Church of St Mary of Antioch, Wrenbury - and the Scarecrows!

posted in Cheshire Pages by tim at 9:17 pm on Sunday, July 15, 2007

St Margaret of Antioch, Wrenbury

Each year, Wrenbury has its Scarecrow Festival. For 2007, there were 106 Scarecrows throughout Wrenbury, neighbouring lanes, and also Aston. I’ve included 18 of my personal favourites in these collages. It’s clear that many of the scarecrows took a lot of effort and thought. You purchase a map, sponsored by local business, with proceeds to the village school - for two weeks of community building, and a lot of interest and visitors peering in gardens and hedgerows. A most commendable effort indeed. A really worthwhile few hours, and interesting to peep in on 15th Century St Margaret of Antioch’s Church (can’t help wondering if she had a holy hand grenade; no sign of it in the church!).

Wrenbury Scarecrows 2007

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Dowsing for Patterns of the Past - The Stone Circles of Aberdeenshire - A Summary and Interlinked Contents Page

posted in Spirituality, Forteana by tim at 8:26 pm on Monday, July 2, 2007
Dowsing for Patterns of the Past - The Stone Circles of Aberdeenshire

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From Stonehenge to Skara Brae - Interlinked Itinerary

posted in Ancient Tours by tim at 6:35 am on Saturday, June 2, 2007

Prologue

Stones of Stenness

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Dowsing for Patterns of the Past - Chapter 10 - Circles and Lines

posted in Spirituality, Forteana by tim at 7:53 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Referring to Chapter 1 and the patterns found by dowsing in the neighbourhood of the croft, it can be seen that they were roughly circular or linear, each containing grids of varying sizes parallel to their respective shapes. The main circular pattern surrounded the croft and its ancillary buildings and garden whereas another one near it was joined to it by a short grid line (Figs. 3 & 7).

Figure 03

Figure 07

These patterns could have been formed by the interaction of electro-magnetic forces and flowing water (which carries energy and creates negative ions) under the earth. It surely is no coincidence that the points at which the grids converged within the main pattern was between the water courses and at the centre of the poltergeist activity experienced by the occupants of the croft.

The five square shapes found by dowsing (Fig. 4) are too regular to be natural and probably were the sites of previous small buildings.

Figure 04

When the grid lines joining and emanating from the circles were dowsed further afield in the directions they were facing, they were picked up again. They continued to go in straight lines and intersected with other lines as shown in Fig. 8.

Figure 08

Viewing the known locations of stone circles from a wider perspective, no particular pattern emerged other than they were often built within sight of each other.

There is a definite relationship between grid lines and stone circles. When the area around them is carefully dowsed this soon becomes apparent, the grid lines either pass through or near them.

Figure 54

The stone circle at Shethin (Chapter 5) has two grid lines 15 feet wide, each 10 feet on either side of it Fig. 54). The circular shape found 13 feet from one line is probably an outlier.

Figure 55

Aikey Brae is an example of a stone circle enclosed within a grid line. Fig. 55 shows this line, 32 yards wide, going through it in an east-west direction.

Some stone circles lie within the intersection of grid lines, e.g. Louden Wood (Map Reference NJ 962497) has lines going through it in the direction of the four cardinal points of the compass.

Loanhead of Daviot (Chapter 4) has a grid line going partially through it and the neighbouring cremation circle. The line is 43 feet wide, and the dimensions of each grid are 10 feet 5 inches by 14 feet 4 inches, being directed east-south-east and north-north-west (Fig. 56). This line was picked up half a mile away going through the New Craig stone circle (Map Reference NJ 745296).

Figure 56

A complete area was dowsed at South Ythsie (Map Reference NJ 884305) and a number of grid lines were found (Fig. 57). The main line went through the unrecorded circle B (see Chapter 8) and southwards through the six-stone circle A. Within this line were circular and rectangular shapes near the circles (not shown in Fig. 57) and these are presumed to have been prehistoric dwelling. The site of St. John’s Chapel is noted at C (this is not shown in Fig. 57 but the foundations were discovered by dowsing). This is another instance of an ecclesiastical building being built in close proximity to a stone circle as at Midmar Kirk, Daviot and Culsalmond. The water veins shows were about 21 feet deep. A curious feature of three of the grid lines (D.E and F) is that they terminate in an arrowhead shape at a point.

Figure 57

As stated earlier, the stone circle pattern could have been the result of earth energies which have a certain potency at particular locations. This is stated by David Cowan and Ann Silk in their book, “Ancient Energies of the Earth” (Thorsons, London, 1999) :- “…our ancestors, in tune with nature, built their special places on geomagnetic anomaly points, where cells of magnetite, ironstone, copper ores and basalts lurk beneath the surface, giving profound effects on the minds of those who worshipped in these spots.” (p.308)

Another possible factor in the formations of these patterns is the abundance of granite in Aberdeenshire, not only underground but also often used in the construction of stone circles. Granite is one of the most radioactive rocks and the interior atmosphere of stone circles containing such stones are considerably more radioactive than the normal background. Further, the presence of water lines dictated the shape of the patterns, water having a weak current of energy.

The grid lines seem to be a form of ley lines spread out in a network over the surface of the earth carrying some kind of natural energy between stone circles where they have a particular strength.. This power is believed to heal, to restore fertility and to control the weather in addition to having a beneficial effect on those who gathered at these circles for their various ceremonies. The structure of stone circles show a knowledge of geology, astronomy and building on the part of our primitive ancestors. Being natural dowsers, they sensed in their bodies what spots were propitious for their purposes. Much can be added to our present knowledge of stone circles by using dowsing methods to uncover more of our heritage from the past.

Dowsing for Patterns of the Past - Chapter 9 - The Stone Circle Pattern (6) A Ceremonial Centre

posted in Spirituality, Forteana by tim at 4:11 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2007

At Port Elphinstone near Inverurie where the rivers Urie and Don meet, there is a much ruined ceremonial centre. Although this is a possible two-phase monument dating from the 3rd millennium B.C., the discovery of urns and beakers indicate a date as late as the 17th Century B.C.

One component of the Neolithic complex is a circle henge situated on a gravel terrace near the river Don. The banks of the henge were originally several feet high within which was a trench 20 feet wide and 5-6 feet deep. Such was this original depth of the trench that anyone standing within it could not see out of it except through gaps in the henge on the north and south. These gaps were entrances into a circular area within the trench round the edge of which stood originally a circle of six standing stones, only two of which still remain; in 1780 there were four standing.

Figure 49a

During the building to the south, a stone with Pictish symbols (Fig. 49A) was taken from a bank and placed within the circle henge. It depicts a crescent, a V-shaped rod and a leaping muscular beast; this is dated from 600 A.D. The nearness of symbol stones to sites of much earlier ritual importance is not fully understood by archaeologists.

Figure 49b

The dowsing pattern found within the henge (Fig. 49B) indicated a circle of six stones. Stone C on the east is touching the stone found by dowsing and it may have been the remains of a large stone which had been broken; indeed this is indicated by the line going from it to the elliptical shape at the centre.

Stone B containing the Pictish symbols was not originally in the circle and this is seen in the dowsing pattern which does not show any line going from it to the elliptical shape.

