Tibbie Tamson’s Grave

Little is known of the life of Selkirk’s Isabella Tamson, known as “Tibbie”.  A woman of simple mind, in 1790 she was accused of stealing a ball of yarn and summoned to trial.  The thought of being considered a criminal proved too much to bear, and Tibbie hanged herself in shame – a crime in itself at the time, which forbade her from burial in consecrated ground.  Sympathetic souls took her to a hillside outside the town and laid her to rest on a hillside where she could be persecuted no longer.  This walk is a pilgrimage of sorts to find this poor woman’s peaceful grave.

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Bewick Moor

The moors of north Northumberland may lack the picturesque fame of their Yorkshire cousins, but a little effort reveals a fine walk through history, from prehistoric cairns and Iron Age fortresses, to a medieval tower and a 19th century farmhouse.  Though there are no steep climbs, the pervasive thick heather across the open moorland makes progress slow and much of the route can be difficult to discern at times.

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Loch Skeen and White Coomb

Eagles scream from isle to shore;
Down all the rocks the torrents roar;
O’er the black waves incessant driven,
Dark mists infect the summer heaven.
Through the rude barriers of the lake,
Away it’s hurrying waters break,
Faster and whiter dash and curl,
Till down yon dark abyss they hurl.

The eagles may be gone now, but Sir Walter Scott’s poem still captures the dramatic beauty of his “Loch-skene”.  This weekend I decided to pay it a visit.

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