WIZARD OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

Grahame Sherbourne meets an old friend on the Isle of Arran (from Northern Earth 75)

Before visiting the Isle of Arran, as usual I had read various guidebooks that mentioned our earth mysteries fields of interest, intending to visit as many of the sites as the restrictions of a family holiday would allow. The island is a rich hunting ground - the whole of this compact region seems to be scattered with standing stones, some impresive in close-packed groupings and others simply dotted around, appearing unexpectedly by the roadside. Stone circles are also numerous.

But the 'must-visit' prize goes to a location that I had read nothing about and stumbled over whilst there. This is the King's Cave [OS sheet 66, 309882] (folklore says that this is where Robert the Bruce watched his industrious spider at work, but is there any cave north of the Border that does not claim this tale?). To visit the cave, you have to go with a forestry commission guide, as the entrance is blocked by impressive steel gates (times of visits are posted in the nearby car park). The walk is about 1.5 mls, the cave being located on the beach.

Once in the cave, its importance becomes obvious: the walls are scored with carvings covering millennia - from early pictograms of mammals such as horses and dogs to evocative cup and ring marks, early Christian crosses, Nordic intertwined serpents and even two delicate examples of Ogham.

One of the largest, but crudely executed, carvings shows our 'old friend the Deity' or wizard figure [see NE 63] holding aloft a bow/rainbow; in fact, it appears twice, a smaller example being disfigured by later graffiti (illustration unavailable at time of press). So this symbol now has links to Hawaii, the Iberian peninsula and Scotland. The guide suggested a Christian origin (although he made it very clear this was not his field). Does anyone have any thoughts on that link?

To reprise the information given in NE 63: The Spanish example, from Almeria, is claimed to be around 5000 years old. It is now used as a good luck and friendship symbol and said to be either a hunter displaying a bow or a deity holding a rainbow. The Yorkshire example was found on Askwith Moor in 1994 by Graeme Chappell and Paul Bennett at approx. SE 167506, on a vertical boulder about 50 cm. high. I came across the Maui figure about 60 cm up on a boulder which faced, like a guardian, down the approach track to a native shrine or heiau. Similar figures appear at the Royal Birthing Stones at Kukaniloko on the main island of Hawaii, Oahu. The figure is said there to represent a wizard or priest. JB.

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