BigSweetie

This seems to be a high round cairn with a long barrow protruding from it, according to the professional opinion (thanks Irene!). It sits in a field by the farm of Kilmorich, quite near to an old well, but isn’t marked on any maps, or noted anywhere that I’ve seen.

I’d spotted this from the road a couple of years ago, and wondered about it ever since. It certainly looked suspicious from a distance, but whenever I’ve passed since, a combination of rain, foot-deep mud and cows have prevented further exploration. It’s not marked on any of the current (or the 1867) OS maps, and I’ve not seen a reference to it anywhere.

I finally got in in September – there are three stones on the corners of a rectangle. The place where the fourth should be appears to have suffered soil erosion, so the stone has maybe toppled down the hill. There are a few likely candidates in the vicinity of what is definitely a ruined four-poster.

The stones stand on a small mound on top of a big spur of land, which looks like it might have been accentuated artificially, although I think it’s too big to be entirely man-made.

It reminds me of the “igloo” at Kilmorich on a larger scale, but only in shape – the majority of this one is almost certainly natural.

There are 2 larger stones, and one smaller. The 2 large ones are aligned N-S, while the smaller one is aligned with one of the larger ones E-W. The size of the rectangle is approximately 3m N-S by 1.5m E-W

This barrow, topped with tall thin conifers, is very visible from the road. The barrow was excavated in 1964, and found to be the final stage in a series of monuments. At its heart were four cremations (dated to c.2860 BCE) in a rectangular stone enclosure, and two ramped stone or wooden post holes. The cremations and holes were inside a penannular ring-cairn, over which the turf and stone barrow were built. On top of the barrow is a standing stone, under which a fifth cremation was found (dated to c.2270 BCE).

The perimeter of the barrow was originally bounded by a dry-stone kerb, but this has now been confused by ploughing and field clearance. On the south side of the barrow is a large square recumbent stone which isn’t mentioned in the CANMORE report, and so may also be field clearance.

I tried again to locate this circle today, and once again failed – perhaps! There’s a stone standing in the centre of Kenmore golf course which looks suspiciously like one of the stones drawn by Fred Coles in 1910, and it’s in the right general area to fit his description. The golfers I spoke to didn’t know anything about the stone, and the clubhouse was shut, so I’m planning to write to the owners and ask if the stone has always been there, and if anyone knows anything about it.

This is a cracking wee stone which sits close to the old railway embankment, at the bottom of a field on the haugh of Grandtully. The stone is 1.4m tall, and approximately 1.0m wide and 0.5m thick at the base, rising to a point. It has thick veins of sparkly white quartz running through it.

A standing stone used to stand in front of the farmhouse at Kinaldie (reported in 1890). It was 3 feet 3 ins tall, 2 feet 10 ins wide and 1 foot thick, and “may at some time have been one of a circle”.

According to the OS Name Book of 1858, local residents said there used to be a stone circle here around a central stone, possibly cup-marked. Nothing now remains in situ, but there are apparently about a dozen large boulders in a ditch running parallel to the fence, to the SE of the grid ref.

A standing stone used to stand near here, but it was buried close to its original position in the 1930s. The grid reference given above is where it is now buried. In 2002, archaeologists working on behalf of Historic Scotland excavated and recorded it, then re-buried it. Coles reported in 1911 that the stone was carved with a “’crescent symbol’ of axe-like shape”, but no trace was found of this in 2002. It may be that he was confusing this stone to the nearby King’s Stone (still above ground) also at Denmarkfield, which has an axe-shaped carving on it.

As anyone who’s familiar with the Glen Lyon road through Coille Dhubh will know, there are a lot of lumps of rock beside the road. One of them may well be the “tall upright Clach Taghairm nan Cat” described by Archie McKerracher, but I couldn’t be sure. I will try to find out his source for the story, and see if the present road was always the route into Glen Lyon, and then return for another look.

I tried (and failed!) to find these stones today. My mistake was to only read the CANMORE entry, and not download the PSAS report by Fred Coles. CANMORE only quotes a footnote by Coles in which he describes information given to him about four “’great stones’ close to Comrie Bridge” – he dismisses these as just boulders. But it wasn’t these that he was describing as a circle of 5 stones – the circle is apparently a mile and a furlong south of Comrie Castle (which is next to Comrie Bridge). So I was looking in the wrong area today (as presumably were the RCAHMS, given the bit they quote), but I shall return with the PSAS description soon and see what I can find.

