McGregor Books

Because of the connections with Polwarth the parish of Mertoun was an obvious choice for the Border Family History Society's second volume of Berwickshire's monumental inscriptions. We have again included much information from old records of the parish which we hope will be useful to people tracing their roots in the Scottish Borders. After working our way round the two graveyards in the parish, transcribing the hearth tax and the militia list we have been able to follow some of the family names of the area from the 17th century until the present time. The list of Ministers of the parish always introduces new names into the district while the names on the war memorial all too frequently appear for the last time.

As far as possible we tried to record the stones in the old burial ground in rows starting at the south east corner at the left hand side of the gate. There is an area to the south of the ruined vault where some of the older stones appear to have been grouped together and these were kept in a group. At the new cemetery at Clintmains the inscriptions are recorded from the left hand side of the gate around the perimeter and then in rows from the War memorial.

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As usual we have included the hearth-tax for the parish which provides a list of the people who were liable to pay tax on their hearths at the end of the 17th century. In this instance we are grateful to Michael Robson for a copy of his transcription because it is always a comfort to find that someone else has deciphered a 'squiggle' into the same word! There are two separate groups of names from different dates for those who were available for Militia service in the parish during the Napoleonic wars and there is also a list of Ministers which covers almost four hundred years. Frequently they came to the parish from different areas of Scotland and introduced not only new names but fresh views on politics and education.

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Berwickshire has a growing number of local history books and anyone who is particularly interested in the parish should consult some of them where they will find a wealth of information. It should be remembered that information abut the area can be found not only at St \Mary's Mill, Selkirk and the Berwick Archives but also in the Library at Duns and there is always the possibility that you may have to search over the Border in Northumberland as well.

After spending a long time uncovering a buried stone we discovered that it had a very long Latin inscription about a clerical gentleman but unfortunately his name had not been recorded - at least it did not appear on the part we unearthed! The other transcriptions were recorded first in Eccles then in Birgham and finally at Leitholm and are all indexed together.

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Not only were there pages and pages of family history on these stones but there was also a wonderful record of the many skills of the local stonemasons. While some of the inscriptions are almost as sharp and clear as the day they were cut, others have suffered from the elements and general wear and tear and, as always, many stones have simply disappeared altogether. If a particular stone does not appear in our record there is every chance that it may be mentioned in some of the many earlier transcriptions of Berwickshire stones so it is always worthwhile checking these earlier transcriptions.

As usual we have included some transcriptions of the early Poll tax, Hearth tax, lists of Ministers, Militia lists and also the local War Memorial but only the gravestones are indexed. We started recording the stones at the middle of the eastern boundary in the enclosure, working down towards the river and returning, in lines, back up to the green path.

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Considerable chapters of both parish and family history can still be read by studying the gravestones and many of Berwickshire's parishes have excellent local histories which make fascinating reading for anyone who is interested. We came to realise when we reached Nenthorn that it only takes a few years of neglect and the conditions inside the graveyard make it impossible to read inscriptions.

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We re particularly grateful to Mr. and Mrs. J Trotter of Mordington House not only for permission to record in the graveyard but also for their interest and enthusiasm for our project. It is very rare in this day and age to find anyone who is interested in repairing and setting up fallen stones! Usually we are battling against officialdom who seem to be always wanting to flatten stones and yet again this year we were forced to record approximately three thousand stones in Kelso, in some haste. before the authorities moved in to make some of them safe.

In spite of the many difficulties the bulk of the work at Foulden and Mordington was carried out by Jean Sanderson and Heather Lough while Jean Fleming and Miriam Fish were on hand to help with the paperwork. As always I am very grateful to all of them because without all their hard work these booklets would not be possible.

Elspeth Ewan December 2000

Paperback, 150 x 210mm

The parishes of Channelkirk and Legerwood make up the ninth volume of the Borders Family History Society's Monumental Inscription booklets for Berwickshire. As well as the gravestones we have again included transcriptions of the Hearth Tax which gives us not only an interesting selection of names from the parishes, at the end of the 17th century, but there are also clue as to where each taxpayer was living, with also an indication of the size of the house with the number of hearths being listed. Also included is an extract from the Militia Lists from the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. Yet again these are useful lists of names, including ages, types of employment and often the address where the men were working. Moving forward yet another hundred years we have included the names from the 1914 - 1919 and 1939 - 1945 War Memorials and quite often the same family names appear on every list. Channelkirk parish has two War Memorials, one inside the church and the second on the Memorial Hall in Oxton village. This latter memorial lists the regiment in which the servicemaen was serving and it is this transcription that we have included in the book.

