Tradition says, that Cokburne was surprised by the king, while sitting
at dinner. After the execution, James marched rapidly forward, to
surprise Adam Scott of Tushielaw, called the King of the Border, and
sometimes the King of Thieves. A path through the mountains, which
separate the vale of Ettrick from the head of Yarrow, is still called
the _King's Road_, and seems to have been the rout which he followed.
The remains of the tower of Tushielaw are yet visible, overhanging the
wild banks of the Ettrick; and are an object of terror to the benighted
peasant, from an idea of their being haunted by spectres. From these
heights, and through the adjacent county of Peebles, passes a wild path,
called still the _Thief's Road_, from having been used chiefly by the
marauders of the border.