18 May 2023
This morning we drove about 30 minutes north to Galashiels (known as Gala to locals) to visit the Borders Family History Society to look through some of their records. Once again, the volunteers went over and above with helping us to find relevant records. I found a book in there detailing some interesting customs from the early 1700s in the Borders – one being that “before the christening in church, a piece of cheese and current loaf were wrapped in paper and put inside the christening robe to be given to the first person, of the opposite sex to the child, met on the way to church”.
While we were there, we had a little explore around Gala because this was where Mum’s 5th Gt Grandparents, John Fairbairn and Lucy Eadster, lived in the late 1700s. Gala is traditionally a mill town, using the water from the Tweed River as a power source for weaving. Hence why tweed is called tweed. Much like Hawick, it is situated in a valley on the bank of a river, surrounded by rolling hills of pasture and woodland.
After lunch we took a different route back to Hawick, taking
a detour through Cavers. Cavers is located on a hill overlooking Hawick and is
where Mum’s Nichol family lived in the early 1700s. We are very lucky that one
of Mum’s Nichol ancestors was interested in genealogy back in the early 1800s
and left us a treasure of family notes enabling us the unique opportunity of
tracing the family back into the 1700s where records are scarce. Our Nichol
family are found mainly in the Parish of Hawick, the Parish of Wilton, and the
Parish of Cavers. Standing in the Cavers churchyard today, overlooking the
valley, it struck me just how closely situated these three parishes are – no wonder
the family moved between them.
Last night we ate at a lovely Italian restaurant just down
from our accommodation in Hawick and loved it so much that we ate there again
tonight. Can you guess where we have booked for tomorrow night?
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