The Frozen Revelry | The Pipers Stones on Broughal Hill

I ascended the low slope of Broughal Hill where the stone circle commands a striking view of the surrounding valleys.

This is the site known as the Pipers Stones an arrangement of sixteen large granite boulders forming a rough ring across the turf.

The stones stand at varying heights like an uneven gathering of figures caught in mid motion.

Out to the northeast a single massive boulder stands alone separated from the rest as if watching the circle.

Local folklore tells a haunting story of a group of musicians and revelers who defied the solemn sanctity of the Sabbath day.

They danced to the wild tunes of a piper on the high ridge until the hand of fate turned them all to solid rock.

The lone outlying stone is the piper himself forever holding his silent melody while his companions are frozen in a perpetual ring.

An ancient gnarled hawthorn tree grows along the edge of the circle its twisted branches intertwining with the granite as a silent guardian of the fairy path.

I spent hours examining the worn textures of the boulders which bear faint traces of ancient cup marks and shallow grooves.

These subtle carvings suggest a purpose far older than the folklore of the Sabbath breakers pointing back to an early calendar of the sun.

When the autumn equinox arrives the morning sun rises directly over the ridge casting long shadows across the circle to mark the turning of the seasons.

To draw these granite shapes is to capture a monument that bridges the celestial movements with the deep roots of local memory.

Visual and Textural Impressions
The palette is dominated by the pale grays of the granite boulders contrasted against the rich emerald tones of the hill pasture.

I am inclined to work with heavy weight rough cotton paper using thick charcoal lines to define the weathered profiles of the stones.

I am inspired to use fluid washes of slate gray and raw umber watercolor to convey the vast changing sky over the Wicklow and Kildare border.

Pressing pieces of natural moss directly into the wet paint will allow me to create organic textures on the surface of the illustrated stones.