Rubers Law
Rubers Law | |
---|---|
Marilyn | |
Coordinates | 55°25′56″N 2°39′53″W / 55.43222°N 2.66472°W |
Geography | |
Location of Rubers Law within Scottish Borders | |
Parent range | Cheviot Hills |
OS grid | NT 58032 15569 |
Topo map | OS Explorer 331, Landranger 80 |
Rubers Law is a prominent, conical hill in the Scottish Borders area of south-east Scotland. It stands on the south bank of the River Teviot, between the towns of Hawick and Jedburgh, and south of the village of Denholm. The hill is on the border between the historic parishes of Cavers and Hobkirk, and until 1975 it stood within the historic county of Roxburghshire.
Much of the hill is agricultural land with
Name
Law is a common word for a hill in the south-east of Scotland, especially in
Topography
Rubers Law is a conical hill, elongated in a north–south direction. While it stands in relative isolation, it is linked to
All sides of the hill drain into the Teviot. The southern and eastern slopes do so via the Rule Water, and the western slopes via the Dean Burn.[4]The summit of the hill is rocky. The summit ridge is surrounded by cliffs 40 to 50 feet (12 to 15 m) high except to the north-east. Two lower rock ridges lie beside it, separated from the summit ridge by large gullies. A plateau stretches round the south and east sides of the summit, and 50 feet (15 m) lower a natural terrace passes round the hill from the south and east. A chasm splits the cliff above the plateau, and is known as Peden's Pulpit.[5][6]
From the summit there is a wide view all round, from the Cheviot Hills to the south and east, the Eildon Hills to the north with the Lammermuir Hills in the distance, Hawick to the west with the hills of Liddesdale and Selkirkshire beyond it.[5]
Land use
Most of Rubers Law is agricultural land, divided into a patchwork of fields by
Routes
Borders Abbeys Way crosses the north-east flank of the hill, between Denholm and Bedrule. There are no other recognised footpaths on the hill, but Scottish access rights allow responsible access to the land.
From Denholm routes may begin either on Dean Road (south of the village post office) to a track up the hill which begins by an electricity sub-station, or by following the Borders Abbeys Way and then going through Denholmhill Wood. Both routes then continue through (or beside) the strip of woodland leading south. From the end of the woods a well-used path leads to the summit.[9] From the west a farm track leads from Whitriggs Farm part of the way. A number of fields must then be crossed beside another strip of woodland.[10] From the east, near West Lees or the Billerwell road end, routes can follow a track through the trees of West Lees Plantation, or cross a series of fields south of the woods. These routes lead to paths to the summit.[1]
Geology
Most of Rubers Law is made of red
This sedimentary deposition was followed by a period of volcanic eruptions which produced a series of basaltic lavas, some of which are now found near Kelso. The summit rocks of Rubers Law were formed within a volcanic vent. There is a small area of volcanic agglomerate, formed in the vent by an explosive eruption of magma from the volcano. The rest of the summit rocks are microgabbro (previously known as dolerite), the remains of a volcanic plug formed from magma which solidified within the vent. Another microgabbro plug is located among the trees of Denholmhill Wood, 2 km north of the summit.[11][13]
Geodesy
Up to 1919 Rubers Law was the origin (meridian) of the 6 inch and 1:2500 Ordnance Survey maps of Roxburghshire. After that the maps of Roxburghshire were drawn according to the meridian of Lanark Church Spire in Lanarkshire.[14]
History
A number of structures have been built on or around the summit of Rubers Law. The earliest may have been an Early
A Roman signal station on the hilltop may be inferred from the presence of many Roman dressed sandstone blocks on the hill, many decorated with a diamond pattern. The same pattern was found on stones at the Roman site of Castlecary on the Antonine Wall. These leave no doubt that a Roman building once stood on the hilltop, and in that position this could only have been a signal station. A workman digging field drains on the south-east side of the hill in 1863, 400 feet (120 m) below the summit, discovered a hoard of bronze vessels of Roman age. These included a beautifully decorated handle of a bronze ewer, and the handles, rims and fragments of about a dozen other vessels. These are now held in Hawick Museum.[5][6]
A post-Roman fort, consisting of an inner enclosure or citadel on the summit of the hill, and an annex to the south including the southern rock ridge and the plateau, was built of loose boulders but also incorporated masonry from the earlier Roman building. The citadel measured 235 by 105 feet (72 by 32 m) and the annex was 300 feet (91 m) long. The structure is one known as a "nuclear fort" of the
In the 17th century
The restoration of KingOn
Poetry
The Scottish romantic poet Dr John Leyden (1775-1811), who was born in Denholm, described going up Rubers Law in his poem Scenes of Infancy (1803).
Oft have I wandered, in my vernal years, Where Ruberslaw his misty summit rears, And, as the fleecy surges closed amain, To gain the top have traced that shelving lane, Where every shallow stripe of level green, That, winding, runs the shattered crags between[16]
In another passage he described a storm on the hill, and the presence of eagles (known as erne) on it.
Dark Ruberslaw, that lifts his head sublime, Rugged and hoary with the wrecks of time! On his broad misty front the giant wears The horrid furrows of ten thousand years; His aged brows are crowned with curling fern, Where perches, grave and lone, the hooded Erne, Majestic bird! by ancient shepherds stiled The lonely hermit of the russet wild, That loves amid the stormy blast to soar, When through disjointed cliffs the tempests roar, Climbs on strong wing the storm, and, screaming high, Rides the dim rack, that sweeps the darkened sky.[16]
See also
- List of places in the Scottish Borders
- List of Marilyns in the Scottish Lowlands
References
- ^ a b c d e "Rubers Law". Hill Bagging. November 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ISBN 978-0907521952.
- ^ a b Francis Groome (1885). Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. Edinburgh: Thomas C Jack. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
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ignored (help) - ^ Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger map
- ^ a b c d e "Rubers Law". Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS). Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ^ . Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ^ Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map
- ^ "Woodland Pitches for Groups". Ruberslaw Wild Woods Camping. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ^ john923 (April 2011). "A stroll up Rubers Law". walkhighlands. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Neil (June 2012). "Rubers Law". Neil’s Hillwalking Exploits. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ^ ISBN 9780118801522.
- ^ "The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units". British Geological Survey.
- ISBN 9780751836998. This map may be viewed on the "Geology of Britain viewer". British Geological Survey. or on the BGS's iGeology smartphone app
- ^ "198 years and 153 meridians, 152 defunct" (PDF). 27 April 1990. p. 16. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- ^ "Bedrule Church". Hobkirk and Southdean with Ruberslaw Church of Scotland. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ^ a b John Leyden. "Scenes of Infancy: Descriptive of Teviotdale". University of Rochester, New York.