Upper Annandale; its history and traditions

Front matter

da\«

THE LIBRARY

OF

Contents

CHAPTER. PAGE.

I. UPPER ANNANDALE - 9

II. THE FIRST DWELLERS IN UPPER ANNANDALE- 11

Chapter I. Upper Annandale

"Annan, Tweed, and Clyde A' ran oot o' ae hillside, An' tried wha first the sea wad win ; Tweed ran, but Annan wan, Clyde brak his neck ower Corra Linn."

•—Old Rhyme.

T T PPER ANNANDALE begins at the little mossy ditch

\^_) in the ravine that was of old times called " Corrie

of Annan," and later, in the days of the Raiders,

the "Deil's Beef Tub." It ends, as Upper Annandale, and

becomes simply Annandale, when it has gathered to itself

the waters of Burnock, Evan, Moffat, Wamphray, Kinnel,

and other smaller burns, and, swollen into a mighty riverr

goes onward to the Solway.

The Annan rises in a nest of hills — high, rugged, heathery, wind-swept mountains many of them. Hartfell, the highest mountain in the South of Scotland, is close to Annan Corrie. The mountains that stretch away on the west have Queensberry, giant-like, towering over them. The cluster of hills on the east have the mist-crowned Etterick Pen, that throws its shadow to where the Dryfe, creeping along like a silver thread, finds its way to the rocks at Boreland, and, leaping like a mad thing, drives down its glen to join the Annan at Dryfe Sands.

It is a land of poetry, of romance, of history. It has in all ages been a land of liberty. Rebels fled to it. The dark-haired Cave-dweller : the fierce, yellow-haired Celt :

Merlin, the last priest of nature ; Wallace and his friends ; weavers from Bothwell Bridge ; Highlanders, creeping home after the " forty -five " : and others, whose only safety lay in hiding among the "heichs and howes" of Upper Annandale. There has always been sympathy with rebels in Upper Annandale. The worst word they have got is "puir sowls." Claverhouse, writing home from Upper Annandale, declared the people were " all rebels at heart."

It has been said, "Blessed are the people who have no history." Upper Annandale has not been blessed in this way. The glens are covered with green knowes, that were once hill-forts of the Celt, with other grass-covered forts, left by the Romans, and with the ruins of strong Border Peels, from whence, once on a day, warriors went out whistling, " Wha daur meddle wi' me ?" and came home to find the " hare sitting on the hearthstone." Life was full of surprises then.

We have only ruins to show the stranger. No fine old castles, no fine old bridges, no fine old churches. We have to thank our friends on the other side of the Border for that. Perhaps a few on this side as well. There is one consolation, they got as good as they gave. The debt was paid with interest.

If we have not got anything else, we have a race of Borderers who, in all times of our nation's trouble, have been a wall of defence, and are "aye ready." It is said that the people of Upper Annandale are a strange mixture of Pict, Celt, Roman, Saxon, and Scandinavian, and that the types are to be traced in the features, and in the manners, and in the speech of the dwellers of our glens.

This may be true. If so, it has been a good fighting mixture. It has made men who made history.

' ' And not by dainty hands in kid, the shackles fell to rust, But warty, horny were the hands that made the nation just."

The First Dwellers. 11

Chapter II. The First Dwellers In Upper Annandale

"The ancient Briton, in his wild beast skin, and eyeing his foe from his fort and wattled rath on the windy hill, loved the wooded land so well that he fought for it with sublime tenacity. "

• — Veifrh, " Border History."

IN Upper Annandale are many of the rounded forts of the first dwellers in the glen, as well as the square forts of the Romans who conquered them. In early times Upper Annandale was part of the great forest of Caledon that extended even to where the first missionary planted his " wattled kirk," where the Cathedral of Glasgow was afterwards built. "The Forest of Annandale " wras the name our glen got in the days of the first Bruce, and the natural wood that clothes the banks of our rocky rivers and wild ravines are the remains of this old forest. The once renowned "Ettrick Forest" was also part of the old forest of Caledon.

