Mossfennan Explained

Mossfennan is a small settlement in southern Scotland near Drumelzier in the Scottish Borders, in the valley of the River Tweed.Mossfennan is a wooded area part of the parish of Glenholm. There was once a peel tower at Mossfennan. Also near Mossfennan are the remains of a Bronze Age burial cairn.[1] When the Talla Railway was built there was a spectacular overhead sheep crossing at Mossfennan which consisted of six concrete piers and a long ramps at right angles to the railway track.

Mossfennan appears in literature being referenced in an old Scottish ballad.[2]

'The King rode round the Merecleuch Head,

Wi' spotted hounds and spaniels three,

Then lichted doun at Mossfennan Yett,

A little below the Logan Lee.'

John Veitch also describes the locality in The Hart of Mossfennan

References

55.5707°N -3.4012°W

Notes and References

  1. http://www.biggararchaeology.org.uk/pdf_reports/Woodend_Report.pdf Biggar Archaeology Woodend Report
  2. https://books.google.com/books?id=kB1KAAAAMAAJ&dq=Merecleuch&pg=PA36 Robert Chambers The popular rhymes of Scotland: with illustrations W. Hunter, 1826