George Currie and I mapped out this circle with a tape measure and compass the other week, and I’ve drawn a plan for it. As you can see from my plan above, this is a much disturbed site, but when you are standing there the circles are much more obvious. There appears to be a circle of diameter approx. 25m which is the clearest, but there may also be the remains of a smaller one around the 14 or 15m mark inside it. We also saw what might possibly be the remains of two outer rings as well. We also spotted what looks very suspiciously like a pair of cairns that have been flattened by forestry machinery.

Looking at the plan, you can see that stones A, B, C and G are all the same distance from the central stone, and are equally spaced out 30 degrees from each other (G is 60 degrees from C, but it looks like E has been shifted from its original position halfway between G and C) which would suggest that they are close to their original positions in an original circle of 12 stones. However, there is a definite lack of stones to the E. Just over a metre from the central cup-marked stone is another large stone, and this is exactly due E – could there be some significance to this? Who knows? (I don’t!)

The stone circle at Machuim is in quite a ruinous state, but nonetheless has an impressive feel to it. With a look more akin to the circles of Aberdeenshire than Perthshire, it is made up of several large stones crowning a round mound protruding from a long natural ridge across the field. It has previously been listed wrongly by writers as Machulm or Machuinn.

Only four stones remain standing, while there are a further three that look as though they once stood. The earth mound on which they stand is approximately 10.0m in diameter, and on its SE side reaches a height of 1.0m above the field surface. Some field clearance material has been placed within the circle, but there is also a circle of kerb stones around the base of the mound.

Although the condition of the circle is quite sad, it enjoys a position on the lower slopes of Ben Lawers, which rises impressively behind it, affording good views across Loch Tay to the hills on the other side.

This stone, to the SE of Woodend Cottage, stands just back from the main road on a slight bank. Although it is in amongst trees and bushes, it is easy to spot, but wasn’t always so. Coles visited here in 1908 and couldn’t find the stone, suggesting perhaps that the undergrowth was more overgrown back then.

Irregular in shape but with a flat N side, it has a triangular feel to it, although not as much as it’s near neighbour the Croft House stone. These two stones should perhaps be more properly thought of as a pair of stones rather than two individual ones. They are aligned NW-SE at a distance of approximately 400m from each other. As with other pairs of stones in Perthshire, this stone has a flat side, while the Croft House stone is a more rounded shape.

The stone leans to the N, while its top appears to point W to the summit of Ben Vrackie, visible rising over the horizon.

This stone, across the road from the Tulloch B&B, stands on a grassy bank on the edge of a plantation, close to the main road.

Roughly triangular at the base, it rises to a rounded point at the top. One of the points of this triangle appears to point towards the summit of Ben Vrackie in the distance to the W.

The Croft House stone should perhaps be more properly thought of as one of a pair of stones with it’s near neighbour Enochdhu. They are aligned NW-SE at a distance of approximately 400m from one other. As with other pairs of stones in Perthshire, this stone has a rounded shape to it, while the Enochdhu stone has an almost slab-like flat side.

This cup-marked stone lies on top of a cairn in a field full of interesting things – nearby is a cup-marked stone, a long cairn, a medieval moated site (once thought to be a Roman camp) and a pair of standing stones.

The cairn was excavated in 1884, and found to consist of a pile of small stones overlaid with earth to a diameter of around 9m. Close to the base of the cairn, and S of the centre, fragments of human bone were found underneath two small flagstones. The cairn has a flat top to it, which is 5.50m in diameter, and rises to a height of 0.75m. Around the central cairn is a ditch which varies in width from 2.75m to 4.20m, and is 0.70m deep. Around this is a low bank 0.90m wide.

The stone lies on the cairn’s flat top, but it is believed that it once stood upright here. On it’s W side are 9 large cup-marks, while there is a further single cup-mark on it’s N end. It has been mistakenly reported that in 1838, this stone was actually close to the two Bridge of Lyon stones. However it appears that this is as a result of some confusion, as the New Statistical Account actually describes the Bridge of Lyon stones as “two obelisks, the one about 6 feet high: the other lying on the ground, having been undermined some fifty or eighty years ago”.

