Kirk Yetholm ('kirk yet-ham') is a village 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 ...

region 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 ...

, southeast of Kelso and less than west of the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

. The first mention is of its church in the 13th century. Its sister town is Town Yetholm which lies across the Bowmont Water. 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 , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''gat'' '

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly 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 ...

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

''geat-ham'' ‘gate village’

Romani People

Kirk Yetholm was the headquarters of the Romanichal travellers 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 in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

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

Melrose, Scotland Melrose (, "bald moor") is a town and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the Scottish Borders, historically in Roxburghshire. It lies within the Eildon Area committee, committee area of Scottish Borders Council. History The original ...

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 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 ...

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

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