Lauder
Encyclopedia
The Royal Burgh
of Lauder is a town in the Scottish
Borders
27 miles south east of Edinburgh
. It is also a royal burgh
in the county of Berwickshire
. It lies on the edge of the Lammermuir Hills
, on the Southern Upland Way
.
notes that the names Lauder and Leader appear to be unconnected. In the earliest sources Lauder appears as Lauuedder and Louueder.
Below Lauder are the lands of Kedslie which were bounded on the west by a road called "Malcolm's rode," and it is thought this formed part of the Roman road known as Dere Street
, which passed through Lauder. Hardie suggests that it had been reconditioned by Malcolm III for use in his almost constant warfare against England. It is the only old road in Scotland that is associated with the name of an individual person.
The ancient settlement was further up the hills on the edge of the Moor. Its name is unknown, but it was tiny. The New Statistical Account of Scotland (vol.II) says that the present town of Lauder existed as a kirk-town in the time of David I
(1124–53), and Sir J.D.Marwick says, in his preface to the Records of Convention, that the present town of Lauder existed in the latter half of the twelfth century. The town was once surrounded by walls with gates commonly referred to as 'ports'. Two major mills, which dated from the 12th century, also served the town.
With the introduction of the feudal system to Scotland by David I, a provincial Lordship of Regality of Lauderdale
, had been created for the King's favourite, Hugh de Morville
(who founded Dryburgh Abbey
), which covered an extensive amount of territory, although Thomson states that the family of de Lawedre were "there in the previous century."
Joseph Bain states that the de Morville's held one-third of half Lauder and Lauderdale for one knight's service. It would appear that de Morville's superiority did not extend over the entire valley of Lauderdale which, by his own demarcation recorded in the Chronicle of Melrose
, stopped at the Lauder burn south of the town. This appears to be confirmed by the fact that a charter mentions Hugo de Morville possessing half of the mill of Lauder being the mill lands and rights south of the Lauder Burn, the other half being in the possession of the Lauder family.
An early member of the Lauder family, Sir Robert de Lawedre of The Bass (c1275 - September 1337) was Justiciar of Lothian
as early as 1316. He received a charter dated 4 March 1316, from John Graham of Abercorn, of his lands of Dalcoif, parish of Merton, Berwickshire. The superiority of this property remained in that family for centuries. In 1683 Christina Home, the granddaughter of the last Robert Lauder of that Ilk (d. before July 1655) was retoured heir to it.
The same Robert de Lawedre, knt., was one of the witnesses to two charters of confirmation to Jedburgh Abbey
on the 20th December 1316, signed at Berwick-upon-Tweed
. James Young quotes a document written in French, and dated 4 September 1319, entitled: "Lettre d'attorne pur doner seysine," and is granted to "Robert de Lawedir Justice de Lounes, [Lothians]....Donez a la langley en la terre de Meuros [Melrose] le quartior de Septembre en lan de grace MCCC et disneifme."
Above the burgh of Lauder, abutting Lauder Moor and the boundaries of Wedale and the lands of Ladypart, were the lands of Alanshaws, granted to the monks of Melrose
by Alan of Galloway, the Constable of Scotland although by 1500 these too were already in the hands of the Lauders of that Ilk, probably by feu. The superiority of Ladypart remained in the hands of the Lauder of Bass family until the 17th century. The Exchequer Rolls record a reconfirmation of them to Robert Lauder of The Bass who died in 1576.
This family erected a Scottish tower house
, "the beginning of authentic history as far as the town is concerned," around which the present town grew, and "Alan Lawedir of the Tower of Lawedir" is mentioned in 1445. The Registers of the Privy Council of Scotland
refer to an inter-family litigation over the tower in 1598.
Lauder Tower stood in what in 1903 was known as Tower Yard, a garden area then bounded by the Free Kirk Manse and the County Police Station, close by the Easter Port. The road west from the town crossed the Midrow and passed Tower Yard, then passed by Lauder Mill. A continuation of the road went onwards to Chester Hill. It was not taken down until 1700. Interestingly, in Lauder & Lauderdale it is stated that in 1837 "the new United Presbyterian
manse
was built on a site which was purchased, for £115, from Baillie [George] Lauder."
