Martin

Cuween Chambered Cairn (AKA The Fairy Knowe)
Sunday 11/8/96
Visited Cuween cairn today- a wee climb up a hill to the mound and Historic Scotland sign. There was a wooden box next to the mound- so I had a look inside- lo and behold!- a torch- very thoughtful! The entrance passage was quite small and was a hands and knees job in the mud, but the main chamber is large enough to stand in and has a very impressive roof on it. There are three pitch-black side chambers where the remains of eight humans and 24 dogs were placed. Actually for all the complete darkness of this tomb and it’s history it doesn’t really freak me out- there’s a certain calmness about the place.
PS- I totally agree with a23- this is one of the most atmospheric places on Orkney.

Tomb of the Eagles (AKA Isbister)
Thursday 15/8/96
Tomb of the Eagles was totally fabby- best £2 I think I have ever spent (well- Kat spent as she paid me in!). I actually got to handle a 5000 year old skull (along with many other archaeological artefacts)in my shaking hands- wowsers! After the ‘hands on’ museum (which is housed in the conservatory/extension part of the farm house) we went to the next part of the tour which was the burnt mound and here we met the manny who had actually excavated the tomb (along with his dog ‘Sky’!). Then to the tomb Émost of the tombs we visited on Orkney (and elsewhere) are crawled into on hands and knees- but not here- oh no- you get down on yer belly on a wee cart-like thing and zoom in on it’s shaky wheels! Once inside I had realised I’d gone and forgotten torches etc etc, but luckily there was a guy in there (who was the double of Jarvis Cocker as it happens!) and he gave us a shot of his for a look into the side chambers- of course one of them has a button to press to light it up to revealÉÉ

Dwarfie Stane, Hoy
Friday 16/8/96
We were up at 6:45am in our caravan at Durrsidale, near Evie, to get to the ferry terminal at Houtan for the 7:45am ferry- drove like a rally-driver-madman-possessed (which I’m not keen on!) to get there on time. It was a beautiful crossing on the ‘Hoy Head’. We got to Linksness and decided to drive past the Dwarfie Stane first, which was an extremely difficult thing to do, and go see the Old Man beforehand. The weather was okay til we got about half way up the island and then a blanket of fog came down and stayed down! The Old Man was fab and I would recommend it if on Hoy to see the Dwarfie Stane. The cliffs around it are amazingly high and not for the faint-hearted. Anyways- back to the car after our very wet outing and back down to try and find the Stane. It’s not the most obvious as most of the other large stanes/rocks/boulders that have fallen from Dwarfie Hamars all look very similar. However once in the car park there is a path straight (ish) to the right Stane. This is a really nice tomb cut from a solid piece of rock- it must have taken an age! I had my souterrain/tomb kit with me (ie- torch, candle lanterns, waterproof matches) but it’s not really needed for this one as the chambers are just big enough to sit in. I carefully lit some candle lanterns anyway to add to the atmosphere and spent a very quiet, peaceful and contemplative time inside. Hoy is a cracking island and has some beautifully named places on it- just have a look at the OS map- Candle of the Sale, Summer of Hoy, Burn of the White Horse, Geo of the Light.

Faskally Cottages
Wednesday 8/8/01 5:55pm
This ring is set in a well-tended garden next to some wee cottages (“Greengates”). I just got out of the car and was peering over the fence at the stones when the owner of the cottages appeared- a Mr. Ian Townsend- who stays at the end of Pitlochry as it happens!)- he asked if I was interested in the stone circle- indeed I was :). Mr. Townsned was a really nice guy who says it’s fascinating to have such a circle in is garden, but admitted there wasn’t as many visitors to the stones as there used to be which I thought was a bit of a shame. He’s just come back from his cottage at the very end of the row with a cracking picture of the site which he took (and for me to keep) which shows the circle in spring time with snowdrops and crocuses in the middle of it. We chatted about other Perthshire sites including Croftmoraig, Lundin etc.- he told me he had met Dr. Margaret Stewart- the excavator of Lundin (amongst others) who had visited Faskally before she died. He also has a copy of the 1908 excavation report from the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquities bound in brown card for visitors to the site to read whilst having a look at the stones. The report has a great opening paragraph-
“In a narrow strip of ground between the Highland Railway on the east and the great main road to the north on the west, is a garden, shielded from observation by a tall hedge on the roadside, and in it there are yet standing in situ the seven stones of this Circle. Never surely, was the pre-historic past brought so closely into contact with the steam power and motor traffic of the twentieth century. In addition to these more or less disturbing conditions, we are told that, during the most recent government survey, the men of the theodolite arrived at the conclusion that this little circle is really the centre of Scotland”.
There are six upright stones, well I use the term upright in the loosest possible sense of the word as one of the stones can only be about 20 to 30 cm tall! But the largest stone has a beautiful sloped top from west to east and has split into three huge chunks. Two other large stones with three small make up this circle of six, 21 foot in diameter, with the large stone to the north four foot outside the circle according to the 1908 survey. Was the north stone always the prominent one in this circle? Okay- so maybe this site doesn’t have the quiet atmosphere of the nearby Clachan-an-Diridh, but it is a charming place and well worth a visit- I’m sure Mr. Townsend would be very happy to speak to other interested folk about the circle in his garden. From here it was a glorious early August evenings drive back to the Kavan across the moors with a soundtrack of Ganger.