When the Romans came to this quarter of Scotland they called the people Selgovae, or "The Hunters." This tribe of Selgovae do not appear to have been the wild white men wre generally fancy them to have been, but a people with some intelligence. Also people of a poetic temperament. The names they called the hills and rivers are sweet-sounding and beautiful names. They point to some peculiarity about the places, and there is sometimes a world of meaning in one little word.

The Selgovae were of the same race as the Welsh people of to-day. The old ballads of the Welsh people tell of the glory that is past, of battles fought here in our Borderland, of heroes among these ancient Celts. The songs were made by Celts who fled to the high hills now called " Wales," many of them going from our own Upper Annandale. Other Celts fled to the hills about and above Hartfell, where they were also known as "Welsh." Veitch says — " Their representatives are still to be found there as shepherds, farmers, and lairds."

Mr Charles Stewart, who so well knew Upper Annandale, said that at '; Walls, near the farm of Alton, there seems to have been at one time a considerable population." The Knights-Templars built one of their first churches there. The name "Walls" is not a common name, and as it seems to have been the name of the " auld toon " that was first planted in Upper Annandale, perhaps some " Antiquarian Society " will search out and find if it was first inhabited by a colony of these same Welsh.

Though the Selgovae fought with great courage against the Romans, when once conquered they settled down into a sort of friendship with the invaders. They had time to do it, for the Romans came to stay. They remained in Upper Annandale for four hundred years, and many of them are said to have married the golden-haired daughters of the land. From these same Romans the Selgovae learned many things : the arts of building, planting gardens, working in metals, making roads, and, some say, were also taught the new Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The rivers of Upper Annandale still bear the names these Celts gave them. Burnock means "little water." Annan and Evan (Avon) are both names that mean "the water." It is a descriptive word, as if it meant to give the sound of the murmur of a stream. Annand was the old spelling, and some say it means "slow running water."

What is now called "The Beef Tub" was in ancient times called "Corrie head. ' Corrie means a deep glen or ravine. Near the Corrie of Annan is Auchencat. This means "field of the wild cat." There is an Auchengatt in Aberdeenshire. At one time the wild-cat was a dangerous animal, and roamed at its own sweet will all over Scotland. Many places are called after it— Catgill, Catslack, and others. In olden times Auchencat would be fairly well wooded, game plentiful, and the cats would multiply. Their love songs, war songs, and shouts of victory would be as unwelcome to the sleepy Celt as to the modern householder.

Another small glen there with a burn running through it is the " Lochen," also a common Celtic name, that means liUli1 loch. When land was uridrained, burns often turned the grounds round them into marshy swamps. Nor were tlx:se "lochens" unwelcome to a people who lived by hunting.

The First Dwellers.

In this little glen are some caves, which, as far as I know, have never been examined by antiquarians. The late Rev. Wm. Bennet was much interested in them, and called them "the singular Newton caves, hewn out of the red sandstone rocks by forgotten hands."

Perhaps they were " lake dwellings." They were near the lochen, the swampy marsh, where came all kinds of game, such as the soul of the Celt loved.

The most suggestive word, however, in Upper Annandale is the " Ken;" which from time immemorial has been the name of the open, unfenced common land south of Moffat.

The Kerr.

The word " Kerr " is a name that many cities are proud to possess. It points to a date far back in Celtic times. It shows a town, or a certain space of ground, has a history. There are twenty-eight cities which are proud of the name, and there are said to have been many other places once so called.

The word " Caer " is generally placed before another word in the same way as we use the word "Castle." Carstairs — Caer Terras ; the fort of Terras. Cardrona — fort on the ridge. Caerlaverock — fort in the elmwood. Where the word comes, we know that at' one time there stood there a strong and carefully guarded place of defence. The position was always well chosen, generally the lower part of a braeside, so as to have the hill behind. Where the "Caer" stood there was always a rounded mound of artificial earth work.

