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Chirnside, Berwickshire

Historical Description

CHIRNSIDE, a parish and a burgh of barony, in the county of BERWICK, 4½ miles (S. W. by W.) from Ayton, containing 1203 inhabitants. The name of this place is interpreted "the sepulchral tumulus on the side of the hill". The parish is about three miles in length, and the same in breadth, containing upwards of 5000 acres. Its surface is flat, with the exception of Chirnside hill in the northern part, from which some beautiful prospects are obtained. The Whitadder river runs along the southern boundary of the parish, and is here a fine expansive stream, being but a small distance from its junction with the Tweed near Berwick. There is no waste land; the soil is good, and in a high state of cultivation. About 370 acres are occupied by plantations, which are in a thriving state, especially those on the banks of the Whitadder at Ninewells, about one-half of the rest of the land is in tillage, and the other in grass. All kinds of grasses and of grain are produced, of good quality, but oats form the most considerable crop; potatoes and turnips are also raised, and the latter are very fine and plentiful. About 2500 sheep are usually kept; they are the large Leicesters, and the cattle are of the short-horned breed. Draining has been practised to a great extent, and large sums have lately been expended in embankments on the river Whitadder. The annual value of real property in the parish is £8891. The rocks consist of freestone, which is abundant, and of which several quarries are wrought.

The village is in the south-western part of the parish; it has a fair on the last Thursday in November, for the sale of sackcloth, linen-yarn, and pottery-ware. The road from Dunse to Ayton runs through the centre of it, and the western boundary of the parish is skirted by the Dunse branch of the North-British railway. The principal mansions are Whitehall, Ninewells, and Mains. Ecclesiastically the parish is within the bounds of the presbytery of Chirnside, synod of Merse and Teviotdale, patron, Mitchell Innes, Esq. The minister's stipend is £247, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £29 per annum. Chirnside church is very ancient; the western door is Saxon, and on one of the walls, evidently of later erection, is a tablet dated 1572, with the inscription Helpe the Pur: the edifice was enlarged some years ago, and now affords accommodation for 500 persons. The United Presbyterian Synod have a place of worship, as have also the Reformed Presbyterians. There is a parochial school, in which the classics, mathematics, and French are taught, with all the usual branches of education; the master's salary is £34, with about £30 fees, and a house and garden. The celebrated historian, David Hume, was brought up from his infancy at Ninewells House; and the Rev. Henry Erskine, father of the Rev. Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine, leaders of the Secession, was the first minister here after the Revolution: a handsome monument has lately been erected to his memory in the churchyard.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, 1851 by Samuel Lewis

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