Rubers Law (or locally probably more often Ruberslaw) is a prominent, conical hill in the Scottish Borders area of south-east Scotland. It stands on the south bank of the River Teviot, between the towns of Hawick and Jedburgh, and south of the village of Denholm. The hill is on the border between the historic parishes of Cavers and Hobkirk, and until 1975 it stood within the historic county of Roxburghshire.
Much of the hill is agricultural land with coniferousplantations, and with rough grazing land around the top. A number of routes to the rocky summit of the hill are possible for walkers, from which there is a wide view in all directions. The summit rocks represent the remains of a volcano, formed by a volcanic eruption during the Carboniferous Period, roughly 330million years ago. On and around the summit are the remains of several historical structures: an Iron Age hill fort, a Roman signal station, and a "nuclear fort" of the Early Middle Ages. Alexander Peden may have preached to illegal conventicles of Covenanters from a place known as "Peden's Pulpit" among the summit rocks. The poet Dr John Leyden, who was born in Denholm, climbed the hill in his youth, and described it in a poem of 1803.
Name
Law is a common word for a hill in the south-east of Scotland, especially in Lothian (the Lothians) and The Borders. It comes from the Anglo-Saxon word hlāw (tumulus or hill). The origin and meaning of the first element of the name, Rubers, is not known.[2]
Topography
Rubers Law is a conical hill, elongated in a north–south direction. While it stands in relative isolation, it is linked to Peel Fell by a ridge of high ground, and so forms a northern projection of the Cheviot Hills which straddle the Anglo-Scottish border. It stands on the south bank of the River Teviot and forms a conspicuous landmark from much of Teviotdale. It rises to 424m and has a prominence of 196m above the col to its south. This is well in excess of the 150m prominence needed to classify it as a Marilyn.[1][3] All sides of the hill drain into the Teviot. The southern and eastern slopes do so via the Rule Water, and the western slopes via the Dean Burn.[4]
The summit of the hill is rocky. The summit ridge is surrounded by cliffs 40 to 50 feet (12 to 15m) high except to the north-east. Two lower rock ridges lie beside it, separated from the summit ridge by large gullies. A plateau stretches round the south and east sides of the summit, and 50 feet (15m) lower a natural terrace passes round the hill from the south and east. A chasm splits the cliff above the plateau, and is known as Peden's Pulpit.[5][6]
From the summit there is a wide view all round, from the Cheviot Hills to the south and east, the Eildon Hills to the north with the Lammermuir Hills in the distance, Hawick to the west with the hills of Liddesdale and Selkirkshire beyond it.[5]
Land use
Most of Rubers Law is agricultural land, divided into a patchwork of fields by dry stone walls and fences, along with strips and patches of coniferous woods. The summit is surrounded by rough grazing pasture.[7] The presence of shooting butts and reports of walkers show that the land is also used for pheasant shooting.[1] In 2021 Red Deer began to be raised on the ground surrounding Rubers Law. A commercial camp site has options for isolated pitches in some of the woods on the hill.[8]
Routes
Borders Abbeys Way crosses the north-east flank of the hill, between Denholm and Bedrule. There are no other recognised footpaths on the hill, but Scottish access rights allow responsible access to the land.
From Denholm routes may begin either on Dean Road (south of the village post office) to a track up the hill which begins by an electricity sub-station, or by following the Borders Abbeys Way and then going through Denholmhill Wood. Both routes then continue through (or beside) the strip of woodland leading south. From the end of the woods a well-used path leads to the summit.[9] From the west a farm track leads from Whitriggs Farm part of the way. A number of fields must then be crossed beside another strip of woodland.[10] From the east, near West Lees or the Billerwell road end, routes can follow a track through the trees of West Lees Plantation, or cross a series of fields south of the woods. These routes lead to paths to the summit.[1]
Geology
Most of Rubers Law is made of red sandstones and other sediments which used to be known as the Upper Old Red Sandstone.[11] These rocks, now assigned to the Stratheden or Inverclyde groups (undifferentiated), were formed during the late Devonian or early Carboniferous Periods from the sand and gravel deposits of ancient river systems.[12]
This sedimentary deposition was followed by a period of volcanic eruptions which produced a series of basaltic lavas, some of which are now found near Kelso. The summit rocks of Rubers Law were formed within a volcanic vent. There is a small area of volcanic agglomerate, formed in the vent by an explosive eruption of magma from the volcano. The rest of the summit rocks are microgabbro (previously known as dolerite), the remains of a volcanic plug formed from magma which solidified within the vent. Another microgabbro plug is located among the trees of Denholmhill Wood, 2km north of the summit.[11][13]
Geodesy
