I was brought up at a farm called Fireburnmill about a mile west of Coldstream, and the Tweed was part of my wonderful boyhood life! I often tell friends the river runs through my veins. My grandfather was Charles Tweedie Young, and I later learned that Tweedie Castle near Drumelzier was the home of the ‘Tweedies’, said to be the fairies or Spirit of Tweed! Well, myth and legend but I like that.
Directly opposite Fireburnmill is the village of Wark, and the ruins of Wark Castle. I joined the army in 1966, and my family still lived at Fireburnmill where my Dad Joshua (Jos) was the cattleman. Around 1969 he was asked to look after cattle grazing on the English side of the Tweed, using the salmon fishing boat at what is now known as North Wark to row across. He found a well under the ruins of the castle with an interesting plaque bearing a dedication to Katherine. My girlfriend, now my wife of 55 years, went to see the well with Dad when I was away on duty and recorded the inscription.
Thirsty pilgrim grateful at this shrine,
To memory Kathrine’s legend here consign,
Think not yon sheep true hillocks came by chance,
For England’s safety raised, not Scot’s romance.
Sadly the plaque is no longer there but I now know the well is dedicated to the memory of Katherine de Grandison, Countess of Salisbury (1302-1349).
Katherine was at a ball at Wark Castle around 1341, as was King Edward III after having relieved a Scottish siege. Apparently Katherine dropped a garter, which the King picked up and then ‘forced his attentions upon her.’ She said words to the effect ‘Evil be to he, who evil thinks’, which became the motto of Edward’s Most Noble Order of the Garter: Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense. Other theories about the Order exist!
More about Wark Castle.
Images:
- Katherine’s Well by Peter Locke (below and right)
- Upper North Wark fishing station© Russel Wills (cc-by-sa/2.0)
- Wark Castle© Richard Webb (cc-by-sa/2.0)