Notable buildings in the town today include the Tolbooth
or Town Hall, which predates 1598 when records show it being burnt by a party of Homes and Cranstouns led by Lord Home, in a feud between them and the Lauder family who were at the time sitting on the bench as hereditary baillies.
The last of the ancient proprietors, Robert Lauder of that Ilk (d.c1650), bequeathed the tower house
and other lands to his daughter Isobel, who had married Alexander Home of St.Leonards, in Lauderdale, both dead by November 1683, the major part of the inheritance sold. The old family is today represented by Sir Piers Dick-Lauder, 13th Baronet.
's map. Early records give de Morville a castle at Lauder, but it would appear that there was a new erection of it by the English in the reign of King Edward I
. James III
and James IV
both used the castle. In 1548 the fort was occupied and stengthened by Somerset, the Protector, and garrisoned by Sir Hugh Willoughby 'in the end of winter and beginning of spring'. After a minor siege with French cannon, it was evacuated on March 22, 1550. The following year John Haitlie in Fawns and William Haitlie in Redpath (near Earlston
) were arrested for "treasonably supplying the English in the Castle of Lauder, thereby enabling them to hold out longer." The Crown which had in any case abandoned the fort during its occupation, had given it to Robert Lauder of that Ilk (d. bef July 1567), who provided it, in 1532, to his daughter Alison as dowry when she married. Following she and her husband's deaths in feuds in 1547 it reverted to Robert Lauder whose wife was Alison Cranstoun. A Cranstoun relation later sold it on to Chancellor John Maitland
in 1587. He commenced the building of the magnificent Thirlestane Castle
upon that site two years later, parts of the original walls of the ancient fort being included in the walls of the new edifice In 1670-7 Sir William Bruce
, known as a 'gentleman architect', supervised its transformation into a palace through remodelling for the Duke of Lauderdale.
By the 18th century the Maitlands had supplanted the ancient Lauders as the pre-eminent local family, and had managed to acquire most of the properties which had belonged to the ancient family, although Windpark/Wyndepark (which overlooked Thirlestane Castle) and its Pele Tower remained in the hands of John Lauder of Winepark and Carolside
(near Earlston
), until about 1750.
). In a Writ of c1217 an "Everardus" is recorded as pastor of Laweder, and in 1245 there was a Chapter of the Clergy of East Lothian at Lauder on Saturday after the Feast of Saint Peter
, ad vincula, when a dispute was settled between the Priory of St. Andrews and the nuns of Haddington
, regarding the tithe
s of Stevenstoun, nr.Haddington. In this original church many of the old Lauder family were interred, including two bishops, William de Lawedre
, Bishop of Glasgow and Lord Chancellor of Scotland
, and Alexander Lauder
, Bishop of Dunkeld
. It was from this church, in 1482, that James III's favourites, including the architect Cochrane, were dragged by envious nobles and hanged from the (earlier) Lauder Bridge. With their local ascendancy, and with Thirlestane Castle becoming even grander, John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale
decided he would demolish the ancient kirk
, and had a new church erected by Sir William Bruce in 1673 in the centre of the Royal Burgh. Around it is a walled graveyard, with a watchhouse built after a bodysnatching raid in 1830.
There was also (now demolished) a large United Presbyterian Church at the West Port. The manse
still stands, but is now a private residence.
Lauder is today strongly influenced by its proximity to Edinburgh
as it is now considered to be close enough for people to commute into the capital for work. The bus service to Edinburgh is reliable but infrequent.
Current issues for debate in Lauder are the town's expansion - whether it is needed or desirable - the location of a new primary school (and how soon one will be built), and the location and extent of wind farms on the surrounding hills.
Royal burgh
A royal burgh was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished in 1975, the term is still used in many of the former burghs....
of Lauder is a town in the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
Borders
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
27 miles south east of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. It is also a royal burgh
Royal burgh
A royal burgh was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished in 1975, the term is still used in many of the former burghs....
in the county of Berwickshire
Berwickshire
Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...
