Given the
routes on the eastern side of the country as shown by Edward I's
use of them in his campaigns, these western routes would indicate
just how thoroughly the Norman incomers had secured strategic
control of much of northern Scotland.
A
Mediaeval Right-of-Way through the Douglas Valley
Sir
William Fraser, in Volume 3 of the Douglas Book refers to a dispute
over a right of way through the Douglas valley. Melrose abbey
had been used to taking their produce from their centre at Tordones
to Melrose by this route until they were challenged and harassed
by a Sir William Douglas in the late 1200's. The
dispute was settled in the abbey's favour.
The
route starts at Tordones, which must be Tardoes in Muirkirk and
runs directly past Douglas to Uddington. From here it went to
Wiston then onward to Melrose.
Other
than the mention of the route, the document is interesting because
it indicates that the abbey's huge estates in Ayrshire that were
administered from Mauchline probably had a local centre at Tardoes.
Also of note is a cluster of "monk" placenames just
east of the county boundary that must indicate they held lands
here. For further information see
here.
Recommended
sites
Bridges
of the Forth and its Tributaries, Louis Stott,The Forth Naturalist
and Historian, Volume 22, pages 133 - 154, 1999
This is a very useful account of some 50 bridges over the River
Forth and tributaries like the Devon, the Bannock, the Allan and
Teith.
Among
the more unusual bridges are a Telford bridge at Bannockburn which
has a circular arch above a normal arch, the double "Rumbling
Bridge" near Powmill, the romantically sited Bracklinn Bridge,
now replaced by a modern footbridge, and an almost unknown bridge,
the "Brig o' Michael, near Loch Vennacher."
Photos
of some 20 bridges are appended.
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"Rambles
on Old Roads" will be produced four times a year.