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Some ancient forts, mostly from the Iron Age, had ramparts constructed from a double wall of stone with layers of wood and rubble sandwiched between. If the timber were set on fire as it might during an enemy attack, certain types of stone melted and fused other stones together. The great lumps of of heated, cooled, and solidified rock have patches that glitter like glass, giving rise to the term 'vitrified' forts.
Folklorists used to speculate that these were the origin of the glass castles of tradition. David MacRitchie, in 1891, wrote:
when one hears some wild story of a dreaded giant or ogre living in a castle surrounded with glass',
one knows, that such a castle could not have existed, but that the real glass castles may have been vitrified forts. He cites the example of a famous glass castle said to stand on Tor Inis or Tory Island off the north coast of Ireland, but as castles of glass often appear in fairy tales in places where no vitrified forts exist, this seems no longer a workable proposition, however tempting such a rationalisation may appear.
Craig Phadrig, a wooded hill west of Inverness, is crowned by a vitrified fort. Radio-carbon dating suggests that its ramparts were originally built in the fifth or fourth century BCE, although they may have been strengthened around 500-600CE. It has been proposed that Bridei or Brude, King Of Picts (c.555-84), lived here, as it is recorded that he had a royal palace near the River Ness. There is a King Brude Road on the way here from Inverness.
Brude was visited by St. Columba, who wanted permission to continue his work of Christian conversion, but the saint and his companions were refused entry. Then says Columba's biographer Adomnan (627-704), Columba made the sign of the cross on the great doors, knocked and laid his hands on them and immediately the bolts shot back of their own accord. Brude is supposed to have been converted by this miracle, and he and his retinue in the fort were all baptised.
A local tradition said that this baptism took place at the foot of a fir tree growing at the centre of the fort. In 1963, Otta Swire noted:
This tree was still growing, one of the finest and largest Scotch firs that I ever saw, when Craig Phadrig was sold to the Forestry Commission in the 1920's and much strong feeling was aroused by their decision to fell it as part of a clearance scheme.
The Lore Of Scotland - A Guide To Scottish Legends
Westwood and Kingshill
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Follow the same directions as Mark, and stop at the same place. The way over to the cairn was kinder to me, there was hardly any seaweed and in any case I'd had my troubles for the earlier at Ardnamonie.
Unlike the previous two sites I could get to this one and there is quite a lot to see. At 20m wide, damage by both humans and erosion has led to stones falling all around the site 13 in total, some of which might be capstones. Thanks to robbing the chamber can be seen and thanks to the robbing its difficult to tell if there are three areas / compartments. Two can be certainly seen, of the third only two stones remain standing.
One of the nicest 'what ifs' I've seen.
A great way to finish the trip.
Visited 13/08/2023
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Slightly to the east Ardnamonie is the much more recognisable broch Dun Buidhe. I walked along the fence line until I reached the site, the ground looked drier so I jumped the fence, walked 8 or 9 paces to end up almost waist deep in the bog.
Sadly it appears that, on drier days, it looks like the site is used as a rubbish tip. Also later buildings have been attached to site, as at Ardnamonie. Even from where I stood or sank, you could see the circular shape of a broch despite being covered vegetation.
Luckily no washer-woman was washing or drying any shrouds on my visit, so all would be fine.
Worth a (re) visit when much, much drier conditions.
Visited 11/08/2023.
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Superb aerial photography, and some hardy soul managed to get onto the site.
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From Loch an Daill we headed south on the A865 and took the first road heading west.
Similar to Loch an Daill Mary provided a parking space, or rather her shrine did, at the end of the road, or just before it headed south. From the shine I jumped the gate and headed south east, the site is easily spotted.
It has been a trip in which water levels have featured quite a bit, and this is a massive example of dropping water levels. What used to be loch has vanished and changed into a large marsh, perhaps you can get in from the south but looking at aerial photos on Canmore I'd suggest not trying.
