Court Cave

So-called because local tradition says it was used as a court in the Middle Ages by the laird who lived in MacDuff's Castle.

Another story tells that an incognito James IV joined a company of gypsies in the cave and when the liquor flowed and a quarrel broke out, was forced to reveal his identity. The cave was afterwards ironically called Court Cave.

Locally also known as Bark Cove because it was a place where fishermen steeped their nets in preservative made of oak bark, and Piper's Cave because of a legend of a piper marching into the cave playing his pipes never to be seen again.

Until recently, miners played the gambling game of "toss" in the Court Cave.

Court Cave contains 10 recorded Pictish Carvings. Two other notable carvings are found in the passage; a rare figure and midget cupmarks in the shape of a cross. These are undoubtedly ancient, but do not conform to typical Pictish symbolism.

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Possibly, originally a Pictish beast


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Pictish beast and shape


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Double disc with floriated rod


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Bird


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Double disc


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Double crescent and Pictish beast


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Faint double disc and possible crescent with V-rod


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Triangular shapes


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Triangle linked to circle


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Triangular shapes


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Double disc with floriated rod


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Brooch shape


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Midget cup marks forming a cross shape


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Sometimes described as brooch shaped


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Often described as Thor with his hammer and sacred goat


The Game of Miners' Toss
Remembering the gambling that took place in the Court Cave.