Ye Olde "diversionary amorous attentions"

 

April 9, 2023--Circular stair at Etal Castle's Tower

Previously mentioned, after spending Easter at Etal and Ford Estate, we took a direct route back to Galashiels on the secondary B6350 road on River Tweed's south bank from Cornhill, passing through Carham and then crossing the bridge southwest of Kelso.  

Historically, the B6350 route was not always a "less important" road.  To the contrary.  In the medieval age, the English Borders citadel of Wark Castle once stood along the route.  Wark was a key linchpin in the network of strongholds in England's fortified defense of the Borders.

Against the counsel of his court, King James IV of Scotland declared an ill-advised war against Henry VIII of England on July 26, 1513.  Allegedly, James IV was "entangled" in the Auld Alliance with France.  And over the centuries since, the Auld Alliance has been foisted as cause.  How much was "entanglement" and how much was opportunistic choice is debatable.

April 9, 2023--Etal Castle tower

In any case, James IV crossed into the English Borders on August 22, 1513 at Cornhill with a force estimated at 60,000 (estimates vary widely from 35,000 to 100,000).  Despite where sources may land in the arguments on the number of troops, this was still one of the largest Scottish forces ever to invade England.  Roughly speaking, the Scottish army marched over the present day B6350 route to lay siege and finally wreck the important English stronghold at Wark Castle.  Its ruins, now merely a tall mound, are only 1.6 miles east of Carham on B6350. 

April 7, 2023--The Black Bull in Etal; our evening meals over Easter

At least as practiced by James IV, chivalry is a thing that we don't do much of these days.  Fortunately or unfortunately depends on one's view.  Among other things, such as basic human foibles, it was chivalry that "did in" James IV.  It imposed impractical if not impossible rules on warfare...to the detriment of those who attempted to follow them.  It was folly for a nostalgia of something that never truly existed in the first place.  War is not, nor has it ever been, "gentlemanly".  

April 9, 2023--Ok, so we're tourists!  Heatherslaw Light Railway at Etal

The Scots did not strictly gain Wark Castle by force of arms.  The castle was betrayed by an Englishman who deserted its garrison.  With Wark fully invested by the Scots, the traitor hoped to curry favor with the Scottish King.  The Scots indeed made use of the Englishman's statements and identified the weakest points of Wark's defense.  As for any favors, though, Scottish King James IV hanged the Englishman--for committing treason against the enemy English.  Such was the age of chivalry. Odd ways.

April 8, 2023--Medieval Twizel Bridge, still standing!

In another example of chivalry, on the morning of 9 September 1513, the Scots watched English columns marching over Twizel bridge to form up.  Scot cannoneers were forbidden to shell these columns, as James IV chivalrously believed that the English were too vulnerable in the column movement.  Catching an enemy in such a vulnerable state, one would think, was the whole objective of the exercise.  Regardless, Scot cannons did not open.  This chivalric war-fighting cost the Scots a nation.  Many thousands of lives.

April 8, 2023--River Till from Twizel Bridge; castle on ridgeline

Twizel Bridge, with its distinctive fluted arches, was completed in 1511.  Though no longer bearing vehicular traffic, remarkably the bridge is still in decent shape.  We walked over it in our brief hike to Twizel Castle.  As the only dry crossing of lower River Till, the bridge was strategically important.  Both armies used it in the Battle of Flodden Field.

April 8, 2023--Twizel Castle above River Till

Bragging rights from razing Wark Castle were short lived.  Less than three weeks later,  James IV, King of Scotland, would be killed along with the better part of his army at Branxton Moor (Flodden Field) late afternoon September 9, 1513, thus earning James IV the dubious sobriquet of being the last British monarch killed in combat.

April 8, 2023--Ford Castle gate

Ostensibly, the casus belli for James IV declaring war was England's invasion of France...but there are notable sub-clauses.  James IV's counselors did not want a war.  And, had James IV been pragmatic, he would have reasoned that the Treaty of Perpetual Peace (enacted by James IV upon oath before the altar at Glasgow Cathedral on December 10, 1503) was more or less holding for the past decade.  So invasion was not a wise choice. 

Besides, as part of that peace deal, James IV married Margaret Tudor, sister of England's King Henry VIII.  The so-called "Marriage of the Thistle and the Rose" at Holyrood (Edinburgh), August 8, 1503.  A 30-year old Scottish King and a 13-year-old English bride. 

