian tradition is busy with almost every stone, boher, and tougher, and close to this boulder, on the old boher which led to the Seven Churches of Clonmacnoise before the present road was formed, is a carn called Leacht-na-Marra, or the Monument of the Dead, where, to the present day, when a funeral approaches that famed burial ground, the coffin is laid down, and stones thrown on the carn. The tradition is that in the old times some of the “holy men” from the Seven Churches always attended here, and carried the corpse to its last resting place, about two miles distant, the laity not being allowed to enter the sacred precincts. The carn-raising, however, is the remnant of a Pagan tradition.

But I was distinctly informed that no Christian rite was ever performed at the Clonfinlough stone: on the contrary, the name by which it is known – “The Fairy’s Stone” – points to a Pagan origin. Two remarkable earthworks, no mean feats in their way, consisting each of a deep fosse and rampart drawn across the esker, not very far from this stone, are termed “The Witch’s Hollows.”

Another legend terms it “The Horseman’s Stone,” and tells that a horseman gallops round it at certain times. Mr T L Cooke, of Parsonstown – who is intimately acquainted with all the antiquities of the locality, and [..] some time ago kindly communicated to me a drawing of this stone [..]

He goes on to describe the boulder and its neighbours and their cup-like hollows and the carvings, comparing them to a sun with planets and the constellation of the Plough. He also mentions crosses, daggers, the resemblence of a human foot and representations of Irish ring-brooches etc. From ‘On a Boulder with Presumed Pagan Carvings at Clonfinlough, King’s County’ by James Graves. In The Journal of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society,
New Series, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1865), pp. 354-362.

A page at the Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society summarises some of the local 1930s Folklore Commission reports:

This survey gives us a glimpse of how the people of Offaly treasured their monuments and how they perceived them and what social role they played in the minds of the local people. According to the folklore survey, the Clonfinlough stone had images in the form of cross-men and loop-men carved onto the surface of the rock. This image puzzled many antiquarians for years until one Abbe Breuil deciphered the image and concluded that it represented a fight to a finish between the Old Irish and the Milesians in pre-Christian times, 1300BC. The cross-men were charging at the loop-men who in return were retreating from the attack.

He told the locals that there were many such stones in Spain. The story went on to say that they believed it was the oldest stone in Ireland and described it as “A stone that before Our Lord founded his apostolic church lay there enjoying the glorious sunshine in Summer and the rain leaving it as pure and white as the lily, in winter”. Meanwhile, another story from the Clonmacnoise area records that there were two big rocks in a field which a local boy named Michael was continually playing around in the summer time. One summer day he was out playing as usual and he did not come in until dark. When he came in he began to tell his mother about a strange little boy he was playing with at the rocks.

He showed his mother a beautiful silver knife which he said he got from the little boy. When the mother saw the knife she was afraid to let him keep the knife and she made him go back to the rocks with her in order to return it. Michael left the knife on the rock and the next morning when he went out to play again, the knife was gone and he never saw the little boy again. It is said that the strange little boy was a fairy and he was trying to coax young Michael away. It is also said that another Michael will find the knife, and when he does he will find two big pots of gold under the rocks.

offalyhistory.com/articles/61/1/A-History-of-Offaly-Through-its-Monuments/Page1.html

This page in ‘Traces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland’ by W G Wood-Martin (1902) seems to show the same cross and base as Tiompan’s picture from Boho churchyard (about 500yds from the rock carvings). The book says: Men are reported to resort to this stone in cases where they have no children after marriage.

“The Witches’ stone,” near Antrim Round Tower, from its name evidently originally a cursing site, is a rock bullan. The tower, according to current tradition, was erected by a “hag” who, when it was finished, as the readiest way of descending, took a flying leap and alighted on this stone, situated about 120 yards from the base of the structure. She stumbled – little wonder – on landing, and struck the rock with one elbow and one knee, which accounts for the cup-like depressions seen in the illustration. These, as is usual, are stated never to be without water. The largest cavity is 15 inches long, 12 inches wide and 9 inches deep; the smaller depression is 6 inches wide by 3 inches in depth. The rock itself is 6 feet long by about 4 1/2 feet broad. It lay originally by the side of a brook, but many years ago the stream was diverted, a wall was built between it and the stream, and the enclosed area converted into a garden.

