Beside the moorland road between Innerleithen and Middleton is a small black stone with a white cross with the words The Piper’s Grave.

According to legend it marks the last resting place of an itinerant piper from the early 18th century.  He made his living from frequenting the local hotels and inns, taking wagers that he could play any tune that a customer named.

One evening he remarked that he could play non-stop all the way for the thirty miles between Traquair House near Innerleithen and Edinburgh Castle without repeating a tune. As this seemed impossible almost everyone took up his offer of a bet.

So, late that night, the motley throng set off, high on ale and expectation. Almost immediately some lost heart as the magnitude of their challenge hit them, immediately returning home to the safety of their turf fires. Others however, of sterner composition were determined to follow the piper even into the wilds of the Moorfoot Hills.
It was only as the night grew wilder and the terrain more inhospitable that doubt started to creep in. The piper, obviously at home in this sort of terrain, showed no signs of flagging and, of course, he had no need eventually to retrace his steps back to the start.
The whole situation was now becoming serious and subterfuge was necessary. Seizing one of the pipers unguarded moments one of the group made a hole in the windbag of his pipes.
The extra effort now required to play, combined with the steep climb past Dewar, quickly drained the pipers stamina. On reaching the top of the pass he sat down exhausted, never to rise again.


I think the stone lying on top with a Help for Heroes ribbon tied around is hiding a geocache.

(Gravestone 6)