untold stories in stone
This is a tale about a chapel, a saint and a bishop and rather surprisingly in that context, a tale about destruction, castration and a proud heart. The Isle of Skye at its wildest! The tale unfolds on graveyard on a small island in the river Snizort , just a few miles off Portree, and... Continue Reading →
a prince drowned, a church gone and a Loch renamed The Isle of Skye boasts an overwhelming richness of meaningful place names coming out of two linguistic sources: Gaelic and Old Norse, the latter because of the invading Viking forces. Norse names can be found all over the island but mainly along the coast where the Viking... Continue Reading →
Alastair mor a' Bhochdain – Big Sandy of the Ghost Sandy was an enormous man, powerful and commanding and he was a gifted man – he could foretell the future, or rather: he knew somebody who could... Big Sandy lived in Munerigie, just a short walk away from Invergarry House where he used to come... Continue Reading →
The following lines were read in 1746 in Kilmore churchyard: If Heaven be pleased when sinners cease to sin, If Hell be pleased when sinners enter in, If Earth be pleased to quit a truckling knave, Then all be pleased; Macdonald’s in his grave. Otta F. Swire: Skye - The Island & its Legends, Birlinn;... Continue Reading →
Midmar, Aberdeenshire, rich farming land in Scotland's rural East. On first sight no particularly special place, no touch of holiness, not mythical or magical. It takes a second look to see what has been. This is a sacred place and has been for thousands of years. Midmar Stone Circle A stone circle dating back as... Continue Reading →
Adam and Eve Stones Fruit is not one of the first thoughts that spring to mind when it comes to cemeteries. Forbidden fruit is a different matter for it is part of Christian belief. Once taken from the tree of the knowledge of the good and the evil, it might not be deadly it but... Continue Reading →
Kildrummy old churchyard bathed in summer sunlight, a beautiful place to be and to rest. Final resting place graves are often called. coffin carrying rite Kildrummy is more than more than a final resting place for the dead. It was also very much a resting place for the living, especially the men carrying the coffins,... Continue Reading →
Logie Durno old burial ground The Dalrymple Horn Elphinstone burial enclosure is certainly one of the most attractive in rural Scotland, built just after 1798 on Logie Durno (meaning old or hollow place) old parish church yard, an impressive memento for a rich family. The Western façade is dominated by a typical large and looming pointed... Continue Reading →
Sunhoney Stone Circle Stone circles, intriguing markers of a civilization gone for thousands of years. Little is known of their customs and beliefs. What remains are the intriguing circular arrangements – a considerable number along the River Dee. Sunhoney is one of about a hundred in Aberdeenshire, just above the Sunhoney Farmhouse. Its beauty lies... Continue Reading →
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