Lochmaben Stone

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The Lochmaben Stone near Gretna – in Irvine territory - is a seven-foot high rounded chunk of granite that once formed part of a stone circle dating back to 3000 BC.
But the amazingly tactile stone was also used by the reivers as a meeting point before raids and also for Truce Days.  The stone marked the southern reaches of the Scottish kingdom in the past.
Nearby in the bottom end of the field by Stormont Farm is the spot where the English blood ran red at the Battle of Sark in 1448.
Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, camped his army of 6,000 men here and lost as many as 3,000 killed and drowned as a Scottish force of 4,000 under Hugh Douglas, Earl of Ormonde, drove them back into the water with their pikes for a decisive victory.
A smaller stone from the ancient circle is set in the ground by the hedgeline and the site is reckoned to have been a shrine to the Celtic God Maponus.

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