The Gowk Stane is situated on Auchencorth Farm to the South of Penicuik, and East of Carlops by the banks of the River North Esk, opposite Brunstane Castle.
Gowk Stane, Winter Sunset
The stone is best reached by turning off the main A702 from Edinburgh just South of Carlops and following the minor road across Auchencorth Moss. Click here for a location map provided by StreetMap.
The name of the Gowk Stane comes immediately from Scots gowk, meaning "cuckoo". Dictionaries tend to derive gowk from Old French goule or Gàidhlig gobhal, but it seems closer in sound to Brythonic coc (now Welsh cog).
North Face
Perhaps significantly, other placenames in the locality can also be attributed similar etymologies from the Brythonic word for "cuckoo", not least Penicuik (which may be Pen y Gog - "Cuckoo Head"), Cockpen (possibly Cog Pen - again, "Cuckoo Head") and Cockmuir (vaguely possible as Cog Mawr - "Great Cuckoo").
East Face
Another local Scots placename is Gowk's Hill near Gorebridge, to the East. Across the other side of the Pentland Hills, we also find Gogar, site of the Gogar Stane, which some arguments claim to be derived from the Brythonic "cuckoo" element.
South Face
A much clearer link is provided by the name of two now disappeared stones near to Bathgate, West Lothian, which were known as the Gowkstane and the Gogstane. However, many placenames which have a coc-type element within them can also be plausibly derived from Brythonic coch, meaning "red".
The Gowk Stane is a single standing stone of sandstone on top of a small ridge overlooking the River North Esk which is invisible from the road across Auchencorth Moss.
West Face
It has a rectangular cross-section with several deep grooves, possibly carved, into its Eastern and Northern sides.
Grooves, East Face
Also on the East face is a weathered inscription, apparently in Latin (but of dubious dating), which appears to read: "...RK / ...TI... DUM... / ...X.. BOUNTI".