However, I got as close as I could, before deciding it was unsafe.
What remains is a bit of a shambles, it appears to have been used for several functions, the outlines of buildings can be seen. It probably has been a cairn or a dun or a broch. Stones could easily have been recycled but as Canmore suggests a proper excavation is needed.
A bit of a what-if.
Visited 11/08/2023.
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T.M. Murchison was minister of Glenelg in the 1930s, and his mother's people had been shepherds in the area for many generations. His parish history was compiled partly from oral tradition gleaned from older relatives and older parishioners. 'The most famous antiquities in Glenelg' he records, 'are the two brochs or "Pictish towers" in Glenbeg.' At one time apparently there at least two more, but of these only 'a heap of jumbled boulders and stones' remained by this time. Dun Telve and Dun Troddan, however, still stand. It is said when the brochs were being built, stones were handed from the quarry along a chain of men.
A broch or 'brugh' is an archaeological term for the late prehistoric round towers found chiefly in the Orkney and Shetland islands and the Western Isles and on the adjacent Scottish mainland. They are round stone-built towers, and are often popularly supposed to have been built by the Picts or Pechts. Here, however, the brochs are associated with Fionn mac Cumhaill or Fingal and his followers the Fianna, said to have lived in these brochs and resorted to Skye for their hunting. The women of the band, says Murchison, never took food in the presence of their menfolk, but nevertheless remained healthy and beautiful, and the men wondered how the women managed to live on so little nourishment. One day, therefore, while the other men went to Skye, a warrior named Gairidh (pronounced Gary) pretended to be ill and was left lying on his bed, intending to watch the women.
He fell asleep, however, and the women promptly took strong wooden pegs and fastened Gairidh's seven locks to the bottom of the bed, to keep him out of the way, and they proceed to feast on the finest food that glen or river could produce. Gairidh suddenly awoke, was irritated to find he was fastened to the bed, leapt to his feet with a mighty effort, and in doing so left every lock of his hair and the skin of his skull on the bed. mad with pain, Gairidh rushed out, gathered brushwood which he placed around the locked door, and set fire to the dwelling with the women inside, so that none escaped.
Over in Skye, Fionn and the hunters saw the smoke rising and knew that some terrible disaster taken place. They hurried back, vaulting on their spears over the narrow channel to the mainland. One of them named Reithe did not leap far enough and was drowned, and the name of the place from which he jumped, Kylerhea, is said to be derived from
Caol Reithe, 'the Narrows of Reithe'.
Fionn and his men found their women dead and Gairidh missing, but at last he was discovered skulking in a cave and was punished.
An almost identical tradition was reported of Knockfarrel by Hugh Miller in 1835, and used by him to account for the name of Glen Garry, said to be where the murderer was torn to pieces. The tale is a better fir for Glenelg, much nearer to Glen Garry, and Murchison adds further local details: at Kylerhea, he says, you can see the marks made by the warriors' feet as they jumped the water, and at Bernera nearby is a site called Iomair nam Fear More ('the Ridge of the Big Men'), pointed out as the burial place of the 'Fingalians' (the Fianna or Fenians).
It is said that once upon a time a bold man began ploughing up the place, in defiance of local warnings. He turned up a human skull, which was so big that it easily fitted over the biggest man present(alleged to be the Rev. Colin MacIver, minister of Glenelg from 1782 to 1829). Just at that point, however, a terrible storm of thunder and lightning arose, and the ploughing speedily ceased and the skull of 'Gairidh' or some other Fingalian was promptly buried again.
The Fianna were commonly said to be of giant size, so the finding of an unusually large skull may have helped to associate them with the site.
The Lore Of Scotland - A Guide To Scottish Legends
Westwood and Kingshill
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Not much to see here, look for the promontory on the north east side of the shrine beside the telegraph poles.
There is a wall amongst the tall vegetation which I found very easily by tripping over it. Further towards the shore there is the remains of another small wall before you are in the fort proper.
