Clach an Tiompain
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The Clach an Tiompain (in English, the "Sounding Stone") or the Strathpeffer Eagle Stone is a small Class I Pictish stone located on a hill in Strathpeffer, near Dingwall in Easter Ross. Carved on it are two images, one of a horse shoe like arc symbol, and the other of an eagle.
It is not known exactly when or who put up the Eagle Stone. It is thought likely to be Pictish. The Picts were Scotish tribes who existed up to the 10th century. Some believe that it was put up by the Clan Munro after a battle with the Clan MacKenzie as it is marked with the Munro crest of an Eagle. Fighting between these two clans dates back to the 1300's which is to late to be pictish. the stone is also thought to mark the line of a cattle drove used by highlanders to move cattle to lowland markets.
The stone is associated with the prophecies of the 16th century Brahan Seer (Scottish Gaelic: ), who predicted that if the stone fell three times, the surrounding valley would be flooded, and the stone used as an anchor.
References
- Scott, Douglas, The Stones of the Pictish Peninsulas, (Hilton Trust, 2004)
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