Lochmaben Stone
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The Lochmaben Stone is a megalith standing in a field, nearly a mile west of the Sark mouth on the Solway Firth , three hundred yards or so above high water mark on the farm of Old Graitney in Dumfries & Galloway in Scotland. Map reference: NY 3123 6600. The area is also known as Stormont.
This stone or megalith, was referred to as the Lochmabonstone by Logan Mack in 1926, has, in the Borders context, an unsurpassed extent of history attached to it. It is an erratic, 7' high and 18' in girth and weighs approximately ten tons. It is composed of weathered granite, exposed to severe glacial action.
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[edit] Etymology
The Lochmaben stone has had a wide range of names attached to it over the last few millennia or so. Lochmabonstone; Stormont; and Old Graitney stone are the amongst the most recent. In 1398 the name is 'Clochmabenstane', in 1409 and 1472 the name 'Loumabanestane' is recorded, with 'Lowmabanstane' used in 1485 and then 'Loughmabanestane' in 1494.
The element 'Mabon', as in the Celtic god, is common to all of the variants and this strongly confirms this association, as well as helping with the identification of this site with the Roman site of 'Locus Maponi', as listed in the Ravenna Cosmography.
The 'Cloch' element is found with the 1398 record and this suggests that as in the modern Gaelic 'clach', meaning stone, the whole name may mean the 'stone or burial place of Mabon'. With the decline of Gaelic use in this area so close to England, the word 'Loch' has become appended, especially as the Lochmaben and the Loch of Maben are in the locality. The name Clackmannan is an example where the Gaelic word is undeniably linked with a stone.
[edit] Archaeology
The 1st edition 6" (2.3m) OS refers to it as 'Druidical circle (Remains of)', which the Ordance Name Book states as being formerly composed of nine upright stones placed in an oval of about half an acre. Only two of these stones are visible above the surface of the ground, one being locally called the Lochmaben Stone (RCAHMS Canmore Database). The other stone stands 1.0m high by 1.2m in diameter in a less conspicuous position in the nearby hedge.
In 1982 the stone 'fell over' and excavations prior to its re-erection revealed that it had been set into a shallow pit. No artifacts were recovered, however a sample of mixed Oak and Hazel charcoal taken from the lower fill of the stone-pit yielded a radiocarbon date of 2525 +/- 85 BC RCAHMS or according to Sharp, around 3200 BC (Sharp 1997).
[edit] The Cult of Maponus or Mabon
The name of the stone strongly suggests that this site was a centre of the cult of the British Apollo, the Celtic god Mabon or Maponus. He is said to have been the divine patron of the Kingdom of Rheged, ruled at one point by Urien with his wife Morgan. Mabon may have been a god of fertility and Tolstoy sees Merlin as being a chief druid, carrying out ceremonies at the Clochmabenstane (Rich & Begg 1991).
Sometime during the seventh century, an unknown monk in the Monastery at Ravenna on the Adriatic (eastern) coast of Italy compiled a list of all the towns and road-stations throughout the Roman Empire; this important historical document has since become known as the Ravenna Cosmography and it lists a 'Locus Maponi' which has been tentatively identified with the Lochmaben stone site (Richmond 1958) & (Sharp 1997).
[edit] The Border Line and the Lochmaben Stone
The Lochmaben Stone was a well known, well recognised and easily located 'marker' on the Scottish Marches and as such it performed a number of functions prior to the Union of the Crowns.
[edit] Rendezvous
Raiding parties met here before launching expeditions into England and Scottish armies assembled here before major incursions took place. It may well have been a tribal assembly point (External Link 3).
[edit] Exchange of Prisoners
In 1398 an exchange of prisoners took place when English and Scots representatives met at the Lochmaben Stone (Mack 1926).
[edit] The Commissioners and the Wardens of the Western Marches
Its use by the Marcher Lords or Wardens suggests that the Scots regarded the Lochmaben stone as being the southernmost limit of the Scottish realm. In 1398 an indenture was made at 'Clochmabenstane' for the men of Tyndale and Redesdale to meet from Whitsunday to Michaelmas at Kershope Bridge. The Commissioners not only met here , but "gave bail for their good behaviour to one another."
