Yair, also known as The Yair, is an estate 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 ...

. It stands by the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the R ...

in the former county of

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. ...

, north-west of Selkirk, and south 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 ...

. The name comes from the old Scots word for a

fish trap A fish trap is a trap used for fishing. Fish traps include fishing weirs, lobster traps, and some fishing nets such as fyke nets. Traps are culturally almost universal and seem to have been independently invented many times. There are two main ...

. The estate is centred on Yair House, which is protected as a

category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being *Categories (Aristotle), ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) ...

. The nearby Yair Bridge is also category A listed.

History

In 1156 King Malcolm allowed the monks of Kelso to build a dam on the River Tweed, creating a pool for fishing. Yair House was built by Alexander Pringle of Whytbank (1747–1827) in 1788. It is a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

house of three storeys, with a large bay to the front. Pringle made his fortune in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and re-purchased the family estates on his return. These estates, which included Whytbank Tower on the north side of the river, had been Pringle property since the 16th century, but were sold in the early 18th century to pay debts. The designer of the new house was William Elliot, a Kelso-based architect who designed

The Haining The Haining is a country house and estate in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. The present house dates from the 1790s, and was a property of the Pringle family. In 2009, the house and grounds were bequeathed to The Haining Charitable Trust which ...

in Selkirk, for another Pringle, in 1794. Yair Bridge - geograph

Yair Bridge lies downstream from the house. It was constructed around 1764, and designed by the Edinburgh architect

William Mylne William Mylne (1734–1790) was a Scottish architect and engineer. He is best known as the builder of the North Bridge, which links the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the younger brother of Robert Mylne, architect and de ...

(1734–1790). The three-arch stone bridge now carries the A707 across the Tweed.

Outdoor access

Yair Hill Forest is one of many forests in the Borders managed by

Forestry and Land Scotland Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) ( gd, Coilltearachd agus Fearann Alba) is responsible for managing and promoting Scotland's national forest estate: land, predominantly covered in forest, owned by the Scottish Government on behalf of the nation. ...

(FLS). It is located to the south and west of the house on Craig Hill (382m) and on Three Brethren (484m). Three Brethren is named after three stone mounds built in the 16th century by the lairds of Yair,

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 ...

and Selkirk, to mark the boundaries of their lands. Access to the forest is at Lindinney car park on the A707, close to Yair Bridge. The Yair Grazings car park, at the north-west edge of the forest, allows access to Yair Wood, and nearby Glenkinnon car park is the access point for a

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

trail. Part of the forest is Lindinny Community Woodland, which is being restored from coniferous to native woodland by FCS and the Borders Forest Trust. The

Southern Upland Way The Southern Upland Way is a coast-to-coast long-distance footpath in southern Scotland. The route links Portpatrick in the west and Cockburnspath in the east via the hills of the Southern Uplands. The Way is designated as one of Scotland's Gr ...

passes through the estate, descending from Three Brethren and crossing Yair Bridge. The

Sir Walter Scott Way The Sir Walter Scott Way is a long-distance footpath in the Scottish Borders. The route broadly follows the waymarked Southern Upland Way, except for in a few sections. It commemorates Sir Walter Scott, one of Scotland's most renowned writers, ...

follows the same route. Below Yair is the Fairnilee slalom site on the River Tweed, used for

canoe slalom Canoe slalom (previously known as whitewater slalom) is a competitive sport with the aim to navigate a decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging downstream or upstream gates on river rapids in the fastest time possible. It is one of th ...

. The Yair and the

generally remain popular

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

fishing sites.

Yair House Yair may refer to: *A spelling variant of the Jewish name Jair or Ya'ir *Yair (name), list of people with the name Yair *Yair, Scottish Borders Yair, also known as The Yair, is an estate in the Scottish Borders. It stands by the River Tweed in ...

is not open to the public, though the gardens are occasionally opened for charity as part of Scotland's Gardens Scheme.

References

External links

*
Yair House

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) was an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government that was "sponsored" inanced and with oversightthrough Historic Scotland, an executive ...

Yair House
Clan Pringle Association {{authority control Houses completed in 1788 Country houses in the Scottish Borders Category A listed buildings in the Scottish Borders Listed houses in Scotland Selkirkshire River Tweed 1788 establishments in Scotland

History

Outdoor access

See also

References

External links