Clach a’ Phlaigh, or the Plague Stone, stands on top of Carn na Marbh, and is said to commemorate the plague victims who were buried here in the 14th century. A tablet on the stone is inscribed with the words:

“Here lie the victims of the Great Plague of the 14th Century, taken here on a sledge drawn by a white horse led by an old woman”.

However, just as there is a belief that the mound is a barrow which was re-used, Clach a’Phlaigh may well be a genuine standing stone. If this is the case, there is another similar site nearby – the Bridge of Lyon cairn – which is also made up of a mound topped with a standing stone.

This pair of stones are just one part of an interesting area on the banks of the River Lyon. Close by is a cup-marked stone, a long cairn, a medieval moated site (once thought to be a Roman camp) and a round cairn topped with a cup-marked standing stone.

Only one stone now stands, while 5m to the NE the second is partly buried, with only a metre of it visible. In 1838, the cup-marked stone which now lies on top of the nearby Lyon Bridge round cairn (supposedly Pontius Pilate’s grave!) was actually close to these two stones, having apparently fallen at the end of the 18th century. This has led to suggestions this might be the remains of a four-poster.

However, the same cup-marked stone is supposed to have stood upright on the cairn on which it now lies, and the New Statistical Account actually says “two obelisks, the one about 6 feet high: the other lying on the ground, having been undermined some fifty or eighty years ago”. This makes me think that perhaps the half-buried stone might be cup-marked on one of its buried faces, and that it was confused with the stone on the cairn which did once stand there.

Just inside the gateway to Taymouth Castle, on a (natural) raised piece of ground beside the driveway, are the two Newhall Bridge standing stones. Both stones have been worked, with their inner faces having been smoothed down.

Seperated by a distance of 16m, they are aligned NW-SE, which would seem to discount the theory that they might once have formed part of a circle. As with other Perthshire “two-posters”, one stone (the NW) is slab-like, while the other (the SE) is more square at the base.

This crannog is in Acharn Bay, just W of Acharn village, and measures 42m from NE to SW, and up to 26m across. A possible landing point has been identified on the SW end. Timbers on the loch-bed to the N of the crannog may be associated.

The Cuigeal-Mairi crannog is now submerged, except at times of low water, and as such is marked with a pole. Made of stones, it measures 30m in diameter, and is due W (on the opposite shore) from the Crannog Centre, and due N from Acharn.

This is a stone-built crannog close to the SW shore of Loch Freuchie, not far from Glenquaich Lodge. It rises to a height of 1.8m out of the water, and measures 33m E to W by 17m across. It has been planted with conifers.

Eliean nam Faoileag is a crannog made entirely of stones, built on a sand bank base. It measures 17m in length from N to S, and 10m across, although it used to be much bigger – in the last 30 years the level of Loch Rannoch has been raised about 2m. The sand bank curves round from the crannog and connects to the S shore of the loch, and before the loch level rose, was about 1.2m under the surface.

At some point in the past there was supposed to have been a small prison on the crannog, belonging to the Robertsons of Struan. The present tower is said to be a facsimile of the prison, built by a Baron Granbley in the 19th century.

This impressively large stone stands 90m to the NW of the cairn circle variously known as Sma’ Glen or Giant’s Grave. The stone itself seems to be named the Giant’s Grave, but on the 1867 OS map it is called Clach Ossian. What is now called Clach Ossian is a couple of kilometres further up the glen, however, there appears to have been some confusion regarding these names over the years. Clach Ossian, Giant’s Grave and Soldier’s Grave all seem to have been used by different writers and historians for different sites, and seem almost interchangeable. The names Clach Ossian and Giant’s Grave are supposed to relate to Ossian, while the name Soldier’s Grave is supposed to represent the grave of one of Wade’s road builders. Given the confusion writers seem to have had in the past identifying these sites correctly, who knows what the correct name for this stone is.

I saw this one on CANMORE when I was compiling my definitive list of Perthshire stones, and they had it down as a cup-marked rock with a possible stone circle:

rcahms.gov.uk/canmore/details_gis?inumlink=25168

Well there’s no possible about it, this is definitely a circle! The stone at the centre measures 1.7m x 2.0m across it’s top, and is between 0.7m and 0.9m high, depending which end you measure at. The upper surface is profusely decorated with many weathered cup-marks. CANMORE says at least 28, but I could only count 15 or 16 clearly.

