The Old Man is probably less than 400 years old and may not get much older, as there are indications that it may soon collapse. On maps drawn between 1600 and 1750, the area appears as a headland with no sea stack. William Daniell, a landscape painter, sketched the sea stack in 1817 as a wider column with a smaller top section and an arch at the base, from which it derived its name. A print of this drawing is still available in local museums. Sometime in the early 19th century, a storm washed away one of the legs leaving it much as it is today, although erosion continues.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Man_of_Hoy