Thursday, September 16, 2010

LOCH BUIE STONE CIRCLE

 

Photo by MadChauffeur. Click on the pictures for the larger view.

From Virtual Tourist:
As you ride into Lochbuie, you will see a sign noting ’Footpath to Stone Circle’. The sign should read 'Bogpath' as your feet will be getting wet as you wander across boggy pastures. The stone circles are finally reached through a gate - the gate latch was set so one has to stand in about four inches of water, unless you are agile and can hang onto the gate and fence while repeating that feat three more times as you come and go. There are nine stones set in a circle, the tallest being a couple meters high. Several outlying stones are thought to be of astronomical value. The stones date to the 2nd century B.C. and are the best prehistoric monuments to be found on Mull.
And ain't that the truth? Bogpath it was, and I was not wearing my boots, although to have dry feet, one would have needed wellies. Cathy helped me jump the small ditches filled with water, and I believe MadChauffeur may have given me a hand a time or two, although Cathy was my mainstay. But the trek through the bog was worth it, for the stone circle was amazing, indeed.

About halfway, we came upon a circle of smaller stones which Cathy thought (hoped?) might be the stone circle which was our goal, but MadChauffeur assured us they were not, and on we trudged.



Photo by Cathy added

Finally, we arrived. Below is the circle with the taller outlier stone nearby. Being near structures set in place by humans like us thousands of years ago was awesome (in the old sense of the word).


 

Photo by MadChauffeur

To give you an idea of the size of one of the stones in the circle, which varied in height and width, there I be for comparison.


 

Photo by Cathy

Click the link to view a panorama of the stone circle.
This view is taken from the centre of the stone circle. The site can be reached by following the signs on the roadside and then following white painted stones across the fields. The ground is often a bit swampy, so take boots.
More than a bit swampy, I'd say.

You may wonder why I why I don't use my own photos, why I use Cathy's and MadChauffeur's photos. Didn't I take pictures? Of course, I did! After trekking through the bog, and avoiding sheep shit all along the way, and never once asking, "How much farther to the damned stones?" I was not going to miss recording my visit. I join you in wonder about my photos, because they disappeared from my collection. I have not one photo from the stone circle. They are gone. So far as I know, those are the only pictures from my trip that went missing from my camera.


 

Photo by Cathy

Cathy said the vibes did not feel right for her to step into the middle of the circle, but I ventured boldly in. All seemed fine to me - no bad vibes. Cathy snapped the picture above.

But now all my pictures of the circle are missing. MadChauffeur said, "That will be down to the magic of the stones. Being partly French you were obviously deemed unworthy by the gods." He added that because I stepped inside the circle, "You'll be away with faeries - but, then, you always were."

I don't know what to think.

Anyway, visiting the ancient stone circle was a great pleasure, and all the effort required was amply rewarded in the end.

PS: The scenery is not bad, either, is it?

UPDATE: From the comments:

Cathy said...

What I like about the pic where you have your back turned, Mimi, is you are striking the same pose Aslan strikes in the drawing where he and the evil White Queen are conferring with each other before she sacrifices him on the stone table. You are striking Aslan's pose with unerring precision - feet, hands, head, everything - and the stone is standing in very nicely for the witch. So, that's who took your photos. It was that dratted witch.


A striking resemblance, indeed. I am Aslan.

24 comments:

  1. Would it have been easier to walk if you had had on something like snowshoes to keep you up out of the boggy parts?

    Nice pictures.

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  2. What I like about the pic where you have your back turned, Mimi, is you are striking the same pose Aslan strikes in the drawing where he and the evil White Queen are conferring with each other before she sacrifices him on the stone table. You are striking Aslan's pose with unerring precision - feet, hands, head, everything - and the stone is standing in very nicely for the witch. So, that's who took your photos. It was that dratted witch.

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  3. (I searched long and hard on the internet for a copy of the drawing, which is by Pauline Baynes obviously, but could not find one.)

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  4. Susan, I had enough to carry without snowshoes. I had to wear the boots that I bought over there on the trip home, because they would not fit in my suitcases.

