Good morning from Lamlash! The sun fought the clouds for a beautiful sunrise over Holy Isle.
More sunrise as we waited for the CORRECT bus this morning.
The sun won and here is Lamash basking in the warm rays.
So today was about seeing the Neolithic and Bronze Age stone circles and cairns on the western side of Arran at Machrie Moor and Auchagallon. This particular area is dotted with hut circles or ancient dwellings. These along with evidence of early agricultural practices indicate this was a well populated, prosperous area 5,000 years ago.
In the photo above, look to the right just below the conifer forest line and you will see another standing stone in alignment with this one.
All told there were 10 stone circles / cairns within a couple of kilometers of one another. To me this means that the people lived, worked, survived and attempted to make sense of life and death in this area as a community over many many generations.
The photo above is of Finegal's Cauldron. This stone circle or cairn appears to be double walled.
This is what remains of part of Moss Farm, situated in the midst of these ancient sites.
These four stones set in a square typically indicate the four compass points.
My favorite photo of the day as it "feels" like the place - ancient, mysterious, challenging, sacred.
The stones are massive. My guess is that there is quite a bit more beneath the ground in order to keep them standing.
Looking over the moor you can see another stone standing sentinel for something. Or someone?
One we had seen as much as we could at Machrie Moor, we hit the coastal highway with our feet and hoofed north a couple of miles to Auchagallon. This is a curbed cairn covered in soil instead of stones. What a beautiful resting place.
We took a break on a stony beach below Auchagallon. I loved this stone's drawing of a ship. The photo should be rotated 45 degrees to the left - I can't figure out how to do that here.
This swan (and sometimes a mate) have been hanging out in the bay all week. Thought I would memorialize the event. I watched a sailboat excursion for quite a while this afternoon - see them in the background? Sometimes there were six, then only four, then five as one after another they tipped over in the wind, popped up again, or had to be rescued by the instructors.