As can be seen from Fig. 49B, two water courses run north-south through the gaps in the henge.

From a sandbank south of the circle henge near the river, an avenue lined by upright stones originally proceeded northwards towards it in a splayed fashion. The stones in the avenue seemed to have increased in bulk the nearer they come to the henge.. In and near the sandbank a small cemetery of four short cists were found in 1866. In this area stood a stone in line with the other stones in the avenue and was the southernmost member of it. Another stone stood in the corner of a field, its broad side facing the line of the avenue and two hundred yards south of the circle henge. The third stone which alone remains today in the field is a massive square-shaped block of whinstone, six feet high, about seventy yards from the henge. Based on these measurements the average distance between the stones forming the boundary of the avenue is about thirty-eight feet. As the southernmost block is four hundred and fifty yards south of the henge, each side of the avenue would therefore contain thirty-six stones. The estimated width of the avenue at the south side is about fifty-seven feet.

Figure 50

Fig. 50 shows the dowsing pattern from the railway in the south to the circle henge and beyond. The side of the avenue where the remaining stone is continues on to the road. There were nineteen stones found by dowsing from the railway to the stone (excluding the stone), and sixteen thereafter to near the road, making a total of thirty five. This will be a minimum number due to the extension of the avenue beyond the railway and over the road.

The stones on the other side of the avenue run west-north-west between lines indicated by the dowsing pattern from the railway beyond the henge through very overgrown high ground. There were thirty-nine stones indicated, again, this represents a minimum number; the total number shown by the rod is therefore seventy-four.

Circles with avenues are rarely found in Scotland and this is the only existing one found in Aberdeenshire.

The avenue goes north of the circle henge to where a large ring with three concentric circles of stones with a small cairn at its centre once stood. The avenue continued beyond this into what is now a housing estate. According to Maitland who gave a description of it in 1780, this circle and the henge were fifty yards apart. He recorded, “There is an altar of one stone, with a cavity in the upper part, where some of the blood of the sacrifice was put.” It is thought to have been a recumbent stone circle. This circle disappeared during the construction of a road in the late 18th Century.

Figure 51

The site of this concentric circle was confirmed by the dowsing pattern (see Fig. 51). It can be seen from the diagram that there were sixteen stones in the outer circle. Lines of force came from each of these stones to the shape at the centre as shown. The two inner rings (shaded in the diagram) showed energy picked up by the rod throughout its area. It may be that some form of stone erection was in these areas.

The inner area was pear-shaped and in the centre was a small circular space where there was a response from the rod.

A pattern for a recumbent stone circle was picked up as shown in Fig. 52 on the north-west of the henge and bordering slightly on it. The fact of impinging on it may indicate that it was of earlier construction. It shows a recumbent, two flankers and seven other stones; all the stones having lines from them to the elliptical form at the centre with the usual lines of force from the recumbent and its flankers. There is a stone embedded in the henge which may have come from this circle (it responded to the rod).

Figure 52

There were two water lines to the west of this circle which went north-south and, as Fig. 52 shows, crossed the avenue near the remaining stone. The water lines from the henge went under some of the stones on the circle’s east side.

Figure 53

The complete pattern of the whole area as indicated by the rod is shown in Fig. 53. The dotted lines show the reaction by the rod. In its time this ceremonial centre must have been very important for the people who constructed it, not only with its obvious association with death and ritual but also with their social activities.

Dowsing for Patterns of the Past - Chapter 8 - The Stone Circle Pattern (5) Unrecorded Sites

posted in Spirituality, Forteana by tim at 4:03 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Knowledge of the Stone Circle Pattern obtained by dowsing could be a means not only of completing the picture of the original circles if they are incomplete but also discovering circles which have never been recorded. As high ground with a view of the surrounding countryside and the sky was a favourite place for their locations, these are good starting-points. Sometimes ground was levelled off for their erection, and if these are still recognisable, they are worthwhile being examined. There is no denying that some dowsers have a hunch where to operate, and this psychic awareness often yields results. Patterns also can be discovered by chance while looking for water with the rod.The following have been discovered by some of these means, thereby adding to the number of stone circle locations in Aberdeenshire :-

Bellmuir (Methlick). (O.S. Map Reference NJ 862375).

The village of Methlick is 25 miles north of Aberdeen and is situated in the valley of the river Ythan. Across the river from the village is the sloping ground of the Bellmuir where, in prehistoric times, there were beehive shaped dwelling places at the side of the river. Prehistoric field systems are nearby and throughout the whole area items of archaeological interest have been found.

On the premise that such a community would possibly build a stone circle for ritualistic purposes, the highest point of the Bellmuir was dowsed and the stone circle pattern immediately found as shown in FIG.44.

Figure 44

The pattern was on pasture land with the outer circle of the “tram line” touching a fence separating it from a field of grain. There were three straight lines (likely to be water lines) within a short distance of the circle, one of them cutting across the “tram lines” on the west.

A Recumbent Stone Circle of 7 stones was indicated with the Recumbent and its Flankers just inside the south-west quadrant of the circle. Within the “tram lines was an elliptical shape as shown, and between this shape and the stones were wedges of energy; these are unusual as such wedges come from the recumbent and its flankers, only lines coming from the other stones. There was no reaction within the elliptical shape at the centre. It also appears that the recumbent and its flankers were touching as a continuous reaction was received by the rod with a change in intensity for the recumbent greater than that from the flankers.

Auchmaliddie (2). (O.S. Map Reference NJ 881448).

While the Auchmaliddie Stone Circle was being dowsed, the farmer remarked that his father had mentioned the existence of a stone circle in the next field. Last century it was noted that on this site was a low circular mound surrounded by a trench and low external ridge. It was thought that this was probably an untouched cairn or a sepulchral mound. Today, the mound is not to be seen, the ground having been cultivated and a fence erected on raised ground separating two fields.

Figure 45a

When the site, only 20 yards from the stone circle, was dowsed, a pattern was found straddling the two fields with the fence running near its centre as shown in FIG.45A. Four stones were found standing separately with three others touching one another; the response from the rod was continuous in the latter with a stronger response in the centre indicating a recumbent and two flankers. This was confirmed by a continuous response from the segment formed by the stones and the centre, and also by their location in the south-west quadrant.

Lines came from each stone to an elliptical shape at the centre 5 feet 10 inches east-west by 10 feet 2 inches north-south.

Figure 45b

FIG.45B shows the various breadths of the “tram lines”. It is noted that the smallest breadth was in the south, increasing in an anti-clockwise direction and having bigger increases as it bears the flankers and the recumbent, after which it decreases quickly to 2 feet 7 inches in the south.

Sheddocksley. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 894076).

On the north edge of the Sheddocksley housing estate, almost hidden by a group of trees bordering playing fields, stands a stone which does not appear to be mentioned in O.S. Maps. There is no record of there being a stone circle in the area. The stone is needle-shaped, its greatest width at its base bring 1 foot tapering to a width of 7 inches at the top; this side faces the east.. There are two circular holes in the stone, one 1 foot 5 1/2 inches from the top and the other 5 inches from ground level directly underneath. The stone is 4 feet 4 inches high and 1 foot 2 inches at its greatest breadth.

