Old Roads in the Lammermuirs

MOR LAMMERMUIRROADE D TH EOL N SI S by ANGUS GRAHAM, M.A., F.S.A., F.S.A.SCOT. INTRODUCTORY I Npapea r rea thio dt s Societ I949,n yi 1I dre w attentio vestigeo nt ancienn a f so t road which crosse e Lammermuirdth s from Long Yester, near Gifforde th o t , Leader Watepoina t a rt abou mila t e downstream from Carfraemilly m d an ; present purpose is to do the same by certain other roads of a similar type in the country lying between Haddington, Dunba d Longformacuan r s (fige . i)Th . FIG. i. Location of the area covered by fig. 2 enquir promptes ywa remarkabla y db e assemblag hollof o eterrace d wan d tracks north-wese th n o t fac Newlandf eo s Hill (5965),2 seee whicb nn verhca y well from e Gifford-Dunth s highway (66355 t thi) bu >s route deale coulb t t dno wit isolan hi - havI tiond ean , accordingly attempte coveo dt whol rathee e rth th f eo r complicated network of old roads that exists in the area mentioned. This network comprises the followin maix gsi n routes, whic showe har identified fign i an .2 theiy db r respective serial numbers: i. from Haddingto Dunso t n Longformacusy b , , with branches; 2. from Haddington to the Whiteadder Water, by Johnscleugh; 3. from Dunbar to the Dye Water and beyond, by Johnscleugh; 4. 'The Herring Road'; 5. from the Whiteadde Watee beyondrd Dy Watere an th . Roy'o rt ;6 s 'Muir Road from Lawder to Dunbar'. The field-work was done at various times during 1959 and 1960. Much use has been r photographmad ai t groun f ou eo e dek observationso t s , particularle th n yi case of distant and inaccessible areas, as they show tracks with remarkable clarity excep undrainen o t peatd dan y moorland factuae th o T l .description s have been added some note historican o s l records which either mentio roade nth r implso y their existence. 1 P.S.A.S., LXXXIII (1948-9), 198 ff. 2 National Grid map-reference loo-kmo t l al e . sar squar , formerlwild founee NT an b l , i-incn do y36 h O.S. sheet, 7th series, No. 63 (Dunbar). For details, use should be made of the Provisional edition of the 6-inch O.S. map, showing National Grid lines, sheets 55 SW., 55 NE., 56 SE., 56 NE., 57 SW., 57 SE., 65 NW., 65 NE., 66 (the whole), 67 SW., 67 SE. 2l8 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F O S , 1959-60 ROADE TH S . i. No From Haddington Duns,o t Longformacus,y b with branches This rout n bes e considereca eb t e lighf 1747-55o th f Roy' o p tn di n ma s o , MILES aree FIGth af . Sketc o 2 Haddington-Pitcox-Longformacus-Dy. p hma e Wajer, showing the routes with their serial numbers which it is marked with the legend 'Road to Dunse'.1 As shown by Roy it leaves Haddingto Nungate th y nb e Bridge thencd an , e follow coursa s e represented pretty accurately today by a chain of by-roads which passes Monkrigg, Cockles, the north-east end of Colstoun Wood, Morham Bank and Linkylee, and, after crossing the Gifford-Dunbar highway (66370) at the west end of Bara Wood, coalesces with 1 Another certainld ,an y erroneous, version of this route (John Ainslie, 1789 mentiones )i d belo . 230p n w.o MOR E LAMMERMUIRROADD TH OL E N I S S 2IQ Gifford-Dune th w whano s i t s highway (86355) at 562679, hal mila f e north-west of Danskine. This last it follows as far as Darned House1 (587664), and though it then diverges considerabl e north-easth e highwao y t e th ensuin f th o tr yfo g four miles, this diversion is clearly no more than an error occasioned by faults in the basic topography. It is not repeated by Taylor and Skinner,2 who otherwise confirm Roy's line. Just eas Darnef o t d Hous brancea shows hi joinins na maie gth n road; thicomd sha frop edirectiou e mth Giffordf no Newlandy b , Blacd san k Castle fort. Fro poine mth t (621629) wher erroneoue eth s diversion ends, Roy's versioe th f no route proceed Longformacusto Dun and swha sby virtuallis t y today's no line ;but roa shows di n branchin Whiteaddee g th of o ft r valle squarn yi e existin e 6064th n o , g lin 66355f eo . Of an early road on Roy's line there is now little to show north of Darned House, and this is natural enough seeing that the whole of this stretch of rather over seven miles runs through enclosed ground, where