The Dinnie Stones: Two Granite Boulders and a Legend of Strength

Each major claim carries one of three labels. established means supported by primary records, official bodies or several independent reliable sources. shared means the core fact is sound but sources disagree on details, dates or interpretation. traditional means widely repeated but not traceable to a primary or independent source.

Dinnie's 1860 carry is widely repeated, but the details come from later retellings. Weights quoted vary slightly between sources depending on when and how the stones were weighed.

The stones

established The Dinnie Stones are two rounded granite boulders fitted with iron rings. The larger weighs about 188 kg and the smaller about 146 kg, giving a combined weight of about 333 kg. They are said to have been used as anchors by masons working on Potarch Bridge, which carries the road over the River Dee in Aberdeenshire. They are now kept beside the Potarch Hotel.

Donald Dinnie

established Donald Dinnie was born near Aboyne in 1837, the son of a stonemason, and trained as a mason himself. Huge and enormously strong, he began competing at Highland Games as a teenager and dominated heavy events such as the hammer throw, putting the stone and caber, as well as wrestling, for decades. He toured widely in North America, Australia and New Zealand and became one of the first sporting celebrities, his face used to advertise products. He died in London in 1916.

established Dinnie's drawing power is recorded in local newspapers. The sports historian Hamish Telfer, in his chapter "Play, customs and popular culture of west coast communities 1840–1900" in Scottish Sport in the Making of the Nation (1994), notes that about 5,000 people turned out to see him at the Argyllshire Gathering in Oban in 1876. He won £8 in prize money there, plus another £1 for giving the crowd an exhibition of strength. Telfer also names him among the professional leaders of the period against whom local strongmen measured themselves.

The carry

shared According to the story, in 1860 Dinnie's father was working on repairs to the bridge, and the young Dinnie picked up the two stones, one in each hand, and carried them across the width of the bridge, a distance of about 17 feet. The story was told in later accounts and has become part of the legend; it is widely accepted but not documented in detail at the time.

Lifting the stones today

established Lifting the Dinnie Stones has become a famous test of grip and strength. The challenge is usually to lift both stones off the ground at once, holding the rings without straps, or to carry them. In 1953 Jack Shanks repeated the carry. In 1979 the American powerlifter Jan Todd became the first woman known to lift both stones. In recent years many strongmen and strongwomen have travelled to Potarch to attempt the lift, often filmed for social media. The stones have occasionally been stolen or moved, and they are now chained to a wall.

• The Dinnie Stones weigh about 333 kg together.
• Donald Dinnie trained as a stonemason.
• He toured North America, Australia and New Zealand.
• Jan Todd lifted both stones in 1979.
• The stones are now chained up beside the hotel.

• Disputed: Dinnie's carry across Potarch Bridge in 1860. The story is widely accepted, but it comes from later accounts and is not documented in detail at the time.
• Disputed: the weight of the stones. About 188 kg and 146 kg, about 333 kg together. Figures vary slightly between sources, depending on when and how the stones were weighed.
• Disputed: the stones' use as bridge anchors. They are said to have been anchors or counterweights for masons working on Potarch Bridge, but this is how the story is told rather than a documented fact.