Figure 46

On dowsing round the stone a pattern was found as shown in FIG.46 which indicated a ring circle of 8 stones. The width of the “tram lines” ranged from 2 feet 5 inches to 3 feet, having an average of 2 feet 8 1/2 inches.

There were two concentric circles as shown.

Lines of force came from each stone to an ellipse of energy in the centre with no reaction from the rod inside it except at a point at the centre.

Prop of Ythsie. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 885315).

Almost a mile from the village of Tarves on high ground stands a tower known as the Prop of Ythsie. It is well-named as “prop” means “landmark” and from the top of the tower a marvellous panoramic view can be seen of Buchan. The monument, made of red granite, was erected by the tenantry of the Haddo estate in memory of George Hamilton Gordon, the 4th Earl of Aberdeen (1784-1860) who was Prime Minister of Britain from 1852-1855.

Figure 47

On dowsing around the tower the pattern of a ring circle composed of 11 stones was found as shown in FIG.47. The circle impinged on the area bound by the barbed-wire fence surrounding the Prop. The number of stones was confirmed by the lines of energy coming from each stone to a circular shape within the circle. Inside this shape energy was detected which increased within two concentric shapes towards the centre where the highest concentration of energy was. It is unusual for three concentric circles of energy to be found inside a stone circle and it is possible that some structure for cremation purposes and/or burial of cremated bones could have been erected within the circle.

The “tram lines” did not vary much in width, the average being 3 feet 10 inches.

Two splayed water lines were detected going under the door of the Prop and continuing on the other side; the line nearer the circle being 12 feet away from it.

South Ythsie (2). (O.S. Map Reference NJ (887306).

Adjoining South Ythsie farmhouse on the south is a field known as the Chapel Fauld where the site of St. John’s Chapel is reputed to have been. About 100 yards away to the south, just beyond the perimeter of the Chapel Fauld is the 6-stone circle of South Ythsie which was reconstructed in 1995. A number of cairns have been found in the area and the site of a standing stone (which may have been an outlier to the stone circle) has been recorded in addition to 5 others which have been removed.

Figure 48

When the Chapel Fauld area was dowsed a few yards from the farmhouse a stone circle pattern (shown in Fig.48) was found comprising of 9 stones. Lines of force came from each stone to a circular shape at the centre. The largest stone was on the north-north-west and round it the “tram lines” bulged showing it to be of special significance (this feature is unusual). The largest stone was of 6 feet and was on the south-south-east.

Two concentric circles of force surrounded the stone circle.

Dowsing for Patterns of the Past - Chapter 7 - The Stone Circle Pattern (4) No Stones Recorded on Site

posted in Spirituality, Forteana by tim at 3:54 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Many previously recorded sites are bereft of stones and there is no visible evidence that stone circles existed there. The following sites have been examined with the dowsing rod to determine details of the previous stone circles there.

Culsh. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 870480).

This has been long a site for a stone circle, its memory being preserved in the name of the nearby farm - Standing Stones.” It stood on the south side of the hill of Culsh, the slopes of the hill being the burial ground of the inhabitants of the district in the Bronze Age period. In 1788 the stones were removed for the building of a Manse and now nothing remains, One significant feature of the site is the number of small quartzite stones lying on the surface. Excluding cairn sites only 15 circles in the British Isles have quartz scatters in them. This indicates a circle within the Clava tradition and quite distinct from its neighbours.

The pattern picked up by dowsing from the “tram lines”, where the stones would have been, to the innermost circle is shown in Fig. 38A which is drawn to scale (the stones are not shown). Each circular shape is of an elliptical nature. A indicates a response from the rod to a small round area.

Figure 38a

Fig. 38B (not drawn to scale) represents a circle of 17 stones (only 2 such circles are recorded in Scotland). An area of 1 foot square (B in Fig.38B) gave a response from the rod. A line came from each stone and terminated at points (shown as dotted lines in Fig. 38B); these lines and the patterns were energies found by the rod. There were 4 squares of force shown as C,D and E in Fig. 38B; C and D were each about I foot square while E was 2 feet 6 inches by I foot 8 inches. Were cremated bones buried at these points?

Figure 38b

At the centre of the circle were 3 elliptical shapes as shown. Within the innermost ellipse there was no energy detected - unusual for most of the circles considered so far. Was this central area protected by 3 walls?

The rectangular shape found inside the circle on the west as shown in Fig. 38B was 7 feet 6 inches by 3 feet 7 inches. Within this shape there was a reaction from the rod 1 foot from one end and continued to the other end. Was this a structure within which sacrifices or important ceremonies were carried out?

All these questions are merely guesses and archaeological research could confirm or deny them. The number of the stones and the structure of the circle point to it as being important for the surrounding countryside.

CULSALMOND. ( O.S. Map Reference NJ 650330).

This stone circle was destroyed and “christianised” when the first Christian Church was erected there. The New Statistical Account of Scotland (1842) states that it had originally 12 upright granite stones from Bennachie and its site was in the middle of the graveyard where there are now very large holly bushes - one wonders whether these bushes were planted there deliberately to prevent graves from being sited there. While digging graves more than one of the stones have been found near to the wall of the church. The circle is thought to have been a recumbent stone circle.

Figure 39

The site was difficult to dowse owing to the holly bushes covering over half of it. The usual pattern was found indicating 8 stones as shown in Fig. 39 which were not in the form of a recumbent stone circle. The lines from each stone went to a circle of energy at the centre which was 7 feet 8 inches north-south by 6 feet 4 inches east-west. As can be seen the circular pattern was distorted.

DAVIOT CHURCHYARD. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 950283).

The New Statistical Account of Scotland (1842)stated, with regard to the Parish of Daviot, that the remains of a “Druidical Temple were to be seen, within the last 20 years, in the graveyard.” The stones were removed by order of the local minister and used as materials for building a house. No trace of the stone circle can now be seen.

Dowsing the church building only showed two parallel water courses running north-south through the chancel and the other near the west side.

Figure 40

When the graveyard was dowsed a pattern was found as shown in Fig. 40 indicating a circle of 9 or 10 stones (1 or 2 stones could have been in the arc of the “tram lines” within the crypt which was locked). The largest stone was on the east causing the “tram lines” to bulge at that point. Lines from each stone culminated in an area of energy at the centre. Standing at the centre and looking at the stone nearest the crypt on the south-west, can be seen the distinctive Mither Tap of Bennachie directly in line with the top of the stone.

A rectangular area of response from the rod lies just east of the centre and may have been a place where ashes had been buried.

A very unusual feature is the finding of 5 water courses running through the circle as shown.

ELLON. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 954302).

In a Report to the Society of the Antiquaries of Scotland in 1917, it was stated that the remains of a small circle stood on the north bank of the river Ythan, a short distance to the west of the bridge over the river at Ellon. There were 5 stones, only 3 of which belong to the circle, the other 2 having been brought in from other places. The average height of the original stones was about 3 feet and the distance between seemed to show that the circle could not have been more than 20 feet in diameter. The 2 rounded squat stones introduced into the circle were situated in the centre.

