Wallace's Heel Well or Wallace's Heel is located beside the River Ayr (NS35502122) near the old Holmston lime kiln, Ayr, Scotland. It is a petrosomatoglyph said to represent the imprint of a heel and is associated with the story of an escape from English soldiers made by the Scottish hero William Wallace.
The well or spring lies on the river bank below the footpath and has been reached by steps since at least Victorian times as witnessed by postcards from that era. [1] A freshwater spring flows from a 'heel shaped' cavity in the bedrock. A drystone dyke forms the boundary with the footpath and this carries a plaque that reads Wallace's Heel. In 2017 the ladle is no longer present, the well is partly obscured by plant growth and most of the garden flowers are absent. The well is flooded by river water when the river is in spate.
A postcard dated circa 1888 show a brass ladle attached by a chain [2] with the handle pushed into the dyke allowing visitors to take a drink. Postcards of the late 1940s show that the area was planted up with garden flowers. [3] The Holmston lime kiln stands nearby and is known locally as the 'keep' or 'castle'.
Following an incident in Riccarton in which an unarmed William Wallace had single handedly killed or injured several English soldiers the Scottish hero and patriot was forced into hiding and he chose Leglen Wood near Auchencruive as the most suitable site of concealment. However, he made several expeditions to Ayr and on one occasion he encountered a group of English troops who were challenging all comers to try their strength against one of their number in return for the payment of one groat (four pence), a significant sum at the time. [4] The challenge was to strike the man's back with a staff and William did so with such great force that he broke the soldier's spine [5] and as a result the remaining soldiers were determined to capture and imprison this Scotsman who had demonstrated his superior strength. [6]
William immediately set off eastwards towards Leglen Wood [7] along a path that lay above the bank of the River Ayr and after a while it became clear that the hounds being used by the English troops were rapidly making ground on him and that his scent trail would be his undoing. [8] William reached Holmston where he jumped down onto the rocks at the edge of the river and in doing so the heel of his boot is said to have left an imprint [9] [10] from which a spring began to flow. [11] His next act was to dive into the river and swim across to the opposite northern bank [12] where his horse had been tethered. [13] William made it safely back to the tree lined gorges of Leglen Wood and Wallace's Heel Well has continued to flow into the Ayr from that day to this.
Wallace's Heel is a good example of a petrosomatoglyph defined as "a supposed image of parts of a human or animal body in rock. They occur all over the world, often functioning as an important form of symbolism, used in religious and secular ceremonies, such as the crowning of kings. Some are regarded as artefacts linked to saints or culture heroes." Another example of a petrosomatoglyph heel prints is to be found at Stonehenge on stone number 14 in the outer circle. [14] Footprints are amongst the most common petrosomatoglyphs [15] however other examples include elbows, knees, the head, hands, horses hooves, dogs feet, etc. [16]
Wallace's Cave was located nearby on the opposite side of the river and it is said that William Wallace also on occasion used it to hide from English troops. [17] [18]
A monument to William Wallace and his great admirer Robert Burns is located in the remnant of Leglen Wood on the west side of the Auchencruive/Belston Road, just south of Oswald's Bridge over the River Ayr. [19] The Cairn was erected by The Burns Federation in September 1929. The site was gifted by Mr. John Hannah of Girvan Mains and the costs covered by the Reverend J. C. Higgins, Minister of Tarbolton Parish.
The inscription on the cairn reads:
'WALLACE AND BURNS
FOREVER, NEVER, SCOTIAS REALM DESSERT
BUT STILL THE PATRIOT AND THE PATRIOT BARD
IN BRIGHT SUCCESSION RAISE HER ORNAMENT AND GUARD.'
'SYNE TO THE LEGLEN WOOD WHEN IT WAS LATE
TO MAKE A SILENT AND A SAFE RETREAT.'
The Thurgartstone or Ogrestone is a prominent glacial erratic stone near Dunlop in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The Thurgartstone stands in a field at Brandleside Farm and is thought to have been a rocking stone at one time, but it no longer moves due to a build up of soil beneath.
Old Dailly is a hamlet in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located west of Dailly.
Riccarton is a village and parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies across the River Irvine from Kilmarnock, this river forming the boundary between Riccarton and Kilmarnock parishes, and also between the historical districts of Kyle and Cunningham. The name is a corruption of 'Richard's town', traditionally said to refer to Richard Wallace, the uncle of Sir William Wallace. The parish also contains the village of Hurlford.
The Grannie or Granny stone is either the only surviving part of a stone circle or a simple glacial erratic. It lies in the River Irvine below the Rivergate Centre in Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The Grannie Stane is clearly visible when the water is low. The GPS co-ordinates are 55°36.768′N4°40.180′W.
Barnweill Church or Barnweil Church is a ruined pre-reformation kirk situated on rising ground on the slopes of Barnweill Hill, Parish of Craigie, South Ayrshire, Scotland; about 3 km from Tarbolton. The church was known locally as the "Kirk in the Wood". It lies about 170m North North-East of Kirkhill Farm. Barnweill was central to the Protestant Reformation in Ayrshire through its association with John Knox. The spelling 'Barnweill' is used throughout for consistency.
