Eildon Hill lies just south of
Melrose, Scotland
Melrose ( gd, Maolros, "bald moor") is a small town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders, historically in Roxburghshire. It lies within the Eildon committee area of Scottish Borders Council.
History
The original Melrose was ''Mailros'', me ...
in the
Scottish Borders, overlooking the town. The name is usually pluralised into "the Eildons" or "Eildon Hills", because of its triple peak. The high eminence overlooks
Teviotdale
Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and ...
to the South.
[R. Milne & H. Brown, ''The Corbetts and Other Scottish Hills,'' p. 29. Published by the Scottish Mountaineering Trust, 2002.] The north hilltop (of three peaks) is surrounded by over of ramparts, enclosing an area of about 16 ha (40 acres) in which at least 300 level platforms have been cut into the rock to provide bases for turf or timber-walled houses, forming one of the largest
hill forts
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Rom ...
known in Scotland.
A
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
army signalling station was later constructed on the same site as this hill fort.
The mid hilltop is the highest, whilst the south hilltop is the lowest. The hills are owned by the
Duke of Buccleuch
Duke of Buccleuch (pronounced ), formerly also spelt Duke of Buccleugh, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created twice on 20 April 1663, first for James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and second suo jure for his wife Anne Scott, 4th Cou ...
, Scotland's largest private landowner.
As with all land in Scotland the public have a
right of responsible access to the hills, and there are many paths crossing the area and leading to all three summits.
The hills form part of the Eildon and Leaderfoot
National Scenic Area, one of forty such areas in Scotland, which have been defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development.
The areas protected by the national scenic area (NSA) designation are considered to represent the type of scenic beauty "popularly associated with Scotland and for which it is renowned". The Eildon and Leaderfoot NSA covers 3877
ha, and extends to include the town of Melrose, Scott's View and
Leaderfoot Viaduct.
History
Excavations have found evidence that the hill fort was occupied by 1000 BC, in the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
. The ramparts seem to have been built and rebuilt in three phases. 296 individual huts floors have been identified within the fort, suggesting a population of around 2000, and making it one of the largest known in Scotland from this period.
The hill fort is thought to have been the capital of the
Selgovae
The Selgovae (Common Brittonic: *''Selgowī'') were a Celtic tribe of the late 2nd century AD who lived in what is now the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright and Dumfriesshire, on the southern coast of Scotland. They are mentioned briefly in Ptolemy's ' ...
, who lived in upper Tweeddale prior to the arrival of the Romans.
In the 1st century AD the Roman army built the massive fort of
Trimontium at
Newstead, named after the three peaks, at the foot of the hill on the bank of the
River Tweed
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the ...
. In association with this fort they constructed a signal tower with a tiled roof in a 15 m diameter enclosure built on the summit of Eildon North Hill.
The hill fort may have been abandoned by this time, as Roman archaeological finds uncovered during excavation of the site in 1986 all overlaid native finds.
The tower was thought to have been constructed out of timber during the
Flavian period, with a later tower being constructed out of stone during the reign of Emperor
Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius ( Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty.
Born into a senatori ...
. Finds including Roman coins and pottery have suggested that some of the house platforms were again in use in the 2nd to 4th century.
There is some evidence that prehistoric peoples regarded the Eildon Hills as a holy place and scholars believe they may have been a place of ceremonial gatherings. There are several holy springs around the base of the hills, now dedicated to Christian saints, but probably originally sacred to Celtic deities.
They were once known as ''Eldune'', derived from the 12th-century
Simeon of Durham
__NOTOC__
Symeon (or Simeon) of Durham (died after 1129) was an English chronicler and a monk of Durham Priory.
Biography
Symeon entered the Benedictine monastery at Jarrow as a youth. It moved to Durham in 1074, and he was professed in 1085 o ...
who referred to them as .
The final part of the word is Old English ''dun'', meaning a rounded hill, while the first part has been variously etymologized as Brittonic ''eil'' (referring to a fenced enclosure) or Old English ''ǣled'' ("fire") or ''ǣlǣte'' ("empty place").
