Location
On the slopes of Bennachie, near Monymusk
Monymusk, Inverurie
OS Map Reference
NJ 693 217
Description
The Goukstane ("Cuckoo stone"), which is signposted just off the walk to the summit. Is a large boulder. According to legend it is said to be visited by the first cuckoo to return to Bennachie after spending winter in Africa. Other people believe that this large stone was thrown down the hill by the mythical giant Jock O' Bennachie.
The name and similar stories are applied to several Scottish megaliths one of them only about 3 miles north west at NJ 676 257 (the last surviving stone of a stone circle at the village of Oyne). Next to the Gouk Stone, is a contemporary work consisting of Carved words "THE CALLING OF THE CUCKOO IS THE OTHER SIDE OF SPRING" on a low dyke. In addition there is a carved 'egg' with an incised crack.
Related Information
Bennachie is a small mountain, its most prominent peak "the Mither Tap" has an Iron Age fort on its summit. It has been suggested as a possible location of the battle of Mons Graupius (a battle between the Romans and the Caledonians, described by Tacitus) without there being any tangible evidence for this although archaeological finds do show it to have been an important site at least from the neolithic period onward.
Era
Unknown
Related Artefacts
- Bennachie Story Wall Hanging
- Bennachie typewriter sculpture
- Bennachie, Totem Pole
- Dr Danny Gordon's cairn and a memorial bench
- Old Road, Bennachie Centre
- THE CALLING OF THE CUCKOO IS THE OTHER SIDE OF SPRING
- The Felling of the Timber, is the making of the home
- The folding of the land
Categories
Photographer
- Michael Watt
Unavailable Data
- Date
- Information Source
- Iconography
- Creator
- External Links
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