engineering

Thurgartstone

Thurgartstone is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Thurgartstone rather than just read about it. In short: The Thurgartstone or Ogrestone is a prominent glacial erratic stone near Dunlop in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The Thurgartstone stands in a field at Brandleside Farm and is thought to have been a rocking stone at one time, but it no longer moves due to a build up of soil beneath.

Key takeaways

Thurgartstone belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Thurgartstone to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Thurgartstone from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Thurgartstone or Ogrestone is a prominent glacial erratic stone near Dunlop in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The Thurgartstone stands in a field at Brandleside Farm and is thought to have been a rocking stone at one time, but it no longer moves due to a build up of soil beneath.

Name The Thurgartstane is also known as the Ogrestane, the Thorgatstane, the Fiend-Spirit's Stane, T'Ogra Stane, Thugart Stane, Fiend's Stane, Ogart Stane, Ogirtstane, the Ogre's Stone, Horgar Stane, Grit (great) stane or Thougritstane. In modern English, it is the Thurgartstone or Ogrestone. One explanation of the name is that it derives from 'Thor's Great Stone'. Another is that the name comes from the phrase "Thou Great Stone" or just '"grit stane". The term 'The Stone of the Ogre' may indicate some forgotten legend. Some names may be spelling errors originating in or propagated by the Ordnance Survey or other maps. Another theory is that the name is derived from the word "Tagairtstane", which means "the priest's stone." Yet another possibility is that 'Ogrestane' is more 'Ogre ton' and that the personal name 'Ogier' is a Normanised version of the Scandinavian name 'Holger'. Brandleside also may be a Scandinavian name and suggest that 'Brandale' was once the name of this valley. It is said to have been used as a Druid's altar combined with possible cremation. The Chapel Crags is said to have been the location of the dwellings of these priests and their holy well with its curative properties was later Christianised as St Mary's Well by the monks.

Location

The Thurgartstone is close to Dunlop on the Lugton Road is Black Burn Valley. Situated prominently in the middle of a field close to Brandleside Farm near the Chapel Crags is the Thurgartstone. Dunlop or Boarland Hill, the site of Dunlop Castle once held by the De Ross family, can be seen from the stone. The stone is in a sheltered spot, with ample running water nearby. Its entire mass is somewhat hidden due to the soil level building up over the centuries.

Description The Thurgartston is a "glacial erratic stone". It is composed of blue augitic porphyrite. This rock is different from the 'native' stone of the area. The Thurgartston weighs about 25 tons and the part above ground is about twelve feet by eight feet. It is set near the site of the pre-Reformation St Mary's Chapel. The site is listed and protected by Historic Scotland.

The religious settlement and Saint Mary's Well

There may have been a religious settlement associated with the 12th century chapel of Saint Mary near the Thurgartstone site. The chapel was built by the monks of Kilwinning Abbey and was endowed with sufficient funds to support a chaplain. It replaced an earlier church built to supplant the pagan influence of the Thurgartstone. The history of the site is apparently similar to the history of the Chapel Hill site at Chapeltoun. There are steps cut into the rock that led up to the monk's cemetery. The chapel and graveyard are no longer visible, ruins of the chapel last being visible circa 1824 and removed in 1835. It stood on a rock by the Black Burn next to the 'Lady's Steps' now replaced by the road bridge. There is a holy well in the "field bordered by the burn." The new buildings called "Marys Chapel" below the crags are built on the foundation of the original chapel. Chapelhouse Farm nearby was once called Brandlecraig. The well water arose from the base of the crags and when the road was built closer to the crags it was covered over but carried under it by a culvert that led to a trough surrounded by iron railings. Chapelhouse Farm and the St Mary's houses were once supplied with water from the well that had an ample and reliable flow. The water from the well was still used in 1972 for baptisms at Dunlop Church. Some stone relics from St Mary's were given to a member of the Clement family and a christening font was discovered in the burn at Kirkwood Farm by another Clement. These artifacts are now kept at North Borland Farm.

Associated Beliefs The Thurgartstone has long been associated with pagan ritual practices. There are still May Day celebrations and events at the site. This 'Druidical' stone is thought by some to have been a 'rocking or logan' stone at one time. It is now firmly set in the 'rubbish' and dirt. There are records showing that "even as late as the time of Popery", Catholics would do penance by crawling on their knees around this stone, crying "O thou grit stane". Apparently they held a belief that the Deity was present in the Thurgartstone. Farmers from Brandleside Farm did not move or break up the stone as has happened so often elsewhere. They also kept their ploughs a set distance away from the Thurgartstone as stipulated in the farm lease. This was presumably because legend has it that there were pagan burials around this monument. The ancient Dunlop Carlin stone is on the other side of the village. The well was said to be sacred to the Druids with magical properties ascribed to the water.

Views of the Thurgarstone in 2007

See also List of individual rocks Rocking Stones Corsehill, Lainshaw, Robertland and Dunlop Stones of Scotland Corsehill

References

Sources Bayne, John F. (1935). Dunlop Parish - A History of Church, Parish, and Nobility. Edinburgh : T.& A. Constable. Clement, David (2012). Dunlop Diary. December issue. Hutchison, Jennifer L. (1972). History and the Economic Development of the Village of Dunlop. Privately published. Love, Dane (2009). Legendary Ayrshire. Custom : Folklore : Tradition. Auchinleck : Carn. ISBN 978-0-9518128-6-0 Paterson, James (1866). History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton. Edinburgh : James Stillie. Smith, John (1895). Prehistoric Man in Ayrshire. London : Elliot Stock.

External links Dunlop Village and District in 1913 Thurgartstone photo A Researcher's Guide to Local History terminology Video and commentary on the Thurgartstone Video of Scottish Glacial Erratics in History, Myth & Legend

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Thurgartstone

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Thurgartstone claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Thurgartstone before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Thurgartstone ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Thurgartstone

In research: Thurgartstone appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Thurgartstone in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Thurgartstone is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Buildings and structures in East Ayrshire, Christianity in medieval Scotland, Megalithic monuments in Scotland, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Thurgartstone outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Thurgartstone in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Thurgartstone means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Thurgartstone out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Thurgartstone in simple terms?

Why does Thurgartstone matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Thurgartstone?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Thurgartstone.