PS- Chris- this is definately a real site! (well- according to the excavation report etc). I found it
in Burls “Stone Circles of the British Isles” as ‘Faskally Cottages’.

Directions
Travelling through Pitlochry to the North on the A924, look out for the “Greengates” sign for cottages to let on the right hand side of the road.

Meall Nan Clachan (AKA Na Carraigean Edintian)
Sunday 12/8/01 3:15pm
It’s taken a trip of almost 4 hours to get here- 1 hour travelling from the Kavan at Bridge of Cally and another 3 hours walk from the car park at Allean. Saying all that we’ve got Harrydog who has been tracking deer through the forest and Aedan in his heavily-laden off-road buggy, plus we also stopped off for lunch! We’d tried before to get to this stone circle a few years back, but we set off a bit too late on a Winters afternoon and it was starting to get dark whilst we were still on the Allean forest trail so decided to leave it for another day. This is one of the best preserved of the Perthshire four-posters and is in a fantastic setting- I expected the circle to be set in trees, but these have been felled since the last OS survey leaving a great moorland top. There’s views over to Schiehallion and Farragon to the south and Ben Vrackie to the east with Beinn a Ghlo just hidden by a line of trees. The stones are four fairly large granite blocks which run in a perfect N/S E/W alignment. The southernmost stone has a beautiful spiralling quartz pattern with rose quartz veins. Up here there’s only the sound of very distant dogs barking, flies buzzing past (on the way up here we saw some monster dragonfly- we’ve seen smaller birds than those), and the occasional squeal of delight from five month old Aedan who is looking at a map of the area with Kat. Another cracking site that’s well worth the journey.
NB-see the folklore section- I never noticed the hut circle (not on Pathfinder map) or the avenue lined with stones- however, this was probably written before trees were planted here and could have all been lost in the cultivation process.

Directions
Travelling through Pitlochry to the North stay on the B8019, past a caravan site on the left hand side, then turning next left over the Garry Bridge (still on the B8019) towards Queens View and Tummel Bridge. On past the Queens View visitors centre and just beyond is a sign for Allean Forest walks etc on the right. Turn in here and start walking! I used a combination of maps- Pathfinder 294, a rather good 1:10 000 orienteering map I had bought a few years before from the Queens View visitors centre and the guide to Tay Forest Park (mebbe a bit overboard, but I’m dead sad and love a good map to myself :)). The easiest way to get to the stones (though mebbe not the most direct route) was to follow the red way markers to a junction in the forest track at 862605 (basically the furthest northeast of the waymarked trail). From here we followed the forest track round Meall na h-lolaine (this was built after the OS survey and is only marked on the orienteering map) and had cracking views on the north side of this hill. A pretty indistinct path leaves the main track at 841619 approx NWW across the moor to the circle. Whew!

Wolfhill (AKA Blairmuir Wood) Standing Stones
Saturday 11/8/01
These standing stones are actually signed off the farm road past Loanhead as a Stone Circle. I happened to ask permission at Blackfaulds to visit Blackfaulds Stone Circle and the very helpful farmer pointed out many other sites of the Pathfinder to me- including this one. It’s a wild and dreich and windy day up here that adds to the atmosphere in this small strip of woods. There are two main stones, both large slabs one of which is quartz-veined. Immediately west there is a pile of small stones, but I suspect that these have been removed from the surrounding fields. The stones run in an approximate NW/SE alignment and are marked on the OS map as “Standing Stones”- but very nice “Stone Circle” sign nonetheless. There are many other examples of paired standing stones in Perthshire similar to these which makes me doubt this was ever a circle (plus the fact that these are pretty big blocks and would doubt someone to go to any effort to remove others from an uncultivated wood).

Directions
North of Perth on the A93 towards Blairgowrie. Just before the 30 mph signs for Guildtown there is an un-signposted road off to the right- drive up here and keep heading straight towards Blackfaulds farm on the metalled road. There is a new farm track before the farm buildings not marked on Pathfinder 337. Follow this up past Loanhead farm and the stones are in the woods on the left of the track in the strip of trees. Ask directions (and permission) at the Blackfaulds or Loanhead farms.

