Hone Stone

Do you know what a Hone Stone is?

Until very recently if you had asked me I would have thought along the lines of those stones used in olden days for sharpening scythes and sickles and the like.  I knew that there were stones used by carpenters for sharpening chisels but thought they were called oil stones.

I recently found that one of my great-great grandfathers was a hone stone manufacture in Stair in Ayrshire.
Hone stones from this small manufactory in the mid nineteenths century had two brand names Tam O' Shanter and Water of Ayr and they were famous mainly for sharpening razors and a finer variety was used in the jewelry trade.

The stones quarried in the Dalmore Estate near the small village of Stair in Ayrshire.  How William McKie came to be the proprietor here is very vague and difficult to follow.  It was originally owned in the early part of the century by a James Heron and according to some information it was passed down through the female side of this family.  William McKie was  the son of Janet Heron but we have not established the direct connection between Janet and James Heron..  Work for another day.