Oldhamstocks is a small village of medieval agricultural origin nestled on the northern side of an unusual dogleg shaped valley at the Eastern end of the Lammermuir Hills. The village itself is on a gentle south facing slope of the broader valley, above the more steeply sloping cut formed by the Oldhamstocks burn. It is often referred to as one of the ‘hidden villages’ as it can only be reached by local roads and has a remote and timeless feel. 

Roman Occupation

The Romans invaded Scotland three times. The first invasion was by Agricola in 78 AD and the occupation lasted until the end of the century when there was a withdrawal to the Tyne - Solway line. This was followed by the Antonine invasion in 142 AD when the Antonine Wall was built. The occupation lasted sometime into the 160’s when there was a withdrawal to Hadrian’s Wall though a presence was maintained in the south of the country. There were two further campaigns by Severus between 208 and 211 AD.

Crachoctrestrete

The majority of the roads appear to date from the first invasion.

Most enigmatic of all is the Crachoctrestrete, a possible Roman Road running from Ecclaw to meet the line of the current A6112 to the west of Grantshouse. The etymology of the name is not clear although it may be linked to an oak tree popular with crows.  

Aldehamstoe/Aldehamstoc/Aldhamstoke/ Aldhamstocks/Auldhamstoxs/Auldhamstox/Oldhamstocks 

The name is also of considerable antiquity, being Anglo-Saxon in root and meaning ‘place of old habitation or dwelling’.  

Bernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England.

The Anglian territory of Bernicia was approximately equivalent to the modern English counties of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and Durham, as well as the Scottish counties of Berwickshire and East Lothian, stretching from the Forth to the Tees. In the early 7th century, it merged with its southern neighbour, Deira, to form the kingdom of Northumbria, and its borders subsequently expanded considerably.

Important Anglian centres in Bernicia bear names of British origin, or are known by British names elsewhere: Bamburgh is called Din Guaire in the Historia Brittonum; Dunbar (where Saint Wilfrid was once imprisoned) represents Dinbaer; and the name of Coldingham is given by Bede as Coludi urbs ("town of Colud"), where Colud seems to represent the British form, possibly for the hill-fort of St Abb's Head.


Viking Coped Stone Grave Marker

One of the oldest of the types of recumbent medieval grave marker is the Coped Stone. These appear to derive from the distinguished ancestry of the Viking hogback stone, many of which were carved to represent miniature houses, their sloping sides bearing carved roofing shingles. This is a tradition that continued into the medieval period in coped stones. These took a variety of forms, but are distinguished by broad, steeply sloping flanks. There is a group of three of these at Oldhamstocks, in East Lothian.

Two have semi-circular shingles along their flanks. The third of these bears rectangular shingles, and along its horizontal upper panel is an intricate cruciform chip-work motif. The stones are undated, but can be attributed to the twelfth century: the tegulation motif also occurs locally on capitals at the ruin of the Romanesque church of Tynninghame.

The village has a long history with the earliest physical remains in the village dating to the 14th century, with documentary sources pushing its origins back to the 12th century.  

The oldest parts of the village grew up around the castle, church and village green. Another group of houses grew up to the east of the village where the main road from Innerwick to Duns created a crossroads before the A1, this would have been a major travel route and these houses grew up to cater for this i.e. a smith, joiner and a staging house, called Cromwell Hall. 

The east end of the village is not shown on maps until the 1800's. This suggests the village was divided in two by landowners. By the late 1600's John Hay, the 2nd Earl of Tweedale, owned the oldest part of Oldhamstocks to the west, and the Earl of Dunglass to the east. 

There were two water pumps in Oldhamstocks. One is on the village green and the other one is near the Smithy, perhaps this was out of necessity for the distance from the Smithy to the village green was quite far. 

