River Tweed

After church we drove down to the Borders for a walk along the Tweed, upstream from St Boswells along part of the St Cuthbert Way. Crossing the footbridge we examined the Temple of the Muses (detail in extra) before turning back.

The information board tell us that The Temple of the Muses is a tribute to James Thomson, a Borders poet who loved the natural world. His most famous work, 'The Seasons', described the countryside in a way that broke with tradition of the time and set the scene for later Romantics, like Keats and Wordsworth. In a very different style, he is also credited with the words to 'Rule Brittania!'


Thomson lived from 1700 to 1748. His poems were popular long after his death: the Earl of Buchan, who was a great admirer of his work, had the temple built in 1817. It originally sheltered a statue of Apollo, and was part of a grand scheme for the Earl's estate, which include  nearby Stirling Tower, an ornate house built for his gardener, and a statue of William Wallace.
The statue of Apollo was replaced by 'Four Seasons' by Siobhan O'Hehir in 2002.

Although the autumn colours were rendered lifeless by the dull sky we enjoyed our afternoon of fresh air.