From ‘Traces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland’ by W G Wood-Martin (1902).

Perhaps after the two inscribed bullans just noticed, the ten holed example of which I furnish a faithful drawing, is the most remarkable in Ireland. It stands on the shore of Upper Lough Macnean, and close to the ancient ruined parish church of Killinagh. The basins, which average about ten inches in diameter, are of various depths, and each is nearly filled with a somewhat circular or oval stone. There is a holy well close at hand, dedicated, like the church, to St. Brigid. The bullan is populary known as “St. Brigid’s stone,” or altar. A lady, who from infancy has resided in the immediate neighbourhood, was good enough to inform me that she had been told when a child by her old nurse, who was a native of the district, that many years before this curious monument was known amongst the people as the “cursing stone.“*

I heard the same story from a very old man who had lived all his life almost in sight of the time-stained gables of the neglected and mouldering cill. It was the custom, he said, when any of the neighbours bad a grudge against a real or supposed enemy, and wished him harm, to proceed to the “altar” and anathematize him, at the same time turning the stones deposited in the basins. This practise, however, was not carelessly or lightly to be indulged in, as the curses, when undeserved, were sure to descend in full force on the person or property of their utterer.

‘On the Bullàn, or Rock-Basin, as Found in Ireland; With Special Reference to Two Inscribed Examples’ by W. F. Wakeman, in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy vol. 1 (1889-91).

* when a child she was not unfrequently brought to the spot by an aged nurse, who there performed devotions of some kind. – same author, ‘On Certain Markings on Rocks, Pillar-Stones, and Other Monuments, Observed Chiefly in the County Fermanagh’, from the Journal fo the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland (Jul 1875).

HAILY.-- This place is supposed to have had its name from Helle, a pit or burial place; as here a vast tumulus had been erected over the bodies of the slain, as thought, at the Battle of Largs. It was only discovered, however, about 40 years ago, by Mr. Wilson, when searching for stones to enclose his lands. It was till then known by the name of Margaret’s-Law, and was supposed to be natural. It had long been overgrown with rank herbage and brushwood. In the centre of it were found five stone-coffins, or square apartments formed with flat stones set on edge; two of them containing five sculls each, with other human bones, and several earthen urns. The earth and small stones at the bottom were calcined. It is supposed that the sculls and other bones within these coffins were those of the chiefs; whilst the bodies of the common warriors had been thrown promiscuously over them, and then stones, in vast quantity, heaped over all. These amounted to upwards of 5,000 cart loads -- whilst the quantity of bones, which on exposure, soon crumbled into dust, was immense.

A Topographical description of Ayrshire, more particularly of Cunninghame, by George Robertson (1820).

‘McConnochie states that the natural boulder called the Wolf Stone, in Scare Wood, was thrown by Mr Satan at Mrs Satan, but it fell short. The alternative legend, that a wolf had littered there and was killed by a woman throwing a girdle at it, is found in several places in Scotland. the stone may have been the site of land-courts in the Middle Ages. In MacPherson’s Primitive Beliefs gives the case of James Smith, reported to the Aberdeen Synod for ‘casting knots at marriages for unlawful ends’. This would have been magical ill-will, intended to foment disharmony in the newly married couple, or prevent them from having children.‘

Mysterious Aberdeenshire – Geoff Holder.

‘A very large cairn west of Luther Water was called Katie’s Cairn because it supposedly marked the spot where Katie the witch was burnt. This is probably the same cairn described as the Witch Knap in Watt’s Highways ans Byways, in which it was placed just east of the burn. Every schoolboy knew to contribute a stone to the when passing-or else the witch would get them. The cairn evaporated during the stone-hungry years of the mid-nineteenth century.‘

Mysterious Aberdeenshire – Geoff Holder

... when the waste or common lands were enclosed by act of parliament about [thirty years ago], most of the stones of which this remarkable monumental curiosity was composed were blown into fragments by the power of gunpowder, and employed by the inhabitants in erecting rude stone fences [...]

