The Odin stone, long the favorite trysting-place in summer twilights of Orkney lovers, was demolished in 1814 by a sacrilegious farmer, who used its material to assist him in the erection of a cowhouse. this misguided man was a Ferry-Louper (the name formerly given to strangers from the south), and his wanton destruction of the consecrated stone stirred so strongly the resentment of the peasantry in the district that various unsuccessful attempts were made to burn his house and holdings about his ears.
(County Folk-Lore, vol. 3: Examples of Printed Folk-Lore Concerning the Orkney & Shetland Islands, collected by G. F. Black and edited by Northcote W. Thomas (London: Folk-Lore Society, 1903).
online at pitt.edu/~dash/monuments.html
Sir Walter Scott used these beliefs in his book ‘The Pirate’ (chapters 22 and 33).
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At the OrkneyJar webpages
orkneyjar.com/history/historicalfigures/pirategow/
you can read about the ‘Stromness Pirate’ John Gow, who was hanged in London in 1725. It is said that he was engaged to the daughter of a Stromness merchant, and that they’d pledged their betrothal by joining hands through the Odin Stone. After he was hanged, his poor girlfriend (it is said) had to travel all the way to London, to touch his hand and so release her from the oath. What a terrible thought. You rather hope the story isn’t true.