Saturday 11/8/01.
In a birch woods off the track to Blackfaulds Farm there is a squat circle of approximately 10 stones, but it’s difficult to tell due to the fact that all are covered in a thick blanket of moss. This also makes it impossible to see the questioned cupmarks mentioned by Burl. I, of course, have left the car without bothering to put on my hiking boots and gaiters and now, consequently, have soaked feet- ah well- worth it I s’pose. This is a very calming wood and a long forgotten site by the looks of things-it’s so overgrown but I can see that at least one of the large stones has split into 3 pieces. According to Burl, there are two sites here- Blackfaulds A and B, but I’ve had a scout in the surrounding woods and this has proved fruitless- however, both A and B are on the same co-ordinates. I climb into a tree to try and get a decent photo of the circle- the tree’s soaking so I’m sliding all over the place and it doeasn;t help that it’s windy so the tree is also swaying (as it turns out re-writing this afterwards the picture I took is all over the place!). Back at the car I find my pockets full of twigs...

Directions
North of Perth on the A93 towards Blairgowrie. Just before the 30 mph signs for Guildtown there is an unsignposted road off to the right- drive up here and keep heading straight towards Blackfaulds farm on the metalled farm road. The circle is in the woods on the right just opposite an entrance to a field- best to ask at the farm for permission- the man (Guy I think his name was) was very friendly, helpful and had a great knowledge of local stones.

Wednesday 15/8/01, 1:40pm.

Wow- another magickal site! I’ve just done a very orienteering style romp through Druids Seat woods to get here and am now pouring with sweat as it’s very humid in the trees. A 10 stone ring in a rather great and very atmospheric forest. The largest stone to the SW is amazing- the outer face on this approximately 1m high block is very smooth whilst the inner face has a great stone wave! Someone has also been drawing spirals on the bottom of it- I also see in the middle of the circle is a Blair Witch-type setting of stone, twigs, pine cones and feathers. This circle has a real amazing atmosphere and I lit up when I spied it through the trees. There are six trees in the middle of the stones and they almost feel part of the circle as they draw your gaze up to the open sky above. I’ve just noticed that the forest floor is covered in mushrooms. I feel very very strange here...

Directions
North of Perth on the A93 towards Blairgowrie. Just before the 30 mph signs for Guildtown there is an unsignposted road off to the right- opposite this is a farm road signposted to Loanfolds. Follow this into the woods and look out for a very indistinct path second on the left. The stones are almost at the end of this track- best to use the Pathfinder 337 map.

Wednesday 15/8/01, 1pm.
This is mebbe only the second or third time I’ve actually stopped in this circle, but have driven through it umpteen times on my way west from Blairgowrie. I always expect, when driving through this circle, to suddenly feel the car lifting of the ground as we travel supernautically through here! Another ring in a very curious location (see also Faskally). Six large stones make up this ring and according to Piggot in “Scotland Before History” thestones on the north side of the road have been moved (undoubtedly to make way fro the road). Was the B947 to Dunkeld always a trackway through this circle that has been built upon over the centuries? A dangerous circle to explore due to the traffic speeding to and from Blairgowrie, but an amazing setting nonetheless.

8th August 2000-Clachan an Diridh, Pitlochry
The woods are ALIVE! It’s fly-city up here and I’ve gone and forgotten the insect repellent! There are so many butterflies out as well. It’s been like walking through a tropical forest to get here as its so humid and nothing moves. Thankfully its now starting to rain and the flies are starting to disappear. The stones look really different in the summer- wow- the rain has just stopped, the flies have gone and the amazing silence of this site is once more. The New Year offerings have all gone and it’s lush green grass all around. I’m having to finish this back in the van cos although this is “Rite-in-the-Rain” paper it’s not a write in the rain pen I have and the weather got the better of it! I never seem to spend enough time at the Clachan an Diridh and today the insects got the better of us. Swarms of flies, ticks, massive dragonflies the size of small planes were all out and I managed to get bitten by both midgies and clegs. Harrydog and Kat were both being devoured by our exoskeletal friends so we had to beat a hasty retreat- oh well- it was great to be back there even if for a flying visit!

2nd January 2000-Clachan an Diridh, Pitlochry
These are just the most quiet peaceful woods, the silence is amazing up here. Kat and Harrydog have gone further along the old Strathtay route through the forest. Unfortunately the path up here is now waymarked and leafleted so we have passed hordes of people, but luckily the two crowds of about a dozen folk each have turned off before the stones. The path up to this place is still like a river- I remember the first time we came up here about 5 years ago and it was snowing really hard. The woods were even more silent then as the falling snow muffled out all sounds and I remember coming up to the clearing off the main track and walking round the stones in huge snowfall. I’m sitting near the edge of the circular clearing with the stones in front of me. The Clachan an Diridh are now three uprights- one almost a completely square slab with the oppostie stone being similar but having a huge quarter notch out of the top. The third stone is smaller and leans slightly. This forest was planted around the 1920’s I think and is a dense forestry commission job so any sightings with the notch in the large stone are now lost in the trees. I’m now in the middle of the stones, listening. All I can hear is the water from a distant hill burn and the silence of this site- too many people from the main path in here and the silent signal is lost in human static. It looks like there has been some Hogmanay revellry or similar as there is a small fire scorch between the two largest stones and in the ashes I can make out pound coins and 50 pences! I thought of clearing it out of the stones, but decide to leave other folks luck and Nature to clear it away with time.

