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What do we know about
the local history in and around Fairmilehead? Maybe not as much as we would
like.... or should! This page provides brief accounts of the history of the
area, the origin of some familiar local place names, the stories behind the
Buckstane and the Caiystane, and anything else of interest that may come our
way including reminiscences of by-gone times.
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- In
the Beginning -
The history of Fairmilehead, which is said to
derive its name from the Gaelic Fair Meall Chuib ("a hill on the cattle
fold") is mainly that of the past twenty-five
years or so, but there are many reminders of earlier days. A fort on Hillend Hill to the south has an origin lost to us now, but it is listed by
the Ancient Monuments Commission as a "defensive construction"; an
obliterated Roman road may have passed here and crossed the stream at
Bowbndge; the estate of Morton has been owned by the same family for over
three hundred years and the "T" wood is said to have been planted by one of
them.
In the days of the Romans there was a town at
Fairmilehead - Morton - and even then it stood where two roads met, though
doubtless traffic conditions were not then so acute. Through it ran the
great Trunk Road by which the Roman Legion travelled to the north - the
continuation of Watling Street, which entered Scotland near the river
Coquet, passing by Jedburgh, the Eildon Hills, Linton and the Pentlands, and
so on to Cramond, which was an important military station.
Another military road from Teviotdale joined
the trunk road at Morton. Traces of the original ramparts show that this was
something more than a military camp, the outline being quadrangular rather
than oval. A number of curious Roman coins were also found during the
construction of the new road. Caesar Augustus, Trajan, Hadrian and Nero are
all represented in the collection, and there is one particularly interesting
medal bearing the head of Severus, which is believed to have been struck in
celebration of peace with Caledonia.
Later Oliver Cromwell comes into the picture.
In the grounds of Mortonhall, behind the Princess Margaret Rose Hospital, is
the Galachlaw, where Cromwell's Army of 16,000 men
camped in 1650. A little to the north-west is a small quadrangular
rampart where the Protector and his principal officers camped for a
considerable time before the battle of Dunbar.
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The City Approaches -
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[Photo; Fairmilehead crossroads in 1909
and 2004 looking west.]
Perhaps the happiest descriptions of the old
Fairmilehead, "a spot where two roads intersect beside a hanging wood", are
to be found in the early writings of Robert Louis Stevenson in his
Picturesque Notes and a few of his essays. But these belong to more than
eighty years ago. At that time the builders had at length "adventured beyond
the toll (then near to the foot of Morningside Road) and proceeded to career
in these fresh pastures like a herd of colts turned loose."
Now they have overtopped, latterly at a
gallop, the site of the toll at Fairmilehead and gone past Bowbridge,
reminiscent of the distillery where the smugglers were warned by the strains
of "Over the Hills and Far Away", from the flute of a friendly gauger, and
then up hill again to the 1920 boundary at Hillend.
One does not need to be a greybeard to
remember the day when the only buildings at Fairmilehead cross-roads were an
old toll-house (latterly used as a county roadman's cottage), a police
station, and the waterworks.
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- The
Caiystane -
On one side nothing remains of the small
hamlet of FROGSTON (an Alexander Frog was in 1447 granted the right to farm
the lands of Straiton), while on the other OXGANGS, takes its name from a
measure of land (13 acres) which an ox can plough in the course of a year.
Here in Oxgangs Road is something which, like
Hunter's Tryst, has survived the changes of the years, namely the Kel, Kay
or Caiy Stane, commemorating a battle long ago, some say between the Picts
and the Romans. With reference to the stone, Grant's Old and New
Edinburgh states:
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"Tradition records that a great battle has
been fought; two large cairns were erected there and when these were removed
to serve for road metal, great quantities of human bones were found in and
under them. Near where they stood there still remains a relic of the fight,
a great whinstone block, about 20 feet high, known as the Kelstain or Battle
Stone." It is sometimes referred to as General Kay's Monument. Stevenson
records that that was the name given to the CAIYSTANE by country people.
According to them an officer of that name
perished there in battle at some period before the beginning of history.
Since 1937 the Caiy Stane
has been protected by a stone parapet designed by the late Sir D. Y.
Cameron, and is now under the care of the National Trust for Scotland.
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Public Water Supply -
Oxgangs Road and the surrounding streets have
another claim to distinction. It is the only part of the city to which the
water supply is pumped instead of coming in by gravitation due to the
elevation of the area being some 30 feet higher than the water works on the
other side of the crossroads, which stand 570 feet above sea level.
