Travelling through Tweedsmuir, you’ll find an old inn at a bend in the road where hills, travellers, and stories have met for centuries. It’s called The Crook Inn, and one of its most memorable characters was a woman known as Jeanie O’ the Crook. Jeanie Hutchison was born at the inn in 1807, daughter of […]

Strawberry Hill rises quietly above Tweedsmuir, its 495-metre summit offering wide, rewarding views after a strenuous climb. From the top, the waters of Fruid Reservoir stretch out below, with nearby Garelet Dod standing watch across the valley. It is a place where landscape and history meet, and where the name of the hill carries a […]

Rising quietly to just 538 metres, the hill was hardly impressive at first glance. Sheep grazed its slopes, and mist often clung to its rounded summit, disguising it as little more than another fold in the Scottish Borders. Yet locals had always called it The Crown of Scotland, a name far grander than the hill […]

The house and estate of Makerstoun was home of the Makdougall family for many years. In 1860, following the death of Sir Thomas Brisbane, it was inherited by Maria Scott Makdougall, a spinster, 76 years of age. Miss Makdougall was a staunch teetotaler who now found herself in possession of one of the finest wine […]

Wordsworth climbed from his carriage and held out his hand to wife Mary and sister Dorothy. The crunch of their small feet on the gravel drive startled a robin, who sang as it watched the three visitors look up at Abbotsford. “Such a fine house and a peaceful place,” William said as the front door […]

This tale was contributed by The Wilson’s Tales Project which celebrated the life and stories of Tweedmouth-born John Mackay Wilson and his ‘Tales of the Borders’ through a series of events for all ages supported by a Destination Tweed Community Grant. The monks of Dryburgh heard the Laird of Meldrum, was dying. Two brethren set […]