Welcome to 2017 – the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology

At Borders FHS, we are looking forward to 2017 - to help with your family history, to build up your family tree and add to the Births, Marriages, Deaths & Census information you already have.

The Monumental Inscriptions team are busy photographing and recording throughout the Borders.  Final checks of the transcriptions are being done at Chirnside while several other burial places have been photographed and transcribed and the MI’s available for use in our Research Room will be increasing throughout the year.

Indexing of both the Poor Law and the Police & Criminal records continue using the digitised images of the records held by the Scottish Borders Archive.

We have over 15,000 individual arrest records already and have completed the indexing of the recruitment records for Policemen in the Borders Counties.  Our home-based volunteers are working away on Roxburghshire, Hawick and Berwickshire arrest records and these are providing fascinating insights into local and social history such as the building of the Borders railway in the 1860’s, the movement of seasonal workers from Ireland and the regiments stationed at Stobs Camp before WWI.

Research for the Stobs Project, looking at the camp during the years of WWI, is both interesting and challenging.  Our Stobs research team are researching both the POW’s and the soldiers stationed there.  Find more news about the project at http://www.stobscamp.org/

Over the last year, our library has been improved by many donations of books - biographies, family histories, local & social histories.

And we are looking forward to a bigger, brighter research room.  We will be opening on Tues 10^th Jan after our New Year break and will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the end of February.  In March, we will be open on Fridays again.  Please come along and meet our research team

And we have some fascinating talks lined up – all of the talks are in the Corn Exchange in Melrose and start at 2.30pm

Feb 26 – From Abbey St Bathans to Otago – the story of a forgotten Borderer

Mar 26 - Transcribing ScotlandsPlaces

Apr 30 - Farm Servants of South-East Scotland, 1750-1914

May 28 - The Deid’s Letterwills and Legacies - Lifting the Veil on Past Lives

Look out for news about the 2017 Borders Heritage Festival (They’re on facebook and Twitter @BHeritageFest and are planning their own website as well).  Over the last few years, the festival has spread over the whole of the Borders and this year will have much more to see and do.   And you can follow us on facebook and twitter too.

Find Your Family History at Bygone Borderlands, Berwick-upon-Tweed, This Weekend

It's almost here, the event that we've all been waiting for.

The popular annual Bygone Borderlands event at Berwick Guildhall is this weekend; from 11am to 4pm on Saturday, 2 May and Sunday, 3 May.

Pose your family history question to us or Northumberland and Durham Family History Society.

Discuss those local history puzzles with Ayton Local History Society; Belford Museum Group; Border Archaeological Society; Bowsden History Group; Chirnside History Group; Coldstream History Society; Eyemouth Museum; Flodden 1513; Friends of Berwick & District Museum and Archives; Glendale Local History Society; Lowick Heritage Group; Northumberland and Durham Family History Group; Old Parish of Bamburgh Group ; Till Valley Archaeological Society (Tillvas).

There's a downloadable programme of talks - 4 each day, starting at noon.
Saturday, 2 May

Sunday, 3 May

Transcribing at Chirnside

Chirnside Church

A very successful week-end transcribing at Peebles a few weeks back. Blessed with good weather substantial progress was made.

Next week-end (17th. and 18th. August) we turn our attention to Chirnside and shall be transcribing there on the Saturday from 10 to 4 and on Sunday from 1 to 4

Chirnside is another cemetery which offers considerable challenge with many old stones going back to the 18th. century and accordingly now quite worn and difficult, indeed in some cases, impossible to read.

The graveyard is more or less adjacent to the estate of Ninewells where David Hume spent his boyhood years  and when transcribing an interesting reflection that the great philosopher would probably have known quite a number of these people.

It is also quite a sizeable graveyard  and we are according looking for as much support as we can muster and we hope that as many members and friends might manage along on either (or both) of the two days, even if only for a couple of hours.

Chirnside Church and graveyard are situated to the south of the Town, off the A6105 Duns to Berwick Road. Approaching Chirnside from Duns rather than proceeding into the Town keep on the Berwick Road and after about half a mile turn left at the Chirnside Inn (still known to most as The Waterloo Inn - why can't old names be preserved?) and the Church  is immediately on the right hand side - there is plenty of parking.

If coming along bring a notebook and pen/pencil  and a soft brush also preferably chalk and water and a kneeling pad - not of course forgetting a picnic - as ever a chance to meet and converse with fellow members  

While no problems to anyone just turning up if you are going to manage it can be helpful with organizing if you could contact me, Ronald Morrison beforehand on www.bordersfhs.org.uk/BFHSContacts.asp, using the contact type Gravestone Recording. - or telephone 01361 882166

Lets hope once again we are blessed with fine weather -a pleasant way to spend a summer's day as witness the attached of our membership secretary who has been doing quite a bit of preparatory work

Berwickshire Monumental Inscriptions research on the road again

Saturdays beautiful clear frosty morning was too good to miss.  Even though it was very cold, I took the chance to go around east Berwickshire, researching for the publication of Monumental Inscriptions.  First stop was Edrom, already recorded and photographed, to look at the Symbolic stones in more detail .The original tablestones were set upright into the ground many years ago, one of them upside down and the supports were incorporated into one of the walls. I was very lucky to get access to the church as one of the elders was there putting the heating on. 

 

Next stop was Chirnside, to photograph the church and to draw a rough plan of the churchyard. Then on to Ayton, to photograph the church and the war memorial.  BFHS published Ayton MI’s some years ago and have now photographed the older part of the churchyard.  Next stage is to photograph the stones in the newer part of the churchyard and to complete the plan of the layout.

