The Circle, Present and Future - The Stones and the Stars: Building Scotland's Newest Megalith - page 286

but cleaning would destroy the natural patina. As it turned out,
the stones are so exposed on the hilltop that each winter's storms
scoured off the paint, including the occasional offensive messages,
though new ones quickly replaced them.
I've occasionally been asked, by New Age believers not living
locally, whether the presence of the circle has brought peace and
prosperity to the area. During the project I was sent a copy of Nee-
dles of Stone by Tom Graves, who “demonstrates how he and his
fellow dowsers can detect the natural energy patterns and flows
associated with megalithic structures, and shows the connections
between these patterns, ley lines, and traditional beliefs in ghosts,
magicians, nature spirits and demons. Drawing parallels between
his findings and Chinese acupuncture and geomancy - systematic
alteration of the landscape - he shows how megalithic man could
have used, or been used by, this knowledge to control the weather
and improve the quality of life [ 3 ].”
You can't prove that by the standing stones on Colonsay.
Three I haven't included were used imaginatively in more recent
history, one by a firing squad, another for a pillory and a third for
a whipping post. Nor has a beneficial effect on Sighthill been easy
to detect (see below). But three visits to the circle by believers do
stick in the mind.
The first assured me with great certainty that the Broomhill
was a fairy hill - which might have been believed, at one time,
though all that lies below it now is the disused railway tunnel. At
one of the Glasgow science fiction conventions, I was asked to take
a pagan group to the circle. They offered to connect it to the ley-
line equivalent of the National Grid, which I politely declined, but
going around it with them I was surprised to find the stones warm
to the touch and giving what seemed almost like an electric charge.
I'm not usually suggestible to that extent and went back 2 days
later to check, but have felt nothing like it before or since. Tony
Crerar was also a believer, as well as a serious observer, but related
to a different set of traditional beliefs. Walking into the circle and
observing the graffiti, he remarked, “Oh yes, this is building up its
charge nicely. I bet that Brenda over there is pregnant by now, and
I expect Mike over here had a lot to do with it…”
Originally Sighthill Park had been laid out with activity areas,
linked by paths designated for runners, walkers and other fitness