In the " Caer " of Upper Annandale there is still such a round mound that was named the "Leddy Knowe," from a later story. But before that, it was the fort of the Celt. At least there is every evidence in favour of it being a British or Celtic fort. Some years ago, when there was a dispute because some one had tried to enclose this common land, and the Moff'at people broke down a fence and claimed it as town property, it was found that from pre-historic times this land had been The "Kerr" of Moff'at, and on the plain around had grazed the cows of the village people. The word "Kerr" is the same as "Caer." The family name " Kerr " is in England " Carr," and means the " keeper of a fort," a very old Celtic name.

Moffat people have always called this land " The Kerr," which seems to also point to it being a fort of some consequence in its day.

The Selgovae, with a keen eye to the natural defence of their country, must have known that their greatest advantage lay in keeping close to the shelter of the hills. Even in modern times it has been found almost impossible to conquer a people who are familiar with, and able to take every advantage of their knowledge of the mountains. In the far back days neither the Annan nor the Burnock flowed in the straight lines they do now. A tradition says that up to a late period both rivers united in a loch below the Kerr lands. We know that every November they break out and strive their hardest to go back to their old " familiar places."

This marshy loch below the Kerr or "Caer" would add to the natural defence. The Annan ran nearer to the town then, so must have been close to the right, the Burnock close to the left, the hill behind, and the marshy loch so\ith.

If the oldest village in Upper Annandale was near the Grey gill on the banks of the Burnock, from its high position it would be possible for the dwellers on the hill to see if victory or defeat came to the warriors on the "Caer." If defeat — there was time to flee to the gloomy recesses of

The First Dwellers. 15

Blackshope, where the weakly and the young children had gone on before. There was also safety and shelter in nearer glens. The warriors themselves could find many hiding-places among the leafy branches of the rocky Burnock or alder-shaded Ellerbeck.

In later days than the Selgovae lived, in the rounded edge of the long ridge that stretches down from Hartfell, was a point that was chosen by Douglas on which to place his beacon. It commands a view of all Annandale.

The Selgovae had eyes quite as keen as the Douglas. Standing on his "Caer" he looked down "Strathannand," and far away to where the cloud-like English hills close in the view. Constant watch he kept; for there were strange tales of the Romans coming with their all-conquering armies. Left of the "Caer" flowed the Burnock, slower than now, for the land was not drained. Beyond the water rose up Dumcrieff, " the hill with the shoulder." The Magh-fada went up beyond that also — that Magh-fada that must be closely watched. Below Dumcrieff was Wamphray, "the cave of slumber," and fold over fold beyond, the hills guarded Strathannand on the east. West of the "Caer" rose up the wooded hill they called " Cotes," and beyond that was a glen strongly guarded by forts. South of the Cotes hill was "the hill of the birches," where there was a strong fort to guard the entrance to the head of Annandale. South again was Dumgree, "the hill of the herd," and the shelter of Duff Kennel lay beyond. Then fold over fold lay the hills guarding the west of Strathannand.

Chapter III. The Coming Of The Romans

"Take heed what thou doest, for this man is a Roman."

THE Selgovae doubtless considered their strong forts impregnable, especially that strong "Caer" that stood out at the head of the Magh-fada, and was provided with a natural ditch on three sides and the long ridge of hill-land behind. Up in the village the women grind the corn into meal with their quern, the old men work patiently with their primitive tools, making arrows for the younger men, or shields, or strong bows ; while the little children watch the far away " Caer " and tell the old " granny " of things her old eyes cannot see, but the meaning of which she knows better than they do. " The evening sun glittering on something that shines brighter than the sun itself! A something that comes nearer! RAISE THE ALARM ! " " Nay, I cannot go," she says ; " so she sits by the Grey gill and chants the old song of the Celts :

" Father of heroes ! the people bend before thee ; Thou turnest the battle in the field of the brave."

