Trusty's Hill

Post date: Feb 17, 2017 2:57:23 PM

Trusty’s Hill had sparked the imagination of many who could actually find the place (sign-posting is not one of its strongpoints as a cultural landmark) for years, as there is a curiously carved stone to the side of the path to the summit. First recorded by Stuart in 1856 with the title ‘Trusty’s Hill,’ the symbols were always a key component which made this place important – linking it to hill forts with similar Pictish carvings, such as Edinburgh castle and Dunadd. The symbols have been variously classified over the years as Pictish Class I, Pictish Class II, graffiti, ‘strays outside the main distribution’, etc. But these classifications don’t give us much of an idea of the role they actually played within the landscape in which they were created, or who the people were who lived alongside them. That’s where archaeologists, and their completely scientifically justified obsession with context, step in.

Sometimes that’s done wading through mud, with a few pennies of change clinking in their pocket to fund the project and only a couple young lads from Dumfries Academy to help out – as the first archaeological investigation at Trusty’s was done, under the supervision of Thomas in the 1960s – producing less than encouraging results. But nowadays, thanks to ‘more resources (people and equipment), better techniques (modern CIfA standards and professional archaeologists) and better weather!’ (Toolis) this archaeological search for context at Trusty’s Hill ‘exceeded expectations’ (Bowles).

There were over a hundred people present at the event, many of whom had been volunteers at the excavation or else involved in the Heritage Lottery Funded ‘All Our Stories’ project within the community which followed. The Gatehouse Development Initiative (GDI) played a key role to continue and keep up local enthusiasm for Trusty’s Hill, by encouraging the Primary School pupils to write sagas, create artwork and get up on the hill itself. An exhibition was also created at the Mill on the Fleet Museum with the assistance of Ronan Toolis, along with further guided walks. At the book launch, Ken Smyth was there as the GDI representative, encouraging increased inter-generational enthusiasm for what has been found at Trusty’s Hill, spreading word of the poetic efforts of the school children. When asked about what the future holds for Trusty’s Hill, Ronan Toolis hands it very much over to the local community – leaving many trained as tour guides, and many more enlightened by the details in the publication. So the more passion for local heritage the community can share, the better the future will look for this newly crowned ‘royal centre.’ That passion was definitely stirred at the launch of this publication.

Grace Macpherson