Explore The Borders

Your gateway to the brilliant borderlands

David Pike

Where William Wallace was made Guardian of Scotland

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A geophysics study of Selkirk’s Auld Kirk in the Scottish Borders has uncovered what appears to be the underground remains of a medieval church where William Wallace was likely to have been made Guardian of Scotland in 1297.

Dr Chris Bowles, Scottish Borders Council’s archaeologist, commissioned the survey by the University of Durham in conjunction with the Selkirk Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS).

Chris said: “Ruins of the Auld Kirk date from the 18th century, but we knew this had replaced earlier churches on site from the 12th and 16th centuries.

It has been widely acknowledged that this was the site of the Kirk of the Forest where Wallace was made Guardian of Scotland following his and Andrew Moray’s defeat of the English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297.

“We had been expecting the geophysics survey to uncover a 16th century church that we know to have existed and which was a replacement to the medieval church, but the only evidence in the survey is in relation to the medieval church.”

The association between Wallace and the local area is quite well documented, with Wallace using guerilla tactics to fight the English from the Ettrick Forest, and the Scottish nobles made Wallace Guardian of Scotland in recognition of his military successes.

Wallace went on to become the legendary figure he remains today and the basis of the film Braveheart starring Mel Gibson.

Chris added: “The history of Selkirk is known to an extent, but there has been little archaeological work carried out to date. While these geophysics results suggest a medieval, possibly Norman, chapel beneath the later church, we are very restricted by the burials in the area to allow any excavation. It may be possible to conduct limited investigations in areas where there is no evidence of burial.”

Colin Gilmour, Selkirk CARS project manager, said: “There is nothing in the town currently signposting people to the Auld Kirk site, but with this latest discovery it could become a major attraction and assist with the regeneration of the town centre. We hope to work with the community to make the most of this fascinating discovery and the tourism potential it has.”

Selkirk – a town in touch with its historic traditions

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Scratch the surface of any Border town and you will find a community of independent minded people who are fiercely proud of their traditions.

In Selkirk, perched on a terrace of hills overlooking the Ettrick Water, where locals are known as ‘souters’ (shoemakers), there’s a generous welcome waiting for anyone who wants to know more.

Here we have a small town that achieved Royal Burgh status in the 12th century and has consistently boxed above its weight ever since in terms of the contribution it has made to Borders’ history.

The lives and times of King David I, William Wallace (appointed Guardian of Scotland at the Kirk o’ the Forest, Kirk Wynd in 1298), James V, the Dukes of Buccleuch, the Marquis of Montrose (Battle of Philiphaugh 1645), Mungo Park and Sir Walter Scott are all closely intertwined with Selkirk.

As is Fletcher, whose imposing statue stands outside Victoria Hall and around whom the spectacular Common Riding revolves each year.

He was part of the Selkirk contingent who marched away to fight under James IV at the ill-fated battle of Flodden (1513) – and reputedly the only one to return. Fletcher is said to have staggered into the market place to bring news of a terrible defeat, casting down a captured English flag before dropping down dead.

His final flourish is commemorated each year by the Casting of the Colours ceremony that closes the Common Riding.

After Flodden the town was ransacked and burnt by the English, punitive action that won Selkirk 1000 acres of forest and a Royal Charter from James V in appreciation of the valour of local people and in order that they might have timber for rebuilding.

Selkirk is a great place for statues. A short stroll west from Victoria Hall, standing at the end of High Street, is a monument to explorer Mungo Park, who died trying to discover the source of the Niger in Africa.

The casts of Fletcher and native cameos that adorn the four corners of the Mungo Park statue are the work of Border sculptor Thomas Clapperton who achieved international fame after studying in Glasgow, London and Paris. Many of his best pieces can be found in the Borders.

In Selkirk market place is a memorial to Sir Walter Scott, the Borders most famous son, standing in front of the courthouse he presided over as Sheriff of Selkirkshire from 1803-1832.  Of all the famous footprints that have made their mark in the Borders, Sir Walter’s have left by far the biggest impression.

A short walk from the market place is the award-winning Halliwells museum recreating the building’s former use as a home and ironmonger’s shop.  It also tells the story of the historic burgh of Selkirk and the Robson Gallery hosts regularly changing contemporary art, craft and local history exhibitions.

Selkirk’s shoemaking industry, still going strong in the mid-1700’s when 2,000 pairs were provided for Bonnie Prince Charlie’s army on its march south, was eclipsed by textile production from the 1800’s onwards.

