Kirk Yetholm

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Kirk Yetholm from the Mindrum Road

Kirk Yetholm is a village in the Scottish Borders region of Scotland, 8 miles (13 km) south east of Kelso and less than 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the border. The first mention is of its church in the 13th century. Its sister town is Town Yetholm which lies half a mile across the Bowmont Water. The population of the two villages was recorded as 591 in the 2001 census.[1]

The Border Hotel public house is the official end of the Pennine Way. Kirk Yetholm was for centuries the headquarters of the Romani people (Gypsies) in Scotland. The last king of the Gypsies was crowned in 1898 and the Gypsies have been integrated and are no longer a separate ethnic minority. A memorial stone can be found on the village green.[2]

A song referring to Kirk Yetholm called "Yetholm Day" was written and composed by Gary Cleghorn of Kelso for the "Kelso Civic Week" celebrations in 2008.

Place-name meanings

Yetholm means either:

  • the goats' island from Old English gat 'goat' and Old Norse holmr (island, holme)
  • village with a gate - from Old English geat-ham 'gate village'

See also

Further reading

The Kirk Yetholm Gypsies is available from the Hawick Archaeological Society website.[3]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Scotland's Census Result OnLine
  2. ↑ The Gypsy Memorial, Kirk Yetholm, Scotland
  3. ↑ http://www.airchieoliver.co.uk/books.php

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kirk Yetholm.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Kirk Yetholm.

Coordinates: 55°33′N 2°16′W / 55.550°N 2.267°W / 55.550; -2.267

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