|
| |
|
Friends of Grampian Stones
Newsletters
FOGS Vernal Equinox News
Volume X number 2, Spring 1999 |
 |
Picts, Kings, Saints, Chronicles
A PICTISH one-day conference arranged in honour of Dr Marjorie O. Anderson on the
occasion of her 90th birthday was held in the Quad lower college hall at the University of
St Andrews on February 13th 1999. A collaboration by the School of History, Early Medieval
Research Group, Scottish Studies Institute & Committee for Dark-Age Studies, its focus
and its speakers ensured its success. It was fully booked. While Dr Anderson was unable to
hear presentations because of illness, she would have marvelled at the excitement and
energy generated in both lecture hall and lunchroom by speakers and delegates all pressing
to share new developments in this emergent discipline.
Drs Simon Taylor and Dauvit Broun unveiled new discoveries in placename survival and the
St Andrews foundation legend (versions A and B); Profs. Richard Sharpe & Máire
Herbert gave both insular & Irish slants on the political structure of Dál Riata;
Isobel Henderson unveiled her theory on specific sculpture schools of the Picts; while
both Prof. David Dumville and Dr David Howlett of Universities of Cambridge and Oxford
respectively kept delegates on tenterhooks with their expositions on the Chronicle of
Kings of Alba and on the sacred numerology of its 12thC verse equivalent, the anonymous De
Situ Albanie. Prof. Archie Duncan pulled the audience into the present millennium
with his fine elucidation of the Melrose & Holyrood Chronicles, followed by an
immaculate summation and tribute to Mrs Anderson by Prof.Geoffrey Barrow of the University
of Edinburgh. He concluded, along with the authors of '1066 and All That' that [the
conference, sources and] chronicles were 'a damn good thing.' He (along with us) awaits
somewhat impatiently the publication of 'all these riches'. Members who would like to be
advised either of further conferences or publications produced by Dr Barbara Crawford's
Committee for Dark-Age Studies or of details of membership in Dr Simon Taylor's Scottish
Placename Society can write to St Andrews Scottish Studies Institute, University of St
Andrews, Fife KY16 9AL. See details of Scottish Placename Society on its webpage
.
©1999MCNagahiro
Membership feedback. . .
WHITECROSS
ABERDEEN member Dr Theodore Allan remarks on the Hill of Whitecross one mile south of
Chapel of Garioch at NJ 717 225, visible from the recumbent circle of Balquhain but not
from Easter Aquhorthies. His interest is apt at this time of year, as it is a marker hill
for sunset on the Feast Day of Bride (Candlemas, and incidentally at its opposite season,
Martinmas). However its derivation as the Hill of the White Cross or Crossing may stem
from its sacred point of the moon's crossing or setting - as seen from Balquhain - at the
end of summer, the pagan White season, and the point where the full moon sets once in 19
years at its minor standstill. This should be a hill to watch in the summer of 2014 at the
next standstill!
The physical crossing of the hill must also have had significance to Bronze Age and
Pictish descendants, as anyone who has walked the Netherton of Balquhain road can testify.
Leaving behind in the east the Bronze Age burial cairn on Dilly Hill, NJ 751 224, and
walking due west, not only does the outline of the Hill of Whitecross draw the eye but for
a mile and a half the traveller's visiion is filled with the sacred shape of the Mother
mountain Bennachie. At Burnside of Balquhain, NJ 730 225, where the road turns sharply
north, the walker can clearly see how the old road used to rise directly west to
Whitecross, itself topped by a cairn. An added delight for placename enthusiasts is the
name of this miniscule valley created by the burn which springs on Whitecross' lower
slopes, flows past Burnside and Mains of Balquhain, turning to join the Urie at Drimmies
(which Pictophiles will know has its own symbol stone): it is the Strathnaterick, valley
of the serpent of ancient wisdom. This lonely stretch of road, now mostly used by farm
traffic, is an inspiration to walk on a spring evening. Thanks to Dr Allan for his
observations.
BLUE MOON
TWO OF our regulars communicate on the phenomenon of this year's blue moons, first in
January and now in March; Griselda Macgregor in Inverurie and Trevor Allcott in Crimond
are both interested in lunar activity, although from slightly different angles: Ms
Macgregor requests the reason for the use of the term'Blue Moon', i.e. for two full moons
in the month, while Mr. Alcott likes to extrapolate grander figures of moons in the
Metonic cycle. We might cover both in a limited way. First, we find no-one in any context
outside Scotland, and perhaps even outside the bounds of Aberdeenshire, using the term
'blue moon' to mean two full moons in the month [in 1999, January 2: 0250; 31:1607,
accompanied by a visible penumbral lunar eclipse at 1619; March 2: 0659; 31: 2249 - all
times GMT]. The fact that February this year had no full moon at all is purely a figment
of modern man's calculations, as our forefathers when they spoke of the moon, meant the
month, and vice versa. The arbitrary nature of the 'phenomenon' can be seen, particulary
in the second March date, to occur only from Europe west, and not for instance, in
Australia, where the second full moon falls within April. While not answering the
question, we open the door to any contributions from members who have NE knowledge of
folkloric or traditional useage.
LUNAR STANDSTILLS
We have touched on standstill moons before, as the time once every 18.61 years that the
moon is seen at its most erratic in the night sky, behaving as if with a 'wobble'. We
receive several calls a year requesting more detail for stone-watchers with astronomical
leanings - the latest from a member in Edinburgh who prefers anonymity.
One of our MensaFOGS, Trevor Allcott puts it simply:
'Correction for our latitude is, according to Reed's Nautical Almanac, 7 minutes. The rule
is, when declination is north, subtract from moonrise time and add to moonset time.
Reverse applies if declination is south. Our biggest problem is one with which mariners do
not have to cope, i.e. the height and distance of the horizon relative to the observer,
but I promise, you don't want to know!
The easiest way is to observe a few full moons, note the times, and correct from the
nautical times for that particular observation point.'
Sensible man. So, for those early birds preparing for their next maximum and minimum
moonset and moonrise, when the moon's motion relative to other months is distinctly
wobbly, may we suggest marking your diary now: Next major standstill at the full moon
nearest to winter solstice occurs in 2005, when the full moon will rise in midwinter at
the most northerly point it ever rises; while next minor standstill, or full moon nearest
to summer solstice, happens in 2014.
If we are spared, we may try for a gathering for wobble watchers at a stone circle to
compare notes.
©1998-9 Trevor Allcott ©1999MCNagahiro
email: stones@globalnet.co.uk
©1999 Friends of Grampian Stones
Editor: M Youngblood |
Return to
Friends of Grampian Stones Index Page
|
