Kirk Hill on St Abbs Head is the centre of the cult of St Æbbe of Coldingham, a Northumbrian princess who founded a double monastery of men and women there about 640 AD. The best known legend says that in the face of a Viking attack the women defended themselves by disfiguring their faces. The raiders first retreated in fright, then came back and burned the monastery with everyone in it. A Danish raid with fire in 870 is recorded for Coldingham.
A modern guide notes that there is no evidence for the story, and calls it one of those tales so vivid that it ought to be true and probably is not. It is a legend, and no contemporary source is offered for it. All that remains on Kirk Hill is a scatter of boulders from a fourteenth century chapel built by the priory to honour its monastic ancestors.
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