Black Glen of the Crooked Stones

In the epic historical fiction novel, Daughter of the Gods, Flora hears tales about the mysterious druid community and school located in Gleann Dubh nan Garbh Clac – the Black Glen of the Crooked Stones.  Flora had previously known this place as Gleann-Linne – the Valley of Lakes and Pools.  Historically, the glen was known by both of these names, and well as Gleann Liomhann – the Valley of Lugh (the Celtic sun god).

This secluded valley is now known as Glen Lyon, and it is one of the most remote locations in all of Scotland.  It is situated at the very heart of the Scottish Highlands, and is surrounded by steep mountains on every side.  The main route into the glen is at Fortingall, the home of the sacred and ancient yew tree. Though the glen had a significant population in times past, today only about 100 people live there, and many of them are seasonal residents.

Glen Lyon has strong links to the Cailleach – the old crone and Celtic creator goddess. The last standing shrine to the Cailleach in a small glen off the end of Glen Lyon that has been continuously tended for thousands of years (see the separate articles on the Cailleach and Tigh na Bodach on the main page and the map of Flora’s World.

Glen Lyon also boasts a large number of ringforts.  Legend attributes these forts to the mythical Irish hero Fiann MacCumhaill (aka Fin MacCool or Fingal) and his warrior band of the Fianna.

The “Scoti” raiders from Ireland sought to recast existing Highland cultural folklore and give it an Irish guise.  Just as they transformed the P-Celtic language of the Picts into the Q-Celtic tongue of the Irish, they also spun Pictish lore to revolve around Irish figures.  The legends of Fin MacCool are decidedly Irish in origin.  But they belie an earlier Highlander heritage.  

Because of this, we can surmise that, during the Roman period in Britain, Glen Lyon was an important military center in the Highlands.  The high chief of the various Caledonian tribes, Metallanus, resided at An Dun Gael near Fortingall at the entrance to Glen Lyon.  The forces he commanded were likely arrayed either inside or on the perimeter of Glen Lyon.  From this central location, they could be dispatched in any direction from which a foreign invader might attack.

 Just like the Irish “Scoti,” early Christian monks that eventually converted the Picts to the Christian faith sought to transform existing Pictish religious beliefs and folklore and give them a Christian twist.  Christian monasteries and churches were erected on or near existing Celtic holy sites (like the Fortingall Yew, St. Fillan’s, Dunkeld, and literally dozens of other such places). 

Saint Adomnan was one of the most prominent of the Celtic missionaries to Scotland after the time of Saint Columba.  He chose Glen Lyon as the focal point of his ministry.  There are chapels, sacred stones, and even a plague memorial mound located in or near Glen Lyon that attest to his prominence there.  In addition, one of the earliest monastic centers of learning was located at Dull, just 5 miles from Fortingall.  This center of learning eventually moved to Dunkeld, and finally became the University of Saint Andrews.

So what prompted the early Christian monks to make Fortingall and Glen Lyon the focus of such intense conversion activity?  One possibility is that they sought to displace the previous center of Celtic spirituality.  There is some evidence that the druidic school at Ynys Mon in Wales was relocated to this remote glen in the central Highlands after that community of druids was destroyed by the Romans in 77 A.D.  This is the position I reflected in  Daughter of the Gods. 

The druids were central to Pictish culture.   They had no written language, so the druids were the keepers of the history and lore of the tribes.  Furthermore, the druids were the healers and the intermediaries between the people and the gods.  Druids judged legal disputes, interpreted omens, and advised tribal chiefs.  Though the druid influence suffered a severe blow after the destruction of the druidic school on Ynys Mon by Agricola, it did not die out completely.  It lived on in Ireland and the Highlands of Caledonia.  It makes sense that the druidic school would have been reorganized in Glen Lyon, where it could be protected from additional Roman attacks and continue to recruit and educate healers, bards, judges, and seers to support the tribes.

Here are a few sources if you would like to read more about Glen Lyon:

Glen Lyon Historical Society. Click Here.

“The Shrine of the Cailleach at Glen Lyon.” Celtic Countries Magazine. Click Here.

 “Glen Lyon.” The Eye of the Psychic. Click Here. 

“History.” The Fortingall Hotel.  Click Here.