A hump backed boulder measuring approx 2 X 1.3 X 0.5 m high. At least 25 cup marks most of which are approx 7 cm in diameter, but one whopper of 14 cm diameter and 6 cm deep.
Martin
AKA Allt Kinardochy. An isolated boulder with 12 cup marks on the upper horizontal surface.
A cup marked stone that has been built into the SW gable end of a cottage. It has 10 cup marks. Apparently in 1967 there was a report of a small stone (1’6"X1’2”) lying near the back door of the cottage. However, a later OS report from 1974 was unable to loacte this- gone for good?
On a small square rock outcrop a single cup mark sits- measures approx 7 cm in diameter.
This site was re-discovered in 1994 by the Keltic Research Society. There was 28 single cup markings, three cup and ring markings and two cup markes with two ring markings each. Apparently this site was re-turfed and is probably now lost???
Five cup marks (one of which with a single ring approx 6” in diameter) on a stone approx 4 ft long, 3 ft wide by 2 ft high.
Ten cup marks on a large boulder were reported in 1886, but a later OS visit in 1974 reported that the boulder had split and five of the cups have disappeared. The boulder was originally approx 9 ft long, by 7 ft wide and 4 ft high.
Whilst sorting through pictures, fieldnotes etc for a sites in this area I realised that along the north and east sides of the Magickal Mountain, Schiehallion, there are at least nine sites of cup (and ring) markings. There are probably many more hidden away (see Garth Estate 3 for example) awaiting re-discovery. To the hills ;)
UPDATE! I was speaking to someone the other day who visited this site. Turns out it isn’t as obscure and difficult to reach as I thought. They have spent Midsummers night at Wallaces Cave and there’s apparently a very steep path from the cave heading right to the carvings. I’ll try this the next time- no more wading through rivers and scrambling up through mud ;)
The RCAHMS entry states that this site is ‘a most unusual and well-preserved series of carvings occur on the vertical faces of a shallow recess on an almost inaccessible rock ledge above the River Esk. Circles, spirals, triangles, an S-motif, a shield and other geometric marks and grooves are incised on the rock. These figures are quite unlike the more normal Bronze Age markings, and may be of a different date.’ The entry then goes on to state that an OS visit of 1954 discovered that it was not possible to examine the symbols closely due to being sited in a precipitous cliff. Then in 1975, the OS were unable to even locate the site.
‘Of greater age than any of the other memorials of the Parish and the Ward are the four Standing Stones of Liberton. One of them is in the old burial-ground at Niddrie-Marischal. Another stands close to the Old Dalkieth Road at Craigend, in what was once known as Kirklands, now a market-garden. The third, formerly built into a wall at Nether Liberton, has been re-erected on the King’s Knowe, behind the stables of The Inch. The fourth is in the grounds of Mortonhall.‘
From ‘The Fringes of Edinburgh’ by John Geddie (date unknown) pages 155-156.
These four stones are Niddrie, Ravenswood Avenue, Cat Stane at the Inch and the Bore Stane.
Around this stone there are 32 streets named in its honour.
The plaque reads;
‘The Buckstane. This marchstone, a relic of feudal times, occupied a site on the Roman road about 250 yards north from this spot. By tradition the name was derived from the stone having marked the place where the buckhounds were unleashed when the King of Scotland hunted in this region.
The plaque, which has now disappeared, used to read;
‘Catstane. After various vicissitudes this stone was erected here in 1919, near its original site.’ This was from an OS field report of 10 March 1954. They also noted that its original position could not be established
This stone originally (according to the RCAHMS) stood near the junction of Dalkeith and Liberton Roads at Nether Liberton Farm. It was moved at the beginning of the 19th century and lay in a field until 1891 when it was built into a wall on Gilmerton Road. It was then set up in its present position by the owner of Inch House.
The stone has been moved a few yards from its original position that was where the road now is. It was set in concrete and protected by an iron railing during the time of the construction of the housing scheme.
This stone is a slab of coarse red freestone almost 5 foot by 2 foot and nearly 1 foot wide. It’s badly weathered and none of the cup marks are thought to be artificial. There is no evidence that there was a muster on the Borough Muir in 1513. It’s been suggested, from its dimensions, that this is possibly the cover of a cist.
This site may possibly mark the Winter Solstice sunset as the sun sets in the Paps of Jura.
