Perhaps someone can explain to me what is a Reader in Maritime Studies at the University of St. St. Andrews.

Colin Martin held this position when he wrote an article, “To Scotland then they came, burning,” published in the British Archaeology, No. 6, July 1995. You can find this article abstracted on the internet.

Martin writes that during the years of Roman Emperor Severus' stay in Northern Britain, between AD 208 and 211, he attempted genocide in Scotland, by burning crops and fruit trees, depriving the inhabitants of seeds for next year's crop, killing the livestock, and forcing the inhabitants to flee their houses, so that they would die of the cold or from starvation. Martin said that the tactic worked -- a Final Solution, so to say -- for there was peace for more than a century thereafter.

“The principal evidence consists of military bases associated with Severan activity. At South Shields, overlooking the Tyne estuary, a Hadrianic fort was reconstructed as a gigantic provisions depot. Up-river the great base at Corbridge, always a nexus for projected campaigns in the north, underwent major refurbishment which included the building of granaries. Far to the north, on the south banks of the Forth and Tay estuaries, forts were established at Cramond and Carpow. The purpose of these appears to have been to sustain by sea large armies campaigning north of the Forth, so avoiding the long and manpower-consuming lines of communication through southern Scotland which had characterised earlier Roman incursions.

“In addition, a number of temporary camps have been convincingly identified as Severan. At Ardoch in Perthshire, for instance, two large camps (covering 25ha and 55ha) - which post-date the annexe of a fort in commission until the mid-2nd century - seem to represent successive seasons of activity, and the most likely recorded historical context is Severan campaigning in 209 and 210.

“Fourteen other camps, similar in size, proportion and general layout to the 25ha camp at Ardoch, are known in eastern Scotland beyond the Forth. They trace lines north-eastwards through Strathmore towards Aberdeen, along the Angus coastlands, and into Fife. A similar pattern is followed by a series of 55ha camps, which thrusts inexorably from the Forth to the head of Strathmore. The camps are set on average 10 or 12 miles apart - a comfortable day's march for a big army.” www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba6/ba6feat.html

When Tom mentions forts in North Yorkshire, I wonder if they served another purpose. York was the capitol of the Roman Empire during the time that Emperor York lived there. These forts would be the forerunners of the Medieval Castles -- useful to protect the agriculture surpluses that supported the Roman army, the Roman villas, and the city of York, then a major port, with wool the chief export.

Due to Caldwell's proximity in North Yorkshire to a fork in the road, leading to east and west Scotland, the inhabitants of Caldwell may have been related to, interacted, or had alliances with lowlanders in Renfrewshire and Ayrshire, Scotland, raising sheep, which were driven along the road described by Tom all the way to York, then shorned, and the wool shipped by sea to the continent.