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The Parish Newsletter of the linked charges of Hobkirk and Southdean with Ruberslaw No: 39 Autumn 2015 Hobkirk & Southdean Parish Church of : Charity No. SC012830 Ruberslaw Parish : Charity No. SC034629 Octogenarian Elder! ne of the Borders’ most famous traditional musicians and Elder of Hobkirk and Southdean Church reached the Ofine age of 80 on the 9th August! In view of the popularity of Henry Douglas BEM, Parish News breaks from its normal format and publishes ‘Things you didn’t know about your Elder’ as front page news!

Henry Douglas was born on the 9 th August 1935 at bikes to get around, and he Catslackburn, a farm in the Yarrow Valley, the youngest of a recalls that when he started family of three including sister Grace and his late brother, Bill. shearing there were no During Henry’s boyhood the family moved to Tinnis, then machines - just the ‘blades’ – Thirladean in the Philiphaugh Estate; then to Craik in 1946, and the annual ‘clipping’ on a Hyndlee in1948, and Howahill in 1949. farm was a great social occasion. Henry married Aileen From Catslackburn and Tinnis farms Henry attended Yarrow th School, walking three miles there and back in the dark days of in Cavers Church on 7 the war, and then High School from the time the September 1963 and they have family moved to Craik. Boyhood memories include the bad three of a family, John, Evelyn winter of 1947 when he was off school for seven weeks. and Jill along with eight Everybody who lived at Craik was blocked in by snow, grandchildren. surviving on potatoes and porridge, with a sheep being killed As well as through farming, regularly for meat. Henry has made great From his earliest days Henry saw himself as a farmer, and contributions to our remembers running around after the shepherd at Tinnis. His communities through singing (who has not appreciated special interest has always been sheep, and over the years of Henry’s rendition of traditional songs as well as the songs of his life he has seen enormous changes in farming. When he the Hawick Common Riding?), through the Common Riding began farming on leaving school, shepherds would do itself and rugby. Henry’s outstanding contribution in our everything on foot, and working on a farm was purely manual communities was recognised when he was awarded the British labour. There was no electricity, and water had to be pumped Empire Medal in the New Year’s Honours List. In talking out of the ground. Mechanisation has changed farming in so about the honour, Henry says that he did not do all he has done many ways, and in turn has led to a great reduction in the on his own, for over the years of life he has been supported by numbers working on farms. Henry is sure that the most many wonderful folk. He now looks back on 80 fulfilled years important innovation over the years has been the use of quad of life – and we wish him well for more to come!

HOBKIRK & SOUTHDEAN ANNOUNCEMENTS RUBERSLAW Wedding 29 May 2015 at Roxburghe Hotel: Sarah Maclean and Wilson Baptisms Renwick 14 June 2015 at : Harry John Reddihough Funerals 26 July 2015 at : Isla Catherine Thom 3 July 2015 at Hobkirk: Jessie Taylor Funerals 6 July 2015 at Borders Crematorium: Willie Phillips 17 June 2015 at Minto: Helen Latta 23 July 2015 at Hobkirk: Lloyd Ennion 26 June 2015 at Borders Crematorium: Margaret Jeffrey 28 July 2015 at Borders Crematorium: Rosemary (Jane) Bishop 5 August 2015 at Hobkirk: Nancy Weatherson Visit our web page at www.hobkirkwithruberslaw.org and like us at www.facebook.com/ruberslawchurch A Message from your Minister…..

Dear Friends, THE MAPS FOR LIVING Summer days – be they sunny or wet – always remind me of my first summer as the minister of Hobkirk and Southdean with Ruberslaw some six years ago. That year, I was discovering the many roads linking the communities in our two parishes which stretch from north of Hassendean to the Carter Bar. My wife, Anne, had kindly given me a ‘sat nav’ to help me find my way around, but I soon found out that it was far from reliable in our country area so had to rely on the several Ordinance Survey maps! As the autumn drew near I was familiar with the five historic parishes that make up the present charge – from north to south, Minto, Denholm and Bedrule making up the present Ruberslaw parish, and Hobkirk and Southdean making up the present Hobkirk and Southdean parish. For interest, I’ve placed a map on the Denholm Church notice board and in Hobkirk Church which shows our parishes in detail. There are times when knowing the best way to go in life can be a challenge – and those who follow the Christian faith can find guidance in the maps God has given us to help us in daily living. The Bible is one map for life, with guidance as to the best way forward in all the its complexities and in Jesus Christ we have been given a living example to follow – with His keynote advice to ‘Love God, and love our fellows’. May we find God’s blessing in following Jesus’ example, Your Minister and friend, Douglas.

