Skulferatu #80 - Durisdeer Roman Fortlet, Durisdeer, Dumfries and Galloway

On a misty morning I took a walk from Durisdeer up a path through the nearby hills.  It was a nice, dry path with a lovely and well-kept dry stane dyke running alongside it and a signpost that told me I was two miles away from a place I’d never heard of.  Let’s walk there I thought.  It’s probably some pretty village...maybe I can get a nice cup of tea there.  So, off I wandered up a path that gradually got steeper.  Not massively steep, but steep enough for a fat, sweaty old man like myself.   I huffed and I puffed my way up, the humidity of the day taking its toll on me and the armpits of my shirt.  Eventually I arrived at my destination, finding nothing there other than an old hut collapsing into the marshy ground, some stone wall sheep pens, and a sign by a path across the wall, pointing back down the hill.  This signpost informed me that I was a mile away from a Roman Fortlet.  Well, as it was on my way back down the hill, I thought I’d follow the path and go there to have a look.

 

Durisdeer Roman Fortlet

 

Durisdeer Roman Fortlet

 

I started off and could very soon see the mound that the Fortlet had once stood on.  Now you would think that when something is in your view that you couldn’t really get lost walking to it, well you haven’t met me then.  I am the man who on his first trip to Paris, went looking for the Eiffel Tower and managed to walk past it three times.  I was too busy looking down at the map I was using to notice that I was right across from it.  Then I looked up and had one of those ‘oh’ moments.  So, as I walked down to the Fortlet, I somehow managed to veer from the path leading there and ended up walking down a dry stream bed that led me into a marshy, boggy patch of ground.  I could only find my way out of this by following the sheep trails.  Luckily, they seem to prefer the dryer ground.  Unluckily, they never take the direct route anywhere.  Anyway, after walking this way and that way, I eventually got back on to the path again and made my way to the Fortlet.

 

View down the valley to the Roman Fortlet

 

The Roman Fortlet

 

The Fortlet is described as one of the best preserved in Britain, though to be honest all I could really see was a mound with some slightly different coloured vegetation on it.  But still, it was weird to think that a couple of thousand years ago this was one of the outposts of the Roman Empire.  Hundreds of pairs of sandalled feet must have marched up here, probably following the road rather than wandering off into the marsh and bog like me.  On this damp mound there had been buildings where people had worked, eaten, slept and kept a careful eye out on what the locals were getting up to.  Now, just a few sheep stood around munching on the vegetation, and keeping a wary eye on me.

 

On the site of the Roman Fortlet

 

View down through the hills from the Roman Fortlet

 

Wary sheep keep watch at the Roman Fortlet

 

The Fortlet is believed to have been built during the Antonine period, sometime around AD 142.  It was one of many built along the road that once ran along past it.  The Fortlet would have housed a detachment of soldiers from a larger fort, who were stationed in these smaller forts where they could more easily deal with, and control, the local population.

 

The Fortlet was built on a mound and surrounded by a protective ditch. Excavations carried out on the mound revealed that there had been some wooden buildings there.  These are believed to have been the barracks for the soldiers based at the Fortlet.

 

Plan of Roman Fortlet near Durisdeer

 

Watched by some sheep, I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on my walk in amongst the small marsh plants growing where the Fortlet would have once stood.

 

Skulferatu #80

 

Skulferatu #80 in amongst the marsh plants

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #80

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 55.325558

Longitude -3.731063

what3words - bedrooms.bibs.splice

 

I used the following sources for information on Durisdeer Roman Fortlet -

 

The Roman Occupation Of South Western Scotland

By John Clarke, J.M. Davidson, Anne S. Robertson & J.K. St Joseph

1937

 

Canmore

Canmore - Durisdeer Roman Fortlet

 

Article and photographs are copyright of © Kevin Nosferatu, unless otherwise specified.

Skulferatu #46 - Traprain Law, Haddington

Traprain Law is a hill that sits to the east of Haddington in East Lothian and at first glance it may seem like nothing more than just another hill.  However, Traprain Law is anything but just another hill.  It is a hill steeped in history and myth.

