L for the Fair Lilliard

Welcome to a Look Around 

"My Scottish Borders"

L is for:

THE FAIR LILLIARD and 
LEADERFOOT VIADUCT

Lilliardsedge is a high point on the main road north to Edinburgh and takes its name from The Fair  LILLIARD.   She fought with the Scots at the Battle of Ancrum and her grave carries the rather gory inscription:  

Little was her stature

But muckle was her fame

Upon the English loons

She made many thumps

And when her legs were cuttit off

She fought upon her stumps  

["muckle" means"big"]

Three miles form my home is LEADERFOOT VIADUCT spanning the 90 mile long River Tweed  near its junction with one of its many tributaries - the Leader Water.  The viaduct, built to carry the Berwickshire Railway,   stands 116 feet  above the river bed and each of its 19 arches has a 43 foot span.  The railway bridge opened in 1865 with the last  train running over it  just a hundred years later.   

          

          

More Fascinating Facts on the Scottish Borders:

• Henry Francis LYTE (1793-1847)  wrote two of the most popular hymns still sung today - "Abide with Me"  and "Praise my Soul, the King of Heaven" - and he was a  Borderer born at Ednam, near Kelso, Roxburghshire.  After studying at Trinity College, Dublin, he took Anglican holy orders and served in parishes across the south of England. 
• The Lee Enfield Rifle - the supreme weapon of infantrymen  was designed by Borderer James Paris LEE (1831-1904). He was born in Hawick, Roxburghshire and emigrated with his parents to Canada where initially he followed in his father's footsteps to become a watchmaker.  He then  set up the Lee Firearms Company. The Lee Enfield  - bolt-action, magazine fed  and repeating rifle - was the main firearm of Britain and the Empire, adopted in 1895  and used until 1957.    

 Follow the next stage of this A-Z Journey

through the Scottish Borders

M is for 
Muckle Mou'ed Meg and Melrose 

The Scottish Borders 
The old counties of Berwickshire, Peeblesshire, Roxburghshire & Selkirkshire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Borders

A-Z Challenge Preview
A-Z Challenge A - Abbeys,Abbotsford and Armstrongs
A-Z Challenge B - Border Reivers, Border Ballads and Blackmail

A-Z Challenge C - Common Ridings and Carter Bar 

A-Z Challenge D - Dryburgh Abbey,  Duns Scotus & the Douglas Tragedy 

A-Z Challenge E - Elliots, Earlston, Enigma Hero  & Eyemouth Tart 
A-Z Challenge F - Flodden, Fletcher and Flowers of the Forest  
A-Z Challenge G - A Green & Pleasant Land and Galashiels 
A-Z Challenge H - Hermitage Castle and Hawick 

A-Z Challenge I - Inspirational Land  of James Hogg & Will Ogilvie

A-Z Challenge J - Jedburgh, Jedthart Justice & Jethart Snails 
A-Z Challenge K - Kalaidoscope, Kelso and Kinmont Willie