16th August 2000 Park Neuk nr. Blairgowrie
(Re-written from rain-sodden notes!)
Sitting in the car just now under a dark grey sky listening to the rain battering overhead. This is only the second time I’ve visited these stones but was inspired back here after reading the entry in the MA, where Julian also wrote notes in the rain exactly 6 years ago to the day.....
Time to don the waterproofs and venture to the stones nestled under the trees up here in this desolate moorland. I’m in the trees by the first set of all flat stones- my notes are starting to smudge- thought I’d try another pen today but its as rain proof as bog roll! I’ll just have to try and shelter my notebook under my hood. There are 10 large stones altogether forming an avenue of two sets of three stones pointing approx NW and two other stones pointing approx NNW. Out from the trees and into the rain I go.... On the way to the other stones I’m surrounded by swallows swooping over the moor catching some lunch. This is certainly a magikal place with a magnificient view of the surrounding high moorland- the wet and grey afternoon certainly add to the atmosphere of the place. This is a great wee circle (possibly a Tayside 4-poster?)- I can certainly only see 4 stones- 3 of which now remain upright. What a fantastic setting this is. My previous page of notes has now become a magic ink picture and has actually formed a smiley face!!! Methinks I’ll have to re-write this back at the car!

August 1998, Dunadd, Argyll.
We finally met its imposing presence in August ‘98. Driving down the A816 from our campsite to the North of the megalithic wonderland of Kilmartin, the country suddenly opens up across the Moine Mhor with the River Add twisting and turning its way through the great plain of peat and marsh. The road passes Dunadd, but we are Southbound just now and decide to visit the site later in the evening when the car-loads have all emptied away. The name of Dunadd has haunted me for years, I had read much about this sacred hill of the Picts and images of the boar, foot-print and Ogham script have stayed in my minds eye.
Early on an August evening and I’m finally driving to the base of Dunadd and once in the car park I’m doing my best not to just run to the top! I start to walk up the hill deliberately slowly, carefully and quietly-images flick through my mind from the presentation we had seen the day before in Kilmartin House-images of spectral hooded figures. Up through the ridges of fortification we reach the top and I go off looking for the rock carvings managing to ignore the amazing views for the moment. I find the footprint, take off my boots and socks- but alas- my foot is too big! Kat does the same and it’s a perfect fit- the good old Pictish female line! The boar is nearby, but is slowly sinking back into the rock of it’s creation with the hundreds of years of weathering, the snout and front two legs just still remaining. Atop Dunadd after many years of waiting and all I fell is sadness. I maybe secretly expected enlightenment, but no- just sadness. I’m not disappointed- no way- this place is amazing, but....
I go and sit on the Westerly side and watch the River Add. My Pictish serpent tattoo reverberates in recognition of the earthly pattern laid out before me. I could watch this river for an age.

August 1998, Achnabreck Cup-and-Ring Marked Rocks, Argyll.
About 15 years ago I started becoming interested in stone circles, monoliths, cairns etc. and one of the first books I bought was a small paperback (which still goes everywhere with me!) called “Scotland Before History” by Stuart Piggot. I was only really familiar with the ancient monuments around Perthshire’s country and often read about and gazed at many of the photos of other sites. I tried to imagine positions of the monuments in the land in which they are found- Achnabreck is described as a “spectacular area of cup and ring markings on the edge of a forest”.
Now its August 1998 and I find myself in the magickal country of Argyll. We’re battling through clouds of flying ants (believe it or not) up a well trod path next to some fine forest. We made it through the insects and now the country around starts to open up and we are greeted with beautiful views down to the Crinan Canal and the fields and forests around us. Ahead of us I can see them- the area is made just a bit obvious due to the massive stone outcrop being surrounded by the Hisoric Scotland-grey fence and wooden walkways. At first all the designs are half-hidden in the late summer sun, but once I move along the path the shadows start to pick out the circles in the stone and then its as if a great veil is lifted and the whole great stone slab resonates with circles and cup-marks. Before I know it I’m over the fence and crouching beside the rock. I know I should really not be on this side but these places belong to us as much as they are cared for by Historic Scotland. Of course I’m extremely careful not to tread or kneel on the rock face but I manage to stretch across the rock from my crouched perch on the grass. I need to feel the rough stone with my own hands and to trace a circle with my fingers.....