4. the Roxburghshire Roads

"EOMAN ROADSORDNANC SCOTLANDTHE OF OF " MAP E317 . V. E "ROMANOTETH N O SN E ROADSONE-INCTH F O " H ORDNANCE MAP OF SCOTLAND JAMEY B . S MACDONALD, LL.D., VICE-PKESI- DENT. E ROXBURGHSHIRTH . 4 E ROADS. From the English Border two old roads enter Roxburghshire, named Watlinp ma e oe Wheegnth th Stree d l an Causewayt e formeTh .s i r regarded by writers on the antiquities of the district as a continuation of the Northumberland road of the same name; the latter, of the Cumberland Maiden Way. Bot popularle har y believe Romane b o dt . 1. Watling Street.—About a mile after crossing the sources of the Coque Chet a t w Green, thiroad sol d leaves English proceedsoid an l n si a north-westerly direction across the Cheviot Hills. In penetrating this rang s courseit e winds considerablyo accommodatt s ha t i s a , e itselo t f groundnature e th th s f breadtIt o e . h r morvarieo 0 e1 s o frot m6 feet. Its track, which has been skilfully chosen, is level and covered with grass, having sometimes low mounds bounding it on either side. A mile or two further on, and at some distance from the road on the remarkable rightth s i , e Mot r Foreo f Buchtriglefte o t th littla , n O e. advancen i Wodes i , (139w nLa 8 feet), crowne closelo tw y dyb adjoining rectilinear forts, which are defended on three sides by triple ramparts, e west—th th e ope ar n o nt bu e side most distant froe hollomth wn i which the road runs. The traveller has now reached a pass in the last of the Cheviot heights. Suddenly the southern Scottish uplands burst on his view. To the north-west the three conical summits of the Eildon Hills are seen rising abruptly from the plain. Further west, and more distant, are the peaks of the Ettrick Hills; north of the Eildons, but still farther away, are the Lammermoors; while the picture is filled up by that succession of low, rounded hills and fertile vales, varied by presence th f intrusiveo e masse f trapso Dunione , th suc s a h , near Jed- burgh, that give to these uplands, a character of their own. right"e e Streethouspassth e th s th n i , o ,f o d Orde en th e -e f "o th t A nance Map, once a shepherd's dwelling, but now bare, roofless walls. 8 31 PROCEEDING , SOCIETYE 189513 TH Y .F O SMA , Thence ther rapia s ei d descent toward Kale sth e Water, whic crosses hi d just helow Towford schoolhouse.1 Here the ground begins again to rise. The road then bends somewhat to the north. Soon it passes, on the left, a large rectilinear enclosure, within which is a smaller one, both having traverses " in front of the openings or gates." Near them stood the " Streethouse" of Roy's plate,2 but it has long since disappeared. The larger camp is of the same type as that on Torwood Moor, Dum- friesshire.3 Following the road, which here separates the parishes of Oxnam and Hownam and is still in use, though kept in bad repair, we gradually ascend to Pennymuir, where large sheep-fairs were formerly heldfaro S , .ther s beeeha n nothin o distinguist g r roaou hd frod mol or partially used road n othei s re countrypartth f o s . Whethee th r Romanshars constructioy it an n ei d sha n must depen considerationn do s apart fro appearance mth presentsw no t ei . From Pennymuir to Cunzierton Hill and onwards to the Oxnam and Hownam road—a distanc f abouo e 3 miles—tht e traveller continues to ascend in the same direction as before. Here the road, now all but disused, is of greater breadth than at Towford. Though its course is a t straightha f no o t t linee winding t th ver, no y e markedar s e Th . roadway is much cut up and in wet seasons parts of it are swampy, especially just above Pennymuir fences i e a lefston t th y i t b den O . dyke, whil righe eth unprotectes i t t firsta d , excep a sligh y b t t mound her d theree wholan eTh .e ridge along whic t hi run s uncultivatedsi , and pastured by sheep. Rather more than half-way between Pennymuir and Cunzierto f whico Britisa p s hto i ne h Hillth forte pas n w o ,,a s so-called Druidica le right circlth furthed a smallen an ,o en e o r on r on the left. North of Cunzierton