H. Burdon Richardson, Delt.John Storey, Lith.
THE WALL AT STEEL-RIG.
Printed by W. Monkhouse, York
ANCIENT TRADITIONS.
Shortly afterwards we come to a gap of very bold proportions. Popular faith asserts it to have been the abode of evil spirits, and it is known by the ominous name of Bogle-hole. The sides of the gap are steep; on the western declivity the courses of the Wall are for the most part conformable to the ground, but they are stayed up by occasional steps parallel to the horizon. In the valley, to the south, the Vallum is seen bending up towards the Wall, apparently to assist in defending the pass; it would not have done so, had it been an independent fortification. The vicinity of Bogle-hole seems a fitting place for introducing the following passage from Procopius, a writer of the fifth century. We can readily conceive that at a period when the inroads of the Caledonians were still fresh in the memory of the inhabitants, the country north of the Wall would be regarded with superstitious dread. Doubtless, many who passed the boundary, found, to their cost, that in this region lay the pathway to the world of spirits:—
Moreover, in this isle of Brittia, men of ancient time built a long wall, cutting off a great portion of it: for the soil, and the man, and all other things, are not alike on both sides; for on the eastern (southern) side of the Wall, there is a wholesomeness of air in conformity with the seasons, moderately warm in summer, and cool in winter. Many men inhabit here, living much as other men. The trees, with their appropriate fruits, flourish in season, and their corn lands are as productive as others; and the district appears sufficiently fertilized by streams. But on the western (northern) side all is different, insomuch indeed, that it would be impossible for a man to live there, even half an hour. Vipers and serpents innumerable, with all other kinds of wild beasts, infest that place; and, what is most strange, the natives affirm, that if any one, passing the Wall, should proceed to the other side, he would die immediately, unable to endure the unwholesomeness of the atmosphere. Death also, attacking such beasts as go thither, forthwith destroys them.... They say that the souls of men departed are always conducted to this place; but in what manner I will explain immediately, having frequently heard it from men of that region relating it most seriously, although I would rather ascribe their asseverations to a certain dreamy faculty which possesses them.—Giles’s Ancient Britons, I. 404.
CAW-GAP.
The next defile is Caw-gap; some ruined cottages, formed of Wall-stones, stand in it. The extreme jealousy with which the Romans defended an exposed situation is well shewn here. The fosse, which guards the pass through the low ground, is discontinued on the western side as soon as the Wall attains a sufficient elevation, but upon the the ground drooping, though only for the space of a few yards, it re-appears for that short distance.
A road runs through this pass to the north, which soon becomes a mere track. It passes a solitary house, called Burn Deviot, nearly due north from the gap, which was long the resort of smugglers and sheep-stealers. The memory of its last tenants, Nell Nichol and her two daughters, who were a pest to the country, is still fresh in the district. Though many years have elapsed since any one occupied the dwelling, lights are said often to be seen at the windows at night, visible tokens of the presence of the spirits of the murdered children of Nell’s daughters.
CAWFIELDS CRAGS.
The crags along which we soon find ourselves to be proceeding, possess a perpendicular elevation of nearly five hundred feet above the plains below. Passing another small gap, called the Thorny Doors, we come to a tract of Wall in an excellent state of preservation. The lower courses have lately been freed from the rubbish which for centuries has covered them, and the fallen stones replaced in their proper order. The whole face of the Wall has a remarkably fresh appearance, and nowhere can the tooling of the stones be examined with more advantage. Amongst the fallen stones, one was lately found which furnishes us with additional evidence, that the twentieth legion was engaged in the erection of this part of the Wall. It