Below Harden

About Below Harden

Wat Scott of Harden was a significant figure in Border history in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. He lived at Harden, hidden in the trees here. He also lived for a time in Kirkhope Tower. He was a notorious Reiver or cross-Border raider and was involved in a number of skirmishes. It is said that when the food supplies at harden were running low, his wife Mary, known as The Flower of Yarrow’ because of her great beauty would serve him his spurs on a plate as a sign that it was time for him to go reiving again.
Ogilvie picked up on the tales about Wat and produced this stirring poem/ song - Ho! For the Blades of Harden