RBPOET OF THE MEETINGS FOR 1896 65 



DENHOLM. 



Denholm is a common name of villages, meaning the 

 home or dwelling by the Dene or valley. The earliest notice in 

 written history is when Guy of Denum signed the Ragman Roll 

 at Berwick and took the oath of fealty to Edward I. During 

 the wars of Wallace and Bruce the Denum family continued 

 on the English side, and from 1333 to 1357 John of Denum 

 and William of Denum were registered by the English king, 

 Edward III., as lords of the barony; but it was a barren title, 

 for the Scottish king had bestowed Denholm along with Cavers 

 upon the Earl of Mar, and subsequently on the Earl of Douglas 

 for his valiant patriotism and good services in the Border, and 

 the old family found that their taking the wrong side had lost 

 them for ever their ancestral domains, and their name is 

 now unknown. Thomas, Earl of Mar, brother-in-law to 

 William, first Earl of Douglas, and grandfather of the first of 

 the barons of Cavers, granted the lands of Denholm to be held 

 in feu by Thomas Cranston for nearly 300 years, until 1658 

 when Sir Archibald Douglas purchased back from William, 

 Lord Cranston, the lands of Denholm and Spittal and re- 

 annexed them to the barony of Cavers. The charter of 

 Robert II. to Thomas Cranston mentions the lands of 

 " Fouleryslands in Denum," a name which is no longer known 

 in the village, also "Little Rulwood, beside the town of Denum 

 in the barony of Cavers." There is strong reason to suppose 

 that Little Rulwood was the old name of Denholm Dean, 

 as there is no account or tradition of any other wood "beside 

 the town of Denholm." When Sir Archibald Douglas 

 bought back the barony of Denholm he either rebuilt or 

 repaired the old castle of the Ha', which still bears the date 

 1662 on the lintel of the outer door, and his arms with those of 

 his lady, Dame Rachel Skene, above the fireplace. From this 

 period we may date the growth of Denholm as a rural village, 

 one of the first acts of the Douglas family being to grant 

 a number of feus of ground for houses and gardens by 

 which Denholm grew in size and gradually swallowed up 

 the baronial village of Cavers. The monotony of village 

 life was broken up by two fairs, the summer fair in May 

 or June, and the winter one the night before the Jedburgh 

 fair in November, but these gradually died out. A curious 

 custom connected with these fairs was the Bougha-bale (Anglo- 



