Images
The jaggy toothed three-quarter four-poster.
The fallen stone in the four poster is marked by the Explorer map for Arran. Looking North-East up the hill.
Looking down past this wee four poster over the Teanga Burican to Bennecarrigan and the coast at Sliddery.
Articles
The possible cup mark(s) on the standing stone to the south of the four poster are natural .
Beyond the Teanga Burican
I was surprised just how short and easy this walk was and just how fruitful the journey was to become with a wonderful array of sites ranged across the gentle lower slopes of Tormusk. They were only discovered in the late 1990’s and they include three four-posters, numerous cairns, cists, stone alignments and standing stones spread across the hillside’s lower slopes. I strongly advise plotting the sites carefully on an Explorer Series OS map from the Canmore site beforehand. A few feet of peat has been laid down since the sites were constructed, add to that a further two or three feet of growing heather, bracken, grass and reeds which conspire to conceal everything… but that is half the fun – seeing these ghostly, forgotten sites emerge from the undergrowth in front of your eyes! For those who enjoy bird spotting I saw seven different birds of prey (White-tailed Eagle, Golden Eagle, Kestrel, Buzzard, Hen Harrier, Sparrow Hawk, Merlin and Tawny Owl) in the leisurely hour and a half the walk took around this group of sites.
Directions – drive from Lamlash along the unclassified Ross Road two and a half kilometres beyond the Buddhist Retreat Centre. Park at the layby by the green sign marking the footpath to Shiskine. Or if coming in from Sliddery drive ½ km past Glenree Farm and park in the same layby. Take the Shiskine footpath and follow for ¾ km till it joins another path. Follow this path up the little wooded river valley. There is a fence on your right hand side. Descend to the ford (if the ford, riverbanks and riverbed is of red sandstone bedrock you are in the wrong place – return to the main path and follow it further upstream for 300m to the next ford). The path becomes a fine quad track. You will pass what appear to be three large capstones lying by the path. You will then find yourself passing through a gap in a large drystane and turf structure. This is the Teanga Burican and marks the beginning of the surprises! It might seem like the *rse-end of nowhere but this really is the beginning of everywhere – you just have to look carefully!
Standing on top of the Teanga Burican you can easily see a prominent standing stone on the hillside. Keep your eye on it as it is a useful orientation marker for the other sites. Continue up the path until you draw level with the standing stone and strike out confidently across the hillside towards it!
The West of Scotland Archaeological Service (WoSAS) report says that the prominent standing stone has a cup mark. I couldn’t find one. Perhaps I’d found a different stone. This one was about 1 ½ metres high and slanting slightly. For some reason the photos came out all blurry – so it’ll be next time for those.
Next, I headed up the slope looking for the first four poster 90-odd metres further on. All I could see was the mogre of near waist-high bracken and heather I was wading through. I felt my heart sinking… How on Earth would I find anything in this undergrowth? I counted off a hundred paces up the hill. Suddenly there it was! Right at my feet! The bracken had subsided a bit and the heather revealed a smashing little jaggy-toothed four poster right in front of my eyes! The stone to the North East is fallen, but lies right where it should be, snug in its peat and heather bed. The views back down to Bennecarrigan and the coast at Sliddery are stunning. The four poster sits on a broad gentle tongue just a few hundred feet up, but its elevation and situation on these empty moorland slopes give it a real lofty vibe.
Sites within 20km of Allt Cul Corriehiam
-
Allt Cul Corriehiam 2
photo 2 description 1 -
Allt Cul Corrriehiam
photo 3 -
Sliddery
photo 4 -
Oscar’s Grave
description 3 -
Cnoc Ballygown
description 1 -
Aucheleffan
photo 12 description 2 -
Kilpatrick Dun (or Cashel)
description 1 -
Torr a Chaistell
description 2 -
Carn Ban
photo 3 description 1 -
Ossian’s Mound
description 1 -
Cleiteadh
photo 2 description 1 -
Torrylin
photo 17 description 7 -
Shiskine
photo 2 description 1 -
Tormore I
photo 4 description 1 -
The Doon
photo 4 -
The Doon
photo 4 link 1 -
Machrie Moor
photo 92 forum 4 description 13 link 2 -
Tormore II
photo 3 description 1 -
Moss Farm II
photo 4 description 1 -
Moss Farm
photo 12 description 3 -
Moss Farm North
photo 10 description 4 -
Monamore Glen
description 1 -
King’s Cave
photo 13 description 4 link 2 -
Moss Farm Road
photo 16 description 6 -
Creag Dhubh
photo 4 -
East Bennan
photo 6 description 2 -
Monamore
photo 12 description 3 link 1 -
Machrie Moor chambered cairn
photo 1 description 1 -
Black Cave
photo 5 description 2 -
Baile Meadhonach
photo 2 -
Monyquil
photo 5 description 2 -
Machriewater Foot
photo 8 description 1 -
Machrie Burn
photo 7 description 1 -
Auchagallon
photo 23 description 5 -
Torr an Loisgte
photo 11 description 2 -
Kingscross Point
photo 3 description 1 -
Giants’ Graves
photo 33 description 7 -
Glenrickard Chambered Cairn
photo 2 description 1 -
Lamlash
photo 21 description 6 -
Largybeg
photo 14 description 1 -
Dunan Beag
photo 11 description 1 -
Allt Mor
photo 2 description 1 -
Dunan Mor
photo 11 description 2 -
North Blairmore
photo 2 -
Kildonan
photo 8 description 1 -
Dippin
photo 4 -
Druid Auchencar
photo 16 description 4 -
Stronach Wood
photo 56 forum 1 description 8 link 2 -
Moyish
photo 5 description 2 -
Stronach
photo 11 description 5 -
Clauchlands
description 1 -
Deer Park
photo 18 description 3 -
Merkland
photo 9 description 2 -
Fforde’s Buttress
photo 1 -
Kildonan Point
photo 9 description 1 -
Kildonan Point
photo 9 description 1 -
Kildonan Bay
photo 17 description 1 -
Ardnacross
description 1 -
Ballochgair
photo 1 description 1 -
Ardnacross I
photo 3 description 1 -
Glenlussa Lodge
photo 2 description 3 -
Sannox
photo 4 description 1 -
Gort Na H-Ulaidhe
photo 4 description 1