There is some doubt about this being the original site. In 1904, F. Coles mentioned a correspondent who maintained that the circle standing there had been previously removed from a site which cannot be identified. The circle appears to have been a plain ring.

Nowadays there is nothing to be seen at the site which is a car park of a supermarket. About 100 yards away there is a small walkway along the river bank and near it there are 6 stones placed in a rough circle. It is assumed that some of these stones at least come from the stone circle.

Figure 41

On dowsing the car park the pattern of a stone circle was found facing the direction of the former church building across the road (FIG. 41). The pattern indicated it to be of a plain ring of 6 stones. Lines of energy came from each stone and terminated in the perimeter of a circle at the centre within which there was no reaction from the rod. The “tram lines” within which the stones were placed ranged in breadth from 2 feet 2 inches to 3 feet 1 inch with an average of 2 feet 6 inches.

When the stones lying near the walkway were dowsed they showed a reaction which meant that they could have been the stones from the circle; these stones were not as broad as the ones indicated in the pattern. There was no pattern round the stones lying near the walkway.

MAINS OF CRICHIE. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 975440).

In his “New History of Aberdeenshire” Part 2, published in 1875, Alexander Smith mentioned that there was a stone circle near the houses of Little Mains of Crichie. The farm at that location was later added to Mains of Crichie farm. A local source stated that the circle stood where a croft was, the large foundation stones were split portions of the former stones of the circle. There is nothing left now except for a pile of stones at the side of a field. These stones showed a reaction from the rod showing them to be from the stone circle.

Figure 42
The dowsing pattern showed a recumbent stone circle with Recumbent, 2 Flankers and 3 other stones as shown in FIG. 42. The elliptical shape at the centre, 8 feet 2 inches by 7 feet 8 inches, had a response from the rod, possibly cremated bones were buried there. The width of the “tram lines” ranged from 2 feet 1 inch to 3 feet 4 inches, the average being 2 feet 7 inches. There were 2 concentric circles of energy as shown.

It is unusual for a Recumbent and its Flankers to be on the north of the circle but to the north, in full view, are the stone circles of Aikey Brae and Louden Wood.

BRANDSBUTT.
(O.S. Map reference NJ 759224).

Near the Brandsbutt Stone in Inverurie there is the site of a stone circle which has been completely destroyed, no stones remaining in situ. The Stone itself contains the Pictish symbols of an incised crescent and V-rod with a scaly serpent and Z-rod with simple terminals. Running up the left-hand side there is a Pictish Ogham inscription in which the guideline has been drawn in. (only 2 other examples of this writing are in Aberdeenshire - in the grounds of Logie-Elphinstone and the well-known Newton Stone). This inscription has been translated as a possible rendering of St. Ethernannus and there a personal memorial. There is no known connection between symbol stones and the much earlier stone circles. It is significant that this stone showed no response from the rod and there was not originally part of the stone circle.

Two of the stones of the circle are incorporated in the dry-stone dyke a few yards from the circle to the north. Stones A,C,D,E,F, and G (FIG. 43) had a reaction from the rod showing them to have come from the circle. Some of the broken stones at H had a similar reaction showing them also to have been part of the circle stones.

FIG.43 shows the dowsing pattern to indicate a ring circle of 11 stones with lines of energy coming from each stone to a large circle of energy with which there was a reaction from the rod - this reaction becoming stronger within an elliptical shape (13 feet 4 inches by 8 feet 9 inches, the longer distance running east-west) nearer the centre and very strong at the centre.

The width of the “tram lines” varied from 3 feet 10 inches to 5 feet 2 inches, the average being 4 feet 7 inches.

When this circle was excavated in 1901 postholes were found - 1,2,3,4,and 5 as indicated in FIG. 43.

Figure 43
A water line ran 3 feet 3 inches from the west side of the circle running south-southeast.

There are many stone circles that have disappeared and never been recorded. Either by following topographical clues, plain guessing or pure chance a few of these have been discovered.

Dowsing for Patterns of the Past - Chapter 5 - The Stone Circle Pattern (2) Incomplete Stone Circles

posted in Spirituality, Forteana by tim at 8:02 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Owing to the ravages of the centuries many of the stone circles are incomplete. The following are such examples which have been investigated by dowsing to discover, if possible, what they were like originally.

Sheldon. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 823249).

This circle on a dyked bank in the centre of a field was reported to have 7 stones but only 6 were seen. There was, however, a number of stones and boulders scattered throughout the circle especially in the south-east quadrant and the missing stone may have been among them. The stones were arranged in a broad oval with an outlying stone not far from the south-east of the circle which is unusual for such circles in Aberdeenshire. There is doubt about it being a recumbent stone circle as there is no recumbent there at present; it has been suggested that it is a Clava-type circle without a recumbent.

Figure 24

The dowsing pattern (Fig. 24) showed the presence of a missing stone on the east of the circle 1 foot 7 inches broad by 3 feet 1 inch wide. Two small stones lay in the vicinity and they may have been parts of the original stone. An elliptical shape (7 feet 10 inches north-south by 9 feet 3 inches east-west) was found in the centre with no reaction from the rod within it. There was no evidence for a recumbent stone.

Midmar Kirk. (O,S, Map Reference NJ 699064).

This re-arranged recumbent stone circle is an example of a “christianised” circle, a church being built against it in 1797 and a graveyard laid around it in 1914. There is now no trace of an inner ring cairn which may have been cleared away when the graveyard was laid out; it is also possible that one stone on the north-north-west had been re-erected at that time.

There is a recumbent, 2 flankers and 5 stones all of much weathered red granite. The recumbent is 14 feet 9 inches long and weighs 20 tons; great care was taken with its construction to ensure that its flat top was horizontal. The 2 flankers, each 8 feet 3 inches high, were shaped in the form of 2 canine teeth in order to fit the outline of the recumbent. The recumbent faces the minor lunar moonset (similar to its neighbouring circle, Sunhoney) because the hills to the south prevented sight of the southernmost moon either rising or setting. The stones are graded in height, the smaller being further away from the recumbent.

Figure 25

The dowsing pattern (Fig. 25) indicated that a stone 9 inches by 11 inches was once positioned on the west, its distances from the west flanker and its neighbouring stone being as shown. Lines came from each stone (including the missing one) to an elliptical shape in the centre 1 foot 6 inches by 11 inches which showed a strong response from the rod within it. The triangular area between the recumbent and its flankers and the centre also had a response within it. A concentric circle encompassing the circle was found as in Fig. 25.

Wester Echt. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 739084).

This circle is regarded as a Recumbent Stone Circle although only 3 stones remain out of an original 9. The most westerly stone has 2 smaller slab-like stones at right angles to its face projecting inside the circle; these stones are 3 feet apart and seen to be the remains of a stone cist, thus indicating that the circle was used for burial purposes.

Figure 26

When this circle was dowsed the pattern showed that it contained 10 other stones in the positions marked in Fig. 26. Lines came from each stone (including the missing ones) to an elliptical shape at the centre. Before coming to the most westerly stone the dowsing rod picked up energy on either side of it. This would mean that the flankers and the recumbent would be in this location incorporating the stone. This was further confirmed when it was found that the triangular segment between this stone and its area of response on each side and the centre of the circle showed a steady response from the rod as shown.

