Day 4
After a morning bikeride/run with Ian we took the boys in my car for an afternoon look around a castle ruin,standing stones and burial cairns and the hill where Scotlands kings were once crowned...
all a stones throw from Lochgilphead...
you could spend days in Argyll looking at all the sites from the last Millennia...
we drove up to the ruins of the 16th century Carnasserie Castle...
across from the castle on a small hill are 2 standing stones...the only stones on a hill looking down the vally we would return down to Dunadd,all other burial cairns and stones are on the valley floor...nearly every site in view of each other...
back to the car and down the road is Kilmartin Glebe Cairn...
down the road a bit again and the Nether Largie Burial Cairn with chamber...
from the burial cairn a path leads to a field full of stones...
alot of these stones in Scotland are dated to 3000 years old, just think about that for a bit...amazing...
next a short drive down the road to ballymeanoch and some superb stones...
past another cairn...
after Callanish on the Isle of Lewis these are proberly the next most impressive stones ive been too...
all very impressive...
A Rowan Tree growing over an old tree stump...
we had one last special place to visit that afternoon...the ancient hill of Dunadd...
on top of the hill is a cup mark and foot carving...where the Gaelic Kings of Scotland were crowned...
they must have all been size 11 :)
the 360 views from Dunadd are superb...
we headed back to meet the woman folk stopping at a Hotel on the Crinan Canal for a cheeky pint...
after an afternoon like this it really makes me so happy to be Scottish...
Nice post and some great photo's.
ReplyDeleteI love the area round Lochgilphead and particularly Kilmartin with its sense of history stretching right back to way before the birth of Scotland as a united entity.
The significance of the footprint allegedly was a physical connection with the naked foot on the rock to remind the new king that both he and the people were rooted in the rock of the country and that no matter how long he reigned or how many came before or after that the land was the foundation, the bedrock of the country and that they were mere mortals and effectively caretakers.
Once the kings of Scotland were no longer crowned here but on the Moot Hill at Scone in Perth, it's interesting to note that the mound the coronation took place on was made by soil carried in the boots of Lords and came from all over the country. In essence they were recreating another symbolic Dunadd in Perth. Interesting too to note that the king was crowned sitting directly on the stone of destiny - another tradition connecting with the rock of the nation - until it was removed to Westinster by Edward in 1296.
looks like you had a fabulous time there. Hope there is more to come.....
Och aye Bruce... ;-)
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