There is a monument
near where I live
built to commemorate a French Knight
by the name of Antoine d'Arcie
Seigneur de la Bastie.
Aparently he was slain
at this spot in the year 1517.
He was appointed
Warden of the Marches
instead of Lord Home.
Lord Home was beheaded
in Edinburgh and his clansman
Home of Wedderburn
sought revenge as he thought
De la Bastie was accessary to
the murder of his chief.
I've often wondered
what a French Knight was doing
in Scotland in 1517?
It must have been a fairly brutal
place
to be back then.
Now, in modern times
the Border Marches take on a symbolic
role
to commemorate the riding of the
bounds
and the protection of the Border towns
of Southern Scotland.
