In literature, the location is where Walter Scott’s Last Minstrel recites a tale to Ann, Duchess of Buccleuch. He sings of her ancestor, the widowed Lady of Branksome Hall, whose husband has been killed in a quarrel with a party that included Lord Cranstoun. Fiercely opposed to the love affair that develops between Cranstoun and her daughter, Margaret, she resorts to sorcery in an effort to prevent their marriage. She sends one of her retainers, Sir William Deloraine, to Melrose Abbey to recover a magic book from the tomb of the wizard Michael Scott. On his way back, Deloraine meets and fights with Cranstoun and is wounded by him. Cranstoun bids his page, a goblin-like figure who has mysteriously attached himself to him, to take Deloraine to Branksome Hall. The goblin page discovers Michael Scott's book on Deloraine's person and, in a spirit of pure mischief, uses it to lure Lady Branksome's infant son into the woods. Here the boy is captured by his mother's English enemy, Lord Dacre. Lord Dacre has gathered together a force to punish Deloraine for breaking a truce and plundering the lands of Sir Richard Musgrave. They lay siege to Branksome and demand that the Lady hand over her wounded retainer. She proposes instead that Deloraine defend himself against the charge in single combat with Musgrave. As a Scottish force is rapidly approaching, Dacre reluctantly accepts, promising that, should Deloraine prove victorious, he will return the Lady's son. With the help of his goblin page, Cranstoun assumes the form of the wounded Deloraine and defeats Musgrave. The child is restored, and the grateful Lady agrees to the marriage of Cranstoun and Margaret. At the wedding feast the ghost of Michael Scott appears and reclaims the goblin-page as his own servant.
Historically as well, though, this location is of some considerable importance, being central to one of the bloodiest chapters of a battle on the 13th September 1645. The Covenanters were supporters of a Scottish Presbyterian faith, which was under threat from Charles 1. The Royalists were supporters of the Crown and willing to defend the King’s rule. General Sir David Leslie, leader of the Covenanters was an experienced soldier having fought in the continental wars for thirty years. The Marquis of Montrose commanded the Royalist Army and had already defeated the Covenanters in Scotland in six previous battles. Montrose marched to Selkirk on 12th September 1645 hoping to recruit more soldiers to the Royalist cause. He spent the night along with most of his officers in Selkirk town leaving the rest of his troops camped in the fields close to the battle site. General Leslie having been informed about the location of Montrose’s army made a surprise attack during the early morning mist of 13th September. The Royalists repulsed this initial assault. The noise from the encounter alerted Montrose who galloped to the battlefield. He mustered his troops against a second wave of attack but meanwhile 2000 horsemen from General Leslie’s Cavalry had skirted around Howden Hill and began attacking the Royalist army from the rear. Back at the front, General Leslie placed himself at the head of his battalions and attacked the Royalist foot soldiers, driving them towards the high ground at Calton Cottage. The Royalist army was in disarray; the cavalry fled leaving the foot soldiers surrounded. Some managed to fight their way out leaving behind the Irish contingent who were promised their freedom if they surrendered. The Covenanters went back on their word and put them to the sword along with the camp followers. The remaining prisoners were taken to cache location and were shot and buried in the field below, which has become known as Slain Men’s Lea. To locate the cache, then, you need to start your journey in Selkirk Market square, the co-ordinates of which are given above ! The final cache co-ordinates are arrived at by following a trail around the town and using information gathered on that trail to work out the cache location.
The trail starts in Selkirk Market Square, where you will find a statue of Sir Walter Scott, Sheriff of Selkirkshire from 1799 until his death in 1832. His courthouse still stands, and can be visited from April to October, or during the annual Scott's Selkirk weekend at the start of December where some of Scotts actual cases are re-enacted by, often with a humorous twist to them !!!
Turn to face the Bank of Scotland, and then set off down the hill to your left, the West Port. Some 50 yards or so down this road, on the left, you will find a plaque mounted above a door, marking the site where the Marquis of Montrose spent the night before the ill-fated battle of Philiphaugh in 16AB.
Continue down the hill for another 100 yards or so, until you find, on the right hand side of the road another plaque, set into the whinstone dyke, marking the spot where the Forest Inn used to stand, and the fact that Robbie Burns wrote his "Epistle to Willie Creech" here. Locals believe it to be good luck to touch this plaque as you walk by ! Interesting, but there's no clue here !
