caithness-1911/05_156

Transcription

[Page] 80 -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION.

PARISH OF LATHERON.

across the rows. The largest stones are about 3' high, 3' wide, and
15" to 18" thick. There are now standing about 192 stones, while a
number lie pulled out and others are broken over. They have all
been firmly wedged in at the base with smaller stones. Counting from
the E. the rows now contain the following number of erect stones:-
1st row, -- 7 stones.
2nd row, -- 6 stones.
3rd row, -- 12 stones.
4th row, -- 8 stones.
5th row, -- 6 stones.
6th row, -- 4 stones.
7th row, -- 6 stones.
8th row, -- 7 stones.
9th row, -- 7 stones.
10th row, -- 9 stones.
11th row, -- 9 stones.
12th row, -- 11 stones.
13th row, -- 12 stones.
14 th row, -- 10 stones.
15th row, -- 15 stones.
16th row, -- 10 stones.
17th row, -- 10 stones.
18th row, -- 7 stones.
19th row, -- 8 stones.
20th row, -- 14 stones.
21st row, -- 5 stones.
22nd row, -- 9 stones.
To the E. of the eastmost row one or two stones protruding suggest that
the monument may originally have extended further in that direction.
A plan of this monument made by Sir Henry Dryden in 1871 is
preserved in the library of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
On it the number of stones indicated, erect and fallen, is about 250.
See Cordiner's Antiquities, p. 84; Anderson, The Bronze and Stone
Ages, p. 131 (plan).
O.S.M., CAITH., xxxiv. Visited, 16th July 1910.
293. Standing-Stones (setting of), Achkinloch. - At the SW. corner of
Loch Stemster, about 1/2 m. SW. of Achkinloch, is a remarkable setting
of standing-stones (pl. XXX.). In form the monument is an irregular
oval, broader at one end than the other, and like a horseshoe, having
the setting discontinued across one end and that the narrow one. The
main axis is N. and S. with the open end towards the latter direction.
The total length is 226', the width in the middle from side to side,
interior measurement, 110', and at the open extremity 85'. The stones
are placed with their broad faces at right angles to the direction of the
setting, and are on an average from 4' to 5' in height, the highest
stone - that at the SW. termination - measuring 6' 4" in height. In
breadth they vary from 3' to 5', and in thickness from 8" to 20".
They have been placed at distances of 8' or 9' from each other. There
are a number of gaps, and presuming that the intervals were regular
and that the stones from these gaps have been removed, the number
of stones originally forming the monument would be fifty-four. There
now remain in situ thirty-four, of which two are mere stumps, and there
lie prostrate other three. Abutting against a high stone at the NE.
of the monument, and on the outside, is a cist-like construction formed
of four slabs set in the ground and measuring 5' x 3' 9" interiorly.
There is no evidence of an interment having been found in it.
This monument was surveyed by Sir Henry Dryden in 1871,
and his plan was reproduced by Dr Joseph Anderson in his work
referred to below.
See Anderson, The Bronze and Stone Ages, p. 132 (plan).
O.S.M., CAITH., xxviii. Visited, 30th July, 1910.