The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Rubers Law

Hillfort

Folklore

The fort on Rubers Law is actually R*man it seems. But there have been plenty of finds of stone arrowheads and so on up here, according to the RCAHMS database.

It's a very prominent isolated hill and has lots of Named Features, like Peden's Pulpit:
We have said that Ruberslaw is memorable in Scottish story. It is so in one of its bloodiest and saddest pages. Its hollow dells and rocky recesses were the 'hiding-places' of the persecuted Covenanters; and upon its weird summit tradition still points out the stone upon which the martyr-preacher, Alexander Peden, laid his Bible when he poured forth his dauntless and fiery 'message' to our eager-listening and right-hearted forefathers.
The same article (in July 1853's 'Gentleman's Magazine') describes how the 'stormy Ruberslaw' assumes a grand and starling appearance when its top pokes through the rolling sheets of fog that hide its lower slopes. The weather is also mentioned in local rhyme, as recorded by William and Robert Chambers in their Edinburgh Journal v3, in 1835:
When Ruberslaw puts on his cowl,
The Dunion on his hude,
Then a' the wives o' Teviotside
Ken there will be a flude.
There's also a "cavity cut in an earthfast block of freestone on the east side of Ruberslaw, vulgarly called 'Simmie's pottie' but whether this would be used as a baptismal font or a knocking trough [for removing barley husks] is uncertain" (as you'll see here ). It also has a holy well of St Mary's.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
20th May 2010ce
Edited 20th May 2010ce

Comments (0)

You must be logged in to add a comment