Roberton is a small village in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lot ...

area of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, on the B711 and near to the A7, from

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one ...

, from

Galashiels Galashiels (; sco, Gallae, gd, An Geal Àth) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive ...

, and from Langholm. It is situated by the

Ale Water The Ale Water is a tributary of the River Teviot, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It rises at Henwoodie Hill and flows through Alemoor Loch. It meets the Teviot south of the village of Ancrum, and it runs through Ashkirk and Lillieslea ...

, the

Alemoor Loch Alemoor Loch, also known as Alemoor Reservoir, is a small reservoir in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is situated on the Ale Water, west of Hawick. The loch is approximately long, and is divided in two by a causeway which carries the ...

and the

Borthwick Water The Borthwick Water ''( Border Scots: Borthwick Witter)'' is a river in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and a tributary of the River Teviot. The Aithouse Burn, the Howpasley Burn, and the Northhope Burn (amongst others) are some of the fe ...

, and nearby are

Branxholme Branxholme is a hamlet in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, overlooking the River Teviot, three miles southwest of Hawick, on the A7 road to Langholm. Nearby are Ale Water, Alemoor Loch, Burnfoot, Borthwick Water, Colterscleugh Monu ...

Broadhaugh Broadhaugh is a hamlet in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the parish of Teviothead, in former Roxburghshire. See also *List of places in the Scottish Borders *List of places in Scotland This list of places in Scotland is a complete c ...

, Burnfoot and the

Craik Forest Craik Forest is a forest near Hawick in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and managed by the Forestry Commission. It is adjoined to the south-west by Eskdalemuir Forest. See also * Craik, Scottish Borders *Ettrick Forest *Wauchope Forest *Li ...

Borders poet

The Borders poet Will H. Ogilvie (1869–1963) was born in Kelso and died in nearby

Ashkirk Ashkirk is a small village on the Ale Water, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is located just off the A7 road, approximately each way between Selkirk to the north and Hawick to the south. Other places nearby include the Alemoor L ...

. A cairn has been erected in his memory. :The hill road to Roberton's a steep road to climb, But where your foot has crushed it, you can smell the scented thyme, And if your heart's a Border heart, look down to Harden Glen, And hear the blue hills ringing with the restless hoofs again... Unveiled in August 1993, an identical cairn was also erected in

Bourke, New South Wales Bourke is a town in the north-west of New South Wales, Australia. The administrative centre and largest town in Bourke Shire, Bourke is approximately north-west of the state capital, Sydney, on the south bank of the Darling River. it is also ...

. The bronze was prized from the surface and stolen in August 2016 for

metal theft Metal theft is "the theft of items for the value of their constituent metals". It usually increases when worldwide prices for scrap metal rise, as has happened dramatically due to rapid industrialization in India and China. Apart from precious m ...

. One of Ogilvie's 800+ poems included the six stanza ''The road to Roberton'': :The hill road to Roberton: Ale Water at our feet, :And grey hills and blue hills that melt away and meet, :With cotton-flowers that wave to us and lone whaups that call, :And over all the Border mist – the soft mist over all. :When Scotland married England long, long ago, :The winds spun a wedding-veil of moonlight and snow, :A veil of filmy silver that sun and rain had kissed, :And she left it to the Border in a soft grey mist. A replacement cairn was installed at Harden Glen on the anniversary of Ogilvie's 150th birthday, in August 2019. File:AU-NSW-Bourke-Bourke Poets Corner - OGILVIE cairn-2021.jpg, Stone cairn and bronze sculpture relating to Australian–Scottish poet Ogilvie, Bourke, NSW, Australia (2021). File:AU-NSW-Bourke-Bourke Poets Corner - OGILVIE cairn book-2021.jpg, Ogilvie's stone cairn and bronze sculpture at Bourke (2021). File:AU-NSW-Bourke-Bourke Poets Corner - OGILVIE cairn front bust-2021.jpg, Ogilvie's bronze, at Bourke (2021).

Borthwick Mains Symbol Stone

to the east of the village, in front of the house at Borthwick Mains, is a fish symbol-stone, possibly representing a salmon.Borthwick Mains Carved Stone
RCHAMS The stone is high, and the figure of a fish is almost a metre long, with the tail downwards, cut into the stone with pecked lines. It is similar to class 1 Pictish symbol stones of the 6th or 7th century, but its status is doubtful, and it may belong to a more recent period.Iain Fraser (2008) ''The Pictish symbol stones of Scotland'', page 8. RCHAMS

Notes

References

*Brooke, CJ (2000) Safe sanctuaries: security and defence in Anglo-Scottish border churches 1290–1690, Edinburgh. Held at RCAHMS: F.5.31.BRO *THAS (1963) 'Sculptured stone found at Roberton'.

External links

RCAHMS record of Roberton (Roxburghshire), sometimes known as Kirk Borthwick ParishRoberton Primary School, presently the oldest school in the Scottish BordersIncident at Roberton Water Treatment WorksFlickr images of Hawick Common Riding, Roberton ride-out, 2009
{{authority control Villages in the Scottish Borders Parishes in Roxburghshire