A forest of tall chimneys once dominated the skyline along Ettrick Water, testament to the importance of textile manufacture in the Borders. The mills were internationally famous and today Locharron of Scotland carries on that tradition as the world’s leading tartan manufacturer.

The company stocks over 700 tartans and has kilted numerous celebrities from Sean Connery to Shrek.

Great Scott and his beloved Borders

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Who could ever doubt the inspirational qualities of the Scottish Borders.

It was beguiling border landscapes and legends that fired the imagination of the young Walter Scott, providing a formative starting point for the remarkable journey that was to follow.

And it is impossible to overstate the importance of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832).

The son of an Edinburgh solicitor, he was sent to his grandparent’s farm in the Borders to recuperate after suffering from polio. At Sandyknowe, in the shadow of Smailholm Tower. he was taught to read and listed to local legends and folk tales. Later he studied at Kelso Grammar School – a building still standing next to the town’s ruined abbey.

Smailham Tower (left) celebrating Scott’s 250th anniversary and (above) testament to his passion for collecting.

It was to be the start of a love affair with the region that lasted all, his life. He settled in the Borders where he was appointed Sheriff Depute of Selkirkshire and his courtroom is preserved as a museum on the town of Selkirk.

Soon after his appointment, in 1811, he started work on building Abbotsford on the site of a run down farm.

To understand more about the man, all roads lean to Abbotsford, his dramatic “conundrum castle” home, tucked away amidst 10 picturesque acres overlooking the River Tweed between Melrose and Selkirk.

Here he assembled a treasure trove that reflects the enlightened times in which he lived; a massive collection of books, weapons, artefacts, porcelain and paintings that confirm am insatiable curiosity in the world at large and Scotland in particular.

His contributions to the world of literature are only matched by the legacy he left for his beloved Borders.

Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime. The Waverley Novels, as Scott’s 26 novels came to be called, were the world’s first bestsellers. Waverley earned Scott ten times as much in its first year as Jane Austen earned for Pride and Prejudice in her entire lifetime.

Scott’s novels paved the way for the great popular novels of the Victorian age, influenced Pushkin and Tolstoy as well as George Eliot and Dickens, and earned him the money to buy land, plant trees and to build Abbotsford.

His works were translated into over 30 languages and avidly read from Scandinavia, Italy and Moscow to the American frontier and his literary reputation introduced him to the great men of his time. He developed friendships with Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron, Washington Irving and Wellington.

The Prince Regent conferred a baronetcy on him in 1818 and, when he became George IV, encouraged Scott to orchestrate the first royal visit to Scotland for over 150 years. This was a visit that saw Scott reinvent tartan and the gathering of the Highland Clans.

Scott’s influence on Scotland’s literary and cultural heritage is immense. From his image on many Scottish banknotes to the names of his novels and literary characters taking pride of place on the country’s streets and buildings such as Edinburgh’s Waverley Station, not forgetting the impressive Scott’s Monument which sits on the capital’s Princes Street.

Lock of Napoleon’s Hair Rediscovered at Abbotsford

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A visit to Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford home near Melrose in the Scottish Borders by the popular BBC TV show Antiques Road Trip unearthed a long lost treasure from the novelist’s collections – a lock of Napoleon’s hair.

The hair was rediscovered as one of the show’s antiques experts, Anita Manning, and Abbotsford’s Jason Dyer examined a blotter book that had belonged to Napoleon and which had been on show in the library at the historic house.

The hair was contained within a small handwritten note dated 8 November 1827, written to Sir Walter Scott from a Mr Dalton.

In it, Mr Dalton explained that the lock of hair has been given to him by Lt Col Elphinstone who served under Wellington, and that he believed it would be of great interest to Scott who was famed for his passion for collecting.

The blotter, which is in an extremely fragile condition, the note and hair have now been removed from Abbotsford and are being examined by a team of conservation experts. They will go on show again to the public once this important work has been completed.

The lock of Napoleon’s hair is just part of a fascinating collection built up by Scott. Other items include a silver urn gifted to Scott by Lord Bryon, a clock that is reputed to have belonged to Marie Antoinette, Rob Roy’s broadsword, dirk, sporran and gun as well as numerous artefacts collected from the field of the battle of Waterloo.

Scott is known to have travelled to Belgium following Wellington’s victory in 1815 and his poem, The Fields of Waterloo, is based on first-hand accounts of the brutal conflict by soldiers he spoke with at the scene.

While there his collecting instincts must have gone into overdrive.

Other Waterloo discoveries include four flags that were discovered tucked away in a dusty old cupboard at Abbotsford House. The four standards, three French and one English, had been forgotten about and were found rolled up in sheets of brown paper.