Up to 1919 Rubers Law was the origin (meridian) of the 6 inch and 1:2500 Ordnance Survey maps of Roxburghshire. After that the maps of Roxburghshire were drawn according to the meridian of Lanark Church Spire in Lanarkshire.[14]
History
A number of structures have been built on or around the summit of Rubers Law. The earliest may have been an Early Iron Agehill fort or oppidum, represented by the remains of an outer wall, running at the same level around the hilltop, enclosing an area of 7 acres (2.8ha) with a well-marked entrance to the south. No Roman masonry has been incorporated into this wall, suggesting an early date, though it is also possible that it could be the wall of a cattle compound associated with a later post-Roman fort.[5]
A Roman signal station on the hilltop may be inferred from the presence of many Roman dressed sandstone blocks on the hill, many decorated with a diamond pattern. The same pattern was found on stones at the Roman site of Castlecary on the Antonine Wall. These leave no doubt that a Roman building once stood on the hilltop, and in that position this could only have been a signal station. A workman digging field drains on the south-east side of the hill in 1863, 400 feet (120m) below the summit, discovered a hoard of bronze vessels of Roman age. These included a beautifully decorated handle of a bronze ewer, and the handles, rims and fragments of about a dozen other vessels. These are now held in Hawick Museum.[5][6]
A post-Roman fort, consisting of an inner enclosure or citadel on the summit of the hill, and an annex to the south including the southern rock ridge and the plateau, was built of loose boulders but also incorporated masonry from the earlier Roman building. The citadel measured 235 by 105 feet (72 by 32m) and the annex was 300 feet (91m) long. The structure is one known as a "nuclear fort" of the Early Middle Ages. A hut circle within the citadel was excavated in 1907 but no remains were found apart from small quantities of charcoal and burnt bones.[5][6]
In the 17th century Alexander Peden may have preached to a conventicle of Covenanters from a chasm in the cliffs on Rubers Law which is known as Peden's Pulpit.[3][6] The restoration of King Charles II of Scotland in 1660 was followed by an attempt to impose Episcopal polity upon the Church of Scotland. The Covenanters were those who vigorously sought to maintain the Kirk's Presbyterian polity. Ministers ejected from the Kirk, like Peden, preached to illegal conventicles of their followers in the open air between 1660 and 1688.
On Easter Day in 2000 another open-air service of worship was held on the summit of Rubers Law. People from Bedrule, Denholm and Minto churches met there to commemorate both the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ, and earlier Christians who had worshipped in that place. The event is recorded by a metal plate fixed to the summit rocks of the hill. Bedrule church holds a service of worship on Rubers Law each Easter Day.[15]
Poetry
The Scottish romantic poet Dr John Leyden (1775-1811), who was born in Denholm, described going up Rubers Law in his poem Scenes of Infancy (1803).
Oft have I wandered, in my vernal years, Where Ruberslaw his misty summit rears, And, as the fleecy surges closed amain, To gain the top have traced that shelving lane, Where every shallow stripe of level green, That, winding, runs the shattered crags between[16]
In another passage he described a storm on the hill, and the presence of eagles (known as erne) on it.
Dark Ruberslaw, that lifts his head sublime, Rugged and hoary with the wrecks of time! On his broad misty front the giant wears The horrid furrows of ten thousand years; His aged brows are crowned with curling fern, Where perches, grave and lone, the hooded Erne, Majestic bird! by ancient shepherds stiled The lonely hermit of the russet wild, That loves amid the stormy blast to soar, When through disjointed cliffs the tempests roar, Climbs on strong wing the storm, and, screaming high, Rides the dim rack, that sweeps the darkened sky.[16]
Hawick is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is 10 miles (16.1 km) south-west of Jedburgh and 8.9 miles (14.3 km) south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one of the furthest towns from the sea in Scotland, in the heart of Teviotdale, and is the biggest town in Roxburghshire. The town is at the confluence of the Slitrig Water with the River Teviot.
Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. To the southwest it borders Cumberland and to the southeast Northumberland, both in England.
The Wrekin is a hill in east Shropshire, England. It is located some five miles (8 km) west of Telford, on the border between the unitary authorities of Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. Rising above the Shropshire Plain to a height of 407 metres (1,335 ft) above sea level, it is a prominent and well-known landmark, signalling the entrance to Shropshire for travellers westbound on the M54 motorway. The Wrekin is contained within the northern salient of the Shropshire Hills AONB. The hill is popular with walkers and tourists and offers good views of Shropshire. It can be seen well into Staffordshire and the Black Country, and even as far as the Beetham Tower in Manchester, Winter Hill in Lancashire and Cleeve Hill in Gloucestershire.
