Duddingston ( sco, Duddiston) is a historic village in the east of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, Scotland, next to
Holyrood Park
Holyrood Park (also called the Queen's Park or King's Park depending on the reigning monarch's gender) is a royal park in central Edinburgh, Scotland about to the east of Edinburgh Castle. It is open to the public. It has an array of hills, loc ...
.
Origins and etymology
The estate wherein Duddingston Village now lies was first recorded in lands granted to the
Tironensian monks of
Kelso Abbey
Kelso Abbey is a ruined Scottish abbey in Kelso, Scotland. It was founded in the 12th century by a community of Tironensian monks first brought to Scotland in the reign of Alexander I. It occupies ground overlooking the confluence of the Tweed ...
by
David I of Scotland
David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (Modern: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124 and later King of Scotland from 1124 to 1153. The youngest son of Malcolm ...
between 1136–47,
[ Stuart Harris "The Place Names of Edinburgh". 1996. p.609] and is described as stretching from the Crag (from Craggenmarf, an old name for
Arthur's Seat
Arthur's Seat ( gd, Suidhe Artair, ) is an ancient volcano which is the main peak of the group of hills in Edinburgh, Scotland, which form most of Holyrood Park, described by Robert Louis Stevenson as "a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue ...
) to the Magdalene Bridge. Herbert, the first Abbot at Kelso granted the lands of Easter and Wester Duddingston to Reginald de Bosco for an annual rent of 10 merks.
This land grant included the settlement known by the name of Treverlen or Traverlin, in the western part of it; this being the oldest known name of the village and estates that eventually became known as Duddingston. There are several possibilities for the etymology of "Treverlen":
* "tref + gwr + lên" meaning "place of the learned man"
* "tref + y + glyn" with lenition following the definite article, meaning "place of the learned women"
* "tre + war + lyn" meaning "the farm at or on the loch"
* "traefor llyn" meaning "settlement by the lake (loch) of reeds and/or rushes"
All these names originate in the Celtic
Brythonic languages
The Brittonic languages (also Brythonic or British Celtic; cy, ieithoedd Brythonaidd/Prydeinig; kw, yethow brythonek/predennek; br, yezhoù predenek) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family; the other is Goidelic. ...
, which pre-date the use of the
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
or
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
tongues in Scotland, suggesting that they may go back to the time of some of the earliest settlements on Arthur's Seat. The last two names, in particular, fit well as a possible name for the Celtic
crannog
A crannog (; ga, crannóg ; gd, crannag ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were bu ...
settlement which stood in the southernmost corner of
Duddingston Loch
Duddingston Loch is a lake, or freshwater loch, in Edinburgh. It is one of the last two remaining natural lochs within the city, the other being Lochend Loch. It is situated to the south of Holyrood Park and lies southwest of the village of Dud ...
.
The last Celtic owner of the Treverlen estates is said to have been Uviet the White who owned it from at least 1090 onwards. By 1128, though, at the founding of Holyrood Abbey, the lands of Arthur's Seat seem to have become divided between the Royal Demesne and the estates of Treverlen belonging to Uviet the White. For confirmation of what passed in 1128 at the forming of Holyrood Abbey and the passing of the lands to Kelso Abbey, we can look to the later "Charter of Confirmation, Granted to the Monks of Kelso of King Malcolm IV".
Malcolm IV of Scotland
Malcolm IV ( mga, Máel Coluim mac Eanric, label=Medieval Gaelic; gd, Maol Chaluim mac Eanraig), nicknamed Virgo, "the Maiden" (between 23 April and 24 May 11419 December 1165) was King of Scotland from 1153 until his death. He was the eldest ...
inherited the throne from his grandfather David I of Scotland, and was perhaps called upon to confirm many such gifts of land in case of later disputes. This he did, in the above-mentioned charter, confirming the previously given entitlement of
''Traverlin, with its due bounds, as Vineth fully and freely possessed and enjoyed it, with all the easements of the adjoining strother (march), which is called Cameri; and the Crag of the same village''
[The Monastic Annals of Teviotdale. 1832. By the REV. James Morton, B.D. p156-158 translated from the Chartulary of Kelso, fol. 9, r.]
to Kelso Abbey. Malcolm goes on to state that in his grandfather's time Alfwyn (perhaps the saxonised form of Uviet, or one of his descendants), Abbot of Halyrude (
Holyrood Abbey
Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by David I of Scotland. During the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a royal residence, and after the Scottish Ref ...
