Kirk Yetholm ('kirk yet-ham') is a village in the Scottish Borders region of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, southeast of Kelso and less than west of the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

. The first mention is of its church in the 13th century. Its sister town is Town Yetholm which lies across the

Bowmont Water Bowmont Water is a stream in the Scottish Borders and Northumberland, England. It rises in the Cheviot Hills and flows by Mowhaugh, Town Yetholm, and Kirk Yetholm. It then crosses the Anglo-Scottish border and continues past Mindrum Mill, M ...

. The population of the two villages was recorded as 591 in the 2001 census.

Etymology

Yetholm means either: * the goats' island from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''gat'' '

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

' and Old Norse ''holmr'' (island, ''holme'') * village with a gate - from

''geat-ham'' ‘gate village’

Gypsies

Kirk Yetholm was the headquarters of the Romanichal travellers (gypsies) in Scotland, having settled in the village about 1750. The last King of the Gypsies, Charles Faa Blyth Rutherford, aged 70, was crowned on 31 May 1898. A second male, David Blyth, claimed he was the rightful heir, but did not attend the huge ceremony and festivities which was held between the two Yetholm villages. The king died just four years later on 21 April 1902. Today the gypsies have been integrated and are no longer a separate ethnic minority. A memorial stone can be found on the village green. File:Sco-Borders-KirkYetholm gypsy stone-2018.jpg, Gypsy stone and plaque (May 2018). File:Sco-Borders-KirkYetholm gypsy stone text-2018.jpg, Gypsy plaque (May 2018).

Saint Cuthbert's Way and Pennine Way

The village is notable for being the northern terminus of the

Pennine Way The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kir ...

, and to a lesser extent the southern terminus of the Scottish National Trail. The Border Hotel

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

is the official end of the Pennine Way. Saint Cuthbert's Way also passes through the village, going between

Melrose, Scotland Melrose ( gd, Maolros, "bald moor") is a small town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders, historically in Roxburghshire. It lies within the Eildon committee area of Scottish Borders Council. History The original Melrose was ''Mailros'', me ...

and Lindisfarne (Holy Island), Northumberland. File:Sco-Borders-KirkYetholm Saint Cuthbert's Way map-2018.jpg, Saint Cuthbert's Way map (May 2018). File:Sco-Borders-KirkYetholm Saint Cuthbert's Way sign-2018.jpg, Signpost (May 2018). File:Sco-Borders-KirkYetholm Saint Cuthbert's Way path-2018.jpg, Way near youth hostel (May 2018).

Youth hostel

In 1942 the village school building was converted into a

Scottish Youth Hostels Association Hostelling Scotland (SYHA; Gaelic: ''Comann Osdailean Òigridh na h-Alba'') is part of Hostelling International and provides youth hostel accommodation in Scotland. the organisation represents 58 hostels: 31 run by Hostelling Scotland and 27 af ...

hostel. It now continues in use as an affiliate hostel named the Kirk Yetholm Friends of Nature House. It provides accommodation for tourists, particularly walkers and cyclists, being located on Saint Cuthbert's Way, the

, the Scottish National Trail, the

Sustrans Sustrans is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United K ...

National Cycle Route 1 The cycle-path is located in the United Kingdom. Route Dover to Canterbury Dover , Deal , Sandwich , Canterbury Links with National Cycle Route 2, Regional route 16, and Regional route 17 in Dover. Leaves Dover passing Dover Castle. S ...

and Scottish Borders Loop.

Activities

The first Saturday in October is traditionally the Yetholm Border Shepherds' Show, held on the land between Town Yetholm and Kirk Yetholm, with the 156th show held in 2019. It stemmed from the old practice of farmers gathering to sort through stray sheep from neighbours' flocks. A song referring to Kirk Yetholm called "Yetholm Day" was written and composed by Gary Cleghorn. Scottish Border poet and Australian bush balladeer Will H. Ogilvie (1869–1963) wrote 'The gipsies' (c. 1910; and later put to music by British composer Graham Peel), having been raised away. Ogilvie also wrote a song for the 'Coronation of the Gipsy King at Yetholm' by July 1898 whilst in Australia.

Gallery

File:Sco-Borders-KirkYetholm housing-2018.jpg, Housing near the green (May 2018). File:Sco-Borders-KirkYetholm kirk-2018.jpg, Kirk at Kirk Yetholm village (May 2018).

References

External links

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland

Scotland's Places

SCRAN image: Roy map of Kirk Yetholm

* Yetholm Community Council websit
Yetholm Online
* Yetholm Parish Church websit
Cheviot Churches
{{authority control Historic Romani communities Villages in the Scottish Borders Romani communities in the United Kingdom