April 8, 2023--Walls at Ford Castle

The marriage began producing heirs, which meant that only the future King Henry VIII and his successors (if he was to have any) stood between James IV and succession to the crowns of both Scotland and England.  And Henry VIII was failing to produce heirs.  Patience alone would have yielded James IV or his progeny mastery over the whole of Britain.  So, contrary to heroic portrayals, James IV was not exactly an unwitting haplessly entangled victim bound by the Auld Alliance.  

That excuse does not exonerate James IV.  He had a number of options short of a large-scale invasion.  Foremost, he could have kept his oath made before the altar in Glasgow--maintain the peace.  Chivalrous behavior, it seems, is highly selective.  Instead, he foisted the Auld Alliance and war.  "Auld" was an understatement.  A mutual assistance treaty dating back to 1295, the alliance was built upon shared interests of France and Scotland...as they may have been in 1295.  Respective interests were not necessarily the same 220 years later, when James IV declared war.  Europe had changed.  So had Scotland. 

April 8, 2023--Saint Michael and All Angels; Ford Estate

If anything, James IV was an opportunist.  Looking for any pretext to exercise the Auld Alliance and an invasion, the Scots claimed they sought to revenge the murder of Robert Kerr, Warden of the Scottish East March.  Kerr had been killed by a Northumbrian (John 'the bastard' Heron) in 1508.  Invading five years after the fact was, at best, a suspect and very delayed revenge, considering Sir William Heron, Lord of Ford Castle and half-brother of 'the bastard', was being held hostage in Fast Castle (a coastal fortress in Berwickshire) for the deeds of his kinsman...as was common justice in that age.  If you can't find the fugitive, jail his next of kin.  Sir William's absence from Ford Castle would play a large role in James IV's defeat at Flodden Field.

  

April 7, 2023--Church of St. Paul at Branxton received body of King James IV

Casting about for excuses to invade, James IV next claimed revenge for English privateer seizures of Scottish merchant ships.  In that day, piracy was de rigueur.  They all did it.  Lastly, James IV alleged he only received partial payment of Margaret's marriage dowry.  Thin gruel to justify war...having remained married for the past 12 years.

April 7, 2023--Branxton church

An aside, but lessons on foreign entanglements were well studied by our American Founding Fathers.  In his farewell address (September 19, 1796), President George Washington admonished Americans "to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world."  

This is not to say that Washington sought to dishonor all existing international treaties.  To the contrary.  Washington qualified his comments, adding:  "...so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements."  He made no call for isolation, as some now claim.  It was more an appeal to caution and wisdom.  

Following the sack of Wark and the chivalric hanging of the English deserter, the Scots made an about-face.  They marched back on the same B6350 route and laid siege, bombarding and finally capturing Norham Castle after five days.  

[Norham Castle will be discussed in a separate post.]

April 8, 2023--Norham Castle

After the prize of Norham was bagged on August 29, 1513, the Scots made another about-face and marched west to the River Till, seizing Twizel Castle (or what remained of it after it was wrecked in 1496 during Scotland's abortive support for a pretender to the English throne).  James IV next took Etal Castle and Ford Castle.  At this point, the invasion was more a large-scale border raid.  That is how the Scots may have perceived it...at their own peril.

When James IV arrived at Ford Castle, it was occupied only by Lady Elizabeth Heron and her daughter.  A fortuitous circumstance for James IV.  But not so much his army.  

James IV was a known womanizer.  Besides his legitimate children, he had numerous illegitimate with many mistresses.  Unlike nearby Etal, James IV did not sack Ford.  Without definitive proof, many have speculated that Lady Heron purposely engaged in "diversionary amorous attentions" with James IV...as did her daughter. 

Robert Lindsay of Pittscottie (Scottish chronicler, c. 1532-1580, about whom very little biographical information is known beyond his authorship of the Chronicles of Scotland) crudely called the dalliance between James IV and Lady Heron a "bout of stinking adultery and fornication".  Harsh words.  And also an opinion written perhaps 40 years or more after the events had unfolded.  Still, Lady Heron did have vested interests--she wanted to spare Ford Castle and get her hostage husband released.

April 7, 2023--View toward Scotland; St. Michael's; Ford Estate

Over the ensuing five centuries, many have speculated that Lady Heron was part of an elaborate English scheme to delay James IV.  If she was, it worked.  James did stay too long at Ford "dallying".   By the time he finally moved, the English had assembled their forces, were on the march and were nearly in position.   

