Ninestane Rigg

Stone Circle - Roxburghshire

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Ninestane Rigg sits in a forestry clearing about 2km NE of Hermitage Castle. A strange mixture of tall pillars and absolutely tiny stones, Ninestane is an ellipse measuring 6.7m NE-SW and 5.8m NW-SE. The two tallest stones stand at the south (1.2m), and the WSW (1.7m), between them is a tiny little stone which is aligned on the major southern moonset. We counted ten stones of which three seemed to be fallen, we did not include a group of three loose stones at the north, these can be seen in the right foreground of the photo above. The site was quite overgrown and boggy when we visited, and it was difficult to distinguish between original stones and recently added debris.
A local legend tells of how the evil Lord Soulis of Hermitage Castle was put to death within the circle in the thirteenth century, boiled alive in cauldron of molten lead, so the tale goes.