The Popping Stone is a group of three rounded boulders in the River Irthing, Irthing Gorge near the village of Gilsland. It was not always this shape, however, and photographs from before 1870 show a single, much larger stone that must have been drastically altered soon after this date. Nearly all written references to the Popping Stone mention various traditions associated with courtship and marriage proposals, and usually repeat the legend of (Sir) Walter Scott's proposal to Charlotte Carpenter there in 1797. Close to the Popping Stone was an ancient, gnarled Common Hawthorn, Hawthorn tree named the Kissing Bush, but Aln
[Aln, G. 1943. ''Around and About Northumberland''; Logan, Amble. p16] noted in the early 1940s that this had been cut down.
External links
Dedicated website with historical detail and photographs
References
Megalithic monuments in England
Rock formations of England
Landforms of Cumbria
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