The other 3 Stone Circles I saw that Day

There are two other standing stone circles close to enough Calanais to be seen from there. Both circles pale in comparison to Calanais, but are nonetheless ancient runes in their own right.

The circle closest to Calanais had the least intact stones of the three circles, 5 if I remember. Several places where stones had been were clearly marked, as was true of Calanais. Just as before, I walked around the circle exploring each stone before entering the circle. Inside the circle, as before, I ate a small chunk of my remaining bread.

The third circle was quite close to the second. Sillueted against the sky, the stones looked tall and gaunt, and there were clearly at least twice as many as there were in the second circle, and they appeared to stand as the tallest of the three circles.

Once we got there (well, once my father and I got there – my mother and brother stayed in the car) we realized what a comical illusion the view had given us. There were around 11 stones all told, and all but a few were shorter than I am.

This circle has quirks to it that the other did not. Inside the circle just off-center were three larger stones in a somewhat triangular formation, and further to the other side of the circle, opposite their formation, was the tallest stone. The plaque at the bottom of the road told us that the three-stone formation was a suspected tribute to the triple goddess. The stones here were all fascinatingly wild with their colored and grain patterns. In particular the four stones inside the circle were interesting. We could not take long (I had begged my mother into letting us stop at this last one, tired but feeling the need to see the whole set of circles, and we could not let her and my brother sit in the car forever).

I broke a hasty bread to eat in the circle, and we made our way back to the car.

Though it temporarily escaped my memory, this was my fourth encounter with a stone circle today. My first was incomparable to the rest, but significant enough to put to paper.

Happenstance found us driving by a sign noting the stone circle of Achmore. From the roadside we could see none, but we thought it was worth a try.

The wind was high. I left my cap in the car after the wind blew it off several times. I tried to keep my poncho from writhing and whirling around me, giving the illusion that I was some amorphous plastic blue mass (or so I imagine) by putting my belt on over the poncho. Unfortunately even this did not impede the wind from having its way with my poncho, and it continued to billow wildly, giving me a new sympathy and understanding for Spawn.

Unfortunately the “stone circle of Achmore” may have been a correct title, but one could not have called them “the standing stones of Achmore” as none were standing any longer. For all the harsh winds and boggy terrain we went through to get to it, we couldn’t tell the stones that had previously been standing from stones that had not. The terrain was boggy on its own merits, but it didn’t help that people had been peat farming all in and around the stones. I suspect it was only of note because the circle, when standing, must have been quite big in circumference.

I independently investigated a few of the further stones after my family had had the good sense to turn back. The best I found was an interesting looking stone which may or may not have been standing at one time. I took a pebble from it, for I did find it interesting, and two stones in Calanais looked very similar in grain to it; a mess of chalky white and black crevices.