Worth looking at it, if looking for the dun.
Visited 11/08/2023.
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If there was a causeway here, reportedly seen in 1915 but well submerged - by 2003 it had vanished. By the time of my arrival with reports of water levels being quite a bit lower it would be safe to say it might never be found.
The actual dun is still there clearly visible by looking east from the shrine at Ardmore, if heading north from Daliburgh (South Uist) its just before the causeway to Benbecula, if heading south from Benbecula park at the first shrine.
Not much remains on the 'high crannog' except the usual fallen stones and what appears to some kind of standing stone.
Beinn Tairbeirt and Beinn A' Phortair provide dramatic backdrops to the south east.
Visited 11/08/2023.
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The cairn at Tigh Cloiche has seen a lot of damage done to it throughout the centuries. It still stands, grass covered, at 12m wide by 1m high. Stones can be seen in the middle, first thoughts, to me, it might be remains of a cist but more likely a small shelter of some kind. The site is surrounded in fairly marshy ground. It seems Canmore can't make their minds up also, they didn't declare if it was Neolithic or Bronze Age, perhaps it might even be an Iron Age Wheelhouse. I'd go for a robbed Bronze Age Round Cairn, an excavation would be interesting.
To the north of the cairn there is a minor road heading east, there is plenty pull over space a short distance from the A865. Not wishing to walk down the busy road I headed cross country, straight south via some marsh and the occasional dry bit.
A but of a what if, but worth a visit to speculate.
Visited 11/08/2023.
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It is not surprising that the Grenish Stone Circle should be supernaturally protected, if it was truly the crowning place of the Pictish kings. This tradition was reported by Otta Swire in 1963: 'The last king to be crowned there was King Brude, so the old gardener we had at Kingussie told me.' He had been told this as a boy by his grannie who came from Aviemore, and she had heard it from her grannie, a noted wise woman or witch. Acording to the gardener's grannie, when a Pictish king died, all who hoped to succeed him gathered at the circle, where the Druids invoked the spirits who told them which claimant to crown and other things besides. When the spirit was summoned at the death of the forty-eighth king, he told them to cron King Brude but he would be the last they crowned. Thinking this meant the downfall of the Pictish kingdom, they asked more questions but only got an enigmatic answer:
Living die, Dying live
When the king was crowned it was customary to raise three spirits, and for the King to ask each a question, the first of which must be:
What of my reign?
When Brude asked this question, he couldn't understand the reply: the spirit was that of an Irish champion who spoke only Gaelic, while Brude only spoke the Pictish language. Fortunately a bilingual Druid was on hand to translate, telling Brude that one greater than he would come out of the sea, rule in his kingdom above him, and make him great. The prophecy referred to the coming of St Columba and his conversion of King Brude to Christianity.
As with a number of Otta Swire's stories, it is uncertain if this is a popular tradition or a romantic fiction. In some respects it sounds suspiciously like the revelation in Macbeth of Banquo's royal descendants, although it is of course entirely possible that Shakespeare based his scene on a report of ancient Scottish custom.
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Stones from religious sites whether ancient or modern should not be removed. Such is the prevalent , recorded at Fyvie Castle (near Turriff) and the Hill O' many Stanes (Northern Highlands) among other places. C. G. Nash, in 1906, recorded that a stone taken from the circle at Grenish was once taken to be used as a lintel over the doorway of a byre, but when it was in place the cattle were afraid of entering. Consequently it was taken back to the circle and an ordinary slab used, which the cattle were happy to pass.
The Lore Of Scotland - A Guide To Scottish Legends
Westwood & Kingshill
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We returned to West Loch Ollay from the standing stone at Crois Chnoca Breaca and took the car to Dun Altabrug.
Take the road that swings north, the road we came, and at the junction head west. Keep going, past a minor road, and as the road swings north east take the first minor road south, stopping at the road's end. We were given permission to park by the occupant at Peninerine.