Around this stone is a ring of 10 stones, with a circle diameter of about 18m (I was measuring with my feet, so it’s not exact!). These stones appear to be equally-spaced from each other at a distance of about 4m. There are a few other stones lying about which may or may not have formed part of the circle, but it’s difficult to tell exactly what’s what as there are trees growing all over the place (which is what you’d expect in a forestry plantation I suppose), and the stones have a considerable amount of moss and grass on them. Nevertheless, this site is still well worth a visit, as it has a good feel to it.

The stones of the Acharn Falls circle are arguably the best-positioned in Perthshire. Standing at a height of 378m above sea-level, the site commands breath-taking views across Loch Tay towards Ben Lawers and Schiehallion. Apparently formerly within a plantation, the stones now stand out in the open, and even a dry-stane dyke bisecting the circle doesn’t diminish it’s impressiveness.

A much disturbed site, of the original nine stones, four are still upright, while two others lie close to their original positions. Amongst debris from the dyke are what look like the broken-up remains of the missing three stones.

Excavation in 1924 revealed a shallow patch, around 0.60m square, of burnt earth, charcoal and calcined bones. Around this the soil was red in colour, which Burl suggests is where a pyre once burned.

In a field just to the E of the picturesque village of Fortingall, on the banks of the River Lyon, stand three groups of standing stones. Closest to the road are a group of four stones (NE) and a group of three stones (SW), while further into the field, closer to the river, is another group of three (S). All are water-worn, smooth, rounded boulders.

In 1970, the two settings closest to the road (NE & SW) were excavated by archaeologists from Leicester University including Aubrey Burl. It was found that both had been four-poster variants, each comprising of four large stones at the corners of a rectangle, with four smaller stones mid-way between the larger ones. In both cases, the missing five stones had been pushed over and buried deeply in prepared pits at some point in the nineteenth century. The date is known as one of the stones was found to have a Victorian beer bottle under it.

Excavation showed that the SW circle originally had a floor of tiny pebbles within it, and stones of quartz were found by the SSW stone. To the SW of the circle part of an Iron Age jet ring was found. At the centre of the NE circle, a burnt patch containing pieces of charcoal and cremated bone was found.

The S setting wasn’t subjected to a full excavation in 1970, but an exploratory excavation at the time revealed a stone hole 4.6m to the NW of the W stone, suggesting a circle of 14.6m in diameter. The three remaining stones stand in an almost straight line aligned SE-NW, but taking into account the stone hole, it would appear that this is the remains of an Aberdeenshire-style recumbent stone circle rather than a stone row or four-poster variant like it’s neighbours.

Shianbank NW is at NO 1555 2730

Shianbank SE is at NO 1556 2729

This standing stone stands to the north-west of the Monzie stone circle, linked by the castle drive which meanders in an S-shape between these ancient monuments. In 1936 the stone stood “in the middle of a causeway 6 yds wide, like a Roman road” but there is no visible evidence of this now. Also disappeared is a possible barrow immediately the to the south-east of the stone, which has presumably been ploughed away. The stone leans heavily to the north, away from Kate McNieven’s Craig which points towards the Witches’ Stone from the Knock of Crieff.

This stone measures 2.5m by 1.5m, and is a prostrate outlier of the Monzie circle. It was connected to the circle (3m away) by a rough cobbled causeway. On the stone’s upper surface are around 60 cup marks, some up to 40mm deep. Many of them have rings, some as many as 4, measuring up to 400mm in diameter. There is also a carved dumbell.

Variously described as a stone circle, cairn circle, kerb cairn and kerb circle, this circle consists of ten stones, although legend has it that it’s impossible to count all of them. A short distance to the south-west is a large prostrate outlier, profusely decorated with cup-marks, cup-and-ring-markings and a dumbell. This stone was found to be connected to the circle by a causeway (3.4m long by 1.0m wide) of stone cobbles.

The south-east stone in the circle also features cup-marks, cup-and-ring-markings and dumbells. There is a gap in the circle at the south-east which suggests there may have been as many as 15 stones originally. At the west-south-west, the three largest stones are arranged close together.

Excavation in 1938 revealed much about the centre of the circle. Evidence of extensive burning by a hazelwood fire was found, and in an upper layer possible Early Iron Age pottery was uncovered. Further down, sited “eccentrically” near the centre of the circle, was a crude cist containing the cremated remains of an adult and a six year old child and fragments of quartz. Quartz was also found scattered around the stones.

