I have never been close enough to standing stones and I had reached that point of wanting to do something about it. I asked around and Kilmartin was recommended. So off we went, myself, Bailey and our new friend John, who is very handy with a map - always good since my sense of direction is a little off at times. The journey took us through the Trossachs, which is wild with an array of colour from burnt oranges, reds aglow with the morning sun, and golden yellows. The mountains, which surround us on the road, cocoon us on our journey separating us off from the noisy chaotic world. Here you can breathe clean fresh air that fills your soul and makes your heart sing. The journey is enough to heal you from your heavy burdens of life.

Two and half-hours later we reach our destination feeling hungry, and Bailey chomping at the bit to start our adventure. The scenery is beautiful but very rocky. Scotland was covered by ice from 26,000 to 10,000 years ago, with it warming briefly between 13,500 and 11,000 years ago. It was this ice and the melting conditions that shaped Kilmartin Valley. The flat valley landscape is made up mainly of bog - the Moine Mhor -, which stretches, from Crinan to Kilmartin. It has been valued for its spiritual, scientific, recreational and economic qualities and it is believed that this area was occupied as far back as the Mesolithic Age (6,000 to 4,000 BC). From the air as you look over the land, you see it has been fossilised over the centuries as man has made his home here. You see the array of standing stones and the ancient cairns as well as a couple of castles and forts with rock carvings.

We start our adventure with the old churchyard. The church is small and closed up. Within the graveyard is a glass-covered building where gravestones have been arranged in chronological order from the 1300s through to late 1700s. Many of these gravestones depict men with swords, spears and claymores - the large double-edged sword used by Scottish Highlanders during the 16th century. These stones are all taller than me, some reaching over 6ft. There is one with what appears to be a knight engraved on the stone. Some have elaborate Celtic knot works and some have flowers, spirals and lettering. Others are very plain with just a sword engraved. The gravestones themselves around the church date right up to the present day. They are tiered around the churchyard; north facing, an impressive sight as people drive up the hill towards Kilmartin.

We were then eager to move onto the cairns. First we came across Glebe Cairn, a rounded pile of stones in a field full of sheep, situated behind the museum. We had a job to get to this cairn as we had to climb through a fence and then down a steep muddy slope. Then in the middle of this field, there sitting quietly is our first cairn. This burial cairn dates back to 2000 and 1500BC. It is the most northerly point of all of the cairns and stones which stretch over a mile long. This cairn is the head of the five in a line. Rev. Greenwell carried out an excavation in 1864, and under the cairn he found two rings of stones and two burial cists (grave built with stone slabs. These are found in cairns and sometimes uncovered in groups). One cist was found to contain a fine pottery vessel with an intricately decorated base and a jet necklace. Now I had always thought cairns were small domed mounds of stones where one person would have been buried. This pile of stones came as a bit of a surprise. But still, wow! It rises quite high and its circumference is large, so many people must have been laid to rest here.

We then move onto Nether Largie North Cairn, which enters at the northeast, which is the same for all cairns of this type. Passage tombs from Ireland however, enter from the southeast and the circles in Aberdeen have theirs at the southwest.  I found this a little more exciting as we were allowed to enter this one. It had a heavy metal trap door at the top, which you have to slide across to enter. There are rock steps leading down and it is quite small once you enter here. It has a cist in the centre with its rock slab sitting against the wall. It has marking on the slab, so the information guide tells us, but it is facing the wall. I am not feeling quite like the Hulk today to try and move it to see, so I just touch it, imagining the hands that placed it here originally. It is damp and very cold in here but there is light shining down through a square piece of glass put in so visitors can see something. However it is still too dark to get any pictures. Joseph Craw who found a large bank surrounding a large central cist excavated it in 1930. The cists' cover was decorated with carved axe heads and cup marks but all that remained inside was charcoal, ochre and a human tooth. The cairn was recently rebuilt so we could enter it, which makes it even more fun! I tried to get Bailey to the top but (don't tell him I told you this as it's our secret) he is a bit of a wuss at times. He didn't like the feeling of the smooth pebble-like stones and his little paws were sliding as he made two (yes two) steps. He then sat and cried while I went in. As I came out he ran around and around the cairn trying to find a way of getting to me, with no luck. However this did make the other tourists laugh at his silly antics. Bless him. Ho hum, moving on.

We then had a little walk to the next cairn. This was the Nether Largie Mid Cairn - Joseph Craw who found two cists excavated this middle cairn in 1929. However neither of them contained artifacts, but one was decorated with carvings of axe heads and the other was grooved so that the end slabs could be neatly inserted into the side slabs. The circumference of this cairn was the biggest but its centre wasn't as tall. The stones were all dotted about. As you walk round you can see the impressions on the earth where it was rounded and dug into the earth and how nature has tried to change to hide its scars. There are wee mounds strewn across this site with large pieces of rock. People had come along and used the stones here to help build roads and field drains. There was another cairn between this one and the South Largie cairn but that has been completely destroyed by people taking away the stones for use elsewhere.

