"The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep." ~ Robert Frost

A very long day today. We set out from St. Boswell's at 8:30 am and arrived at the Allerton House in Jedburgh around 3:30 this afternoon. It was pretty much 6 hours of straight walking and we are quite knackered this evening. We had a lot of woodland glen walking today along with a long trek on Dere Street, a single-file path following an old Roman road that was used in the 1st century AD by Roman soldiers travelling from York to supply and defend the northern frontiers. It rained all night but stopped by breakfast time, which we are thankful for.

Heading out of St. Boswell's this morning admiring this high stone garden wall.

 A lovely stone bridge over the river Tweed.          .

 Andrew taking a side trip to Crystal Well, an antique water pumping station for the house above.

 And discovering a grotto with water emerging and interesting ferns.

 Starting down the Roman road also known as Dere Street. It took a long time to get through here. Note the soldier helmet on the post along with the St. Cuthbert's Way sign.

The Lilliard Stone commemorates a brave woman of that name who took up arms to avenge her lover, killed by the English. The battle was against Henry VIII's army at Ancrum Moor in 1545. The English were outmanoeuvred and defeated.  

 These beech trees are incredible - so large and solidly rooted into the earth.

 And this is our home for tonight - Allerton House. Almost ready for bed and it's only 7:30...... but before we sign off we did venture into Jedburgh for supper.

 Jedburgh, 10 miles from the English border, contains the ruins of another abbey. The history in every village is amazing. There are a half dozen former abbeys in the Scottish Borders and the Border Abbeys Way connects them by footpath.

 Another view of the abbey. We didn't pay the fee to take the tour because it was too late and we needed to find some food, but Andrew got some good shots.

 Mary, Queen of Scots home in Jedburgh.

 And we'll leave you with a sheep picture. These 2 little lambs with tails a-wagging were trying to get under mama for a wee snack, but mama was promptly took off in another direction. It was rather funny.

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather." ~ John Ruskin

First day of hiking - done and dusted! Woke up to sun, but that quickly clouded in and our hosts guaranteed there would be rain today. However, when signing up for one of these hikes, it's 'go' time and you need to get to the next destination regardless of the weather. New word for the day - scunnered (meaning very annoyed). Guess I could use that word for the weather we're getting. But it's okay - we are rambling through the Scottish borders and then into England. It's an adventure we love to do together and that has us both very chuffed.

Just starting out from the Abbey.

Beginning with 133 steps up! 

Leaving the quaint little town of Melrose behind.

Looking upward towards the Eildon Hills.

Following the sign posts. For today our phones recorded 76 flights of stairs!

Following the St. Cuthbert's Way cross - note the post on the left. No turning back.

Walking through a characterful old beech wood. It's not raining yet!

 Great view of the Eildon Hills from the other side. We just walked through there! The first century had a military outpost near here called Trimontium (triple mountain).

There is a story here. As we were walking through Newtown, looking bewildered and confused, ready to stop for a quick bite somewhere, a very sweet lady who was watering the village outdoor plants, crossed the road to ask us if we were looking for a place to eat. Well, there seemed to be 2 options, the local pub or a lunch at the local hall sponsored by the Borders College. Students make and serve lunch at the Newtown Community Wing one day a week (Thursday), so we were very fortunate to hook into this deal. It was very sweet as we sat with several ladies and had a very delicious chicken stew and a scone. Andrew also snagged a great cup of tea. One of those moments that make this type of holiday so very special.

Our first glimpse of the River Tweed, a 97 mile long river running east through the border region of Scotland and known for it's great salmon fishing in season.

Grandchildren - botanical question of the day - identify this flower. It grows extensively here on thorny bushes.

This is our second little nest for tonight, a combination restaurant, pub and tired looking hotel in the village of St. Boswell's. We weren't sure how to pronounce Buccleuch but try 'book look' and that's pretty close. It began to rain hard just after we arrived.

"Be halde to ye hende." (Keep in mind, the end, your salvation.) An inscription by John Morow, a master mason, Melrose Abbey.

It was exciting to wake today and know we were escaping the city and heading for the Scottish borders. The train system here is so incredibly efficient and we were soon rolling our way to Tweedbank via Edinburgh. We spent about an hour stretching our legs in Edinburgh and reminiscing about the time we had spent there 9 years ago. Then onto a connecting train to Tweedbank. The scenery quickly changed from cityscape and industrial yards to pastoral landscape with those sweet black faced sheep dotting the countryside alongside the horses and cows and dry stone partitions separating the fields. Arriving, we were undecided whether to wait for a bus, call a cab or walk the 3 km to Melrose. The bicycle route looked walker friendly, so away we went, the happy wanderers. We checked into the Dunfermline House and then made our way to Melrose Abbey, which was incredible and I'll let the pictures tell the story.

The best mode of transportation!

 Arriving in Edinburgh and you see multiple levels of grey stone buildings in the old part of the city. 

 Greeted by two young bagpipers busking.

