| FOGS News Volume XI number 3 summer solstice 2000 |
|
| Solstitial Solsequium |
| SUMMER may have been better in the early Iron Age according to dendrochronology and ring growth, but |
| those who follow the sun [like the sunflower of our title] must have had equal frustration on the night of the |
| longest day when - again - no sunset was visible at 10:28pm Aberdeenshire time/11pm Lerwick time in our |
| millennium year! |
|
| In fact any [fool-]hardy sun-seeking stone-circle-souls must have felt they were watching for winter solstice |
| sunset, if temperature were a factor. No doubt the circle builders were even more aware of how crucial |
| stone positioning was in marking horizon points, especially for years like this. It was as well then that a small |
| group of Mensa-FOGS met just prior to solstice at the neglected stone circle of Shieldon on the Backhill of |
| Blair-Bourtie NJ823 249 with other matters in mind. Shieldon is atypical, egg-shaped, has no recumbent |
| and may never have had one; it is not set like other Aberdeenshire circles on the brow of a hill, but is itself a |
| skyline monument with a single outlier pointing SSE, which may give a clue to its use. It stands on the |
| threshhold of the Garioch and Formartine, the former dipping grandly through fertile fields towards |
| Bennachie, the latter with long empty expanses drawing the eye to the coast at Peterhead. Improved farming |
| methods in 17th & 18th CCs appear to have necessitated an artificial dyke, but its height above field-level |
| betrays the presence of a substantial cairn, no doubt laid as part of an original dedication ritual similar to |
| many other NE circles. The outlier appears to mark winter solstice sunrise and a large monolith stands where |
| recumbents appear in other circles, SSW, marking winter solstice sunset. As a six-stone circle with one |
| outlier it is remarkably efficient, in that both summer sunrise and sunset points are marked by a monolith with |
| possible moon maxima at other stones. The small gathering was in fact a personal memorial to a former |
| FOGS member and friend, Marget Inglis, who died prematurely last year. Born in Inverurie, she was much |
| involved with the consciousness of the ancient spirit and brought considerable focus to the plight of sacred |
| sites in the landscape [her favourite: the Davah of Inverurie] which she believed should never be disturbed. |
|
| Sister Societies |
| THOSE who remember The Ley Hunter may be glad to know that, while it no longer exists, the Society of |
| Ley Hunters was formed in May this year to continue work begun by Alfred Watkins, early 20thC founder |
| of the Straight Track Club in Hereford. One priority will be to conserve & catalogue Hereford's Watkins |
| Collection which is at risk. While ley lines may not be your favourite flavour, [difficult to perceive, if not |
| totally absent from Aberdeenshire sacred sites], this work is relevant to a keen group of ley hunters in the |
| south. |
|
| Other stone socs/magazines: |
|
| 9 Houses of Gaia - Oregon http://www.9houses.org/ |
|
| At the Edge - 2 Cross Hill Close, Wymeswold, Leic. |
|
| Meyn Mamvro - 51 Carn Bosavern, St Just Penzance TR19 7QX |
| Cornish stones £6 for 3 annual issues |
|
| Moonstone SOS - Old Station Yard, Settle BD249RP |
| Carlisle poetry £4 for 4 issues |
|
| Northern Earth - 10 Jubilee Street, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge WYorks |
| £6.50 |
| e-mail: nemg@btinternet.com |
| Webpage - www.btinternet.com/~andrewmriley/nemg/ |
|
| Sacred Sites International - 1442A Walnut St#330 Berkeley CA 94709 US |
| e-mail: sacredsite@aol.com |
|
| Third Stone - P.O.Box 961 Devizes, Wilts SN10 2TS |
| £10 |
|
| Please send SAE when writing to all societies. |
|
| N.E. heritage projects. . . |
| Tomnaverie stone circle update |
| A SECOND season of excavation/restoration is in progress at Tarland's recumbent stone circle, NJ 486 034, |
| under Richard Bradley's team from the University of Reading, assisted by FOGS member Ken Cooper and |
| Tarland branch of Cromar History Group. Richard Bradley's report to our AGM in April was enthusiastic |
| and while concentrating on fine points of digging archaeology, he was not averse to nuances of geology and |
| effects of sunset light on stone. While he likened this to photonic effects seen at Inverness' Clava Cairns, |
| FOGS are aware of other such anomalies in Aberdeenshire [as at Easter Aquhorthies NJ732 207, Balquhain |
| NJ 735 240, Sunhoney NJ 716 057, Temple Stones NJ 952 163 & Arnhill NJ 531 456]. FOGS would like |
| to acknowledge generous assistance provided in real and monetary terms by the MacRobert Trust whose |
| land embraces Tarland. This has taken the form of expertise, funding and landfill to stabilize the quarry under |
| the circle mound. As a result many more visitors will be inspired by a site characterised by its magnificent |
| view of a sunset point over Lochnagar. |
|
| Fetternear update: Drs NQ Bogdan & Penny Dransart have secured funding to allow them to continue |
| excavations at Fetternear Bishop's palace near Kemnay: see the following website: |
| http://www.scotcassurvey.f9.co.uk/FETTERNEAR/Fetternear%202000/ |
