Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and

registration county A registration county was, in Great Britain and Ireland, a statistical unit used for the registration of births, deaths and marriages and for the output of census information. In Scotland registration counties are used for land registration purpose ...

in the

Southern Uplands The Southern Uplands () are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas (the others being the Central Lowlands and the Highlands). The term is used both to describe the geographical region and to col ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It borders

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...

to the west, Selkirkshire and

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

to the northwest, and

Berwickshire Berwickshire (; ) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. The county takes its name from Berwick-upon-Tweed, its original county town, which was part of Scotland at the ...

to the north. To the southwest it borders

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

and to the southeast

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, both in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was named after the

Royal Burgh A royal burgh ( ) was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...

of Roxburgh, a town which declined markedly in the 15th century and is no longer in existence. Latterly, the

county town In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county, and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament. Following the establishment of county councils in ...

of Roxburghshire was

Jedburgh Jedburgh ( ; ; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire. History Jedburgh began as ''Jedworð'', the "worth" or enclosed settlem ...

. The county has much the same area as Teviotdale, the basin drained by the

River Teviot The River Teviot (; ), or Teviot Water, is a river of the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and is the largest tributary of the River Tweed by catchment area. The Teviot is an important river for wildlife, especially the Atlantic salmon, but ...

and tributaries, together with the adjacent stretch of the Tweed into which it flows. The term is often treated as synonymous with Roxburghshire, but may omit Liddesdale as Liddel Water drains to the west coast.Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, by, Francis Groome, publ. 2nd edition 1896. Article on Roxburghshire

History

The county appears to have originated in the 12th century with the creation of the sheriffdom of Roxburgh. The first known sheriff is Gospatric (sheriff of Roxburgh). The hereditary sheriffship of Roxburghshire was possessed by the family of Douglas until the abolition of heritable jurisdictions in the 18th century.New Statistical Account of Scotland, Vol III Roxburgh, Peebles, Selkirk, publ.William Blackwood, 1845, p.430 The county was constantly fought over in the Middle Ages as part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars, before the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

settled into roughly its modern form with the Treaty of York in 1237. The violence and lawlessness of these times gave rise to the

Border Reivers Border Reivers were Cattle raiding, raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border. They included both Scotland, Scottish and England, English people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their victims' nationality.Hay, D. "E ...

. The ancient royal burgh of Roxburgh, from which the county had taken its name, fell into decay by the fifteenth century. After the demise of the town of Roxburgh, the county administration was based in

, the county town. County Buildings were erected near the market place in 1812, in which the different courts met and the county officials transacted their business. In 1855 Alexander Jeffrey published his book ''The history and antiquities of Roxburghshire and adjacent districts, from the most remote period to the present time''. It ran to four volumes.

Geography

Roxburghshire is a predominantly rural county, consisting of low hills rising to the Cheviot Hills along the border with England. Just to the south of Melrose can be found Eildon Hill, a prominent local landmark. There are a few scattered lochs, though none of any significant size.

Transport

Other than terminus of the recently re-opened Borders Railway, of which two stations ( Galashiels and Tweedbank) lie within the county, there are no railways in Roxburghshire. There were formerly a number of lines serving the county, however these closed as a result of the Beeching cuts.

Demographics

The county has a population of 48,639 (in 2011),Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usual Resident Population, published by

National Records of Scotland National Records of Scotland () is a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government. It is responsible for civil registration, the census in Scotland, demography and statistics, family history, as well as the national archives and hist ...

. Area type: Civil Parish 1930; calculated total for all Roxburghshire parishes which is 43% of the population of the Scottish Borders area.Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usual Resident Population, published by National Records of Scotland. Area type: Council Area Today, the main towns in the county are (population in 2011): *

— 4,030 *

Hawick Hawick ( ; ; ) is a town in the Scottish Borders council areas of Scotland, council area and counties of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east o ...

— 14,294 * Kelso — 5,639 * Melrose — 2,307 Hawick is now by far the largest town, with 29% of the county's population. More than half the population live in the two parishes of Hawick and Melrose.

Administration

Today, Roxburghshire is within the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Ac ...

for local government purposes and contains the

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the area, the small town of Newtown St Boswells. It retains official status as a

, and falls within the Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale lieutenancy area for ceremonial purposes.

County

Until 1975, Roxburghshire was used for local government. The original county town of Roxburgh was abandoned following the destruction of

Roxburgh Castle Roxburgh Castle is a ruined royal castle that overlooks the junction of the rivers Tweed and Teviot, in the Borders region of Scotland. The town and castle developed into the royal burgh of Roxburgh, which the Scots destroyed along with ...

in 1460 during the Anglo-Scottish Wars.

then became the county town, serving as the location for the

sheriff court A sheriff court () is the principal local civil and criminal court in Scotland, with exclusive jurisdiction over all civil cases with a monetary value up to , and with the jurisdiction to hear any criminal case except treason, murder, and ra ...

and meeting place of the

Commissioners of Supply Commissioners of Supply were local administrative bodies in Scotland from 1667 to 1930. Originally established in each sheriffdom to collect tax, they later took on much of the responsibility for the local government of the counties of Scotland. ...