 

Eyemouth was the last visit, to look at the old churchyard in the town centre, to photograph the old watch house.  Some of the old symbolic stones and the supports of tablestones have been incorporated into this building. Both old and new cemeteries at Eyemouth were recorded this year, the next stage being the indexing and research into the Militia lists of the early 19^th century.

And after a morning, walking about in the frosty wet grass, lunch in one of the local cafes was most welcome.  There’s lots more research and preparation for the Monumental Inscriptions team to do over the winter months.

Railway to Duns

There’s a long article about the branch line that ran from Reston on the East Coast Mainline to Duns in the August 2011 edition of Backtrack (Vol 25 Number 8). The line opened in 1849 and closed to passengers in 1951. Goods traffic lasted until 1964. There were intermediate stations at Chirnside and Edrom and there references to a number of individuals. Names mentioned are – Arthur, Affleck, Brunton, Brydon, Cleland, Dagg, Davidson, Farnie, Friar, Kerr, Leitch, Nicholl, Patterson, Purves, Scott, Robertson, Thomson, Thornton, White, Whytock and Young

David Hume Philosophy Festival on Saturday, 30th April 2011

A very warm sunny day for this event held in Chirnside, Berwickshire.

A man dressed in period costume, looking quite like some portraits of David Hume, greeted visitors and directed traffic.

Unfortunately I missed Fiona Houston's talk on Life in Georgian Chirnside, due to very slow traffic in front of me, all the way from Greenlaw. Fiona was dressed in period costume.

However, there were samples of Georgian gingerbread, macaroons, jumbles, and cake and they were very tasty.

There was an interesting presentation with animated slides about the life of David Hume and his works - many of his observations upon life seem very appropriate today - there were bank failures and political shenaningans in his day too.

David Hume, the chief executive of Scottish Borders Council, gave a speech about his namesake, David Hume, and unveiled the plaque on the wall of the old church, now the community centre.

Inside the community centre, as well as the Georgian food, there were 5 display stands, and a table with some interesting letters of the period, and some other documents including David Hume's family tree and a legal case involving David Hume's father, Joseph.

The stands were:

1. Introduction to David Hume

2. Life and Works of David Hume
3. David Hume's Legacy

4. David Hume's Family

5. Chirnside in the 1700s

There were lots more events in the programme, however, I didn't stay for them.

For more details of the programme, see Ronald Morrison's blog on the David Hume Philosophy Festival.

David Hume Philosophy Festival

Next week sees the 300th anniversary of the birth of David Hume, not only Scotland’s but undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest philosophers. Hume has been accorded many accolades, Professor Simon Blackburn of Cambridge University for instance describing him as “Britain’s greatest philosopher and since Socrates the most loved anywhere” and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy describing him as “the most important philosopher ever to write in English”.

Although born in Edinburgh, Hume was brought up and spent all his childhood years at Ninewells House near Chirnside in Berwickshire which he always regarded as his home. It is said he never lost his Borders’ accent.

He was born on 26th April 1711 under the Julian calendar, 7th May 1711 under the Gregorian calendar introduced in 1752. Accordingly perhaps not inappropriate to celebrate his birth somewhere between these two dates and this will be happening in grand fashion at Chirnside next Saturday (30th).

There will be a great deal to enjoy, learn and experience on the day and indeed beforehand and over the summer.

From next Tuesday 26th until the following Saturday there will be an exhibition in the Chirnside Community Centre entitled “The Life and Times of David Hume”.

The day itself will start at 10 o’clock with a talk by Fiona Houston, author of “The Garden Cottage Diaries, My Year in the Eighteenth Century” entitled “Life in Georgian Chirnside”.

At 11 o’clock a chance to view the performance of a play by the children of Chirnside Primary School written by drama teacher Eloner Crawford and entitled “Unanswerable Questions”.

Afterwards an opportunity to visit the exhibition, help raise money for some local charities while at the same time enjoying some Georgian food.

At 12.30 there will be the formal unveiling of a David Hume Commemorative plaque within the village, this very appropriately being carried out by the chief executive of Scottish Borders Council who just happens to share the same name as the philosopher.

Then at 2 00. p.m. a further unveiling this time of an information panel to mark the opening of the new David Hume Walk from Chirnside to Auchencrow. This will be followed by a short walk to Ninewells House Hume’s ancestral home for some welcome drinks.

At 3.15 in the Red Lion Hotel, Roderick Graham author of Hume’s highly acclaimed biography “The Great Infidel” will deliver a talk on "Hume, the Man and his Life”.

4.00 p.m. will see a discussion between two philosophers, Alasdair Richmond of Edinburgh University and Peter Millican of Oxford University on “David Hume: the Philosophy”. Much no doubt to ponder and to think on.

Afterwards at 4.45 p.m. the awarding of the David Hume Essay Prize.

The evening starts off at 6.00 p.m. with a Georgian banquet at nearby Paxton House followed by a tour of the House. Tickets for this eventcost £22 but may be hard by come by.

At 7.30 there will be a further talk by Dr. Peter Millican who will explore how the Borders shaped Hume’s philosophy and to round off the day at 8.45 Denise Walton will talk on Hume ‘s contemporary and near neighbour “James Hutton, Father of Geology”.

A very full day and as one muses and philosophizes, particularly if the current very warm weather continues, a liquid refreshment might well be appropriate. To mark the anniversary a new beer has been brewed by Hadrian and Border entitled entirely appropriately “Enlightenment Ale” which will be available in hostelries locally. CHEERS!

For further information see; http://www.chirnside.org.uk/.