) and Ernald, Abbot of Kelso, came to an agreement concerning a dispute between them over The Crag, which allowed for the lands of The Crag and Traverlin to pass to the church of Kelso, in exchange for the ten-pounds-lands they had in "Hardiggasthorn, near Northamtun".
![Duddingston Church - the Jougs](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Duddingston_Church_-_the_Jougs.jpg)
The name was superseded during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by "Dodinestun" from "Dodin’s Estate". This name change came about just after the lands and estates were given to Kelso Abbey by David I. The Abbey quickly feued the estate to one Dodin de Berwic, evidently, from his name, an
Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to:
*Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066
* Anglo-Norman language
**Anglo-Norman literature
* Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...
knight. Apparently, then, it was Dodin who changed the name of the settlement, as by 1150 he was referring to himself as "Dodin of Dodinestoun". (Dodin's toun or farm place).
[Stuart Harris "The Place Names of Edinburgh". 1996. p.243] This last may be slightly misleading, though, as there was a toft (a homestead with attached arable land) near
Berwick-Upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...
, also referred to as Dodin's Town, with which he is quite likely to have had connections. However, it seems likely that the names are connected through branches of the same Norman family. Thereafter the village is often, though not always, referred to as Duddingston, with quite a wide range of spellings. For instance, from heraldic sources we are told that in May 1290 Edward I granted a protection against proceedings for debts to William de Dodingstone, burgess of Edinburgh. Also, with quite a different spelling, but six years later, we are told the name is that of a locality near Edinburgh, and Eleyne de Duddynggeston, of that county, swore fealty to Edward I.
The kirk which was built on the newly gifted lands went by the name
Duddingston Kirk
Duddingston Kirk is a Parish Church in the Church of Scotland, located adjacent to Holyrood Park in Duddingston Village, on the east side of the City of Edinburgh. Regular services are held at the kirk, conducted by the minister, Rev Dr James ...
, but the name Treverlen still survived into the next century as the parish name, being confirmed as such in a list of 13 parishes belonging to Kelso in 1200, which leads one to suspect there had been a kirk on the site previously.
The name has now been given to the new park built on the site of the former Portobello High School and St John's Primary School.
History
Cassells says the village was a centre of weaving in the 18th century where "over 40 looms" were in production on The Loan, creating a coarse
linen
Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
called "Duddingston hardings".
Duddingston Loch has been used for
ice-skating
Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be perf ...
and
curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...
, even boasting a
curling house
A curling house was used to store curling stones, brushes and other equipment used to maintain a curling pond and play the game of curling in Scotland and elsewhere.
Introduction
The houses were often purely functional in character, being relat ...
, for several centuries. In the 17th and 18th century the village was primarily a centre for the coal and salt mining industry, but was also known for its weaving industry, in particular for a cloth known as Duddingston Hardings.
Bonnie Prince Charlie
Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...
held a council of war in a house ("then thatched now tiled") in the village, shortly before the
Battle of Prestonpans
The Battle of Prestonpans, also known as the Battle of Gladsmuir, was fought on 21 September 1745, near Prestonpans, in East Lothian, the first significant engagement of the Jacobite rising of 1745.
Jacobite forces, led by the Stuart exile C ...
in 1745. In the same year,
James Hamilton, 8th Earl of Abercorn
James Hamilton, 8th Earl of Abercorn PC (Ire) (22 October 1712 – 9 October 1789), styled Lord Paisley from 1734 to 1736, was an Anglo-Irish peer. He inherited large estates in Ireland, where he built a mansion, and re-acquired some of the fami ...
purchased the Duddingston Estate from the
Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll ( gd, Diùc Earraghàidheil) is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful ...