The best time of year to visit would probably be autumn or winter, as the area around the circle is left thick with nettles and weeds during the summer months.

There is no longer anything to see at the original site of the Moneydie stone circle. Now a cultivated field, the last standing stone was removed by the farmer around 1960, and lies on the verge by the side of the road. When Coles visited in 1910, there were 5 stones on the site, all but one of which had fallen, suggesting a circle of diameter c27m.

The RCAHMS only list one stone (the one still standing on Coles’ visit) as definitely having come from the circle. However, I believe that the other 4 stones can still be seen, and perhaps another one. Close by the listed stone is another of very similar size and shape. Across the road from these two is a third, again sharing the same attributes, on the edge of a burn.

Retracing your steps towards the main road, there are 3 further stones under the trees. The first you come to is on it’s own, once again the same distinctive triangular shape, and has an amazing pattern running through it, looking almost like the rings of a tree. A bit further on are two stones together – one of the same shape as the others, the other longer and thinner rather than wide and triangular (see photos above).

Although this would appear to be the only stone circle in Moneydie parish for which there are physical remains (presuming that the stones at Cramflat and Gellybank never formed circles), several once existed (see folklore below).

The Little Findowie standing stone is part of a much-disturbed site. Standing on a cultivated river terrace above the River Braan, it protrudes from a pile of other stones, including some filed clearance, arranged in a line E-W. A few metres to the S is another pile of stones aligned the same way. The two lines converge slightly to the E. Some of the stones in the N line are buried flush with the ground. Given this alignment, and the translation of name, Stones of Worship, it is easy to see why this was seen as the possible remains of a chapel. However, the stones are so irregular in shape that they obviously didn’t come from a building.

It has been suggested that the stones could be the remains of a circle, with only one remaining standing. Certainly there are several other stones of a similar size and shape in the piles, and this would appear to be a more likely origin than the chapel theory. But if a circle had been destroyed at a time of cultivation, would the remains have been arranged in two parallel piles pointing E-W? Interestingly, considering the E-W alignment, Meikle Findowie stone circle is 1.5km due E of Little Findowie, and to the W is a notch in the hills created at Glen Fender.

It is for this reason that I believe the stones at Little Findowie are the remains of two stone rows, related in some way to the circle at Meikle Findowie, and perhaps aligned with the setting sun in Glen Fender.

This circle of six stones is situated in the grounds of a nursery at a dead-end on part of the old A9, which runs parallel to the new A9. Overgrown with gorse and brambles, the circle was re-discovered by workmen clearing the ground for a garden in 1855, as recorded in the Building Chronicle:

‘A small Druidical circle was discovered a few days ago at Tynrich, Perthshire close upon the highway....about eighteen feet in diameter, and quite entire, each of its huge stones standing erect and in its proper place; ....while digging and levelling the interior, four huge urns, about two feet in height and one foot in diameter at the mouth, were exhumed, quite full of calcined bones, besides three or four stone coffins, formed of thin, unshapen slabs, and likewise containing the mortal remains of the ancient Caledonians of a pre-historic period. The urns were of very coarse manufacture, and in their removal they were broken to pieces.‘

The soil at the centre was stained a darker colour than the surrounding earth, and charcoal and burnt bone material were found. Stamping your feet at one side of the centre of the circle causes the ground to visibly move further across it, and makes a dull thud, as if there are hollows under the ground – possibly where urns or cists have been removed.

The circle is in the grounds of Tynreich Nursery, the owner of which is very friendly, and happy for people to view the circle. But please only visit when the nursery is open:

Monday to Friday

9:30am to 1:30pm and 5:30pm to 9:00pm

Saturday and Sunday

9:30am to 1:30pm

This pair of stones sit on a terrace overlooking the Tay’s flood plain as it sweeps round from Dunkeld and Birnam. Surrounded by ferns, just back from the road, they are sandwiched between the A984 main road and a steeply-sloped spur of Newtyle Hill. Approximately 3m apart, the NW stone is 2.1m tall, and the SE stone half a metre shorter at 1.6m. Coles (1908) suggested that they may be the remains of a circle. Due to their situation at the foot of the slope, the circle would have to have been where the road now runs, although I think this is unlikely. Even more unlikely is Marshall’s (1880) suggestion that they mark the graves of two Danish warriors killed during the invasion of Dunkeld.

Nearby, on Newtyle Hill itself, an Early Bronze Age flat axe was found in 1915. It is now in the museum at Blair Castle.

