Borthwick Parish

The Buchans lived in the small village of Newlandrig. Rev Thomas Wright, in 1839 in the second Statistical Account of Scotland writes:

Newlandrig is a much older village than Dewarton, but it lies much out of the common thoroughfare, and has little connected with it to awaken a spirit of animation or of enterprise. Several of the houses are at present untenanted, and some are falling into entire decay. A considerable number of old people take up their residence in it. The entire number of the population is about 100 inhabitants. [Unless other wise noted, all quotes in this post are from this report found here].

I'm not sure how up-to date Rev Wright was, but there were 130 people enumerated in the 1841 census, and most were children or young adults [see end of post for a list]. Despite his thoughts that it was a run down place, no less than eight people of independent means were living there in 1841. All but one of these people were born outside Midlothian, that is, they chose to come and live there. Nearby were Newlandburn House and Newlandburn Cottage, where servants were living with their employers.

58% of the residents were female. 

40% of residents were under the age of 13, and 65% under the age of 30. 

Only 4 people were aged over 70, but overall woman lived longer than men.

13 males were labourers (Robert and Alexander Buchan), there was a baker, a carter, a forrester (James Buchan), a joiner journeyman (William Buchan), 3 mason journeymen, 3 dyke builders, a fish dealer, a coal miner, a schoolmaster, a dressmaker, and a jenner (?joiner).

 

The map below shows the major places in our Buchan story. Dewarton at the top right, was a village established by the Dewars of Vogrie. About 1 mile south is Newlandrig, a village close to Tile Works and a bit of forest where no doubt George Senior and Robert worked in the 1800s.  George junior and Robert were to die in Newtongrange seen at the top left. In the 19th century both Crichton and Borthwick Castles were ruins.

George Buchan senior entered the documentary record in Dewarton, where three sons were entered into the church register.  George junior, born 1802, was still living in Dewarton on the 1841 census. He had married young and had 9 children already by that time. Dewarton is famously a single line of houses.  

 "The houses are ranged in one line along the road - the opposite being occupied by a small plantation, along which a copious stream of pure water flows at all times, supplying the inhabitants with the means of cleanliness and comfort, and adding much to the pleasant and healthful appearance of the place".

However by 1808 the family had moved to Newlandrig. Evidence for this is a burial of a son of George Buchan of Newlandrig, in the neighbouring parish of Newbattle in March 1808. In the first census recording names, in 1841, Jean and her children other than George, were all residents of Newlandrig. George joined them to be recorded living in the adjacent settlement of Newlandburn in 1851. 

There was a parish [parochial] school and two private schools in 1839. However, the school in Newlandrig was the only private school in the 1790s. Ministers complained that school fees were set too low to give the school master a decent living, but in any case most families paid only part of them. It is probable that the Buchan children were educated in their local school in Newlandrig as curriculum and costs were similar to the parochial school [where was this?]

Life in Borthwick

"There are six villages of considerable size in the parish, with many groups of scattered cottages over the whole of the district. More than one-half of the population are collected in the villages - the rest being distributed either among the groups of cottages – or living as hinds [tenant farmers] upon the different farms".  The other villages were Ford, which sat across 3 parish boundaries in the east, Dewarton 'certainly the neatest looking village in the parish', Clay Houses, Stobbs Mills and Castleton. Smaller groups of cottages included Bell's Muins, Fushie Bridge, Calcune Mill, Middleton and Borthwick [beneath the ruined castle].

There were six main proprietors, or land owners, in Borthwick who owned about half of the land. The Rev Wright felt it was significant that five of these men lived in the parish, giving them more real stake and interest in the workings of the parish as well as their own farms and mines, and he found them honourable. They met twice yearly to administer the parish funds, including allocation of money for the poor. They were the families of Dundas of Arniston; Mitchelson of Middleton; Dewar of Vogrie; Brown of Currie; Borthwick of Crookston and Cranston of Harvieston. The mansion-house of Crookston was the only one not in the parish, it being in the neighbouring parish of Stow.

A grand vista of Borthwick Parish looking towards the Lammermuir hills(?)