Walk back up the hill for a bit, until you see a path leading up between the buildings and the wall on the right hand side. Go up the path, and you will find yourself in a car park. Turn left and walk towards the far end of the car park (back towards the Market Square and the excellent Halliwell's House Musem and Robson Gallery - both worth a visit), but keep an eye out for a small flight of stairs on the right that take you up into St Mary's Kirkyard ... once you spot them go up into the cemetery, and make your way to the front of the building there.
On the front of the building is a plaque telling us that President Roosevelt's ancestors are buried here, but also that William Wallace was proclaimed guardian of Scotland here in 129C. We've all seen it in the Braveheart ... well ... THIS is where it really happened !!!
Leave the kirkyard via the gate behind you, and turn right up the hill. Once you reach the junction, you are standing near to the centre of Selkirk Regis, the Royal Town. Up Castle Terrace, to your right, was the Castle, now long gone. In front of you, you are looking down South Port, previously known as Foul Brig Port because of the smell from the nearby tanpits where leather was cured for shoe-making. Shoe-making, in fact, is a huge part of Selkirk's history, and people born and bred in Selkirk are called 'Souters' from the old scots name for a shoe-maker. Look up, though, to your left, and find the carving of the cobbler, high up on the gable end of a house. D is the total number of shoes depicted on this statue.
Walk down the hill (Back Row), taking you past the house with the cobbler statue on it, and look for the marriage stone inscribed FMTB 1700 celebrating the marriage of a stonemason who used to live here. Sadly the stone is almost completely eroded, having been open to the elements for over 300 years and being made of soft sandstone. E is the answer you get if you multiply the four digits of the year 1700 together. You will find this stone immediately after house number 66.
Continue down the hill, cross the busy A7, and keep on going down the hill to the bottom, where you will find another imposing statue.
This is Mungo Park, a doctor and explorer, born near to Selkirk, who set out to find the source of the Niger, only to drown on his second attempt. F is the age Mungo Park was when he died. (Just do 'year of death'-'year of birth'! The simple fact of the matter is that no-one knows when he really died as it took years for confirmation of his death to reach home. This clue has tripped a few folks up in the past, so hopefully this wee 'addendum' will clarify things !) While at this location, have a look at the stunning bronze relief panels and the corner life size figures of Peace, War, Slavery and Home Life. Incidentally, the large sandstone building in front of, and to the right, of Mungo was the home of Dr Thomas Anderson, whose daughter Mungo married. The huge chestnut tree in front of the building is said to have been planted by her.
You might, at this point, want to visit the statue of Fletcher, a stunning piece of work by Thomas Clapperton celebrating the return of Selkirk's only survivor from the Battle of Flodden. Walk the way Mungo Park is facing, and the statue can be found in front the the Victoria Halls some 100 yards beyond the Park statue, on the left hand side. The story goes that he returned from Flodden with the captured English banner, and, unable to speak from exhaustion and at the horrors of what he had witnessed, he waved the banner in a scythe-like motion to indicate to the townspeople that all but he had been slain. This is commemorated every year in the Casting of the Colours during Selkirk's Common Riding which takes place every June.
Our trail, though, demands that, from Mungo Park, we turn left to head along the high street. (The co-op will be on your left as you walk along if you have turned the right way !). Some distance along here, mounted high up on the right, you will find a bust of artist Tom Scott RSA marking the place where he was born. Scott's paintings are much prized, and still command large prices at auction. Tom Scott was born on the 1Hth of Oct 1854. Some of his work can be seen in Scott's Courtroom in the Market Square.
Continue the way you were going, and you eventually come to the County Hotel. In 18J Hungarian Revolutionary hero Louis Kossuth stayed here briefly while on a fund-raising speaking tour of Scotland.
Make your way back to the Market Square to end the trail. You now have all you need to locate the cache.
The co-ordinates are ... N 55 (F-1).DEC W 002 (J-1).HAB.
The cache location is stunning, some 5 miles out of the town, and is directly related to one of the clues you found during the trail around Selkirk. Please respect all lands and properties when hunting for the clues and the final cache !!! And watch out for muggles ... this is a very popular area for walkers.
Once you have found the cache, on the road back into Selkirk, I strongly recommend popping into the Waterwheel Cafe for a coffee and a scone, and visiting the nearby (to the Waterwheel Cafe) Salmon Viewing Centre.
Incidentally, if you are clever, you can take in not only Lay of the Last Minstrel, but also Room with a View, Local Hero, Kirk of the Forest and the Salmon Homecoming caches, as they are all in the areas you visit while doing Lay of the Last Minstrel !!! Have fun !
SiWatson