Camptown is a small settlement on the A68, 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 ...

, 5m (8 km) south of

Jedburgh Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in su ...

, and the same distance south to

Carter Bar __NOTOC__ Carter Bar is a pass in the Cheviot Hills, on the Anglo-Scottish border. It lies east of Carter Fell at the head of Redesdale, and is crossed by the A68 road as it runs north towards Teviotdale. The name "Carter Bar" is relatively mod ...

. The village lies on the course of the

Jed Water The Jed Water is a river and a tributary of the River Teviot in the Borders region of Scotland. In total the Jed Water is over long and it falls . It flows into the Teviot near Jedfoot Bridge () two miles north of Jedburgh. Jed Water rises fr ...

, and the remains of a

peel tower Peel towers (also spelt pele) are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the English and Scottish borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, mainly between the mid-14th century and about 1600. They were free-standin ...

are close by at

Edgerston Edgerston is a village and an estate about north of the Anglo-Scottish border, and south of Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland in the former Roxburghshire. According to the Clan Rutherfurd family history site, Edgerston was p ...

. The village has a church and village hall at nearby

, a bus service to Jedburgh and Newcastle, a memorial cairn, and a telephone box. Schooling takes place in

. Other places nearby are

Bairnkine Bairnkine is a hamlet on the Jed Water in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, on the A68, south of Jedburgh. Other places nearby include Abbotrule, Bedrule, Camptown, Chesters, Langlee, Mervinslaw and Oxnam. See also *List of places i ...

Bonchester Bridge Bonchester Bridge ( Scots ''Binster Brig'') is a village in Roxburghshire, within the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, lying on the Rule Water, six miles away from the market town of Hawick. History The name of the town is said to be Roman bei ...

Crailing Crailing is a village on the A698, in Teviotdale, 4m east of Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the historic county of Roxburghshire. Places nearby include Ancrum, Crailinghall, Eckford, Hownam, Kelso, Nisbet, Roxburghshire, ...

Ferniehirst Castle Ferniehirst Castle (sometimes spelled Ferniehurst) is an L-shaped construction on the east bank of the Jed Water, about a mile and a half south of Jedburgh, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and in the former county of Roxburghshire. It ...

Hobkirk Hobkirk ( gd, Eaglais Ruail) is a village and civil parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, by the Rule Water, south-west of Jedburgh and south-east of Hawick. Other places nearby include Abbotrule, Bonchester Bridge, Camptown, Hallr ...

, the

, Mossburnford, and

Oxnam Oxnam ( sco, Owsenam) is a village near Jedburgh, in Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is a primarily residential village. The placename Oxnam is from Old English ''oxa'' (genitive ''oxan'') "oxen" and ''ham'' "village", ...

Trivia

Scottish settlers named the town in Pennsylvania after the Borders settlement, which in turn was the inspiration for the minstrel song

Camptown Races "Gwine to Run All Night, or De Camptown Races" (popularly known simply as "Camptown Races") is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864). () It was published in February 1850 by F. D. Benteen of Baltimore, Maryland, and Benteen published ...

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Minstrel show, minstrel music during the Romantic music, Romantic ...

. The village roadsign has appeared on postcards for comedic effect.

References

External links

RCAHMS/Canmore record of Camphouse Farm: cairn, food vesselRCAHMS record of Camptown, Roxburgh / JedburghSCRAN image of road bridge at Camptown, near Southdean
{{authority control Villages in the Scottish Borders