8, 1932. Standing Stones and Other Antiquities in Jura. By
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146 PROCEEDINGS OB' THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY! 8, 1932. II. STANDING STONES AND OTHER ANTIQUITIES IN JURA. BY ERIC HARDWICKE RIDEOUT, M.A., B.Sc., F.S.A.ScoT. The main objec f theso t e noteprovido t s i s erecora e presen th f do t conditio e principath f no l antiquitie e islandth f o s. - -All the sites marked on the one-inch to one-mile Ordnance Survey Maps of Jura, in Gothic letters as of antiquarian interest, have been roughly surveyed and photographed in the years 1930 and 1931. They e classifieb y s follows:ma a d — Standing Stones Tarbert) (a : Corra) (b ; n Hous Sannai) (c e; g(d; ) Strone; (e) South of Cnoc Reamhor; (/) Carragh a Ghlinne. Sites f Chapels:o ) Tarbert(g ) Gil(h ; l Barnadill. Sites of Forts or Settlements: (k) An Aros; (Z) Dunan; (m) Crannog near Craighouse. Unfortunatel e Ordnancth y e Survey name books usefuo s , a sourcl e of information in England, have not proved helpful, as I am informed by the Director-General that the " name books concerned have been examined, but do not contain any information of a nature likely to be usefu o at nl archaeologist. e followinth n I " g note e accounth s t of each site is preceded, in italics, by the description applied on the Ordnance Survey Maps. (a) Standing Stones.—Near Tarbert e seawarth n o , droae th sid df eo from Lagg to Ardlussa, are marked both Standing Stones and Chapel. The most impressive of these stones stands in a clump of bracken on the roadside. It is firmly bedded in the soil on a slight eminence, with a, grou f smallepo r stones aroun e base s ddimensionth It . s are, height 8 feet, width 2 feet tapering to 1 foot 9 inches, thickness 9 inches. It is roughly rectangular, shape apee shara th o x t t dpa peak. Apparently this is the stone mentioned by Martin, who says " Within a mile of the Tarbat ther Stona s ei e erected about eight Foot heighr"1 Another stone stands in the graveyard at Tarbert, to the east of the former, neae westerth r n boundary wal e surface lth Th (fig f . o e .1) ground here is very rough, due to numerous excavations for graves and thico t k matted tussock f grasso s . Whethe e stonth r e does duta s ya headstone is uncertain by reason of the crowded state of the graveyard. It appears to be about 7 feet high above the ground level, is about 2 feet wide, irregula n shapei r d averagean , s abou foo1 t inche6 t s e onlth ys thick i monolit t e islanI .th n do h whic e s widehi th t a r 1 Martin, Description of the Western Islands of Scotland, 2nd ed., 1716, p. 231. STANDING STONES AND OTHER ANTIQUITIES IN-JURA. 147 summit than at the base. In front of it, undoubtedly acting as a headstone, is a smaller pointed stone, projecting about 1 foot 6 inches above the turf. The larger stone bears on its eastern face an incised cross, discernible in the photograph. The incision is so weathered and lichen-encrusted that its dimensions cannot be determined with accuracy. (Photographed September 1930.) (b) Standing Stones.—These e situatef Smalar e o nort th d t lhen da Isles betweed bayan , n Corran Hous Knockromed ean . Ther twoe ear , both comparatively smalllargee Th .r measures, above ground, height 5 fee inches2 t , widt t basa h fee3 e inche9 t s tapering graduallo t y 2 feet, whenc s bluntli t ei y pointed aboud an ,inche 0 1 t s thick. The smaller stone e abou feeth 0 o t t20 t east measures 4 feet 5 inches in height, width 1 foot 2 inches, with a rounded top, and is about 9 inches thick. A well-marked vein of brighter quartzite runs from top bottoo t maie th f mnstonee o facth f eo . Both stones are situated in a some- what boggy area used at one time as a turbary. Owin theio gt r smalld sizha eI at first some little difficulty in locating them, and in seeking information from Mr and Mrs Darragh of Corran House, was informed that a lady who had visited e islanth d some years before (between d 1921928d tolan ha 2d) them thae th t Fig. Standin1 . g Churche Stonth n ei - yard at Tarbert, Jura. stones gave their name to the island, one being called "Ju" and the other "Ea." Which was which I could not find out. Now Martin states that Nativee " Th tha y ssa t Juracall'o s s di from Brethren Rah,Diho d tw an , wh beliey'e oar havo dt e bee nsignifyinh DanesRa d Namee an th ;g h sDi as much as without Grace or Prosperity. Tradition says, that these two Brethren fought and kill'd one another in the village Knock-Cronm, where there are two Stones erected of 7 Foot high each, and under them they say, ther Urne e ar Brothers o s wittw Ashee e hDistancth e th f th :so e between them is about sixty yards."1 Undoubtedl e dealinar e yw g wit same hth truls i e t n storyi ya t bu , illuminating illustration of the pitfalls of folk-tales as a guide to local history, whe nlegena d first ascribe e "Nativesth o t d s forgotte"i y b n the d returnsman , somewhat garbled, fro e mout ma th visitor f o h . The stones appea o havt r e lost some height f Martin'i , s accouns i t accurate, as it is at Tarbert, but some of the discrepancy may be due 1 Martin cit.,. 231p op , . 8 14 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , FEBRUAR , Y19328 . e growte eitheth th sinkina o f e e stonet bogo ho t rth th r o f , n go i s peat since botho 1716t r o ,. (Visited September 1930.) (c) Standing Stones.—To the north-east of the abandoned farmhouse of Sannaig, and in a semi-cultivated enclosure, lies an interesting collection of stones. The monolith here is 7 feet 4 inches high, 1 foot 8 inches to foo1 inche6 t a thicknes sf o wideinche 0 1 d feen f an ,o s Te st (fig. 2) . due south of the base of this stone is a collection of stones, suggesting very strongl relic e cista yth f o s. Amon ga numbe f smalleo r r stones Fig . Standin2 . g Ston t Sannaigea , Jura, from south. two are conspicuous, one 3 feet 10 inches long by 2 feet wide, and othere th , whic eithey hma r have been another monolite r parth ho f o t cist, measure fee6 s inche4 t s foo 1 long inche3 y t b s wide. There are, however, many loose stones hereabouts, which may have been collected fro fielde mr th dyk fo s e building represeny ma r e residuo , th t e from a cist. (Photographed August 1931.) (d) Standing Stone.—At distanca f aboueo t one-thir mila f deo south of Strone farmhouseopposite th n o burnd e isolate n sidth an a , f s ,i eo d stone (fig. 3). It measures 9 feet 6 inches in height, 1 foot 10 inches to 1 foot 3 inches in width, tapering to a point above, and 9 inches to 10 inches in thickness. Six feet eight inches west-south-west of the base lies a flat stone embedde e grounth n di d abou fee9 t tfee2 lond t widegan . Whether this forms part of a cist or is a fallen monolith is uncertain. STANDING STONE OTHED SAN R ANTIQUITIE JURAN I S9 14 . There appears to be a slight depression in the soil along one side of its length, but this may be due to normal erosion. Probing failed o discovet e existenc th y rstone-face an f o e d cavity. (Photographed September 1931.) (e) A Standing Stone is marked in the wood running from the Craighouse-Feolin Ferry road, south of Cnoc Reamhor. A preliminary search in 1930 failed to discover it, arid no opportunity for a further visit has been available. (/) Carrngha Ghlinne (? The e Glen).—ThisStoneth f o f o e on , the most impressive of the stand- ing stones of Jura, is situated in a narrow little valley which carries a stream from the eastern face of Brat Bheinn to the dam above the old distillery at Craig- house (fig. 4). Its measurements are, above ground, height fee7 , t 10 inches; width, 1 foot 10 inches to 2 feet, irregular; thickness. 1 foot. The lower part of the ston s beeha e n rubbed remark- ably smooth, perhaps by cattle. Aligne e oppositdth n wito t ehi bura smallebanthe is n of k r shaped stone, 2 feet 8 inches high and 2 feet wid t baselargee a Th e. monolith stands surrounded by Fig. 3. Standing Stone at Strone, Jura, from west. bracken, on the flood plain, near the stream, and is conspicuous for some distanc r dow o e north-o valleye p th n eth u o T . f this little flood plain, e grounth d slopes somewhat sharpl o abouyt feet 0 40 t, above which lies hiddee hillth sn i nLoch a Bhaile Mhargaidh. e soutth s i n h O a heather-clad ridge about 70 feet above the plain.