It is thought that the fortifications were built first (pre-Roman Iron Age), then the broch (around 100 to 140 CE) followed by the settlement under the pax Romana of about 140 to 180 CE. The broch and some of the smaller structures were excavated numerous times before 1879. All finds are now in the National Museum of Scotland. These consist of a stone whorl, piece of jet ring, an amber bead, fragment of translucent glass bracelet, bones, teeth and oyster shells.
The fort consists of a double rampart up to 4.5 metres in height in places and covering an oval area of around 135 metres by 75 metres. The overall diameter of the broch is around 27 metres which is very large for one of these sites.
This broch was excavated up to 1920 and some find including stone whorls, vitrified beads etc were made- all now in the National Museum of Scotland. Also found were a ring of post holes in the middle of the site that may have supported upper floors/roof.
A small amount of cremated bone was discovered next to one of the stones (as in Carse Farm I). Also similar is the fact that one of the now recumbent stones has four cups marks on its upper horizontal surface. The other recumbent stone has two cup marks near the top.
Next to the inner surface of the NE stone a pit was found filled with charcoal, earth and compacted cremated bone. Also found was a collared urn with incised geometric ornamentation. The SW stone was re-erected sometime in the 20th C.
The four stones form a rectangle measuring 3.9m and aligned WSW/ENE.
An OS report from 1980 suggest that this site may be a defended homestead which was adopted from a megalithic structure. This report also states that the evidence for a cairn is dubious.
This stone was only rediscovered in 1903 buried at a depth of 8 foot (!) a few feet from the main stem of the yew tree- it’s now set up about 25 foot from its original site and has nine cup marks on its upper surface.
Carse Farm II
Burl lists this site as a four-poster, but only one of the stones still stands, two other (now recumbent) stones lie in an arc. An OS report from 1975 states that this site is definitely the remains of a large stone circle.
This stone was re-erected in 1889 with the smaller stone fixed to the top at that date. About 1830 the stone is said to have been brought down from higher up the hill because visitors to it were damaging the surrounding crops. It has been suggested that the name ‘Final’s Grave’ should apply to the original site and ‘Fingal’s Stone’ to the stone in its present position.
The stone is reported to have been found on the hill above the old parish church at NT2452 6303. Apparently there was said to have been a second cup and ring marked stone at the old parish church, but this is now lost.
Eight figure map co-ordinates for the six outcrops at this complex site;
NS 8588 8840
NS 8851 8831
NS 8571 8797
NS 8552 8816
NS 8555 8811
NS 8597 8826
In the ‘Standing Stones of the Lothians’ by Adam McLean the Lochend Stone outlier is noted as being in the right position to act as an equinox sunrise marker.
In Adam McLeans ‘Standing Stones of the Lothians’ (1977) this site is described as being ‘in a remote region’. Not anymore as it’s only two mins out of Gorebridge which is slowly becoming indivisible from Edinburgh.
These well formed cup marks on a glacial pavement of dolerite were only ‘rediscovered’ in 1991.
This site was visited by the OS in 1975 and ‘no trace in an area of modern housing development’ was reported. However, it was still in situ in 1929- where is it now? A field visit (hopefully soon) will determine if it has truly disappeared. From the RCAHMS website;
‘This stone, which formerly stood at an unspecified spot E of Craigmillar (NT 28 71 ) was, in 1921, used as a gatepost as the entrance to a private churchyard c. 300 m WNW of Niddrie House. A block of conglomerate, it measures 1.0 m by 0.5 m at base and stood 1.5 m high with numerous, apparently natural, cup-marks scattered over its surface’.
From the RCAHMS (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland) web database;
On the cup marks, ‘On exposed rock on the summit of Dalmahoy Hill by the triangulation point (at NT13536692) are at least 5 cups; outcrops on the W side have natural ovaloid pit marks.‘
On the hill fort, ‘The remains of this fort occupy the twin eminence to that upon which the Kaimes Hill Fort stands. They represent two structural periods, the earlier of which is very difficult to interpret. Briefly, the craggy and uneven hill was enclosed by a system of stone walls which defended and area measuring 1200ft in length by a maximum of about 400 ft in width, bordered on the NW by the precipitous face of the hill. The second phase structure is an oval enclosure on the very summit of the hill, which measures 140ft by 85ft. This enclosure must occupy the same ground as did the central feature of the fort.
