Stenhousemuir
According to James Love in 1908
“until lately a broad stone was to be seen at Stenhousemuir, which marked the grave of James Heugh, a member of a well-known Larbert family, who died of plague in 1646, the date the stone bore. It was known to the inhabitants as “The Plague Stone.”
(Love 1908, 53).
The stone was first noted by Robert Keir in 1827. It was removed between then and 1859 when a concerned contributor to the local newspaper wrote :
“we regret to say, [it has] been levelled to the earth. This we suppose is the doing of the farmer, but the villagers wrong themselves when they tolerate such an ignoble action.”
(Falkirk Herald 29 December 1859).
According to that source the plague stone bore the initials “J.H.” (James Heugh), and the date “1617,” and stood in “an elevated position in the field a little way down from the Schoolhouse.”
In 1771 another James Heugh, portioner of Broomage, left £50 in his will for the building of a school at Larbert Parish Church. However, the school mentioned in 1859 was at Stenhousemuir which places the stone in the vicinity of the coordinates noted below.
Plague Stone SMR 1151 NS 874 832762729
Falkirk Local History Society 