Formation
It is possible that the hills were formed deep beneath the Earth's surface as ancient
laccolith
A laccolith is a body of intrusive rock with a dome-shaped upper surface and a level base, fed by a conduit from below. A laccolith forms when magma (molten rock) rising through the Earth's crust begins to spread out horizontally, prying apar ...
s.
In folklore
Eildon is said to be a "hollow hill", and is mentioned in the legend of
Thomas the Rhymer
Sir Thomas de Ercildoun, better remembered as Thomas the Rhymer (fl. c. 1220 – 1298), also known as Thomas Learmont or True Thomas, was a Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston (then called "Erceldoune") in the Borders. Thomas ...
. Some believe Thomas went under the hill itself, and certainly part of the ballad occurs in the vicinity. Sir
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...
tells the tale of a horse dealer who is paid in "ancient coin" by an elderly buyer in old-fashioned dress and taken inside the hill at night. A host of armed knights lie asleep at their horses' feet; their sleeping leader is
King Arthur. Shown a horn and a sword, in confusion the dealer blows the horn: the men begin to awake and a loud voice indicates that he has been proved a coward for not seizing the sword first. A whirlwind ejects him from the chamber and outside he tells his story to some shepherds before dropping dead of exhaustion. Scott identifies the elderly man as Thomas the Rhymer. Another legend concerns the Eildon Tree Stone, a large moss-covered boulder near Melrose, marking the spot where the
Fairy Queen
In folklore and literature, the Fairy Queen or Queen of the Fairies is a female ruler of the fairies, sometimes but not always paired with a king. Depending on the work, she may be named or unnamed; Titania and Mab are two frequently used name ...
led Thomas into her realms in the heart of the hills.
The volcanic rock was said to have been cleft in three by the wizard
Michael Scot
Michael Scot (Latin: Michael Scotus; 1175 – ) was a Scottish mathematician and scholar in the Middle Ages. He was educated at Oxford and Paris, and worked in Bologna and Toledo, where he learned Arabic. His patron was Frederick II of the H ...
, as relayed by Walter Scott in his 1805 poem
The Lay of the Last Minstrel:
In these far climes it was my lot
To meet the wondrous Michael Scott,
A wizard, of such dreaded fame,
Than when, in Salmanca's cave,
Him listed his magic wand to wave,
The bells would ring in Notre Dame!
Some of his skill he taught to me;
And Warrior, I could say to thee
The words that cleft Eildon hills in three,
And bridled the Tweed with a curb of stone:
But to speak them were a deadly sin.
James Hogg
James Hogg (1770 – 21 November 1835) was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading. He was a friend of many ...
retold the legend in his 1823 novel ''The Three Perils of Man''.
Media
This place was cited in the lyric 'Eiledon', from
Big Country
Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981.
The height of the band's popularity was in the early to mid 1980s, although it has retained a cult following for many years since. The band's music incorporated Scott ...
's '
The Seer' album.
See also
*
List of places in the Scottish Borders
''Map of places in the Scottish Borders compiled from this list'':See the list of places in Scotland for places in other counties.
This list of places in the Scottish Borders includes towns, villages, hamlets, castles, golf courses, historic ...
*
List of places in Scotland
This list of places in Scotland is a complete collection of lists of places in Scotland.
* List of burghs in Scotland
* List of census localities in Scotland
*List of islands of Scotland
** List of Shetland islands
** List of Orkney islands
** L ...
Notes
References
* ''Scotland Before History'' - Stuart Piggott, Edinburgh University Press 1982,
* ''Scotland's Hidden History'' - Ian Armit, Tempus (in association with Historic Scotland) 1998,
* AQA A2 Geography - Amanda Barker, David Redfern, Malcom Skinner, Phillip Allan Updates 2008
{{Authority control
Archaeological sites in the Scottish Borders
Marilyns of Scotland
Locations associated with Arthurian legend
Hill forts in Scotland
Mountains and hills of the Scottish Borders
Bronze Age Scotland
Former populated places in Scotland
Bronze Age sites in Scotland
Scheduled monuments in Scotland