Devil's Beef Tub

The Devil's Beef Tub (Marquis of Annandale's Beef-Tub, Beef-Stand, MacLaren's Leap) is a deep, dramatic hollow in the hills north of the Scottish town of Moffat.

The unusual name derives from its use to hide stolen cattle by the Border Reivers of the Johnstone clan who were referred to by their enemies as "devils"; it is also called Marquis of Annandale's Beef-Tub (or Beef-Stand) after the Lord of Annandale, chief of the raiding "loons" (here meaning "lads", rather than "lunatics"); the name may also refer to the resemblance the valley bears to a tub used for preserving meat.

[1][2] The Scots Dialect Dictionary, first published 1911 by Chambers and compiled by the lexicographer Alexander Warrack, gives the following; “deil’s beef-tub n. a roaring linn”.

On 12 August 1685 fleeing covenanter John Hunter attempted to escape pursuing dragoons by running up the steep side of the Beef Tub.

Scott also describes the flight of a highlander fleeing the aftermath of the failure of the Jacobite rising of 1745; the soldier rolls down the hill amid a hail of enemy gunfire, and escapes.