Eyemouth

 

Parish No 739 is located within the County of Berwickshire which is now known as the Scottish Borders.  Eyemouth is situated at the mouth of the River Eye approximately 8 miles north of Berwick-upon-Tweed.  For a map showing the location of Eyemouth please click here.

 

"A considerable town and parish in the county of Berwick. The town is a borough [burgh] of barony, of which Mr Home of Wedderburn is proprietor and superior. At the beginning of the last century Eyemouth was a small fishing village, which afforded a retreat for smugglers; but, shortly after the union that pernicious trade being much quashed, the gentlemen of the county took advantage of the excellent natural harbour formed by the river Eye, and erected a pier on both sides by voluntary subscription ... Population in 1801, 899."

 

from Gazetteer of Scotland published 1806, Edinburgh.

 

 

Eyemouth has a sea port and is actually the main port of the North Sea in Berwickshire.  Until 1618 Eyemouth was actually part of the Parish of Coldingham.  Eyemouth became a Burgh of Barony in 1597 with all the privileges of a free port.  Employment in Eyemouth is mainly in Fishing or Farming. 

 

Friday 14 October 1881 was a bad day for Eyemouth and indeed a number of other coastal towns and villages on the East Coast of Berwickshire.  A large storm arose that day and killed a large number of fishermen.  Due to bad weather the boats had been docked for about a week.  On Friday 14 October 1881 one boat went out to sea and so the others followed.  With the boats haven been docked for so long the fishermen needed the money.  Eyemouth lost 129 men that day which was roughly half the male adult population of the town.  45 boats went out to sea that day but sadly only 26 returned.  73 women lost their husbands and 263 children lost their father.

 

Bibliography

 

‘An Old Time Fishing Town : Eyemouth its History, Romance and Tragedy’

Author - Daniel McIver, Minister of The E.U. Congregational Church, Eyemouth

Published by James McKelvie & Sons Limited of Greenock and John Menzies & Co Limited of Edinburgh and Glasgow in 1906

 

The Book is split into two parts.  Part One concentrates on the disastrous day in 1881 and telling of the grief that was experienced by the people of the town.  Chapter 8 of Part One is entitled ‘In Memoriam’.  This Chapter lists the names and ages of those soles lost in the disaster not just from Eyemouth but from other villages and towns up and down the coast also.

 

Part Two of the book contains general information and stories from the town including that of Civil and Military History, Smuggling, the Old Churchyard, Old Customs and Habits and Names and Nicknames to name but a few. 

 

One of the customs mentioned in the book is related to the times of weddings.  It was the custom for a time to be married in the early hours of the morning.  Most weddings were carried out at 7am although a few were at 6am and even 5.30am.  This was so that the newly married couple were able to catch the morning train to Edinburgh for their honeymoon!

 

‘Children of the Sea : The story of the Eyemouth Disaster’

Author – Peter Aitchison

Published by Tuckwell Press of East Lothian in 2001 ISBN 1 86232 240 6

 

‘Children of the Sea is the remarkable story of a village on the margins of the sea and at the edge of the country.  It is a tale of survival through the wars of independence and the witch-hunts of the seventeenth century; of danger and high jinks when Eyemouth was the centre of a massive smuggling ring and above all of the hope and tragedy of fishing and of battles with the minister.  It is a story of a people who fought to survive, and whose voice can now be heard, from tales handed down through the generations.’

 

            The above passage was taken from the back of the book describing its content.

 

Church History

 

Eyemouth Pre-Reformation Church

 

The monks of Coldingham Priory used the harbour at Eyemouth to bring in supplies etc.  The pre-Reformation Chapel of Eyemouth was a dependent of Coldingham, a priest or chaplain conducted the services.  Although it is not completely known it is suggested that the pre-Reformation Church was sited at the old graveyard at the west end of the High Street.

 

James VI made Eyemouth a Parish in its own right on 26 January 1618.

 

In the 1820s the local area was awash with resurrectionists.  One of the most notorious cases was that of a body found on the Eyemouth Carrier’s Cart in 1820.  Dr George Lawrie of Coldingham had exhumed the body from the Graveyard in Coldingham.  As punishment for his work as a resurrectionist he spent two months in Greenlaw Jail.  Dr George Lawrie had adapted part of his home to accommodate the storage of the bodies he had exhumed.  Despite there being no records of any exhumations a Mort-House was built in the north west corner of the old graveyard in Eyemouth.  The old graveyard of Eyemouth is located close to the centre of the town.

 

In 1849 there was an epidemic of Cholera in the area.  Around 100 people died of the disease filling the local graveyard.  This meant that a solution had to be found so as to increase space for future burials.  A solution was found by re-organizing the graveyard and by adding about two metres of earth to the surface to allow larger depths to be dug.  This was proved to be required as after the Eyemouth Fishing disaster in which 129 men from Eyemouth died the graveyard was found to be nearly full once more.  By 1885 the graveyard was full and had to be closed to new burials.  A new graveyard was opened on Coldingham Road which is on the outskirts of the town.

 

Wilbara House Old Parish Church

 

Wilbara House Old Parish Church was re-thatched in 1694.  Further repairs were required to the church in 1708.  In 1738 the church was again re-roofed this time with 4500 pantiles.  By 1752 the roof was leaking and the walls were said to be dangerous.  The church was eventually condemned in 1810 because of the state of disrepair.  A new church was built in 1812 on another site which has since 1981 housed the Eyemouth Museum and Information Centre.

 

Wilbara House dates from the early 19th Century.  On two occasions skeletal remains were found about 60cm under the floor while works were being carried out by in the east end of the building.  Burials inside parish churches were forbidden after the Reformation.  It is likely that Wilbara House was completely re-built after 1812.

 

Wilbara House stands on the west side of Market Place.  The west section of the building is two private houses and the east end is a shop.  It is most likely that the shop is a later addition. 

 

Eyemouth Museum Old Parish Church

 

The building of Eyemouth Museum Old Parish Church commenced in 1810 and opened in 1812 as the parish church.  The church had a seating capacity of 450 people.  Alterations to the church were made in 1836.  In 1902 a gallery was removed to allow the south wing to be added.  The amount of seating remained about the same.  The church stables were converted into a church hall in 1937.  It was converted into a Tourist Information Centre and Eyemouth Museum which opened in 1981.

 

St John’s Parish Church

 

St John’s Parish Church was opened in 1879 as Eyemouth Free Church and became St John’s Church of Scotland in 1929.  In 1966 St John’s Church of Scotland became the parish church.  The Church is Victorian Gothic in style and is located at the junction of Victoria Road and Coldingham Road.

 

Population

 

Here are some figures showing the parish's population through time:

 

1755

792

 

1831

1181

 

1871

 

1801

899

 

1841

 

 

1881

2952

1811

962

 

1851

 

 

1891

 

1821

1165

 

1861

1804

 

1901

 

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