. It lies on the edge of the Lammermuir Hills
Lammermuir Hills
The Lammermuir Hills, usually simply called the Lammermuirs , in southern Scotland, form a natural boundary between Lothian and the Scottish Borders....
, on the Southern Upland Way
Southern Upland Way
Opened in 1984, the Southern Upland Way is a coast to coast walk in Scotland between Portpatrick in the west and Cockburnspath in the east....
.
Medieval history
Although Lauder sits in the valley of Leader Water, WatsonWilliam J. Watson
Professor William J. Watson was a toponymist, one of the greatest Scottish scholars of the 20th century, and was the first scholar to place the study of Scottish place names on a firm linguistic basis....
notes that the names Lauder and Leader appear to be unconnected. In the earliest sources Lauder appears as Lauuedder and Louueder.
Below Lauder are the lands of Kedslie which were bounded on the west by a road called "Malcolm's rode," and it is thought this formed part of the Roman road known as Dere Street
Dere Street
Dere Street or Deere Street, was a Roman road between Eboracum and Veluniate, in what is now Scotland. It still exists in the form of the route of many major roads, including the A1 and A68 just north of Corbridge.Its name corresponds with the post Roman Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Deira, through...
, which passed through Lauder. Hardie suggests that it had been reconditioned by Malcolm III for use in his almost constant warfare against England. It is the only old road in Scotland that is associated with the name of an individual person.
The ancient settlement was further up the hills on the edge of the Moor. Its name is unknown, but it was tiny. The New Statistical Account of Scotland (vol.II) says that the present town of Lauder existed as a kirk-town in the time of David I
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
(1124–53), and Sir J.D.Marwick says, in his preface to the Records of Convention, that the present town of Lauder existed in the latter half of the twelfth century. The town was once surrounded by walls with gates commonly referred to as 'ports'. Two major mills, which dated from the 12th century, also served the town.
With the introduction of the feudal system to Scotland by David I, a provincial Lordship of Regality of Lauderdale
Lauderdale
Lauderdale, denoting "dale of the river Leader", is the dale and region around that river in south-eastern Scotland.It can also refer to:-People:*Earls of Lauderdale*Lord Lauderdale, member of The Cabal of Charles II of England-Place names:Australia...
, had been created for the King's favourite, Hugh de Morville
Hugh de Morville, Lord of Cunningham and Lauderdale
Hugh de Morville was a Norman knight who made his fortune in the service of David fitz Malcolm, Prince of the Cumbrians and King of Scots .His parentage is said by some to be unclear, but G. W. S...
(who founded Dryburgh Abbey
Dryburgh Abbey
Dryburgh Abbey, near Dryburgh on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, was nominally founded on 10 November 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Lord of Lauderdale and Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons regular from Alnwick Abbey in Northumberland...
), which covered an extensive amount of territory, although Thomson states that the family of de Lawedre were "there in the previous century."
Joseph Bain states that the de Morville's held one-third of half Lauder and Lauderdale for one knight's service. It would appear that de Morville's superiority did not extend over the entire valley of Lauderdale which, by his own demarcation recorded in the Chronicle of Melrose
Chronicle of Melrose
The Chronicle of Melrose is a medieval chronicle from the Cottonian Manuscript, Faustina B. ix within the British Museum. It was written by unknown authors, though evidence in the writing shows that it most likely was written by the monks at Melrose Abbey. The chronicle begins on the year 735 and...
, stopped at the Lauder burn south of the town. This appears to be confirmed by the fact that a charter mentions Hugo de Morville possessing half of the mill of Lauder being the mill lands and rights south of the Lauder Burn, the other half being in the possession of the Lauder family.