    Cathy, I think you're right. It was the witch who snitched my pictures.

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  5. That 360 of the stones was a great deal of fun!

    Faeries? They probably winked your pics because you resorted to calling them faeries instead of fairies... and witches are far more straight-forward in their torments.... just sayin'.

    And --yes. Aslan. Exactly...

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  6. Aslan...he was sacrificed. But the ending is happy.

    The fairies, then, Margaret?

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  7. Curious... like taking a photo at an ordination and not having it show up on my camera....

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  8. Aslan...he was sacrificed. But the ending is happy.

    The theme sounds strangely familiar. ;-/

    Re the 3rd pic: somehow, it suggests a MadChauffeur crack. Or 'shop. Or both. ["Ala, we WARNED Tom that if he didn't leave her...!" Or "rumors that she turned are obviously false, as you can see from side-by-side comparison" or something equally MC snarky!]

    Lovely pics, regardless [Is Cathy going to turn up {I hope, I hope!} in any of these pics? "asked JCF for no particular reason"]

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  9. All the fairies I know would never have taken your pictures. Indeed, they would have snapped some FABULOUS ones for you - and, designed your entire ensemble for the event and then, cleared away the sheep shit and organized a FABULOUS lunch on the grounds.

    I'm just sayin'.

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  10. Caminante, curious, indeed. Perhaps there was an energy inside the circle that obliterated not all photos, just those of the circle.

    JCF, yes the running gag de jour seems to be that I've "turned". Would my "turning" be enough of a shock to Tom to "turn" him to stone? I'm just asking.

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  11. Why --yes! Elizabeth is quite correct, come to think of it --a FABULOUS lunch with matching linens!

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  12. Elizabeth, perhaps it was the other fairies who took the pictures, the mischievous fairies, or faeries.

    The good fairies that you and Margaret speak of would have done exactly as you say, I'm sure. Where were you when I needed you, my fairy friends?

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  13. Exactly the thread you would expect from a coven of Revisionists!

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  14. Missing photos, faeries, fairies, ancient stones, bogs and Mimi. Quite a story that could turn into for your grandchildren Grandmere.

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  15. Just shocking, Lapin! I shock myself.

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  16. Stone circles are always in the most beautiful places. I personally like the ideas of those faeries too!!

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  17. The landscape is incredibly beautiful at that spot and entirely ringed by mountains, meaning there's a circle within a circle.

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  18. These places are genuine wonders. I remember my fascination years ago in exploring Dartmoor, another wild and beautiful and soggy place with its share of standing stones. Didn't encounter any demon hounds, though; or get my films fogged by sinister forces.

    However, many years later when the family visited Salisbury, we went out of town to Old Sarum, the site of the hilltop fortification and the cathedral that was predecessor to the 13th-century marvel in town. The foundations of the old building remain, and my daughter spent some time exploring them; but she would not step through the old, absent walls. Maybe her attitude had protected me 20 years before.

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  19. Cathy sent me the drawing of Aslan and the Evil White Queen, which I added to the post in an update, along with her picture of the small circle of stones.

    When I visited Stonehenge, I was a bit disappointed, because I'd pictured the stones much larger in my imagination. With this circle, I had no preconceived ideas, and I loved them.

    The setting of the circle is gorgeous. I wish I'd not had to look down for much of the walk to avoid the worst of the soggy spots and the sheep shit. Once we were there, though, we were free to gaze at the beauty surrounding us.

    Freda, your country is beautiful beyond description.

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  20. Lapin, Cathy sent me a link to the very same article. Isn't the scenery gorgeous? I believe I'd take the rough 7 hr. boat trip over the 18 mile hike. We stayed in Mallaig, but I have not yet written about our time there. I'll be going on for months about the trip.

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  21. I do think it's weird how you look like Aslan in the very picture where the witch is about to sacrifice him on a stone table using a stone knife. I think that stone you're standing next to is the White Witch and she's the one who stole all of your photographs.

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  22. Cathy, if I tried to take the pose, I could never do it that well. It's amazing!

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