Lang Sandy Sculpture

Bobbing down lanes between the Borders, we came across this big, tall fella, Lang Sandy.

He's a chunk of a hunk made from stone and stood by the side of the road in a prominent place, which marks the south-western edge of the border between Scotland and England; a fractious place in times of boundary skirmishes.

In today's quiet and tranquil rural landscape, it's hard to imagine that this was once a place ablaze with lawlessness and bloodbaths, for this place was known as The Debateable Lands.

The original drawing for this engraving was created by George Cattermole around 1840.

It shows a retinue of freebooters, otherwise known as raiders or Border Reivers on horseback driving a herd of stolen cattle through the River Esk in the foreground.

Riotous and lawless, it was highlighted in a parliamentary decree issued by the Scottish and the English that in mid 16th Century it said:

No one wanted to take responsibility for dealing with these Debatable Lands, where Reivers roamed, looted and pillaged on high ground, with poor possibilities for farming. It was probably not worth the effort to defend.

Lang Sandy (Alexander was his Sunday name!) was up there with the baduns.

Known as the 'Worst Reiver Ever', he lived close to the modern mining village of Rowenburn at a place called Cleughfoot Tower, (pronounced Clue Foot), also known as Lang Sandy's Keep, remote and isolated.

He was simply the best at Border Reiving with a string of raids and ransacking under his belt. Raiding ran in the family, and Sandy (named Lang because of his unusually tall frame and stature, being 6ft, which was remarkable for a man in the 1600s) was brother to Kinmont Willie (there must've been some giggles at their christenings!)

Both brothers rallied together and raised the roof on many occasions. The Armstrong Clan were the most revered family on the Border, known to wreak hell, havoc and high water on anyone who crossed them.

Look at this foreboding faced fella. You'd not mess with him, right? The corners of his mouth look like they've never curled into a smile, and he just upholds that serious, simmering stare! Through his neatly carved beard and gaunt glower, he's wishing you dead.

At the heart of Lang Sandy is his sword. Look how he clutches it, two hands holding what would have weighed a fair bit. Imagine brandishing that on horseback. It's nearly his height! His thick leather gloves would assist his grip for beheading!

Sir John Carmichael was the Warden of the Marshes, and was responsible for keeping law and order in the Border. He was known as 'the most expert borderer' by the Bishop of Durham.

Here, he is shown as a dapper little chap in military uniform in this portrait by Jonathan Richardson the Elder from 1726.

But he was a thorn in the flesh of the likes of Lang Sandy, policing his proceedings and generally raining on his parade of brutality...Think inflated little traffic warden and what you'd like to see happen to them, then times it by ten!

In 1600 he thought he'd play a small prank on Lang Sandy, something he'd later regret! He rallied some of his men to steal his sword from his scabbard and meticulously filled it full with freshly cracked yellowy egg yolks. When Sandy came to draw his sword, it was well and truly clagged. Stuck. Kaput!

The incident left his pride pricked, and his anger aroused.

Looking at Sandy's stature and the dagger by his hip, I'd not be the one to rouse his rage. Here, he stands brooding and bubbling, feisty in his fury. You daren't have passed comment on his pantaloons!

Not one to forget an eggy prank, Lang Sandy set about Sir John Carmichael with his sons on 16th July 1600, and after a skirmish in which Carmichael made a run for it, Lang Sandy shot him dead at Langholm.

Sculptor Shawn Williamson was the trusty hands behind this piece. Look at the skill and precision of the chainmail.

The piece was commissioned by Canonbie Village Community, and took five months to sculpt.

Shawn told me he'd used Lazonby Sandstone, which is a Cumbrian medium-grained sandstone from the Permian age... that's even older than Lang Sandy and probably even harder, though he'd probably not have you believe it! The stone has a distinctive pink tinge and a sparkle when the sun shines on it and you can see it here being quarried at Bowscar Quarry outside Penrith.

Image is taken from Cumbrian Quarrying Services.

Shawn worked with the community, offering up several designs which they were all involved with. Always the best way to make art with people rather than just for them! That way, everyone feels connected and a part of the journey...something Shawn does routinely in his work, creating a shared investment in the work and in the community's heritage.

He's part of a training programme in Scotland in the arts, as you can see in this image he's shared, and has run many community arts projects over the years, encouraging people who are unemployed or giving a platform to young stonemasons and sculptors in an effort to keep the art alive.

Williamson was nominated for the prestigious RSA award in recognition of the work he has undertaken in bringing an educational element into the arts and getting young people involved with big projects.

I asked him about his piece Lang Sandy and he told me -

Taking a walk behind Lang Sandy, I noticed his wolf hide.

It looks as menacing as him!

Lang Sandy continued to wreak havoc on these lawless lands and was somewhat unstoppable without the reins of Carmichael. However, the hands of justice wrapped themselves around his spineless ways five years later when he was hunted down, had his right hand chopped off and was hanged at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh for his sins. Lang Sandy ended his days dangling in his execution chains, where they left him as a lesson to others.

So, what are the lessons taken from this? Shoot a busy body and be the boss of the borders, and then 400 or so years later, you get a skilled craftsman to make you look like a good bad baddy in Red Lazenby Sandstone! Come on, it's clearly Carmichael that everyone is boooooing at.

Three cheers for Shawn Williamson and his community pals at Canonbie!

The artwork was unveiled by news anchor Fiona Armstrong presumably because of her association with the Clan Armstrong. But Williamson has rubbed shoulders with the likes of King Charles, who unveiled his Herdwick Ram in Cockermouth.

Meanwhile, Shawn Williamson has captured this story in stone and ensured it lives on as an important hat tip to the history of this area, despite it being freckled with wildflowers now, and alive with the sounds of song thrush!

Real thanks to Shawn Williamson, who was generous with his time and words to help me write this piece and for sharing his personal images.