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Gentleman's Magazine 1852 part 1 p.482
is called Pelaw Hill. Here stands a farm-house, which was
formerly a border fortress or peel. We may readily suppose
that in Roman times it was the site of a look-out or
beacon-tower connected with the station.
list, The Maiden Way is but doubtfully traceable in the
northern vicinage of the camp; but southwards the remains of
it are distinctly visible for a considerable distance, as it
crosses the high grounds of Side Fell and Gillilee's Beacon.
Under the guidance of the incumbent of the parish, we
tracked the interesting work. When first met with, it is
only to be distinguished by the "trail" of the stones that
have composed it, most of the neighbouring fences having
been made at its expence. For nearly a qtr of a mile it is
in a perfect state, which is the more remarkable as all the
neighbouring ground is a peaty bog.
After crossing the crown of the hill we came to what is
undoubtedly the foundation of a Roman watch-tower. It stands
close by the edge of the road on its western side. It is
eighteen feet square, and has walls four feet thick. The
doorway seems to have been on its north side. Its wall are
formed of regular masonry; the stones possessing the
characteristics of those uniformly employed in constructing
the stations on the line of the Roman wall. If the rubbish
were removed the building would probably stand five feet
high. No one who is familiar with the masonry of the
wall-district can for a moment doubt that it is of Roman
construction. On the Watling-street - the Roman road which
twenty miles to the east of this intersects the mural region
from north to south - some traces of wayside towers have
been noticed; but none, I believe, to be at all compared
with this in distinctness. The Romans have had a more
thorough grasp of the Lower Isthmus than we are apt to
imagine. Besides the wall, which merely forms the base line
of their operations, and the stations to the north and south
of it, to intercept the progress of an enemy in either
direction, there seems reason to believe that picket camps
were planted on advanced points and beacon-towers stationed
on the most elevated summits. The watch-tower which I have
now described has a very extensive prospect in every
direction except the north. The line of the wall is
distinctly in view all the way from Sewingshields to the
Solway. Signals could therefore be communicated with the
stations of Borcovicus, AEsica, Amboglanna, and others to
the west. The Maiden Way, in its progress south, is in view
for miles. Even now its track can be clearly made out, as
after having crossed the wall it boldly ascends the heathy
heights of Knaresdale.
On the western slope of the hill on which this Roman turret
stands are some earthworks which we took to be temporary
camps. They are of limited size, and may have been occupied
by the troops whilst superintending the construction of the
road.
BEWCASTLE MEN. - Traditional stories often outlive the
manners they depict. The following anecdote is still told in
the north country. A stranger visiting Bewcastle noticed
that the tombstones in the churchyard commemorated the
decease of females only, and expressing his astonishment to
a woman who accompanied him as his guide, received the
response, most feelingly uttered, "Oh, Sir! they're a'
buried at that weary Caerl (Carlisle)!" The fit of grief
being over, the vistor elicited from her the startling
information that every "mother's son" of the district was
sooner or later hanged at the border city. At the union of
the kingdoms of England and Scotland the hardy warriors of
the "debateable land" could not at once betake themselves to
the occupations of quiet industry; and, as the best
substitute for the practices of war, addicted themselves to
sheep and horse stealing, crimes at that time punishable
with death. The little intercourse which we had with the
rustics whom we met upon the road convinced us that a vast
moral change had been effected upon the district since the
days of border warfare. To every question which we put we
received a distinct and satisfactory answer, expressed in
language which even a southern might understand. Still we
felt curious to know what the testimony of the churchyard
was as to the character of past generations. It was most
satisfactory, and proved that the anecdote in question, if
not altogether calumny, refers to a very remote period. Many
of the tombstones commemorate the departure (no doubt in a
natural way, for when you say of a man that he died you do
not mean that he was hanged) of persons whose youth was
spent in the latter part of the seventeenth century. For
example there is one to George Nixon, who died 1732-3, aged
83 years; another to Thomas Nixon, who died in 1719, aged
26; one to Francis Forester, who died in 1760 at the age of
72; one to Thomas Armstrong, who died in 1728, aged 77; and
another to Adam Routledge, who in 1728 died at the age of 54
years. Let no one henceforward say that the men of Bewcastle
do not some to an honest death. Besides observing that the
names of these parties are regular border designations, the
reader will perhaps note the age to which most
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