wideford

Traditionally Stanerandy was Earl Randolph’s Stones, though the modern reading is ‘stony ridge’/’ridge of stones’. The etymology of gervie is unknown but could be from either i) ge(y)r, an odd bit of land, angular and often left uncultivated, or ii) gør ‘giantess/witch/trow’. Interestingly, these can be combined by the Northern Isles folklore that the ‘White Folk’ (Madruis or Queeda Folk) had enclosures surrounded by a dyke of earth or stones where there was often in one corner a rough affair, the White Chammer [i.e. chamber] where they lived. Certainly there are too many cut-off triangles of land in Orkney for coincidence.

In 1996 “Countrywoman” wrote of a rumour that in a museum somewhere there is a gold ornament from either Howe-Harper or a hollowed mound nearby.

A report in “The Orcadian” March 26th 1992 mentions a preliminary survey had been done of this and the surrounding area by a volunteer group (including the recenty deceased Anne Brundle). Thanks are due to Tommy Russell of Boardhouse farm for leaving the possible henge-type circle intact. In another Orcadian article “Countrywoman” informs us that the ‘moat’ and ‘ramparts’ are best seen when the land is cultivated whilst under a covering of snow.

RCAHMS NMRS record no. HY31SW 34 is an area of disturbed ground 16x10 metres where there was once a large stone structure of unknown type. Roughly dressed stones are occasionally ploughed up on a slight rise and there are two such stones which are earthfast – I know of at least two other places where there are such stones directly outside of a building, and at least with one of those they must predate the structure.

my two minute inside video 12Mb downloadable from rapidshare.com/files/457215983/Unstan.P4050027.wmv

30s 3Mb video downloadable from rapidshare.com/files/457215914/Burrian_Corrigal.wmv as seen from Corrigall Farm Museum

my three minute video 17Mb downloadable from rapidshare.com/files/457221715/Isbister_Tomb.wmv

site open until Halloween, fiver charged. Follow signs for Banks of Orkney and Skerries Bistro

RCAHMS NMRS record no. HY21NE 29 is 62’ across with an internal diameter of 32’, Petrie calls it a broch with outworks (it has subsequently been robbed of stone for building dykes). A line of boulders crosses the neck of the promontory, and as there is no mention of Farrer coming across evidence of Viking use I imagine this is original [or possibly comes from turning it into a promontory fort as water levels rose]. Ignore the modern wall across the centre. Facing you, in the NE quadrant, there is an inner wall face fragment with a mural cell and a door entrance On the other side, in the SE quadrant, there is a 20’ wall arc standing two foot high and some eight feet from the broch tower.

Craw (as in Craw Stone) refers to an enclosure, other spellings crew/crue/creugh [and probably sometimes degraded into roo].

Geometric designs have been found on several stones round about including one sticking out of the ground near the fifth chamber. Source this week’s “The Orcadian”. Hopefully Sigurd will be updating Orkneyjar soon [he is now busy as news editor].

“The Orcadian” of 11/10/2001 says a geomagnetic survey that year found a concentric ditch survived around 70% of the base.