Yarrow, Scottish Borders

Yarrow
Yarrow is located in Scottish Borders
Yarrow
Yarrow
Location within the Scottish Borders
OS grid referenceNT357277
Council area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSelkirk
Postcode districtTD7
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
55°32′21″N 3°01′09″W / 55.53917°N 3.01917°W / 55.53917; -3.01917
The Yarrow Valley at Yarrowford

Yarrow is a place and parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland and in the former county of Selkirkshire.The name "Yarrow" may derive from the Celtic word garw meaning "rough" or possibly share a derivation with the English name "Jarrow".[1][2]

The parish mainly corresponds with the river valley of Yarrow Water from its source in the west at St. Mary's Loch until its passes into the parish of Selkirk between Yarrowford and Broadmeadows, just upstream from Foulshiels.[3][4] It has an area of 48,851 acres.[5]

It is bordered on the west and north by the parishes of Tweedsmuir, Peebles, Traquair and Innerleithen in Peeblesshire. On the east by Caddonfoot and Selkirk and on the south by Kirkhope and Ettrick in Selkirkshire.[3][6]

St Mary's Loch is the principal loch of southern Scotland, being 3½ miles long and in some places thirty fathoms deep.[4]

The parish includes the settlements of Yarrow Feus and Yarrowford, as well as Yarrow itself, which is the site of the Kirk, Manse and former school. The Kirk has a central location in the parish and is about 10 miles distant from the furthermost boundaries.[4]

Yarrow parish now comes within the area of Ettrick and Yarrow Community Council [7]

The ecclesiastical parish (Church of Scotland) is now Ettrick and Yarrow parish, which includes the parishes of Yarrow, Kirkhope and Ettrick, all of whose churches are still used for services [8]

  1. ^ Words & places: illustrations of history, ethnology and geography, by Isaac Taylor, publ. Kessinger, 1921, p. 131.
  2. ^ History of the Celtic Place-names of Scotland, by W.J. Watson; first published 1926; reprinted 2004 with introduction by Simon Taylor. Edinburgh. Birlinn. ISBN 1-84158-323-5, p. 522. Contains the note "Yarrow is Gierua c. 1120, Gierwa, Gieruua c. 1150 (Lawrie). This, like Gala,, is an Anglo-Saxon name and may be compared with Jarrow, in Bede 'In Gyruum'."
  3. ^ a b Ordnance Survey one inch to one mile map, Selkirk sheet, publ. 1961
  4. ^ a b c New Statistical Account of Scotland, Vol III Roxburgh, Peebles, Selkirk, publ.William Blackwood, 1845, pp.29-54 (Selkirkshire section)
  5. ^ Survey Gazetteer of the British Isles, by J. Bartholomew, 1905
  6. ^ Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, by Francis Groome, publ.1896, article on Yarrow
  7. ^ Scottish Borders council web site on Community Councils http://www.scotborders.gov.uk/downloads/file/7941/ettrick_and_yarrow_community_council retrieved Feb 2016
  8. ^ See Selkirk Weekly Advertiser http://www.selkirkweekendadvertiser.co.uk/news/local-news/wheely-good-luck-sam-1-1622046 Retrieved Feb 2016, leaflet published by the parish church at http://yackety.co.uk/press/wp-content/uploads/delightful-downloads/2016/01/Web-info-Church.pdf retrieved Feb 2016 and ‘’Church of Scotland Yearbook’’ publ.by Church of Scotland