Once again Bailey found this to be great fun, running round like a bat out of hell, round and round the cairn he went while I took photos. You could see some faces in the stones where moss has settled there and age and weather has worn in a face. Still as you walk around you do wonder what other unseen faces watch you as you look at their last resting place.

At the rear, a cist in shown with its rock slab held up above it with a metal frame. It is so small you wonder at the size of the person who would be here. Or would their remains have been held like the ancient Egyptians in a pot with their possessions they would wish to take to the Otherworld? I tried to get Bailey to sit in there for me but he's not that daft and I can't blame him - a lost photo opportunity but a happier puppy-dog. There was one little dandelion growing by a rock and I just had to take a picture of it, one little ray of sunshine where nothing but the grass grows maybe taking its light to those beyond the ground.

Then on to the next cairn! Unfortunately Bailey was not allowed in this one so he had to watch from afar. He really didn't like being left behind and told everyone within earshot including the cattle. The Nether Largie South Cairn is different. While the other cairns consist of cists covered by stones, Nether Largie south is more substantial with stone chambers carefully built to receive the bones of the dead over several generations. It is the oldest cairn there dating back 3,000BC but it was also used later for burial cists. The cairn was excavated in 1864 and evidence was discovered of other burial practices. Pots and beakers were also used to hold the remains of the dead, and once again, arrows, however, this was done several hundred years later.

This one had the usual circle of stones around it but you could see it had a grassy roof. As I walked round I came across its entrance as you can see in the picture, rock slabs creating a square opening for you to step down into frame it. There is a hole at the back so you can still get plenty of light. As you look down at your feet you can see where the cists sat next to each other but now appear to be filled in. Once again as you feel the stones it is cold and damp but I found it weirdly comforting. Maybe because people were not buried on their own in some of these cases, so that changes the energy slightly.

We walked on further to Temple woods. As you walk closer you can see why it has that name. There is a circle of trees around the stones. Trying to hide them or keep them secret? Protected? Obviously the trees were planted here after the construction of the stones. It has a very beautiful energy about it. Gentle, deep and old. I did sense some of the fey living here around some of the trees as I would imagine this area is very attractive to them - they stayed in the cracks of the trees and moss covered mounds. The Temple Woods Circles are estimated to be about 5,000 years old!! The site itself was used for over 2000 years. The northern setting was in wood originally and was erected first, then replaced, at least partially, by stone, to observe the movement of the sun. People then started to build another circle in the south in about 3,000BC. Burials in cists were added several hundred years later. Once again pottery was found in the cists as well as flint arrowheads, and ninth century coins. The cist itself was still in use from about 1400BC.

The southern circle was a mixture of everything. There were stones piled low to the ground with standing stones in a circle inside. Right in the centre were two cists. The northernmost stone has a spiral marking on it, which may be connected to Sun worship. I tried to take a picture of this but it isn't clear enough. The first cairns were places outside of the circle around 2000BC. It may have been that the centre of the circle was still scared. The cairns were flat topped and contained stone cists. A child's body was found in one and maybe an archer in the other with flints and arrowheads. The centre cairns were built about 1400-1200BC. The stones were added years after the standing stones were placed there, adding support to its foundations and to help cover the cairns. A cremation was left on top of the centre cairn.

I decided to try and tune in and think about my interpretation of the stones. I couldn't do it for long as it was such a nice day and there were lots of people about. If I looked too silly for too long, I would suddenly find myself as the new attraction. So I touched the stone and tried to connect with it. I felt, first of all so, so grounded. Which is an understatement. I have never felt anything like this before in all my experiences in meditation. I felt the connection deep within the earth, deeper than the tree roots go; deeper still. I suddenly felt a falling sensation as I fell deeper but it was in a spiral and saw time and how it is obsolete. It means nothing and everything here. It is hard to put into words. I asked what were the stones were used for? I was given the impression they were used to protect and guide the souls. This spiral is a portal to the Otherworld, a light that guides you, draws you in. Where you see everything and gain Illumination. It would be used for those who have passed and those seeking to Journey through, the practice of what some would call meditation these days. However they would leave their earth bound bodies and travel following this path of light in its spiral formation to commune with their gods and gain some of their wisdom. I can see how people of long ago could see these stones as almost our ancients, when you consider how old they are and all they have seen. How they will out live us and still stand there watching, as the Earth rotates and changes. As they stand there, they do have a presence, which demands a respect. I could imagine people almost making a pilgrimage here to listen to their gods and offer what they could to Mother Earth. I would imagine that in some places they would be used to determine the cycles of the skies as it watched us from above. For these stones hold all the wisdom we would want to possess.