The parish has an unusually high proportion of buildings listed for their architectural merit. In the village they include: the A listed parish church, graveyard walls and watch house; B listed market cross, wellhead, Old Manse, ‘Braeview’, ‘Wight House’ and Stottencleugh Farmhouse; and C listed ‘Greenend’, ‘Broadwood’, ‘October Cottage’ and Mill Cottage.

Watch House and Graveyard Wall

Market Cross, Wellhead and Wight House

Wellhead and Braeview

Well

Stottencleugh Farmhouse

Market Cross, Greenend, Old School, Old Schoolhouse

Broadwood

October Cottage

Old Manse

Mill Cottage

Woollands Farmhouse

Old Smiddy and Eastfield

•    •    •

Thanks to Graeme and Nicky Munro and Simpson & Marwick for the above drone photo

First Battle of Dunbar 1296

John Balliol (c. 1249 – late 1314), was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Following the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, at the age of seven years, Scotland entered a period of uncertainty during which several competitors for the Crown of Scotland were in contention. Balliol was chosen from among them as the new King of Scotland by a group of selected noblemen headed by King Edward I of England.

Edward used his influence over the process to subjugate Scotland and undermined Balliol's personal reign by treating Scotland as a vassal of England. Edward's influence in Scottish affairs tainted Balliol's reign and he became known derisively as Toom Tabard (meaning "empty coat" – coat of arms). As an example, he insisted that Balliol’s first chancellor was a Yorkshireman, Master Thomas of Hunsingore, who held the small parsonage of Oldhamstocks. He had been an Oxford don and guarantor of good behaviour by Northerners and Scots in the University in 1274 after they fought the Southerners and Irish. Hunsingore was also a former attorney of King John's mother, Dervorguilla, and an executor of her will in 1290.

The Battle of Dunbar was the only significant field action of the campaign of 1296 during the beginning of the First War of Scottish Independence.

King Edward invaded Scotland in March 1296 to punish Balliol for his refusal to support English military action in France. On 5 April, he received a message from King John renouncing his homage, to which he remarked, "O' foolish knave! What folly he commits. If he will not come to us, we will go to him."

The battle amounted to an encounter between two bodies of mounted men-at-arms. The English comprised of one formation of cavalry; the Scots led in part by Comyns, who were depended on for their cavalry element. The two forces came in sight of each other on 27 April. The Scots held a strong position on high ground to the west. To meet them, the English cavalry had to cross Spott Burn. As they did so their ranks broke up, and the Scots, thinking the English were leaving the field, chased them in a downhill charge, only to find them reformed on Spottsmuir and advancing in perfect order. The English routed them in a single charge. The action was brief and probably not very bloody, since the only casualty of any note was a minor Lothian knight, Sir Patrick Graham, though about 100 Scottish lords, knights and men-at-arms were taken prisoner. The survivors fled. The following day Dunbar castle surrendered. John Comyn*, Earl of Buchan, and the earls of Atholl, Ross and Menteith, together with 130 knights and esquires were taken prisoner. All were sent into captivity in England.

In 2012 the site was added to the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland. Historic Environment Scotland reports that no archaeological discoveries have been reported from the battle site, and that a 2007 dig failed to yield any battle-related finds. However, it considers that weaponry and other metal objects from the battle may lie undiscovered in the topsoil.

*John Comyn was known as ‘the Red Comyn’ and would eventually be murdered by Robert the Bruce at Greyfriars Church, Dumfries in 1306.

Death of Comyn

The killing of Comyn in the Greyfriars church in Dumfries, as portrayed by Felix Philippoteaux, a 19th-century illustrator.

Tudor & Elizabethan Eras

The Tudor (1485 to 1558) and Elizabethan (1558 to 1603) eras marked the murderous heyday of the Border Reivers when lawless Border Reiving clans clans dominated the border country on both the English and Scottish side. Reiving and raiding was nothing new in the Border Country but although Border wardens were employed to keep the peace, the centralised nature of the Tudor regime and the increasing tensions between England and Scotland left the people of the Border Country to fend for themselves. A culture of raiding and stealing livestock had evolved with loyalty to a family name and feuds between families taking on a greater importance than any allegiance to a particular nation.


