"O Kenmure's on and awa', Willie,
O Kenmure's on and awa';
And Kenmure's lord's the bravest lord
That ever Galloway saw.
Success to Kenmure's band, Willie!
Success to Kenmure's band!
There's no a heart that fears a Whig,
That rides by Kenmure's hand.
His lady's cheek was red, Willie,
His lady's cheek was red,
When she saw his steely jupes[#] put on,
Which smell'd o' deadly feud.
Here's Kenmure's health in wine, Willie,
Here's Kenmure's health in wine;
There ne'er was a coward o' Kenmure's blude,
Nor yet o' Gordon's line.
[#] armour.
There's a rose in Kenmure's cap, Willie,
There's a rose in Kenmure's cap,
He'll steep it red in ruddie heart's blade,
Afore the battle drap.
Here's him that's far awa', Willie,
Here's him that's far awa',
And here's the flower that I lo'e best,
The rose that's like the snaw.
O Kenmure's lads are men, Willie,
O Kenmure's lads are men,
Their hearts and swords are metal true,
And that their foes shall ken.
They'll live, or die wi' fame, Willie,
They'll live, or die wi' fame,
And soon wi' sound o' victorie
May Kenmure's lord come hame."
*Chapter XLVIII*
*The Nine Nicks o' Thirlwall*
If you stand upon Rose Hill, which rises from the banks of the river
Irthing just where Northumberland meets Cumberland, you have lying
around you one of the finest wild prospects in the United Kingdom. Hills
to the north, stretching away into Scotland; hills to the east, broken
into picturesque valleys, especially the great gap through which rushes
the young Tyne; hills to the south, dominated by the powerful head of
Cross Fell, a great sprawling mountain, not a peaked one, the highest
stretch of which is nearly three thousand feet above sea level.
But while drinking in the glories of the distances, the eye will note
with curiosity a strange-looking but picturesque hill only a couple of
miles to the South-east, with a long rocky ridge at its top deeply cut
into or "nicked" in nine different places, this giving it a very wild
appearance. It is one of these hills which tempts the keen observer to
go on and explore it. If we cut direct to it, over the fields, it is
rough going, but the view is good all the way. And there are four
special objects of interest, all close together; the rushing Tipalt
river, Thirlwall Castle, the Roman wall, and the Nine Nicks.
Thirlwall Castle rises tall, square, and stern, with a dark fir-wood
behind it at the foot of the hill, where a bend in the river makes a
natural moat. Approaching it from Rose Hill, it looks as if the
building were still nearly complete, but the south side has almost
entirely fallen away and all the floors and the roof are out. Edward I.
slept in this Castle when it was newly built, in 1306; but now it is
grass-grown and moss-grown, and its three bare walls rise gaunt and grim
to the sky. It is entirely built out of stones with Roman chisel marks,
taken from the great Roman wall, which unfortunately was once regarded
as a handy stone-quarry for anyone to take from.
The name "Thirlwall" means "Drill-wall," and marks the spot as that at
which the wild Northern tribes first "drilled" or broke through the
wall. The name was, of course, given to the place long before this
castle was built.
To mount from Thirlwall Castle to the top of the Nine Nicks is an easy
enough task for any vigorous person. It is just a fine healthy scramble.
When at the top, it becomes evident that some sort of fortification once
existed there. In point of fact this was the important Roman station
called "Magna" which stood at about the middle of the Roman Wall. The
wall ran from sea to sea, that is to say, from the mouth of the Tyne to
the Solway. Thus it was nearly eighty miles long, and a very elaborate
structure indeed.