Dates for your Diary: Sunday 30 August...... Hobkirk and Southdean Barbecue at Wauchope Farm Sunday 13 September...... Communion at Hobkirk Church at 11am Sunday 13 September...... Ruberslaw ‘Cafe Church’ at 2.30pm in Denholm Village Hall Tuesday 15 September:...... Ruberslaw Guild meets in Denholm Church Hall with Dedication Service Thursday 17 September..... Hobkirk and Southdean Guild Outing to Scottish Parliament Sunday 27 September...... Ruberslaw Harvest Thanksgiving Service in Denholm Church at 9.30am Sunday 4 October...... United Service in Hobkirk Church at 10am Thursday 8 October...... Hobkirk and Southdean Guild Dedication Service at Southdean Church Sunday 11 October...... Communion at Bedrule Church at 11am Sunday 25 October...... Hobkirk and Southdean Harvest Thanksgiving in Southdean Church at 11am Sunday 8 November...... Remembrance Sunday Services at Minto at 10am and Hobkirk at 10.45am

DON’T MISS. ...the129th Rulewater Flower Show - 6 1st DENHOLM BOYS’ BRIGADE DIARY September at 2 p.m in the Laidlaw Hall. DATES FOR 2015 Thursday 24 September : BB’s begin in Denholm Sir James Murray Church Hall: 6-7pm. Subs £1

