Blair Collection > Place names in Strathbogie, with notes historical, antiquarian and descriptive

Rhynie. 257
any certainty be identified. It has been sug-
gested that the name is derived from the GaeHc
cro^ ' a circle,' and that the stone is one of a circle
which may have once stood on the spot. This is
almost certainly incorrect, because the fish is a
common Christian symbol, the meaning of which
is well known (see Rhind Lee. 1885, p. 120).
Dr. Anderson says, — ' No stone that is certainly
known to have marked a pagan interment ex-
hibits them (the Christian Symbols). Their
assumed connection with stone circles in certain
instances is not established by sufficient evi-
dence' (Rhind Lee. 1880, p. 181). My impres-
sion is that the name may be a corruption of
Cross-stone. Dr. Joseph Robertson says, that
many of the Scotch crosses were ' unhewn blocks,
graven with a cross, or covered with uncouth
figures and symbols ' (Scottish Abbeys and
Cathedrals). The symbols on this stone may have
conveyed the same meaning as a cross, and
possibly the stone was the Cross of Rhynie.
In its present form, the name probably indicates
that the stone, being in the centre of a culti-
vated field, has always been a favourite perch
for rooks, and therefore called ' The Craw-stane.'
So, also, we have Gledstane, Goukstane, and
Hawkstane. There is a Craw-stane near Edin-
burgh, another in Wigton, a Crawstane Butt at
Inverurie, and probably there are many others
in various parts of the country.
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