Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, Volume 2 - Consisting of Historical and Romantic Ballads, Collected in The - Southern Counties of Scotland; with a Few of Modern Date, Founded - Upon Local Tradition by Sir Walter Scott
page 244 of 342 (71%)
page 244 of 342 (71%)
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of St Mary, in Selkirkshire. The adjacent country, which now hardly
bears a single tree, is celebrated by Lesly, as, in his time, affording shelter to the largest stags in Scotland. A mountain torrent, called Henderland Burn, rushes impetuously from the hills, through a rocky chasm, named the Dow-glen, and passes near the site of the tower. To the recesses of this glen the wife of Cokburne is said to have retreated, during the execution of her husband; and a place, called the _Lady's Seat_, is still shewn, where she is said to have striven to drown, amid the roar of a foaming cataract, the tumultuous noise, which announced the close of his existence. In a deserted burial-place, which once surrounded the chapel of the castle, the monument of Cokburne and his lady is still shewn. It is a large stone, broken into three parts; but some armorial bearings may be yet traced, and the following inscription is still legible, though defaced: HERE LYES PERYS OF COKBURNE AND HIS WYFE MARJORY. Tradition says, that Cokburne was surprised by the king, while sitting at dinner. After the execution, James marched rapidly forward, to surprise Adam Scott of Tushielaw, called the King of the Border, and sometimes the King of Thieves. A path through the mountains, which separate the vale of Ettrick from the head of Yarrow, is still called the _King's Road_, and seems to have been the rout which he followed. The remains of the tower of Tushielaw are yet visible, overhanging the wild banks of the Ettrick; and are an object of terror to the benighted peasant, from an idea of their being haunted by spectres. From these heights, and through the adjacent county of Peebles, passes a wild path, called still the _Thief's Road_, from having been used chiefly by the marauders of the border. |
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