nickbrand

Take the A917 from St Andrews east towards Kingsbarns. About 500m before the village is a farm road running SSW. Turn in here, and about 300m in on the right side is a track running ENE parallel with the A917. Park here carefully, and proceed up the track until you see an open gate. The stone is in plain sight.
Approximately 2.4m tall, it is a thin slab with a pronounced tilt towards the south. I could discern no markings of any kind on it.

Leave the A9 at Bankfoot and follow the B867 through Waterloo up to the entrance to Muirheadston farm. Careful parking here will not obstruct the farm road, and the stones are in the centre of the field beside you. The eastern stone has a cross incised on the southern face, easily visible in the photograph.

Leave the A9 at Bankfoot and drive north on the BB867 to Waterloo. Take the Meickle Obney road northwest, and approximately 1km up the road you will see the stone on your right hand side beside the fence. There are no obvious markings on it, although it has been used to secure fencing in the past. On the day that I visited a herd of cows were kind enough to stand aside (all except one!) so that I could take the photograph. The reason for the name is unknown as there are no records of anyone in the immediate area being convicted of witchcraft. Three people were accused of witchcraft in Dunkeld, just north of here, in 1598, but were acquitted. Two women were convicted in Perth the same year, however. Thanks to the “Craigie Column” of the local newspaper, “The Courier”, for the information.

This broch is on private ground in the gardens of a house in the village of Liff, just outside Dundee. Permission must be sought from the owner to view. The broch is very difficult to discern initially, being heavily overgrown, but the general layout is visible. It forms part of what was described as a “multi-phase occupation site comprising a promontory fort, a palisaded enclosure, a broch and a souterrain”, and was excavated by D.B.Taylor between 1958 and 1967. The only pre-broch find was a small perforated bone plate. The broch itself was of 12m diameter with walls 5-6m thick. Remains of a mural chamber or stairway on the north were found. The entrance was to the south west.

Finds from the broch dated it to the end of the first or beginning of the second century A.D. and included a possible patera-handle amongst other quantities of metalwork, and a bronze spiral finger-ring now in the National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh. Finds in the souterrain included pottery similar to that found at Ardestie and Carlungie (both in the Souterrain Index). 1st and 2nd century Roman pottery was also found, and it has been suggested that the earlier pottery came from the broch and the later from the souterrain.

Drumsturdy hill lies east of Dundee on the A92. Turn north onto the B962, then east on the B961 and turn into the Drumsturdy road up to Laws farm. Ask permission before entering the field by the hill – a bull is often in the field and warning notices are posted! Up a track to the hilltop and the broch can be easily distinguished. Nothing is left above ground level, but the site lies sunk in about 1 metre. An Iron Age fort is also on the site, along with other ruined remains and an absolutely awful late Georgian “folly” (visible in one of the photographs). It has been described thus : “The fort is oval measuring c 400’ by 200’ within the ruin of a wall 30’ thick. The faces of the wall are of large carefully-laid blocks and the core of rubble, in which considerable quantities of vitrified stone have been noted. An outer wall of the same character, but not so thick covers either end of the fort and a third is added on the SW. The broch, now very much robbed and overgrown, is 35’ in diameter within a wall 16’ thick.” The views from this site are spectacular, and it is easy to see why the hill was fortified, as it dominates the landscape round about. Well worth a visit.

Tealing is just north of Dundee on the A929. Turn into the village and follow the road round, and look for the signpost. The souterrain is down a track and over a stile in a field behind the doocot (16th century pigeon house). This site dates from approximately 100 AD, and is a well preserved example. These earth houses were covered over with thatched roofs, and used for storage. The cup and ring marked stone at the northern entrance is thought to have been taken from another site and used in the construction. It has been described thus : This souterrain was accidentally discovered during agricultural operations in 1871. It is curved in plan, and the inner end is rounded; it appears to have been divided into two compartments, and is c 80’ long. Its greatest width is 8-1/2’, 5’ from the inner end, and its maximum height is c 6’4”. The sloping floor, where it is not natural rock, seems to have been paved. Finds included charcoal, animal bones, a piece of Samian ware (possibly 2nd century), a bracelet, bronze rings, cinerary urn fragments, 10 querns, whorls, and remains of stone cups. It was not known in 1932 where these finds were, but in 1940, a fragment of Roman glassware from a 1st-2nd century ‘pillar-moulded’ bowl found here was donated to the NMAS. Built into the N wall of the entrance passage, 2’ from the doorway, is a cup-and-ring-marked stone measuring 3’ by 2’, and there is also a cup-marked stone 12’ S of the entrance. It measures 4’6” x 2’6” x 6”. It remains in a good state of preservation, and enclosed by a fence.

Take the A92 east from Dundee, turn north onto the B962, and then east onto a local road at Templehall. The souterrain is past the quarry. Park at the verge of the road into Carlungie farm and follow the track across to the site, which is situated a little way out in a field. There is an information board at the site. Easily accessable.

From the A92 east from Dundee, turn north onto the B962. There is a muddy parking spot about 100m up this road. The site is visible on your left. Park and walk back to the main road, then west alongside the main road for about another 100m. There is a path leading north to the site from here. Be careful walking along the A92 as traffic is heavy and fast. The site is surrounded by a fence and has an information board beside the gate. This is a very accessable site, and well worth a visit.

This site is better known as Balgarthno, rather than Menzieshill. It was recently threatened by one of the chains of grocer’s shops, who wanted to build a carpark there with the circle in the middle.... Fortunately that threat appears to have receded now.

Added an indistinct picture of the hand print described by Scotty.

In the kirkyard itself is a stone, which looks to have been part of a larger carved stone, which is used as a form of offertory, with many coins on top.

The Kirk itself is well worth a look in, whether you’re religious or not. As you stand above the basin and footprint (sorry the photo’s pretty poor) there are some steps leading down into the Den, and on the left as you go is a well-defined carving of Celtic knotwork. Round the small promontory bearing the large cross is a small Celtic Trinity, about 9” diameter. Very dark under the trees the day I was there, so the photo’s been enhanced a bit and isn’t very clear. Well worth a visit though.

I was there today, lovely and peaceful. The uprooted tree still lies across part of the circle, caught in the branches of another. But at least the rhododendrons seem to have been killed off for good. One thing I have noticed here is that the birds (there are always a lot of pheasants around in the wood) do not seem to perch on the stones at all. They sit on the trees and branches, but not the stones – which are not streaked with the usual leavings either, so it doesn’t seem to be just when I’m watching them!