 

Traprain Law

 

Traprain Law was originally known as Dumpelder, or Dumpender Law and archaeologists have found evidence of human habitation there dating from around 1000 BC.  When the Romans occupied this area in the 1^st Century, they recorded the people living there as being the Votadini, a tribe whose territory extended from South-East Scotland to North-East England.  It is believed that at this time Traprain Law was one of their major settlements.

 

View up slope to summit of Traprain Law

 

View from Traprain Law over East Lothian to Berwick Law

 

View from Traprain Law over East Lothian to the Bass Rock

 

View from Traprain Law over East Lothian to the Bass Rock

 

Cairn at the summit of Traprain Law

 

In 1919 archaeologists excavating sites on Traprain Law discovered a hoard of Roman silverware which became known as the Traprain Law Treasure.  The hoard appeared to date from around the 4^th or 5^th Century AD.  Much of the silver was cut up and it appears that it was being used as payment and would probably be melted down by the local people and turned into goods such as bracelets, brooches, and chains.  In total over 20 KG of silver was recovered, and this was the largest hacked-silver hoard found either in or out of the Roman Empire.  The Traprain Law Treasure is now on display in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

 

In myth Traprain Law is connected to the legend of Themis, who was the daughter and only child of King Loth, the King of Lothian.    Themis was a beautiful girl and the King had high hopes that he could marry her off to Ewen, the King of Cumbria and unite their two lands to increase his power and influence.  Themis, however had no interest in her father’s plans to force her into a loveless marriage with a man she did not care for.  She wanted to marry for love and had indeed found the true love of her life, a shepherd boy from nearby Traprain Law.  The two met discreetly and often.  Themis soon fell pregnant and some months later her father learnt of this and flew into a great rage and demanded that she be put to death for the disgrace she had brought on him.  He also demanded that Themis name the father so that he too could be punished.  Themis, not wanting her lover to be harmed in any way, refused to name him.  She was then marched to Traprain Law and put into a cart which was pushed over one of the steep slopes. However, the cart overturned as it tumbled down the hill, and Themis emerged from under it unharmed. A spring of beautiful fresh water then sprang from where the cart had fallen.

 

Unhappy that the execution had failed, King Loth ordered that Themis be taken to Aberlady. There she was cast adrift in a coracle, a rudderless boat, so that the seas could take her. The coracle drifted on the Firth of Forth for a number of days until it reached the Isle of May.  There a huge shoal of fish gathered and guided the boat over to the coast at Culross.   The heavily pregnant Themis then waded through the water to the shore and promptly gave birth on the beach to a baby boy that she named Kentigern.  A short time after this a group of monks found them both and rescued them.  In thanks for their rescue and salvation Themis decided to dedicate her life to Christ and became a nun, as you do.  Kentigern was taken in by the monks who had rescued them, and he was educated by St Serf at the nearby monastery, where he was renamed Mungo. He went on to become St Mungo, the founder and patron Saint of Glasgow. As for King Loth, well he didn’t fare too well.  One day when he was out walking by Traprain Law he was spotted by the shepherd boy, who had been the lover of Themis.  Seeing a chance to take revenge on the king, the boy, hidden by rocks, took out his bow and arrow and shot Loth clean through the heart killing him immediately.  King Loth was then buried where he had fallen at the base of Traprain Law and a stone raised above his body.  Legend has it that this is the Loth Stone that stands nearby at Cairndinnis Farm and can still be seen there today.

 

I left the Skulferatu that accompanied me on my walk up Traprain Law, by the cairn at the top of the hill.

 

Skulferatu #46

 

Skulferatu #46 in cairn at top of Traprain Law

 

Map showing the location of Skulferatu #46

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 55.963206

Longitude -2.671686

 

I used the following sources for information on Traprain Law –

 

Wikipedia – Traprain Law

Traprain Law

 

National Museums of Scotland – Traprain Law Treasure

Traprain Law Treasure

 

Dundee Weekly News – Traprain Law and King Loth, a Legend of East Lothian

Saturday 2 November 1889

 

Mythological Bonds between East and West

Dorothea Chaplin

1938

 

Canmore – The Loth Stone

The Loth Stone | Canmore

 

 

Article and photographs are copyright of © Kevin Nosferatu, unless otherwise specified.