. Lord Abercorn commissioned the architect
Sir William Chambers
__NOTOC__
Sir William Chambers (23 February 1723 – 10 March 1796) was a Swedish-Scottish architect, based in London. Among his best-known works are Somerset House, and the pagoda at Kew. Chambers was a founder member of the Royal Academy.
Biog ...
to design
Duddingston House
Duddingston House is an 18th-century mansion in Edinburgh, Scotland, located south-east of the village of Duddingston. It was built in the 1760s for James Hamilton, 8th Earl of Abercorn, and was designed by Sir William Chambers. It is now protec ...
in the
Palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
style, and this was completed by 1768.
The loch provided the setting for
Henry Raeburn
Sir Henry Raeburn (; 4 March 1756 – 8 July 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland.
Biography
Raeburn was born the son of a manufacturer in Stockbridge, on the Water of Leith: a fo ...
's painting of ''
The Skating Minister
''The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch'', better known by its shorter title ''The Skating Minister'', is an oil painting attributed to Henry Raeburn in the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh. Because the painting was passed ...
'', painted in the 1790s, as well as the less famous but very atmospheric painting by Charles Lees called ''Skaters on Duddingston Loch by Moonlight''.
Dr.
James Tytler
James Tytler (17 December 1745 – 11 January 1804) was a Scottish apothecary and the editor of the second edition of ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Tytler became the first person in Britain to fly by ascending in a hot air balloon (1784).
A grou ...
(1745–1804), author, balloonist and encyclopedist, lived in Duddingston.
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
knew him, describing him as a mortal who wandered the precincts of Edinburgh in leaky shoes, a sky-lighted hat and unlikely breeches, who yet was responsible for at least three quarters of Elliot's Encyclopædia Britannica. In 1774 he was living on the Holyrood Abbey "sanctuary lands" to avoid his creditors. After his wife left him and their children in 1775, he was known thereafter to be co-habiting with at least one, if not two women, one of them a Duddingston washerwoman. This circumstance eventually led to his flight from Scottish justice for the crime of bigamy in 1788, when he left Duddingston, and both women, to remove himself to Berwick. Whilst living in Duddingston he did build a printing press, and turned out further copies of the encyclopedia, and other more successful publications, but he was a poor businessman and never seemed to benefit from these and other successes. Sadly, even his attempt at ballooning in 1784 was something of a debacle. He was finally able to rise to a height of and descend again, which qualified him as Britain's first balloonist, but his success at the time was overshadowed by other more popular balloonists.
The former Home House in Old Church Lane was built in 1820 and is a category B Listed building that was formerly a children's home for
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...
missionary children.
Ethnicity
Local attractions
The
Sheep Heid Inn
The Sheep Heid Inn is a public house in Duddingston, Edinburgh, Scotland. There has reputedly been an inn on this site since 1360, although the core of the current building appears to date from the 18th century with later additions and alterat ...
, usually referred to as the "Sheep's Heid", is said to be Scotland's oldest pub, dating from 1360. It is named after a snuff box either embellished with, or in the shape of a
ram
Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to:
Animals
* A male sheep
* Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish
People
* Ram (given name)
* Ram (surname)
* Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director
* RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch
* ...
's head presented to the landlord by
King James VI
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...
in 1580.
Since 1923, the loch has been a
wildlife reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...
, managed by the
Scottish Wildlife Trust
The Scottish Wildlife Trust is a Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, registered charity dedicated to conserving the Natural history of Scotland, wildlife and natural environment of Scotland.
Description
The Scottish Wildlife Trust has well ...
. It contains a variety of
wildfowl
The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating on ...
and
reedbed
A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and
estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...
s. The loch is part of Holyrood Park which is 'owned' by the Scottish Ministers. The
Scottish Wildlife Trust
The Scottish Wildlife Trust is a Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, registered charity dedicated to conserving the Natural history of Scotland, wildlife and natural environment of Scotland.
Description
The Scottish Wildlife Trust has well ...
purchased the adjacent land at Bawsinch in 1971 and expanded the bird sanctuary into this area.