Scottish accounts cast Lady Heron as a villainess and lay the defeat at Flodden Field entirely at her feet.  Yet, while she may have distracted or delayed James IV with "diversionary amorous attentions," she had far less to do with the outcome than did James IV himself.  Branxton Moor would have largely been avoided had James IV opened a cannonade upon Lord Surrey's English vanguard with its limbered artillery in tow as they crossed River Till on Twizel bridge the morning of September 9, 1513.  The English would have been caught dead to rights, one might say.

April 7, 2023--Farm at Flodden Field in burn where thousands of Scots perished

Instead, a misguided unrequited chivalry intervened and Scotland was lost with The Fluuers o the Forest.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some battles worth fighting

On Easter Monday, after having spent Easter weekend at Ford and Etal Estate in the English Borders, we headed back to Galashiels.  Our chief goal was to return the infamous Peugeot e-208 car hire to Enterprise and then board Borders Rail that afternoon/evening for a couple overnights in urban Edinburgh, before catching our transatlantic flight home.  Anything that could be tacked on this bare bone travel itinerary for Easter Monday was extra...within some tight constraints.  

https://whitleyworldtravel.blogspot.com/2023/08/theory-verus-practice-car-hire.html 

Previously mentioned, when we dropped off the e-208, it was nearly drained...the dashboard showed 29 miles of range remained.  In other words, about as much room for error as one wrong turn's worth of backtracking.  Skinny.  Worse was the fact that, being Easter Monday, many places were closed.  

Mindful that we needed to insure we had enough juice left to get the rented rig back to Galashiels precluded us from making detours that might push us past a literal point of no return.  Unfortunate.  We would have visited a couple more places in the Borders if we had had more range in the batteries. 

April 9, 2023 Gate; Ford Estate

We dispensed with any notion of a circuitous route back to Galashiels.  (After all, except for the depleted battery charge, we had a whole day of travel available.)  We resigned to take a secondary road (B6350) along the south bank of River Tweed from Cornhill-upon-Tweed to Kelso and then on to Galashiels.  The route, to be honest, was not entirely chosen due to our need to conserve distance.  The secondary route we took avoided traveling over the same "A roads" we had just driven on Good Friday, through Coldstream toward Flodden Field and our eventual accommodation at Ford Estate.  

Secondary "B roads" are not always the best direct routes.  Nor are they always in the best of shape. In this instance, however, B6350 was the most direct road and it was surprisingly in decent repair.  (Scotland's secondary roads often are not.)  Apparently, B6350 is a "belt around," a cutoff of sorts.  Running on the south bank, it avoids traffic bottles in Coldstream and crossing the Tweed bridge.  B6350 was certainly a step above typical B-roads. 

April 10, 2023--Carham (St. Cuthbert's) churchyard

The route was well chosen.  Scenic.  While traversing it, we made an unscheduled stop to walk at Carham.  A small village rarely found on most tourist radars, Carham is a quintessential Border village.  On the south side of River Tweed, Carham is in Northumbria, England.  North and directly across the river lies Birgham in The Borders, Scotland.  Here, the border is more or less a suggestion so to speak.  Not much difference between the sides.  For example, according to the 2011 United Kingdom Census, Carham holds England's greatest proportion of Scottish-born residents (at 33% of the local population).  

Watercolor by M.L.B. The Holme, Carham Sept 3, 1878

Before delving into Carham's historical importance, a few words on A and B roads might be warranted.  The Borders is in Zone 6 of U.K.'s road numbering scheme.  Thus, most roads in the Borders begin with 6; like B6350.  These are called "numbered distributor roads".  Once, perhaps 100 years ago, shorter numbered roads were allocated for the more important roads, whereas longer numbers (like B6350) were for the less.  They built more roads than they had shorter numbers, so the distinction is less important today. 

Main trunks are the "A roads" and, as expected, they carry heavier traffic as Class I roads, similar to state highways.  B-roads are generally Class II, similar to county roads.  The A-roads are fairly straight forward in terms of portside driving in mainland Scotland.  Not so the B roads.

April 10, 2023--River Tweed at Carham

First, bear in mind, road shoulders are not exactly the norm.  U.K. standardized maps make an important distinction in B-roads--their width.  Orange colored roads are "generally" over 4 meters wide.  Yellow roads are under 4 meters wide...if not considerably under.  Then there are Unclassified roads, "narrow roads with passing places".  These are supposed to be colored as red-dashed roads, being single tracks which may have pull outs to permit two way traffic.  To be honest, the Unclassified designation isn't applied nearly enough.  Roads to Flodden Field are prime examples.  Realistically, unimpeded two-way traffic is questionable, even though the roads to Flodden Field are mapped in yellow.  They shouldn't be.