Loch Fergus is a freshwater post-glacial "Kettle Hole" sometimes recorded as Fergus Loch. It is quite visible and is situated in a low-lying area close to the B742 road between the farms and dwellings of Trees, Lochfergus and Bowmanston in the Parish of Ayr, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The loch lies to the north of Martnaham Loch, four miles east-southeast of Ayr. It drains to the southwest into the Snipe Loch.
Loch o' th' Lowes, Lochside or Meikle Creoch Loch is a freshwater loch in the Parish of New Cumnock in the East Ayrshire Council Area, Scotland. One of three linked lochs, it is overlooked by the A76 road and is located in a glacial kettle hole.
Millmannoch, also once known locally as the 'Mill of Mannoch' or Kilmannoch, is a ruined mill and hamlet in the old Barony of Sundrum, South Ayrshire, Parish of Coylton, Scotland about a mile from Coylton and Drongan. The 'Trysting Tree' of Robert Burns's poem The Soldier's Return stood nearby. A smithy was once located here in addition to the miller's cottage and later, a farm.
A drowning pit, drowning pool, murder-pool or murder hole was a well or pond specifically for executing women and girls under Scottish feudal laws. Rivers or lochans were used if conveniently situated near to a moot hill, where the baronial court dempster would announce the death penalty. The term fossa was also used, as in the phrase ‘furca and fossa’.
Kingsford is a hamlet or clachan in Strathannick, East Ayrshire, parish of Stewarton, Scotland. The habitation is situated on the B769, two miles north of Stewarton and fourteen miles from Glasgow.
The Auchincruive Waggonway or Whitletts Waggonway was a mineral railway or 'Bogey line' that transported mainly coal, eventually running from the north side of Ayr harbour at Newton to Blackhouse, Whitletts, Dalmilling, Gibbsyard, Auchincruive Holm, Annbank and Enterkine. Apart from carrying coal to the harbour, lime kilns, quarries and a salt works were also served.
The Lady's Well is a natural spring surmounted by a large cross that stands beside the Stra Burn Ford (NS254630) near Auchmannoch House in the Parish of Sorn, East Ayrshire, Scotland. It is associated with the Virgin Mary as a curative well, a Wishing Well and also a Clootie well, additionally Mary Queen of Scots is said to have once watered her horse here. A large red sandstone cross was erected here at an unrecorded date. The well is also said to have acquired its name through "..one of the ladies of Auchmannoch family drinking water exclusively from here."
Dunton Cove or the Covenanters' Cave is an artificial cave in a craggy outcrop of rocks overlooking the Craufurdland Water just below the confluence of the Dunton Water and the Calf Fauld Water in East Ayrshire, Scotland, close to the village of Waterside. Traditionally it was used as a hiding place for Covenanters in the 17th century during the so-called 'Killing Times' of the 1680s.
Peden's Cave is at least partly artificial and is set into a craggy outcrop of red sandstone rocks overlooking the River Lugar just below the farm of Auchinbay in East Ayrshire, Scotland, close to the town of Ochiltree. Traditionally it is said that this cave was used as a hiding place for Covenanters, including the famous Covenanter minister Alexander Peden in the 17th century, mainly during the so-called 'Killing Times' of the 1680s.
The Holy Cave at Hunterston in the Parish of West Kilbride is associated with Saint Mungo, also known as St Kentigern and is often referred to as the Hawking Craig Cave; however two caves exist in the Hawking Craig Wood and 'Three Sisters' area of the cliffs, the other being Smith's Cave, better described as a rock shelter lying a short distance to the south. The main cave has been excavated and the finds indicate three periods of occupation over many centuries.
Wallace's Cave in the Lugar Gorge at Auchinleck in the Parish of Auchinleck is an 18th-century grotto contemporary with Dr Johnson's Summerhouse, also located on the Auchinleck Estate. It shows superior workmanship in its construction, possibly being the enlargement of a pre-existing cave. The cave or grotto lies downstream of the confluence of the Dippol Burn with the River Lugar and is reached via a once well formed path, however access is now hazardous due to the condition of the cliff edge path and the vertical drop into the River Lugar.
The Bickering bush (NS41863635) thorn grew near Caprington on the lands of Monksholm or Maxholm, Riccarton, East Ayrshire, Scotland. The old farm house at Maxholm sat in hollow on the old Caprington Castle estate and to the north and west its fields bordered the River Irvine. The thorn was located, as recorded on the OS map, near to the confluence of the Kilmarnock Water and the River Irvine, downstream of the Simon's Burn's confluence on the south bank of the river.
Craigie is a small village and parish of 6,579 acres in the old district of Kyle, now South Ayrshire, four miles south of Kilmarnock, Scotland. This is mainly a farming district, lacking in woodland, with a low population density, and only one village. In the 19th century, high quality lime was quarried here with at least three sites in use in 1832.
Murdoch's Cave, is a relatively small artificial cave created by William Murdoch (1754-1839) and his siblings in the soft red sandstone Lugar river bank cliff just upstream of the old Bellow Mill close to the confluence of the Bellow or Bello Water and the Glenmuir Water in Lugar, East Ayrshire, Scotland. The spelling 'Bellow' is used for consistency.
Minishant is a village bordering the A77 in the old county of Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located in Maybole Parish, 3+1⁄2 miles from Maybole and standing close to the River Doon. The village was originally named Culroy after the Culroy Burn that runs through it.