Dr Neil's Garden is located between Duddingston Kirk and the Loch. Andrew and Nancy Neil were awarded the Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Medal by the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society.
Sources
* Susan Mercer: Take One Garden (2006).
* The Miller O' Duddingston or The Betrothal by J. F. Published in 1875. The author, John Forbes, lived in Duddingston when he wrote it. In his handwritten notes in the
National Library of Scotland
The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in the ...
Archive copy of this book, he says it was written after an accident left him an invalid for a period of seven weeks, and he decided to take some of the tales he had heard from a good friend and storyteller who had been a drayman in the area, and mix fact and fiction into a story set locally. The result is a rollicking good tale, written in verse, of about 40 pages. In the handwritten end notes, the author mentions that one of the characters was based on a real person, and relates the story of a famous suicide which happened at that time. All the locations are real, however, including the Sheep Heid Inn, which one can still visit in the present day, and which has a treasure trove of stories and memorabilia for you to peruse while you enjoy your food and drinks.
* The Cobbler by Alexander Whitelaw. Published in 1833 This is a short story first published in 1833 as part of a collection of works by the best writers of the day called "The Republic of Letters". It was edited by
Alexander Whitelaw
Alexander Whitelaw (1823–1879) was a Scottish ironmaster, philanthropist and Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow from 1874 until his death.
Life
Whitelaw was born in 1823 in Drumpark in Monklands and was educated at Grange ...
, and included a few of his own pieces of work. "The Cobbler" is a salutary comedy about knowing who your friends are. The action takes place in various locations in the village, most of them gone now, except for the Sheep Heid Inn. In the
frontispiece of this collection, and alongside later versions, of the story in other collections are sketches and woodcuts of Robin Rentoul the "Duddingston Cobbler". The original of one of these drawings is in The Sheep Heid Inn upstairs dining room.
* Tales of Thomas Neil Thomas Neil, an undertaker in Don's Close, was born in 1730 and died in 1800. Also known as Tom or Tam Neil, during the last forty years of his life he was precentor of the Old Tolbooth Church. Burns, in a letter referring to a version of "Up and warn a' Willie" he received from Neil, refers to him as "of facetious fame", but adds "Tam kenn'd what was what fu' brawlie". In the footnotes written by the collector of those Burns letters, R. H. Cromek, says "he (Tom Neil) had a good strong voice, and was greatly distinguished by his powers of mimicry; as well his humorous manner of singing old Scottish ballads". The most notable character Tam Neil was famous for was one he invented, and then portrayed frequently upon request, with great humour, that he called "The Auld Wife". Mary Clementina Hibbert-Ware calls him "that son of song, possessed of greater local notoriety in his time than any other man in Edinburgh". His notoriety was certainly more than just "local" if the descriptions of Tam Neil found in books from all over Scotland are to be believed. The Transactions of the Hawick Archaeological Society gives a particularly long description of Tam, describing him as "formed for the very purpose of smoothing the wrinkled brow of care". One story about Tam Neil occurs at Duddingston, in the village alehouse. Presumably this refers to the Sheep Heid Inn, as the reference seems to suggest there is only one alehouse in Duddingston. In M. C. Hibbert-Ware's version the location of the inn is certainly given in detail, and is assuredly The Sheep Heid Inn. The story itself involves the irate landlady of the public house, a coffin, and a rascal that cannot pass an alehouse without stopping for a drink even if he has no money and should be working. Like all rascals, though, he nevertheless gets away with it! Other stories about Tam Neil can be found in many books of the day.
[The Book of Scottish Anecdote by Alexander Hislop 1888. (p3]
Tam Neil and St Paul's Visit To Edinburgh) (p22
Tam Neil and his Fiddle Case) (p30
Tam Neil and The Good Reason.
References
External links
Bartholomew's ''Chronological map of Edinburgh'' (1919)Sheep Heid Inn, DuddingstonDr Neils Garden Trust Duddingston
{{Authority control
Areas of Edinburgh
Parishes formerly in Midlothian