An early member of the Lauder family, Sir Robert de Lawedre of The Bass (c1275 - September 1337) was Justiciar of Lothian
Justiciar of Lothian
The Justiciar of Lothian was an important legal office in the High Medieval Kingdom of Scotland.The Justiciars of Lothian were responsible for the administration of royal justice in the province of Lothian, a much larger area than the modern Lothian, covering Scotland south of the Forth and Clyde,...
as early as 1316. He received a charter dated 4 March 1316, from John Graham of Abercorn, of his lands of Dalcoif, parish of Merton, Berwickshire. The superiority of this property remained in that family for centuries. In 1683 Christina Home, the granddaughter of the last Robert Lauder of that Ilk (d. before July 1655) was retoured heir to it.
The same Robert de Lawedre, knt., was one of the witnesses to two charters of confirmation to Jedburgh Abbey
Jedburgh Abbey
Jedburgh Abbey, a ruined Augustinian abbey which was founded in the 12th century is situated in the town of Jedburgh, in the Scottish Borders just north of the border with England at Carter Bar...
on the 20th December 1316, signed at Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed or simply Berwick is a town in the county of Northumberland and is the northernmost town in England, on the east coast at the mouth of the River Tweed. It is situated 2.5 miles south of the Scottish border....
. James Young quotes a document written in French, and dated 4 September 1319, entitled: "Lettre d'attorne pur doner seysine," and is granted to "Robert de Lawedir Justice de Lounes, [Lothians]....Donez a la langley en la terre de Meuros [Melrose] le quartior de Septembre en lan de grace MCCC et disneifme."
Above the burgh of Lauder, abutting Lauder Moor and the boundaries of Wedale and the lands of Ladypart, were the lands of Alanshaws, granted to the monks of Melrose
Melrose Abbey
Melrose Abbey is a Gothic-style abbey in Melrose, Scotland. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks, on the request of King David I of Scotland. It was headed by the Abbot or Commendator of Melrose. Today the abbey is maintained by Historic Scotland...
by Alan of Galloway, the Constable of Scotland although by 1500 these too were already in the hands of the Lauders of that Ilk, probably by feu. The superiority of Ladypart remained in the hands of the Lauder of Bass family until the 17th century. The Exchequer Rolls record a reconfirmation of them to Robert Lauder of The Bass who died in 1576.
This family erected a Scottish tower house
Tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.-History:Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountain or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces...
, "the beginning of authentic history as far as the town is concerned," around which the present town grew, and "Alan Lawedir of the Tower of Lawedir" is mentioned in 1445. The Registers of the Privy Council of Scotland
Privy Council of Scotland
The Privy Council of Scotland was a body that advised the King.In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of material on the political, administrative, economic and social affairs of Scotland...
refer to an inter-family litigation over the tower in 1598.
Lauder Tower stood in what in 1903 was known as Tower Yard, a garden area then bounded by the Free Kirk Manse and the County Police Station, close by the Easter Port. The road west from the town crossed the Midrow and passed Tower Yard, then passed by Lauder Mill. A continuation of the road went onwards to Chester Hill. It was not taken down until 1700. Interestingly, in Lauder & Lauderdale it is stated that in 1837 "the new United Presbyterian
United Presbyterian Church
United Presbyterian Church was the name of multiple Christian denominations in the world, among which are the following:*The United Presbyterian Church of Scotland , a union of the United Secession Church and the Relief Church which joined the Free Church of Scotland to form the United Free Church...
manse
Manse
A manse is a house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of a Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist or United Church...
was built on a site which was purchased, for £115, from Baillie [George] Lauder."
Notable buildings in the town today include the Tolbooth
Tolbooth
Tolbooth or tollbooth may refer to:* Tolbooth, a traditional Scottish 'town hall' for the administration of burghs, usually providing a council meeting chamber, a court house and a jail.* Toll house, a place where road usage tolls are collected...
or Town Hall, which predates 1598 when records show it being burnt by a party of Homes and Cranstouns led by Lord Home, in a feud between them and the Lauder family who were at the time sitting on the bench as hereditary baillies.
The last of the ancient proprietors, Robert Lauder of that Ilk (d.c1650), bequeathed the tower house
Tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.-History:Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountain or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces...
and other lands to his daughter Isobel, who had married Alexander Home of St.Leonards, in Lauderdale, both dead by November 1683, the major part of the inheritance sold. The old family is today represented by Sir Piers Dick-Lauder, 13th Baronet.
