Prehistoric Dunkeld

" Round thee, Duncaledon, the very air feels heavy with the past, the tale of times that were."-Millar.

Dunkeld had its beginnings ere the written history of our land began. The misty glamour of an unknown past surrounds its origin. It was the Capital of the Kaledonoi, a tribe in the midlands of the ancient kingdom of Piotavia, when the Romans arrived; but, even at an earlier date, judging from the stone monuments numerous in the neighbourhood, it was the tribal resort of an earlier race. Centuries before the advent of Christianity, and before the Pictish nation emerged from the darkness of the past, the rude races who wandered o'er the hills or sheltered in the dense forests found in this natural stronghold beside the Tay a safe and suitable place for the performance of religious ceremonials or sepulchral rites. Records of this are graven on stone, mysterious and as yet not fully understood, though affording glimpses of bygone customs, from which modern research is gradually building up a knowledge of a prehistoric age.

Long before the Picts are surmised to have come from the Continent to Britain, it is supposed that the land was inhabited by the Neolithic race, a people of small stature, copper skins, and dark hair. The stone circles and cup-marked stones are generally attributed to them, and may either have been places of worship or of burial. Signs point to both.

Of these, the Dunkeld valley has its share. In the park near Polney Loch, one mile from Dunkeld, is a Standing Stone, quite noticeable from the Highland road. This monolith is one of those styled sepulchral, and is a rough oblong slab of schist, its basal girth being 10 feet 7 inches, and its height 4 feet 9 inches. Mr. Coles, who describes this stone in the " Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries,'~ supposes it to have been part of a circle. It is not far from the ancient stronghold on King's Seat. The same writer also mentions that two other stones of this nature were marked on the Ordnance Survey Map nearer the Cathedral, but he professed himself, after prolonged search, unable to find them. So have others. At Dowally, four miles farther north, are two of a similar kind, massive blocks of quartziferous sehist, the highest being 8 feet 9 inches.

Two miles east of Dunkeld are the Standing Stones of Newtyle, commonly called the Druid Stones, near the " Doos Nest," a projecting crag on the road to Caputh. These Stones were probably monuments before the Druidic period, but the Druids or Pictish Priests generally annexed such monuments, and the name clings through the ages. The Newtyle Stones are possibly remains of a Circle; it is conjectured that, as a spur of Newtyle Hill rises sharply behind, the remainder of the Circle might have been where the road now runs, and had been destroyed during its construction. They are of common quartzose schist differing in height. The largest is over 6 feet at the north corner and 3 feet at the east. A fence divides them from the road; unfortunately, owing to the growth of ferns, bushes, and trees, there is a danger that they may soon be lost to sight. Dr Marshall in his " Historic Scenes of Perthshire " alludes to these two upright stones at the Doc's Nest, but says they are supposed to mark the graves of two Danish warriors returning from the invasion of Dunkeld. Antiquarian research, however, as reported in the Society's Proceedings, places them among pre-historic monuments.

At Easter Cults, a mile or two beyond Newtyle, is a remarkable group of stones, consisting of two upright and one prostrate, placed on a ridge running east and west, at a height of 668 feet above sea-level, commanding a magnificent view of the wide Howe of Strathmore. The larger standing stone is 9 feet high, broad at the base, the other not much smaller. The third is cup-marked, over 2 feet in height, sloping towards the ground, its broad surface pitted all over with groups of cups, those strange indentations with concentric circles and connecting lines which have puzzled many wise and learned men. The groupings, some hold, are astronomical; others contend that they record great events of the past, whilst one fanciful theory has it that the cups are hollows in which water libations were poured to the Sun-God. On this stone there are about 158 cup-shaped depressions, varying in diameter from 1 to 4 inches. There seems no special design in the arrangement of the cups, and none are surrounded by rings, a common feature in some cases. The three stones are rough unhewn blocks of metamorphic slate of greenish hue, but the colouring is varied on the prostrate one, probably owing in part to weather protection. One writer suggests that there are indications of these three forming part of a huge circle about 78 feet in diameter, an uncommon size in Perthshire.

Near the Slate Quarries on Birnarn Hill are two other groups of cupmarks. On the upper surface of one rock is a group of twenty well formed and deeply cut. On a detached mass near is a second group. These sculpturings are more fully described in Chapter 16, " Birnarn." Another cup-marked stone is at Kincairney, near the site of an ancient chapel, the foundations of which are almost covered with turf. Still another is at Cardney, and, in addition, are numerous cairns, standing stones, and remains of circles on Ben-echallie and in Strathbraan. Some would even include the famous Rocking Stone on the top of Craig-y-barns in the collection of ancient monuments, occupying, as it does, such a prominent site. Geologists, however, claim it as a perched boulder, relic of the Ice Age, but this does not altogether preclude the possibility that it might have been in use as a rude altar for the worship of the sun. Near Meikie Obney, beyond Birnam, is a Standing Stone to which a curious legend is attached. A witeh flying through the air on a Satanic behest had this stone in her lap, and it fell, hence it is termed the Witch's Stone.