The quality of these stones is a species of granite, reddish, and full of large white shining specks of spar-like appearance. When polished, some of them are veined, and have an ornamental appearance. There is no regularity in their shape, and few of them present sharp angles; indeed for the most part they seem from their rounded forms to have been long subjected to the action of water.

This species of stone is called by the country-people thunder-stone, but upon what authority seems a matter of much doubt. I have heard the inhabitants assign two reasons – one, that the stones have fallen from the clouds during thunder-storms; and the other, in consequence of their giving out sparks of fire when struck against each other, at the same time emitting a faint smell of sulphur. But in fact the great majority of the people would not be able to assign any reason for so singular a name, not trougling themselves to inquire into the origin of names.

From ‘The Druid Stones near Shap, in Westmoreland’ – from a Correspondent in vol 9 of The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (1840).

Outside the burial ground is a perfect curiosity; – a natural rock of a tabular form with five basin-like hollows on the surface, of four or five inches in depth, and about a foot in diameter. These are severally filled with water, and in each is a stone of a long oval form fitting the space fully. The whole forms a petrified dairy – the basins being the “keelers,” the ovals the rolls of butter.

The history of this strange monument is, that, in ancient times, a woman lived here, who, not respecting the commandment against thieving, at night milked the cows of her neighbours, and transferred the milk as well as the butter to her own dairy. Suspected at length, the hue and cry was raised against her; and Saint Fiachna, who led a holy life at the church we have referred to, resolved to punish the culprit. He mounted his horse to visit her, but she flet. The Saint as he passed turned her dairy to stone, and then descended the hill towards the river in pursuit of her. In crossing the stream his horse left his hoof-marks on a stone in the centre of it; this we did not choose to wet ourselves to look at, but we were assured by several that it was there.

He then drove up the opposite hill-side, where, about midway, he overtook the criminal of whom he was in chase, and instantly turned her into stone; and there she still stands, the Irish “Lot’s Wife,” – not, however, a pillar of salt, but a goodly dallan of six feet in height; yet still holding a resemblance to the original lady. The tree beside it grew out of the “kippin” of the spancel which she carried in her hand, and with which she was accustomed to tie the cows’ legs at milking. And see what a goodly picture it now makes as a blooming hawthorn! It is a singular and striking object, standing, as it does, in the midst of a mountain of solitude.

From ‘A Week at Killarney’ by Mr and Mrs S C Hall (1850). The drawing in the book doesn’t have the pointy stone in its doughnutty stone and it’s not mentioned either.

The Irish Megaliths website
irishmegaliths.org.uk/kerry.htm
mentions how the ‘butterlumps’ are (were?) turned as part of Easter rituals at the nearby church.

Upon the West Side of this Isle, there is a Valley with a Declination towards the Sea, having a Rivulet running through the Middle of it, on each Side of which is an Ascent of half a Mile; all which Piece of Ground is call’d by the Inhabitants, the female Warrior’s Glen.

This Amazon is famous in their Traditions; her House or Dairy of Stone is yet extant, some of the Inhabitants dwell in it all Summer, though it be some hundred Years old; the whole is built of Stone, without any Wood, Lime, Earth or Mortar to cement it, and is built in the Form of a Circle, Pyramid-wise towards the Top, having a vent in it, the Fire being always in the Centre of the Floor; the Stones are long and thin, which supplies the Defect of Wood. The Body of this House contains not above nine Persons sitting; there are three Beds or low Vaults that go off the Side of the Wall, a Pillar betwixt each Bed, which contains five Men apiece;

at the Entry to one of these low Vaults is a Stone standing upon one End fix’d, upon this they say she ordinarily laid her Helmet; there are two Stones on the other Side, upon which she is reported to have laid her Sword: She is said to have been much addicted to Hunting, and that in her Time all the Space betwixt this Isle and that of Harries, was one continued Tract of dry Land.

There was some Years ago a Pair of large Deers-Horns found in the Top of Oterveaul Hill, almost a Foot under Ground; and there was likewise a wooden Dish full of Deer’s Grease found in the same Hill under Ground. ‘Tis also said of this Warrior, that she let loose her Grey-hounds after the Deer in St. Kilda, making their Course towards the opposite Isles.

There are several Traditions of this famous Amazon. But I shall trouble my reader with no more of them.