This single standing stone sits on a slight mound towards the NW corner of a field off the A926. Standing 1.6m tall, it swells slightly around its middle, where it is wider than at it’s base or top. Around its base is piled field clearance, and it has obviously been scraped by farm machinery at some point. Although a largely unremarkable stone, it’s a nice site, with a good view to the south, over Strathmore, towards the King’s Seat and the distant Sidlaws.

This stone circle has been mostly destroyed by farming over the years. Burl believes it to be another four-poster like its close neighbour Carse Farm 1, 200m to the N. However, there is evidence to suggest that this is in fact the remains of a much larger circle. Above ground there is little to see, with just one stone still standing. There are supposed to be two further large stones (as marked on the OS map) lying in an arc to the SW, recumbent and mostly buried, 9.0m and 18.0m away from the standing stone. When we visited, there was livestock in the field, but from the edge of the field, there was no sign of the recumbent stones, so they may now be completely buried. Both have cup-marks.

As with Carse Farm 1, an excavation took place in 1964. Three 12-foot squares were opened up in a line running E-W from the standing stone, and revealing the socket of a missing stone to the W of the upright stone. Also found were some cremated bone (again, as at Carse Farm 1), and a a river pebble that may once have been part of a bow-drill.

This four-poster circle is close to the edge of a field on the S side of the B846 Aberfeldy-Tummel Bridge road. When it was visited in 1907 by Coles, only 3 of the stones were standing, with the SW stone lying between the two N stones. An excavation in 1964 found the hole for the prostrate stone, and it was re-erected. Also discovered, by the NE stone, was a pit containing cremated bone, charcoal and blackened earth, and a collared urn with “incised geometric ornamentation.”

The NE stone seems to have been particularly significant. Not only is there the burial associated with it, but on its top surface are 17 cup marks (the SE stone has 3 similarly-positioned cup marks, but these are more difficult to make out). The NE stone is also aligned NE-SW with the ancient church at Dull about half a kilometre across the road. On this line, in the field to the SW of Dull church, is a cup-marked rock.

The cup marks are also on the same NE-SW axis, with the cup-marks graded in size, with the largest to the NE (pointing to the church) and the smallest to the SW (pointing to the stone circle). With a little imagination (and the help of an OS map) this line can be extended to the summit of Weem Hill to the NE, and the mouth of the River Tay as it flows out of Loch Tay to the SW.

This site would be easy to miss if it were not marked on the OS map as a Tumulus. It originally comprised of a barrow surrounded by a stone circle that may have been as much as 22.0m in diameter (according to the OS map of 1900). Over the years the barrow has been quarried away in places, so that it is now only 14.0m in diameter. Five stones are visible – two standing in their original positions, and a third incorporated into the wall of the field which may be in its original position. One other stone has fallen, and the fifth only just protrudes out of the ground. At the farmhouse to the N (NN 8236 4947) is a large rock with cup-marks which is thought not to be in it’s original position. Whether or not it ever formed a part of the circle is unclear.

Balhomais is a confused site, overgrown, with scattered stones. From the top of the barrow grow two pine trees, said to have been used by the Menzies family from nearby Castle Menzies as gallows.

Directions – From Perth, take the A93 across the River Tay, and head N for Blairgowrie (approximately 25.0km). The road passes Scone Palace, Guildtown, the Meikleour Hedge, and the Cleaven Dyke. Before Blairgowrie you’ll pass through the village of Carsie. Between Carsie and Blairgowrie is a cemetery on the right of the road. Approximately 250m further along the A93, take the B947 to the left (sign-posted Lethendy). Arblair circle is approximately 1.5km along this road you can’t miss it, as the road passes straight through it! The road is quite quiet, so parking on the grass verge isn’t a problem, but be warned that what little traffic there is tends to travel fast, so watch out if you’re taking photos in the middle of the road.

The East Cult stones stand proud on a high ridge above the River Tay that extends E from Dunkeld. Aligned E-W, the two huge standing stones are approximately 9.0m apart, while a similar distance to the E is a third prostrate stone, profusely decorated with cup-marks. In 1986 the RCAHMS counted some 130 cup-marks and a dumb-bell on the upper face, and a further 3 cup-marks on the E face. However, weathering has taken its toll since, and it’s difficult to make out so many today. Field clearance or possibly cairn material is scattered around the stones.

