markj99

The siting of this pair of stones with extensive views all round justifies their presence.
Canmore ID 4428 (go to Links) sheds some light on their past. According to the Name Book 1852 there was a 6 foot square Four Poster in situ. Over the years the number of stones was reduced from 4 to 2.
Looking at this site as a large Four Poster elevates it from an oddity to a significant monument.

I visited the Fell of Barhullion Hillfort while investigating the shy and retiring Cup and Ring Marked rocks on Blairbuy Farm. Most of these are covered by turf or gorse so the visible remains of the fort come as a relief.
Canmore ID 62757 (go to Links) has a good aerial picture of the fort and a detailed description of the layout. They suggest the placement of a Chevaux de Frise, an anti-cavalry device consisting of randomly placed vertically set stones, on the otherwise unprotected N flank.

It’s nice to find a site that you don’t have to walk for miles over moorland to visit.
The Galloway Stone is just such a site. Simply leave the M6 at J39 for Shap, turn left for Orton after 0.5 miles, follow the Orton road for 1.8 miles parallel to the M6. Take the right turn to Salterwath dead-end lane just before the M6 underpass.
The Galloway Stone lies c. 50 yards to the left after 100 yards along this lane.
It looks like a large chunk of Shap Pink Granite so it can’t be an erratic from Galloway.
The explanation for it’s name may be that it was a marker on the Old Scotch Drove Road for turning onto the Galwaithegate or Galloway Road.
As an additional point of interest there is an Ordnance Survey Bench Mark Bolt on The Galloway Stone denoting a height of 98.8m.

Visited 01.09.20

The path for Cosdon Hill starts near the Oxenham Arms in South Zeal. A tall menhir is built into a wall in a dining room (see Oxenham Arms site).
From the Oxenham Arms go downhill for 50 yards turning R into a signed path. Turn R when the path meets a road, go uphill to a crossroads. Head straight onto a rough road for c. 200 yards until a Bridle Path appears on the L. This path leads up onto Cosdon Hill and the restored triple stone row.

Visited 02.09.20

I followed the river path at Harford Bridge and a cow path up to Tristis Stone. The Chambered Cairn is 70 yards W of Tristis Stone and the Cairn Circle a further 90 yards west.
I followed the stone row downhill (due N) for 220 yards and c. 80 stones when i ran into extensive gorse and lost the trail.
The size of stones in the row varied from inches above ground to three feet.

Take the Kirkmichael/Straiton B7045 turn on the NE edge of the A77 in Maybole. After around 600 yards there is a lay-by on your R. Walk 30 yards back towards Maybole to a gate on the L into a large field. Follow the dry stane dyke for around 250 yards looking L to locate Lyonston Stone in the adjacent field.
Canmore ID 41670 (go to Links) gives a full description of this “rounded granite boulder about 1.4m high.”

Taking the advice of previous Stoners, I changed into wellies and tramped across boggy marshland taking the SW edge of the knoll as a bearing.
The stone circle is c. 20 yards SW from the knoll however it is difficult to spot as all 4 stones are less than 1ft high.
Canmore ID 38005 (go to Links) states that Ardilistry is “a probable ‘four-poster’“.
Given the diminutive nature of Ardilistry Four Poster there is greater satisfaction in having found it than having seen it.
PS I investigated a suspicious gap in the knoll to the NE. I found a narrow channel lined with stones and a mysterious stone structure. It is not listed as a cairn so I would be interested in other Stoners opinions.