The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

The Auld Knowe

Stone Circle

Fieldnotes

Big mistake.

Myself and Norie visited this place during lambing season during post-foot and mouth paranoia. Norie's brother Robert, who can't walk too well, chose to sit in the car.

The lambs weren't bothered, in fact they kept wandering up to us with their families and bleating - loads of them - and that noise can be a bit scary. It bypasses all defences and goes straight to the soul.

We got to the stones eventually after some map confusion (see miscellanious section).

This is a sad remains and was surely something more grand before the farmers got thier hands on it. There are now 3 main stones which seem to have been dumped a couple of hundred metres away from the original stone circle site. However, it still sits in a beautiful place near the south bank of the Teith a few hundred metres south of the Auld Knowe. The Auld Knowe is a natural and no doubt sacred hillock which has iron age remains.

We climbed the knowe and enjoyed the view whilst having a smoke.

Then on the road below a pick up truck stopped and the guy driving started shouting at us from the bottom of his bastard soul about the lambs and how we should not be there. I thought he was going to kill us and we walked towards him, I was thinking "we come in peace" and Norie was muttering about how there were no signs up and how there are no tresspass laws in Scotland. With no solicitors present, try telling that to a rosy cheeked farming psycho! I feared a messy confrontation. It didn't happen though and the guy drove off still calling us all the bastards of the day.

Yup, we shouldn't have gone there and I'll maybe seek permission the next time I go into farmland. This was a couple of months ago now and those cute wee curious lambs are probably lying in bits in the refridgeration section in a supermarket somewhere far away (£6.00 per kilo).

With that in mind and with me being aware of my own bouts of greed, I think I now understand the anger.

We drove to Callander and chilled out with a couple of Guinness.
Posted by winterjc
12th May 2002ce

Comments (0)

You must be logged in to add a comment