Darnick is a village near Melrose in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

area of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, in the former

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...

. The name was first recorded in 1124, and has changed from Dernewic, Dernwick and Darnwick to the present Darnick. was built in c. 1425, and another

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

, Fisher's Tower, is still recognisable by its remains. Skirmish Hill by Darnick is the site of a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

which took place on 25 July 1526 between the Scotts of Buccleuch and the Kerrs of Ferniehirst, trying to intercept King

James V James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV a ...

who was then under the guardianship of

Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus (c. 148922 January 1557) was a Scottish nobleman active during the reigns of James V and Mary, Queen of Scots. He was the son of George, Master of Angus, who was killed at the Battle of Flodden, and succ ...

. John Smith of Darnick created the Wallace Statue at Bemersyde House. His family were builders and masons during the first half of the 19th century, and they have to their credit an extension to Abbotsford, Dryburgh Abbey House, Eckford Church, Gattonside House, Hawick North Bridge, the bridge over the

Hermitage Water The Hermitage Water is a river in Liddesdale, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Among its many feeder burns are Braidley Burn, Dinley Burn, Gorrenberry Burn and Twislehope Burn. The Water flows through the hamlets of Dinley and Gorrenberr ...

, Melrose Parish Church, and Yetholm Parish Church. Places nearby include Abbotsford,

Buckholm Buckholm is a farm near to the A7, in the Scottish Borders, Galashiels area of Scotland. Places nearby include Abbotsford House, Abbotsford, the Bow Castle Broch, Clovenfords, Darnick, Eildon, the Gala Water, the Lugate Water, and Stow of Wed ...

, Eildon, the Gala Water,

Galashiels Galashiels (; , ) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive history in the textile in ...

, Gattonside,

Lindean Lindean is a village north of Selkirk and the Ettrick Water, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. In 1590 the parishioners of Lindean had permission to rebuild their church on the north side of the Tweed, at the west end of Boleside, ...

and

Newtown St Boswells Newtown St Boswells (; ) is a village in the Scottish Borders council areas of Scotland, council area, in south-east Scotland. The village lies south of the Eildon Hills on the Sprouston and Newtown burn (topography), burns, approximately sout ...

References

* Douglas, Sir George (1899)
''History of the Border Counties: Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles''
Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood & Sons.

Sources

A walk around Darnick, described by Nigel Tranter in his 'Illustrated Portrait of the Border Country' 1972

External links

RCAHMS record of Darnick, Skirmish Field

Darnick Tower
information and pictures published by the ''Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland'' {{authority control Villages in the Scottish Borders

See also

References

Sources

External links