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Gifford is a village in the parish of Yester in
East Lothian
East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921.
In ...
, Scotland. It lies approximately south of
Haddington and east of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
.
It groups around the Colstoun Water (locally called Gifford Water) at the junction of the
B6369 and
B6355 surrounded by rural farmland.
History
The village of Gifford takes its name from the 13th-century Sir
Hugo de Giffard of
Yester, whose ancient
Scoto-Norman
The term Scoto-Norman (also Franco-Scottish or Franco-Gaelic) is used to describe people, families, institutions and archaeological artifacts that are partly Scottish (in some sense) and partly Anglo-Norman (in some sense), after the Norman Conq ...
family possessed the baronies of Yester, a name that derives from the Cambro-British word Ystrad (modern Welsh: Vale),
Morham
Morham, East Lothian, sometimes spelt Moram, Morum, or Morhame in old records, is the smallest (agricultural) parish in Scotland, sandwiched between five other parishes: Haddington, East Lothian, Haddington, Garvald, East Lothian, Garvald, Yester ...
, and
Duncanlaw in
Haddingtonshire, and Tayling and Poldame in the counties of
Perthshire
Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...
and
Forfar
Forfar (; , ) is the county town of Angus, Scotland, and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million-pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town had a population of 16,280.
The town ...
.
The first Hugo de Giffard's grandson, Hugh de Giffard, was a magician who built
Yester Castle ( south-east of the present-day
Yester House), the ruins and an underground chamber (the 'Goblin Ha') of which can be seen in Yester Wood. The same ''Hobgoblin Hall'' featured in the poem "
Marmion" by
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
.
The
Mercat Cross
A mercat cross is the Scots language, Scots name for the market cross found frequently in Scotland, Scottish cities, towns and villages where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or ...
was built in 1780 and is still standing in the centre of the village.
Gifford Town Hall started life as an early 18th century private house which was later extended and then partially rebuilt.
The
ITV television series ''
Adam Smith
Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as the "father of economics"——— or ...
'' was filmed in and around Gifford in the early 1970s.
Former industries
The initial chief industry in the town was the paper mill, which was once the source of the
Bank of Scotland
The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial bank, commercial and clearing (finance), clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. The bank was established by the Par ...
's bank notes. However, this mill closed in the late 18th century and since then the village has largely been residential and supported local farming communities, although a pottery, known as Castle Wynd Pottery, operated at Gifford for a short time in the 1950s.
Church
The earliest recorded presence of a church in the area is in 1241, the ruins of which lie in the woods beside Yester House, to the south-west of the village centre. A church also once stood at Duncanlaw, a former settlement to the south-east of the main village. The present building (in the centre of the village) was built in 1710.
Infrastructure and amenities
Gifford was the terminus on a branch railway which was originally intended to extend to
Garvald and was built by the
Gifford and Garvald Light Railway Company. The company seal, which features the Mercat Cross, is in the Glasgow Museum of Transport. The line was operated by the
North British Railway
The North British Railway was one of the two biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, ...
and then the
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...
. The section of line to Gifford was closed in 1947, following the loss of a bridge washed away by flooding.
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
ways operated the line as far as
East Saltoun until the
Beeching cuts
The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...
of the 1960s.
The village has a school, church, several shops, two traditional hotels and a garage. A bus service, operated by Prentice Coaches, connects the village to
Haddington and
Pencaitland
Pencaitland is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, about south-east of Edinburgh, south-west of Haddington, and east of Ormiston.
The land where the village lies is said to have been granted by William the Lion to Calum Cormack in 1169, ...
.
Like the church, the school takes the name of the parish, as Yester Primary School. The current school building was built in 1968, when East Lothian County Council reorganised schooling arrangements in the area. Yester Primary was expanded to accommodate children from the small schools in
Bolton
Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...
,
Morham
Morham, East Lothian, sometimes spelt Moram, Morum, or Morhame in old records, is the smallest (agricultural) parish in Scotland, sandwiched between five other parishes: Haddington, East Lothian, Haddington, Garvald, East Lothian, Garvald, Yester ...
,
Garvald and Longyester, which were all closed between 1968 and 1971. The school roll in recent years has been around 150 pupils, plus up to 40 children in the attached nursery. Secondary education is provided at
Knox Academy
Knox Academy is a co-educational state secondary school located in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland. Originally founded in 1379 as a medieval grammar school, it is one of the oldest schools in the world.
History
The modern school can be trac ...
, in Haddington.
A large park (known as the
Bleachfield
A bleachfield or bleaching green was an open area used for spreading cloth on the ground to be purified and whitened by the action of the sunlight. Bleaching fields were usually found in and around mill towns in Great Britain and were an integral ...
, from its historic use) lies near the centre of the village, and the East Lothian Core Paths network has been expanded to improve access to the surrounding countryside. The village has two golf courses. Gifford Golf Club is on the western edge of the village, while Castle Park Golf Club is to the south. The Gifford Cup is an annual golf event, which is held in alternate years between the two courses.

In 2017 the local Gifford community bought of woodland, including which comprises Fawn Wood, Speedy Wood, located to the north west of the village with financial support from the
Scottish Land Fund
The Scottish Land Fund (SLF) was founded in 2000, as a part of land reform in Scotland. Its goal is to help communities buy their land from their landlords.
The SLF was capitalized by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), UK Lottery-founded New O ...
.
It is now called Gifford Community Woodland, and is managed by the charity Gifford Community Land Company with the vision of a restored native woodland supporting broad biodiversity which is an asset to the local community for leisure, health and learnin
Notable people
*
Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian-American composer, libretto, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American ...
(1911-2007), composer, and former owner of
Yester House.
*
John Knox
John Knox ( – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Church of Scotland.
Born in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lot ...
, the famous reformer of
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 ...
, was born in Gifford in 1505.
*Reverend
John Witherspoon
John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense real ...
, was born in Gifford in 1723. He studied at the Haddington Grammar School, gained a
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
from the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
in 1739, and was a Presbyterian minister in
Beith
Beith (locally ) is a small town in the Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire, Scotland approximately south-west of Glasgow. The town is situated on the crest of a hill and was known originally as the "''Hill o' Beith''" (hill of the birches) afte ...
,
Ayrshire
Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...
, before accepting an offer from
Princeton
Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...
in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
to be their 6th President. He was the only clergyman to sign the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...
of the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, on 4 July 1776.
*
Willie Wood
William Vernell Wood Sr. (December 23, 1936February 3, 2020) was an American professional football player and coach. He played as a safety with the Green Bay Packers in the National Football League (NFL). Wood was an eight-time Pro Bowler and ...
, double Commonwealth Games Bowls gold medallist, is from Gifford. He learned the sport at the Gifford Bowling Club, and as well as a large collection of medals he holds the record of competing in seven Commonwealth Games.
*
William Stewart MacGeorge (1861–1931) artist associated with the
Kirkcudbright School.
References
Further reading
* Burke, John, ''History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland - Volume 3'', London, 1836: page 434/5
* Burns, David G. C., ''The Princeton Connection'' in ''The Scottish Genealogist'', volume 52 number 4, Edinburgh, 2005
See also
*
Yester Parish Church
*
List of places in East Lothian
The List of places in East Lothian is a list for any town, village and hamlet in the East Lothian council area of Scotland.
Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum
A
* Aberlady, Aberlady Bay
* Archerfield Estate and Lin ...
*
List of castles in Scotland
External links
Gifford Village Community Website
Gifford Village websiteGifford Community Woodland
{{authority control
Villages in East Lothian
Parishes in East Lothian