Because a limited number of bridges cross the Tweed's course, traffic flow in this part of The Borders runs east-west, following River Tweed, the natural barrier separating the north (Scotland) from the south (England).  Regardless of whichever bank one decides to drive to return to Galashiels from Ford Estate, the distance was the same. So, we took B6350 and stopped at Carham.  

April 10, 2023--"The wee car park" at Carham

Carham was a free 'fer.  It met our tight distance requirement that we not travel too far afield on our return to Galashiels.  Check.  The diminutive car park at Carham (room for perhaps two vehicles...if they squeezed) was literally right on the rural secondary B-road--maybe five feet from what we call the fog line.  As such, the Carham stop added nothing to our mileage concerns.  Check.  

April 10, 2023--St. Cuthbert's viewed from the lower Holme

Given Carham's historical significance to Scotland's Borders, the lack of tourist interest in the village is surprising.  There is one upside to that...visitors to Carham have the place almost entirely to themselves.  The village church (Saint Cuthbert's) and the pastured grounds (The Holme) sloping down to the edge of River Tweed alone are worth a stop and walk.  While there well over an hour, we met one villager walking her dog by the river.  Another local was in the river's edge fly fishing.  And...one pesky village golden retriever trying to locate a gate to join its owner who was at a distance further up the Tweed--the dog walker reassured us that was all too common an event for the particular pooch in question.

April 10, 2023--Timeless Carham (compare to 1878 watercolor above)

The current church at Carham was built in 1798 to replace a former medieval structure.  But the church's presence is much older.  Some suggest St. Cuthbert himself built a church nearby (of wood construction). On the grassy Holme, undulations can be seen below the church tower to the banks of the Tweed.  These are assumed to be foundations of an earlier "black canon" monastery from the Middle Ages.  The site has yet to be archeologically excavated. 

Carham is said to be derived from an Old English place-name, with 'carr' meaning rock, and 'ham' meaning homestead.  Like everything else, that too is not without controversy.  And it has been argued for centuries.  Twelfth-century chronicler Richard of Hexham did not consider the name to be English, suggesting it was derived from the Cumbric word 'kair' which meant 'fortification'.  Perhaps.  But no fortification has been identified.  Nor has an ancient bridge which lent its name to Birgham in Scotland, directly across the Tweed from Carham.  On the other hand, a number of tall rocks do break the surface in the River Tweed, making Carham a lucrative and popular salmon fishing beat.  So, if unsure on the name, go with what is known..."Homestead at the rocks". 

The first written reference to Carham was from 670 AD, when it was granted to the Lindisfarne church by King Ecgfrith of Northumbria.  Before Northumbria was divested of its kingdom (by Scots, Vikings and finally the English) Northumbria's realm stretched from River Tees in England through Lothian to the gates of Edinburgh.  A significant part of that divestment took place in the pivotal battle fought at Carham in 1018 AD.  It ended in a decisive victory for the Scots, and Lothian was ceded to them.  The battle at Carham firmly fixed the border between England and Scotland as the center of River Tweed.  The border has been kept along this stretch of the Tweed for over 1000 years. 

Humans seem to be destined or condemned to repeat violence forever.  Throughout human history, from Cain and Abel to Bakhmut, Ukraine, violence has been omnipresent on every single page.  Doubtless, it may always be so. Yet paradoxically, some of those battles are worth fighting.  One such battle was at Carham, Northumberland on the south bank of River Tweed in 1018 as kingdoms were being formed.  River Tweed is now the divide between two nations--Scotland and England.  It has has not always been a border, even though "tweed" is taken from the Anglo-Saxon (Northumbrian) word for "boundary".  Only the future will tell if it remains so.

April 10, 2023--bench on River Tweed at Carham; Scotland opposite bank

  

Missed it in plain sight

As mentioned, Friday is "landing day," more or less consumed by travel connections that move us from the transatlantic gate at Glasgow--whether by bus, or train, or an internal commuter flight--to the vicinity of where we plan to start exploring.  Typically, on landing day we "go long" and then work our way back to Glasgow over our two week sojourns.  Landing day is not necessarily a complete "write off" since views from public transport are often interesting.  But still...it's a staging day.  Logistics we'll call it.

