Cockles Inscribed Stone, East Lothian

NT53158 71721 At the corner of Cockles Bare and the drive to the Smithy, Coulston Mains cottages and Coulston Mains, Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland. It features a pecked spiral and letters JJ. It has been moved from the corner of the driveway to the edge of the field boundary. When he visited the site in the 1960s, Ronald Morris was informed by the Smithy owner that carvings had been made by his father John Johnston, who left his initials on the stone. However, other accounts state that the initials were there long before he was resident. Other narratives claim that the carvings are much earlier, and relate to the pilgrim route to the Isle of May, JJ referring to St James. The Smithy was previously a hostelry for pilgrims travelling this route. There is no evidence that carvings are prehistoric however. Scrap ID 3361 Canmore 56582 Shot with Canon 7D DSLR with 60mm Lens by Douglas Ledingham