Henry Percy, the 6th Earl of Northumberland ravaged the Scottish Borders in 1532 and in 1534. The raiding was ruthless and brutal. In 1534, 192 castles, towers and churches were destroyed.

Letter written by Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland to Henry VIII in December 1532:

"Having received the King's commands to invade Scotland, and being informed of the plenteous country of Lodyane, about Donglas, three miles from Dunbar, whither many of the Merse had removed with their goods and cattle, took advice of his brother Clifford and the other captains of the garrison here; and on Wednesday night, the 11th inst., invaded Scotland, accompanied by the whole garrison and a band of Northumberland men. 

On Thursday morning, before daybreak, sent forth two forays, wherein were George Douglas and Archibald his uncle, who, at daybreak, raised fires in Donglas, and destroyed the town and corn there; also the towns and corn of Aldhamstokes, Cobbirsbeth, Hoprygg, Old Camers, and Reidtlewes. 

Sent for their support, Sir Arthur Darcy, accompanied by 600 and above "in a fleying stale;" and for his relief, Sir Richard Tempest, with his retinue of 500, "being so near unto my battle that his strength did lie unto the said fleyng stale and me." Set forward, and burnt a town called Raynton; "and thus, thanks be to God, the forays, fleyng stale, and battle, safely, without loss or hurt, did meet at the hour of 12 of the clock, not being one pele, gentleman's house, nor grange, unbrynt and destroyed; and so reculed towards England." In our return we forayed all the country towards Berwick, and burnt and destroyed the towns of Conwodd, Honwodd, two Rustayns, Blackhill, and Hillend, two Atons, "and wan the Barmkyn there; " all which towns were in the Merse. Many Scotchmen have been taken prisoners, and there were seized over 2,000 "noyte," and 4,000 sheep, with all the insight, &c. Saw no power of Scotchmen assembled till they came in the Merse, where about 2,000 men were seen about 3 p.m. Afterday was gone, arrived at Berwick. Will shortly set forward in Tevidale, where the frosts are so severe as has not been seen. Desires thanks to be given to Sir Thos. Clifford, Sir Arthur Darcy, and Sir Richard Tempest, and to other inhabitants of this country, whose names he sends enclosed. The earl of Angus, his uncle Archibald, and his brother George, assisted in their persons. Understands the lord Home intended to have given us a setting on at Billy Myre, when Angus's friends said plainly they would not adventure their lives against a battle so well furnished. On this they all deserted lord Home, leaving him not more than 1,000 men, and he never ventured near your army. Is much pressed to advance men to knighthood, according to an old privilege of wardens founded on custom but will not take it upon him till he know the King's pleasure. Sir George Lawson was with him on Monday the 9th and has paid the soldiers."

Courtesy of Henry VIII: December 1532, 1-15 | British History Online(british-history.ac.uk)


Court Judgement 1570

The following judgement can be found in the collected legal decisions of the sixteenth-century Scottish judge, Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington (now Lennoxlove, Haddington). He was a Senator of the College of Justice, an Ordinary Lord of Session from 1561 until 1584, and notable Scottish poet. He held the political office of Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland and was also the Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland.

The case was brought by Alexander Home of Manderston in 1570 and attempted to legally force a group of tenants of farms in Oldhamstocks to forfeit their lands. They argued that their leases had been granted before the treason (thought to be the rebellion called the “Rising of the North 1569” where rebels had rallied around Catholicism and Mary, Queen of Scots against protestant Elizabeth l).

Maitland kept notes of significant cases as he didn’t initially train in Scots Law and this decision was used as a stated case in future cases of a similar nature. The note from Maitland was “A tack (farm) clad with possession (lease) before the treason, and set for a sufficient rent, and for an ordinary endurance, is valid against forfeiture.”

FORFEITURE.
Subject_2 SECT.III.