April 1, 2023--Castle Vale Park on the Tweed at Berwick

Our Friday evening arrival at Berwick Station aboard the LNER (London North East Rail) via Scotrail through Edinburgh Waverley had us packing part way across town to Sandgate, where our hotel room and a delayed dinner awaited us.  Tired and hungry.  With what remained of landing day, our objective was to walk to the hotel, find someplace to eat, and then recover the jet lag. 

April 1, 2023--View toward Town Hall from Marysgate, Berwick

Under an intermittent drizzle, our walk took us through Berwick's Elizabethan walls at Marysgate.  A neat architectural site, we resolved to explore it the next morning with more light, a little rest and, we hoped, less rain.  We did...but not necessarily with less rain.

April 1, 2023--Berwick at Marysgate and Jubilee Fountain

April 1, 2023--Berwick

Honestly it was surprising how quickly we reached Marysgate on foot from the station.  Not at all far.  In total, the walk from the station to our hotel was perhaps 8/10ths of a mile...a mere 15 to 20 minutes.  Even the damp weather was no big a deal considering we were on the coast of the North Sea in late March.  Nothing our parkas couldn't handle.

An aside but locals quip (or perhaps snipe) that Americans will take a taxi even to go only a block or two.  While the implication is laziness, actually the affinity of American tourists to take a cab may be due more to their not bothering with any advance map work.  

Perhaps it's a Scout thing with me, but personally:  Be Prepared.  It is also surprising how much trouble just keeping that motto can avoid...and maybe even save some cab fare that might be better invested in a pint.  

April 1, 2023--Berwick

 

Ignoring preliminary orientation work is not exactly the smartest way to "vay-cay".  For one thing, it makes you lost as soon as you land.  Berwick has its share of quirks and box canyon alleys being a city that sits on top of a medieval town plan.  Even just knowing the names of the main streets in advance can help prevent confusion.  

Here, the word "city" is also key, especially for rural bumpkins.  Cities have many residents, not all of whom are generous with their directions should you find yourself lost without a clue in an unfamiliar foreign cityscape.  Berwick is not Chicago, of course; but still.  

Keep in mind your pack is obvious.  So too is the omnipresent cell phone.  Photo taking in the attire of a foreign tourist...usually signals the possibility of carrying a good bit of local currency.  So, just saying.  Do your due diligence.  Research your maps before you get in a place where you don't want to be.    

April 1, 2023--Tyme Bar & Grill

We reached the hotel after our cross town walk from the train station without incident and considered an adventurist culinary option.  Several local eateries and pubs were near the hotel.  The temptation was to do the "sturm und drang" thing, pub-hop and sling pints.  "We have arrived!"...as if locals are interested in that.  

For simplicity's sake (and the fact we were quite beat at the tail end of "Landing Day") we opted to dine at the hotel.  It was the right decision.  A pint or two in a local pub the next evening (after catching some sleep) is usually more conducive to a better time anyhow.  Premier Inn (Tyme Bar & Grill) has a decent menu, reasonably priced, and generally well-prepared.  They also have a few drafts on tap...and at the end of those pints, it's only an elevator ride up to the room.  A low stress way to end "landing day". 

April 2, 2023Tyme Bar & Grill

In our walk from the rail station to Sandgate (which also helped orient us in Berwick), one landmark was of particular interest--the Elizabethan gate (Mary'sgate) and the Jubilee Fountain.  Walking, we were watching for it as a way marker of sorts, confirming our footsteps.

Jubilee Fountain was erected at Marysgate to honor Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (60th anniversary of her monarchy).  Presented to Berwick June 20, 1897, the fountain is made of pink granite with bronze lion well heads.  By itself, Jubliee Fountain is worth a pause to view, to say nothing to its location at the Elizabethan fortifications and city gate (at Meg's Mount).   

April 1, 2023--Berwick Barracks Museum and Holy Trinity churchyard

A plaque states that the fountain was donated by Commander Francis Martin Norman, Royal Navy.  Commander Norman apparently was quite the public servant in Berwick.  Upon retiring from the Royal Navy, he went on to be the town's Sheriff, Mayor, Alderman.  He also established the Historic Monuments Committee, which was largely responsible for restoring Berwick's Elizabethan fortifications.  Present preservation of Berwick's historical walls and paths is thus owed in large measure to Norman.

