1908-1909.] Cup- and Ring- Marked Stones. 129 



And it seems not impossible, or even improbable, that at least 

 some of them may have been so used. But in many cases it 

 appears quite impossible that they could have been used for 

 such a purpose. The small size of the " baby " stones, now 

 in the Inverness Museum, seems to preclude the idea of their 

 being so used. The " Witch's Stone " near Eatho (Plate YIIL), 

 which many of you had the pleasure of inspecting last summer, 

 also looks quite unsuited on account of its steep sloping surface. 

 As you know, there is a row of twenty-two shallow cups down 

 the centre of the slope, with another on each side ; and the 

 surface is worn smooth with young folks sliding down it. 

 The stone gets its name from the tradition — as told by the 

 local residents — of a certain witch, who, when walking up and 

 down the stone, left the print of her heels thereon. A more 

 classic rendering of the story is that the hollows were the 

 footprints of one of Michael Scott's emissaries — witch all 

 the same, of course. And if the pressure of such a light- 

 footed creature could have so much effect on the hard whin- 

 stone, pity the poor mortal who should by any mischance 

 incur her enmity. The so-called " Witch's Stone " is a great 

 slab - shaped mass of the whinstone nature, resting in a 

 sloping position against several other large pieces of rock. 

 My recollection of that remarkable stone made me think it 

 was a broken - down cromlech or dolmen ; and Sir J. Y. 

 Simpson was at first of that opinion, and he illustrates it 

 as a great cromlech at Clynnog Fawr, in Wales. In a 

 subsequent footnote, however, he says it is more likely a 

 product of nature, the present position of the " cap-stone " 

 and the condition of its supports being the results of dis- 

 integration : this is confirmed by other authorities, and no 

 doubt your visit would lead to opinions being formed and 

 expressed. 



Take again the " Caiy Stone " at Comiston, described and 

 illustrated by Sir J. Y. Simpson. He says it was origin- 

 ally 10 feet high, and there is a row of six cups across 

 one side near the base. In another case, on a stone in 

 a circle, there are eighteen cups in four rows. Other stones, 

 as supports of cromlechs, and masses of rock in situ, show 

 rows of cups on their upright sides. Is it too wild an idea 

 that these may be chronicles — records of events ? 'Not a 