In 1473, the Scottish and English Ambassadors met to agree that more frequent meetings of the marcher Wardens were to be held at the six recognised sites on the marches. These were 'Newbyggynfurde, Redaneburn, Gammyllispethe, Belle, Loumabanestane and Kershopebrig and the meetings were to be held at successive venues. On the 26th. March 1494 the commissioners of both countries met at the Lochmaben Stone to finally settle the long running dispute over the 'Fish Garth' across the River Esk.
[edit] Recent History
In the 1800s the tenant of Old Graitney farm decided to clear his land of the thre remaining stones which ruined his field's appearance and got in the way of his machinery. He set his farm hands to work digging deep pits for the burial of the stones. One had been completely buried and another partially sunken when the proprietor, Lord Mansfield, arrived at the scene and stopped further operations (Mack 1926). The stone was still used as a gathering place for the locality into comparatively recent times (Rae 1966).
A local tradition suggests that the stone was moved by a farm worker with an excavator, the intention being to locate any 'treasure' beneath. The local primary school attended an official re-erection ceremony which was covered by the local paper, the 'Dumfries and Galloway Standard' 22 September 1995.
[edit] The Battle of Sark or Lochmaben Stone
The Auchinleck Chronicle records that on October 23rd. 1448 a Scottish Army under the command of Ormond, a Douglas and Sir John Wallace of Craigie won a resounding victory over the invading English forces of the younger Percy. There is nothing to mark the site of the battle ground. 1500 Englishmen were slain and a further 500 drowned in flight. Many prisoners were taken. Estimated Scots losses range from a low of 26 to a high of 600, the most serious of whom was Sir John Wallace of Craigie, Sheriff of Ayr, who was mortally wounded, dying some time after the battle.
[edit] Miscellaneous Notes
[edit] The Old Graitney Boat Burial
At NY 31 66 a Viking boat-shaped barrow or mound existed. It was levelled around the year 1851, but no burials or Viking artefacts are recorded as having been found (RCAHMS 1981).
[edit] Old Graitney - The 'Auld House'
This tower-house was built by the Johnstones in 1535 and burnt by the Maxwells in 1585. Locally a tower is said to have stood 180m south of the Old Graitney Farmhouse although no traces are visible on the ground (MacFarlane 1906-8).
[edit] Port Stormont
This site at NY 316 660 is recorded as having been used by smugglers (Graham & Truckell 1977). The title of Viscount Stormont is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created in 1621 by James VI for Sir David Murray. It is a subsidiary tile of the Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield. The family held land in this area and no doubt some connection exists between the title and the area.
[edit] Quern Stone
The upper stone of a rotary quern was found about 1976 when ploughing some 350m SSW of Old Graitney farmhouse, where it is still held by the finder, Mr S Smith. Slightly oval in shape it measures about 30cm in maximum diameter and is made of granite or a similar rock; there are both central and side-holes.
[edit] King Arthur
A local legend associates the Lochmaben Stone with the stone from which King Arthur pulled the sword Excalibur. However, this only agrees with some versions of the Arthurian legend. In other versions of the Arthurian legend, Excalibur was a sword that came from the water, and the sword in the stone does not have a name. (see External Link 2).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Auchinleck Chronicle. A Short Chronicle of the Reign of James the Second King of Scots.
- Begg, Ean & Rich, Deike (1991). On the Trail of Merlin. The Aquarian Press. ISBN 0-85030-939-5
- Graham, A. & Truckell, A.E. (1977). 'Old Harbours in the Solway Firth.' Trans. Dumf. Gall. Hist. Antiq. Soc. 3rd., V.52.
- MacFarlane, W. (1906-8). Geographical collections relating to Scotland
- Mack, James Logan (1926). The Border Line. Pub. Oliver & Boyd.
- Rae, T. I. (1966). Administration of the Scottish Frontier, 1513 - 1603. P.50.
- Richmond, I.A. (1958). 'Ancient geographical sources for Britain north of Cheviot.' Roman and Native in North Britain. Pub. Edinburgh. P.149.
- Sharp, Mick (1997). Holy Places of Celtic Britain. Blandford. ISBN 1-85079-315-8. P. 45.