April 1, 2023--Berwick at Marysgate bridge

The Jubilee Fountain is an example of our "missing it"...in plain sight.  We knew the fountain monument was there from our research.  What we missed was a key link to Berwick's history.  And because we missed it, we did not visit a site that we otherwise would have--namely, Holy Trinity Church.  One cannot see or know everything, of course.

April 1, 2023--Holy Trinity Church and churchyard, Berwick

The fountain's benefactor, Commander Norman, also had a memorial plaque at Holy Trinity Church in Berwick.  That was the link we missed.  Had we known (i.e. done a better job at researching), it is probable we would have connected that link and would have visited the interior of Holy Trinity Church.  For one reason, Holy Trinity was right on the walk path along Berwick's walls, and we were right there.

The church dates to 1641, when King Charles I allocated monies to replace Berwick's old medieval town church (c. 1190 A.D.).  The earlier medieval church in the current church grounds was pulled down after Holy Trinity was completed after 1652, from designs by the London stone mason John Young.  Holy Trinity was built from stone and timber pirated out of the ancient Berwick Castle (c. 1250 A.D.)

April 1, 2023--Berwick Castle ruin and Victorian rail bridge over Tweed

During the initial funding of the church, civil war broke out which pitted Charles I against the parliamentary armies of England and Scotland.  Charles I lost the war, and his head.

April 1, 2023--Berwick Walls path

Holy Trinity Church is a rare building.  One of only four significant churches built in the whole of Britain during the iconoclast Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate (Commonwealth) of England.  That alone makes Holy Trinity notable architecturally.  The Cromwellian regime, strongly puritanical, influenced British architecture.  Holy Trinity was no exception.  It was of simple design, to the point of being plain but with a mixture of Gothic and Classical styles.  So, also somewhat eclectic.  No ornamentation, no bell tower (the town hall bell summoned the people to church services).  Lacking a tower or spire, Holy Trinity seemed "boxish" and uninteresting, at least from our perspective above it on the Berwick wall path.  We did not walk down to visit it, even though we were right there.  That was our mistake.  The interior is said to be remarkable.  And perhaps to the chagrin of Mr. Cromwell, stained glass (Flemish 16th century) that had been sequestered by Charles I was added to the church apparently in a remodeling in the 1800s.  Anyhow, the moral is:  Be Prepared.  You will miss less. 

I once was lost, but now I'm found

Simply put, the Berwick Museum houses a priceless artifact, a national treasure--the gold Ord Cross.  One that is on par with the gold Aemilia Ring on display in Hancock Museum at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.  

For background, in Spring 2017 after our walk across Walltown Crags on Hadrian's Wall , we viewed the Aemilia Ring at Newcastle.  [https://whitleyworldtravel.blogspot.com/2019/04/celtic-christian-sacred-sites-and.html]

The Aemilia Ring was discovered (a well-documented find) while pulling turnips from a field at the Roman site of Corbridge in January 1840.  In 1991, the ring was put on the auction block from the estate of the Duke of Northumberland by Sotheby's.  Graciously, it was withdrawn from auction and acquired by private treaty for permanent public display at the Hancock.

The Aemilia Ring (dated ~2nd to 4th century A.D.), is generally considered the earliest Christian artifact in all of Britain.  A betrothal ring of relatively sophisticated goldsmith skill, the Aemilia may have been worn in Roman Britain as early as 100 - 120 A.D.  That is a staggeringly early date for any Christian artifact in Britain.  Within living memory of Christ and certainly of the Apostles Peter and Paul who are thought to have been martyred in Rome, c. 64 A.D. on the orders of Emperor Nero.

The province of Britannia was at the edge of the Roman Empire, far distant from the Roman world's Mediterranean heartland where the Christian saga first unfolded.  Roman civilization marched into its far flung provinces upon the soles of Roman soldiers, so to speak.  The Aemilia Ring attests to Christianity being introduced into Britain not so much by missionary saints (who did bring the Gospel several centuries later).  Christianity was introduced by ordinary Roman soldiers, provincial families and traders.  

Corbridge, where the ring was found, was Rome's most northerly town.  And thus, it was a trading gateway into the lands of present day Scotland as well.  Corbridge dates to ~85 A.D. when its first fort was built to replace an earlier military encampment, establishing a more permanent presence.  By 150 A.D. (roughly when the Aemilia Ring would have been worn there), Corbridge's fort was replaced with a border trading town and walled military installations at the junction of Stanesgate and Dere Street roads.  Corbridge would then be garrisoned until the end of Rome's imperial control of Britain (c. 420 A.D.) 

