THE LEGEND Of THE TWINLAW CAIRNS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1688, 29 March 1884, Page 27

THE LEGEND Of THE TWINLAW CAIRNS.

On the southern ridge of the Latmnermoors, five miles from the village of Westruther, Berwickshire, stand the Tiulaw Cairns. They form one of tho mpst notßd and interesting features of the country-side. The Twinlaws, as they are familiarly termed, are two pillars of unhewn whinstone, which stand about 50 or 60 yards apart. Around the base of each, a rough circular causeway of flat stones, unpolished by the touch of art, extends to a radius of several feet. A few miles to' tho westward of these monuments, and hidden all but the turrets, amid a clump of fir trees, is the mansion of Spottiswoode ; while to the east is the decayed house of Wedderlie, once the homo of the Edgars, no,\v the property of Lord Blantyre. On the plain beneath, between tlib rising ground and the turnpike that leads past Lauder and on to Edinburgh, the infant Blackadder trickles through fields that not long ago were marsh-land, on its journey Mersewards. In this same flat area, a raggpcl remnant of 'an ancient forest is still to bo seen, Elraggling towards the Jordonlaw peatmoss — a bug lull of tioacherous pools a,nd stagnant ditches. Still a dreary district, this was once a savage region, the haunt of wild animals, whoso names have beeu given to farms and clachans. In the neighbourhood, ono comes across such places as Wolfbtiuther (now Westruther), Roecleuch, Harelaw, and Hindside.

The Twinlaw Cairns aretwo grim memorials of a tragic and pathetic incident in Scottish tradition. Connected with them is a legend

which every dweller in tho district knows by heart. Thore id not a rustic in the countryside but Knows the tale. Meet a hind or a shepherd by the wayside after his work is over, and he will repeat;' it, as it has coma to him from his fathers, with a subdued seriousness that borders on reverence. lie will toll you it occurred in the time when Scotland fought for her independence, and on a hot summer's day. Tho &n,'lo-3axons' restless lixncl Had crossed tho rivur Twoed, 17 p Tei the bi.l< of lianiiiiormoor Tuo hoac niaruuccl on « ich >peeJ. The English army encamped on one sido of what is now known, as Twinlaw hill. On the other Bide, a Scottish forca, inferior in numbers, assembled, and prepared to offer resistance. Our Scottish w<iriiors on the heath In cKae battalion Nti'od, Hesolvcd fo set. ihi ir country free, Or shed their clearest blood. Bub the fares docreed that there should be no general fight, for while both armies waited in readiness, "an English clueftaiu, exulting in his) might," scut a challenge to the Scota, daiing any one of them to come and moet him in single combat. Young Edgar of Wedderlie, who was in the Scottish camp, heard the challenge, and accepted it. The two champions at once commenced the duel, the armies on each side looking on. The fight was fierce — ■ From lof -i to rit'ht, from right to left, T&e hweatlug foeuieu n.eled. Young Edgar was the first to be wounded. He recieved a " bluidy gash " ' in the right side, and a moment's truce was held till tho wound was staunched with flax. The fight was renewed and grew more desperate, and at, last it ended by Erigar slaying the Southron. Just as the struggle ceased, and when Edgar was looking on the face of his lifeless foemaD, an old frail man with long gray hair' tottered across from the English host to the fatal place where the victorious youth stood. The old man, "heavily pressed by sorrow," bsnt o\er the dead champion of the Southrons, and then, looking up at Edgar, burst into a piteous wail : " Woo ! woe is me for this deed of blood ! Edgar of WedderJio, soro will thy sorrow be. Look '-n the dead ! Thou hast slain the son of thy i.uher ! It is thy twin-brother that lies lifelf s on the heath. It is thy brother, whom I stolo away in infancy from bis father's hall. A liuiu of might he was — brave' and noble — and now he lies dead — slain by the hand of his twin brother ! Woe, woeful day !" From his childhood, Edgar had known that his brother had been stolon by gypsies or soldiers ; and no sooner did behear this revelation, than he 'unstanch'ed his 'wound, and stood calm and passionless till the blood flowed from his'veius. In a' few momenta be sank in death by the side of his brother's body. Both armies, deeply impressed by the scene, laid down their arms and gave up all idea of bxittle. In the quiet of the evening, the two hosts formed into a single line, that stretched from the brow of the hill down to the valley — to the side of the Watch — A lonely stream that sobs alonjf, Like a child wh > has lcsl his \\a - . , Making: ua mom to heartier hilld That iuiprbon it night and day. From the bed of tho streamlet they picked the stoneg, and handing them one by one along the live, built the Twinlaw Cairns by the. grave of the two brothers., , Such is the legend that tells the story of these rude pillars. Since they were raised, once or twice they have been partially overthrown by the rage of tho elements, but always tenderly restored. Lady John Scott, of Spottiswoode, takes a pride in the sacred relics, and sees that they are kept in good order. It is a lonely sp.Qt, far from the roar of railway trains and f asjhionable resorts ; but every tourivb who finds himself in the neighbourhood fails not to make a pilgrimage to tho Cairns. Chambers' Journal.