Head south east up and over a wee hill and the dun will be clearly seen along with the causeway, the causeway being just over 30m in length.
Decent walls still exist on the 'high crannog' / dun with the entrance on the east. Most of the site is overgrown. The circular wall is over 1.2m, the island is slightly oval and measures 9.5m by 8m.
Once again it was explained that water levels are low here also, as they are over North and South Uist and Benbecula. The photos proved that when compared with photos taken from 5 years ago, vegetation had grown, the causeway is much more visible and the land from the farmhouse a lot les boggy.
Superb site.
Visited 10/08/2023.
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A weird and wonderful stone which could easily be mistaken as a ruined Celtic Cross. Parking is easy as there is a car park at the Ardmichael Cemetery but we headed towards the coast, from West Loch Ollay, to follow the Hebridean Way which gave us a easy walk heading north, and more importantly it led straight to the site.
It stands on a wee mound at just over 2m tall, almost giving a middle finger to time and, perhaps, modernisation. Hopefully a gentle straighten up will save this stone falling as it sits at an precarious angle.
Fantastic site / sight with fantastic scenery.
Visited 10/08/2023.
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The following I was up bright breezy and picked up my 'water expert' friend for the first of two site visits.
North of the road to An Carra, on the A865, take the first road heading west, the the next road heading south before stopping at the first farm track that leads north.
Jump the gate then head straight north. When you reach the shore the 'high crannog' will be in front of you. Not much is left of any buildings that existed, but the tumble down proves that once upon a time something was there. Something that still is exists is a line of stones heading west, a possible mini naust.
Canmore also have a photograph that show this line of stones clearly, on my photographs, grass and weeds are growing and much more of the site can be seen.
It was explained to me that West Loch Ollay was gradually getting lower, vegetation was growing on parts of the loch. This site just highlighted it more accurately with more rocks and bedrock beginning to appear.
Not a lot to look at but interesting given someone had a knowledge of climate change.
Visited 10/08/2023.
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The Iron Age hill-fort at the summit of this prominent dome-shaped hill is said to have been the ancient capital of Lothian. From it in 1919 was unearthed the Traprain Treasure, about 160 pieces of mainly of mainly fifth-century Roman silver, probably the buried loot of a robber, now in the Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.
The Lore Of Scotland - A Guide To Sottish Legend
Westwood & Kingshill
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Not to be confused with North Uist's standing stone ot the same name, near the Committee Road, this is a stunning stone. The Who sang you can see for miles and miles and miles, you certainly can, west, north and south.
It stands, like an old wizard, at over 5m tall with a slight angle unlike its northern counterpart's blind drunk angle.
Another reason to visit this stone was to meet up with a friend who works at the waterworks and asked the question about water levels. To my surprise I was told that the levels that summer were well down, this explained why a lot causeways were appearing that in previous years could not be seen. An example of which I'd be shown the following day.
A tremendous stone.
Visited 09/08/2023.
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An incredible 83m long by 1.5m to 2m wide S shaped causeway connects the dun at Loch Cnoc A' Buidhe, which itself is just over 13m wide. A spectacular view, south west, as I was hastily walking back to the car for a discussion about water levels at An Carra Standing stone.
Closer inspection next time.
Photographed 09/08/2023.
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The first impression that jumped into my head about Reineval was that it was 'this is Dun Bharpa's smaller relative'.
It is quite a bit smaller but equally impressive, being almost 23m wide and at its highest is over 3.5m. Like Bharpa it is surrounded by tall stones, 12 still stand, also like Barra's biggest cairn, standing on top of this only seems to encourage the wind to blow harder. However, from this vantage you can see that site has been well disturbed.
Very easy to find, it can be seen from the A865, I parked at the end of minor road and walked up the track past a couple of storage agricultural buildings to climb south up through soggy marshy ground.
It was a reasonably clear day so the views, as always, stunning!
Visited 09/08/2023.
