TWEEDSMUIR PARISH HISTORY.
Tweedshaws - the source of the River Tweed.
At the source of the River Tweed, at the extreme south end of Tweedsmuir Parish, there is a stone monument in a viewpoint layby on the A701.(1) This monument tells the story of the river's journey through the Scottish Borders between Tweedsmuir and the North Sea at Berwick.
It should be noted that this spot was not always known as the source of the Tweed. In years gone by it was usually the longest tributary that was the source. See page. Tweed, Annan & Clyde.
The monument was recently - 2018- cleaned by a group of Tweedsmuir volunteers after date of above photograph. New signage was also provided.
The monument displays five panels that tells the story of the Tweed.
Panel 1 - This moor is an open hand, the palm lined with streams, in winter, on frozen land, Tweed's Well shows up as green. In summer when upland dries, the source is flowing free. A clear spring will always rise, while Tweed runs to the sea.
Panel 2 - In the field across the field, among pools and trickles in the wet ground, Tweeds starts its journey of nearly one hundred miles to the sea. Its famous salmon depend on the pure water. They hatch in the river, leave to spend four years at sea, then find their way again to spawn.
Panel 3 - From here to Peebles, the river runs through a land of mysteries, Merlin of Caledon, said to be one of the last druids, came here around 580 AD at the end of his life. Perhaps he accepted the new religion, Christianity, and was baptised. Or perhaps he held to the old beliefs, a wandering prophet for thr people who shared them.
A thousand years later Tweed saw other religious struggles. The Covenanters rejected the Book of Common Prayer issued in 1635, but were persecuted for their independence. Government troops hunted them, so they held services on the open moors with lookouts to keep watch.
Panel 4 - Further downstream, the border valley snd rolling hills make good sheep country. The great abbeys at Melrose and Kelso grew powerful from the wool trade and from farming. When industry came to the Borders, Tweed powered the early textile mills.
Many of the great houses of the valley began as towers to defend their owners in troubled times. Neidpath castle is still a fortress, but the grand settings of Traquair, Abbotsford, Floors Castle and Paxton House show how later owners laid out their ground to enjoy the landscape carved river.
Panel 5 - Tweed forms the border between Scotland and England for only a few miles, but the river has long been a symbol of the boundary between two uneasy neighbours. Many armies have crossed the Tweed, going both from north to south and vice versa.
Torn between Scotland and England, the Borders suffered in the struggles of the ambitious and sometimes foolish Kings. Incessant change and the upheaval made the region an outlaws' stronghold in the 1500s and 1600s, and both Scots and English rulers left it alone. But through the commotion the Borders and their people developed their own proud identity, with Tweed at its heart.
The mention of Merlin of Caledon on the above Panel 3 is significant. Although undoubtedly the reference was to Merlins association with Drumelzier/Stobo a few miles down stream it is a happy coincidence that the monument is in fact in the Wood of Calidon. In fact, the summit of Hartfell, the mountain where Merlin sojourned for many years, should be visible to the south east from the layby. For more about Merlin see page Merlin Caledonious .
The mention of Melrose Abbey and sheep farming on panel 5 is also significant for Tweedsmuir. For more about this see the Hopecarton/Carterhope page.
It is hoped in due course to improve and enhance the layby and the stone monument area. This will hopefully come about when the proposed Tweed River Trail part of the Tweed Forum Destination Tweed Project comes to fruitition. The shaw part of Tweedshaw is the old Scottish word for a small wood indicating at some time in the past there was a small wood here. For more about this see page Wood of Calidon. Tweedshaws is not far from the BWT wildwood at Corhead at the Devil's Beeftub separated by the multi streamed/ multi natural habitats of the area of Earlshaugh.
Return to Tweedsmuir Parish History page.