 Sir Walter Scott monument, the second largest monument in the world in memory of a writer.

 Edinburgh Castle in a commanding positon.

 Melrose Link - let's hike those 3 km and prepare for tomorrow!

 And this is where we will walk tomorrow, between the two mountains through the saddle. 

Melrose Abbey. A partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order, founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I of Scotland. It was a place beloved by Robert the Bruce (see previous post) and it is said that his heart is buried on the grounds. It was used as an abbey until the Protestant Reformation in 1560.

 The open window was actually a door where the monks would come down the steps from their sleeping chambers. You can see the formation of the bricks on the wall where stairs were attached. They would wash in the basin at the bottom and go for prayers at 2:00, 4:00, then 6:00 AM!

 The bell at the top of some very well worn steps.

Melrose Abbey from the side. It was an incredible tour, walking through history.

 On top of the Abbey. Grandchildren, notice the gargoyles. Gargoyles were added for two main purposes - to scare off evil and to divert rainwater.

 A steep spiral staircase leading up to the top of the Abbey to view the grounds from above.

 Nothing to say on this! (You can click on the picture to get a larger version.)

Dunfermline House - our B&B for one night before we set out on our hike.

Cheers to St. Cuthbert's Way - may it be kind to us!

Thank you for travelling along with us!

"If at first you don't succeed try, try and try again." ~ Robert the Bruce

It's an odd feeling being here - for me, it's like coming back to the homeland. Whether that is due to my ancestry or the fact that this particular part of the world enriches my knowledge of world history, I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure I could live here for a time and feel quite at home.
Today we ventured north to Stirling, home of Stirling Castle, one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. Just a wee bit of history, the castle is strategically placed on Castle Hill surrounded on 3 sides by very steep cliffs, giving it a very important strategic position. Stirling Castle has been besieged 16 times. Most of the main buildings date from the 15th and 16th centuries so it was an afternoon spent wandering through this palace/castle and listening to the history complete with the lilt of a fine Scottish brogue from our tour guide named Charlie.

As we climbed the hill from the train station, the Stirling Baptist Church stood front and centre.

 After visiting the info centre and purchasing tickets for Stirling Castle, we walked uphill to Holy Rude Church ('Rude' or 'Rood' is the medieval term for the cross of the crucifixion). The first church on this site was founded by King David I in 1129. Mary Queen of Scots worshipped in this church and John Knox preached here. The coronation of James VI was in 1567 making this the only church in Britain, apart from Westminster Abbey, where a coronation has taken place. This is the King James who commissioned the King James Bible.

Could we please put some stone on our church and have sweet wildflowers growing from them? 

 This statue has several enclosed angels representing the heroes of the Scottish Presbyterian Reformation placed in the cemetery of Holy Rude Church. Considered one of these heroes, Margaret Wilson is remembered for refusing to renounce her protestant faith and so was executed by drowning at the very young age of 18.

The front of the church, the stained glass was very detailed and beautiful.

"Charlie" ~ highly recommend him as a tour guide if you ever get to Stirling Castle.

 King Robert the Bruce memorial located just outside the castle. The site of Bannockburn can be seen from here, where Robert defeated the English army. 

 View from atop the the castle. The vistas were vast and beautiful.

 The Great Hall where in 1594, James VI danced and feasted with the nobility in celebration of the baptism of his son, Prince Henry. 

 From a distance, the William Wallace monument. He was one of the main leaders of the Scottish independent movement in the late 1200's. One of his greatest victories was against the English in 1297. If you have seen 'Braveheart' starring Mel Gibson it would give you an overview of this history. Stirling sits on the edge of the highlands.

 The Scottish Highlands in the distance.

The Royal Residence with lovely gardens in the front and the Great Hall in the background. Originally all the buildings within the castle were the same colour as the Great Hall which would make this quite an impressive view. 

 See the indentation above the door? That is where a cannonball would have hit the castle, probably from Cromwell's army.  There are so many dents and holes in the structure from the many times it was attacked.

 The unicorn is a celtic symbol of purity and power and features in Scottish imagery as the lion does is England.

 These massive iron-studded oak doors are common throughout the castle.

 Standing atop the old stone bridge over the River Forth, near the site of the Battle of Stirling Bridge, then a wooden structure. This strategic site had to be crossed to defeat William Wallace whose memorial can be seen in the background.

 The four arch old stone bridge.

 Walking down from Stirling Castle, we came across this carving of John Damian de Falcuis. This man was a physician to James IV and in 1507 claimed he would fly to France (see the wings?). He made these and launched himself from the castle walls. His only injury was that he broke his thigh - see the cast? What was he thinking? Or was he?

 Trying to locate the old stone bridge, this fellow decided to walk along with us and help us find our way. Had a great conversation with Andrew but I think he only understood every few words. It was fun listening to him talk though!

I had to capture a picture of the rooftops - if you put your imagination to work you can almost see Bert and his fellow chimney sweeps up there dancing from roof to roof.

 A special treat for our train trip back to Glasgow.