The prostrate stone may originally have stood upright, and if it did, Coles suggests that the stones may have been part of a circle with a diameter of 78’ (24m). But considering their E-W alignment, I believe the stones are unlikely to have ever formed part of a circle. However, in the Old Statistical Account, and repeated in the New, the site is described like this:

“About a mile and a half north-west from the church, in a very elevated situation, there is a small Druidical circle. Beside it are two large stones, deeply sunk in the ground; the top of the lowest is artificially formed into an inclined plane, facing the south, and contains a number of small cavities; which may have been used by the Druids in the performance of religious rites.”

This makes me think that perhaps the cairn mentioned by the RCAHMS as being 185m S of the standing stones (NO 0724 4198), and which was removed before 1865 for building material, could in fact have been the site of the “small Druidical circle.” If the Statistical Accounts are accurate, then one of the three stones now at East Cult may have been moved from its original position as part of the circle, and the remaining two been outliers for the circle to the S.

Dalginross sits in a small clearing, surrounded on three sides by trees and on one side by a quiet country road, beside the Muirend cemetery. The area is very peaceful, and the road quiet. Looking out from the circle, you are rewarded with magnificent views of the distant hills.

When Coles visited in 1911, two of the stones were standing, but now only one does, while the other three lie in approximately their original positions, encircling the stump of a tree at the circle’s centre. Standing back from the circle, it can quite clearly be seen that its stands on a slight mound, about 0.5m higher than the neighbouring flat ground. At least twice in the 19th century the site was the subject of amateur archaeological investigations, as the Rev. John Macpherson, minister of Comrie, described in 1896:

“There were three large slabs of stone Iying upon the ground, which apparently had been at some former period placed erect by some loving hands to mark the last resting-place of some departed friend or hero. By the aid of some of the Comrie masons the stones were placed in a standing position. Curious to know what lay beneath the surface, we dug up the earth in front of the largest slab, and came upon a stone cist placed north and south, 7 inches long, 1 foot inches broad, and 1 foot 3 inches deep. The only remains discovered was a thigh-bone, but whether it at one time formed a part of the leg of a Celt, a Roman, or a Saxon we could not tell. An old man who then lived in the village of Comrie told us that in his young days the same mound was dug up, when an urn filled with ashes was discovered.”

When the Clachan an Diridh stone circle was built, it would have had magnificent views to the NE across the River Tummel to Ben Vrackie and the Grampians beyond, and to the SW down the River Tay. It was these views that prompted the antiquarian Daniel Wilson to write in the mid-nineteenth century: “Amid this wild Highland landscape the huge standing stones, grey with the moss of ages, produce a grand and imposing effect; and from the idea of lofty height the distant mountains suggest, they convey a stronger impression of gigantic proportions than is produced even by the first sight of the giant monoliths of Salisbury Plain.”

Despite continual planting since the 1920s, the site is still magnificent. The stones stand at the centre of a large clearing, and while the views are no longer visible, the thickly-planted pines surrounding the circle, with the sun streaming through their branches, creates a magical atmosphere. The trees also contribute to the silence, even though the circle is only a couple of kilometres from the busy A9.

A four-poster circle, 3 of the stones are probably in their original positions, while the fourth is broken and has obviously been disturbed over the years. When Coles visited in 1908, he described three stones standing, and the fragments of the fourth scattered across the ground. The fourth stone, or a piece of it, has been re-erected at some time, as it now stands in it’s probable original position.

Local tradition has it that the stones were visited on the first day of May, when a procession was made around them in a deiseil (clockwise) direction. And in 1925, John Dixon wrote: “Another theory about the

“Clacnah an Diridh” is that the stones marked the scene of some periodical religious meeting or ceremonial of which nothing is now known.”

This circle is of the same type as its close neighbour Clach na Tiompan, but is in a better state of preservation (although still quite ruinous). Two stones remain standing, and a further two stoneholes have been identified. The stones protrude from cairn material, which spreads to a diameter of approximately 5.0m. The circle itself is nothing much to look at, but it’s location, between the steep sides of Glen Almond, is stunning.

At a quick glance, one standing stone and some cairn material is all that remains of the Clach na Tiompan stone circle. Considerable damage was apparently done to the neighbouring chambered cairn when the road (on either side of which the cairn and circle sit) was driven through Glen Almond in the 19th century, and it was probably at this time that most of the circle was destroyed.

