Geograph - photograph every grid square

Split the De'il, Windy Gyle

Described as a standing stone but not likely to be prehistoric and now no longer standing. It was probably set up as a route marker close to the track that leads north to Russell's Cairn on Windy Gyle and leaves the cross Border drove road north-east of Scotchman's Ford. The place name is first shown on the 1:10560 OS maps in 1899 with a small circle in the correct location, possibly indicating a knoll or cairn. Clearly it was thought significant enough at that time to merit both a place name and a location on the map and it may just be connected with the gigantic Bronze Age cairns above it on the Border ridge NT8515 : Russell's Cairn, Windy Gyle.

A cairn here may also have been depleted by the habit of generations of walkers removing stones to place on the greater eminence of Russell's Cairn just to the north. Interestingly, Sir W Aitchison described a Bronze Age burial mound south of this location in 1951, something that later surveyors couldn't subsequently find Link

It is clear that by the 1950s the place name had moved further west on the maps, where it is shown today, and no longer indicated as a mapped point feature.

The stone is discussed here Link

The view is west towards the massive of Cheviot and Hedgehope Hills. There is another photo showing its location here NT8515 : Split the De'il, Windy Gyle

Geoff Holland Link told me about Maiden Cross which may also have been located near the track crossing the Border at Windy Gyle. It was first mentioned in 1543 but its location is disputed and a cross has never been found Link