The northern circle was the original circle before it was replaced by the southern. At one time they were used in conjunction with each other while the other cairns and stones of Kilmartin were being built. Eventually the northern circle was covered in peat as was most of the valley. It was only discovered when the southern circle was being excavated in the 1970's. Before 3000BC the timber structure was created. Eventually they replaced the timber with stones and then gave up on this site to create the circle next to it. A stone had been placed in the centre. Once again, experts think this was to mark the movement of the sun.

Alignments have been deducted with midwinter sunrise, sunrise on the winter quarter days, the full moons major northern standstill and moonrise at the minor standstills. But with the arrangement of stones there will be at least one alignment with a celestial event. So it is difficult to prove. The entrance to these sites looks out to the sky and beyond to death for nearly all were used for the disposal and celebration of the dead. This way was used to symbolically link the journey from life to death and perhaps the movement of the sun, moon and stars.

Monuments in the landscape were designed to take on special qualities at specific times. They would be lit at different times of the month/ year etc by the sun in a particular way at dawn or midwinter. This way they linked the land, the cycles of nature and the poles of life and death, thus helping to orientate people in time and place.

After a while of taking in this amazing site we marched on to the Nether Largie Stones. They are estimated to be around 3,500 years old, and comprise of two pairs of upright stones with four or five stones in between them. Three of the stones have the cup and circle markings on them. I also could see a hand but maybe that's just me. Experts think that these stones were used in conjunction with the temple wood stones as lunar observatory in the second millennium BC. The investigation into these megalithic sites continues. As we entered this field Bailey had to be kept on a very short lead. The sheep here were not like the other ones in the Glebe cairn field. Oh no. These ones were curious about Bailey, to the extent that they were circling us staring intently at him. I think if I hadn't have known they were vegetarian I would have been very worried. They just kept staring at him. They weren't interested in us, but they looked at him as if he were prey. Right up until Bailey was starting to feel anxious with this attention and gave them a good loud bark, which made them move on a little bit. Still with a safer distance between them and Bails they continued to stare at him. I think these must be the devil sheep I have heard so much about. You have been warned. Enter at your own risk. Luckily none of them chased us (this does happen by the way. A vicious one chased my sister all round the garden once; until she fell down the bank and made her escape that way). Keeping one eye on the sheep I continued to take pictures. Bailey did a lovely pose with my favourite of the standing stones, which was covered in moss and had the cup and ring marking complete with what I think looks like a hand print. There was something special about its presence.

Then unfortunately time was getting on for us and it is a long drive back home so we started to make our way back to the car along the main road. It was a beautiful setting and we were happy just taking it all in. We saw a heron fly out from one of the bushes from the roadside as a truck went by and obviously frightened it. I say heron, but I am not entirely sure. It was light grey with long legs it tucked under itself and flew slowly with grace. I saw it twice on our climb back up. Then as we were just over halfway up, hidden in the trees on our side of the road was this secret moss covered rock fortress. A rich green covered everything you could see. It was absolutely huge! Trees grew from the top and entwined somehow with the rock. Hardly any light could get through. It mainly came in through the entrance we used. A tree stood either side almost as sentials guarding those who are worthy to enter the court. That is how I saw it, almost mediaeval times. People would pass judgment here and dine. Lovers perhaps sneaked here to confess their love for each other in this abandoned place and maybe sneak a kiss. Darker fey would preside here watching all that transpires. Maybe under the dead of night this place would come alive. Unfortunately photos were hard to get for you. We begrudgingly moved on.

When we got to the car we made a short drive back down the road to Dun add. This fort stands on a rocky hill in the middle of one of the last remaining raised bogs in Scotland. It has been excavated several times and has been dated back to the sixth century AD. The Scotti who later gave their name to Scotland occupied it. They came from Ireland during the 5^th -6^th Century AD. The dominating architecture, the rich finds including evidence of fine metalworking and of luxury goods imported from the continent. It also had the carvings showing that Dunadd was once an important, prestigious and well connected place. These was a royal stronghold where kings could drink imported wine out of glass beakers from the continent and eat meat flavoured with the spices from France.

The carving comprises of the boar, their totem animal for their clan. It resembles the Pictish carvings of 7^th-8^th Centuries and an inscription in Ogham, a form of writing used by the Picts and the Scots; however it was used mainly among Druids. It is the tree alphabet. It comprises of horizontal and diagonal lines connecting to one another. Until recently the carvings have been described as Pictish but new research suggests it may be early Irish.

