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HISTORY OF KELSO
Everything that follows on the "The History Of Kelso"
has been reproduced from the pages of Kelsae, a history of Kelso
from earliest times by Alistair Moffat.
The origin of the name Kelso.
The origin of the name 'Kelso' comes from the fact that the town
stands on a chalky heugh - something that is remembered in the modern
street-name of Chalkheugh Terrace - and early references in mediaeval
documents variously appear as Calkou, Calchehoh or Celchehov.
The recorded history of Kelso began in 1113, at Selkirk. David
Earl of Tweeddale and Northampton (later to become David I of Scotland)
brought 13 monks from the Abbey of Tiron of France to found a new
monastery at Selkirk. David gave the French monks extensive lands
in the Tweed valley, revenues in his burghs of Roxburgh and Berwick,
from his own household, and some property in his English earldom
of Northampton. It was common practice in the Middle Ages to set
down all of these gifts in a document or charter which the monks
could produce as evidence for their ownership of land or services.
The foundation charter of Selkirk Abbey is no exception, as it notes
down in careful detail the names of all the places where the Abbey
held property, and its exact geographical limits, along with all
the other gifts and services it received. This charter gives the
first historical glimps of the Scottish Border country in the 12th
century. The villages of Sprouston, Midlem, Bowden and Redden must
all have been going concerns in 1113 when David gave parts of them
to Selkirk Abbey, and his burghs of Roxburgh (which has now completely
disappeared) and Berwick were undoubtably thriving towns with weekly
markets and a sizeable merchant population.
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Some of the remaining walls of Roxburgh Castle as it stands today |
Picture of Roxburgh Castle mound facing towards Floors Castle |
Picture of Floors Castle from the Roxburgh Castle Mound |
Earl David held a strong castle at Roxburgh. Known as Marchidun
or Marchmont, it was situated at strategically important crossing-points
of both the Teviot and the Tweed and it acted as protection for
the town of Roxburgh. Soon after he became King of Scotland in 1124
David decided, on the advice of John, Bishop of Glasgow, to move
his Abbey of Selkirk to a new site at a place called Kelso. He did
this so that he could concentrate power in southern Scotland in
one centre around Roxburgh. Kelso was certainly thought of as no
more than a suberb of Roxbugh, although it was the location of an
earlier church called St Mary's. Before 1128, when the Abbey of
Selkirk was moved and became the Abbey of Kelso, the church of St
Mary had been in the diocese of the Bishop of St Andrews. Bishop
Robert was persuaded to give this church to the monks in 1128 probably
as a temporary home for the abbey and certainly as a site where
the building of the new foundation could begin.
In order to avoid confusion over the transplantation of the monks
from Selkirk to Kelso, David I re-issued the foundation charter
in the name of Kelso, re-organised his gifts of land to suit the
new location and on 3 May 1128 in the presence of the royal family
and Scotland's nobility, the Abbey Kirk of Kelso was founded. That
act marks the beginnning of the continuous history of Kelso.
In order to present a complete picture of Kelso in this early period
it is necessary to turn now to the history of the town that lay across
the river from the new abbey and which has now completely disappeared.
David I , who owned Tweeddale by hereditory right, decided he needed
to use his manpower resources wisely if he wanted to change the nature
of the land he governed. The two ways in which David decided to develop
his earldom was to create a strong castle and build a thriving town
around it.
The site of Roxburgh must have looked like the obvious place for a
stronghold to the young Earl David. Bounded very closely by the River
Teviot on its south side and by the Tweed only a short distance to
the north, the long oblong mount that was to become Roxburgh Castle
rose to a height of seventy to eighty feet, dominating the undulating
landscape around it. To the east of the castle the two rivers Teviot
and Tweed join to make a peninsula of the area where David built his
new burgh, thus ensuring that it would be well defended by water.
Although there is a strong likelihood that earlier forts had occupied
the mount, it was Davis and his French-speaking friends who probably
gave the place its name. Roxburgh is usually styled 'Rokesburgus'
or 'Rochesburgus' in the early documents. Roches is the French
word for stones or rocks and the name would have signified to these
early inhabitants the nature of the castle-mount, because, unlike
Edinburgh or Stirling, it is not a single roche but a big stoney
ridge - Rocksburgh.
The strategic importance of Roxbugh in terms of a military operation
is underlined by the fact that David massed his army at Roxburgh before
he invaded King Stephen's England in 1138. Not only was this site
inherently strong but it also lay very near the junction of two medieval
roads, and it controlled a relatively low crossing point of the Tweed
- probably the last before the bridge at Berwick.
For more than a century Roxburgh Castle stood at the centre of Scottish
politics. It acted as a royal court on several occasions and many
of the king's recorded acts ended with the phrase 'at Roxburgh' and
the date of the document.
Roxburgh Castle was finally destroyed in 1550 and now only a few fragments
of masonry are left. These lie mostly on the south side of the site
by the River Teviot. Roxburgh was a large castle and it is surprising
that so little of it has survived, even taking into account the energy
of the stone-robbers from across the Tweed at Kelso. In 1255 the strength
of Roxburgh was recognised when the English faction at the quarrelling
Scottish court kidnapped the young Alexander III and held him prisoner
at Roxburgh.
The royal wedding of Lord Alexander, the son of Alexander III, and
Margaret de Dampiere, daughter of the Count of Flanders, followed
in 1282 but the castle was to be occupied by the English at the end
of the thirteenth century.
The fascinating story of how it was won back by the Scots follows..........
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