, which were established in 1667 as the county's main administrative body. The County Buildings on Castlegate in Jedburgh were built in 1812 to hold the sheriff court and be the meeting place for the commissioners. The

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

was created in 1890, taking most of the commissioners' functions. From 1890 until 1930 the council met at the County Buildings in Jedburgh. In 1930 the council moved its meeting place and headquarters to Newtown St Boswells. The council already had a branch office on Bowden Road in Newtown St Boswells, which it had built in 1896, and in 1930 the council inherited an adjoining building which had been built in 1928 for the short-lived Roxburghshire Education Authority. The complex became known as the County Offices. A large new building designed by Peter Womersley was added to the site in 1968. Roxburghshire County Council was abolished in 1975, when local government in Scotland was reorganised into upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Roxburghshire became part of the Borders region. The County Offices at Newtown St Boswells became the headquarters for the new Borders Regional Council. The Duke of Buccleuch and the Duke of Roxburghe between them had held the convenership of Roxburgh County Council for 43 years between 1900 and 1975. At the time of the county council's abolition in 1975, the county contained four

burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

s and four districts (the districts generally covering the rural areas surrounding the town after which they were named): *

Burgh *

* Kelso Burgh * Melrose Burgh *Hawick District *Jedburgh District *Kelso District *Melrose District

District

The

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government of Scotland, local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975. The act followed and largely impleme ...

abolished the county council and incorporated its area into the Borders Region. Borders was divided into four districts, one of which was named Roxburgh. Roxburgh District's borders broadly resembled those of the historic county, but included the parish of Nenthorn from

, and excluded the parishes of Bowden, Lilliesleaf, Maxton, Melrose, and St Boswells, which went instead to the new Ettrick and Lauderdale District. For lieutenancy purposes, the last

lord-lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility o ...

of the county of Roxburghshire was made lord-lieutenant for the district of Roxburgh when the reforms came into effect in 1975. Roxburgh District Council was based at Hawick Town Hall which had been built in 1886 for the former Hawick Town Council. The region and four district councils were abolished in 1996, merging to form the present

council area. A new lieutenancy area was created at the same time, called Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale, covering the combined area of the abolished districts of Roxburgh and neighbouring Ettrick and Lauderdale.

Political control

The first election to the district council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 16 May 1975. Political control of the council from 1975 until its abolition in 1996 was as follows:

Coat of arms

The County of Roxburgh was the first Scottish county to receive a grant of arms. This was made by

Lord Lyon King of Arms The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officer of State, Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scotland, Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry i ...

on 9 July 1798. The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

seems to have been granted for the use of the volunteer and militia units then being organised under the authority of the county's

lord lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ov ...

. When the county council was formed in 1890, the arms passed to them. The shield depicted a unicorn, a national symbol of Scotland. At the top of the shield was a hunting horn between two helmets: probably a reference to the border reivers, one of whom featured in the arms of the royal burgh of Jedburgh. The crest above the shield was an armoured arm brandishing a scimitar. The

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

motto was ''Ne Cede Malis Sed Contra Audentior Ito'' or ''Yield not to misfortunes (evil things) but go on more boldly against them.'', it was a quotation from

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

6, 95. On 6 May 1975 the coat of arms was regranted to Roxburgh District Council, without the crest. When the district council was abolished in 1996, the arms reverted to

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

. Coat of Arms of Roxburghshire County Council 1890-1962.svg, Coat of arms of Roxburghshire County Council 1890–1962. Coat of Arms of Roxburghshire County Council 1962-1975.svg, Coat of arms of Roxburghshire County Council 1962–1975. Coat of Arms of Roxburghshire District Council 1975-1996.svg, Coat of arms of Roxburghshire District Council 1975–1996.

Civil parishes

Following the boundary changes carried out under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, the county of Roxburgh contained 30 civil parishes: * Ancrum (No.12 on map) * Bedrule (22) * Bowden (6) * Castleton aka Liddesdale (31) * Cavers (28) *

Crailing Crailing is a village on the A698, in Teviotdale, 4m east of Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of ...

(15) * Eckford (16) * Ednam (5) *

(19) *

Hobkirk Hobkirk () 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, Hallrule, Bedrule, ...