The waterworks are part of the wonderful story
of the development of the city's supply and date from the introduction of
water from Talla, 38 miles away, in 1905.
Edinburgh's first public water supply was
introduced from Comiston Springs in 1676, although the work was authorised
by an act of the Scottish Parliament, passed as early as 1621.
Wooden pipes were used to carry water from
Swanston Springs to the wells in Lawnmarket and High Street from 1760 till
1790, when they were replaced by lead pipes.
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- The
Buckstane -
The Buckstane, the landmark on our northern
boundary, has a picturesque tradition behind it. It illustrates one of those
curious tenures of land which linger on in the modern world from the days of
feudalism.
Among the titles of the Barony of Penicuik is
a Crown Charter, dating from the early seventeenth century, in which the
holder of the Barony was bound to blow three blasts and his wife one blast
of the horn whenever the king shall ride out to hunt on the Boroughmuir.
Tradition has long identified the Buckstane as
the stone on which the ancient lairds of Penicuik were wont to stand and
blow their horn. The stone itself is now built into a wall opposite
the Morton Hall Clubhouse, but the figure of the forester stands to this day
over the family coat-of-arms, bravely winding his horn.
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Mortonhall and Mounthooly -
The wood around Morton House was named Mount
Plantation, and a hamlet about 200 yards north-east of the lodge was known
as Mounthooly, or Holy Mount; the "Belvedere" was described' as "mighty well
situated" in 1792. Morton House, owned by the Trotters of Mortonhall, was
sometime tenanted by Lord Cunningharne, a Lord of Session, who, in 1813
married a daughter of Lt.-Gen. Alexander Trotter of the Mortonhall family.
The estate has been owned by the Trotters since 1641.
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The Hunter's Tryst -
In bygone days Hunter's Tryst was a favourite
resort of the citizens of Edinburgh in summer expeditions, and was
frequently the headquarters of the Six Foot Club, which was composed of men
who were of that stature or above it, if possible.
According to Grant's Old and New Edinburgh,
it was an athletic society and generally met half-yearly at the Hunter's
Tryst or similar places when silver medals were given for rifle shooting,
throwing a 16lb. hammer, single-stick, etc.
On these occasions Sir Walter Scott, Professor
Wilson, and James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, were frequently present, and
often presided. In 1828 we find the club designated the Guard of Honour to
the Lord High Constable of Scotland. Its chairman was termed captain and Sir
Walter Scott was umpire of the club.
Hunter's Tryst was an inn until about a
century ago, and the Stevensons' carriage used to halt at the old
Fairmilehead toll on its way to Swanston. The writings of R.L.S. have given
the district its place in literature, and to us to-day, as to him, the
scaurs and screes of Caerketton are part of the "hills of home". Enough has
been said to show that history has not entirely passed Fairmilehead by; and
before more recent events are forgotten it has been
thought worth while to put on record some jottings from the notebook of an
"old resident", from the time when our Church became the centre of the
community twenty-one years ago.
[Taken from
a church pamphlet published in the late 1950s in support of the then Hall
Fund.]
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Personal Reminiscences -
(Sept 1998). The Rev Ian Gillan's letter reprinted in the Summer
issue of the Newsletter was like a gentle breeze from the past. A lot of us
oldies will remember Mr. Gillan and his wife with affection. In the days
when the church was new and most of his congregation were new too, his
presence helped us to get into a comfortable group who got to know each
other very well. It was of course, compared to today's congregation, very
small. I still think of it with the sun streaming through the still
unadorned windows on a Sunday morning, though I know it did not do this
every Sunday. It gave me a blessed sense of peace.
Our introduction into
Fairmilehead was in 1939, one year after the Church opened. Fairmilehead,
said by R.L.Stevenson, who often walked it, was a fair mile ahead from the
old Braids terminus.
In the twenties, the first houses were built
in Oxgangs Road and Frogston Road West, and in the later half of the
twenties the shops at the crossroads came into being. They were Mill the
Grocer, Mackie the Baker, the Post Office and the Bank. At a later date a
further seven shops and a bank at Buckstone Terrace flourished.
In the thirties there was another burst of
building, resulting in the Caiystanes and the Camuses. This stopped with the
declaration of war in 1939, to resume later, when the Swanstones and the
Wintons expanded the district somewhat further.
One of the best known residents in
Fairmilehead was George Rodger, who kept cows and delivered
milk to most people in the area. He was on the go every morning with his
horse and cart and a wee thin chap called Jimmy. He was a good natured man
and allowed any child who wanted to do so, to do the run seated on the milk
cart.