Jedburgh Abbey

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The Scottish Borders was a magnet for monks in medieval times – truly men on a mission. In a region with ancient Christian traditions and lured by the promise of royal patronage they set up four mighty monastic institutions at Jedburgh, Melrose, Drybrough and Kelso.

In the years before he was crowned king of Scotland, David 1 masterminded a plan to set up monastic centres throughout the Borders and was responsible for populating them with colonies of monks from England and the Continent.

Jedburgh Abbey was built from designs inspired by Europe’s finest churches and its roots trace back to 1118 when a group of Augustans from the Abbey of St-Quentin, at Beauvais north of Paris, set out for a new life in the Borders – a sort of early twinning arrangement – and served a royal castle located in the town.

The priory they established was given large bequests of lands and fisheries by David l and duly prospered. The men of the monastic orders were every bit as good at business as they were in upholding the faith.  It was raised to abbey status around 1154.

David’s successor, Malcolm died at Jedburgh Abbey in 1165 and Alexander lll was married there to Yolande of Dreux, another notable French connection.

There is nothing quite like a great ruin for visitor appeal and Jedburgh’s 12th century Abbey ranks alongside the best of them, providing a breathtaking welcome for those arriving in the town from the south.  

Down the centuries, not all visitors were welcome.

As a gateway town to the Borders and Scotland, Jedburgh bore the brunt of many unwelcome visits from invading English armies.

During incursions made in the 1540’s Jedburgh was reduced to ruins by Henry the Eighth’s armies. It was a time that became known as the ‘rough wooing’ resulting from the Scots refusal to ratify the betrothal of the infant Mary Queen of Scots to his son Edward, then at the tender age of seven.  

It was fatally destroyed after a series of major raids from south of the Border in 1523 and 1544. The Protestant Reformation of 1560 led to Jedburgh’s final demise as a monastic institution.

Jedburgh Abbey, however, is still an imposing building. The great abbey church of St Mary the Virgin stands almost entire and the eastern end has Romanesque architecture of the highest quality.

Still used on special occasions it is home to a museum housing historic artifacts from the area and run by Historic Environment Scotland.

Ample free parking is located close to Jedburgh Abbey and free audio tours available to use on-site in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

More at www.historicenvironment.scot

No mugs when it comes to business innovation 

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Lockdown has opened the door to a high flying success story for entrepreneurs David Miller and Dave Foster.

As the business world slowed to walking pace because of the coronavirus emergency they moved into top gear with an innovative collaboration that has taken the fishing world by storm.

Using the latest digital technology they are producing intricate high quality versions of favourite fishing flies for printing on drinking mugs. 

Fishing Mugs founders David Miller (left) and Dave Foster (right) casting for business.

Aimed at salmon and trout fishing enthusiasts, orders have been pouring in to fishingmugs.co.uk from all over the world. 

The idea received a major boost after catching the attention of Anne Woodcock, marketing manager for Fishpal in Kelso, an online booking and information system for all types of rod fishing.

“I got in touch after organising a fly tying competition to chase away anglers’ lockdown blues. We received almost 200 entries from all over the UK and the winner came from Scottish artist and avid angler Ronald Hutton who came up with a salmon fly, NHS Warrior. He had fused the colours of the NHS logo as a mark of respect to frontline health staff.

“The drinking mugs provide a perfect ‘canvas’ for NHS Warrior and proceeds from sales of those mugs will go to the NHS through Captain Tom Moore’s heroic fundraising drive,” said Anne.

At fishingmugs.co.uk, based in Co Durham, the Davids were only too pleased to be involved with Ranald’s efforts to raise cash and recognise the efforts of frontline workers. NHS Warrior is now part of the business’s growing gallery of fishing fly mugs. 

“It’s amazing how quickly the idea has taken off. It started over a mug of coffee when I noticed Dave had produced artwork of his dog and his daughters’ own artwork onto mugs. They looked great and I asked him if he could do a mug for me featuring the Charlie Miller fishing fly that had been created by my dad. 

“I was amazed at the finished result and asked for more using vintage Akroyd flies dating back to the 1800s. Again, the quality was top notch so we decided to have a go at creating a series of mugs using fishing flies in my collection to see if they would sell. 

“Dave set up the website, photographed and enhanced the flies, then we had them printed on the mugs. That was in February and things have really taken off since then. We have been contacted by world-class fly tiers and fishing authors requesting us to design and reproduce bespoke fine art mugs from their creations,” said David, who was brought up in the Scottish Borders and has a life-long passion for angling.

Find out more at fishingmugs.co.uk