Thirlestane Castle
Below the town, on Castle Hill, stood the Crown Fort, a scene of many skirmishes over the years. It is shown on Timothy PontTimothy Pont
Timothy Pont was a Scottish topographer, the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an actual survey.-Life:...
's map. Early records give de Morville a castle at Lauder, but it would appear that there was a new erection of it by the English in the reign of King Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
. James III
James III of Scotland
James III was King of Scots from 1460 to 1488. James was an unpopular and ineffective monarch owing to an unwillingness to administer justice fairly, a policy of pursuing alliance with the Kingdom of England, and a disastrous relationship with nearly all his extended family.His reputation as the...
and James IV
James IV of Scotland
James IV was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from not only Scotland, but also from all...
both used the castle. In 1548 the fort was occupied and stengthened by Somerset, the Protector, and garrisoned by Sir Hugh Willoughby 'in the end of winter and beginning of spring'. After a minor siege with French cannon, it was evacuated on March 22, 1550. The following year John Haitlie in Fawns and William Haitlie in Redpath (near Earlston
Earlston
Earlston , formerly Ercildoune, is a civil parish and market town in the county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders. It is situated on the River Leader in Lauderdale, Scotland.-Early history:...
) were arrested for "treasonably supplying the English in the Castle of Lauder, thereby enabling them to hold out longer." The Crown which had in any case abandoned the fort during its occupation, had given it to Robert Lauder of that Ilk (d. bef July 1567), who provided it, in 1532, to his daughter Alison as dowry when she married. Following she and her husband's deaths in feuds in 1547 it reverted to Robert Lauder whose wife was Alison Cranstoun. A Cranstoun relation later sold it on to Chancellor John Maitland
John Maitland
John Maitland may refer to :* Sir John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane, Commendator of Coldingham Priory* John Maitland, 1st Earl of Lauderdale , Viscount of Lauderdale, Viscount Maitland and Lord Thirlestane & Boltoun, 2nd Lord Maitland of Thirlestane* John Maitland, 1st Duke of...
in 1587. He commenced the building of the magnificent Thirlestane Castle
Thirlestane Castle
Thirlestane Castle is a castle set in extensive parklands near Lauder in the Borders of Scotland. The site is aptly named Castle Hill, as it stands upon raised ground. However, the raised land is within Lauderdale, the valley of the Leader Water. The land has been in the ownership of the Maitland...
upon that site two years later, parts of the original walls of the ancient fort being included in the walls of the new edifice In 1670-7 Sir William Bruce
William Bruce (architect)
Sir William Bruce of Kinross, 1st Baronet was a Scottish gentleman-architect, "the effective founder of classical architecture in Scotland," as Howard Colvin observes...
, known as a 'gentleman architect', supervised its transformation into a palace through remodelling for the Duke of Lauderdale.
By the 18th century the Maitlands had supplanted the ancient Lauders as the pre-eminent local family, and had managed to acquire most of the properties which had belonged to the ancient family, although Windpark/Wyndepark (which overlooked Thirlestane Castle) and its Pele Tower remained in the hands of John Lauder of Winepark and Carolside
Carolside
Carolside is a village by the Leader Water, in the parish of Earlston in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the former Berwickshire.Park Bridge is a balustraded bridge linking the policies of Carolside House and those of Leadervale....
(near Earlston
Earlston
Earlston , formerly Ercildoune, is a civil parish and market town in the county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders. It is situated on the River Leader in Lauderdale, Scotland.-Early history:...
), until about 1750.
Church
Near to the old Crown Fort stood the ancient parish church of St.Mary (a dependency of Dryburgh AbbeyDryburgh Abbey
Dryburgh Abbey, near Dryburgh on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, was nominally founded on 10 November 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Lord of Lauderdale and Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons regular from Alnwick Abbey in Northumberland...