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You can see the reconstructed outline of an Iron Age aisled wheelhouse which was excavated in 1990. Built in 200AD, this is a small example, with an internal diameter of 6.5 metres, but it lay on the edge of a much larger settlement. It probably had seven internal stone piers and a rectangular heart.
Car Park Noticeboard
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Situated next to the museum car park at Kildonan is a reconstruction of an outline of an Iron Age Wheelhouse. Originally it would have been situated at Cill Donnain, near the vanishing standing stone at Sligeanach. However this one didn't escape and was captured in 1990.
A nice addition to the museum.
Visited 09/08/2023.
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After the failed attempt to find the standing stone at Sligeanach, I headed north following the coastline to the Rudha Ardvule peninsula, the home to the broch / galleried dun Dun Vulan.
It must have been some place when built and would have been seen from afar. Despite being ruinous the 11m oval shape of the site can be seen, building work is best preserved in the North east arc which houses the entrance. A lot of work has occurred to clear stones from in and around the the site making it safer and easier to get around. A defensive wall has also been built to protect the broch from erosion.
Steel mesh gabions are also in place to offer further protection.
Impressive.
Visited 08/08/2023.
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By the shore of Loch Scridain in Ardmeanach is Dun Bhuirg (the name combines the Gaelic and Norse words for fort). Like other prehistoric forts, it was thought to be inhabited by fairies. One day a woman living nearby was at her weaving and exclaimed, 'it is about time the people of the hill were coming along to give me a hand.' Suddenly she was overrun with fairies from the dun who swiftly turned all the wool into cloth. When they asked for payment for their work, she shouted, 'Dun Bhuirg is on fire!' The fairies rushed off and were not seen again, but surprisingly did not punish her for the mean trick she had played on them.
This story from P.A. McNab's Isle of Mull (1970) is a variant on an earlier tale repeated all over the Highlands, set in similar places with similar names. In around 1860, John MacLean of Tarbert in Argyllshire supplied John Francis Campbell with a version very like the one above, although the Argyllshire woman is not trying to avoid paying but is overwhelmed by the fairies' eagerness for work, like wizard at Creag Mhor and Creag Bheag (Northern Highlands). macLean adds a verse spoken by the fairies while at their work and another when they depart in haste, mourning their possessions lost in the supposed fire, the latter translated by Campbell as:
My mould of cheese, my hammer, and anvil,
My wife and my child, and my butter crock;
My cow and my goat, and my little meal kist;
Och, och ochone, how wretched am I!
A slightly different tale was told of the hill of Dunvuilg in Craignish, Argyllshire, where the call of fire is given by an envious neighbour of the woman whom the fairies are helping, and Campbell heard yet another version in Lewis 'from a medical gentleman, who got it from an old woman, who told it as a fact, with some curious variations unfit for printing'. these unprintable details may possibly have concerned throwing urine at the fairies, a technique adopted, for instance, at Dunvegan Castle.
The Lore Of Scotland - A Guide To Scottish Legends
Westwood & Kingshill
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The Bean-nigh or Nigheag ('washer-woman or 'little washer') is a spirit who presides over those about to die, and washes their shrouds in lakes or rivers while singing a dirge. She may be so absorbed in her task that she can be taken unawares, and will then grant her captor three wishes: it used to be said of anyone particularly successful that he had got the better of the washerwoman.
A follower of Clanranald of the Isles was going home alone one night to Dun Bhuidhe when he saw the washerwoman by a ford, 'washing and rinsing, moaning and lamenting'. Creeping up unseen and unheard, he seized her:
'Let me go,' said 'nigheag,' 'and give me the freedom of my feet, and that the breeze of reek coming from thy grizzled tawny beard is anear putting a stop to the breath of my throat'. Much more would my nose prefer, and much rather my heart desire, the air of fragrant incense of the mist of the mountains.'
