Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Scotland - More Standing Stones

I first wrote about standing stones here.  I mentioned in that post how interested I was in seeing them.

Let me share some of the others we found.




This cross though not as ancient as other standing stones is a unique 18 ft high Runic Cross that stands in the apse in a Ruthwell Church about 10 miles from Dumfries, Scotland.  To enter the church the sign on the door said to go to the church manse.  There was a little box with a large skeleton key that opened the church.


 




















The Lonely Planet guide said this writing in a Saxon runic alphabet is one of the earliest examples of English language literature.



The inscription was written by Caedmon in the seventh century AD.
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That same afternoon we found the Torhouse Stone Circle outside of Wigtown.


This well preserved ruin dates from the 2nd millennium BC.


It's fenced off from farm fields.











Across the road were these 3 stones - totally out of place in the field but probably moved there in ancient times.

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When we visited JM Barrie's home town of Kirriemuir and experiencing the camera obscura he donated to the town we were directed to this standing stone.







I had Dan stand next to it so you can see the height of it.


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We learned about cup stones when we visited the Crannog Centre and were shown how these holes could have been made.

Why stones have them is not known.



If you were walking and came upon this stone you'd probably think like I did that its made by erosion.  These cups were made by humans 3000 to 5000 years ago.


I still have so much more to share.  I hope I can do that before we're off on another trip to Europe in 2018.


10 comments:

  1. I love the inside of that church...I need to come back and visit when I can absorb all that is in this post. It is one of those times my mind is whirling in so many directions.

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  2. The interior of the church is lovely!

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  3. ...Marcia, what historical treasures! It's easy to see why so many building are made is stone. It looks like you had a wonderful trip, thanks for sharing.

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  4. How interesting..... I can understand why you are so interested in the Standing Stones..... I would love that also....

    That cross is MARVELOUS... All of that detail is truly amazing... Wow.

    And the Cup Stones are interesting also.... Thanks so much for sharing.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  5. This is so interesting. Scotland is definitely on our bucket list. Unforttunately, we live so far from Europe.

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  6. I am fascinated by the history of such places. I love that you can still see the carvings on the cross. Great post!

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  7. Looks like you enjoyed yourselves, anyway! The legendary Caedmon was a poet - http://bitaboutbritain.com/give-us-song-caedmon/ If you like standing stones and prehistory, maybe you should put Dartmoor on your 'to visit' list, if you haven't already. And/or - far be it for me to encourage folk to travel anywhere other than Britain, but the standing stones at Carnac in Brittany are amazing.

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  8. A good trip and a place I should visit if I get up there. It is good the cross survived and was restored to be placed in the church or it could hav ebeen lost. There are quite a few standing stones in Wales and my favoriet stone circle is Avebury, not so far from Stonehenge

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