Shethin. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 882238).

When first seen the stone circle at Shethin appears to be a heap of stones with a depression in the middle. It is much ruined and is marked on some maps as a cairn. Yet it is a very small stone circle composed of stones of whinstone, white quartz and granite. Some of the stones have disappeared, particularly on the eastern side and it is regarded as a combination between a cairn and a 4-poster. Its diameter of 16 feet 10 inches makes it one of the smallest recorded in Aberdeenshire and is almost perfectly circular.

Figure 27

Dowsing the circle showed that some of the stones were out of alignment. The pattern showed lines from each stone (the stones in situ are shaded in Fig. 27) to a circle of energy at the centre which was two and a half feet in diameter, the energy at the centre being greatest. Four stones were detected in the positions shown making it one of the other 10 such circles in Scotland that have 11 stones.

Aikey Brae. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 858470).

This Recumbent Stone Circle is set on a little hill hidden by fir trees and rests on a well-preserved bank of small stones and earth about 6 feet wide and up to 3 feet high. It is elliptical in shape, 54 feet by 41 feet 7 inches. It originally had 10 stones plus the recumbent but now only the recumbent and 4 stones stand in situ; the west flanker has fallen towards the outside of the circle and most of the others have fallen or are missing. The recumbent is flat-topped and weighs about 21 tons. There are wedge-shaped and heavy chock-stones under the thinner end which indicates how it was lowered into a horizontal position. It is aligned on the major southern moonset and orientated at 184 . Other than the eastern flanker of 6 feet 8 inches high and the fallen west flanker 9 feet 3 inches long, the other stones still standing range in height from 4 feet 7 inches to 7 feet 3 inches, graded in height downwards from the south-west. All the stones are of granite except the fallen west flanker and the recumbent which are of whinstone.

Figure 28

Dowsing showed all the original stones as seen in Fig. 28. Their positions were within the “tram lines” with lines from each stone (including the missing ones) to a circle of response from the rod in the centre of the circle. Within this smaller circle the response became stronger as the centre was approached. Excavations prior to 1881 showed no cremated bones at the centre thus this spot may have been used for either a fire or a funeral pyre the ashes having been cleared away afterwards.

Some of the stones scattered inside and outside the circle from the north to the south east especially showed a reaction which indicated that they were originally part of the circle’s stones. Again the segment from the flankers and the recumbent to the centre showed a total response.

An unusual feature was the finding of 5 fan-shaped areas as shown in Fig. 28 just outside the “tram line”. Inside each of them was a response from the rod with 7 lines of strong response from the rod towards the centre which was on the outside “tram line”. One can only guess that they must have been used for some purpose, e.g. burial of cremated bones.

Two concentric circles were found as shown.

Auchmaliddie. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 881448).

All that remains of this circle are two blocks of white quartz. The larger block is regarded as the recumbent and as its longer face points West 60 North (mag.) it is possible that it lies in almost exactly the line which its base originally occupied. It is also assumed that the other stone is the west flanker.

The recumbent, which weighs about 11 tons, is referred to in Pratt’s “Buchan” (p.188) as having been a rocking-stone whereby a priest pretended to test the guilt or innocence of an accused person. It was noted last century that 20 yards from the west end of the recumbent was a low circular mound surrounded by a trench and a low external ridge; it was thought that this was probably an untouched cairn or sepulchral mound. Today the mound is not to be seen, the ground having been cultivated and a fence on raised ground separates the two fields (see p. ).

Figure 29

The dowsing pattern in Fig. 29 showed that the 2 stone blocks were not lying in the circle; it is possible that all the stones had been removed to utilise the ground for farming. and were dumped nearby. Last century it was observed that the dyke which was then a few yards away on the south was full of the same type of stone (white quartz) which could have come from the stone circle.

Seven stones were indicated by dowsing. Lines were found from each stone to an elliptical shape in the centre 7 feet 9 inches south-north by 5 feet 8 inches east-west within which there was a response from the rod. The segment between the centre and the 13 feet 10 inches stone on the east showed a response which was that of a recumbent and its flankers. When dowsing this stone the response in the central area was stronger than those parts of the stone on either side, the distances being 3 feet 8 inches, 6 feet 3 inches, and 3 feet 11 inches. Could this be the recumbent and its flankers? The stone previously mentioned as the recumbent was 10 feet 3 inches at its greatest length, and if this is placed here, the flankers would have been within 2 feet wide, This position, in the south-east quadrant, is unusual for a recumbent and its flankers.

The “tram lines” are on the average 4 feet 4 inches wide. Two concentric lines were found as shown.

Balquhain. (O,S. Map Reference NJ 735240).

This recumbent stone circle is reputed to have had 12 or 10 stones but now only 7 stones remain in situ plus a pillar of white quartz about 10 feet in height slightly outside the circle 21 feet to the south east. This pillar has a triangular base, each side about 4 feet long, which is set north-south. It could be a territorial marker.

Figure 30a

The recumbent is 12 feet 7 inches long, its greatest length in the middle is 5 feet 11 inches and its weight is 10 tons 6 cwt. It is composed of white-grained granite and is on the south as shown in Fig. 30A. On its top is a single, small, cup-like hollow. The east flanker has fallen and is 2 feet 10 inches from the recumbent. There are 4 cup-marks on it near its base facing the centre of the circle when it stood in situ. It is composed of very hard close-grained whinstone which is quartz-veined. The west flanker is 7 feet 5 inches tall and is of very reddish quartzite with seams of white quartz.

The stone next to the west flanker has 25 cup-marks of the plain type and facing the outside of the circle. Although they are scattered over the surface of the stone there are 2 groups on the western edge. Just below the middle of the stone a group of 3 cups are placed above each other in an almost perpendicular line. The other group is near the base of the stone and is made up of 6 cups in a horizontal line. Some investigators consider these cup-marks to be connected with the sun. Their position on the stone may indicate that some may have been made before the stone was erected in the circle.

From the centre of the circle the eastern flanker stood in line with the most southerly rising of the moon. The west end of the recumbent marked its setting.

The dowsing pattern (Fig.30B) showed a circle composed of a recumbent, 2 flankers, and 8 stones. The usual response was found between the recumbent, the flankers and the circle’s centre. The elliptical shape in the centre had a total response within it. Excavations in 1900-1901 found “a rough pavement of boulders” at the centre. Some fallen stones were lying as indicated in Fig. 30A; these caused a response from the rod.

From the eastern flanker to the outlier there was a response as shown which pointed to a particular significance of the area between the 2 stones, perhaps their alignment to a heavenly body.

Fig. 30B also shows another circle which is concentric and composed of 12 stones. Between the 2 circles, in the south-west there appears to be 2 stones, 14 feet apart.

Figure 30b

These foregoing examples have shown that when incomplete circles are dowsed, the location of the missing stones can be found. Consideration will now be given to those stone circles with only one stone left to determine their original pattern, and also to the many standing stones with no apparent connection with stone circles, to find out if dowsing can establish this.