In its importance, the gold Ord Cross now on display at Berwick Museum is similar to the Aemilia Ring. A Christian relic and national treasure.  Both recall the old hymn penned by John Newton in December 1772 at Olney, England entitled Amazing Grace.  Truly, I once was lost, but now I'm found.  Newton's verse was later put to music in 1835 (by American composer William Walker) to a traditional bagpipes tune called "New Britain" which is now a universally recognized hymn the world over. 

John Newton--National Portrait Gallery, London

Taking a rather wide-turn aside here, but it is an understatement to say John Newton led an early "wretched" life.  Press ganged into enlistment in the Royal navy at an early age, a rebellious young Newton worked several years on slave ships, and several times came under the lash for his mutinous behavior.  Newton, a white man, was ultimately betrayed by his own crew mates.  (They wanted to be shed of him.)  So Newton was himself enslaved in Sierra Leone to the African Princess Peye, who is often considered among the cruelest women ever to live.  

As Newton recounted years later, the idea of a white man as her slave appealed to Princess Peye.  It was a role reversal.  The African princess could torture, humiliate and order a white man to "do her bidding, day after day, night after night".  Ultimately, Newton was rescued in 1748, and would go on to captain several slave ships himself.  Even after retiring from seafaring, he continued to invest in the slave trade.  Eventually, Newton repented his chequered past, and would serve as an evangelical Anglican minister known as one of the strongest abolitionist voices against the slave trade in his time.  [Engraving by Joseph Collyer the Younger, from a line engraving by John Russel, January 1, 1808 (1788)].

April 1, 2023--Ord Cross found across Tweed near the old bridge

Though created several centuries after the Aemilia Ring, in its own right the gold Ord Cross is among the earliest Christian Anglo-Saxon artifacts.  Anglo Saxon artifacts in the Berwick area are extremely rare.  Found by a metal detectionist in 2019 on the banks of River Tweed, there are few comparable examples to the Ord Cross.  Of those that have been found (elsewhere in Britain), most early Anglo-Saxon crosses are equal armed.  The Ord Cross shape is unusual.  It was suspended from its shaft's base, i.e. upside down.  Could the Ord Cross represent the traditional Catholic belief that an "unworthy" St. Peter was crucified upside down at Rome?   

The Ord Cross is unique.  No other similar pieces have been found that bear Anglo Saxon (Old English) runic inscriptions.  When the finder reported the cross pendant to the Portable Antiquities Scheme, several specialists were enlisted to examine the cross and translate its inscription.  

Six runes were identified, with the first two drilled through.  (The cross shaft base was pierced to wear it as a pendant after the runes were inscribed when the cross was first made.)  This was not a repurposing of the cross like, say, piercing a coin for wear as a pendant.  The cross was originally designed to be a pendant as evidenced by stumps of a gold loop that was intended to hang the cross from its base shaft.  After this loop broke off, it was roughly pierced to again permit the pendant to hang...also upside down. 

April 1, 2023--Berwick Museum display of the Ord Cross

Translated, the runes are a personal name, Eadruf--presumably the original wearer.  The name Eadruf is problematic.  Personal names beginning with Ead- (roughly translated as ‘fortunate’) are common in Old English.  But only two names are known which have the second element beginning with r- ...Eadred and Eadric respectively.  From the limited universe of early medieval Anglo-Saxon artifacts and texts, no personal name with a second element of "ruf" has yet been identified in any Germanic language.  So etymologically, Eadruf is an unknown name of mysterious origin. 

As for Berwick Museum's display, we were among the very first public to view the Ord Cross on exhibition.  Local staff and volunteer docents were practically bubbling over with excited pride, as right they should.  The Ord Cross was purchased and funded by private donations.  It was placed on public display quite literally when we walked up to the museum's gate April 1, 2023.

April 2, 2023--Bamburgh Castle

This diminutive piece of Anglo Saxon jewellery (one inch by 5/8th inch) is unlike anything else of similar age (c. 700 to 900 A.D.)  Being of solid gold, the Ord Cross would've been an item of great value and worn by someone in a position of wealth or authority (at least before the hanging loop broke).  The Ord Cross may well have witnessed the travels of early Christian saints at Lindisfarne--like Cuthbert, Aidan or Bede.  Where the cross was found along River Tweed was something of a thoroughfare linking Old Melrose and Lindisfarne abbeys with Bamburgh, the royal court of Northumbria.

