Walking on Stumpy Legs

Saint Cuthbert’s Way III: St Boswells to Harestanes, Scotland

On the Banks of the River Tweed. Author photograph.

Midway through the first day of our hike, we don’t find much to occupy us in St Boswells. Named after Saint Boisil, Cuthbert’s abbot at Melrose, the town hasn’t made any attempt to leverage interest in its namesake. There are no statues dedicated to the saint, no icons for sale in gift shops, no Saint Boisil bobbleheads. All rather disappointing.

Boisil played a minor role in Bede’s Life of St Cuthbert, John the Baptist to Cuthbert’s Christ. After his vision of St Aidan’s ascension into Heaven, Cuthbert joined the monastery at Melrose. Boisil’s good reputation was an important factor in his choice. When the young man presented himself before the monastery gate, asking to be enrolled among the monks, Boisil foresaw Cuthbert’s future and shouted, “Behold, a servant of the Lord.”

This is the third entry in a nine part travel series. If you missed the earlier episodes, you might want to click here to begin with the first installment.

Like Cuthbert, Boisil spent a great deal of time preaching in the villages of southern Scotland. He cemented his reputation as a prophet when he predicted the plague that ravaged the Scottish Borders in 664. Cuthbert contracted this illness, but recovered. Boisil also became ill, but foresaw that his…