Dowsing for Patterns of the Past - Chapter 6 - The Stone Circle Pattern (3) Standing Stones

posted in Spirituality, Forteana by tim at 7:22 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Throughout the centuries many stone circles have been so ravaged that only one stone remains as an indication of its previous association. The Picts, who came after the stone circle builders, often regarded these stones with reverence and engraved their cryptic symbols on some of them. These symbol stones and other solitary pillars are scattered throughout the country. When the dowsing rod is used on them and their surroundings, would the results show any previous relation to stone circles? This possibility will now be investigated.

The Candle Stone (near Ellon). (O.S. Map Reference NJ 921238).

This stone is regarded as either the remains of a stone circle, an outlier, or as a Route Marker.

There are four sites in this area of Aberdeenshire having stones which bear the name “Candle”. They are not related to the English word as none of them bears any resemblance to the shape of a candle.

It is set vertically on a level space on a field. Its greatest length is 10 feet 2 inches; its basal width 15 feet 3 inches. At 5 feet 4 inches high it is about 15 feet 3 inches wide, but at 3 feet it swells our considerably to have a girth of approximately 18 feet.

Figure 31

By dowsing the area the usual pattern of a stone circle was found as shown in Fig. 31. There were 39 stones (including the Candle Stone) with lines of force detected from each stone which stopped at various points to form a circular pattern. Within this pattern there was no reaction except at two elliptical areas round the centre, the inner one being much stronger than the other.

The width of the “tram lines” enclosing the stones was an average of 4 feet 10 inches ranging from 3 feet 11 inches to 5 feet 10 inches. The width of the stones (excluding the Candle Stone) varied from 1 foot 7 inches to 8 feet 8 inches with an average of 5 feet 4 inches.

It is uncommon in Scotland for a stone circle to have more than 36 stones - only 5 such have been definitely identified.

Peathill Standing Stone. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 821191).

This solitary pillar stands in the middle of a tilled field. It is 6 feet 7 inches high and its girth at its shoulder is more than 10 feet. The Statistical Account of Scotland puts the stone at the centre of a stone circle 45-50 feet in diameter. It is composed of grey granite.

Figure 32

The dowsing pattern ( Fig. 32) showed the stone, not to be at the centre of a stone circle, but to be one of 7 stones forming a circle. Such circles are uncommon in Scotland only 3 being recorded.

The lines of energy from each stone terminate in a circle of reaction at the centre with the greatest force being exactly at the centre. There was also a concentric circle of energy as shown.

An unusual feature is 5 stones being in the western half of the circle as contrasted with only one in the eastern half.

The diameter of the stone circle is about half that of the estimated diameter if the stone had been at the centre.

Monykebbuck Standing Stone. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 871183).

This stone stands on a hillock in a field and is partly surrounded with scattered stones. The stone is of rugged red granite ridged on the north side with horizontal grooves. Its base is nearly square, 7 feet in girth and 6 feet 10 inches high.

Figure 33

Dowsing showed that this stone was one of 4 stones in a circle, 3 of the stones being on the north arc (Fig. 33). Lines of force came from them to an elliptical shape in the centre 3 feet 2 inches north-south by 2 feet 2 inches east-west; there was a total response from the rod within this shape.

It was surrounded by a circle of 5 stones, the very large stone on the south-west having a response from the rod which showed that it could have been composed of 2 flankers 3 feet 11 inches and 4 feet 6 inches broad respectively with a recumbent between them 7 feet 8 inches broad. Lines of force came from all the stones to the rim of the inner circle as shown, with a total response from the recumbent and its flankers.

There was a concentric circle of energy round these stone circles.

It is interesting to note that all the stones except the recumbent and its flankers were roughly opposite to their counterparts in each circle.

The width of the “tram lines” of the inner circle are from 2 feet 7 inches in the north to 5 feet 9 inches in the south, giving an average of 4 feet. The width of the “tram lines” in the outer circle range from 3 feet 7 inches in the north to 3 feet 2 inches in the south giving an average of 3 feet 6 inches.

Gaval. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 981515).

On high ground on a field with a very good view of the surrounding countryside stands a stone which is the last remaining stone of a stone circle reputed to have been a recumbent stone circle. Its basal girth is 9 feet 6 inches, at the top it is 5 feet 1 inch;

Figure 34

it stands 4 feet 10 inches above the ground. Its north end is rounded and the others are sharp. As its broadest base lies due north and south it is thought that the area of the circle lay at the east of the stone. It is composed of whinstone.It is locally reported that there was a recumbent and 3 others on this site until 1872 when they were destroyed; the recumbent, which was very large, was shattered with gunpowder.

The dowsing pattern showed 6 stones in a circle (Fig. 34) which did not conform to the pattern of a recumbent stone circle. Three of the stones were quite large with the largest - 15 feet 6 inches broad - on the north-west. The shape of the circle confirmed that the major part of it lay to the east of the stone.

Lines came from each stone to a circular shape in the centre with a diameter of 10 feet 5 inches. An unusual feature is that there was a total response from the rod going from 2 of the stones as shown in Fig. 33 to the circular shape, reminiscent of that from a recumbent and its flankers. Had these 2 segments any special significance in the rituals that went on in the circle? It was noticeable that there were no stones within 13 feet of each other so there could not have been any flankers. Is this type of circle unique?

The average width of the stones was 5 feet 2 inches.

There were 2 concentric circles of energy. A water course was detected running through the west side of the circle, its nearest distance from the stone being 7 feet 8 inches.

Balhaggardy, Chapel of Garioch. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 759243).

Two miles from the town of Inverurie, on the east side of the site of the Battle of Harlaw (1411), lies the sole remaining stone of a stone circle. Exposure to the elements and to the rubbing of cattle finally took its toll when it fell in May 1999, splitting into 3 large sections. This stone, made of whinstone, had been 6 feet 7 inches high, its greatest girth being about 14 feet. On its north side were 24 cup-marks which are difficult to observe due to their shallowness. These are scattered over the stone with the exception of 4 near the base which are placed in a horizontal line. There is a single cup-mark in the middle of the base.

Figure 35

Fig. 35 shows the dowsing pattern which indicates a circle of 7 stones including the surviving stone. The stone on the south-east had a variation from the rod throughout its length which could mean that it was composed of a recumbent with flankers touching it. This was confirmed by observing the lines from each stone to an elliptical shape of energy at the centre of the circle ( 8 feet 1 inch north-south by 7 feet east-west); there was a segment of complete reaction from this stone to the centre like that of a recumbent and its flankers. Its position on the south-east is uncommon. Its combined length make it the longest in the circle although it appears that the supposed recumbent is not as long as the rest of the stones.There was little variation in the width of the “tram lines”, the average width being 4 feet 7 inches.

There were 2 large concentric circles of energy found as shown in Fig. 34.

It can therefore be supposed that this is a recumbent stone circle composed of a recumbent and 9 stones.

Monkshill Standing Stone. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 799417)

On a flat field, 450 feet above sea level, stands a stone which is reputed to be the remains of a stone circle.

