
Menzion, sometimes Minzion is a small settlement in southern
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 ...
near
Tweedsmuir
Tweedsmuir () is a village and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in Tweeddale, the Scottish Borders Council district, southeastern Scotland.
Geography
The village is set in a valley, with the rolling hills and burns on both sides, cover ...
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 ...
, in the valley of the
River Tweed
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the River Tweed. The Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers ...
.
Topography

Menzion lies along the Menzion burn, being separated into Nether Menzion and Over Menzion. Nether Menzion lies at the foot of the burn near the Fruid road. The burn is surrounded on both sides by commercial forestry which is set back to reduce the immediate impact of the acidic run-off. Over Menzion, which was formerly a shepherd's abode, is now abandoned.
Ancient stones
Menzion displays evidence of very early habitation with three ancient stones standing on a minor road leading to
Fruid Reservoir, just north of the village of Tweedsmuir. Of these, the main stone is known as "The Giant's Stone" which is about 1.60 m high. The two other stones nearby were not mentioned in the Ordnance Survey map of 1859, where the Giant's Stone is described as "Remains of Druidical Temple". The parish records of 1833 state that there were other stones but that these were carried away and put to other uses.
Menzion was part of the barony of
Oliver Castle
Oliver Castle was a medieval tower house, located in upper River Tweed, Tweedsdale in the Scottish Borders. The site of the hillfort known as Oliver Castle is to the north of the village of Tweedsmuir, although the site of the tower house is l ...
and originally belonged to
Clan Fraser. After Sir Simon Fraser died it was divided between his two daughters Joanna and Mary. Joanna married Sir Patrick Fleming and Over Menzion became the property of the Flemings and Mary married Sir Gilbert Hay and Nether Menzion became the property of the Hays. The Fleming family held the lands until 1636, when John (Fleming), second Earl of Wigtown, conveyed Over Menzion to Sir David Murray of
Stanhope who obtained a Crown charter on 17 March 1645 incorporating the lands into the barony of Stanhope-Murray.
[ J. W. Buchan and Rev. H. Paton ''A History of Peeblesshire'' 1925-7 Jackson, Wylie and Co. Glasgow]
It was in around 1645 that a vagrant called Marion Chisholm came from Edinburgh while the Plague was raging there carrying a bundle of clothing with the disease in it. The occupants of Nether Menzion and two other farms at Fruid, and Glencotho became infected. Those who escaped the pestilence pulled down the roofs and walls of their houses onto the bodies of those who had died. Marion Chisholm was buried near Nether Menzion in a grave that can no longer be found.
John Sinclair ''The statistical account of Scotland: drawn up from the communication of the ministers of the different parishes, Volume 8'' Creech, 1793
/ref>
Around this time, Sir David Murray also acquired Nether Menzion which his son William inherited in 1654.[ The lands eventually became the property of Sir David Murray, nephew of John Murray of Broughton, who was active in the ]Jacobite rising of 1745
The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...
. As a result of his participation, the Murray estates were confiscated (as were those other Jacobite sympathisers). Many properties on the Stanhope estate were tenanted by members of the Tweedie family with whom the Murrays had at various times fought or intermarried.
See also
*List of places in the Scottish Borders
''Map of places in the Scottish Borders compiled from this list'':See the list of places in Scotland for places in other counties.
This list of places in the Scottish Borders includes towns, villages, hamlet (place), hamlets, castles, golf courses ...
*List of places in Scotland
This list of places in Scotland is a complete collection of lists of places in Scotland.
*List of burghs in Scotland
*List of census localities in Scotland
*List of islands of Scotland
**List of Shetland islands
**List of Orkney islands
**List o ...
References
External links
Hunter of Menzion
{{authority control
Villages in the Scottish Borders