2015-11-24 (Day 328) Clackmannan Tollbooth

This photo was taken in the centre of Clackmannan. Clackmannan is a town (pop 48,000) after which the county of Clackmannanshire is named (even though Alloa is the county town of Clackmannanshire). “Clackmannan”, in old Scots, means “The Stone Of Mannan” – we’ll come back to that later.

For now, however, let’s look at the tower. That is the Clackmannan tollbooth. According to Clackmannanshire Council, this was built in the late 16th Century at the behest of Sheriff William Menteith, who “was no longer inclined to hold prisoners in his own dwelling house”. And who can blame him? Yet in that case, why call it a Tollbooth? I’m not quite following this…

To the left of the Tollbooth is a stone – The Stone Of Mannan. Now, the Stone is the bulbous bit on the top. The support is a separate piece of stone; the Stone Of Mannan was placed atop it in 1833 when it was moved to its present site. Prior to that, the Stone Of Mannan was on the wonderfully named Lookaboutye Brae – a hill I had never heard of but now want to visit purely on account of its name.

Okay, Mannan. According to http://www.pagan-place.blogspot.com, Mannan is an ancient Celtic or pre-Celtic sea god. He is known by the names Manannan mac Lir in Ireland and Manawydan fab Llyr in Wales, and the Isle of Mann is also named after him. The lands both south and north of the Firth of Forth were once known as Manaw, also named after Mannan. Clackmannan may have thus been the site of a cult centre dedicated to the sea god who had a strong connection to both shores of the Firth of Forth.

There is another story about how the town got its name. When Scotland’s King Robert The Bruce. When he was living in a nearby Tower, before the town had sprung up, he stopped at the stone and left his glove on it. When he realised his mistake, he bade his servant go back to the <i>clack</i> (Carrick Gaelic for stone) to get his <i>mannan</i> (glove). The servant told Bruce “If ye’ll just look aboot ye here, I’ll be back wi’t directly” – thus one event named both the town and the hill.