It is finely set, tapering from a broad base of 8 feet 4 inches in girth to a height of 6 feet 8 inches. Its longest side of 2 feet 8 inches trends north-north-east and, if extended, would touch the summit of Oxen Craig on the Hill of Bennachie, which is the real summit and not, as commonly supposed, the Mither Tap.

Figure 36

The dowsing pattern showed a recumbent stone circle of 8 stones including the recumbent (Fig. 36). The variations in the rod in responding to the longest stone indicated a recumbent and 2 flankers; this was confirmed by the segment of response from this stone to the centre of the circle. It is not common for a recumbent and its flankers to be found on the east side.

The central elliptical shape measured 5 feet 6 inches north-south by 7 feet east-west and contained an area of total response from the rod.

An unusual feature was the small distance from the stone on the south to the edge of the central area, i.e. 4 feet.

The “tram lines” had an average width of 4 feet 6 inches, the largest width being that of the recumbent and its flankers, i.e. 6 feet 2 inches.

There was a concentric circle of response found as shown in Fig. 36.

The Grenago Stone. (O.S. Map Reference NJ 824286).

This solitary stone stands in the middle of a golf course (Old Meldrum) and has no recorded associations with a stone circle.

“Grenago” means “groaning” and gets its name from the despairing cries heard from the Earl of Buchan at the stone when he fled from the Battle of Barra in 1308, his men being routed by King Robert the Bruce.

Image 37

Fig. 37 shows the dowsing pattern pointing to a comparatively small recumbent stone circle of 7 stones including the recumbent. The variation of the rod`s response to the longest stone indicates a recumbent and its flankers close together; this was confirmed by the segment of energy between it and the centre of the circle where there is an elliptical shape measuring 10 feet 2 inches east-west by 8 feet 6 inches north-south.

The stone on the east of the circle was very close to the central area, i.e. 2 feet.

It is unusual for the recumbent and its flankers to be in the north-east.

These previous examples of standing stones show them, according to the dowsing pattern, to be part of stone circles and the position of the other stones could be found. As many stone circles have disappeared completely but their sities have been recorded, it should be possible by dowsing these areas to gain information regarding the type of circles which were there.

Dowsing for Patterns of the Past - Chapter 4 - The Stone Circle Pattern (1) Complete Stone Circles

posted in Spirituality, Forteana by tim at 7:13 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2007

The starting point for dowsing Stone Circles was with those that had stood up to the ravages of time and were intact. Some of these had been untouched throughout the centuries while others, whose stones had fallen in the past, had been restored to their former glory by those who were concerned about this ancient legacy.

Loanhead of Daviot (O.S. Map Reference NJ 747288).

This is a circle composed of a massive recumbent, two flankers and eight stones as shown in Fig. 16A with an internal ring cairn having kerb-stones round its outer circumference but none round its inner.

The recumbent, which weighs 12 tons, had been fractured lengthways by frost and is set West-North-West and East-North-East. While flankers are usually self-supporting with their long and straight sides adjacent to the recumbent, here they have short or “curved” sides adjacent to the recumbent but they are leaning on it. The apices of both flankers have been removed. The stone beside the east flanker has a vertical line of 12 cup-marks on the side facing the inner centre of the circle. Around each standing stone (other than the flankers) are small stone cuttings, some containing charcoal and pottery sherds; these were also round the recumbent.

The circle dates from the centuries after 3000 B.C. Its diameter is 68 feet and those of the ring cairn and the open centre are 54 feet and 13 feet 6 inches respectively.

Excavations have shown the stone circle to have been used initially for cremation burials. The area within the circle had then been heavily burnt; this probably cleared the area before human burials and the construction of the ring cairn over them. Five pounds weight of burnt bone, including 50 skull fragments of young children), were found within potholes in the central space. The circle, cairn, and central space have three different centres with a variance of a few feet between each other and this suggests different periods of laying-out.

Figures 16a and 16b

The movement of the moon through the southern sky was framed by the recumbent and its flankers. The outlier stones may have been used for stellar observations associated with the ritual and life of the people who built the circle.

This stone circle fell out of use about 2000 B.C.

The Cremation Cemetery (Fig. 16B), a few yards to the south-east of the circle, was probably in use about 1500 B.C. It is the first of its type and the first to be found adjacent to a stone circle. Circular cemeteries could have been a transition, as the Bronze Age progressed, from the round cairn where the dead were buried, to a flat burial ground.

It was bounded by a small ditch (now marked by small stones) which was interrupted in two places to provide entry to the cemetery within and on the North side to avoid the cist and its covering cairn which originally was there (the arc is now filled with stones). In the central pit were the partially cremated remains of a man clutching a stone pendant. The cremated remains of a further 31 were also discovered, 8 of them young children. This cemetery would have been used for a few generations for the interment of a small family group of individuals.

The results of the dowsing of the stone circle are shown in Fig. 17A. The rod showed two circles enclosing all the stones with responses indicating the length and breadth of each stone and its location. From each stone a line was detected going towards the centre of the circle. The recumbent had a triangle of energy going from its length to the circle’s centre. Outside the stone circle was another larger circle (not shown on Fig. 17A) which was 20 feet from the recumbent and as near as 6 feet from the stones on the opposite side.

The rest of the area, excluding the cemetery, was dowsed and nothing was detected, even from the outliers.

Figures 17a and 17b

On dowsing the cemetery, the pattern shown in Fig. 17B was found. It could be that the enclosed centre which had no response within from the rod, roughly coincided with the central pit enclosing the partially cremated body, or it might have been the crematory pyre. The straight lines shown may have been the places used for storing bodies before cremation on the adjacent pyre. All this is conjecture and as this circular cemetery is uncommon in the North East of Scotland, there are few opportunities to compare it with another.

However, the stone circle pattern can be compared, and this will now be done.

Dyce (Tyrebagger) (O.S. Map Reference NJ 860133).

Dyce (or Tyrebagger) Recumbent Stone Circle stands on a low stony bank on the shoulder of a hill with a panoramic view of the valley of the river Don, the coast and the sea. It consists of ten stones of red granite quarried locally and a massive recumbent stone, 10 feet long and rising to a point 10 feet 6 inches high, made of dark grey granite and weighing 24 tons. The stones are graded in height from 4 feet 4 inches in the north up to the tall flankers 9 feet 6 inches and ii feet high.

The diameter of the circle is 60 feet across and within it is a fragmentary ring cairn 38 feet in diameter. It dates from the 3rd - 2nd millennium B.C.

On dowsing the circle a pattern was found in Fig. 18 which was the same as that of Loanhead of Daviot except that the lines from each stone did not go to the centre of the circle but terminated in an elliptical shape as shown. Perhaps this was the area of a funeral pyre, the ashes being buried underneath the ring cairn.

Figure 18

The other difference from that of Loanhead of Daviot is that there were two outer circles as shown instead of one. The reason for this is unknown.

Easter Aquorthies (O.S. Map Reference NJ 732208).

Easter Aquorthies Recumbent Stone Circle stands on a hillside and is composed of a recumbent, two flankers and nine other stones with two massive blocks set at right angles to the recumbent making a “reserved” area in front; this latter feature is sometimes known as a “platform” but which may be a representation of a passage in a chambered tomb, the lowering of the recumbent into its position being a ritualistic way of closing the passage.

