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Duns was created a Burgh of Barony in 1490, and is a former county town of Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders. The feudal Laird is Alexander Hay of Duns and Drumelzier, his family acquired Duns Castle in 1696 and were responsible for the present Gothic edifice, prior to that it had been a substantial Pele tower belonging to the descendants of the Earl of Moray, who had been granted the estate by Robert I.
[edit] Notable "Dingers"
- The Blessed John Duns Scotus, Theologian , Scholar and Logician (c.1266-1308)
- The Reverend Thomas Boston, Theologian and Presbyterian minister (1676-1732)
- Jim Clark, Formula 1 racing driver (1936-1968)
[edit] Country Houses
A famous Edwardian mansion Manderston House (rebuilt 1903), lies just outside the burgh on the A6105 road to Berwick-upon-Tweed, the home of a Liberal Peer, The Lord Palmer. 2 miles east of Manderston stands early 18th century Edrom House (after architect James Smith), and just two miles east of Edrom stands Blanerne House (rebuilt by architect William Burn in 1895) with its nearby ruined mediaeval Pele Tower. Nisbet House (c1630) with its great Tower (1774) about 1.5 miles south of the town, is currently being restored as a private home. Two miles east of Duns stands Wedderburn Castle (1771-5, architects Robert Adam and James Adam built on site of the earlier Pele Tower. It is the seat of the Home of Wedderburn family. Further west lies Kimmerghame House (1851, architect David Bruce), a Scottish Baronial mansion almost destroyed by fire in 1947 and rebuilt. Now the seat of a former Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire, Major-General Sir John Swinton of Swinton (Father of the actress Tilda Swinton). The district surrounding Duns once had a considerable number of famous Country Houses.
[edit] The Ba game of Duns
This is a kind of mediaeval football. Three balls or "Ba"s were required for this game; the first was gold, the second silvered, and the third coloured or spotted. A fourth was provided in case of mishap, and if not needed was presented to the subscriber whose entertainment had been most hospitable, the Hay family at Duns Castle usually being the recipients.
At mid-day the honour of throwing up the ball would be auctioned in the Kirkyard. The throw would invariably be performed by a member of the Duns Castle family. At 1 o'clock the game began, the Ba being thrown up in the Market Square. The goal for the married men was the pulpit of the church, if this happened then the church bell would rung by the victors. The goal of the bachelors was the hopper of any of the grinding mills in the district, the nearest being over a mile away. If a bachelor won the Ba he would be dusted with flour and receive a meal of pork & dumplings from the miller.
The game was revived in 1949 as part of the Duns Summer Festival. The goals are now at Castle Street & Currie Street.
The town is popular with walkers, many of whom scale the Duns Law hill.
[edit] References
- Borders and Berwick by Charles Alexander Strang, Rutland Press, 1994, (P/B), ISBN 1-873-190-10-7
Coordinates: 55°46′N 2°21′W