(29) * Hownam (25) *

(23) * Kelso (9) * Lilliesleaf (11) * Linton (17) * Makerstoun (8) * Maxton (13) * Melrose (1) * Minto (20) * Morebattle (26) *

Oxnam Oxnam () 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", the meanin ...

(24) * Roberton (18) * Roxburgh (14) * Smailholm (3) * Southdean (30) * Sprouston (10) * St. Boswells (7) * Stichill (4) * Teviothead (27) * Yetholm (21)

Defunct parishes and amalgamations

In medieval times there were 47 parishes, making the area the most densely parished in Scotland. * Abbotrule: divided between Bedrule and Southdean in 1806. * Ettleton and Wheelkirk: absorbed into Castleton *Hassendean: divided between Minto, Roberton and Wilton, 17th century. * Jedworth, Old Jedworth and Upper Crailing: united to form the parish of Jedburgh. * Kirkton or Cavers Parva: absorbed into Cavers in 1895.Edinburgh Gazette (official journal of the government), 5/3/1895 p. 295; and 18/12/1894 pp. 1449-1450 * Lempitlaw: absorbed into Sprouston at the Reformation. * Longnewtown: absorbed into Ancrum in 1684. * Maxwell, Roxburgh Holy Sepulchre and Roxburgh St James: absorbed into Kelso (aka Kelso St Mary's), date unknown. * Mow: absorbed into Morebattle in 1672. *Nisbet and Spital: absorbed into Crailing 1606. * Rutherford: absorbed into Maxton. * Wilton: absorbed into Hawick post-1900.

Settlements

Hawick from the top of the Motte - geograph

Melrose Town Centre from Quarry Hill - geograph

* Abbotrule * Ancrum * Appletreehall * Ashkirk * Bairnkine * Bedrule *

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 Roma ...

* Bowden * Branxholme * Broadhaugh * Burnfoot * Camptown *

* Crailinghall * Darnick * Denholm * Eckford * Edgerston * Ednam * Eildon * Galashiels (''shared with Selkirkshire'') * Gattonside * Hallrule *

* Heiton *

* Hownam *

* Kelso * Kirkton *

Kirk Yetholm Kirk Yetholm ('kirk yet-ham') is a village in the Scottish Borders region of Scotland, southeast of Kelso, Scotland, Kelso and less than west of the Anglo-Scottish Border, border. The first mention is of its church in the 13th century. Its ...

* Lempitlaw * Lilliesleaf * Lindean * Linton * Longnewton, Roxburghshire * Maxton * Melrose * Midlem * Minto * Morebattle * Newcastleton * Newstead * Newtown St Boswells * Nisbet *

* Roxburgh * St Boswells * Smailholm * Southdean * Spittal-on-Rule * Sprouston * Stichill * Town Yetholm * Tweedbank * Wilton * Wilton Dean

Notable residents

Robert Livingston the Elder Robert Livingston the Elder (13 December 1654 – 1728) was a Scottish-born merchant and government official in the Province of New York. He was granted a patent to 160,000 acres (650 km2/ 250 sq mi) of land along the Hudson River, becomin ...

, (1654–1728), born in Ancrum, was the Secretary for Indian affairs of the New York Province and the first lord of

Livingston Manor Livingston Manor was a tract of land in the Province of New York granted to Robert Livingston the Elder during the reign of George I of Great Britain. Located between the Hudson River and the Massachusetts border, the Livingston Manor was locate ...

. * Thomas Pringle the nineteenth century Scottish writer, poet and abolitionist was born at Blakelaw, a farmstead four miles (6 km) to the south of the town of Kelso where his father was the tenant. *

Henry Scott Riddell Henry Scott Riddell (23 September 1798 – 30 July 1870) was a Scottish poet and songwriter. In the ''Scottish Orpheus'', a collection of songs of Scotland by Adam Hamilton, he is credited with writing ''Scotland Yet'' and ''The Dowie Dens O' ...

(1798–1870), the poet, was buried at Teviothead and is commemorated by a monument on a nearby hill. * "Chief" Robert Riddell (1820–1921), brother of the poet, born in Teviotdale, was a Scottish-Canadian pioneer and veteran of the

Upper Canada Rebellion The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the Oligarchy, oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the Lower Canada Rebe ...

. He is noted for having pioneered the township of Beverly in Ontario. * Thomas B. Scott (1829–1886), President Pro Tem of the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...

References

Edina.ac.uk
, A Vision of Britain Through Time: Descriptive gazetteer entries for Roxburghshire

External links

Map of Roxburghshire
on Wikishire {{Coord, 55, 30, N, 2, 30, W, region:GB_type:adm2nd_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Counties of Scotland Districts of Scotland Roxburgh Counties of the United Kingdom (1801–1922) Politics of the Scottish Borders