She sits there with tears running down her withered cheeks. Not for herself does she weep. She is past all fear for herself. But she knows, it hath been told her, what these people can do; their mighty strength, their flashing swords, their burnished brass coats that shine in the sun, their wonderful shields that are like the rock itself, arid the axes that are swifter and surer than the thunderbolt. The men and women, cattle and children are gone ; she alone is left, and by her own desire. She has the " sight," they say, so they dare not thwart her will.

Down at the "Caer" the Romans have passed over the Annan, and the stockade of posts go quickly down before the mighty axes. Showers of arrows fall harmlessly on the polished brass, the " fire of old Rome " is in the eyes of the men, before whose blows strong posts fly into splinters, and

The Coining of the Romans. 17

ere long the strong and impregnable " Caer " is taken, the defenders being put to the sword.

This was what had always been. There was no escape, except in flight. It is what is always done in unequal warfare. Courage is of no avail.

One fort after another was taken. The Romans were masters of the glens. And to show still more their grim determination to conquer all the country, they made roads and got the Selgovae to work at them. They also raised square forts and guarded their possessions so thoroughly that the Celts of Upper Annandale (whom all writers say were milder mannered and more peace-loving than the other Celts) tried to make the best of what remained, and in time became on very good terms with the people who had conquered them. Any of the warriors who held out went to join the Scots and Picts up in the north, whom the Romans never subdued, but only kept them north of the conquered country by a strong line of forts.

So there was peace in the land. Men, women, and children crept back to the little village by the Grey Gill, shaded by its ash trees ; patches of corn were sown ; cattle wandered about ; and children grew up ready enough to forget. Only the bards sang songs of the old days, the old wars, and the dead heroes.

The Roman Road that comes north by Carlisle, goes straight up Annandale to the head of the glen. A good part of it is in use at the present day. On coming to Upper Annandale, it reaches an entrenchment at " Tassie's Holm," called after Tatius, a Roman General, one of Agricola's Generals engaged in the expedition into Scotland. This Tassie's Holm is on the farm of Miltons below Beattock. It is sometimes called " Tassie's Camp," and the field is known as "The Moat." But all trace of any Roman Camp has long since disappeared, though west of it is a place called " Hopper tuttie," which name stands for " Oppidum Tatius," the " Fortified Camp of General Tatius."

It is not strange that all trace of the camp has disappeared. It stood too much in the valley. The forts on the hills have survived. There are fifty moats and forts in Upper Annandale alone, so I think we have enough survivals.

Part of the Roman Road has been ploughed over, but can still be traced. It joins the present "Beattock Road" about a mile below Moffat, and goes on till it reaches Langshaw bush. A branch goes up to the old Roman Cemetery at the top of the hill. Another goes along the ridge between the Annan and the Evan till it reaches the birth-place of the Clyde. In an old Moffat Register there is a letter by Mr George Vere Irving, of Newton House, Abington, a member of the Council of the British Archaeological Association, who, assisted by a staff of workmen, had made a thorough examination of the Roman remains in Upper Annandale. He was of opinion that the main or principal Roman Road did not leave the valley of Annandale at Langshaw Bush. " My impression is, that it turned the base of the hills to the head of the Annan, and it then either came to an end, or turned up Moffat Water."

That is, this road went straight to the fort at the Kerr, and either ended there, or turned and went up to the " shoulder of the hill," by that straight and very Romanlike road, that is now called "the Selkirk Road."

If the Roman Road ended at the base of the hills to the head of the broad valley, it is likely that the Romans had taken possession of the round fort with its natural defences, and held it as a stronghold to guard against surprise. The Romans never left anything to chance. In the Statistical Report for 1792 the minister of Moffat refers to the finding in a moss near the old Roman Road, of a piece of gold, " part of some military ornament with the number of the legion to which it belonged." If a thorough search were made by our coming " Antiquarian Society," we might even find something still better — the remains of Roman houses on the slope above the Kerr, such as are found on the brae side at Inveresk. The Romans could not be here for four hundred years without building houses for themselves.