Hill the character of the road continue e sameth sA wir. e fenc e e righ th r somrunfo n t o es distance, replaced, wher e footpatth e o t Chatth o branches y offb , a stone dyke. At intervals here and there it is raised in the centre by what seems to be a line of large stones. In one or 1 To Mr J. W. Thomson, lately schoolmaster there, I am indebted for much information regardin antiquitiee gth place-named san Roxburghshiref so . ' Military Antiquities of the Romans in North Britain, plate xxii. 2 3 Proceedings of the Soc. of Antiq. of Scotland, vol. xxviii. p. 308. "ROMAN ROADSE ORDNANC F SCOTLANDTH O F P O " 9 MA E31 . two places they have the appearance of having been fitted into each other artificially. observeBy-and-be b y ma d t yi tha t ther e similaar e r ridge layerr e samso th f eso kind elsewher ee centre thath eved n ni an , n beyon line f dth roaeo d altogether e stoneth eithee f i s ar s a ,r naturao t l the soil, or else decayed portions of the uptilted rock still in situ. Along the sides of the roadway small pits are to be seen, from which material had no doubt been taken to repair it at the time it was in use ; but most of this has since been washed out of the hollows that now render its surface uneven. Shortly before reaching the Hownam road, its contour becomes more distinctly and somewhat regularly rounded. But, as in the case of the ridge of stones already noticed, the curve is now in the centre, now towards one side, now towards another,—evidence, apparently, thae roundnes e th operatiot th o t f surface f so somn o du s ei e natura l causes, and not to the hand of man. At one spot, indeed, the raised centre has been exposed, to some depth, by the unceasing action of a tiny rill, and shown to be solid rock. It would thus seem as if the present hollow beed ha sn softer part f out-croppino s g strat whicn ao roae hth d had been laid down, which, worn away by the rains and frosts of winter, were left unfilled afte e roath r d ceaseusee b r traffi do fo t d c ; while eth higher portions, whether occurrin e centr t eithea th r n gi eo rf o side e ar , a texture hard enoug withstano ht d bette d longean r r these destructive agencies r somFo e. tim e roadwath e s bee4 fee2 ha y nto t fro 0 m2 wide. On reachin spoe gth t wher roae eth Hownamo t d , already mentioned, branches off to the right, we turn somewhat sharply to the left and find that this road—that leading from Jedburgh through Oxnam to Hownam—occupies for about 2 miles a portion of the track of "Watling Street." At first the latter bends slightly to the left, running thereafter due W.N.W. to Jedfoot Bridge, a distance of 7 or 8 miles. Its surface, now grassy and almost level, is separated on both sides from well-cultivated field y moundsb s , ditche d somean s - times rows of trees. This marked change of scene is easily accounted for. ""Watling Street," not far from its first contact with the Hownam road, leaves the comparatively barren Greywake of the Cheviot rang d enteran e a fertils e trac f countryo t e underth , - 0 32 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F O S , MA , 189513 Y . lying rock of which is the more kindly Old Eed Sandstone. Smil- ing fields accordingly succeed the less luxurious herbage of the hilly uplands. Here portion e roa e th stily b ar df lo f s o mad e us e e farmerth s through whose t lana whos t i runsdd ean , handt i s receives occasional repairs. In constructing it, the ground had, where necessary, been levelled, and a shallow trench sunk in it to receive stones or gravel. In the middle, extending to a breadth of 18 feet a trac r horses i fo k , d cattle oso an sr , lined wit a hbroa d margif o n gras eithen o s r sideo kee e T wholth .p e level seem havo t s e been the chief object of those who last used it. There are no kerbstones, o pavemenn f flao t t stones o raisen , d lin f stoneo e t edgewayse s n i s the centre. It has been said, indeed, that the roadway was once paved, t thae stonebu th t s were long since remove d use r buildingan dfo d .

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