page_title: River Irvine
section_title: Prehistoric sites
hierarchical_section_title: River Irvine / The course of the Irvine and its tributaries / Prehistoric sites
caption_attribution_description: English: A close up view of the Granny stane in the River Irvine at Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. Said to have been part of a stone circle
context_page_description: The River Irvine is a river that flows through southwest Scotland. Its watershed is on the Lanarkshire border of Ayrshire at an altitude of 810 feet above sea-level, near Loudoun Hill, Drumclog, and 7 miles SW by W of Strathaven. It flows 29 ¹⁄₂ mi westward, dividing the old district of Cunninghame from that of Kyle, until it reaches the sea via Irvine Harbour in the form of the Firth of Clyde, and flows into Irvine Bay by the town of Irvine. It has many tributaries, some of which form parish, district and other boundaries.
context_section_description: A large procumbent boulder known on the OS map as the 'Carlin's Stone' lies next to the Carlin Burn near Craigends Farm below Cameron's Moss in East Ayrshire. A Carl is a commoner, a husband or in a derogatory sense, a churl or male of low birth. More commonly the name Carlin was used as a derogatory term for a woman meaning an 'old hag'. It is also said to be a corruption of the Gaelic word "Cailleach", meaning a witch or the 'old Hag', the Goddess of Winter. This would therefore be the Witch’s or Hag's Stone, one of several in Scotland with this name. It has been much visited at one time, with the clear remains of a footbridge running to it across the Hareshawmuir Water.
  The Grannie Stane (or Granny Stane) is described as "one of Irvine's prehistoric puzzles", this boulder is either left behind from the Ice Age or is the last remaining stone of a stone circle – others were removed, by blasting, after the Irvine weir was constructed in 1895, but popular protests saved this remaining stone. The Grannie Stane is visible when the water is low. It is unlikely to have gained its name from various similar sounding Roman and Celtic deities.
caption: A close up view of the Grannie Stone
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