This paper is part of the
Inventarisation of the Torrs 1-2 rock art sites
after new finds and re-discoveries by Brian Kerr in August/September 2005
Location
An untidy piece of land, just North of Torss farmhouse, South of Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
Sources
- PSAS 29 article by F.R. Coles, 1895;
- The Prehistoric Rock Art of Galloway & The Isle of Man, 1979, Ronald W. B. Morris;
- D&E 1993; a report by Maarten van Hoek
- Morris’ Prehistorc Rock Art of Galloway, Manuscript 1995, Maarten van Hoek
1895, PSAS 29, Fred Coles
Coles gives the first and, in my view, the best description of the carvings, now named Torrs 1-2, North of Torrs Farm House, in an article titled: “A Record of the Cup-and Ring-Markings in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright’ (PSAS 29, 1894-5, page 67-91).
And although it is a matter of yards, feet, inches and compass directions, he covers the whole outcrop in numbered items:
2. This group is on an almost flat rock-surface, 6 or 7 yards N. of the wall of Torrs farmhouse (see fig. 8).
Near it, on the E, are surfaces quite as smooth and far broader than this space, which measures over all but 30 inches by 18 and yet on none of them is there a vestige of any sculpturing. At m m in the diagram (fig. 8 –jb-) the two ends of an encircling groove touch the end of the rock, here flush with the summit of the hillock
3. Two feet three inches eastward, on a portion of the same rock, 3 inches higher, and also flat, are two small cups, joined by a straight groove 4½ inches long, running E. and W. (1b)
4. Three feet S. of this is a vague, nearly completre ring, crude and uneven, with a dot in its centre, on a small flat rock, on a level with the rest. (1c)
5. Eastward 66 feet, also on flat rock, are two small and very shallow cups, due N. and S. of each other, 5½ inches apart. There are other dots and small marks picked out apparently round these two, which suggest the notion that here a group (motif –jb-) was about to be cut, but abandoned. (2c)
6. Next, E.S.E. of the upper of these two cups, and 8 feet 6 inches distant, is a very unusually fine cutting. It occupies a small, squarish (natural) hollow in the rock, and has, no doubt, for long had the advantage of being turfed over, hence the remarkable clearness of its lines. It presents a cup 2 inches wide and two rings 5 ½ and 8 ½ wide. Neither cup nor ring is particularly deep, but the sharpness with which the edge of rock is left between each separate grooving is very noticeable, added to which is the almost mathematical circularity. Nine inches S.S.E is a clearly-cut cup, without a ring. (2d)
7. Thirteen feet N.N.E. of the ringed cup just noted is the design shown in fig. 9, which speaks for itself. The rock has a distinct slope eastwards. The outermost rings measure 10 and 8 inches in diameter. (2a)
1979, The Prehistoric Rock Art of Galloway & The Isle of Man, Morris, p. 165-8
Morris gives the following references to the site:
- Coles 1894. page 88
- Kirkcudbright Inventory 1914, no. 67
- Morris & Bailey 1964, p.164
- Morris 1966, p. 114
It isn’t clear why Coles article in PSAS 29 is not mentioned by Morris.
The circumstances under which Coles visited the site were much better than for Morris 85 years later. He describes the site as follows.
TORRS 1 (GAL 104)
15 m (17 yds) N of the byre’s gable, in a rubbish dump among much old timber, is a smoottish greywacke area, cleared by the author for ¾ m by ½ m (2 ½ x 1 ¾ ft) about 5 cm (2 in) below ground level, sloping 5 degrees NNW. On it are:
10 cups enclosed by, or among, grooves, including 2 irregular ‘dented ovals’ up to 53 cm (21 in) diameters – carvings up to 2 cm (1 in) deep. (1a)
70 cm (2 ¼ ft) E of this, Coles found 2 cup-marks; but the author was unsuccessful in finding these under the rubbbish. (1b)
1 m (3 ft) S of it in 1911 was noted a ‘vague nearly complete ring with a cup in its centre’. The author was also unsuccessful in uncovering this, on 3 visits. (1c)
TORRS 2 (GAL 105)
On a low knoll, 26 m (leaving the yards/inches out –jb-) E of GAL 104, a greywacke area 14 m by 9m has at its summit, about 7 cm above the rest of its rough surface, a smooth area. On this, sloping 10 deg. E are:
3 cups-and-four-mostly-complete-rings, up to 23 cm diameters, with grooves from each outer ring connecting them like a ‘Prince-ofWales” feathers’, exept that the centre groove begins at the cup and stops short of the others in a cup-mark –all a most striking design. Greatest carving depth – 1 cm. (2a)
4m SW of this, on the same knoll, is a cup-and-two-complete-rings 15 cm diameter, of negligible depth, first noted by the author (Morris –jb-), in 1973. (2b)
6m W of the ‘feathers’, there was noted ‘on the same rock’, 2 small cups, N and S of each other, surrounde by small dots as if an attempt to put a groove round them had been abandoned. This group could not be traced in 1964-78. (2c)
2 ½ m ESE of this last group, were noted in 1894 (should be 1895 –jb-) a completely un-weathered cup-and-two-rings 21 cm diameter, and a cup – both in a squarish rock hollow, no doubt now (1979 –jb-) turf-covered. (2d)
It has not been seen since before 1911
TORRS 2 – the main site, looking SW towards the farm
(both panel –1 and 2- are marked with a stone –jb-)
One of the very few attempts at design among these early Scottish carvings.