With what burdens forfeiture is affected.

Home of Manderston
v.
Tenants of Oldhamstocks

Date: 14 December 1570
Case No. No 24.

A tack clad with possession before the treason, and set for a sufficient rent, and for an ordinaryendurance, is valid against forfeiture.

In an action of removing persewed be Alexander Home of Manderston, donatar to the lands of Oldhamstocks, be forfalting of N. Hepburn, Laird of Riccarton, against certain tenants of the said lands; the Tenants answerit, They had tacks for terms to run set to them be the said Laird of Riccarton, long before the said forfalture, and they had been diverse years in possession of the said tacks given before the said forfalture. The persewar replyit, That long before the date of the said tacks, the lands were become in the King's hands be forfalture of my Lord Bothwell, immediate superior to  the said Laird, igitur, the Laird of Riccarton's lands then came in forfalture, and so the tacks were set be him who had no power to set them; the which reply was fund relevant, and in respect thereof, the exception repellit. This was but for ane part of the tenants; but other of the tenants ansrit, That they had tacks for terms to rin, set to them be the Laird of Riccarton, before the Earl Bothwell's forfeiture, and so be him who had power to set the same. The persewer replyit, That the exception should be repelled, because the Lord Bothwell superior, and also Riccarton proprietor being forfaltit, the King who wald not have regairdit an heritable infeftment given be Riccarton at the time of the said assedation, but wald remove the heritable tenants, meikle more aught the tacksmen to be removit at the King's instance and his donatar's. The reply was repellit be the Lords, and tacks ordained to stand to the issue of their assedation, notwithstanding the forfalture; because the King having the maills and duties of the lands is not defraudit as he is be the heritable infeftments, and therefore sould not remove the poor tenants having leisomely obtained the said tacks be their awn geir, of them who were not, nor yet their superior convict of the said crimes where through forfaulture might have followit; and the like practic was between John Lesly of N. and ——————.

Market Village

Oldhamstocks was given the right to a weekly market in 1627.

The painting below shows a bustling fair which took place at the Mercat (or Market) Cross, both the commercial heart of the village and symbol of its right to trade. Alexander Carse's picture dated 1796 is an important record of a Scottish country fair, as these were becoming increasingly rare. The late eighteenth century saw the disappearance of many rural customs and was a time of great social change in Scotland. Fairs and markets had traditionally been an integral part of the rural economy, fulfilling multiple functions as food, clothing and livestock markets, and as a hiring ground for farm servants. Carse takes great delight in depicting all the local characters, and shows that fairs were also a great opportunity for social gatherings.

Oliver Cromwell - Battle of Dunbar

A number of houses in Oldhamstocks bear the name "Cromwell" and Oliver Cromwell is reputed to have stayed at a tavern on the site of the house now known as Cromwell Hall prior to the Battle of Dunbar in 1650. On the 2nd September 1650, Cromwell was ‘cornered’ at Dunbar expecting to be beaten soundly by the Scottish Presbyterian force of Sir David Leslie. Unfortunately for the Scots, Leslie made a fatal move by abandoning their commanding position on Doon Hill which allowed Cromwell the opportunity to demolish the Scottish army in the space of an hour. 

Cromwell Hall

"Cromwell at Dunbar" by Andrew Carrick Gow, 1886 

 'The last stand of Lawer's Brigade at Dunbar' by Graham Turner

Map 1665

Map 1682

Oldhamstock's Fair 1796


Excerpt “ If I had my will just o’ the Parish o’ Enderwick, Hamstocks, Cobbersmith and as far wast as Tyne-sands, and let me gang and take them out from between the plough-stilts, or from the harrows or from whatever their work was, and let me gie them their parritch I’ the mornin’ to keep the faintin’ hunger aff them, and let me have them drilled so as to gar them haud their tongues and listen to what’s said to them and then let me lead them on – let me, lamestar as I am, lead them on and I would put Loudon* – the Loudon ploughmen, mind, I speak o’ –in the city as a garrison, before ten o’clock at night! And dinnae think I’m blawin’I’ your lugs, because you’re a' ploughman that’s here; it’s been proved what Loudon can do. The first section o’ the 94th** was Loudoners; and I’ll tell ye what we did – we took the city and fortress o’ Rodrigo***. My sang we did – took it from the French and took it out o’ the teeth o’ them that were sent to take it…” 

