Auchencrow
| Auchencrow | |
|---|---|
 Auchencrow
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| Auchencrow shown within the Scottish Borders | |
| OS grid reference | NT8560 |
| Council area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Duns |
| Dialling code | 01890 |
| Police | Scottish |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
Auchencrow (Scottish Gaelic: Allt na Crà) is a small village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, by the Lammermuir range of hills, and near Reston.
The modern name, Auchencrow, tends to obscure the question of origins. A Gaelic origin is accepted by Watson (1926, 138) and Nicholaisen (1976, 138). It is thought that the meaning is "achaidh na cra" "field of the tree or trees" This is apparently contradicted by the 12th-century name-form ‘Alden-’, also preserved, for example, in four 13th-century Durham charters. Mac an Tàilleir suggests the form Aldenacraw may be derived from a name for the watercourse (such as the Gaelic Allt na Crà "stream of the salmon trap") rather than the settlement itself.
In c. 1210 the village was referred to as Aldenegraue.
Something like ‘Halden’s Grave’ or ‘Halden’s Grove’ could be nearer the original idea, but it is more natural to use the current name, and to speak of the village of Auchencrow. This is itself a form only recently derived by folk-etymology from the much longerrunning ‘Edencraw’ or ‘Auchencrawe’: an evolution from Halden- to Alden- or Eden- to Auchenand from -grove/ -grave to -crawe to -crow.
James Hutton, the founder of modern geology, farmed two miles to the west. A James Hutton Trail was established in 2006.
South of Auchencrow towards Chirnside, during the war of the Rough Wooing, Billie was burnt in May 1544 during the withdrawal of Lord Hertford's army from Edinburgh. The castle tower, "Byllye tower 9 miles from Berwick on the edge of Lammermore, between Angus's barony of Boncle, and Coldingham" (55°49′48″N 2°14′24″W / 55.8299°N 2.2400°W), was captured on Candlemass day in January 1548 by the English soldier Thomas Carlile, who overcame the guard with 10 companions dressed "in maner of Skottes." He garrisoned the tower with 50 horsemen.
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Wikipedia