Beside the Banks of the White Esk

17.09.2025

En route down from Argyll I took a detour off the A74 into the Eskdalemuir Forest in Dumfries and Galloway to visit two stone circles on the banks of the White Esk. It was still raining when I pulled into a layby opposite the Loupin Stanes stone circle. It was easy to spot down by the river and easy to get to when the rain eased off.

I crossed the road and took to the sloping field over a stile and along the faint trace of a path in wet grass. I was soon at the perimeter of the circle which was raise up on a shallow mound prompting a thought that this might actually be a cairn, but there is no archeological evidence to support this. Of the twelve stones that surround the mound ten are modest in size at under a metre in height, but two larger stones at one and a half metres form an entrance way to the south west. The circle’s name derives from a story that young lads and lassies would leap from one stone to the other. I found the centre of this charming little circle, stood perfectly still and closed my eyes listening to the sound of the river nearby.

Another circle awaited a short distance along the river bank. It was very difficult to walk directly to it with waterlogged ditches and an electric fence forcing me to drop down to the shingle of the river’s edge. At a bend in the river I scrambled back up to the grass bank to find a finger post and the Girdle Stanes circle in front of me. It had a vast diameter and up to a third of it was missing from the gradual erosion of the river. Of the twenty three remaining stones only half remained upright. Some of them were nestled in the hedgerow with their granite grey glistening in the rain. There was a large stone precariously near to the river bank that looked like the next candidate to be taken. I felt some sadness and sympathy for this circle. It seemed spiritually damaged and destined for obliteration. As the rain came down harder I started back wondering if on a better day the Girdle Stanes might have conveyed a brighter soul.