The River Teviot, or Teviot Water, is a river of the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and is the largest tributary of the River Tweed by catchment area. The Teviot is an important river for wildlife, especially the Atlantic salmon, but in recent years has witnessed at least four extreme flooding events.
Great Dodd is a mountain or fell in the English Lake District. It stands on the main ridge of the Helvellyn range, a line of mountains which runs in a north–south direction between the lakes of Thirlmere and Ullswater in the east of the Lake District. Great Dodd, with a height of 857 metres (2,812 ft) is the highest of the fells in this range to the north of Sticks Pass.
The Ochil Hills is a range of hills in Scotland north of the Forth valley bordered by the cities of Stirling, Perth and the towns of Alloa, Kinross, and Auchterarder. The only major roads crossing the hills pass through Glen Devon/Glen Eagles and Glenfarg, the latter now largely replaced except for local traffic by the M90 Edinburgh-Perth motorway cutting through the eastern foothills. The hills are part of a Devonian lava extrusion whose appearance today is largely due to the Ochil Fault which results in the southern face of the hills forming an escarpment. The plateau is undulating with no prominent peak, the highest point being Ben Cleuch at 721 m (2,365 ft). The south-flowing burns have cut deep ravines including Dollar Glen, Silver Glen and Alva Glen, often only passable with the aid of wooden walkways.
Stybarrow Dodd is a mountain or fell in the English Lake District. It stands immediately north of Sticks Pass on the main ridge of the Helvellyn range in the Eastern Fells, which is situated between the lakes of Thirlmere and the Ullswater.
Red Screes is a fell in the English Lake District, situated between the villages of Patterdale and Ambleside. It may be considered an outlier of the Fairfield group in the Eastern Fells, but is separated from its neighbours by low cols. This gives Red Screes an independence which is reflected in its prominence.
The Pentland Hills are a range of hills southwest of Edinburgh, Scotland. The range is around twenty miles in length, and runs southwest from Edinburgh towards Biggar and the upper Clydesdale.
Binsey is a hill on the northern edge of the Lake District in Cumbria, England. It is detached from the rest of the Lakeland hills, and thus provides a good spot to look out at the Northern and North Western Fells of the Lake District, as well as the coastal plain and, across the Solway Firth, Scotland. Snaefell on the Isle of Man is also visible on a clear day. It is the northernmost of the Wainwrights.
Denholm is a small village located between Jedburgh and Hawick in the Scottish Borders region of Scotland, UK. The estimated population of Denholm is 600. There is a village green in the centre. It lies in the valley of the River Teviot. Denholm is a Conservation Area listed as 'a planned village as opposed to the traditional unplanned or organic form of village usually found in Roxburghshire.'
Watson's Dodd is a fell in the English Lake District, a minor rise on the main ridge of the Helvellyn range in the Eastern Fells, but a prominent shoulder on the west side of that range.
Minto is a village and parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland in Roxburghshire county. It is located 6 miles north-east of Hawick, north of the River Teviot.
Bedrule is a hamlet and civil parish in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. The hamlet lies on the east side of the Rule Water, which gave the village its name, about 4 miles west of Jedburgh. It lies south of the A698 between Hawick and Jedburgh. Other local place-names based on the river include Hallrule, Abbotrule, Ruletownhead and Spittal-on-Rule. Larger settlements include Bonchester Bridge and Denholm, as well as Hawick and Jedburgh.
Hobkirk is a village and civil parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, by the Rule Water, south-west of Jedburgh and south-east of Hawick.
Cavers is a parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the former county of Roxburghshire, south and east of Hawick. The largest village in the parish is Denholm.
The Cheviot Hills, or sometimes The Cheviots, are a range of uplands straddling the Anglo-Scottish border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. The English section is within the Northumberland National Park. The range includes The Cheviot, plus Hedgehope Hill to the east, Windy Gyle to the west, and Cushat Law and Bloodybush Edge to the south.
Hassendean is a hamlet in the Scottish Borders south of Edinburgh, Scotland. The stream is the Hassendean Burn which flows down to the River Teviot 5 miles away. The village's name has been written as Hazeldean and Halstaneden.
Balcreuchan Port or Balcruachan Port (NX0908878) is a bay and raised beach site in the parish of Colmonell, close to Bennane Head and Port Vad (NX091870) in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is well known for its cave (NX099876) with its links to the legend of Sawney Bean and also for the unusual geology that is found in the bay. It was a minor fishing harbour up until the mid to late 19th century.
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