Who Eadruf may have been can only be conjecture.  Berwick at that time (which included Ord, traditionally the Chapelry of Tweedmouth) belonged to the Abbey of Lindisfarne, part of a group of farming estates and towns in what was known as Islandshire.  Perhaps Eadruf was an overseer of the farmsteads on behalf of Lindisfarne.  Records also indicate that a church or abbey may have been in the vicinity where the Ord Cross was found.  However, no archaeological evidence of any early Middle Ages structure has yet been identified there.  In its way, the Ord Cross "saved" Eadruf, or at least saved his name.  Eadruf is now considered the earliest known Northumbrian name in evidence...saved by amazing grace as it were.  "I once was lost, but now I'm found."

Houston, we have a problem

April 4, 2018--Sycamore Gap Hadrian's Wall

News from the U.K. reports a maddening and hateful act of vandalism.  The Sycamore Gap Tree (in a protected World Heritage site) was deliberately felled overnight, September 13th or early 14th.  Two suspects have been arrested for the act--one a 16-year old and one a man (so-called) in his 60s who should've known better.  The investigation is ongoing.

The Sycamore Gap Tree (informally called Robin Hood Tree after its cameo in the 1991 movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves staring Kevin Costner) was sent smashing into and over the top of the 1,900 year old Hadrian's Wall.  Damage to the wall too is inexplicable.  Hadrian's Wall is a world class archeological site, one that is visited daily by people from the world over.  The wall once marked the edge of Rome's Empire.  As to social development, it was instrumental in the evolution of both England and Scotland. 

Barbarians from without are not so reckless as those from within, it seems.  One could wax philosophically upon the senseless assault upon the symbolic life of Northumberia that the sycamore represented.  But words would change nothing.  And besides, we are daily besieged by similar cultural attacks and wanton environmental destruction replicated (or mutated) worldwide nowadays.  

April 4, 2018--Sycamore Gap Hadrian's Wall

That is certainly so in America.  No longer are we confined to mere spray painted graffiti and tagging.  We are hurtling toward a Taliban-like thuggery by malcontents through which extreme nazification is metamorphosing before our very eyes.  A transition from juvenile delinquency into full grown hate mongers who repeatedly demonstrated their willingness to mass slaughter, all for no real grievances at all beyond their own madness. 

April 4, 2018--an "interesting" weather day on our Hadrian's hike

Their only apparent goal is to rid this world of any life, any joy, any kindness or compassion whatsoever.  What a wretched empty existence they salivate after!  Crazed by demons themselves, and condemned to their own self-inflicted emptiness, the road they take certainly cannot be mistaken as one leading to the Promised Land; nor does such brutish vandalism lead to salvation.  Far from it.

April 4, 2018--Hadrian's Wall

We endure the cultural wreckage wrought by value sets such as the fundamentalist Taliban who destroyed the significant Salsal and Shahmama Buddhist sculptures in 1991 as being un-Islamic.  But this is not limited to one religion.  The Taliban are little different than were the iconoclasts who defaced ancient Christian monuments during Cromwell's day.  Senseless degradation has been taken up by such practices as "rolling coal" where diesels are deliberately converted (despite federal and state laws banning the practice) to create black smoke screens of unburnt fuel that dangerously clouds and obscures the roads (so called "Prius repellent") to say nothing of everyone else breathing the stuff.  Senseless, considering the price of fuel lately.      

April 4, 2018--Sycamore Gap Tree

On it goes.  Normally, rational beings analyze their actions or at least measure whether their return is worth their effort.  What return could there possibly be in walking over a mile off the B6318 road that traverses Hadrian's Wall, traipse across wet moorland that has been sectioned by barb wire while carrying a long bar chainsaw in the middle of the night...just to cut this 300 year old world renowned landmark down?

The only evident return from this act was to feed cruelty.  As if our world had need for any more.  

We are beyond what is called schadenfreude, the human psychological deformity that was metastasized by the Nazis, all the way from Blockleiter to Reichsinspekteur.  We again return to the realm of vicious sadism, a Reich that should've stayed buried 80 years ago.  We are in serious trouble as a society, as a civilization.  Infested by demons that cultivate cruelty, they feed like gluttons upon suffering.

The debris field is expanding.  Houston, we have a problem.