The late Mr Vere Irving also examined what tradition said was a Roman Cemetery on the Coates Hill. This is his report : — " On Lochhouse farm we found one of the finest specimens of a Roman Cemetery that, in all my extensive experience, it has been my good fortune to meet with. We there met with a large tumulus, part natural, part artificial, which so often marks the sites of these burial grounds, certainly not so large, but decidedly of the same type as the Brahemuts of the Lewes, the Dane John of Canterbury, and the mounts of Thetford, Maryborough, and Windsor. Its sepulchral character was marked even

The Coining of the Romans. 19

more strongly than in many of these cases by the evident traces of numerous smaller graves around it — I mean in external character — as several of those I have named have been opened and their nature distinctly ascertained. The locality, moreover, was exactly that which, judging from Italian remains, we would suppose a cemetery to have been placed, if there was a populous colony at Tatiusholm — that is, at some distance from the colony, but on the side of the road leading from it."

There is the remains of a fortified camp at Holmshaw, near Garpol, on the other side of Coates hill, on the west banks of the Evan. This Roman Cemetery, therefore, stands in the centre of Roman fortified camps, if we could be certain that there was a fortified camp near, or on the Kerr lands. We know that the Roman generally pitched his camp near, or on the site of the Celtic fort.

As years went on, and intermarriage brought union, and familiar intercourse respect for one another, the Selgovae in Annandale grew almost Roman in many of their ways. So much so that they were made " Roman Citizens," which was considered both an honour and a privilege. To be a " Roman Citizen " was to take rank as a free man, and to be raised to be the equal of the greatest noble in the Roman Empire.

The cultivation of the ground made the Romans bring over the cherry, the rose, and the violet, as well as other seeds and plants.

The art of defence and defiance was taught the Selgovae, who, however, as after events proved, trusted more to their skilled teachers than to their own knowledge of war. Arts, crafts, and the cooking of food, were improved, as also the fashion of dress and living.

But above all it is generally acknowledged that at this time Christianity must have been introduced, that many of the Roman soldiers must have had knowledge of the early Christians, of their creed and their readiness to suffer death rather than worship strange gods.

In no other way can it be explained how Christianity afterward spread so quickly amongst the people.

A Roman soldier could not be an open missionary : but in the making of these wonderful roads there were days, and months, and years spent. Men talked then as now, eager to hear some new thing, or to tell a strange and

Upper Annandale.

wonderful event. And what could be more wonderful to the poor Selgovae than the news that this Jesus was nailed on a cross, buried, and after three days rose again. And — still more wonderful — He had taught men that the soul never dies, that the great God is our common Father, and that men ought to " love their enemies."

The Selgovae had a fear of death, but all the same he had heard that the soul never dies ; and when he laid the warrior in his cromlech, he placed food to help him in his journey, and weapons ready to his hand when he went to the unknown country. So did his fathers before him.

The Three Stanin' Stanes.

The " Stanin' Stanes " at the side of the Beattock Road are said by tradition to be the grave of some great warriors, who, on a certain night in the year, rise and walk solemnly round these stones.

"Stanin' Stanes" are common enough. A writer says of them : — " On hillsides, on moors, and on fields we have the 'standing stones' or 'stanin' stanes,' sometimes single,

The Coming of the Romans. 21

sometimes two together, with a third that has fallen on its side. These are unquestionably of great antiquity, as they are often referred to in the earliest charters as objects already generally known, and hence utilised by them as boundary stones, called har or her — as Harestone, Harelaw, Harden, etc. The Cromlech was a chamber of rough, unhewn stones, formed generally of three upright stones and one laid flat on the top resembling the covering of a table. There is evidence that these chambers sometimes formed the centre of a mound or barrow composed of earth."

