Morebattle | |
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![]() Morebattle village centre | |
Location within the Scottish Borders | |
OS grid reference | NT771249 |
Council area | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | KELSO |
Postcode district | TD5 |
Dialling code | 01573 |
Police | Scotland |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
Morebattle is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, on the B6401, seven miles south of Kelso, Scottish Borders, beside the Kale Water, a tributary of the River Teviot. The St. Cuthbert's Way long distance footpath passes through the village.
Surrounding villages include Cessford and Eckford to the west; Linton to the north; Town Yetholm and Kirk Yetholm to the east; and Hownam and Mowhaugh to the south.
The place-name comes from the Anglian mere-bōðl - "dwelling place by the lake" (Linton Loch). [1] No evidence of any battles (the simplistic origin) exists.
Morebattle parish church is noted as being in the diocese of Glasgow from approximately 1116. [2] It stands on a prominence overlooking the Kale Water. [2] The building was engulfed by fire in 1544 and rebuilt. [2] The present structure dates mostly from the 1750s with extensions being erected in 1899 and 1903 by Hardy & Wight. [2] [3]
The village has a "Teapot Street" which according to local legend (unlikely to be true) was named by Sir Walter Scott, who, passing through the village one day, noticed the wives in the street carrying teapots to the nearby Kale Water to picnic, and remarked, "that must be Teapot Street." [4]
Linton Loch was a substantial loch between Morebattle and Linton, but it was drained as part of the 19th century agricultural improvements in the area. [5]
The distinctive traditional Southern Scots dialect of Morebattle was the subject of a study by Swiss dialectologist Rudolph Zai, published in 1942. [6]
On the summit Morebattle Hill, half-a-mile south of the village, is the remains of an Iron Age hillfort (grid reference NT771239 ). [7] The fort is shaped like an elongated letter D, with its main axis lying northeast to southwest. [7] The fort measures 190 metres in length by 70 metres in greatest width within a single rampart. [7] The remains of a small settlement can be seen at the northeast end of the fort. [7]
About 400 metres to the northeast, on a spur of the hill (grid reference NT774242 ), is a second smaller fort, largely levelled by cultivation. [8] It originally measured 70 metres by 50 metres within double ramparts. [8] The northeast end has been destroyed by a later quarry. [8]
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian and, to the south-west, south and east, the English counties of Cumbria and Northumberland. The administrative centre of the area is Newtown St Boswells.
Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and Berwickshire to the north. To the south-west it borders Cumberland and to the south-east Northumberland, both in England.
St Cuthbert's Way is a 100-kilometre (62 mi) long-distance trail between the Scottish Borders town of Melrose and Lindisfarne off the coast of Northumberland, England. The walk is named after Cuthbert, a 7th-century saint, a native of the Borders who spent his life in the service of the church. The route links Melrose Abbey, where Cuthbert began his religious life, with his initial burial place on Holy Island. Cuthbert achieved the status of bishop, and was called a saint eleven years after his death, when his coffin was opened and his remains found to be perfectly preserved.
Cessford Burn is a small stream which eventually runs to meet the Kale Water and then joins the River Teviot, finally entering the River Tweed at Kelso, Scotland.
Mochrum is a coastal civil and Church of Scotland parish situated to the east of Luce Bay on the Machars peninsula and 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Wigtown and in the historical county of Wigtownshire in Galloway, Scotland. It covers 22,000 acres (8,900 ha) and is approximately 10 miles (16 km) in length and 5 miles (8.0 km) in breadth. The parish contains the eponymous village of Mochrum, as well as Port William and the clachan of Elrig.
Polwarth is a village and parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is located at grid reference NT745502, between Greenlaw and Duns, in the former county of Berwickshire.
Garvald is a hamlet on the B7007, near Dewar, by the Dewar Burn, in the Moorfoot Hills, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the former Peeblesshire.
Smailholm is a small village in the historic county of Roxburghshire in south-east Scotland. It is at grid reference NT648364 and straddles the B6397 Gordon to Kelso road. The village is almost equidistant from both, standing 6 miles (10 km) northwest of the abbey town of Kelso. Since local government reorganisation in Scotland in the early 1970s, Smailholm has been part of the Scottish Borders Council.
Stichill Kirk is an ancient church situated in the village of Stichill in the old county of Roxburghshire, now part of the Scottish Borders Council in Scotland. The village lies 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the abbey town of Kelso on the B6643 road and is at grid reference NT713383.
The Kale Water is a 20 miles (32 km) long tributary of the River Teviot in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Its feeder burns in the Cheviot Hills are the Long Burn, Hawkwillow Burn and the Grindstone Burn, east of Leithope Forest near the Anglo-Scottish Border.
Darnick is a village near Melrose in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the former Roxburghshire. The name was first recorded in 1124, and has changed from Dernewic, Dernwick and Darnwick to the present Darnick. Darnick Tower was built in c. 1425, and another tower house, Fisher's Tower, is still recognisable by its remains.
Mowhaugh is a hamlet and farm steading near the Calroust Burn and the Bowmont Water, near Morebattle, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and in the former Roxburghshire. It is situated about 5 miles (8 km) from the Anglo-Scottish Border.
The Pennymuir Roman camps are situated southeast of Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, near the Anglo-Scottish border, in the former Roxburghshire. The site, alongside the course of the Roman road known as Dere Street, consists of the remains of four Roman temporary camps, a linear earthwork and an area of rig. The site is also sometimes referred to as the Towford camps.
Yetholm Loch is a loch near Kelso, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the former Roxburghshire.
Clevens Loch was a substantial freshwater loch situated in a low-lying area below Clevance Farm and Langholm Farm in Dundonald parish, South Ayrshire, Scotland.
Old Luce is a civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies in the Machars peninsula, in the traditional county of Wigtownshire. The parish is around 10 miles (16 km) long and 8 miles (13 km) broad, and contains 40,350 acres (16,330 ha).
Hownam or Hounam is a small village and parish situated 8 miles east of Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, near the Anglo-Scottish border, in the former Roxburghshire.
Linton is a small village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is situated a mile north of the village of Morebattle.