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England
Men ScryfaStanding Stone / Menhir
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Eventually we head off back the way we came, past the barrow and down to the Four Parish Stone again. From here a track between low hedges leads southwestwards. Men Scryfa is in the first field on the right, with a gate at the southern corner allowing access (there is no public right of way into the field and there are often cows pastured here). Today is a cow-free day, so we pop in to say hello. There's no doubting the stone's Dark Ages provenance – it's written all over its face. But in truth is also makes a very convincing Bronze Age menhir, shapely and tall, set in a landscape bursting with the remains of the period. This post appears as part of the weblog entry A Crack In The Clouds (2) – Porthmeor to Madron 18 June 2011
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Posted by thesweetcheat14th July 2011ce |
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Visited 11.4.10. Just a 5 minute walk further up the path from Men-An-Tol, in a field on your left. The inscription is fairly easily made out on the opposite side of the stone as you approach via the handy stone stile into the field. Very easy to access and well worth it when visiting Men-An-Tol. |
Posted by CARL 20th April 2010ce |
| Just a couple of fields away from Men an Tol this 6' standing stone is worth checking out if you're en route up the path toward the Nine Maidens. You really can't miss it. The light was awful to see the inscriptions when we were there at about 11.30am, I guess it's better in the summer in the late afternoon. |
Posted by Jane24th March 2004ce Edited 25th March 2004ce |
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Surrounded by green fields to the north but with the wild moor to the south, the Maen Scryfa reminds me of the stone in my friends house at Kerris .From what I can see of the inscription the writing is very similar. It is said this marks the site of the death of Ryalvren "the Royal Raven". If any treasures where buried here I wonder what happened to them? or are they still waiting to be discovered? This post appears as part of the weblog entry The Quoits of Penwith
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Posted by Mr Hamhead30th January 2004ce Edited 30th January 2004ce |
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Once you know where it is this menhir is visible from Men-an-Tol, Nine Maidens (Boskednan) and Ding Dong mine, from a distance the stone was very dark in it's field. I read in 'Journey To The Stones' that there's a well/spring nearby (in a field somewhere behind the four parish boundary stone that lies by the track to Boskednan, but couldn't find it). |
Posted by Lottie 30th June 2003ce |
| I was going to Boskednan but did'nt have my waders so chickened out and popped over to photo Men Scryfa instead, still very muddy though. |
Posted by hamish23rd February 2003ce Edited 24th February 2003ce |
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Men Scryfa - 27.12.2002 Easy to reach if you’re visiting either the Nine Maidens or Men-an-tol. Although there is no official public footpath to the stone marked on the map, there is a stile into the field at its South West corner, and a well-trodden path to this curious inscribed stone. There seems to be no other obvious way out of the field, so best to retrace your steps back to the stile. |
Posted by pure joy17th January 2003ce |
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The inscription, probably made long after the menhir was orginally erected, reads RIALOBRANI (Royal Raven) CUNOVALI FILI ('Famous leader' or 'Glorious Prince') The raven is a bird of carrion, linked with death and the battlefield and was believed to have magical power for those who worshipped it. The raven is one of the forms taken by the Irish Morrigan, goddess of war and death. Celtic legend links the name of Bran (in RialoBRANi) to a ancient British warrior king, keeper of the cauldron of immortality, whose decapitated head continued to have powers of speech and was later buried on the site of the Tower of London, where ravens still live. Bran also appears in Arthurian legend under a variety of names and he was a Celtic solar war god. The story of RIALOBRANI (Ryalvran) is clearly very ancient. An invader attacked the Glorious Prince, seized his lands and occupied the Lescudjack hillfort at Penzance, which protected the harbour. The defeated royalty fled possibly to the area around Carn Euny or the hillfort of Caer Bran (Raven Castle). The Royal Raven tried to reclaim his territory and a battle took place, but Ryalvran was killed and buried by the stone which apparently was the same height as the dead warrior. From Ian Cooke's 'Antiquities of West Cornwall |
Posted by Jane 15th December 2003ce |
| As with many other old stones in Cornwall, there was a belief that gold lay buried beneath it. A story says that some time ago a man who had a recurring dream of a crock of gold, dug a pit around the base of the stone. He found nothing but the stone collapsed and has only been re-erected in recent times. |
Posted by pure joy 19th March 2003ce |
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This stone, supoosedly marks the burial place of Ryalvran, who is said to have died here fighting for the recovery of his fathers land. His opponent is unknown, although it's thought he occupied Lescudjack Castle around 400-500AD. |
Posted by stubob18th September 2002ce Edited 28th March 2005ce |
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Disputed Antiquity Men Scryfa is a scheduled monument because it is considered to be a good example of an early medieval memorial stone. However English Heritage's Record does add "It has been suggested that this memorial stone may be a reused standing stone as the early Christians often took over previously venerated stones and marked them with crosses." |
Posted by TMA Ed 10th January 2007ce Edited 10th January 2007ce |
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The inscription on the stone reads RIALOBRANI CUNOVALI FILI. I have read that as this is not proper Latin, but a version being used at the time of carving by locals living on the edge of the Roman Empire, an exact translation is difficult, but "of the Royal Raven, son of the Glorious Prince" is close. Source: Antiquities of West Cornwall. Guide 1: The Men-An-Tol Holed Stone [ISBN 0-9512371-2-8] http://www.menantolstudio.freeserve.co.uk/web%20page%203(2).htm |
Posted by Cursuswalker21st January 2003ce Edited 21st January 2003ce |
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Men ScryfaThe photograph on this page shows the inscription clearly. |
Posted by Cursuswalker 21st January 2003ce |
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