Sunshine on a
frosty spring morning, perfect for wee ramble round East Lothian and a climb up Traprain Law where the legendary King Lot, who gave his name
to the Lothians, had his capital.
It was certainly the
oppidum of the Gododdin, the Votadini to the Romans and the "Men
of the North" in the Welsh poem - Y Gododdin.
They marched south to the aid of their Brythonic kinfolk, the proto-Welsh tribes, fighting to repel the Anglo-Saxon invaders and, at Catterick in Yorkshire, were utterly defeated.
They marched south to the aid of their Brythonic kinfolk, the proto-Welsh tribes, fighting to repel the Anglo-Saxon invaders and, at Catterick in Yorkshire, were utterly defeated.
Men went to
Catraeth, swift was their host.
Fresh mead was their feast, their poison too.
Three hundred waging war, under command,
And after joy, there was silence.
Fresh mead was their feast, their poison too.
Three hundred waging war, under command,
And after joy, there was silence.
Three hundred
gold-torqued,
warlike, wonderful
Three hundred proud ones,
Together, armed;
Three hundred fierce horses
Carried them forward,
Three hounds and three hundred,
Sad, they did not return.
warlike, wonderful
Three hundred proud ones,
Together, armed;
Three hundred fierce horses
Carried them forward,
Three hounds and three hundred,
Sad, they did not return.
Their land
eventually became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria but
the ramparts of their citadel can still be seen on the hill top.
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| Iron Age earthwork |
A slippery climb up
the north side of the hill where the sun had still to reach the
frosty ground was well worth the effort for the view from the summit
across the Firth of Forth from Berwick Law and the Bass to the snowy
Grampians in the distance.
The rocky plateau
has a trig point and a wee lochan and, at the east end, an outcrop
split in two millennia ago by glaciation into the Mother Stone and
the Maiden Stone.
Squeezing between the two is supposed to ensure fertility !
Squeezing between the two is supposed to ensure fertility !
 |
| The Mother Stone and The Maiden Stone |
A cautious descent
to the road and a stroll to Hailes Castle seemed like good idea.So, directed by a old finger pointing sign post, I set off.
Haddington - 5/8ths of a mile!
The mighty
"fortalice of Halis" withstood attack by Harry Hotspur in
1400 prior to his victory against the Scots at Homildon Hill as
recounted by Shakespeare in Henry IV
Young Harry Percy and brave Archibald,
That ever-valiant and approved Scot,
At Holmedon met,
Where they did spend a sad and bloody hour,
As by discharge of their artillery,
That ever-valiant and approved Scot,
At Holmedon met,
Where they did spend a sad and bloody hour,
As by discharge of their artillery,
....
The Earl of Douglas is discomfited:
Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights,
Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see
On Holmedon's plains.
Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights,
Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see
On Holmedon's plains.
It
is still plain to see how Hailes withstood Hotspur's assault. With its
mighty 13th century curtain wall and ditch to the front and the river
Tyne behind, it must have represented a formidable challenge to any
attacker. A fortified water-gate allowed access to the river so a
siege would have been difficult and prolonged. It still impresses
with its sheer strength and solidity.
 |
| The wall above the river |
 |
| The West Tower |
 |
| The Water Gate |
From
the Bronze Age to the Union of 1707, these fortresses of Trapain and
Hailes dominated and guarded the coastal plain from Dunbar to
Edinburgh where the AI now roars, unimpeded and mindless of them.
 |
| Traprain Law from Hailes |
...and nobody measures their journey to 5/8ths of a mile!
