Our Appreciation to local historian Ian Abernethy for sharing this fascinating story with us!
Many years ago, when passing a short-lived antique shop in Jedburgh, I
saw a sampler sewn by a little girl from Ladyrig farm. As I can see
Ladyrig from my house and it was relatively inexpensive, I bought it. It
was made by Agnes Roberton, in 1862, who was six years old at the
time. Compared with many nineteenth century samplers, the design is
rather plain and simple but it must have been a considerable
achievement for one so young. I knew about the Robertons, who had
been tenant farmers at Ladyrig for several generations, and recently
decided to look into the life of Agnes and perhaps discover what became
of her.
Heiton was the centre of three estates: the Sunlaws estate and farms
owned by the Scott Kerr family, the Springwood Park estate and farms
owned by the Douglas family and Ladyrig owned by the Merchant
Maiden Hospital of Edinburgh – latterly, The Royal Company of
Merchants of the City of Edinburgh. This body was originally concerned
with the supply of clean water to Edinburgh and trying limit the
proliferation of ‘tippling places’ or brandy shops. Over time, they became
more involved with charity work and established several important
schools in the city including George Watson’s College and James
Gillespie’s High School. The company invested in several land holdings
to help fund their charitable work and these included the town and
harbour of Peterhead and the farm of Ladyrig.
The farm was purchased in 1746 from Kerr of Greenhead for the sum of
£5,311 18s 4d. Andrew Roberton became tenant in 1778 when the area
was wholly unfenced, without trees and criss-crossed with unmade
roads. The land was wet, with much of it classified as ‘outfield’ and
covered with whins, able to support only a few Highland cattle and
mountain sheep. Under Andrew’s tenancy, the unmade roads (‘coal
roads’) were shut up and replaced by the road we now see going from
Heiton up to the Bowmont Forest. Threshing was done by flail, but
Andrew used the supply of water running down from Caverton Edge –
he dug a dam and installed a water mill in 1799. A steam engine was
added later (sadly, the tall engine chimney, visible from the village, was
taken down when the steading was converted into accommodation), but
the water mill continued to provide all the power through the winter months.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, agricultural improvements
came thick and fast – bone meal began to be used as a fertiliser,
improvements were made to farm machinery and new drainage
schemes were introduced. Andrew Roberton thought that the weight of
his turnip crop had actually doubled.
James Roberton took over the lease in 1837 and the pace of
improvements increased. Sterile moorland began to grow fine crops by
the addition of bone meal and guano, while new drainage schemes were
experimented with although, to begin with, as there were no tile works in
the neighbourhood, simple stone-filled drains had to suffice. Potatoes
began to be a more important crop and the new railway made
transportation of them viable. James was a most enthusiastic and
energetic reformer who tried novel methods while carefully comparing
yields as he went. He published many papers on subjects like drainage,
crop diseases and employment of labourers. He was heavily involved
with various societies, kirk matters and the school board. He
corresponded widely and had contacts in France and Germany who
visited the farm to inspect his pioneering work. His careful management
meant that when his neighbour, Sir Charles Henry Scott Douglas, was
serving abroad with the Border Regiment, James Roberton was
entrusted with the oversight of the Springwood Park Estate. This was at
a time when important negotiations were taking place with the North
British Railway company who needed to purchase areas of the estate in
order to gain access to Kelso.
James also raised a large family at Ladyrig and, in 1855, Agnes
Christina was born. She and her sisters were taught by a governess,
Margaret Elliot, who undoubtedly oversaw the making of little Agnes’s
sampler. The design is fairly simple (though assuredly not for a six year
old!) but lists the initials of those living at Ladyrig at the time: these
include ‘JR’ for her father, ‘MAR’ for her mother Mary Anne, ‘ROR’ would
be her big brother Robert while ‘ME’ is surely Margaret Elliot. Curiously,
Agnes is not to be found on the 1871 census when she would have been
sixteen years old – we can only speculate that perhaps she had been
sent away to school or even abroad. In fact, the next we see of her is on
the 1891 census when she is staying with her brother, John, on the farm
of Falsidehill near Gordon when she is described as ‘unmarried’ but, two
years later in 1893, she marries Thomas Henderson in Kelso.
Henderson was forty-seven years old and a widower. He was a tea
planter in Assam and chief magistrate for the district. (Might this suggest
that Agnes had spent the intervening years in India?) Born in Gordon,
where his father had farmed Gordon East Mains, he and several
members of his family went out to India as tea planters or served in the
army. He was, by all accounts universally liked and respected in the
district where his ‘cheerful voice’ and ‘genial presence’ gained him many
friends. Agnes and Thomas lived at Fawside Lodge where, in the 1901
census, he is described as ‘retired’. He gave much of his time to local
institutions such as the Boy Scouts, the Rifle Club, the Berwickshire
Nursing association, the Horticultural Society and School Board. They
appear to have lived happily until, in 1913, Thomas died in Edinburgh
following an operation. He was buried in Gordon Kirk among a host of
other Hendersons and a memorial plaque was placed in the kirk to mark
the devotion which he had inspired. Agnes went to live with her brother-
in-law, John, also a retired tea planter, in Bothendene – a large house in
the village of Bowden. She died there on 24 th September, 1942 at the
grand age of eighty-seven years old and was buried next to Thomas in
Gordon.
James Roberton was followed by his son John and the tenancy on the
farm looked certain to be passed on again to John’s son, Robert Kay
Roberton, but he, unfortunately, died of wounds while fighting in Italy in 1944.
The last of the Robertons to inhabit Ladyrig was Lorna, his sister.
She married Rae Fraser who farmed Roxburgh Mill at that time, and
they took over the tenancy of Ladyrig. I did meet Rae and, although he
was suffering from a terminal illness at that time, was warm and
welcoming when I visited in the process of researching my Heiton
history. Lorna was a great horsewoman and a generous spirit. A visit to
Ladyrig farmhouse could not be made without sitting down to a cup of
tea and a plate of home baking. The farm was bought by the Salvesen
family, and the farmhouse and steading sold off.