This site is of disputed antiquity. If you have any information that could help clarify this site's authenticity, please post below or leave a post in the forum.
The Bore Stane
Thursday 20/12/01
I'm sure there was snow blowing through whilst writing down the details of the plaque- I had to take my gloves off to write which was a bad idea- they've just started to get feeling back in them now. This is another curious Edinburgh site- whether or not this stone was ever meant to be upright, we'll never know for sure. It was found in a nearby field, but not noted whether it was recumbent or vertical. It is, however, thought to be a cist cover. It now stands next to a church that is now part of Napier University- it's high up on the edge of a wall overlooking Morningside Road. It must be easily missed by the thousands of folk who pass this spot every day. I used to say down these parts and have stopped for a wee look a few times. This stone is a great deep red and has some very deep cup-like markings over it- but these are thought to be natural.
The plaque reads;
'In which the Royal Standard was last pitched for the muster of the Scottish army on the Borough Muir before the Battle of Flodden, 1513. It long lay in the adjoining field, was then built into the wall near this spot and finally placed here by Sir John Stuart Forbes of Pitsligo, 1852.
Highest and midmost was desiret,
The Royal Banner floating wide,
The staff a pine tree strong and straight,
Pitch'd deeply in a massive stone,
Which still in memory is shown,
Yet bent beneath the Standards weight
Marmion.'
This stone is a slab of coarse red freestone almost 5 foot by 2 foot and nearly 1 foot wide. It's badly weathered and none of the cup marks are thought to be artificial. There is no evidence that there was a muster on the Borough Muir in 1513. It's been suggested, from its dimensions, that this is possibly the cover of a cist.
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