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Long before the surname was recorded, however, the Hallidays were known in Annandale. It would appear that their clan system so differed from others that the Romans named them ‘the allodil, or ‘those who cultivate their own land’.
Tradition has it that the Scottish King, Duncan (1034-1040) granted a Halliday chieftain land near Moffat.
Thomas Halliday built a built a pele tower at Corehead and made it his residence and seat.
The tower stood on a rise protected by the Great Hill to the north and commanded the only approach up the corrie from the south. The tower ruins are located in a plantation behind Corehead Farm.
At the head of the corrie is the Devil’s Beef Tub, a huge hollow which the reiving families found useful for secreting their ‘lifted’ stock. This remarkable feature can be viewed from the A701 Edinburgh road, about six miles north of Moffat.
See also
The Devil’s Beeftub. |
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