nickbrand

Revisited today – on the northwest face, in the centre is what appears to be a cupmark – didn’t notice that last time I was here but that was a while ago. It’s not a recent addition – I think I mustn’t have been wearing my glasses last visit! I’ve appended a photograph which shows it reasonably clearly.

Take the Errol road running due east out of St Madoes, and keep an eye on the left. At the entrance to Pitcoag Farm there is a sign – Hawkstone Cottage. Park carefully and ask permission to view the stone at the cottage. This was readily granted when I called, and the gentleman also pointed out some carving on the east face of the stone – the word ‘Caledonia’ has been engraved at some point in the past, at least 70 years ago according to the cottage’s current owner.

Other than this there are no marks on the stone. This stone is connected with the Hays of Errol, and the Falcon Stone near Knapp.

This is a beautiful place, and it was a pleasant sunny afternoon in November when the Megaraks visited. Sadly, there was evidence that some idiot had lit a small fire in the centre of the stones. Fools are everywhere, and unfortunately even remote spots like this suffer from them. However, we tidied up a bit, and the area remains a nice place to visit, as the photographs show.

I visited these en route to the Sherrifmuir Inn, for the annual march to commemorate the Battle of Sherrifmuir. These stones are also referred to as the Wallace Stones. Situated in Stirlingshire close by the site of the Battle of Sherrifmuir on 13th November 1715 (the Jacobite Rising), they are also traditionally held to be where William Wallace and Andrew de Moray rallied their troops prior to the Battle of Stirling Bridge (1296). Marked as 5 stones by the OS, I can only find 4 of them! They are aligned on a SW-NE axis, and about 100m apart. The third stone in the sequence heading SW is virtually buried, and the fourth is actually two stones very close together. There are what appear to be cupmarks on the inner face of the westerly stone of this pair.

I visited yesterday, a fine bright clear November afternoon. Easy access, there’s a layby right beside the site, though the barbed wire fence is a bit awkward! An interesting little place.