Description of stone
Event ID 1009951
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1009951
Borthwick Mains, Roxburghshire, carved stone pillar
Measurements: H 1.52m +, W 0.36m, D 0.36m
Stone type: old red sandstone
Place of discovery: NT 4372 1411
Present location: set upright in the garden of Borthwick Mains, near Hawick.
Evidence for discovery: local tradition traces the origin of the stone to Commonside where it stood in the River Teviot as a nilometer at a ford. A secondary hole drilled towards the top of the stone suggests that it has also been used as a gatepost.
Present condition: worn and damaged.
Description
Incised by pecking on one face of this squared pillar is a large fish set upright on its tail, 0.94m in length. Its left side seen in profile, clearly depicted details are an eye, the gills, all four fins and an arc separating the body from the splayed tail. No mouth is shown but otherwise this appears to be a salmon.
Date: uncertain, medieval or later.
References: Feachem 1950; RCAHMS 1956, no 855.
Compiled by A Ritchie 2016
