Bow Fiddle Portknockie

The spectacular Bow Fiddle Rock at Portknockie is the village's most visited tourist attraction. Along this section of the Moray Firth the sea has carved prominent caves, arches and sea stacks in the steeply folded Cullen quartzite rocks. This is the same rock, which forms the hill of the Bin of Cullen to the south of Portknockie. These rocks are very old from Lower Dalradian times making them some 650 million years old. They originated as layers of sandstone that formed in shallow seas and were subsequently folded and hardened by the pressures of volcanic activity to form quartzite’s.

Bow Fiddle Rock is a much-photographed element of the huge Caledonian fold belt, which stretches right across Scotland from Connemara in west Ireland through to Shetland, Norway and Spitsbergen. Its unusual shape has resulted from wave action wearing away at different rates on the various layers of rock that form this coastline. Does it remind you of a violin bow?

The Rock looks white from the layers of bird droppings left over the years by gulls that nest there. You will see Herring Gulls, Great Black-backed and Lesser Black-backed gulls. The brown speckle-coated gulls crying for food are adolescent birds under the age of four. You will see the Fulmers along the cliff-face and, occasionally Gannets diving for fish in the sea. Somewhat apart from the noisy gulls the Cormorants and Shags sit brooding on the rocks drying their black wings. When the older men in the village were boys it was one of the rites of passage in Spring to leap across to Bow Fiddle Rock to search for gulls eggs. Portknockie has its own Doric word for gulls which locals call "pules". Swimming around the Rock in early summer you may see the wedge-shaped eider ducks that breed in this area. The males are striking in their white and black plumage while the females are a dull brown.

Overhead as you watch the scene around Bow Fiddle Rock you will hear and see the larks climbing to the sky. Off-shore you will see the passing fishing boats heading to and from Buckie, the nearest fishing harbour, you may catch one of the huge North Sea oil rigs moving from the construction and repair yards at Nigg in Cromarty Firth. On occasion you may also see the famous bottle-nosed dolphins and porpoises which regularly pass the Rock in search of food. In the air, you may also witness Tornado and Jaguar fighter planes practising from Lossiemouth or one of the four-engine Nimrods returning from a distant marine patrol to their base at Kinloss. These cliff tops are also a favourite practice area for the yellow Sea King helicopters that provide Scotland with its superb search and rescue service.

Now you have seen the Bow Fiddle Rock, we suggest that you return along the coastal path to Scar Nose Point, past the Whales Moo cave for a picture postcard view of Cullen Bay and its lovely beach and then back to the village. Don't leave Portknockie without trying the following range of services - there is accommodation and a pub for refreshments in the Square, a post office, a general food store, a chemist, newsagents, a butcher's, a garage, and several hairdressers if the wind has been unkind to your hair!

Opening Times
Open all year.

Admission
Admission free.

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