*General John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun (5 May 1705 – 27 April 1782) was a Scottish nobleman and British army officer. He raised a Highland regiment of infantry, Loudon's Highlanders, which took part in the Jacobite Rising of 1745 on the side of the Hanoverian government. The regiment consisted of twelve companies, with Loudoun as colonel and John Campbell (later 5th Duke of Argyll) as lieutenant-colonel. The regiment served in several different parts of Scotland. Three of the twelve companies, raised in the south, were captured at the Battle of Prestonpans (1745).

**The 94th Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised as the Scotch Brigade in October 1794. It was renumbered as the 94th Regiment of Foot in December 1802 and disbanded in December 1818.

***The siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, (7–20 January 1812) had the Viscount Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese Army besiege the city's French garrison under General of Brigade Jean Léonard Barrié. After two breaches were blasted in the walls by British heavy artillery, the fortress was successfully stormed on the evening of 19 January 1812. After breaking into the city, British troops went on a rampage for several hours before order was restored. Wellington's army suffered casualties of about 1,700 men, including two generals killed. Strategically, the fall of the fortress opened the northern gateway into French-dominated Spain from British-held Portugal. An earlier siege of the city occurred in 1810 in which the French captured it from Spanish forces.

Supreme Court Ruling 1859

The Scottish Poor Laws stipulated the law regarding Poor Relief which were passed in Scotland between 1579 and 1929. The Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845 allowed local taxes to be raised to cover Poor Relief. Unlike in England, the Scottish pauper (legal term for those officially receiving poor relief) had a legal right to appeal if they were denied poor relief.

In 1851-2 a pauper called John Nicolson received relief amounting to 13 Shillings from the Poor Inspector in Coldingham. There was then a dispute between the Inspectors of Coldingham, Ayton and Oldhamstocks about which area was actually liable for the payment, which led to a hearing in 1859 at the Supreme Court. The judgement is outlined below.

*Assoilzie is a now disused term meaning to free, or to be absolved of guilt.

East Lothian Combination Poorhouse

Built in 1864, the East Lothian Combination Poorhouse in East Linton covered Aberlady, Bolton, Cockburnspath, Dirleton, Dunbar, Garvald, Innerwick, North Berwick, Oldhamstocks, Prestonkirk, Spott, Stenton, Whitekirk, Whittenghame and Yester. It was later joined by Athelstaneford, Ayton, Coldingham, Eyemouth, Longformacus and Morham.

It later became the Prestonkirk Home Poor Law Institution serving the whole of East Lothian. It later fell into disrepair but the building is now utilised by East Lothian Council.

1886 - Slater's (late Pigotand Co's) Royal national commercial directory and topography of Scotland
GENTRY & CLERGY.
Hall Sir Basil, Bart. Dunglass
Hewatt Rev. David, Oldhamstocks
Hutton Rev. William M. Oldhamstocks

SCHOOLS.
Board Schools:
Oldhamstocks: Adam Grainger, master

FARMERS.
Binnie James, Oldhamstocks
Christison William, Branxton & Lawfield
Clark Thomas & Robert, Cromwell Hall and
Oldhamstocks Mains
Hood Thomas, Dunglass
Smith Frederick C. Hoprig
Wilson John, Oldhamstocks

