Report of Meetings for 1880, by James Hardy. 269 



Merrilies Cottage. This was erected on tlie site of the small 

 thatched cottage where Margaret Carrick, the Meg of Mumps 

 Ha,' died. Her grave is now an object of interest in the parish 

 churchyard of Over Denton, 



"Passing eastward over the Poltross Burn, Northumberland 

 was entered, and proceeding under the North-Eastern Eailway and 

 to the right of the Samson Inn, the fosse of the Eoman Wall was 

 entered at Buff Head. This is about one hundred yards south 

 of Gilsland Eailway Station, and near to the farm-houses called 

 ' The Gap ' in Thirlwall township. The Gap is supposed to be 

 the place where the Eoman Wall was broken down, and the 

 name of the township Thirlwall is said to be derived from the 

 same circumstance — the hurling down, or gap, made in the wall. 

 On this point, the members had an interesting discussion on the 

 meaning of the name of the township. [Some of the green 

 mounds here appeared not to be artificial but gravel knolls.] 



"Turning westward past the cottages called 'The Crooks' 

 [which is mentioned by Gordon, Itin. Sept., p. 80], down to Gils- 

 land Station, and thence along the railway over the Poltross Burn, 

 the Eoman remains which are supposed to be a Mile Castle were 

 examined. The curious point here is' — that recent excavations 

 tend to prove that something more extensive than a Mile Castle 

 existed at this place. At the east side of this Eoman building 

 the wall is ten feet in thickness — and next to this is a doorway 

 two feet wide, and a wall two feet thick. A local traditional 

 name for this place is * The King's Stables.' Passing down the 

 burn-side a curious piece of wall was examined, which is certainly 

 Eoman. It is at right angles with the stream, and probably 

 formed a portion of the approach to a Eoman bridge. And in 

 support of this theory is the fact, that just below and standing in 

 the stream, there is a large stone which appears to have been one 

 of the pillars of an ancient bridge. And it is probable that a 

 bridge would be built at this place, because it is exactly in the 

 line of 'The Stanegate' to the south of the Eoman Wall. 

 [Camden says the Wall ' carryd an arch over the rapid brook of 

 Poltross.' —Britannia by Gibson, fol. 1068.] From the Mile 

 Castle the next course was through the grounds of Gilsland 

 vicarage. Here the Wall — the Fosse — and the Vallum are 

 clearly seen, and in the grounds of the National School the line 

 of * The Stanegate' can be traced. [In the vicarage garden, the 



