Rosslyn, Kilmartin Glen, Cup & Ring Marks

Long before the novel and film of the the Da Vinci Code, I found myself ending a mystery at Rosslyn.

My father and I had obviously been intererested in Scots History and pivitol to many a Scotsman would be the Battle of Bannockburn 1314 where there is a reckoning that it was the appearance of a small group of Knights Templars that made the English levy flee.

The Templars and other organised Knights obviously had a sense of mystery and were steeped in the lore of the Cathars, Grail Legend, Holy Land, and the history of the Western Europe.

Another place I found myself on this journey to discover the esoteric aspects of Scots history was Kilmartin Glen. There to discover ancestors buried next to old foes and sharing the same spaces as the alleged Knight Templars who should of been destroyed by the plot of The Vatican and Philip of France.

The Treasures whether it was gold, knowledge, or holy artifacts, (blood lines)! made itself to where they would be safe and welcomed and that was Scotland and of course other parts of the British Isles where the influence of France and Rome could not reach.

Obviously time moves on and persons marry and start new lifes, however it is difficult to argue with the symbolism visible in many of the old graves of Britain, including place names and refectories built in the Templar round style.

Scots Rite Masonary once the initial 3 degrees have been passed, (Some would argue there is no more), does have initiations latterly into a psuedo templar order. The Scots Guards Regiment still has a warrant officer who wears a beard to show their history.

For me Rosslyn was so much more than a simple place of worship. It was like a Tarot made of stone and so full of mystery.

To see pagan symbolism enriched with grail mystery and blatant occult figures was so electrifying.
Each stone told a story.

Cast of the original from my home.

Obviously the Original.

I do not know if you know of Hiram Abiff King of Tyre an Archetictural Master and Brassworker of Solomans Temple. His story makes up much of the initiation rites of modern freemasonary and there is in this a murder mystery and during the reincarnation of the third degree to Master, a similar murder takes place over the building of Rosslyn.

The Master has to go and leaves his aprrentice to work alone on one of the central pillars. On his return he discovers the right hand pillar completed and to such a high fashion that he goes into a rage and strikes the apprentice with a gavel, to his death.

The intricate work and contained within the apprentice pillar is to me wonderful.

Rosslyn Chapel bears no more resemblance to Solomon's or Herod's Temple than a house brick does to a paperback book. If you superimpose the floor plans of Rosslyn Chapel and either Solomon's or Herod's Temple, you will find actually find that they are not even remotely similar. Writers admit that the chapel is far smaller than either of the temples. They freely scale the plans up or down in an attempt to fit them together. What they actually find are no significant similarities at all. [...] If you superimpose the floor plans of Rosslyn Chapel and the East Quire of Glasgow Cathedral you will find a startling match: the four walls of both buildings fit precisely. The East Quire of Glasgow is larger than Rosslyn, but the designs of these two medieval Scottish buildings are virtually identical. They both have the same number of windows and the same number of pillars in the same configuration. [...] The similarity between Rosslyn Chapel and Glasgow's East Quire is well established. Andrew Kemp noted that 'the entire plan of this Chapel corresponds to a large extent with the choir of Glasgow Cathedral' as far back as 1877 in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries. Many alternative history writers are well aware of this but fail to mention it in their books.
by Mark Oxbrow and Ian Robertson in their book, Rosslyn and the Grail:

The chapel is just outside Edinburgh and well worth a visit.

I have another of my theories here where when looking at the three pillars master to the left the middle and the apprentice to the right! There is I fancied something curious about the base of stone supporting the middle pillar it appears to have a different shape and be of a dark granite like material.

I recall going to Edinburgh to see the stone of destiny returned and whatever was being pulled up the Royal Mile appeared to me to be no more than a lump of red sandstone. It was the same day I visited Rosslyn and my mind wandered as it is prone to do that perhaps the real Jacobs Pillow was at the base of the Middle Pillar.

KIlmartin Churchyard and Glen

This was also part of my quest and here I found what I would call the Scottish Valley of the Dead.

In this valley the earliest of Britains lived and built and buried their dead. There is old Temples, Chambered Cairns, Standing Stones and further to the south and east Achnabrechan and its mysterious Cup & Ring Markings.

The early Kingdom of Dalriada who were celts that migrated to the area coronated their Kings here at the Dunadd.

In the churchyard two of most important monuments are the Kilmartin crosses, one 9th-10th century, the other late medieval in date, within the church. In the churchyard are a large collection of late medieval gravestones in the 'West Highland' style, dating between the 14th and early 16th centuries. Many are marked by figures of warriors in contemporary dress with spears and swords, along with figures of fantastic animals, foliage and interlace patterns. None are inscribed, so the identities of the persons commemorated are unknown. They can, however, be taken to be the monuments of the local landowning or minor noble class in late medieval times. Kilmartin Church was evidently an important burial site, and the graveslabs of the 'Loch Awe school' of carving may have been carved in a workshop at or near Kilmartin. The swords shown on many of the stones refer to warrior (or, more broadly, social) status, and any connection with the Templars or other medieval military orders is debated. Women are commemorated on some of the stones, their symbol often being the shears (referring to household activities).

Kilmartin Glen is the location of several important Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age sites, including Temple Wood (a henge monument), several burial cairns, chambered cairns, standing stones and cup and ring marked rocks.

Kilmartin's is one of the finest concentrations of prehistoric sites in Scotland, and almost all are within an easy walk of the roads which criss-cross the valley. One of the burial cairns has been rebuilt, with access through an opening in the top down stairs to the base of the cairn and a stone burial cist. The two stone circles in Temple Wood have also been re-erected by archaeologists.

And as for the Cup & Ring Markings well: Any Ideas? As Archeologists have no idea as to their real purpose.

It seems to me strange that the ones I know of appear to be in fairly remote areas. Further it is not as if they appeared overnight it would of taken several years to make these markings.

I imagine that during the late ice age and early bronze ages most peoples moved from area to area in search of safe easy to gather foods and lands for grazing. The markings to me could show identification of distances and directions and some record of where and whom peoples had been or were going to.

I realise that this blog may appear somewhat disjointed in its relation to the three subjects. If so then I apologise. There are connections The History of Ancient Britain and Scotland, Graves which show similar works although may or not be in the case of Kilmartin be specifically Templar which in turn connects to Rosslyn.

I suppose for me it is about living history and being in touch with our surroundings.

Britain the Isles of has so much history much if it ignored or not understood. The ancestors of this island have so much in common despite national boundaries we had a shared culture.