unorganised tracks have inevitably been confine straightened an d d r thaout Fo tshor.a mattert tbu lengtl al , h north-west of Beechhil anothed an l ease f Townheaon ro t alreads dwa y within enclosed land Roy'n i timen generae sow Th . l appearanc roae th df eo suggests , however, that i t originated in customary use; for example, it maintains a relatively direct line, it favours high ground, and as far as possible avoids the kind of obstacle that calls for cutting or construction. The fact that, unlike the modern road-system, it ignores village th Gifforf eo likewisy ma d e contai nhina earlf o t y origin this a , s placs ewa I7o8.n i stilw 3ne l Actually hollow track exiso sd t threa t e places juse on t; easf o t the modern by-road in the gully at the west end of Bara Wood (557691), another fellea n i d plantation about hal mila f e further south (560683), where enclosurs eha diverted the same by-road westwards, at right angles, from the line of the earlier route, and a third alongside the highway in the upper part of its steep rise from the botto gulle th t Danskinmyf a o e Lodg Danskino et e farmhouse (566673). At Darned House the highway comes down to an area of flattish or gently sloping ground, bounded on the north-west by Snawdon Hill and the rise topped by Black Castle fort, and on the south-east by the steep face of Newlands Hill (fig. 3). In the northern par thif o t s area smalo risetw l tributarie Papane th f so a Water maie th , n stream of which crosses its north-eastern end; its centre is traversed by the head of the Danskine Burn, which rises in two steep scars on Newlands Hill; and at its south-wester headwatere th e Newlandar e d th f nen so s Burn, als frod ofe m Newlands Hill. This ground carrie bewilderinsa g numbe tracksmord e ol th thed f e ro an ,y ar difficul mucsurfacs e traca o th t t t s h a ecloakeou s ei mosn di broker so drainsy b p nu , rese s beed somth ha tan nf eo improved particularn i ; e fieldth , s adjoining Black Castle undeseee b mo t r regular cultivation followine Th . g elements may, however, distinguishede b e bel f track Th fign o t) i tha ) 3 . (i A describes i ( ts, d below under . e highwa(ii6 . Th ) No y , figwititseln i 3) . B h( f some trace hollof so w tracks which appear, within about 150 yards on either side of it, on the south-eastern lip of the oldee th rn mapO s this nam attacheds ei housea ruinedo w t no , , Papanneae heae th th rf do a Water (602662)1 . 2 Survey and Maps of the Roads of North Britain or Scotland, 1776, PI. 36. 3 R.C.A.M., Inventory of East Lothian, p. 145. 22O PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1959-60 shallow gully that crosse t Darnea t si d House e presenTh . t courshighwae th f eo y across the low ground from this point may not be an old one; what seems to be an older alternative skirts the right bank of the Danskine Burn here, and this, with ISSs^Eia^vEJiSsS^XJti^^HSipr c V-S^StV.- v— • \II\ —' - .——-'300.^ J: 200 100 0 500 1000 Yards _I FIG f groun. Sketco 3 . p squaren di hma 5865T N s , 5866, 596 d 59665an , showing tracks connecte d probablan dI wit. e hNo branc h6 fro. mNo other hollow tracks whic burne hperhapy th appea f ma ,o t srou have joine witp du h the assemblage of tracks on the face of Newlands Hill (E on fig. 3), mentioned at the beginning of this paper, (iii) Two well-marked hollow tracks (C on fig. 3) which descend from the cultivated fields east-south-east of Black Castle, and cross a gully which rises from Green Castle, some 500 yards distant. On the opposite side of the MORE OLD ROADS IN THE LAMMERMUIRS 221 gully these tracks appea havo rt e founface Newlandf th eo d o t theiy rwa s Hild an l joine e assemblagdth seee e trackb nth n f continuinca o se e thereon s a ,n tha gi t alignment, (iv) A number of hollow tracks emerging from the headwater streamlets of the Newlands Burn (D on fig. 3) where these coalesce at Green Castle. Their earlier course is uncertain, owing to the improvement of the adjoining ground downstream; but they too are evidently aligned on the assemblage on Newlands wely lma havt i Hill d e an bee, n largely their traffic that brought this into existence.

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