There was an important metal smith's workshop within the fortress where jewellers created precious works of art such as brooches, pins, rings etc, gently effusing the styles from Ireland. The people wore these as badges of their wealth.

The people here had a close link with the Irish, speaking the same Gaelic language. They had similar legal and political systems with some kings ruling both here at Dunad and Ireland (then Alba and Erin). The Dal Riada (now known as Dalraidia) were originally a tribe of North Antrim in Ireland; began a steady settlement of the adjacent coastal and island areas of Scotland by these Dal Riada Scots. This area, which became the Scottish part of the greater tribal kingdom of Dal Riada, was separated from the rest of Scotland by mountains. The Scottish part of the tribal kingdom of Dal Riada was known as Argyll, which means 'coastland of the Gaels,' for by this time the population of Ireland had long been Gaelic-speaking, and the Dal Riada, considered themselves to be Gaels in the general sense.    

Dunadd with its stout walls, domineering location and more remains of weapons than any other site in Britain in this period of history; tells of a warrior society in times of chaos and order. The site must have been well fortified during its occupation, consisting of a number of terraces reinforced with dry stonewalling, which would have been surmounted with timber palisades. The first terrace is guarded by a narrow cleft between the rocks, which would have been easy to guard when reinforced with timber. It is likely that terraced forts such as Dunadd, were separated into levels according to social rank and status, with the chief or lord living on the top level in the enclosed Citadel. This is the same civilization that created the Book of Kells, and produced Scholars of European reputation. They engaged in fierce battles with the Pics, the Britons, the Angles and the Norse and were often divided internally.

The other two carvings - a footprint and a rock cut basin - may have been used in early inauguration ceremonies. Footprint markings are known in Britain from the Iron Age onwards and are recorded in ceremonies in the mediaeval period in Scotland. According to local legend the Celtic hero Ossian left the footprint, when he strode across the hilltops from Rhudil to Dunnadd. Dunadd kept close links with the Monks of Iona and the aristocracy of Northumbria; gifts from them were found here indicating this. 

Huge rocks and boulders lead you up the path as you climb this winding train. It would have been near impossible to lead horses up here. Halfway up, Bails had a fall as he slipped off a rock trying to make a leap he was incapable of making with his wee legs - however, never fear, that doesn't stop him as his excitement grows with every leap he makes. Halfway there the path levels off a bit and we had a look around while Bailey did his running thing he does. We found an old well filled in with rocks, you can see where the water ran with the depressions into the earth. You can see a way of life forming, as you go. Its natural formation was also an advantage in case of attack, as you have the high ground and rocks to hide behind. There are narrow paths leading up there, and the fort was surrounded by bog land at that time.

As we climb higher I come across the footprint marking. It is a long slab of rock, very flat with lines running through it with a perfectly shaped footmark in it, quite big and just the one. I then found the bowl marking in another stone behind it. Very smooth but not that deep. As you look down from where you have just walked, the land dips into a concave bowl with rocks around it. Was this its walls? Kilmartin valley is then spread out before you and all around with the River Add snaking around its feet. As you look around this landscape you can't help but feel it still holds so many secrets here that are yet untold. We climb to its highest point and look down at the view. I take pictures of the surrounding scenery as Bailey greets every single person climbing up here, their personal welcoming committee. I am so disappointed with myself as I didn't get a photo of the boar, or the Ogham script. I bought a boar pin from the shop though as it is also my family's emblem from my name Lowden. I did get one very good picture of Bailey as he crashed on top on one of the rocks. He was shattered and slept all the way home. Then he has also been asleep for most of the day today. Poor boy. I certainly enjoyed this adventure and one day hope to get back to see and photograph all the things we missed.

 

By Donna Lowden

Sir Bailey's Adventures

“I believe everything within nature holds its magic at its heart. Some of us; we let it burn more brightly and therefore it ignites with other sparkles in the world, letting us have a deeper connection.

As a child I let the sparkles grow as I communed with the faeries in my garden. They have been by my side every step of the way ever since. I listen to their guidance and show my love, gratitude and respect every day.

I am simply complicated as all interestingly boring people can be.

Bailey, my young Cocker Spaniel, is my companion. His pedigree name is Silver Knight and he has definitely been my knight in shining armour. He has been on journeys with me to the darkest of places and seen some very scary sights. The most evil of Queens and ugliest goblins! But he has always stayed true and brave. He never left my side and we came through it together, out into the light. I owe him so much.

Bailey will always stand his ground and never show fear. He is very stubborn and knows his own mind. When not on missions he loves to have fun playing games like hide and seek and chase. He loves cuddles and will shower you in kisses.”

Donna has been a member of Enchanted Folk since September 2007

members.enchantedfolk.com/donna

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