While there is no reason to suppose that the earlier works are not of pre-Roman Iron Age date, the period at which the later enclosure was built has not yet been established. There is reason to believe that it may be of post-Roman date as it belongs to a class of monuments which are almost always found to overlie pre-Roman forts and which have, in some cases, produced relics of early medieval (Dark Age) date.
A gold stud cap 1/5 inch in diameter was picked up in the Dalmahoy secondary enclosure, as were several fragments of moulds, all of which can be assigned to that late period. Only the excavation could answer the problem satisfactorily.
In the area centred NT13436673 are the remains of a hut circle, with an internal diameter of 19ft. There is an inner facing of stones set on edge. The entrance has been from the east.‘
From the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) web database;
On the cup and ring markings, ‘Situated 120m E of the hilltop, 3m S of the N edge of the ridge, but now all removed in road-making, were the tops of many basalt columns. On some of these interspersed by turf and sloping where carved 0-10 degrees were carved at least 16 cup and rings, 3 with two rings, the rest probably with one, all rings probably un-gapped, and some with a groove leading outwards from the cup or ring. Two small blocks were cut off before the site was destroyed and moved to the Scottish Development Department in Edinburgh and two more in the masons store in the Linlithgow Palace. One of the former bears 2 cups and two rings which are tangential, and one of the latter has a cup only. Greatest diameter is 25cm (6in) and carvings depths up to 3cm (1 in). Casts of parts are in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS Accession nos 50-56).‘
On the cairn, ‘(NT1313665) Excavation work was carried out on the summit of Kaimes Hill in advance of quarrying. A portion of low round cairn with massive revetment was examined. No small finds were made and the central area had been disturbed by a war time field work.‘
On the fort,’The fort on Kaimes Hill is being destroyed by quarrying which will ultimately remove the whole of the hill. It was first planned by Coles (1896) and later by the RCAHMS before quarrying started. The first excavations were carried out by Childe (1941) in 1940, and further excavations have taken place from 1964-72. In 1967, only the ramparts on the S and W sides of the hill were still preserved. Here, ground surveys and aerial photographs have revealed lines of ramparts, numbered 1-7 from those on the summit to the outermost.
The excavations revealed three main structural phases, starting with a univallate, timber-laced fort represented by rampart 1. The outer face of this rampart survived to a height of 5ft, but the inner face was marked only by a number of massive slabs, not set contiguously; the thickness was approximately 12ft; the core of the rampart was composed of a number of stones, some vitrified, and occupation debris including slag and animal bones. Traces of carbonised timbers were also noted at its base.
In phase 2, rampart 1 was replaced by a rubble-cored, stone faced rampart (no. 2) which in some areas overlay rampart 1 and in other areas lay immediately in front of it; the entrance through rampart 1 was remodelled. Ramparts 3 and 4, which survive in a fragmentary state, are similar in plan and are probably contemporary. A radio-carbon date of 365±90 BC was obtained from some twigs from the core of rampart 2. The final phase consist of the rubble and turf rampart 7 as its major structures and the gaps in the E end of ramparts 1-4 which continue the line of the entrances through 5-7 may also have been constructed at this time. The main object of these additional ramparts appears to have been to enclose the platform on the NE side of the hill on which at least 15 hut circles are visible, marked by stone footings and turf-covered banks.
South of rampart 7 and east of the entrance a series of stone slabs- chevaux de fries- projects from the turf and can be traced down the slope fro some 100ft. Among the huts excavated, one overlay rampart 1; an anomalous radio-carbon date of 1191±90 BC was obtained from a piece of carbonised wood found in its wall filling.
Many artefacts, now in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) have come from this site, either as stray finds or from the excavations. Among them are; microliths, cup and ring marked stones, various jet, flint and stone artefacts, Iron Age pottery, Roman pottery (of 3rd Century AD date) and a denarius of Severus.‘
NB- whole site quarried away by 1986.
