Cessford Burn

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An ancient Scottish farmstead attached to Cessford Castle in Roxburghshire (now called Scottish Borders) between Kelso and Morebattle, in the parish of Eckford, the extant foundations stones of which can be seen to this day, was situated on the north bank of Cessford Burn; once consisting of seven shiels, or thatched cottages, which housed the families of the farm steward, the shepherd and the ploughman. Along it's quiet, green banks is Habbie Kerr's cave, where local citizens had sought safety and shelter since the fifth century CE. The farmstead was burned to the ground by the English many times, including the border campaign of the Earl of Surrey in May, 1523 and again by the Earl of Hertford in 1545, during the Rough Wooing of King Henry VIII of England. The families living in these shiels were in the service of His Grace the Duke of Roxburghe, who was granted by Royal Charters of both James I of Scotland and James II of Scotland, to be caretaker of these lands for the Crown; including Cessford (or Kerr) Castle, the cottages on Cessford Burn and Cessford village, lying just outside the north castle gate on the Morebattle road. Situated in a uniquely beautiful valley, lined with ancient elms, Cessford Burn is a small stream ("Burn") which eventually runs downstream to meet the Kalewater River and then on to join with the River Teviot and finally entering the River Tweed. Cessford Castle, in ruins today, stands upon the ridge opposite Cessford Burn on the south bank. Cessford village is no longer extant, but aerial photgraphs and Matthew Stobie's 1770 map of Roxburghshire show us that the village lay hard by the castle to the northwest on the Morebattle road; about 140 souls lived in Cessford village during these times. A branch of the old Border family NISBET were shepherds in Cessford Burn from about 1665 until they emigrated to Canada and New York in 1822, due to the farm consolidations of the late 18th century on the Scottish Borders. Just south of Cessford Castle, there once stood an ancient ash tree known as the "Crow Tree" in the old Statistical Accounts of Scotland (see: Eckford Parish) and as was recorded by Alexander Jeffrey in volume III of his History and Antiquities of Roxburghshire, see: Alexander Jeffrey - The History & Antiquities of Roxburghshire & Adjacent Districts (4 vols, Edinburgh: Seton & Mackenzie, 1855-64).