Tuesday, 25 June 2024

Skulferatu #122 - Wallace's Cave, Roslin, Midlothian

 

‘Mud, mud, glorious mud
Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood
So follow me, follow
Down to the hollow
And there let us wallow in glorious mud…’

 

The chorus to Flanders and Swann’s Hippopotamus Song is what came to mind as I took a walk along the paths of Roslin Glen.  Though I was out on what was a pleasant and sunny day, the night before it had poured and poured, and the narrow paths leading around the gorge were thick, squelching mud. To a chorus of bird song and the burbling of the river below, I slipped and slid my way through a mire of dirty brown ooze.  Not that I was complaining, I’ve always found that a walk through the woods makes me feel quite relaxed, no matter how manky it is.  It is probably something to do with the trees, their movement in the breeze and their calming aura.  Or maybe something to do with a primordial memory of the forests our ancestors once inhabited.  Whatever, a walk in the woods is always very calming.

 

A view between the trunks of two trees of a tree covered slope.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
In the woods at Roslin Glen

 

A view of trees on one slope that overlooks trees on an opposing slope in Roslin.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
In the woods at Roslin Glen

 

A leafless tree that looks as if it is waving up to the sky.  Below the ground is covered in the green shoots of wild garlic with a muddy path cutting through.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
In the woods at Roslin Glen

 

A cheeky little frog sitting in the dirt.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
A frog

 

So, I sploshed my way along the path saying hello to a frog or two on my way, and then came to a set of very wet and slippy looking stone steps that led down the embankment of the gorge.  However, despite the way they looked, I found that grip on them was no problem, and it was easy to walk on down them.  They then led to a narrow, trodden earth path that brought me to the entrance of a cave.  This is Wallace’s Cave, named after William Wallace, you know the one, the guy with the painted blue face who looked a bit like Mel Gibson, though was probably slightly less antisemitic.

 

The reason the cave acquired its name is that there is a local legend that William Wallace hid from the English army here.  The story goes that Wallace and his followers had been in a battle against the English where they had been massively outnumbered and outmanoeuvred.  After being heavily defeated, they had then fled into the woods around Roslin with the English army in close pursuit.  Wallace and five of his companions then split off from the rest of his followers and made their way down to the cave.  There they hid for six days and nights while the English army scoured the woods for them, cutting down any man they found.  In the early morning of the seventh day, Wallace and his companions, who were now starving and half dead with hunger, left the cave and managed to make their way out of the woods and to a place of safety.

 

A path leading past some trees.  By the tree in the foreground are some stone steps leading down a steep looking bank.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Stairs down the embankment to the cave

 

A view up some muddy stone steps in a hillside.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Stairs down to the cave

 

A view looking up a rock formation to tree that towers above.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
The cliffs above the cave

 

A side on view of a cave entrance on a steep hillside.  A large tree leans out just behind it.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Entrance to the cave

 

A closer view of the entrance into the rock of the cave, this is Wallace's Cave.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Entrance to the cave

 

The cave is man made and dates from prehistoric times.  Carvings found outside the cave on the rock face and inside the cave itself, are believed to date from the Bronze Age.   However, when, and why the cave was carved out into the stone of the embankment is not known.  Whatever purpose and function the cave served for the prehistoric people who created it are now lost in the mists of time.

 

A view inside the cave showing the low, arched roof and a dirt floor.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Inside the cave

 

A view inside the cave showing the red of the stone walls.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Inside the cave

 

A view looking out of the cave into the daylight where the branches of the trees in the glen can be seen.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
View out from the cave entrance

 

A view along the cave looking out showing the curved entrances carved in the stone.  On the floors are scattered some of the dead leaves blown in from the previous autumn.   Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Inside the cave

 

Venturing inside the cave I found it to be quite a pleasant and sheltered space.  It was also quite dry; unlike many caves I’ve visited before.  In one of the recesses in the cave I found some of the plumpest, juiciest spiders I’ve seen in a long time.  They hung from the roof like luscious Gothic blackberries.  I imagine if Renfield had been locked up in this cave rather than the asylum, he would have plucked them from their webs and gobbled them up.  I was half tempted myself, and did wonder if maybe Wallace and his companions had munched on a few of them during their stay here.


A photo of a spider hanging from the ceiling of the cave, behind it is its shadow making it look like there is a huge spider hanging by it.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
A plump, juicy spider

 

A view of a carving in the stone by Wallace's Cave of three swirling circles.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Carvings outside the cave

 

Before leaving, I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on my walk on a mossy ledge by the entrance of the cave.

 

A view of a hand holding up a small ceramic skull with the entrance to Wallace's Cave in the background.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #122

 

A photo of a small ceramic skull sitting on a mossy stone ledge in Wallace's Cave.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #122 on a mossy ledge

 

TomTom Map showing location of Skulferatu #122
Map showing location of Skulferatu #122

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are -

 

Latitude 55.856336

Longitude -3.151793

what3words: satellite.newlywed.drifting

 

I used the following sources for information on Wallace’s Cave –

 
Rutherglen Reformer - Friday 27 November 1885
 
 
 
Lyrics from ‘The Hippopotamus Song’ –
by Michael Flanders & Donald Swann, from the album ‘At the Drop of a Hat’
1960

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