Roberton, Scottish Borders Explained

Country:Scotland
Official Name:Roberton
Scots Name:Raberton
Language:English
Language1:Southern Scots
Static Image Name:Approaching Roberton along the B711 - geograph.org.uk - 2909211.jpg
Static Image Caption:Roberton
Map Type:Scotland
Coordinates:55.4194°N -2.9006°W
Os Grid Reference:NT430143
Unitary Scotland:Scottish Borders
Lieutenancy Scotland:Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale
Constituency Westminster:Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
Constituency Scottish Parliament:Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire
Post Town:HAWICK
Postcode District:TD9
Postcode Area:TD
Dial Code:01450

Roberton is a small village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, on the B711 and near to the A7, 50NaN0 from Hawick, 220NaN0 from Galashiels, and 230NaN0 from Langholm. It is situated by the Ale Water, the Alemoor Loch and the Borthwick Water, and nearby are Branxholme, Broadhaugh, Burnfoot and the Craik Forest.

Borders poet

The Borders poet Will H. Ogilvie (1869–1963) was born in Kelso and died in nearby Ashkirk. A cairn has been erected in his memory.

The hill road to Roberton's a steep road to climb, But where your foot has crushed it, you can smell the scented thyme, And if your heart's a Border heart, look down to Harden Glen, And hear the blue hills ringing with the restless hoofs again...[1]

Unveiled in August 1993, an identical cairn was also erected in Bourke, New South Wales.[2] The bronze was prised from the surface and stolen in August 2016 for metal theft.[3] One of Ogilvie's 800+ poems included the six stanza The road to Roberton:[4]

The hill road to Roberton: Ale Water at our feet,

And grey hills and blue hills that melt away and meet,

With cotton-flowers that wave to us and lone whaups that call,

And over all the Border mist – the soft mist over all.

When Scotland married England long, long ago,

The winds spun a wedding-veil of moonlight and snow,

A veil of filmy silver that sun and rain had kissed,

And she left it to the Border in a soft grey mist.

A replacement cairn was installed at Harden Glen on the anniversary of Ogilvie's 150th birthday, in August 2019.[5]

Borthwick Mains Symbol Stone

NaNabbr=offNaNabbr=off to the east of the village, in front of the house at Borthwick Mains, is a fish symbol-stone, possibly representing a salmon.[6] The stone is high, and the figure of a fish is almost a metre long, with the tail downwards, cut into the stone with pecked lines.[6] It is similar to class 1 Pictish symbol stones of the 6th or 7th century, but its status is doubtful, and it may belong to a more recent period.[7]

See also

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/news/Rightful-honour-restored-to-poet.5588698.jp?articlepage=1 Southern Reporter, 27 August 2009: "Rightful honour restored to poet Will Ogilvie on Road to Roberton"
  2. Web site: Will Ogilvie. Monument Australia. Monument Australia. 28 October 2017. 15 March 2016.
  3. News: KELLY. Paul. Last-ditch bid launched to get back sculpture stolen from hill near Hawick. 23 October 2017. Hawick News. 21 July 2017.
  4. Web site: The Road to Roberton. Scottish Poetry Library. 4 February 2018.
  5. News: COLTMAN . Jake . Poet supreme Ogilvie finds new home at Harden Glen . 2 May 2021 . The Hawick Paper . 23 August 2019.
  6. http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/54197/details/borthwick+mains/&biblio=more Borthwick Mains Carved Stone
  7. Iain Fraser (2008) The Pictish symbol stones of Scotland, page 8. RCHAMS