{"id":212466,"date":"2022-06-23T09:58:56","date_gmt":"2022-06-23T08:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/travel\/?p=212466"},"modified":"2022-06-23T10:45:59","modified_gmt":"2022-06-23T09:45:59","slug":"galashiels-the-five-minute-spare-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/travel\/galashiels-the-five-minute-spare-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Galashiels The Five Minute Spare Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Galashiels The Borders town with the motto \u201cSoor Plooms.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t heard of Galashiels yet, you are in for a treat. This is an interesting town in Scotland that you find on the road between Carlisle and Edinburgh. For a town with a population of around 12,500 people, it has seen some cracking memories over the years.<\/p>\n

It is a traditional Scottish town that has buildings dating back to the Industrial period \u2013 so you already know it\u2019s going to make a lovely day trip or holiday out. The Scottish Lowlands play home to the Southern Uplands, a popular camping and hiking destination known for tremendous beauty. And sheep. There is a lot of sheep. No haggis this far south though.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take an in-depth look at all Galashiels has to offer. We\u2019ll start with the fascinating history and go from there.<\/p>\n

The Early History of Galashiels<\/h2>\n

Galashiels sits on the River Gala, from whence it gets its name. The town sits near the confluence of the Gala and the larger River Tweed. It is on the edge of the River Tweed basin, a gorgeous section of the countryside filled with stories.<\/p>\n

One of our favourites is an hour away and a little south. There, at the head of the Tweed, you will find a vast gully of land known as \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Beef Tub<\/a>.\u201d This hollow in the land gave protection to the stolen cows stored below. The hollow was seen as the devil\u2019s work. This dramatic landscape features a roadside monument to John Hunter, who was shot here after arrest for attending a forbidden church service nearby. Legend has it that he tried to escape by rolling down the hillside into the mists. If you like a view and a good tall tale, pay it a visit.<\/p>\n

But back to Galashiels<\/a>. The town is split into east and west due to the river. The eastern bank of Galashiels lies in Roxburgh, while the west is in Selkirkshire. The town features a nearby landmark that might give clues to its true age. The Catrail<\/a>, or Pict\u2019s Work Ditch, is a trench running through both counties.<\/p>\n

The Catrail<\/h3>\n

The Catrail runs alongside Robert\u2019s Linn, a burn that flows into the Slitrig Water. The trench is 18.5km long and nobody knows what caused it. Since it dates to the 4th<\/sup> and 5th<\/sup> centuries, it\u2019s probable that either the Picts dug it to keep the Romans out, or the Romans dug it to keep the pits out. It seems like the kind of task the Roman army would undertake.<\/p>\n

On the north-western side of town stands another ancient fortress. This one dates to the Iron Age. It was a hill fort, to begin with anyway. Later, the townsfolk built Torwoodlee Broch over the top of it. The Romans marched in and destroyed the Broch in 140.<\/p>\n

We always like to bring up the clans that would go on to occupy these areas of Scotland even while the Romans threatened from the south. Torwoodlee is the home of the Pringle family<\/a> and has been since 1501 when they became Lairds. Before that, the Pringles were at Flodden, they fought for the restoration of the Stuarts and against William of Orange. Nearby clans include the Kerrs<\/a>, the Douglas<\/a> clan, and the Scotts<\/a>. Another interesting side note is that Castle Douglas has a second name: Castle Danger.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s assume the clans spent the formative years fighting Romans, fighting each other, and raiding south of the border to steal English cattle for a few hundred years and move on to Medieval times.<\/p>\n

Medieval Age Galashiels<\/h2>\n

In 1337, a group of English soldiers were reclining in a nearby clearing, eating plums off the trees. Wild plums are common in Scotland and the troops were enjoying the fresh fruit. The townsfolk spied them there and ambushed them. It was either a great victory or a terrible loss, depending on which side of the border you live on. The townsfolk remember the incident in a coat of arms. The coat features a fox trying to reach plums on a tree.<\/p>\n

The motto reads \u201cSoor Plooms.\u201d Now\u2026 someone who hadn\u2019t grown up in Scotland might not know that Soor Plooms are a type of hard-boiled candy here. They are bright green and sour, made to imitate the underripe wild plums. They taste a little like green gooseberries. Those from Galashiels will also be aware that Robert Coltart, of Coltart\u2019s candy, lived in the area and would know that story. The sweets are made by Gibbs, not Coltart, but we bet the sweet is based off that same story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The town erected Buckholm Tower in 1582. The site is in a hazardous condition now, although you can still visit. The town sits at the foot of Buckholm Hill. As you can imagine, it belonged to the Pringle family\u2026 but this one comes with a ghost story. The tale says that James Pringle, the Laird at the time, was a keen hunter and a wicked man. He treated his own wife and son so badly that they fled.<\/p>\n

Covenanters<\/h3>\n

He hunted Covenanters on his lands \u2013 covenanters just like John Hunter, who was shot in the Devil\u2019s Beef Tub. He did horrible things on behalf of the crown. One incident features Buckholm Tower. He was called out to disrupt a Covenanter meeting by the dragoons. When they arrived, all but two of the men had fled. The two were father and son. The father\u2019s horse had thrown him. The son stayed with the father.<\/p>\n

The dragoon captain asked the Laird \u2013 who wanted to kill them on sight \u2013 to keep them in his tower overnight until they could transport them south. The Laird agreed. After too much ale, the servants reported that the son was crying out for help for his injured father. The Laird went to the cell and beat them both so badly that they died. He hung their bodies from hooks on the walls when he was finished.<\/p>\n

Later, the wife and mother of the two braved the castle to ask what had happened to her men. The Laird took her to the cell and showed her, so cruel a man was he. Legend doesn\u2019t say if she made it out alive or not, but it does say that she laid a curse on him. Ever after, the Laird was plagued by dreams of being hunted, or of waking nightmares where hounds were chasing him. The tower held so many evil memories that locals believed it haunted. In fact, in the 1700s, the local reverend performed an exorcism on the castle.<\/p>\n

The Burgh Of Galashiels<\/h3>\n

Galashiels received its Burgh status in 1599. Although originally intended as a village to house the workers at Melrose Abbey, to the south. Melrose Abbey is the historic resting place of the heart of King Robert the Bruce. In 1622, a new church opened in Galashiels, showing growth in the size of the parish.<\/p>\n

Around the same time, Buckholm and Gala suffered attacks from the English. They raided many border towns and settlements. The following year, the Scots struck back by attacking England under the leadership of the Acting Regent the Earl of Arran. They beat back the English at Ancrum Moor near Jedburgh, but victory was only ever short lived. The two sides continued to fight until unification. They still fight now if you catch them in the wrong mood.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s pause in all this fascinating history for something more light-hearted. The fun facts.<\/p>\n

Fun Facts about Galashiels and the Scottish Borders<\/h2>\n

There are always little tidbits of history that we like to collect here and there. They are the fun facts, the useless trivia, the historic points that the history books would rather we forgot about. We do not forget. We record them here for posterity and entertainment purposes. Here are our favourite facts about Galashiels:<\/p>\n