On Sunday 26 th July this year there was a Commemoration of Saturday 3 October : Coffee Morning in Denholm the 100 th Anniversary of the death of Denholm-born Sir James Church Hall: 10-12am. All welcome. Murray, the first Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. Thursday 15 October : Mid-term holiday Ruberslaw congregation and the Hawick Archaeological Society worked together to organise the well-attended event which Sunday 8 November : Remembrance Sunday at included a service and an exhibition in Denholm Church and a Minto Church 10am. BB’s muster at 9.45am tribute at Murray’s birthplace. Thursday 12 November : Holiday Thursday 17 December : Rehearsal for Nativity Play at BB Ruberslaw Café Church Meeting – 6-7pm Everyone is invited to a Café Church in Denholm Village Hall Saturday 19 December: Deliver Denholm Christmas Post at on Sunday 13th September at 2.30 pm. 10am from Church Hall This will be a chance for an informal get-together and worship for all ages with various activities and refreshments. BB’s break for Christmas after Christmas Eve Nativity Play If you haven’t tried Café Church do come along and give it a try. Annual Denholm Flower Show The annual Denholm Flower Show will be on Saturday 5th September Please note there will be no morning worship in the in the Village Hall. The show will be opened at 2.30pm by Mr J Ruberslaw Churches that Sunday, but there will be a Coltman and exhibits will be on show until 4.30pm. Teas will be traditional service at Hobkirk Church at 11.00 am. served from 3.00 to 4.30 pm in the Church Hall. SOS Children’s village For the past two years, we have been sponsoring the SOS GUILD NEWS Children’s Village Davao in the Philippines. The islands of the Philippines are frequently affected by weather events, such as Ruberslaw Guild typhoons, and as a result, many families are devastated. In an Ruberslaw Guild’s first meeting of the new session will be SOS Children’s village like ours, a child lives in a family style held on Tuesday 15th September at 7.00 pm in Denholm situation with a ‘mother’, and ‘siblings’ of different ages – Church Hall. helping to meet the charity’s aim of “a loving home for every child”. Our yearly donation of £240 helps to support not only This session’s theme will be ‘Go in Peace’ and the meeting the maintenance and upkeep of their homes, but also the will begin with a dedication by Rev Douglas Nicol. education and medical needs of the children. The first meeting will concern Guild projects, with a review We receive not only newsletters from the charity, but also of the projects which have been supported over the past three letters from the village itself, containing news of special events years. The new set of projects will be considered and and activities which enrich the lives of the children in the members will decide which projects to support over the village. The most recent update included detailed information forthcoming three years. about the project week, when 20 students from an international We would like to highlight the November meeting, which will school visited the be held jointly with our Boys’Brigade Company, and will village for a week, feature a talk by Eleanor Bathgate who has attended the allowing all to World Scout Jamboree in Japan. We are sure that this will be exchange and an evening of interest to all ages and are looking forward to experience aspects of sharing this meeting with the young folk of the village. A date another culture. has not yet been finalised, but details will be advertised nearer Copies of the latest the time. update letter will be As always, anyone is welcome to Guild meetings which are displayed shortly in the generally held on the third Tuesday of the month. church hall. Anyone interested in joining the Hobkirk and Southdean Guild list of contributors, Exchange students and villagers enjoying a renovated playground Members and friends have kept busy through the summer please contact Mhairi with church cleaning, coffee and home baking after the first Mitchell. service of the month and flower arranging. THURSDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER: Our annual Guild Trip News from the SPAB working party which this year is to the Scottish Parliament. In the last week in July 12 volunteers from the Society for the THURSDAY 8TH OCTOBER: Service of Dedication at Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), supported by Historic Southdean at 7pm. And this year we are very lucky to have Scotland and John Laidlaw and Sons of , continued with the Hawick Male Voice Choir coming so we are looking a programme of maintenance work at Hobkirk and Souden. forward to welcoming friends. The three day programme featured lime pointing to the walls and WEDNESDAY 18TH NOVEMBER: Holiday slides of footings at Hobkirk, repairs to broken memorials and carved stones Nepal by Christian Curtis at Hawthornside (by kind at Hobkirk and Souden, and repairs to the concrete roof of the invitation of Janet Griffiths) tower at Souden. The tower walls at Souden were also protected with a turf capping and some rearrangement of the carved stones was carried out in the room below. Work also began on preparing to re-paint the porch at Southdean Church. the dig which consisted of two small trenches across the line of the suspected wall. Foundations were uncovered and an approximate On Thursday a lecture was also chronology was established for a largely 19th later wall with given by the distinguished possibly earlier footings. This work will be progressed next year. academic Professor Richard Fawcett of the University of St While the volunteers usually sleep in tents in the adjacent paddock Andrews on the history of the at Hobkirk, the wet weather meant that this was not possible, so churches of Hobkirk and Souden. four very comfortable nights were His lecture set the sites in a wider spent in the church itself! Many context, and allowed a proper thanks go to the Hobkirk and understanding of some of the Southdean congregation for the architectural carved stones that many of us are familiar with. catering support - lunches, snacks Examples shown from other similar churches in Scotland gave a and breakfasts were most generously good illustration of former use. They indicate that the fabric of supplied as well as physical both Hobkirk and Souden had been of a very high standard, the preparations inside the church. This 14th century chancel at Souden especially so. A masonry fragment included the provision of extra that had sat outside the church at Hobkirk was identified as a furniture for lunches, a fridge and even a heated drying rail. Bill piscina niche. Ways will be investigated to record this information and Brenda Glennie gave much additional moral and nutritional and present it to members of the congregation and visitors. support as well as offering washing facilities. A new activity strand was started this year, with a modest These works will be continued next year, and any members of the archaeological investigation in the vicinity of the church at congregations around would be most welcome to join in. Hobkirk to seek to establish the boundaries of the original Roger Curtis graveyard. Dr John Dent, formerly of Council, led News from Southdean Willie Phillips, Hyndlee 19 April 1930 – 26 July 2015 An afternoon tea event was held in Southdean Hall on 19 July with delicious refreshments on offer as well as a raffle and a Hard-working, honest, kindly, sales table. This was partly to raise further funds for the Among our very best, ambitious hall extension plan which will make it truly a “Hall The weel-kent laird of Hyndlee for All.” Is laid away to rest. The event was well supported and the visitors enjoyed the Our hearts reach out to Sadie, carefully prepared high teas served by waitresses and a waiter His loving, much-loved wife, in appropriate uniforms! Approximately £330 was raised so a A truly lovely lady big ‘Thank You’ to everyone who supported the event. For the partnership of life. The ‘Flicks in the Sticks’ programme of social evenings When young and fit and supple, continues with a new set of films offered for August and Light-footed, toe and heel, September, including ‘Far From The Madding Crowd’ and They made as fine a couple ‘The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ (complete with As ever led a reel. Indian buffet from ‘A Taste of Spice’). With Willie in his hey-day, A special showing of the film, ‘Paddington’ was shown on 1 A noted judge of stock, July at an earlier time so that children could attend. This He chose the best in Sadie proved to be a popular evening show. As mother to his flock. As part of Jedburgh Callant’s Festival, the Southdean Rideout The strong right hand of friendship, took place on 27 June. There was a good attendance at the Is crucial to our lives. event and our Minister welcomed Callant Grant Raeburn, ‘though death arrives to end it, before giving an address on behalf of the church and the The memory survives. community. His special sense of humour, On 9 August the ruins of Auld Souden Kirk were the location With everyone his friend, for an open-air service at this ancient site near Southdean Farm, ‘though shattered by a tumour, dating from the 10th century. It was the original Southdean Existed to life’s end. Church and the service was partly to commemorate the A copestone of Rulewater, continuance of Christian observance in the area down the ages. The gift of life, he gave The Saltire, Northumbrian and Southdean flags were flown and To Jennifer, his daughter, there was a large gathering with the service conducted by our To Iain and to Dave. Minister. In landscapes, hard and hilly, He tackled life with zest. The God that gave us Willie, MINTO OPEN GARDENS Gave of his very best. After a wet start, the afternoon weather cleared and we were all When summer sunshine glances treated to a splendid display of cottage gardens! Behind hedges and walls lie secret gardens that are loved and tended On Hyndlee’s braes and hills, by dedicated gardeners. I’ll mind the country dances Visitors and gardeners alike were happy to share their And yours and Sadie’s skills. experiences and knowledge and this created a very sociable When winter’s nights grow chilly, afternoon with tea being served at The Challenge. The skies with snowflakes flecked, A huge thank you to all who opened their gardens, supplied I’ll think about you, Willie, and served the tea, and all the visitors. Over £400 was raised With friendship and respect. for Church funds. Tim Douglas

Thought for the Issue:

“And in the end it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

Abraham Lincoln

NEXT NEWSLETTER Winter 2015 Issue Copy Deadline: 15th November 2015 Target Issue Date: 29th November 2015

Produced by Hobkirk and Southdean with Ruberslaw Churches and edited by Alan Dowler-Smith for the information of all congregation members and other interested people on church life in the linked charges. If you have any comments or contributions, please send them to Alan at Old Fodderlie, , Hawick TD9 8JF or e-mail [email protected]