Outersides Stone

Ref - SMMELTR01

Alias - Outersides Stone

County - East Lothian

Parish - Tranent 

Graveyard - Tranent Kirkyard 

Year -  1669

Stone - Red sandstone 

Motifs - winged spirit pair,  hour glass, cleaver, axe, sharpener, cross bones, columns.

Insciption - Lost

Description  - Standing under the shade of a tree, directly east of the church door, this red sandstone monument displays the usual motifs in high relief on the lower part of its west face, beneath a pediment which houses the monogrammed initials E, O, H and I. Two spiral columns support the pediment, which itself is topped by two opposing s-scrolls. The other face bears similar columns - with different spiral - as well as drapery used to present an inscription panel. This is sadly now much weathered and no transcription can be gleaned. In a central panel which spans both the lower section and the pediment are presented the tools of the butcher, or flesher - axe, cleaver and steel / sharpener. The name “Outersides” was read on this stone by Alan Reid in 1912, though Betty Willsher’s notes on the monument seem to have mixed it up with the Wallace Stone, which Reid also reported on though was not found during a field visit in 2023.