I've had a reply from an Archaeological Field Investigation Office from HES Archives this morning. This says:
"It seems that Alan Ayre, the Archaeological Field Officer with the Ordnance Survey (who wrote the entry dated 27 May 1970) was mistaken. The position of the stone is shown at exactly the location where it stands to this day on both the 1st and 2nd editions of the OS 25-inch map.
It appears from the second map reference which he quotes that he must have taken the circular symbol above the letter 'a' in 'Bhrangis', as the position where the stone stood in 1898 - having failed to recognise that this is simply an element of a larger symbol that was intended to denote the character of the strand. The correct symbol is situated on the crest of the hachured scarp; and the error has arisen because this is situated well to the east of the legend on the 2nd edition. In mitigation, it has to be said that the relationship between the legend and the spot marking the stone's location is much better represented on the 1st edition of the map. However, this cannot have been available to Ayres and hence, his belief that the stone must have been moved from the one location to the other.
The actual entry in the Name Book is more telling than the condensed and ameliorated version presently in Canmore. It reads as follows: 'A rude slab 5 feet high 2 feet broad and 9 inches thick, stands in front of the Inn at Strontian. On market days it was the custom when any one became obstreperous, to chain him to this stone until he showed symptoms of repentance. Signifying 'Stone of Punishment''
This custom is reflected in the alternative names provided by the Argyll list (1915) - 'branks' being a fine Scotch word referring to a halter or a gag.
However, it seems very unlikely that this stone was erected especially for such a mundane purpose and so a prehistoric origin seems acceptable.
The NGR giving rise to the location on Canmap situates the stone at Ayres misread position. The correct NGR is NM 81580 61357."
I've corrected the NGR on the site page. With many thanks to our Anonymous user for pointing this out. Nice to know we are able to correct the historical record when we need to.
Note to our Anonymous user: if you could register as a Portal user (no charge, just enter your user name and email address (the later is kept completely private)) I can send you a private message to say thanks!
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