The circle was originally a four-poster, enclosing a low cairn at the centre. Excavation in 1954 revealed the stump of a second stone, and the holes belonging to the remaining two. The cairn was found to be made up of boulders, amongst which were found more than one hundred quartz pebbles,. At the centre of the cairn there was evidence of burning, with pieces of wood and charcoal. The cairn material extends to a diameter of about 6.0m, spreading beyond the edge of the circle. One of the missing stones was found lying 5.0m to the S.

Above ground, this site appears to be a solitary standing stone, albeit an impressively large one. However, a combination of ploughing and excavation in the late 1960s and early 1970s revealed this to be the visible remains of an archaeologically interesting area. Two further stones lie buried to the E of the standing stone, at distances of 7.80m and 12.15m, aligned E-W. Close to the eastern boundary of the field, again buried, are three further stones arranged in an arc that would suggest a circle of around 9.0m in diameter, just to the S of the E-W alignment.

Around 1887, a cist was uncovered near the standing stone, and was found to contain a food vessel, which made its way to the museum at Blair Castle. Coles described it as being “found in a cist in the haugh near Tom-na-Croiche, which is the name of the ground at the standing stone.” In 1969, John McBeth, the farmer at Balnaguard, found a short cist while ploughing 12.0m to the NW of the stone, at the highest point of a slight rise. Upon excavation, the cist was found to have a partially-cobbled floor. Several finds, including an upturned beaker sitting on sand in one corner, are now in the National Museum. The cist was filled in, and the cover stone now lies at the edge of the field (NN 9455 5205).

In 1971, further excavations took place. The earth around the base of the standing stone was removed to a depth of 0.25m, revealing 7 cup-marks on the S face. Another cup-mark was found on the prostrate stone closest to the upright one. The three buried stones in an arc at the field boundary (NN 9468 5209) were found to be set amongst apparent cairn material of fist-sized smooth stones, covering an area of 6.10m by 3.65m. This was under a layer of 0.25m of plough soil, and was itself 0.3m deep, resting on the sandy subsoil of the field. Under the NE section of these stones the subsoil was found to have dark stains, and produced some cremated bone, carbonised wood, and a small rim sherd possibly from a food vessel. Further S from this area, a thin flat slab of 2.3m length was also found. No socket was found, so it is possible this may have been a cist cover.

The Witch’s Stone sits by the road to Meikle Obney farm, just behind the fence-line of a grassy field. It is shielded to the NW by a small hill about 50m away, and is on the edge of the Obney Hills which seperate the farmland of this area from Strathbraan. It is seperated to the NE from the Staredam standing stones by a mere 1.0km and the valley of a small burn. The Witch’s Stone stands 2.2m tall, and is very upright, with a pointed top. It measures 1.5m broad by 0.7m wide, with a basal circumference of 3.5m.

The origin of the stone’s name is unclear, although there is a legend that the stone was being carried in the lap of a witch as she flew over Meikle Obney, but she dropped it and it has remained there ever since.

This four-poster circle sat on a pronounced mound originally, but the mound was destroyed on the S side when the road was built, and has been ploughed away on the N side in the field. However, it’s profile can still be seen by looking from the road. Two stones sit on the mound, surrounded by brambles behind the hedge, while another stone sits isolated on an island of grass at the junction of Tullibardine Road and Easthill Road. The fourth stone is also thought to be on the island, covered entirely by the grass.

The two hedgerow stones both feature interesting carvings. The NW stone has 4 large gouges cut into it’s northern face, but the SE stone is much more interesting. On it’s southern face is carved a medium-sized left hand-print, pointing down the way. The hand is quite faded, but can be easily found by running a hand over the surface of the stone.

The stones on the island in the road have fared less well. When Hutchison visited in 1893, both were lying prostrate, the more northerly one (now standing) half-covered by turf, and the more southerly one completely covered. The more northerly stone has a distinctive girdle mark around it’s centre, and leans sharply to the E. The more southerly stone is presumably still buried in situ.

This pair of stones sit in the middle of a field, half way between the track to Muirheadstone farm on the left, and Staredam cottage on the right. They don’t appear ever to have formed part of a circle, being as they are orientated SW-NE, and about 5m apart. The NE stone is particularly interesting, as it has an inscribed cross on it, supposedly carved by a passing missionary.