The Church and Churchyard of Chirnside. 187 



1429. At the same time that Edward III. bestowed the manor 

 of Chirnside upon Thomas de Bradestan, he appointed his own 

 chaplain, John, son of "Roger Grey de Ruthyn" to be pre- 

 bendary. He, however, recalled him from that office in 1348, 

 and vested the advowson in Bradestan, the new proprietor*. 

 Except these few and unsatisfactory notices, we hear no more 

 of the church of Chirnside till after the Reformation. In 1581 

 it is constituted a seat of a presbytery, which has continued to 

 be held here till the present time. 



The Church of Chirnside, surrounded with its "field of graves," 

 lies at the foot of a gentle acclivity which is crowned by a long 

 straggling village, here and there interspersed with single trees, 

 or groups of the same, adding much to its picturesqueness and 

 beauty. The view from the churchyard, especially looking to 

 the south, is one of great richness, extent, and loveliness. The 

 church itself is a long low building, of no pretensions to grandeur 

 of design or structure. The only thing remarkable about it is 

 the western door, which there can be no doubt is of great 

 antiquity ; but whether it is a Norman or Saxon arch, there has 

 been some dispute ; and we are not versant enough in the science 

 of architecture to be able to clear up the doubt. A pretty 

 correct representation of this doorway may be seen in Carr's 

 History of Coldingham. When the church was rebuilt in 1572, 

 the architect, with great care and good taste, preserved this 

 fragment of the ancient structure. It projects a few inches 

 from the line of the wall ; and a few feet to the east of this door 

 will be found fixed into the mason-work, a few links of an iron 

 chain, to which was formerly attached a collar of iron or leather. 

 This was an old instrument of discipline in the Scottish church, 

 called "The Jougsf" — a sort of pillory, for a certain class of 

 delinquents, such as those who were guilty of too vigorous 

 scolding, brawling, fighting, swearing, drunkenness, &c. This 

 mode of punishment has been long obsolete. In the front 

 wall of the interior is a square tablet, which appears to have 

 been taken from the erection of 1572, and built into its present 

 site at the re-edification of the church at a more recent date. 

 This stone bears the inscription " Helpe Y e Pur, 1572." An 

 addition was made to the church seventeen or eighteen years 

 ago, when an aisle, or burial-vault, belonging to the Landers, 

 formerly proprietors of Edington, was removed. At the west 



* On the 5th of August, 1450, Sir Alexander Home granted to the 

 Collegiate church of Dunglas, four husband lands in Chirnside. On the 

 4th January, 1489, James IV. confirmed an entail of the lands of Chirn- 

 side, &c, to Alexander Home, the Great Chamberlain of Scotland, and 

 grandson and heir of Alexander, Lord Home, and his heirs male. 



t Juggs, Jougs, Jogges, may be derived from Lat. jugum, a yoke. 



