Ashkirk is a small village on the

Ale Water The Ale Water is a tributary of the River Teviot, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It rises at Henwoodie Hill and flows through Alemoor Loch. It meets the Teviot south of the village of Ancrum, and it runs through Ashkirk and Lillieslea ...

, in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

area of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It is located just off the

A7 road A7, A.7, A 7, A07 or A-7 may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * A7, the A dominant seventh chord used in many rock songs, see dominant seventh chord * A (musical note) * ''A7'' (mixtape), by SCH, 2015 * Avenged Sevenfold, a hard rock/met ...

, approximately each way between Selkirk to the north and

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one of ...

to the south. Other places nearby include the

Alemoor Loch Alemoor Loch, also known as Alemoor Reservoir, is a small reservoir in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is situated on the Ale Water, west of Hawick. The loch is approximately long, and is divided in two by a causeway which carries ...

Appletreehall Appletreehall is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, 2 miles north-east of Hawick, in the historic county of Roxburghshire. Nearby are Branxholme, Broadhaugh, Roberton, Wilton and Wilton Dean. See also *List of places in th ...

Belses Belses is a village on the Ale Water, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland the former Selkirkshire. It is situated close to Old Belses, and lies south of St Boswells, west of Jedburgh, north of Hawick, and east of Selkirk. Other places nearb ...

, Essenside Loch, the

Ettrick Water The Ettrick Water is a river in Ettrick, by the village of Ettrickbridge and the historic town of Selkirk, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. The water, a tributary of the River Tweed, is known also as the River Ettrick, often locally ...

Ettrickbridge Ettrickbridge ( gd, Drochaid Eadaraig) is a village situated in the Scottish Borders region of Scotland, from the nearby town of Selkirk. It sits on the B7009 road, which follows the Ettrick Water south-west from Selkirk, along the Ettrick V ...

Philiphaugh Philiphaugh is a village by the Yarrow Water, on the outskirts of Selkirk, in the Scottish Borders. Places nearby include Bowhill, Broadmeadows, the Ettrick Water, Ettrickbridge, Lindean, Salenside, Yarrowford and the Yair Forest. Origina ...

Salenside Salenside is a village off the A7, on the Ale Water, near Ashkirk, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the former Selkirkshire. There was a Salenside Tower house, but nothing remains of it. Salenside Farm and Salenside Cottage exist. The p ...

and

Woll WOLL (105.5 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Hobe Sound, Florida. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It airs an adult contemporary radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. WOLL serv ...

History

Formerly, two thirds of the parish of Ashkirk lay in

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and Berw ...

and one third in

Selkirkshire Selkirkshire or the County of Selkirk ( gd, Siorrachd Shalcraig) is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. It borders Peeblesshire to the west, Midlothian to the north, Roxburghshire to the east, and Dumfriesshire to the south. ...

, including an enclave of Selkirkshire just east of the village around Synton. In 1891 a Boundary Commission moved the whole parish into Selkirkshire and added to Ashkirk a detached portion of the parish of Selkirk just west of the village, which was already in Selkirkshire (Todrig).

Notable persons

Alasdair Allan Alasdair James Allan (born 6 May 1971) is a Scottish politician serving as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency since 2007. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he served as a Scottish ...

, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (the Western Isles), grew up in Ashkirk. * Doug Davies, Scottish rugby player, was born in Ashkirk. * Scottish-Australian poet and bush balladeer Will H. Ogilvie (1869–1963) was born near

Kelso, Scottish Borders Kelso ( sco, Kelsae gd, Cealsaidh) is a market town in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Roxburghshire, it lies where the rivers Tweed and Teviot have their confluence. The town has a pop ...

, and from 1918 to his death he first leased then bought the

Presbyterian church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

manse A manse () is a clergy house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other Christian traditions. Ultimately derived from the Latin ''mansus'', "dwelling", from '' ...

'Kirklea' on the northside of Ashkirk. After returning from Australia (1889–1901), Ogilvie became known as the Border poet, including penning ''Galloping shoes'', ''Over the grass'', ''Handful of leather'', and ''The road to Roberton''. His wife Madge is buried with her parents in nearby

Gallery

File:SCO-Ashkirk-A7 highway 2018.jpg, A7 major road turn-off File:SCO-Ashkirk-area 2018.jpg, Surrounding farming area File:SCO-Ashkirk-west access 2018.jpg, Road west of village with stone wall File:SCO-Ashkirk-west road Ale Water stone bridge 2018.jpg, Stone bridge over the Ale Water, west of village File:SCO-Ashkirk-church corner 2018.jpg, Ashkirk Church yard File:SCO-Ashkirk-church front 2018.jpg, Ashkirk Church front (2018) File:SCO-Ashkirk-church inside 2018.jpg, Inside the church File:SCO-Ashkirk-church Ogilvie area 2018.jpg, Ogilvie family area at church

References

External links

Scotland's Places

Vision of Britain

Ashkirk Website
Villages in the Scottish Borders Parishes in Roxburghshire Parishes in Selkirkshire {{Borders-geo-stub