). In a Writ of c1217 an "Everardus" is recorded as pastor of Laweder, and in 1245 there was a Chapter of the Clergy of East Lothian at Lauder on Saturday after the Feast of Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
, ad vincula, when a dispute was settled between the Priory of St. Andrews and the nuns of Haddington
Haddington, East Lothian
The Royal Burgh of Haddington is a town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the main administrative, cultural and geographical centre for East Lothian, which was known officially as Haddingtonshire before 1921. It lies about east of Edinburgh. The name Haddington is Anglo-Saxon, dating from the 6th...
, regarding the tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
s of Stevenstoun, nr.Haddington. In this original church many of the old Lauder family were interred, including two bishops, William de Lawedre
William de Lawedre
William de Lauder [Lawedre] was bishop of Glasgow and Lord Chancellor of Scotland.The son of Sir Robert de Lawedre of Edrington, and The Bass, by his spouse Annabella, William was uterine brother William de Lauder [Lawedre] (born – June 14, 1425) was bishop of Glasgow and Lord Chancellor of...
, Bishop of Glasgow and Lord Chancellor of Scotland
Lord Chancellor of Scotland
The Lord Chancellor of Scotland was a Great Officer of State in pre-Union Scotland.Holders of the office are known from 1123 onwards, but its duties were occasionally performed by an official of lower status with the title of Keeper of the Great Seal...
, and Alexander Lauder
Alexander Lauder
Alexander de Lawedre was for the last five months of his life Bishop of Dunkeld, where he had previously been Archdeacon.-Biography:...
, Bishop of Dunkeld
Dunkeld
Dunkeld is a small town in Strathtay, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is about 15 miles north of Perth on the eastern side of the A9 road into the Scottish Highlands and on the opposite side of the Tay from the Victorian village of Birnam. Dunkeld and Birnam share a railway station, on the...
. It was from this church, in 1482, that James III's favourites, including the architect Cochrane, were dragged by envious nobles and hanged from the (earlier) Lauder Bridge. With their local ascendancy, and with Thirlestane Castle becoming even grander, John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale
John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale
Sir John Maitland, 1st Duke and 2nd Earl of Lauderdale, 3rd Lord Thirlestane KG PC , was a Scottish politician, and leader within the Cabal Ministry.-Background:...
decided he would demolish the ancient kirk
Kirk
Kirk can mean "church" in general or the Church of Scotland in particular. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it.-Basic meaning and etymology:...
, and had a new church erected by Sir William Bruce in 1673 in the centre of the Royal Burgh. Around it is a walled graveyard, with a watchhouse built after a bodysnatching raid in 1830.
There was also (now demolished) a large United Presbyterian Church at the West Port. The manse
Manse
A manse is a house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of a Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist or United Church...
still stands, but is now a private residence.
Today
The current population of the town is around 1500 although it is rapidly expanding as over 100 new homes are being built on the southern boundary. This means that, at the beginning of the 21st century, the population is approaching what it was at the beginning of the 20th century before the period of depopulation over the last 100 years.Lauder is today strongly influenced by its proximity to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
as it is now considered to be close enough for people to commute into the capital for work. The bus service to Edinburgh is reliable but infrequent.
Current issues for debate in Lauder are the town's expansion - whether it is needed or desirable - the location of a new primary school (and how soon one will be built), and the location and extent of wind farms on the surrounding hills.
Notable Natives
Thomas Dickson (industrialist) (1822–1884), industrialist, founder of The Dickson Manufacturing Company, president of the Delaware and Hudson RailwaySee also
- The Sir Walter Scott WaySir Walter Scott WayThe Sir Walter Scott Way is a long distance path in the Scottish Borders of Scotland, in memory of Sir Walter Scott, of one of Scotland's greatest writers.-The Way:...
long-distance path from MoffatMoffatMoffat is a former burgh and spa town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, lying on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. The most notable building in the town is the Moffat House Hotel, designed by John Adam...
to CockburnspathCockburnspathCockburnspath is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It lies near the North Sea coast between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh. It is at the eastern extremity of the Southern Upland Way, a long-distance footpath from the west to east coast of Scotland, and it is also the terminus...
passes through Lauder. - List of places in the Scottish Borders
- List of places in Scotland