[4][5] A faint portrait or simulacrum of a man in profile holding a falcon on a panel at the base of the tower may support this theory or may have given rise to it.

The Reverend Kirkwood Hewat in the 1890s recorded that the Estate Factor's opinion was that the tower had been built before the time of the Oswalds ownership of Auchicruive.

[9] Near Portlethen in Aberdeenshire stands the 1860 memorial to John Irvine-Boswell, the Laird of Kincausie, that bears a strong resemblance to the Shaw Monument, including a crown at the top.

This memorial to him was built by Margaret, his widow and on the side is a granite plaque that reads "He lived to transform the natural barrenness of the estate into luxuriant fertility.

"[10] The tower is round, around 50 ft or 20m high, and is built of well mortared rubble masonry, typical of 18th century follies.

The tower has a coped cylindrical base, with a doorway to the East, flanked by a barred window opening and an infilled opening; the shaft of the tower is stepped in from the base and three vertically aligned windows sit above the doorway; a coped cornice lies over a well machicolated eaves course.

[12] The monument is shown on OS maps as standing on the line of a hedge until quite recently without any obvious access lane or footpath marked.