Hownam or HounamHounam National Library of Scotland is a small village and
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
situated 8 miles east of
Jedburgh
Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in su ...
in the
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Loth ...
area of Scotland, near the
Anglo-Scottish border
The Anglo-Scottish border () is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to as "the Borderlands".
Th ...
, in the former
Roxburghshire
Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and Berw ...
.
Hownam lies south of
Morebattle
Morebattle is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, on the B6401, seven miles south of Kelso, Scottish Borders, beside the Kale Water, a tributary of the River Teviot. The St. Cuthbert's Way long distance footpath passes through t ...
on the Kale Water.Hownam Parish www.morebattle.bordernet.co.uk, retrieved 8 May 2014 The parish borders England and has, within its boundaries, the Roman road of
Dere Street
Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman road which ran north from Eboracum ( York), crossing the Stanegate at Corbridge (Hadrian's Wall was crossed at the Portgate, just to the north) and continuing beyond into what is now ...
and the Pennymuir Roman camps. Hownam first appears in the written charters in the 12th century. The origin of the name is uncertain, but may indicate a tribal name, "the Hunas". The village itself is a small group of houses in a row on one side of the road. The village church is at the north end of the village. The church was reshaped in the 1750s and further modernised in the 1840s, and again following a fire in 1907.Hownam www.cheviotchurches.org, retrieved 8 May 2014
Local nurseryman George Taylor was born at Hounam Grange in 1803.George "Celery" Taylor www.morebattle.bordernet.co.uk, retrieved 8 May 2014 He emigrated to
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropoli ...
in 1855, and became known as George "Celery" Taylor because he introduced commercial
celery
Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, l ...