The Buchans lived in the region owned by the Dewar family at Vogrie Mansion. The Dewars owned 11 of 27 farms in the parish. Dewarton was largely built for Vogrie workers, and I suspect Newlandrig took the overflow.

The Parish of Borthwick was established in 1606. It is about 4 miles from north to south, and about 6 miles from east to west, see map of parish boundaries of Midlothian below.  "It is generally dry and more temperate than parishes on either side, with mountains to the south and northwest shielding it from rains. The air is pure, the inhabitants in general are healthy, and subject to no particular local distempers. Remarkable instances of longevity now and then occur…and to live upwards of 80 years is not reckoned at all uncommon.”

The main industry was farming, almost exclusively in the 1790s. By 1839, "a general spirit of improvement is apparent on almost every farm of this parish. The land is let chiefly on leases of nineteen years endurance [the maximum usually allowed which increased the willingness of tenant farmers to improve their farms]. The course of tillage most successfully followed on the arable lands is what is called the five-course shift - two-fifths of the farm being in grass, two-fifths in corn, and one-fifth in fallow or drilled turnips and potatoes. The usual crops are wheat, oats, barley, turnip, potatoes and hay. The manures usually applied are lime and farm-dung."

In the villages were tradesman such as weavers, bakers, a wright or tailor. However coal and lime were mined as well, particularly in the north and eastern areas, and increasingly into the 19th century. The only manufacturing of consequence by 1839 was a gun-powder factory in the north. "Coal, on the property of James Dewar, Esq, of Vogrie, is extensively wrought. The principal seams are from three to four feet in thickness. The Vogrie coal is reckoned of superior quality, and sells at a higher price than most of the coal wrought in the neighbourhood. The great coal sells at from 8s to 10s per ton. The smaller coal or chews, much used as fuel by the labouring classes, sell at from 5s to 6s per ton. Very little of the coal goes to Edinburgh; the chief consumpt of it is in the south country, towards Galashiels, Selkirk, and Peebles". As coal mining gained momentum, the large landowners constructed some of the earliest railways in Scotland in the 1830s.

The main food markets were in Dalkeith to the north of Borthwick, about half way to Edinburgh City. It was considered the finest corn market in Scotland.

In 1755, the population of the parish was                  910

In 1801,                              “                                             842

In 1821                                “                                           1345

In 1831                                “                                           1470 

The increase in population was attributed to the diligence of landowners and farmers trying to improve their holdings in the early 19th century. More workers were required to do this labouring work, and then to manage the resultant arable land. This meant bringing swampy and moor-land into cultivation. Rev Wright felt that "the tenantry are almost all of them men of superior character and information; and few districts, it is believed, could produced a better specimen of Scottish yeomanry". He was proud that there were only 6 or 8 families who were involved in coal mining, though he felt the men of the gun-powder factory were 'in general, of a very respectable character'. He noted that tinkers or gypsies were intermarrying with the general population and settling down.

                                                                                                    Males                   Females

In 1821, the numbers below 15 years of age were               278                       289

                                             from 15 to 30     “                          156                       179

                                                     30 to 50      “                           114                       146

                                                     50 to 70         “                          83                         96

                                                      70 to 90         “                        12                          22

                                                            Total                                 643                      702

 

The yearly average of births in 1821 was 30, deaths 20 and marriages 11 [although we are not given the years this average is drawn from].   In 1839 the average number of births was 35, deaths 25 and marriages 16. The number of illegitimate births in the parish within the last three years (ie pre-1839) was 16, being approximately 16/35x3 x 100 = 15% of the total. 

He noted that the number of families employed in agriculture was 186, in trade 60 and other families 51, being 297 families in total.

Borthwick in the bigger world

Below is a map of the parishes of Midlothian and when their parish registers commenced. Borthwick is bounded by the Pentland Hills to the west and the Lammer-muir hills to the south and east, and no doubt such geographical features determined the specifics of parish boundaries. To the north west are the parishes of Edinburgh, largely cut off this image, being Edinburgh City, Canongate, North Leith, South Leith and Duddingston.

