Earlston- Leaderfoot Viaduct, Roman Camp and Thomas the Rhymer

A settlement called Ercildoune established by the 1200s. The local landowner at the time was Thomas Learmont of Ercildoune, (Thomas the Rhymer), he built a small castle (keep) in the 1400s, the ruins still remain and are known as “Rhymer’s Tower”. He achieved fame as a seer and prophet who correctly predicted the death of Alexander III in 1286. “On the morrow, afore noon, shall blow the greatest wind that ever was heard before in Scotland”. This prediction was made to the Earl of March in Dunbar Castle the day before the accident happened.

The story goes, Thomas the Rhymer gained his powers after meeting and kissing the Queen of Elfland while hunting on the estate of Melrose Abbey. He then spent seven years with her in the Land of the Elves before returning to Ercildoune for seven years.

Leaderfoot Viaduct opened in 1863 is now a disused railway viaduct over the River Tweed between Earlston and Melrose and Listed Grade B in 1971. Seven of the nineteen span brick arched viaduct are stitched here to represent the 7 years Thomas the Rhymer spent in the Land of the Elves. A Roman bridge once crossed the Tweed here, conveying Dere Street north from the nearby fort of Trimontium. Internationally important as the largest Roman fort and settlement north of Hadrian’s Wall and the site of one of the greatest concentrations of Roman military-related finds in the British Isles.