Report of the Meetings for 1892, 63 



NOTES ON DUNS and DUNS CASTLE. 



Duns, as a place-name, is said to be derived from the Celtic word Dun 

 (a hill or fort) with the ordinary English plural added, and no one who 

 has viewed the surroundings of the town from any of the heights behind 

 the Castle, or examined the extensive pre-historic remains on Duns Law, 

 will be disposed to question the etymology, in either signification. The 

 ancient hill-fort on the summit of the Law has been a very important one, 

 and deserves a more careful survey than it has yet received. It is about 

 250 yards in diameter, and has been defended by a double enclosing 

 rampart and trench. On the E. side, within the outer circle, are some 

 obscure remains, the precise character of which probably nothing short of 

 complete and systematic excavation could reveal. 



The first mention of Duns occurs in a charter granted in the reign of 

 William the Lion (1165-1214) by Waldeve, Earl of Dunbar, in favour of 

 the monks of Melrose, conveying to them a common right of pasturage in 

 Lammermuir.* Hugo de Duns is one of the witnesses. The name would 

 appear to indicate that he was of Norman extraction ; and he may have 

 been one of the retainers of the first Earls of Dunbar, or, which is hardly 

 probable, of David, Earl of Northumberland, afterwards David I., many 

 of whom obtained grants of laud in Berwickshire. " Hugh, forester of 

 Duns," who witnesses a charter by the second Patrick, Earl of Dunbar 

 (1232-1248) in favour of the nuns of Coldstream, may have been his son. 

 — (Chart, of Coldstream, Grampian Club, p. 21.) 



Robertus de Douns — no doubt one of the same family — swore allegiance 

 to Edward I. at Berwick, in August 1296, and his example was followed 

 by "Henry de Lematon, persone del eglise de Douns. "f The church of 

 Duns was valued in the ancient taxatio at 100 merks — a valuation equal 

 to that of the church of Berwick. In the Papal Taxation EoU {l-emp. 

 Edward I.) its value is returned at £80, and the tithe at £8. 



After Bannockburn (1314) "the baronies of Longformacus and 

 Mordington, in Berwickshire, in which Duns was probably included," 

 were bestowed by Bruce upon his nephew, Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray; 

 but, as will appear in the sequel, lands in the neighbourhood of the 

 Castle and Town (East Borthwick and Grueldykes) were held by persons 

 of the name of Dunse or Duns, as late as the middle of the 16th century. 

 According to tradition, which in this instance has a good deal to support 

 it, the famous schoolman, John Duns Scotus, belonged to this family, 

 and was born in Duns about the year 1265. The site of the house, where 

 he is said to have first seen the light, is still pointed out on the south-west 

 slope of the Law, a few yards from the Pavilion Lodge leading to the 

 Castle. For references to the ''Subtle Doctor" see Bishop Leslie's 

 History of Scotland, Introductory Chapter; SiJOtswood's History of the 

 Church of Scotland, Ed. 1668, pp. 54, 55 ; and Nisbet's System of Heraldry, 

 p. 322 ; where the arms of the family are said to have been, " sable, a 

 chevron or, betwixt three Boars' Heads erazed of the last." 

 * Liber de Melros, Yol. i., p. 67. 

 t Ragman Rolls, pp. 155, 164. Bannatyne Club. 



