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Swinnie, Swinnie Bar, Swinnie Moorfoot
Swinnie (swi-nee) n.
hamlet and farm off the A68 on the B6357 towards Hallrule in the
Scottish Borders.
Thomas Oliver ‘de Swyne’, who witnessed a sasine in Rulewater in 1436
may have been from here.
Robert Oliver was there in 1502. It was
listed along with Clarilee in 1538 among lands in Jedforest that had
passed to the Crown, but the lands were ‘claimed by the laird thereof’;
at that time they were valued at £4 6s 8d. In 1557 Sir John Kerr of
Ferniehirst complained to the Queen that a force led by the Laird of
Bedrule had terrorised the tenant, Adam Kirkton; this was presumably
part of land dispute. It was owned by the Marquis of Douglas(1)
in 1643 and 1678, when valued at £400 (along with Old Jedburgh and ‘Standalane’);
the Earl of Lothian owned the teinds. There were 10 separate households
listed there on the Hearth Tax Rolls of 1694.
Archibald Douglas of Douglas
was recorded as owner in 1788.
John Goodfellow was there in
1797. Richard Davidson was farmer there in the mid-to-late 19th century.
There was formerly a toll-bar there. In about 1833 a horn was found
here, containing silver coins from the reign of James I of Scotland and
around 1845 a set of 300–400 silver coins were ploughed up on the farm,
these being from the reigns of Henry VIII and Queen Mary.
There
is a linear earthwork to the west of the farm, which runs about a mile
and is probably an old agricultural boundary. A plantation about 1 km
south of the farmhouse has an interesting jigsaw-piece shape (also
written ‘Swinney’ and ‘Swinny’, it is ‘Swynny’ in 1502, ‘Swyne’ and ‘Swynne’
in 1538, ‘Swynnee’ in 1539, ‘Swynne’ in 1557 and ‘Swynie’ in 1694; it is
marked on Blaeu’s 1654 map as ‘Sownie’).
Swinnie Moor (swi-nee-moor)
n. moorland area between Bonchester and Jedburgh, around the B6357, near
the hamlet of Swinnie and Swinnie Plantation. An area called Swinnie
Dyke
Nook was once the supposed haunting ground of a ‘bogle’ (the
origin of the name is possibly from Old Norse ‘svithningr’, meaning ‘the
place cleared by burning’ and first occurs as ‘Swlynny’ in 1528).
Notes:
1.
William (1589–1660) 1st Marquess of Douglas, was eldest son of
William, 10th Earl of Angus, and became 11th Earl of Angus in 1611. He
was recorded as owner of Swinnie, Old Jedburgh, Lintalee, etc., as well
as ‘his lands of Jed Forrest, being four-score steids’, according to the
1643 valuation rolls.
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