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