711 
of Edinburgh, Session 1871 - 72 . 
The Witches’ Stone, which is on the estate of Pitferran, near 
Dunfermline, has this legend : A witch who lived among the hills 
to the west, wishing to confer a favour on the Pitferran family, re¬ 
solved to give them a cheese-press, the heaviest she could find. She 
selected a large block of basalt of the proper shape, and carried it in 
her apron, which, however, broke under the load before she readied 
the family residence ; and there it has lain ever since. There is no 
rock of that kind near Dunfermline, but there is to the west¬ 
ward. 
In the parish of Carnwath there are one or two spots where there 
are or have been groups or collections of whinstone boulders, be¬ 
tween the river Clyde and a hill of whinstone, known by the name 
of the Yelpin Craigs. The distance between the river and this 
hill is three or four miles. These heaps of boulders have from time 
immemorial gone by the name of HeUstanes , insomuch that places 
near them are called HeUstanes Loan , HeUstanes Gate , &c. The 
legend is, that Michael Scott and a great band of witches, wishing 
to dam back the Clyde, gathered stones at the Yelpin Craigs , and 
were bringing them towards the Clyde, when one of the young 
witches, groaning beneath her load, cried out, “ Oh Lord, but I am 
tired.” As soon as she uttered the sacred name, the spell broke, 
the stones fell down, and have remained there ever since.* 
There are many legends founded on the agency of the devil, and 
on his hatred of churches and clergy. Thus near the old church 
of Invergowrie, now in ruins, there is a large whinstone boulder, 
called the Paddock Stone. The legend about it is, that the devil, 
going about in Fife, descried the church shortly after it was begun 
to be built, and wishing to stop the work, threw a large stone at it 
across the Frith of Tay. There is no whinstone rock at or near Inver¬ 
gowrie, but there is abundance of it immediately opposite in 
Fife. 
In the parish of Kemnay (Aberdeenshire), there is a boulder of 
grey granite, called the Devil’s Stone , estimated to weigh about 
250 tons, which lies not far from the old kirk. There is no rock 
of that nature in Kemnay parish, but there is at Bennachie, a hill 
about seven or eight miles to the westward. The legend explain- 
* This legend is given more fully in “ Scenery of Scotland,” p. 314, by Professor 
Geikie. 
