Selm Muir

This boundary stone, which is depicted on the 2nd edition of the OS 25-inch map (Edinburghshire 1894, Sheet VI.13), was not located on the date of visit in an area of dense conifers. It was probably similar to another (NT06SE 54) that remains in situ 360m to the SSE.

The stone is one of at least 35 that are shown standing in moorland between the farmsteadings of Corston (NT 078 638; NT06SE 49) and Leyden (NT 099 643) on various editions of the Ordnance Survey 1st and 2nd edition 6-inch and 25-inch maps. None of the stones shown on the 2nd edition of the map, including this example, are depicted on the 1st though the evidence indicates that all were erected in 1837. The stones vary in shape, but most are square or roughly square in section. Several stones that are now lying prone show a uniform length of around 0.92m and it is clear that no more than the top 0.3m (1 foot) of any of the stones was ever meant to be visible once erected. Several stones bear what is likely to be the name of the estate responsible for erecting them. However, all of those inscriptions that survive are in a very poor state of preservation and illegible; on several stones the name has been chiselled off leaving only the legend ‘MARCH’ and the date.

Visited by HES Survey and Recording (JRS) 2 March 2022.