Before the Beattock road was made, these three " stanin' stanes " would stand alone in the centre of an unenclosed field not far from the old Roman road. There are no other stones like them near — so they must have been brought from a great distance to where they now stand. The name and rank of the Celtic warriors are forgotten. But there was a day when sorrowful hearts mourned, and wet eyes looked on the grey Cromlech.

Upper Annandale.

The Stone of Destiny— Coronation Chair.

Chapter IV. The Coming Of Scots, Saxons, Norse, And Normans

" Then there was Scotland, full of hills, and great lakes, and difficult and dangerous precipices, wild heaths, and great morasses. " — Sir Walter Scott.

THE Romans were recalled to their own land in order to defend it against its enemies. Thus the gentlemannered people of Selgovae were left to themselves after four hundred years of servitude. There was no one now to keep the Northern Celt in order, or to guard the dividing line of forts. Thus the Celtic races who had been under the Romans and learned their ways, formed themselves into one nation — called the kingdom of Strathclyde, and the capital was Dumbarton, or castle of the Britons. They seem to have tried to rule this kingdom as the Romans had taught them. But their strength and military skill was much weaker.

The Coming of the Scots, etc. 23

The wild Celts in the north were partly Picts and partly Scots from Ireland. The Picts are supposed to have been a dark haired race of Britons, and some think they were the very earliest inhabitants of Britain. They were wild and fearless and gave the Romans much trouble. They found their master, however, in the Scots who came from Ireland.

These Scots were Celts like themselves, but of a stronger nature. They had the masterful manner and belief in themselves that goes far to make success in this world.

They fully meant business when they came over. With them they brought a strange stone that has played no mean part in Scottish history. The stone is said to have been brought over by Fergus the son of Eric, who led them to the coast of Argyleshire.

The Scots had great faith in this stone, and called it "The Stone of Destiny." In olden times certain stones sometimes came to be objects of worship. Men and women carried small stones as charms, and dreaded (some do even now) the power possessed by the opal of changing its colour. The " Stone of Destiny " was valued highly. It was said to have been the stone Jacob used as a pillow. There was a saying regarding it :

" Where'er is found this sacred stone, The Scottish race shall reign. "

The Scots first made themselves masters of the north, and getting the Picts subdued came south with their great Stone of Destiny.

For some time there was intermarriage between the Scots and Strathclyde Britons, but that was not a fast enough process. So it ended in a great and desperate battle, near where Lochmaben now stands, between King Constantino of Strathclyde, and Gregory, king of the Scots. There was a great number of the poor Strathclyde Britons slain. As for the Selgovae — it is said that very few survived. Those who did, fled either to the mountain land round Hartfell, or to join the other Britons among the mountains of Wales. King Constantino was slain. A large tumulus is over the grave of Constantino and the thousands of brave warriors who died fighting round their king.

The Scots were now masters of Strathctyde and the northern kingdom of the Picts. They now ruled the kingdom that was from them called "Scotland." The Picts in Galloway in Dumfriesshire, and the north ; and the Selgovae and other tribes of Britons had to call themselves " Scots " now to save themselves from death and ruin. As the Selgovae had served the Roman, he yielded to his brother Celt. So the new era began.

The Saxons had come to England, and some of them slipped into Upper Annandale, where they grouped together into " toons," and traded and lived very quietly. It was they who called the Britons " Welsh," meaning foreigners.

After that, a colony of Norse, or Scandinavians, came to dwell among us. But they did not go into the Saxon "towns" nor interfere with the other races in any way. They chose the farming lands, and have named such places as Capplegill, Bodsbech, Drycleuch, Blackrig, Hankshaw, Hartfell, and Middlegill. The familiar Rig, Gill, etc., show where the Norse farmers had settled.

They called things by plain names. A spade was a spade. They did not call things by such fancy names as "the cave of slumber."