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A cattle rubbing stone (or clawin post in Scots) is a stone allowing cattle to rub their skin without causing damage to field infrastructure such as fences and posts, or natural features such as trees.Brown, p.43 They were once a common sight in pastures in Britain, but many have since been removed to accommodate the needs of modern farming practices. Cattle are depicted on Pictish stones such as the Fowlis Wester stone; however, the requirement for rubbing stones mainly relates to the enclosure of fields in the late 18th century that held cattle within a confined area.
A ''claw-scrunt'' in Scots is a tree or tree stump used by cattle to rub themselves against.
Cattle rubbing stones need to be well dug into the ground and/or packed with stones and have also to be made of hard stone types that can withstand the considerable weight and strength of cattle. They can often be distinguished from megaliths such as
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In Scotland the word 'yokey' was generally used for cattle that had itchy skin. Cattle rubbing stones were often made from harder stone such as whinstone or
Cattle Rubbing Stones and Menhirs
Cattle Rubbing Stones
{{commons category, Cattle rubbing stones Megalithic monuments Sacred rocks Stone monuments and memorials
A cattle rubbing stone (or clawin post in Scots) is a stone allowing cattle to rub their skin without causing damage to field infrastructure such as fences and posts, or natural features such as trees.Brown, p.43 They were once a common sight in pastures in Britain, but many have since been removed to accommodate the needs of modern farming practices. Cattle are depicted on Pictish stones such as the Fowlis Wester stone; however, the requirement for rubbing stones mainly relates to the enclosure of fields in the late 18th century that held cattle within a confined area.
A ''claw-scrunt'' in Scots is a tree or tree stump used by cattle to rub themselves against.
Structure
Cattle rubbing stones need to be well dug into the ground and/or packed with stones and have also to be made of hard stone types that can withstand the considerable weight and strength of cattle. They can often be distinguished from megaliths such as standing stones
A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be foun ...
by having angular edges showing that they have been cleaved during quarryingGarlogie Cattle Rubbing Stone on Canmore/ref> rather than be
glacial erratics
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
or from other natural sources. Some stones may show drill marks from the quarrying process. The shape is based on the need for appropriate height and strength without occupying too much space. The use of Ordnance Survey
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maps from different years may show that the stones were installed by farmers and they may marked as 'Rubbing stones'.Meanecht rubbing stones on Camore./ref>
Identification
In Scotland the word 'yokey' was generally used for cattle that had itchy skin. Cattle rubbing stones were often made from harder stone such as whinstone or granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
depending on the geology of the area concerned. An indicator that a stone is used by cattle for alleviating skin irritation is the polished appearance of the areas that have been used by many generations of cattle over the years. The ground around rubbing stones is often churned up and devoid of vegetation. Stones may also have areas of staining caused by the transfer of oil from the hide of the cattle during the rubbing process.
Some standing stones
A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be foun ...
owe their survival partly due to their practical functionality as cattle rubbing stones although some megalithic sites have had to be protected from the damage that cattle can and do cause as indicated by the attached photograph. The proximity to known megalithic
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea.
The ...
sites is also a clue as to the actual origins of rubbing stones.
Stones with ancient carvings on them such as cup and rings, petrosomatoglyphs, Pictish, early Christian, Ogham, etc. indicate their origins even if they have a rubbing stone function.
The Dagon Stone at Darvel in East Ayrshire was once used as a cattle rubbing stone.
References
; Notes ;References * Brown, Christina Robertson (1966). ''Rural Eaglesham''. Glasgow : William MacLellan & Co. * Grigson, Geoffrey (1966). ''The Shell Country Alphabet. The Classic Guide to the British Countryside''. London : Penguin Books. .External links
Cattle Rubbing Stones and Menhirs
Cattle Rubbing Stones
{{commons category, Cattle rubbing stones Megalithic monuments Sacred rocks Stone monuments and memorials