He said he would let her go in return for his three wishes: for the creek of his home town to have plenty of seaweed (used as fertiliser), for himself to get his chosen wife, and to know who the washerwoman's shroud was for. For Clanranald was the answer. The man took the shroud on the point of his spear and threw into the loch, then ran to his chief. Hearing the news, Clanranald ordered a cow to be killed and a coracle made from its hide, and when the boat was prepared he embarked on the waves, and never returned to Benbecula.
The man who brought the news was named Lad Of The Wet Foot, because, explains Alasdair Alpin MacGregor, retelling the story in 1937 from an earlier version, his duty was to walk in front of his chief and take the dew or rain off the grass. In this tale the Lad 'walked in front' in a more symbolic sense: his warning gave Clanranald the chance to prepare for his end with dignity, although death, once foretold, could not be escaped.
The Lore Of Scotland - A Guide To Scottish Legends
Westwood & Kingshill
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After visiting the dun at Upper Loch Bornish I made my way back to minor road I'd left to continue westwards. Parking isn't a problem, St Mary's RC Church has a very handy carpark.
From the church head back to the track and keep going west to jump the gate. The cairn is small being 6m wide by 0.4 high. It is grass covered, as usual the local greenkeepers have done an excellent job, with two stones in the middle. These are probably what remains of a cist.
After a quick look round I decided to look for the standing stone at Sligeanach. Heading south I crossed over some sand dunes before heading across some very flat land. After looking around for ages I enlisted the help of two cyclists camping near the Hebridean Way. Even with their help it was a lost cause. The stone is probably hidden beneath the sands.
Nice to find the cairn, frustrating about the standing stone.
Visited 08/08/2023.
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After visiting the stone circle at Loch Kildonan I headed back to the A865 and headed north, then took the next minor road heading heading west. Take the first road heading south and park at the first corner.
The causeway has taken a bit of battering but I was able to make my way across quite safely. Enclosures or sheepfolds have completely ruined the dun which has its wall best preserved in the north. From this it can be seen that the wall would have been about 2.5m wide, this surrounds the island which would have made the dun close to 10m wide.
Beautiful location, pity about the rubbish at the nearby empty house.
Visited 08/08/2023.
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5 stones make up the stone circle situated to north of the minor road after crossing the causeway to the west site of Loch Chill Donnain (Kildonan).
From the museum / Flora MacDonald memorial on the A865, head north and take the first minor road heading west.
Gorgeous setting, the loch is also a favourite for anglers both local and visiting.
Visited 08/08/2023.
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In July 2022 Kildonan was re-classified as a crannog as Neolithic pottery. It sits just over 45 meters from the west bank of Loch a' Mhuilin, being connected by a surviving. Water levels were slightly higher on my visit so getting onto the crannog was impossible as the last 10m of causeway were below water and I'd on the wrong footwear.
The 20m wide crannog now houses its fallen walls.
Easy to find, I parked at the nearby museum and walked south back down the A865, a small track heading east leads to the causeway.
Bring correct footwear.
Visited 08/08/2023.
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Once when the River Don was in flood, a man needed to cross it to attend a relative's deathbed. The river had a resident Kelpie, a dangerous water-spirit which could, however, appear helpless or even helpful. This creature appeared and offered to carry the traveller across the swollen stream; the man agreed, but when they got to the middle of the river the Kelpie tried to drown him. Luckily he managed to escape and scrambled up onto the riverbank. Baulked of his prey, the angry Kelpie threw a large boulder after him, which still rests on the bank and is still known as the Kelpie's Stane.
The Lore of Scotland : A Guide To Scottish Legends
Westwood & Kingshill
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Still doing the music, following that team and getting lost in the hills! (Some Simple Minds, Glasvegas, Athlete, George Harrison, Empire Of The Sun, Riverside, Porcupine Tree, Nazareth, The Avalanches, Public Service Broadcasting on the headphones, good boots and sticks, away I go!)
Turriff, Aberdeenshire
https://www.thedeleriumtrees.com/
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