On my way into Aberdeen at lunch time to catch a bus I stopped at the Pipers Stone near Oldmeldrum. I didn’t know of its existance until Rhiannon’s informative links post. (Thank you) Bourtie is a small hamlet just south of Oldmeldrum, about 1 mile west on the minor road from the A947. To be fair road conditions were not good but the car battled away leaving, thankfully, only a short walk.
The Pipers Stone is in the field before before the church and was used by pipers to greet guests at weddings and the odd funeral. Luckily I know the pipe major for the Oldmeldrum Pipe Band and he has offered to look for any interesting stories which I’ll hopefully post in the folklore column.
The stone itself is well weathered and surrounded with some field clearance. It has a beautiful location looking up and down the Bourtie valley, behind Barra, home to the famous hillfort. With the visit complete I headed back into Aberdeen to catch the bus.
Several hours on, I would think one or two people might be having a laugh at my expense as I sulk on the way back up the road. Time for a snooze!
Visited 2/2/2010.
Nice to see you got there in one piece despite the snow. I like the way that a post from one person on this website inspires another to visit a site. And also, I get inspired by seeing photos of places to try and find out if there's any stories connected with them. Good innit. Thanks Drewbhoy.
Cheers Rhiannon, I'll soon be able to find others you've posted so I should thank you. Anyway you do most of the inspiring with all the folklore stuff, brilliant!