It's Old!! Multi-Cache
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(regular)
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A visit to the oldest living organism in Europe - The Fortingall Yew tree!
Accurately dating yew trees is notoriously difficult but scientists consider that the Fortingall yew is likely to be around 5000 years old, with some believing that it may even be as old as 9000 years! In 1769 the tree was recorded as having a girth of 17 metres (56.5 ft) - by far the largest ever recorded for the species.
In the last few hundred years, as its fame grew, souvenir hunters began to remove large sections of the tree and a stone wall had to be built around it for protection. These days, the yew looks like it is composed of a ring of trees arising from separate elements of trunk, but although the tree is showing its age it is still an impressive sight.
Early people revered the yew tree and they often marked a place of worship. Although the church standing beside this yew today is relatively modern, there has been a church on this site for 1300 years. There are also a number of structures nearby dating further back in history including a Neolithic cairn and standing stones. It has been said that Beltane fires celebrating the old Mayday festival were at one time lit at the site of this yew, and aerial photographs have also revealed what appears to be an enclosure centered around the yew tree which indicates that an early monastic site could have been established here. Yew trees were also often planted at the centre of a tribal territory, which served as a gathering place for clan meetings, and the Fortingall yew is certainly in the centre of what was Celtic Scotland and it is known that the yew tree was indeed sacred to the Celts.
In addition, yew trees were often associated with ancient hill forts and, on an elevated position close by, are the remains of an old hill fort called Dun Geal. At the time of Christ, Dun Geal was the residence of the Caledonian King, Metallanus, of whom local tradition claims Pontius Pilate was a relative.
Ah… Pontius Pilate - the Roman governor who ordered the crucifixion of Christ - there are numerous legends associating this man with Fortingall and the yew tree. Supposedly he was born in Fortingall, indeed some say that he was actually born under the tree itself, and played in its branches as a child.
Depending on which interpretation you favour, Pontius Pilate's Roman father was either an official visiting local chieftains on a diplomatic mission, or a soldier based at the Roman encampment nearby. The question of who his mother was is more complex. Was she also a Roman? Did news of the birth of his son reach Pontius Pilates father at Fortingall? Or had his wife been travelling with him and gave birth at Fortingall. Or….. was Pontius Pilates mother actually a local woman who fell pregnant after a liaison with the Roman? His father is eventually thought to have returned to Rome taking Pontius with him, but later in life, Pontius is said to have returned to retire and die here in Fortingall. This tale has been further substantiated by the discovery earlier this century, of a large stone slab near the village bearing the initials P.P. (Does this mean that he is an ancestor of the Perth Pathfinders?!)
These stories are intriguing, but in fact they are difficult to tie in with the timing of known Roman incursions into Scotland. The Romans did not invade Britain until 43AD. However…. several Roman expeditions are thought to have visited from 55 BC onwards…
What is without dispute is that this yew tree would definitely have been alive and a significant local landmark by the time the Picts were fighting the Romans, and indeed may have been already 3,000 years old at this point in history.
The Picts and the Romans were just two of the peoples that the Fortingall Yew has seen through the ages. But this ancient tree needs care if it is to see much more of Scottish history into the third millennium. Over the centuries it has been destroyed by rot, fire and vandalism, and although the remnants are still producing branches and needles, it has lost much of its vigour and size. Tree surgeons will carry out work intended to help it survive as long as possible. They will also take cuttings that will be grown on and planted around the country in order to preserve the genetic material of this remarkable old tree. So the Fortingall Yew will perhaps live on for another few thousand years as a clone, even if the original eventually does not survive.
Now before you start your task, it seems only fair to warn you that I did come here with a variety of microcache containers but I honestly could not find a single suitable place to hide one nearby! Everywhere is too exposed muggle-wise. For that reason, the cache is hidden just over a mile way as the crow flies, however to compensate for this I have hidden it along a scenic road and just next to a parking spot. Plus that meant I could use a box big enough to contain swaps!
The co-ordinates above are for parking - you will find the yew inside the chuchyard. You will have to answer a few questions based on information found near the yew in order to work out the final co-ordinates.
Make your way to the start of the path just in front of the west side of the church. A "time line" of Caithness slabs has been set along the path to the yew which puts the lifetime of the tree into a historical perspective. These slabs have carvings to illustrate major historical events which occurred during the lifetime of the tree. You will have to look closely at these slabs to help you find the cache!
Stone Age Man: How many standing stones are there? A
Warriors: How many circles on the inner ring of the shield? 1B
Warriors: How many circles on the outer ring of the shield? 2C
Kings and Queens: How many diamonds along the bottom of the crown? D
Worshippers Through The Ages: How many COMPLETE hexagons in the windows? 1E
Now look at the information Board “Rooted in History”. For the following questions you will have to use the familiar code of A = 1, B = 2, C = 3 etc.
Use this code to translate the FIRST LETTER of the answer to a digit. Where the letter gives a number greater than 9, please use the second digit in the number e.g. if the answer begins with M, M = 13 therefore the digit to use would be 3.
3000BC: What is the place name mentioned here? F
1000BC - 2000BC: What is the structure mentioned between these dates? G
1000BC - BC: What is the building mentioned between these dates? H
1000AD - 2000AD: Which explorer is mentioned between these dates? J
Final cache is at:
N56 36 KFG then add 7
W004 04 BLM then add 7
Where:
K = J divided by H
L = D + E
M = A + C
Cache is NOT on the gorge side of the road.
By the way, the front of the hiding place collapsed when I stood on it - so I used some of the damaged bits to help camouflage the box. Wasn’t able to tidy up the mess at the front as I got caught standing on top of the hidden cache taking waypoints by a muggle who parked up in front of me! Luckily she only asked if I was taking a photo!
Cache contents at time of placing:
Shoe Polish
Sellotape
Fish pen
Keyring
Nail Jewels
Plasters
Pumice Stone
Toy chalk
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
orrpu gerr