SHOPKEEPERS, TRADERS, &o.
Bishop James, miller, Dunglass
Borthwick James, miller, Oldhamstocks
Cockburn Margt. shopkeeper, Oldhamstocks
Ford Mary, shopkeeper, Oldhamstocks
Grainger Adam, registrar of births, deaths,
and marriages, and inspector of poor,
Oldhamstocks
Henry Michael, smith, Oldhamstocks
Kilpatrick David, shopkeeper, Oldhamstocks
Manderson James, joiner, Oldhamstocks

PLACES OF WORSHIP
and their ministers;
Established Churches:
Oldhamstocks:  Rev. William M. Hutton
Free Churches:
Oldhamstocks: Rev. David Hewatt

1890

The version of the Smiddy photo below was created by Dr. Wm Petrie and supplied by his daughter Isobel Petrie. The text reads 

Oldhamstocks Smiddy in 1890

The Village Smiddy was the centre of village life in the old days, and in this photo, we see the minister’s white horse in for a new pair of shoes, while the horse drawn van from Aitchison’s, the Co’path grocer visits, Jim Fairlie holds the Aitchison’s horse, while an unknown man hides behind the horse’s head, as he did not want to be in the photo.

Near the Smiddy House door is Mrs. Hogg (link to her gravestone), Bob Henry (link to school page 1889) then about 6 years old, and Jessie Hogg (link to school page 1886). The smith himself – Mr. Tom Hogg (link to his gravestone) – is in the centre of the photo, beside him is Dave Skeldon (link to his gravestone) the Minister’s groom. Michael Henry (link to his gravestone), the centre of many a village tale, is at the white horse’s head, with Mrs. Hogg’s father at the tail. The wee boy may be Jim Manderson (not in this version but visible far right in the version above). Note the well-worn box for nails in Michael’s hands. 

The building behind Candy Cottage was a school 1900

Right to Left - October Cottage, Plough Cottage & Dovecot 1900

The East End of the village (l-r Dovecot, Plough Cottage, October Cottage, Baird's Cottage) 1900

The Smiddy 1900

Ford at The Haystall 1900

Looking East from the Village Green 1910

Looking West from Pinly 1920

1930

Berwick Bridge Collapse 1948

The Farmers Weekly 14 April 1950 - Oldhamstocks (Portrait of a Village) - Four Page Feature

The market cross of Oldhamstocks was removed before 1900, the shaft at that time being preserved in the manse gardens.

The shaft of the current market cross was re-erected on a modern base on the village green in the mid 1950's. The original site of the cross was in the north half of the Manse garden (exact site not known) which once was part of the village green. 

The photos immediately below were taken around 1960

The Road to Stottencleugh 1960

Looking East from Haystall Hill 1960

Old postcard 1960

A mention of a visit from Harry & Shiela Jerrard in the Salt Spring Island (Canada) Newsletter 'Driftwood' in 1962

This photo was sent in by Derek Hunter who's family used to own what is now "Ferndale". He wrote "This photograph was taken in 1967 - from left to right are Stanley Bain, Derek Hunter (me!) on Sylvia Bain's lap, my father William Hunter, my maternal grandmother Ina Docherty with my sister Denise Hunter on her lap and  my Aunt - Frances Steel. I cannot remember the names of the four people on the right. Because my mother (Isabel Hunter) is not in the photograph I am assuming she took the picture!
At the time we lived in Edinburgh and I remember spending many weekends at the cottage with various relatives."

Circa 1970

Post Bus in 1993

The post bus was a means of delivering the post whilst offering transportation for passengers. It was suggested as early as 1961, in a Report on Rural Bus Services, that passengers could travel on post vans.

A post bus route was only introduced if specific criteria were met: if the route fitted with current postal obligations, it didn’t compete with an existing bus service and there was a need within the community.

The first post bus arrived in Scotland in 1968 and ran between Dunbar, Innerwick and Oldhamstocks. The article below is from 1993 and commemorates the 25th anniversary of this route and shows the post bus driving out of Oldhamstocks.

Gradually the routes were phased out due to fewer passengers, reduced deliveries and the loss of funding. The final bus journey in Scotland took place in 2017, on the route between Talmine and Tongue in Lairg.

