north-country has to be obtained from the inscriptions
which the garrisons left behind them, the inscribed stones as well as
the altars are of the greatest possible interest and value. One such
stone, found at the Borcovicus mile-castle, states that "the Second
Legion, the August (erected this at the command of) Aulus Platorius
Nepos, Legate and Propraetor, in honour of the Emperor Caesar Trajanus
Hadrianus Augustus."

At "Cuddy's" (Cuthbert's) Crag near Borcovicus is one of the most
picturesque bits of scenery to be found on the whole course of the Wall.
My first acquaintance with it was made on a day of grey mist and
drizzling rain, which completely hid any view of the surrounding
country, and of necessity confined our attention to the stones (and wet
grass!) immediately beneath our feet. But another visit was on a day of
wind and sunshine, and in the company of a group of light-hearted
students. We explored the ruins of Borcovicus, walked along the broad
and broken top of the Wall, and climbed up hill and down dale with it
under the pleasantest conditions, if a trifle breezy on the heights.
June was at her traditional best, which she does not often vouchsafe to
show us; flowers waved all around, amongst the grass and in the crannies
between the stones, and more than once the lines at the head of this
chapter were quoted by one to another. Again and again our progress was
stayed while we admired the glorious view spread out all around, but
especially was this the case at Cuddy's Crag. We looked westward over
Crag Lough, its usually dark waters flashing in the afternoon sun; the
three Loughs were all within view; away to the southward, beyond
Barcombe Hill, and the site of Vindolana, Langley Castle could be seen,
"standing four-square to all the winds that blew"; and further away
again, beyond the valley of the South Tyne, to the southwest the faint
outlines of Crossfell and Skiddaw. Northward it was quite easy to
imagine oneself looking out over the Picts' country still, so far do
the moorlands stretch, and so few are the signs of habitation. Rolling
ridges stretch northward, wave upon wave, clothed with grass and
heather, amongst which Parnesius and Pertinax went hunting with little
Allo the Pict; to the northeast the heights of Simonside showed; and far
beyond them, though more to the westward, the rounded summits of the
Cheviots lay on the horizon.

A short distance westward from the Crag is Hot Bank farmhouse, a