Hunter's Tryst, which was Mr. Rodger's beloved
home, had been inherited from his forbears. He would tell of his mother's
day. The family rose at 3-30 every day and soon afterwards milked the cows
for the morning delivery. Before the milking began, the farm-hands were
provided with girdle scones baked by his mother. At that time there were 25
milk cows and 300 hens to be kept. In the early Hunter's Tryst days milk was
delivered to Colinton Road and Churchhill.
Once the houses in Fairmilehead were built and
the milk delivery fell to Mr Rodger the deliveries were restricted to
Fairmilehead and its environs. (Contributed by Mrs M Newlands.)
(Oct 1998).
I first came to
Fairmilehead in the early 1940's when it seemed a really desirable,
attractive area of the city. The church had been built about a year and a
half and this was the beginning of getting to know Fairmilehead for
me.
I had not bargained for the winters here. Few
of the houses had central heating and gas and electric fires were
very basic, and less of an everyday occurrence than now. It was a
case of getting m a load of coal and getting the fire going,
early in the morning.
I had not experienced such cold conditions
before. The kitchen had a large white tub adjoining the sink with a
scrubbing board added for washdays with a wringer fixed between the tub and
the sink.
We used the Buckstone shops when we needed
anything from Mr. Kerr the Drysalter or Mr Arthur the Chemist. One very
handy shop was the Draper's. This lady, Mrs. Hamilton, seemed to keep
everything - the shop was bursting at the seams.
J McNeill Ltd., the Grocer offered an
excellent service. His Mr. More would, call with a notepad and pencil and
take your order before returning to the shop to make up and deliver your
order. I soon: became a regular happy customer of this establishment. This
family business was a meeting place for a great many of the houses in the
area. For a long tine Mr. McNeil supplied the Communion Wine to the Church
at Fairmilehead. (Contributed by Mrs M Newlands.)
(Nov 2002). The
crossroads at Fairmilehead have been known as a meeting place as the four
roads there lead north, south, east and west.
The first road that I want to describe is
Frogston Road West which actually leads eastward from the crossroads. This
road has a history all to itself. It actually got its name from Alexander
Frog who, in 1447, was granted the right to farm part of the land southwards
from this road to Straiton. I have not been able to trace any more about
this man, although I would be interested to learn more about his way of
living all these years ago.
The pleasant little community of Winton, built
around Morton House, was so named in 1936 to commemorate the marriage of
Colonel Algemon Trotter of Mortonhall to Lady Edith Mary Montgomerie,
youngest daughter of the Earl of Winton. Major General Sir Henry Trotter of
Mortonhall House owned extensive lands around Fairmilehead and Colinton.
The Biggar Road leads southward from the
crossroads and passes Hillend Park lying on the south edge of Lothianburn
Gaff Course, and which was gifted to the city by an Edinburgh builder and
opened by Lord Provost Sir William Sleigh in July 1924. It is now famed far beyond Edinburgh through the construction in 1965, on the hillside to the
east of Caerketton Hill, of the Hillend Ski Centre with it's artificial ski
slope, now one of the largest of its kind in the world.
Oxgangs Road is a good wide road with
attractive houses on both sides and runs to the west from the crossroads to
Hunter's Tryst. In it's early days, Hunter's Tryst was reputed to have been
kept by two respectable elderly ladies who cooked a capital dinner, the
hostelry of Betty and Katie McCane. Hunter's Tryst is now a pleasant inn
serving a range of pub food in comfortable surroundings.
Oxgangs Road is the main thoroughfare from
Fairmilehead to Colinton and has been enhanced by Oxgangs Library which has
become very busy since it opened in November 1990.
The large waterworks at the start of Buckstone
Terrace going north from the crossroads, are only partly seen from the
roadside. The works also encompass a large area of surrounding ground some
of which reaches down to the grounds of the Tusitala Restaurant Something to
remind us of Robert Louis Stevenson whose health could not stand up to
Edinburgh's climate and necessitated a move to a warm dry climate - Samoa in
the Polynesian islands. The Samoans christened him "Tusitala", teller of
tales.
Mortonhall Golf Club claims to be the oldest
private golf course in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. It opened in 1892,
the year following the move of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers
to Muirfield. Buckstone Terrace leads on
to Comiston Road which follows down
to Morningside Road. I doubt if a better known suburb than Morningside
exists throughout Scotland. (Contributed by Mrs M Newlands.)
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