A reproduction of the story ‘The Hamstocks Handplough’ written by D. Nelson in 1972  was published in the Autumn/Winter 2020 edition of East Lothian Life. The article is enhanced by photographs courtesy of this website. 

Below is a transcript of the story The Hamstocks Handplough

Yes, said Bob, I made this plough many years ago, and at one time every one in the village used to borrow it to set up their potatoes. You face into the trams and grip the handles like this, the coulter is set in between the drill of potatoes – that weighted ball makes the blade dig deep into the ground and you walk backwards pulling the plough after you and in no time your tatties are furred up as neat as ever you would want. You soon learn the knack of it.

Hamstocks is a quiet place nowadays, but I well remember when as many as twenty men would forgather nightly at the smiddy, some to crack, others with bits of iron to get sorted.  Our conversations covered many subject, but in the spring we talked about potatoes – when to plant, favourite varieties, whether rabbits’ guts made good manure and so on.  Even our greetings were about potatoes! First it would be ‘Good morning Wull, have ye got yer earlies planted yet?' Then later – ‘Are yer earlies through?’ and as weeks passed ‘Are yer tatties furred up yet?’ and then ‘Are yer shaws meetin in the dreel?’ and finally, ‘Are ye eating yer earlies yet?’.  Keen competition, often bordering on bad tempered rivalry, was common atween us. Now, Tom was a thrawn yin and he always wanted to be a heid o’ the rest o’ us!  If you asked him ‘Are yer tatties furred up yet /’ he would answer in his gruff way ‘Oh aye, lang syne and my shaws are meetin in the dreel forby’. Now, because I kept the plough I had a fair idea of what stage all the gardens in the village were at.  I had a rule that the plough had to be returned to the smiddy each night by ten o’clock, otherwise the plough might get lost. The rule was often broken, but in the main I usually knew where it was.  So one time when Tom was asked ‘Are yer earlies through?’ and he answered (as expected) ‘Oh, aye lang syne and I’ve got them furred up forby’, I was able to say to him ‘man, Tom, that’s by ordinar, as ye haven’t had the plough from the smiddy this year yet!’  All the other men laughed and Tom was ill put out.  As he slinked away he grunted, ‘Aw weel, I drew up a few dreels wi’ the hoe’.

Now, I said that everyone in the village borrowed the plough, but I was wrong, for many a year the Reverend Bryce never borrowed the plough.  He hired a man to draw his tatties up with a how.  Wages began to rise even in those days, and when he reached on bob an hour it was more that the minister could afford.  One night, pretty late he came to the smiddy, he seemed to appear from nowhere.  He was very surprised to see so many men there, ‘Good evening Robert, he said (he always called me Robert, never Bob, there was more politeness man to man in those days and I must say that I felt good inside when he called me Robert and I liked him for that).  ‘Good evening Robert, he said, my what a grand congregation you have here, a much better congregation than I have at the Kirk on many a Sunday!  I am going down to Birnie Knowes to visit and I will call in to see you on my return journey’ and off he went up the Smiddy brae.  I was at a loss to know what he could be wanting to see me for and some of the suggestions made by the men weren’t canny. Well, the crown went off early to their respective farms and I was just damping the smiddy fire for the night when in came the minister.  He soon let me know the purpose of his visit; he wanted to borrow the plough.  He would be very pleased if I would come up to the Manse, with the plough, on Saturday afternoon and show him how to use it. After a lesson or two he felt he would be able to set up his own potatoes.  So up I went to the Manse garden, I went in through the gate that opens on to the green.  The minister and the housekeeper were waiting for me.  We examined the potatoes and got ready for the lesson.  Every one in the village had furred up their tatties long ago and the manse ground looked very hard.  (I could see he hadn’t forked between the drills).  Soon, I was showing him how to work the plough.  When I had finished one row, off came his jacket and he gripped the plough handles with great determination.  But, oh my, what a sorry mess he made of his first drill.  It was crooked, not deep enough in some parts and in others he had lifted the young potatoes on their shaws clean out of the ground.

