The Ride Water Ca Trail. By Waltei' Deans. 189 



near the site of the old tower of Wauchope, the Trail then 

 takes a sudden bend to the west, and crosses the Wauchope 

 burn, where it enters on the farm of Temple Hall, on the estate 

 of Harwood. On emerging from the burn, the Trail ascends 

 the steep bank to the west ; and as the ground is hard, it appears 

 here both broad and deep, and has for generations been partly 

 used as a road to the Temple Hall farm. 



On passing the shepherd's cottage, the Trail begins to get 

 more shallow, and for about 50 yards is scarcely traceable. On 

 a rising ground in a field a short distance to the right of the 

 Trail, on which are growing a few gnarled ash trees, are the 

 remains of an earthwork ; but the lines of this entrenchment are 

 now difficult to trace, as the ground has been subjected to 

 cultivation, and I could find no trace of the Trail having any 

 communication with it ; but the old "Peth," {Peek originally) 

 again appears on a stretch of dry ground at the foot of Temple 

 Hall hill. Here it suddenly curves to the south, and measures 22 

 feet by 7 feet deep. The Trail then ascends the hill in a curved 

 form ; its course is marked partly in a single rampart and partly 

 in a double. 



The Trail becomes more conspicuous here than in any stretch 

 of its course, for it can easily be viewed for a distance of several 

 miles, owing to the west rampart being covered for a consider- 

 able way by a luxuriant belt of whin. The south side of the 

 ditch in that respect is less prominent, having only a bush here 

 and there. On its route up the hill, the Trail passes the 

 foundations of some old buildings, the stones of which are 

 partly above the ground. I lifted one of them, and found it to 

 be the upper stone of a quern which had doubtless been used by 

 the workers on the Trail. Ou nearing the summit of the hill, 

 the Trail takes a sudden swing {i.e. alters its direction) to the 

 west near a lurge cairn of stones. It is here both broad and 

 deep, though covered with heather and fern, and pursues a due 

 west downward course, till it enters the Harwood burn ; but 

 before crossing the burn it traverses a plot of dry ground, where 

 at a short way above, " Pines burn " and the " Whuskie " syke 

 meet the Harwood burn. Here the Trail is very conspicuous 

 both in depth and breadth ; and a person on horseback riding 

 up it would be little seen except the hat and shoulders. 



After crossing the burn, the Trail enters rather spongy land, 

 which has recently been drained and cultivated. Although 