The coloured lines are later additions.
D&E 1993, page 24; a report by Maarten van Hoek
Van Hoek introduces a different (numbers-letters) reference system for Torrs 1 and 2.
There must have been a previous report because these entries start with Torrs 1B and refer to rock 1A. This publication is probably: van Hoek, M A M (1986 c); 'The Prehistoric rock art of Galloway', Trans Dumfriesshire Galloway Natur Hist Antiq Soc, 3rd, 61, 1986, 20, 37. (I hold a draft of this article but found no relvant information on Torrs 1-2 –jb-)
The term “re-discovery” relates probably to Morris’ survey, the panels which Morris couldn’t find. The description is as follows:
Torrs 1B
Re-discovered. Small outcrop 70 cm E of rock 1A. Two cupmarks connected by a groove. Weathered.
Torss 1C
Re-discovered. Small outcro[p, about 90 cm S of rock 1B. A very faint nearly complete ringmark without central cup, however enclosing a few indistinct dots.
Torrs 2C
Re-discovered. Small outcrop with three small cups surrounded by eight ‘dots’.
1995, Morris’ Prehistoric Rock Art of Galloway (Draft) by Maarten van Hoek
Van Hoek walks in the footsteps of Morris and checked up all the sites mentioned in Morris’ book (see above) resulting in additional finds and corrections.
This leads to the following inventarisation for the Torrs 1 and 2 sites:
TORRS 1A
Eleven cups of different sizes within and on a complicated design of about fifteen grooves, six of which seem to radiate from the ovaloid figure (53 cm across). Weathered.
TORRS 1B
Small outcrop 70 cm E of rock 1A, fractured. Two cupmarks connected by a groove, (overall lengt 11 cm). Weathered.
TORRS 1C
Small outcrop, about 90 cm S of rock 1B, fractured, pitted. A very faint nearly complete ringmark (9 cm in diameter)without a central cup, however enclosing a few indistinct dots.
TORRS 2A
Exposed outcrop, lump, fractured. Three possibly man-made dots and a small triangular depression (natural?); one cup with four rings (25 cm in diameter) and a long tail ending in a cup; two other cups with four rings each connected with a groove from their outer rings, the whole forming a striking design, sometimes called “the Prince of Wales’ Feathers”. Much weathered in places. The Kirkcudbright Inventory (1914, 133) illustrastes the W cup-and-ring with elongated rings touching the other motif. Reported as Torrs 3 (Morris & Bailey 1964, 167 and plate 8)
TORRS 2B
Outcrop some 4 m SW of rock 2A, now untraceable, possibly weathered off: slope unkown. After Morris 1979, 168: One cup with two complete rings (15 cm in diameter)
TORRS 2C
Outcrop some 6 m W of rock 2A. Three small cups N and S of each other and 22 cm apart, surrounde by small dots placed at random. Much weathered.
TORRS 2D
Outcrop hollow, most likely completely covered, now untraceable. One plain cup; one cup with two rings (21 cm in diameter). Unweathered when first reported. (no drawing –jb-)
Photos by Brian Kerr, August/September 2005
Mutual comparison
The following table, based on Van Hoek’s number/letter reference shows who saw what at Torrs 1-2:
Number Coles Morris Van Hoek Kerr Pic Draw
1a 1895(2) 1979(A) 1995 2005 x x
1b 1895(3) 1995 2005 x x
1c 1895(4) 1995 2005 x x
2a 1895(7) 1979(D) 1995 2005 x x
2b 1979(E) x (vH after Morris)
2c 1895(5) 1995 2005 x x
2d 1895(6) 2005 x
2e (new!) 2005 x
2f (new!) 2005 x
2g (new?) 2005 x
1895; Coles saw and reported 6 panels.
1979; Morris saw only 2 of the 6 panels reported by Coles, but added a new one (2b)
1995; Van Hoek reported 7 panels -the 6 of Coles plus the 1 of Morris- but saw only 5.
2005; Kerr photographed 6 of the 7 known panels and found and photographed 3 new panels bringing the total of motifs at Torrs 1-2 at 10 of which 1 is not found yet (2b).
The “new” panels found by Brian Kerr in 2005
It is clear that this panel, consisting of a cup with two rings and outgoing groove, a groove from the outer end of the outrunning groove under a angle of 45 degrees, near what looks as a big cup or small basin, is a new one. It was discovered in August 2005 by Brian Kerr of Dumfries. The panel is now named 2e, a logical sequence of the Easterly panels on the untidy piece of land North of Torrs farmhouse.
It seems that this motif was not described by one of the abovementioned authors. So this is an amzingly new find by Brian Kerr. A single ring is not common feauture in the rock art tradition of Dumfries and Galloway.
Panel 2g
What’s left?
Panel 2b
Discovered by Morris in 1973 and described by him as:
4m SW of this (2a –jb-), on the same knoll, is a cup-and-two-complete-rings 15 cm diameter, of negligible depth, first noted by the author (Morris –jb-), in 1973.
Still not found and photographed with modern (colour) equipment.
Prepared by Jan J. Brouwer (rockartuk)
Castricum, 5th September 2005
Last up-date: 24th May 2007