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BORDER VILLAGES |
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Denholm |
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Location On the A698 road from Jedburgh to Hawick. |
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Denham probably has the largest village green in the whole
of Scotland, which, in times past, would be a refuge into which the
domestic animals were herded when danger threatened. The
village lay in the path of reivers proceeding to and from
England. In 1514, the year after Flodden, the village was attacked and
pillaged by a small force of English soldiers who were freely rampaging
through the region. Loaded with drink, they
retired to Hornshole, two miles up the Teviot, with dire consequences.
See the Hornshole Incident.
Twoare well miles southwest of Denham is Cavers House, a seat of the Douglases. |
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John Leyden was born in 1777 in this cottage in Denholm. He was self-educated and had an insatiable appetite for learning. His father, a lowly shepherd, contrived to send his son to Edinburgh University where Leyden immersed himself in study. His scholarly reputation came to the notice of many eminent people including Sir Walter Scott who, at that time, was collected material for his Minstelsy of old ballads. Leyden had by then produced many literary works and most tireless in this quest for details. It was related that on one occasion Leyden walked 40 miles to get the last two verses of a ballad he was noting. In a loud voice he sang the two verses over and over again all the way home, no doubt much to the bewilderment of people he passed him along the way. He was fluent in many languages and translated works of Eastern poetry from Arabic and Persian to English. Leyden and Scott had much in common and became firm friends. Being an ardent literary collector for his works, Sir Walter benefited from the association. While on one of his many excursions abroad, Leyden contracted fever and died on the 28th August 1811.
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Around and About The Hornshole incident. Jedburgh Hawick |
