The Blue Stane

The Blue Stane

Natural History,Photography

The Blue Stane is a relic of Pre-Christian Pictish St. Andrews when it had some now forgotten ritual significance. It is reputed to have been the coronation stone of Kenneth MacAlpine, who united the Kingdom of the Scots and the Picts in 843 A.D. The Stane is shown on the John Geddy map of St. Andrews (1580), at which time it stood on the south side of what is now Double Dykes Road. It later stood at the City Road crossroads and was moved here in Victorian times. It may have also once stood by the West Port. Geologically, the Stane is made of Dolerite (or Whinstone), an iron and magnesium-rich igneous rock found on Drumcarrow Craig. It was probably plucked by glaciers which covered Fife during the last ice age and was then dropped nearby as a glacial erratic when the ice retreated about 14000 years ago.

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