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.
(John Leyden 1775-1811)
Despite its relative
lack of height, at 424 metres, Ruberslaw dominates the landscape of
the Teviot valley and would have been the obvious place for a tribal
chief to set his fort or oppidum. A climb to the top affords great
views of the eastern marches across to the coast including
Ruberslaw's greater neighbours, the Eildons, the triple peaked
Trimontium of the Romans.
The hill was used as a signalling station
by the legions having been the seat of some Iron Age chiefs before
their arrival.
 | |
| The view to the coast |
At the top, the
outlines of the rampart and ditch can still be seen although the
dramatic cleft known as Pedden's Pulpit from its association with the
Covenanter preacher, Alexander Pedden, is the result of ancient
volcanic forces rather than human design.
 |
| Pedden's Pulpit |
The trig point, now no longer needed for map making has a been re-used with a marker disc showing all the features of the surrounding landscape and a few further afield such as Zanzibar and Mongolia!
The single pair of
peewets calling across the hillside was a sad echo of the scores that
screamed and sky-wheeled over the pastures of my childhood. A pair
of skylarks seemed oddly trusting of my approach. The orientalist,
John Leyden, born in Denholm in view of the hill, wrote of the
“erne” or eagle perched on “dark Ruberslaw”.
Today, a different
sort of bird was soaring from the peak. Hang gliders have replaced
the long gone eagles, harried to extinction in this sheep rearing
country.
An old friend always
meant to climb Ruberslaw and just never got round to it. That chance
has gone now so today was a walk for her.
Carpe diem....but dare I try hang gliding?