Whilst these various stone monuments confirm the idea that Dunkeld had the makings of a community in very early ages, the name itself suggests considerable antiquity, and has been the subject of much conjecture and dispute. In the Statistical Accounts of Scotland, dated 1798, the name is mentioned as Dunkeldin, Dunchald, or Dunchalden, derived from Dunghaeldhun, meaning the Stronghold of the Gaels or the Hazels. Dr Marshall in " Historic Scenes

also derives the name from the Gaelic Dunghaildhun, thence to Duncalidon, interpreting this as the fort of the Gaels, which he states was probably situated on the King's Seat. This is a small terraced hill, a spur of Craig-y-barns, bearing the remains of an old fort, said to be the abode of Pictish Royalty from 446 to 843 A.D. But Buchanan, the Scottish historian, makes out that Dunchalden, or Hill of the Hazels, is the mound known as Stanley Hill, near the Cathedral. Anciently this was, he says, a small knoll where the town's children amused themselves by wrestling and other games, it being then named the Shawkie Hill, or, as it is referred to in certain old registers, the " Shiochie's Hill, a little hillock within the City of Dunkeld." To understand this assertion it must be remembered that the position of Dunkeld has changed more than once. Before the battle of 1689 the town stretched westwards at least five acres beyond the Cathedral. In 1690, it was rebuilt towards the east, and former parts of the town, such as the hillock in question, are now within the ducal policies. This mound was afterwards heightened and terraced in military fashion, in imitation of German fortifications, by the Dukes of Atholl, and cannon placed on the ramparts.

A third derivation is supplied by David Millar, author of a poem entitled " The Tay," published at Perth in 1850. According to him, Duncaledon or Dunkelden, the ancient form of the present name, signifies the stronghold of the rough, mountainous country.

MacLean's Guide, " Dunkeld; Its Straths and Glens," derives the name from the ancient British words " Dun~ kaled-in or Caledonia or Dunchuildich, signifying the "Stronghold of the Culdees." This latter is an unlikely derivation, as there was a fort prior to the establishment of the Culdee faith. The same objection applies to another derivation sometimes offered, viz., " Dunchaiin," from Dun, a hill, and cailin," a maid, whence " Hill of the Virgin Mary." A last version is Dunchallion, " City of the Forests."

Dunkeld, because of its situation on the verge of a great mountain barrier, with an opening towards verdant plains, naturally enough became a place of strategic importance. The appellation, " Gates of the Mountains," was applied to the Pass formed by Birnam and Newtyle Hills on either side of the Tay. These hills, with Craig-y-barns and Craigvinean, enclose Dunkeld, forming a natural stronghold, and it is not therefore surprising to find that the warlike Picts established a fort or castle there. This Castle of Caledon was probably one of the first civic centres in Scotland. It was the capital of a Pictish State, and a residence of Pictish kings. The King's Seat is generally supposed to have been the stronghold, the remains of fortifications and outworks strengthening this belief, and tradition also avers that a skirmish of some kind took place near it. To the south is the Pley Burn," interpreted locally as " The burn of discord or quarrel." The castle or residence was important enough to bring the Romans to the vicinity, though they did not penetrate far enough to attempt its capture. The Roman Camp at Inchtuthill, six miles from Dunkeld, was constructed by Agricola in 84 A.D. Recent excavations show that the Romans remained a considerable time in this camp, and it is considered highly probable that their objective was the Pictish stronghold at Dunkeld. Inchtuthill was one of the Roman posts or stations which commanded the whole of the Stormont and every road which could lead the Caledonians or northern tribes down from Atholl and Glenshee into the countries below.

Distinct from this Roman Camp at Inchtuthill is a British fort at the west end of the island, older than the Roman occupation.

The Dunkeld stronghold or castle of Caledon was menaced several times by the Romans, but unsuccessfully. One of the early dates of an unsuccessful invasion is 138 A.D.

Scanty and meagre is the knowledge of these early Picts, who appear to have been simply a number of warlike tribes with various strongholds or oapitals, of which Dunkeld formed one. The town, if such it could be named, would possibly resemble other Pictish settlements, and be a circle of low, rude, roofless huts. The Castle, though claiming to be an abode of royalty, would be little better, but would possess fortifications, probably of stone, or, it may be, partly earthen.

Dunkeld an Ancient City
Elizabeth Stewart
Dunkeld, 1926

Return to Dunkeld History