In both churchyards we started to record the inscriptions from the left of the gate and then worked round to the back of the church, There are very few symbolic stones which have inscriptions that can still be read in either graveyard. It is interesting to note the continuity of names between the stones in Channelkirk and Legerwood with those in the parish of Lauder, which we are in the process of recording.

My thanks are due to Heather Lough and Jean Johnstone for help with the recording. I should also like to set on record the Society's gratitude to Elspeth Ewan whose enthusiasm, endless patience and local knowledge were quite invaluable in the preperation of the book. We are also grateful to Jean Johnstone for the cover illustration of Legerwood Church.

Jean Sanderson - July 2003

Paperback 150 x 210mm

The parish of Lauder makes up the tenth volume of the Borders Family History Society's Monumental Inscription booklets for Berwickshire. As well as the gravestones we have again included transcriptions of the Hearth Tax which gives us not only an interesting selection of names from the parish, at the end of the 17th century, but there are also clue as to where each taxpayer was living, with also an indication of the size of the house with the number of hearths being listed. Also included is an extract from the Militia Lists from the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. Yet again these are useful lists of names, including ages, types of employment and often the address where the men were working. Moving forward yet another hundred years we have included the names from the 1914 - 1919 and 1939 - 1945 War Memorials and quite often the same family names appear on every list. As well as the War Memorial in the town there are additional plaques within the church. The list we have used is a combined one in order to include all the names listed. We have also included a transcription of the stone, on the hillside above the town, which marks the resting place of an Australian pilot.

In the churchyard we started to record the inscriptions from the left of the gate and then worked round to the rear wall. In the cemetery we recorded the inscriptions from the left side of the gate and worked round in a clockwise direction to finish at the right side of the gate. The deterioration in the gravestones in both the graveyard and cemetery is marked and there are very few symbolic stones that have inscriptions which can still be read and indeed many of the later stones are also in a bad state of repair with a number having fallen down. Some stones having fallen or deteriorated rapidly between recording and checking so that we were unable to verify our transcriptions. The cemetery is situated just outside of the town of Lauder on the road to Galashiels.

My thanks are due to Heather Lough for help with the recording and to Fay Mackay for her local knowledge and assistance. I should also like to set on record the society's gratitude to Elspeth Ewan who's enthusiasm, endless patience and local knowledge were quite invaluable in the preparation of the book. We are also grateful to Chris Dodds for cover illustration of Lauder church.

Jean Sanderson - November 2003

Paperback 150 x 210mm

The parish of Earston is the eleventh volume of the Borders Family History Society's Monumental Inscription books for the County of Berwickshire and completes the recording programme along the Berwickshire side of the A68 road which passes through the Borders area from the English border to Edinburgh. As with the previous publications we have again included transcriptions of the Hearth Tax which gives us not only an interesting selection of names from the parishes, at the end of the 17th century, but also a clue as to where each taxpayer was living, with the size of the house being indicated by with the number of hearths listed. In some cases occupations can also be obtained from these records. Also included is the Militia Lists from the end of the 18th or early19th century. Yet again these list not only the name but also their residence, occupation and age. Moving forward yet another hundred years we have included the War Memorials. As well as the War Memorial in the town there are two plaques inside the church which have also been recorded. It is interesting to note the same names appearing in all of the lists, the graveyard and up to the present time.

In the churchyard we started recording the inscriptions from the left of the main gate and then worked round the church and completed the transcriptions at the right side of the main gate. We then recorded the extension starting at the top left hand side and working down to the side gate. The deterioration of the stones in the graveyard is marked and there are few of the old symbolic stones which have inscriptions that can be read. Like other graveyards many stones have fallen or are broken and it was interesting to note that once the gravediggers realised that we were recording the inscriptions they 'stood up' some of them so that they could be included in the volume.

The Society's thanks are due to Miss Betts and Mrs Murray of Earlston who recorded the graveyard and to Elspeth Ewan, Jean Fleming and Miriam Fish who recorded the extension. My thanks to Heather Lough for her help in the proofing of the transcriptions and finally to Elspeth for her unstinting patience, help and enthusiasm which were invaluable in the preparation of this volume. We are also grateful to Chris Dodds for the cover illustration of Earlston Church

Jean I Sanderson - January 2005

Paperback 150 x 210mm