THE CALLING OF THE CUCKOO IS THE OTHER SIDE OF SPRING

Location

On the slopes of Bennachie, near Monymusk next to the Gouk Stone, is a contemporary work
Monymusk, Inverurie

OS Map Reference

NJ 693 217

Description

Made of various stones the work consists of the 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. It celebrates the adjacent Goukstane ("Cuckoo stone"), which is signposted just off the walk to the summit, 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).

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

2000s

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 Felling of the Timber, is the making of the home
• The folding of the land
• the Gouk Stone, Bennachie

Categories

• Recent Public Art

Iconography

• bird

Creators

• Chris Bailey, Sculptor
• Jonathan Claxton, Artist

Photographer

• Michael Watt

Unavailable Data

• Date
• Information Source
• External Links