Murder Cleugh

There's been a murder!! (That was my best Taggart impersonation).

If you're having a wander in the Cheviots then you may have come across a little marker stone called Murder Cleugh. This tombstone marks the place where Robert Lumsden killed Isabella Sudden over 400 years ago in 1610.

We did a bit of digging and found some information on the Two Local Explorers website.

Robert Lumsden was a local chap, but was a bit of a scoundrel as he liked the company of married women, but was also violent at times. Isabella Sudden was of a lower class to Robert and maybe was seduced by his status as she became pregnant with his illegitimate child. Lumsden mustn't have been keen on the news and on the 20th July 1610 he chased her over the hills and stoned her. After 15 excruciating days, Isabella finally succumbed to her injuries on the 4th August.

The Kings officers became aware of the crime and rode two days from Durham to arrest Lumsden, but Lumsden retorted at their arrival with, “I care nothing for the King, I care nothing for the Queen and I care nothing for you”. He grabbed their pistols and swords, beating them before they fled back to Durham.

The King must have sent larger or more officers as Lumsden was eventually apprehended in Newcastle. For his heinous crime he was made to renounce his sins in the market place in Alnwick, was excommunicated from the Church and then spent a month in jail.

He literally got away with murder!

Why not find the stone during a wander to the aptly named Windy Gyle.