Archaeology Notes

Event ID 711248

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/711248

NT08NW 3 0291 8658.

(NT 0291 8658) Tuilyies (NAT) Standing Stone (NR)

OS 6" map, (1968)

Cup marked Standing Stone and Boulders: These four stones are said to be the remains of a circle, although that idea is not borne out by their present disposition. The cup marked stone rises to a height of 8', and has its narrow faces to the NE and SW. It is of irregular form. On the E face, the lower portion is covered with cup marks which vary from 1 1/2" to 5" in diameter and 1 1/2" to 2" in depth. The stone is also marked with a series of perpendicular grooves, but all these channels are due to weathering.

The other three boulders are set in the form of a triangle immediately S of the cup marked stone at intervals of 12', 15' and 16' apart. None of the three shows any markings; they are of whinstone while the cup marked stone is of grey sandstone.

The name 'Tuilyies' is a corruption of the Scots word 'tulzie' which signifies a fight, and the stones are said to mark the graves of chiefs who fell in an alleged battle here.

OSA 1793; RCAHMS 1933.

These four stones do not form a circle, but there seems little doubt that they mark a Bronze Age sacred site.

Visited by OS (J L D) 30 June 1953.

Scheduled as Tuilyies, stone setting, Torryburn, Fife.

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 16 February 2001.