 

Note the south-easterly progression of parishes from St Cuthberts below Edinburgh - Liberton, Lasswade, Dalkeith and Newbattle before reaching Borthwick. I have been studying the distribution of Buchans in the Old Parish Registers, and there is a clear temporal shift from Liberton to Borthwick from the 1600s to George and Jean. See the post [to come] on this and my thinking that links us to the Newbattle and Dalkeith families. To prove it - why DNA of course!

A more modern map shows the general orientation of Borthwick to Edinburgh. Now the city encroaches towards Dalkeith, as well as to the west. [Newlandrig is a few miles south east of Pathead on this map]. Note how close Borthwick is to Roslin Castle and Chapel - site of the famous Da Vinci Code movie. I was thrilled to see that Roslin was so close to Borthwick, because in 2008 I visited Roslin Chapel. My teenage son Daniel and I had a 3 week bus tour around the England, Wales and Scotland. As we toured around looking for highland cows, we must have driven in the general vicinity, though I really have no memory of it.

Images of Borthwick

The pre-eminent building in Borthwick is Borthwick Castle, and the church which sits beside it is equally imposing. The large church below was built by 1778, after the previous 'popish cross shaped' church burned down in 1775. To the left, behind the rise is Borthwick Caste. It is a large, well constructed 'donjon' or tower house, built in the 15th century by the Lords of Borthwick. Its walls are 13 feet thick at the bottom, reducing to 6 feet thick at the top. Here it is said the Queen Mary stayed prior to being rumbled by the Scottish Lords, with Bothwell escaping one direction, and Queen Mary dressed as a page, escaping in another. 

Rev Wright feels it was the place where Queen Mary was last able to enjoy life as acknowledged queen. "It was during the lifetime of the same Lord [John, fifth Lord Borthwick], that the beautiful and unfortunate Queen occasionally visited this castle, and at last took refuge in it, before she attended on the long series of her humiliations and griefs. ... It must be kept in mind that Bothwell [Queen Mary's husband] was Lord of Crichton Castle, and that, therefore, he and the Lord Borthwick, as near neighbours, we're likely to take the part of each other".

Now Borthwick Castle is a up-market hotel and event facility. Below are a few images but the full glory can be seen on their website.  At 375 pounds a night [I presume per person] it might be a very expensive but magical place for a Buchan reunion!

Currie Wood between Borthwick Castle and Crichton, was considered the loveliest spot in the parish. It is now a protected area. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/media/46092/4910-currie-wood.pdf. Its plan summaries this 56 acre area as a "Hidden gem. Close to Edinburgh. Set in the steep gorge of Middleton South Burn above Borthwick Castle. Circular footpath through fantastic walks with impressive views of the burn below. The site includes a large range of moss and plant species." It now features in tourist drives and walks through Midlothian.

Images of Currie Wood

Our Buchan ancestors lived most of their lives in the Parish of Borthwick. George and Jean lived from about 1808 till their deaths in Newlandrig.  Six of their nine children were residing in Newlandrig when they died. The exceptions were in order of occurrence: George who died in 1865 in Newbattle Parish in a colliery accident, Andrew who died in 1875 in Newtown, Roxburghshire working as a Railway store keeper, and Robert who died in 1887 in Newbattle Parish in the same colliery as his brother George 25 years earlier. 

Their lives would have been influenced by the attitudes and behaviours of key landowners and the clergy and in all cases by their employers. Rev Wright mentions the "inundation of August 1837" and "the singularly severe and long-continued storm of 1822-23". Though the climate was called temperate, it still meant snows in winter, flooding in spring. Scotland too witnessed the Big Wind, a hurricane, in 1839 that devastated Ireland. 

No major religious, governmental or other major disruptions to their lives occurred from 1800 to the 1880s in a very broad sweeping sense. However progress in the new forms of transport in the railways, new industries, the introduction of the Poor Law unions in the 1845, civil registration in 1855 and changes to education were all are key societal developments at this time. 

The first Statistical Account of Scotland was prepared in the 1790s, and Borthwick's main entry can be found here.   You may want to read about Newbattle Parish and Dalkeith Parish as this is where I feel the Buchans lived in the 18th century.