Selkirk and The Haining

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Haining Loch

Our Christmas 2022 holiday cottage was near the town of Selkirk which we visited on our second day. We followed part of the town trail in the morning, then after lunch we walked round the loch on the Haining Estate.

Halliwell’s Close is one of the oldest parts of town and houses the town’s museum, not open at this time of year. A nearby shop window amused us with its aeroplane made out of beer cans.

Town museum
Beer can aeroplane

Up Kirk Wynd we found the Auld Kirk. There has been a church on this site since 1152, though the current ruin dates from 1747. William Wallace was proclaimed Guardian of Scotland here in 1298 and the maternal ancestors of Franklin D Roosevelt lie in the Murray Aisle. Someone had left a very patriotic painted stone.

Wallace and Roosevelt plaque
History of Auld Kirk
Auld Kirk entrance
Interior
Interior
Murray Aisle
Patriotic stone art

Up the road from the Kirk is a small statue of a souter (shoemaker) high on a house wall. Shoemaking was Selkirk’s main trade before the arrival of the textile industry and the Shoemakers’ Guild was founded in 1609, only being disbanded in the 1960s. The undated  memorial bench below commemorates Bill Ballantyne, member of Selkirk Toc H.

Souter and bench
Selkirk Souter

We passed a plaque marking the 450th anniversary of Selkirk receiving its Royal Charter in 1535 and the statue to explorer Mungo Park.

Selkirk 450 commemoration stone
Mungo Park

The red sandstone Victoria Halls, completed in 1897, are surrounded by memorials to the Battle of Flodden (1513). For its 400th anniversary in 1913 Thomas J Clapperton was commissioned to design the bronze Fletcher Memorial, dedicated to the Selkirk men who fell in the conflict. According to local legend, Fletcher was the only Selkirk man out of eighty to return to his hometown after the battle.

Unveiled by the Earl of Rosebery 1913
Clapperton’s mark
Fletcher Memorial

More memorials were added to the surrounding gardens for the 500th anniversary in 2013. The fountain, although Victorian, was not originally located here but was moved from a house which was being demolished. Its blue paint fits in well with the memorials.

Paving
Start of a series of stone “books”
Bench
Bench detail
Women and children’s memorial
Plaque dedicated to the women and children bereaved by war
Fountain from Philiphaugh House

On the street corner is another memorial by Clapperton from 1931 which commemorates local poet James Brown whose best-known work is Selkirk after Flodden. It shows two women comforting each other.

Two women comfort each other
Dedication

On Ettrick Terrace we passed some very grand turreted buildings, one of which used to be the town jail and is now the library, and the war memorial.

Library, formerly town jail
Library, formerly town jail
Sheriff Court
Five Turrets
Ettrick Lodge
War Memorial

Bogie’s Close is illustrated by a bogie!

Street sign
Bogie mosaic

The Fleece Hotel is the site of the foundation of the Dandie Dinmont Terrier Club (more about them later) and Kossuth, whom you might remember from an earlier post visited Galashiels, seems to have done quite a tour because he lectured in Selkirk too, at the County Hotel.

Dandie Dimnont plaque
Kossuth plaque

Lunch intervened at this point (can’t remember what or where now) and afterwards we walked up to the Haining Estate with its Palladian mansion house and loch. Originally built in the 1790s for the Pringle family, the last private owner, Andrew Nimmo Smith, bequeathed the house and stables to the people of Selkirkshire in 2009 and they are now managed by a charitable trust. When we were there the house was being refurbished as a centre for exhibitions and events, while some of the outbuildings had already been redeveloped as artists studios and holiday apartments.

House and Loch
House and Loch
Stable block
Renovations in progress
Loch side of house
Date, 1795

Below the house, facing out over the loch, was an attractive row of classical statues and, beneath them, a pair Antonio Canova-inspired busts added in the 1820s to mark extensive additions to the estate.

Statues overlooking the loch
Statues overlooking the loch
Canova-inspired bust
Canova-inspired busts
Canova-inspired bust

And we met the Dandie Dinmonts again because this is where the breed originated. “Old Ginger” was born at The Haining on June 4, 1842 and today every Dandie Dinmont Terrier can trace its breeding back to him through its male line. His statue, by Alexander Stoddart, was erected in 2017 in the kennel yard.

Dandie Dinmont bench
Dandie Dinmont Discovery Centre
Old Ginger bench
Old Ginger statue

Interestingly, we came across more about the history of Dandie Dinmonts on a recent visit to the new Scottish galleries at the National Gallery in Edinburgh. This dog, Callum, is on permanent display for reasons detailed in the information label below. Walter Scott gets everywhere!

Dandie Dinmony in Scottish National Gallery
Gallery information

 

One or two more 2022 posts to come, then I make it into 2023! Will I catch up with myself in 2024? Who knows … Linking this one to Jo’s Monday Walk (and yes, I know it’s Friday!)

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43 Comments »

  1. Pingback: Jo’s Monday walk : to Chapel Allerton and beyond | Still Restlessjo

  2. I never knew there was so much to see in Selkirk! I liked that the library was in an old building with so much character and wonder what it’s like inside.

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  3. Very interesting post and area. It’s in these wee border towns and villages or over in rural Fife that you sometimes find real oddities, like the metal face harness of the ‘scold’s bridal.’ or the cruel iron spikes of the ‘witches lament.’ Bob. BSS.

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  5. We stayed in Selkirk once when the children were very small. I can’t remember seeing most of the places in your post – either not so observant or just getting senile and forgotten them! 😂

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  6. Lots of interesting history here but my favourite bit just has to be the dogs. Back when I was in my early teens a neighbour of ours had a DD who I would take for walks after school. I love the portrait of Callum, he looks cute 🙂

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  13. And that answers my unasked question about whether the Dandie Dinmonts were named after the character in Guy Mannering, or vice versa.
    I used to stop for a break in Selkirk when I drove from Epping to Edinburgh, the Trossachs or the Highlands (pre guinea pig days!). Should have explored it more.

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  16. Hi Anabel – fascinating town, with lots of interesting history … I haven’t even reached into 2024 yet – starting on the 13th! You certainly spotted lots of landmarks … cheers and Happy New Year – Hilary

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  17. That looks like an interesting town with lots of history. I love the little statue of the souter (I don’t think I’ve heard that word before) and the Dandie Dinmont statue too 🙂

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  18. Lovely virtual tour… didn’t realize you were so far behind in your posts. But you keep so active that I am not surprised. Maybe you could simply skip 2023 and jump right into 2024 though I know we would be missing lots of great adventures. (Suzanne)

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