Miller took the tradition seriously and thought the stones likely commemorate the princes, with carvings of Scandinavian type. Modern sources treat them as Pictish, carved about AD 800. The legend may be a later explanation for monuments whose makers had been forgotten, a familiar pattern. He also records that a mason removed the carvings from one face of the Hilton stone to cut a tombstone for Alexander Duff and his three wives.
This record covers the folklore only. The stones themselves are monuments and are not described here.
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