‘Galabraes in June‘
In a green meadow
not far from a smoky coal-town
stand ancient stones
that do not assume,
but cast their peace
to the earth below in a rain of yellow pansies
and call us to them with their inevitability,
Saying
‘Friend, those who put us here
Knew you would come.‘
Shelia McLean
Tuesday 30/10/01-I was going to pay these cup and ring marked rocks a visit after nearby Castleton, but found the farm buildings deserted. I think this site is on the same rock outcrop as Castleton, but a field visit will be needed methinks. I didn’t want to go wandering across fields that had cattle in them as there were still some FMD notices on nearby farms (plus the weather wasn’t great and I didn’t have waterproof trousers!). Next time I’m in the area....
Tuesday 30/10/01-I happened to be in the nearby town of Airth on business when I happened to notice this site (and Darnbogue) on the OS map. Aha- cunning plan to combine work and play and as I finished early, set of in eager anticipation of rock art. However, on getting to the farm I found the place deserted, as were all the other farms in the vicinity! I had a look about and could see the rock outcrops where the magickal markings were, but there were also cattle and as I noticed some FMD signs on the way here thought I had better leave this one for another day... (plus is was pishing down and blowing a gale and freezing cold!)
This site isn’t marked on the 1:25000, but is mentioned by Burl. However it’s graded as a ‘5’ therefore identifying this site might be difficult.
Curiously this site isn’t mentioned by either Burl or MacLeans guide to stones in this area. It is, however, marked on the 1:50000 OS map and on the 1:25000 map looks like a semi-circular setting of stones, but only a visit post-FMD will tell.
Marked on the 1:25000 OS map as ‘Stones’. Not mentioned by Burl, but MacLean (1977) states that between Nine Stone Rig and Kingside Hill Circles there is a small pentagonal setting of stones only a few inches above ground level. Again, as with all Whiteadder sites, FMD prevents a visit for the time being.
Marked on the 1:25000 map. This circle is high up in the Lammermuir Hills and according to MacLean in his “Standing Stones of the Lothians” is made up of seven stones with a diameter of 27 foot, only about 8 inches above ground level. Burl classifies this as a Plain Ring.
Not marked on any of the OS maps-this site is only mentioned by Burl as ‘64.67.’ but according to MacLean (1977) the site is 300 yards east of the track near the summit of Spartleton Edge. He also states that it consists of seven stones with a diameter o f42 foot with the stones being just above ground height. Looks like this will be a difficult site to find as this area in now under forestry.
Marked on the 1:25000 ‘Explorer’ map as a ‘Cairn’. Burl states that there may be a centre stone here and indeed in MacLeans “Standing Stones of the Lothians” he states that this site consists of four stones only a few inches above the ground in a diameter of around 45 foot with a large flat stone in the centre.
Marked on the 1:25000 ‘Explorer’ map as ‘Chapel Stone’. Burl suggests this is the remains of a four poster, but it would be unusual to find one in these parts. MacLeans “Standing Stones of the Lothians” states that there are indeed four stones (all fallen) about 5 to 6 foot long. Another site closed due to FMD.
According to MacLeans “Standing Stones of the Lothians” there are only 8 stones remain, of which only 3 are upright, Again, the footpath leading here was closed due to FMD.
This site isn’t marked on the OS map. Burl has it as 617646, but I’ve found his co-ordinates to be off when looking for other sites. Curiously there are ‘Stones’ marked on the ‘Explorer’ map at 630646- are these one and the same? Once the FMD restrictions are lifted a site visit should sort this out, plus the good description from MacLeans “Standing Stones of the Lothians”. Burl has this classified as an embanked circle, whilst MacLean notes that the interior is slightly depressed.
This circle is marked on the OS map as an ‘Enclosure’. It may have a centre stone and internal cairn (according to Burl). The circle consists of 30 small stones but only with a maximum height of 16 inches (according to Adam MacLeans “Standing Stones of the Lothians”).
Marked on the 1:25000 map as ‘Stones’. This four stone alignment was investigated by Thom who measured the azimuths of 129.8 degrees (or approximately south-east) and 309.8 degrees (or approximately north-west). The results were -19.7 degrees in the former case indicating a possible lunar solstice and 23.5 degrees indicating the summer solstice sunset. Thom also measured the alignment to be 309.7 feet, but apparently only one of the stones is now visible- others may have been disturbed after the B6355 was widened.
Another site which remains out-of-bounds due to FMD. There are no notices on the path to this stone, but I checked with local farms and they would rather it was off limits just now as they have sheep grazing here.
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