MUTTONHALL, YARROW - A HOUSE THROUGH TIME

My first family history recording of Muttonhall, a shepherd's cottage in Yarrow, is in the 1901 Census, where Cameron and William (twin brothers of my great grandfather, Frank Anderson) lived and worked. Shortly after that, by 1903, my great grandparents, Frank and Helen, were living there and in 1904 my great uncle, Jim, was born at Muttonhall. The following year, my grandpa, Archie, was born there, but by the time of the 1911 Census the Anderson family had moved on to a farm near Hawick. (It is perhaps worth mentioning that the family residing in Muttonhall in 1911 was a shepherd and his wife and their 10 children - with the Census stating that the property had "only 2 rooms with one or more windows". Rather crowded I suspect).

Muttonhall is located approximately 4 miles north of the Selkirk to Moffat road. Turning off approximately 1 mile west of The Gordon Arms Hotel, at Craig Douglas Farm (and before you come to St Mary's Loch), it is reached by following the Douglas Burn northwards, passing both Craighope and Blackhouse.

The earliest mention of this cottage I have found to date, is from a book
published in 1902, titled “A History Of The Tweedie, or Tweedy, Family; A
Record Of Scottish Lowland Life & Character”. It states – "Something quite after the fashion of the good old days happened to Thomas Tweedie of Oliver in 1753. It seems that he had some difference with the Crawfurds of Muttonhall, and on the 10th July in that year they "insidiously and violently attacked" him as he was riding on the high road to Linton, a little to the North-east of Hairstanes".

The next mention is in the 1841 Census and from then to 1935, via various Census and Valuation Rolls, it is apparent that the cottage was always occupied by shepherds and their families (with the land owned by wealthy families such as the Tweedies and the Maxwell Stuart's of Traquair).

In July 2013, for no reason other than I thought it would be a good idea to walk to the cottage where my grandpa was born in 1905, I walked from our house in Peebles to Muttonhall and then on to The Gordon Arms. A total distance of just under 20 miles.

My journey that day is related in a separate blog - neilbee.blogspot.com

Not long after that, in early 2014, I contacted a past owner of Muttonhall who had compiled a photo album of the property and surrounding area and uploaded it to an online photobook web site (which my sister had randomly found). Tim Price, whose family had owned Muttonhall from 1982 to 2010 and had completely refurbished the cottage, mentioned that his aunt had made a painting of Muttonhall in 1987/88 and he forwarded to me a printed copy of this painting - which is probably as near as I will get to see of the original building. Here it is.

  

This month (April 2019), I thought I would see if there was any updated online information about Muttonhall. Nothing on any family history websites but I did notice that the sale of Muttonhall and surrounding forestry was mentioned on a couple of estate agents websites. It was being marketed as "The Blackhouse Forest Estate" and I contacted one of these agents and asked if they could send me a copy of their sales particulars, which they did in a glossy brochure.  Here is the front cover of said brochure, as well as a couple of other photos. And the estate agents also created a short video to accompany their sales pitch. This is also included below. And I should mention that the cost to purchase was over £1.8m!!

My great grandparents and grandpa could never have imagined the changes made to their old home!