The recumbent is 12 feet 6 inches long and 4 feet 6 inches high of red granite veined with quartz brought from the nearby hill of Bennachie. The flankers are of grey granite and stand 7 feet 6 inches high. The other nine stones are of pinkish porphyry except the stone to the east of the east flanker which is of red jasper. The stones are graded in height from the tall flankers to the 5 feet 5 inches high stones on the circumference opposite. The second stone west of the recumbent has the same shape as that of the Mither Tap of Bennachie Hill.

The ring is not quite circular measuring 60 feet 6 inches by 59 feet 6 inches and this makes it early in the series of recumbent stone circles and in the third millennium B.C.

In the interior of the circle is a mound hollowed at its centre; this is all that remains of a central cairn; the smaller kerbs and the stones of the kerb are gone. A cist was discovered within the cairn in 1934.

Fig. 19 shows the pattern found by dowsing which conforms to the previous pattern except that the lines from all stones but two ended in an elliptical shape, the two others terminating in an ovoid shape (4 feet 7 inches by 4 feet 11 inches) which had an opening 2 feet 2 inches wide. The ellipse may indicate a funeral pyre, the ovoid shape could be a small structure built to hold something connected with the ceremonies performed there. There was no opportunity to find if there were any large circles surrounding the ring.

Figure 19

Sunhoney (O.S. Map Reference NJ 715056).

This Recumbent Stone Circle dates from the third or second millennium and is composed of a recumbent, two flankers and nine other stones (similar to Easter Aquorthies) on a low rubble bank up to 3 feet 3 inches high. The recumbent is composed of grey granite and has fallen over on its inner side, bring partly broken; it is 14 feet 9 inches long and weighs over 12 tons. This stone contains 31 cup-marks of the usual plain type without encircling rings mainly on the eastern side of the stone which makes it one of the three most heavily-marked stones in Aberdeenshire. The rings have been confirmed as man-made. The recumbent is aligned towards the minimum full mid-summer moon.

The other stones are of reddish granite or gneiss. Within them are traces of a low ring cairn.

Fig. 20 shows the dowsing pattern obtained, a feature being that lines were detected going from all the stones to a point at the centre where there was a very strong reaction by the rod. In 1875, when this central space was excavated, eight deposits of burnt bones were found, most of the small stones unearthed were fire marked. It was noticeable that the triangular area between the flankers and recumbent and the centre of the circle gave a continuous reaction (similar to the recumbent stone circles at Loanhead of Daviot, Dyce and Easter Aquorthies).

Figure 20

So far the circles considered are recumbent stone circles which possessed a similar energy pattern by dowsing. The next circle is not a recumbent stone circle - how would this affect the pattern.

Cullerlie (O.S. Map Reference NJ 785043).

The circle at Cullerlie is set on a ridge of gravel running into the plain of Leuchar Moss. This area was originally levelled before the stones were erected and then the ground was burnt, perhaps as a method of ritual purification. Eight tall stones of course-grained pinkish granite are placed round the circle increasing in height to the north. The highest stone on the north side is 6 feet high and the smallest is only 3 feet 7 inches high. The diameter of the circle is 33 feet 5 inches and the average distance between the stones is 9 feet 6 inches.

There is a large kerb cairn in the centre with a double row, each of 11 kerb stones round its circumference. Around it there are 7 small kerb cairns each, except one, (at the south-south-west), having 11 kerb stones on its perimeter, the exception having only 9. A pit had been dug in the centre of the central ring and used as a fire pit; calcined human bones were found here in addition to oak charcoal.

Six of the surrounding cairns contained cremated bone deposits. The fact that oak charcoal was found in 5 cairns and hazel charcoal found in one other cairn could indicate that not all the deposits were made at the same time. The cairn to the west of the central cairn contained a fire pit covered by a capstone as indeed was the central cairn.

There had been an outlying stone 3 or 4 yards from the west of the circle and was 5 feet high but this had been taken away. None other stones of similar dimensions to that of the circle were reputed to have been to the south-west, but no trace remains of these.

This restored circle is seen as a later development of the recumbent stone tradition in central Aberdeenshire and dated from the second millennium B.C.

On dowsing the circle the pattern was found with almost circular “tram lines” and reactions found from each stone. Lines were detected from each stone to the centre of the circle ending in a small circular shape of 4 feet 3 inches in diameter as shown in Fig. 21. Each line passed through one ring cairn round the central cairn except two on the east which passed through the same ring cairn. There was a strong response from the centre of the circle.

The area of the previous outlying stone was dowsed with no reaction. However, when the area to the south-west was covered there were responses from the rod which indicated 3 stones in the positions shown in Fig. 21.

Figure 21

Perhaps if a wider area had been dowsed more would have been found.

Backhill of Dracklaw East (O.S. Map Reference NJ 672463).

The small complete circle of large stones at Backhill of Dracklaw East has stones graded to the south-west. The two smallest stones are at the north and south and if these were removed a good 4-poster would be left. Three stones fill up the north arc and three the south arc. The stones are of whinstone with veins and pebbles of quartz in them, the largest stone with a band of quartz encircling it like a “rope of crystal”. The stone on the east is broken. An unusual feature is that not all the broadest faces of the stones face the centre of the circle.The dowsing pattern was found as in Fig. 22. The small elliptical area in the centre had no reaction within it to the rod and possibly was used for the interment of cremated bones.

Figure 22

Although every stone had a line from it to the ellipse, only two of them - the stone lying outside the “tram lines” on the north and the stone on the east - showed a response from the rod. Does this mean that the other stones were not the originals? It is known that in recent times a stone had been placed in the circle.

A much larger concentric circle of response was obtained by dowsing as shown.

Craighead, Badentoy (O.S. Map Reference NO 911977).

On a dyked mound (60 feet across by 2 feet 6 high) stands this small stone setting of 4 stones of local reddish granite which stands near to the cardinal points of the compass. The stones reduce in height from 7 feet 5 inches in the south clockwise to 4 feet in the east which is typical of 4-posters. Their rectangle measures about 28 feet north-south by 24 feet east-west.

There has been considerable change in this circle through the years. Prior to 1850 the stones appear to have been taken down for the use of the land and later re-erected. In 1858 there were only 3 stones. In 1875 one observer noted 6 stones with a gap in the south-east quadrant and a central stone. The iron rings for a flagpole’s guy ropes were still attached to the stones in 1899.

In spite of these changes the dowsing pattern in Fig. 23 fits the position of the stones as original. All of the stones are within the “tram lines” and lines were found to go from each of them to an ellipse in the centre which may indicate the location of a funeral pyre or interment of ashes. The larger concentric circle was found as shown.

Figure 23

The examination of these complete stone circles by dowsing shows a common pattern with stones in the “tram lines”, lines from each stone to the centre of the circle or to a circular shape in the centre which may indicate a small building or a specific use (e.g. interment of ashes) and one or two larger concentric circles.

The recumbent stone circles have the segment between the flankers and recumbent and the centre giving a response from the rod which points to an important purpose for it.

Would incomplete stone circles show any response from the rod to the missing stones? In the next chapter we examine this possibility.

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