Now, you often find that educated folk doing a working job they are not acquaint with, discuss it and try to improve on methods proved by years of usage by working folk.  ‘I think Robert, he said, it would be better if I could face along the drill, drawing the plough after me, with ropes attached to the handles and which go over my shoulders, and if you would keep pressure on the back end so that the blade digs into the ground’.  It is also the case that we working folk given an alternative suggestion like this by a learned man, we don’t argue back, but meekly give in, even when we think his idea won’t work.  So it was in this case and soon we were making good progress, the minister pulling the plough like a horse and at the other end I was hopping like a hen to keep the coulter in the ground.  Soon we had furred up several rows that even Dod Darling (link to gravestone) would have said were just tippy. We were all happy with our progress. After a while we slaked our thirst on oatmeal water, brought to us by the housekeeper.  It was a very hot afternoon and even for me it was hard work. The minister worked well; soon he had his minister’s waistcoat off and was sweating in the oxters like any other working man.  By, what a fright I got, as we were nearing the end of one row, I noticed that the rope was slipping, I couldn’t warn him, as I was concentrating on my job at the hint end, but well I could see what was going to happen.  As we got to near the end of the drill, the minister gave an extraordinary BIG heave, the rope slipped off the handles, the coulter skidded on the ground, and the minister went heads over heals, tapsalterrie, right into a big grosset bush at the end of the drill.

He disappeared into the bush and worse still he hit his nose hard against a boulder hidden at the back of the bush and as he did this I am sure that I heard a word coming from him that ministers are not expected to say, but, my gosh, when we picked him up, his face was all scratched, one above his brow, others on his chin and cheeks, but Oh my! his nose.  He had a wide gash right across it and it bled like the village pump.  Soon the housekeeper had been into the manse and had brought an ewer of water and clean rags and we were bathing his face.  The morrow was the Sabbath, what a bonnie ticket he would look in the pulpit.  That wound on his nose would not stop bleeding.  The housekeeper went back into the manse and brought out a reel of sticking plaster.  She soon had him patched up and the bleeding stopped.  Now, at the end of the roll, printed on the sticking plaster in blue letters, were the makers name and TWELVE FEET and the housekeeper finished off with the Twelve Feet plastered across the bridge of his nose.  When I saw this I said, ‘Man, minister, I knew that you had a big nose, but I never thought that it was as big as twelve feet’. He smiled, I laughed, but the poor housekeeper did not see the joke at all.  We got him back into the manse and he settled to prepare his sermon for the morrow.  I furred up the rest of his potatoes in no time and went off home to the smiddy.

I wondered what kind of sight he would be next morning at the kirk. After the Beadle had brought in the Book, the minister ran like a frightened rabbit from the vestry to the safety of the pulpit and there he was ‘Let us Worship God’ he said, plastered just as I had left him.  His sermon was about Adam and Eve and how the Lord had cast them out of the garden of Eden, to till the soil by the sweat of their brows, because of their sin.  I thought to myself it does not mention cut noses and scratched faces and as I thought this, as if he was reading my thoughts, the minister peered down specially to me, as if to say, ‘you see Robert, we still are suffering for the original sin of our ancestors, just look at my face.’

Now he was a quiet man, not given to hearty greetings.  At the end of the service, he came from the pulpit, walked over to my pew and stretched out his hand over the pew door, and then, in the twinkling of an eye had scuttled of his gown flowing out behind him, off into the quiet of his vestry.

I am still very puzzled at his action, maybe it wasa quiet way of showing his appreciation, maybe it was a silent request that I should tell no one that he had said a bad word.

Well then Wullie, that’s the story of the hand plough and if you want to borrow it, you are very welcome, but mind return it here in a clean condition and back to the smiddy before ten o’clock.

14.8.72

Aerial View 1995

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