ANTIQUITIES

ROMAN OCCUPATION

The ROMAN FORT at LYNE
Four miles west of Peebles situated on a bend in the Lyne Water.
On top of a broad level plateau composed of hard compacted glacial gravel.
It has been carefully conserved and substantial remains of the
defences are still visible on the surface of the ground.
Three other roman works in the vicinity have been completely covered
by cultivation. They were only recently disclosed by crop markings.

~

ARTHUR & MERLIN

The legendary Arthur died in 537 AD and the first written record of him
was the "History of Britain" written or transcribed from the original welsh
into Latin by the roman Nennius in the early ninth century.

In the dark ages there was no writing, so all the folk law was recorded by
singers and storytellers, who had a long tradition of tales and songs of Arthur and his magician Merlin.

Nennius records that Arthur's Kingdom was from Cornwall up the whole east of England and including what today is Southern Scotland. Arthur was reputed to have fought twelve battles and won them all. The seventh being in the Wood of Caladon, (The Caledonian Forest) which at that time covered the whole of Scotland.

Locally it is thought that this battle took place in the area between the Roman Fort at Lyne and the Hill Fort at Cademuir. Both of which would have been occupied by local tribes after the Romans departed

Merlin of Arthurian legend - wizard, profit and bard lived in the mid-fifth century and was known as Merlin of Uther Pendragon, Pendragon being Arthur's place of birth and where he spent his childhood.

A second Merlin is recorded in the Four Ancient Books of Wales, the black book of Carmarthan and he was probably the Merlin associated with the Stobo Area. He was converted to Christianity by St Kentigern at the alter-stone a large block of rock opposite Alterstone Farm in the parish of Stobo. The following day Merlin met a strange three-fold death, as he had already prophesied. He was stoned by local shepherds, slipped down the banks of the tweed and impaled himself on stakes used to secure fish traps. He drowned as the river unexpectantly rose and his head fell below the water level.

Another strange feature of the Merlin Legend, is that the supposed location of his prophesied death at Drumelzier is precisely the site of the later thirteenth century prophecy by Thomas of Rhymer who like Merlin was able to communicate with the underworld. He predicted that the Tweed would meet
the Powsail Burn at Merlin's Grave when England and Scotland had the same King. This was duly achieved in 1603 when the crowns were united and the Tweed overflowed its bank in an extraordinary flood and met the Powsail burn at Merlin's Grave.

Merlin's grave and the altar stone can be found at the top of the manor valley.