Maiden Stone
In a couple of weeks I will be sharing a cabin on Loch Ness with my folks. I'm looking forward to it and I've been poring over my tomes and surfing the Megalithic Portal choosing places to visit and commune.
I'm a bit of a Stone Circle freak, and one of the things I miss about living in the North East is being so close to so many big stanes. Grampian boasts the highest concentration of stones circles in the world doncha know 
This one is a favourite. It stands in the shadow of the Great Mother Bennachie here. The Maiden Stone is a Class II Pictish Symbol Stone dating from around 800-900AD, but I think that's just when someone decided to carve her surface - I think she has been standing there for much longer.
She is pink granite and stands around 10 feet tall and she is carved in relief on both sides. This picture shows her east face and the carvings on this side have weathered the least. These carvings represent the pre-Christian Pictish Symbols in four panels - a centaur and beasts, a notched rectangle and Z-rod, a Pictish Beast and a mirror and comb.
The west face shows badly weathered carvings that are more Christian with a ringed cross and an elaborate knot-work spiral. One theory is that this cross depicts the shift from old beliefs to Christianity. All the surfaces of the stone are carved, including the narrow sides and the triangular nick at the bottom right of the stone.
The Maiden Stone carries a legend about a young maiden, the daughter of the Laird of Balquhain, who was due to be married. It was the morning of her wedding day and she was baking bannocks for the feast and singing a song about how pretty she looked. She was a fair maiden true enough and she knew it. A strange man was walking by and heard her song and was captured by the beauty of her voice. He walked up to the scullery window, which was open, and saw her baking the bannocks. He watched for a moment with a twinkle in his eye before making a small cough in his throat.
The maiden turned and saw the stranger at the window and gasped a little as he winked at her.
"What are you doing there?"
"I'm to be married today and I'm baking bannocks for the feast." She smiled, remembering for a second the man who would be hers.
"Ah," said the handsome stranger, "and who will be helping you with the rest of the bannocks?"
The maiden looked askance at the man and spread her hands, "No-one, I am making the bannocks myself."
The handsome stranger tutted and sighed, "It is a shame that you have left things so late as to have enough bannocks for the feast then..."
The maiden frowned, straightened her back and crossed her arms - "I will manage fine by myself and will have enough bannocks left to feed everyone tomorrow!" she snapped.
The handsome stranger snorted at her and shook his head. "Fair maiden I do not think so, in fact I'll wager that you won't have enough bannocks made by the time I have finished the task I have been set."
Indignant, the maiden asked him what his task was, and when he told her that he must build a road to the top of Bennachie she threw her head back and laughed.
"I'll wager that my bannocks will be baked long before you are done!"
"And I'll wager that my road will be built first - and if it is you will marry me."
The stranger left and the maiden continued with her baking. Unbeknownst to her, the man was really Old Nick and he built his road within minutes. He returned to her window to collect on the bet and she saw his true nature for the first time. She threw up her hands and ran away with Old Nick in hot pursuit, as he caught up with her and grasped her shoulder, her prayers were answered and she was turned to stone.
The notch in the Maiden Stone is said to be where Old Nick caught her...
Not far along the road from the Maiden Stone on the right amongst some trees stands a statue of Persephone. You can park in the drive or walk from the car park at the Maiden Stone if you want to see her close up. She's a little more recent, having been carved by Shaun Crampton in 1961 from 8½ tons of millstone grit.
The glade of trees with a carpet of lilac flowers (depending on the time of your visit) is a beautiful setting for this sensual depiction of the Greek Goddess. This statue carries a mirror in reference to the Maiden Stone carving, and both stories have complimentary symbolism.
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Tags: fairy tales, goddess, lore, north east, pictish stones, red shoes, Scotland, stone circles, Storytelling
RIP Gemma
Beautiful pics and great stories but the Maiden Stone story reminds me more of Daphne than Persephone.