"The Warlock Stone"

Yesterday, on the way back to Aboyne, I decided to stop near Craiglash Quarry - Torphins so that I might have a look for an unusual location I heard about recently. Its called "The Warlock Stone" and is located about 0.5 km up a forestry commission track that leaves the main road at Craiglash Quarry. It was an old college aquaintance that was looking for the 'witch stone of Findrack' that lead me onto this discovery. One of his friends on Facebook suggested that he might be looking for the warlock stone. The mere name got my attention so I googled it and came across a few websites telling its story.

The following was taken from a web article written by Andy Brechin:

"It is written that the warlock stone (or 'gryt stane o' cragleauche') was where the Deeside coven of witches met. Led by the warlock Colin Massie of Glendye. The Aberdeen witch trials of 1596-97 list the names of the witches and their crimes."

Andy's article goes on to cover the accused witches identities and their attributed crimes which made for quite fascinating reading. He also mentions that you supposedly can't hear birds singing at the stone. I could certainly hear a few, although,  I'm sure the live blasting quarry next door has more to do with the lack of birds in the area. That said, I did feel a tad uneasy whilst in the vacinity of the stone, it was very quiet and I was aware of how truly alone I was at the time. I didn't hang around too long before heading back to the car.

There are a few more local areas linked with witches that I am intreagued by and plan to visit. The first of which is Creag Nam Ban near Ballater. Apparently the site of a prison/execution spot for witches in the early days. As always, I will put some pictures up as soon as I can.

Russell.