In this isle are plenty of excellent fountains or springs; that near the female warrior’s house is reputed the best: it is called Tou-bir-nim-beuy, importing no less than the well of qualities or virtues; it runs from east to west, being sixty paces ascent above the sea: I drank of it twice, an English quart each time; it was very clear, exceeding cold, light and diuretic; I was not able to hold my hand in it above a few minutes for its coldness; the inhabitants of Harries find it effectual against windy cholics, gravel, and head-aches; this well hath a cover of stone.

p13 of ‘A Voyage to St. Kilda’ by Martin Martin (1749). I wonder where he means by ‘Oterveaul Hill’. The RCAHMS record hints that this strange place could be iron age... or at least, its construction has much in common with ‘wheel houses’ of that period.
canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/3959/details/st+kilda+hirta+gleann+mor/

Many of the country do say, that in the larger round [of stones] the sun, and in the lesser the moon, was worshipped by the old pagan inhabitants of these isles.

From Brand’s ‘A Brief Description of Orkney, Zetland, Pightland-Firth and Caithness’ (from I think 1701 originally, but I found it in ‘A general collection of the best and most interesting voyages and travels in all parts of the world’, which was put together by John Pinkerton in 1809 – you can read it on Google Books.)

Elsewhere there are the following legends:

In the way between Tingwall and Scalloway, there is an high stone standing in form of an obelisk as some ancient monument, concerning which the people have various traditions, some saying that in the Strath of Tingwall, where this stone is erected, there was a bloody fight between the Danes and the old inhabitants or natives of this country, and that the Norwegian or Danish general was killed in this place, where the stone is set up.

Others report that one of the Earls of Orkney had a profligate and prodigal son, who for this cause being animadverted upon by his father, fled to Zetland, and there built a castle or a strong house for himself within a loch at Stroma, within two miles of Tingwall to the west, the ruins whereof are yet to be seen: his father not being satisfied with his escape, and the way he took for his defence, sent from Orkney four or five men to pursue him, to whom he gave orders that they should bring his son to him either dead or alive: the son thereupon not finding himself safe enough in his castle, made his escape from the castle, where the pursuers lay in ambush, but was overtaken by them in the Straith of Tingwall and killed there, whereupon this monument was erected. The pursuers took off his head, and carried it with them to his father, but in so doing they were so far from gratifying of him, that he caused them all to be put to death, notwithstanding of the orders given by him.

From Brand’s ‘A Brief Description of Orkney, Zetland, Pightland-Firth and Caithness’ (from I think 1701 originally, but I found it in ‘A general collection of the best and most interesting voyages and travels in all parts of the world’, which was put together by John Pinkerton in 1809 – you can read it on Google Books.)

The narrator has just visited the kirk of Tingwall when something catches his eye:

The novelty, however, engaged our attention most particularly, and we were at a loss to conjecture for what purpose it stood in its place. It was a large, erect, quadrangular stone, which, if cleared from a heap of rubbish that surrounded its base, might have measured in height six feet and upwards; but its irregularly fractured summit seemed to say, that formerly it had reared a prouder crest beside the waters of the Tingwell.

An oblique vein, of a different kind of stone, traversed its centre, and an old man, approaching from some cottages that were situated at the feet of the hills, informed us, with a look of doubt, that he had heard that a “sealgh” or sea-horse, having been fastened with a rope to the “Standing Stane,” the efforts of the animal to get loose had impressed that mark around it.

He likewise told us, that there had been a large flat stone lying near the upright pillar, which was said to have covered the bones of the “overseer” of Scalloway Castle, who was interred here; but he assured us, that after breaking the slab to pieces, to form the contiguous mull, he had sought in vain for remnants of mortality.

There was a look of peculiar originality in the face and person of our ancient informant, as well as a singular tone in his voice, and while he conversed with William, I included his portrait in a sketch I took of the Standing Stane, which being completed, we again set forward, with the unwelcome intelligence that the town we sought was “twa moils mair ahead.”

From ‘Tales of a voyager to the Arctic ocean’ by Robert Pierce Gillies (1826).

There is a photo on the RCAHMS site here – perhaps you can see the traces of the sea-horse’s struggle.