My heritage society comrade had doublebooked himself and hence could not join the excursion so we resecheduled and I went to visit the Pictish power centre of Rhynie instead. It did not disappoint! Before moving up here, I didn’t know much beyond the blue-painted dreadlocked warrior stereotype of the Picts. Unsurprisingly, things turn out to be more nuanced than that – despite leaving almost no written records and us not knowing anything of their language, more and more is being discovered about from their culture. Current thinking is that their kingdom was based in Moray (stands to reason ofc). Burghead was a stronghold, in fact back then it would basically have been a fortified island surrounded by water or shifting sands and recent investigations have shown Tap o’ Noth was a major hill fort which housed hundreds of people.
I set off in the morning with an assortment of maps plus extra socks. Near to Tillytarmont, I noticed two large stones embedded in a wall beside the B9022 at Cairnhill. I was considering stopping to have a look, then came to Whitestones farm, so I turned off. The farm has two lovely white stones at gateposts … and little did I realise this was actually my first planned stop, since despite packing extra socks my brain obviously wasn’t fully activated yet. So I drove for no god reason down towards Milltown of Rothiemay and gasped with joy to see the place where the rivers Deveron and the Isla meet. After the snowmelt, water levels were high, so I stopped to enjoy the mighty waters, much like the ancients used to do. I had by this point forgotten about the Tilytarmont stones!
Moving on, I wanted to see the Arnhill former stone circle and its ringing recumbent, but couldn’t find a place to stop on the busy road. I considered backtracking but decided to keep on going, to Rhynie. Today a sleepy village, 1500 years ago Rhynie was a thriving Pictish hub. I stopped at the square to ogle the small stones, but I must confess I didn’t get out of the car, which even at the time felt very lazy. I was close to the old churchyard where the sones sounded more promising, so I beetled onwards. At the end of a track, 2.5 pictish stones nestle in a roofed enclosure. Having watched a lovely wee film about the symbols yesterday, it was very cool to see them in reality! I then bimbled through the graveyard, trying to find the route up to the Craw Stane. Then I saw it peeking over the hill, compelte with obligatory crow sitting on it – ah the craw stane, right – so I jumped the churchwayrd wall and went route one up thrugh the field.
Approaching the Craw stane from this direction was ace since i’d already forgttoen about tehb A-road and was enjoyimg the raging burn, the autumnal colours of the trees, the crisp air and the crows flapping about. Recent excavataions that the stone marked the entance to a large enclosed building, where people lived and metal working was carried out using recovered tools and moulds. Amazing!
But wait, there’s more. The Rhynie man was found here toppld down the hill near the burn and he now lives at the council offices, in Aberdeen. As the farmer in the film says, at least it’s not in Edinburgh.
Nobody really knows what these stones mean. This mystery of course sucks me in. The various theiories don’t sound that credible to be honest and prob deserve a separate blogpost. Tearing up the plan since that’s what we do with plans, I decided i wasn’t in the mood for the nearby ruined recumbemnt stones circles, so i went to Insch instead. It’s always a pleasure to see Dunnydeer Hill; I purchashed edible goods then ate them whilst looking at the old churchyard. I also sent a postcard tio Basque country for THREE POUNDS and a book to Vienna for THIRTEEN POUNDS. Crazy prices for postage nowadays – RIP printed matter rates and other scams.
On the way to Insch after driving past Armdore distilery, I saw a huge amazing ruined house. This was Wardhouse, I must go back to have a loook at that before it gets develooped. After lunch I decided to try to find the Maiden Stone (again). This time I found it, but it was however hibernating under a big green cover to protect it from the cold. Shame for me, but the stone must be loving it and I’ll return another time.
Just as I was plannig a route to the Picardy stone, the Old Rayne stone circle popped up so I headed there next. Alan Callow’s blog has a nice writeup of the place and the circle, I’ll just add that despite there not being much left of the circle, it’s in a splendid location with views over to Bennachie. [TMA] And there’s a cool derelict hotel in the village.
Finally then, I took a lovely drive through old beech trees on a sunny lane to the Picardy Stone, which stands peacefully in a field in full view of Bennachie. It was the end of the day and I asked myself what theories about the Pictish stones were closest to be truth.
NONE OF THEM! roared the stone THE PAST IS STILL TO BE WRITTEN!
And with these words ringing in my ears, I went home to plan more explorations.
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