BAPTIES
Skies over the lands of the Rule Water, Scottish Borderlands – homeland of the Baptie family.
Rule Water, Scottish Borderlands
"The Bapties came from Hawick..."
The journey to uncover the story of the Bapties in Scotland - started with one piece of information: we knew they came from Hawick, Roxburghshire.
Hawick (/ˈhɔɪk/ (
listen) HOYK; Scots: Haaick, Scottish Gaelic: Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is 10 miles (16.1 km) south-west of Jedburgh and 8.9 miles (14.3 km) south-southeast of Selkirk. It is one of the farthest towns from the sea in Scotland, in the heart of Teviotdale, and the biggest town in the former county of Roxburghshire. The town is at the confluence of the Slitrig Water with the River Teviot.
Hawick, Roxburghshire
Hawick (/ˈhɔɪk/ (audio speaker iconlisten) HOYK; Scots: Haaick, Scottish Gaelic: Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is 10 miles (16.1 km) south-west of Jedburgh and 8.9 miles (14.3 km) south-southeast of Selkirk. It is one of the farthest towns from the sea in Scotland, in the heart of Teviotdale, and the biggest town in the former county of Roxburghshire. The town is at the confluence of the Slitrig Water with the River Teviot.
Historic County of Roxburgh
My great-grandfather, Adam Marshall Baptie was the youngest of eight children born to Cicely Buckham and James Baptie on May 10, 1857.
It has been passed down through the family, that Adam’s folk “came from Hawick”. Hawick was both a town and a parish in the County of Roxburghshire in south central Scotland. There is no evidence the Baptie family ever resided in the town but as country folk – shepherds and games keepers – they certainly lived, worked and died in the parish of Hawick and around the countryside and villages of the historic County of Roxburgh.
Hawick – pronounced ‘hoyk – (Scottish Gaelic: Hamhaig) is a town situated in the Scottish Borders of the south east of Scotland. It is located 10.0 miles south-west of Jedburgh and 8.9 miles south-southeast of Selkirk. It is one of the farthest towns from the sea in Scotland, in the heart of Teviotdale and the largest town in the former county of Roxburghshire.
The Baptie folk can be traced to the Parish of Teviothead, named after the River Teviot, as well as to the neighbouring Parishes of Hawick, Hobkirk, Roxburgh and Southdean. Towns of note are the towns of Hawick and Jedburgh, the county seat of Roxburghshire.
James Baptie was in the employ of the local laird, Sir Walter Elliot, as shepherd and later as head games keeper on the Elliot estate lands in the area known as the Rule Water. The Rule Water is a river and is a tributary of the River Teviot. The Rule Water rises in Wauchope Forest and passes Hobkirk, Bonchester Bridge, Hallrule, Abbotrule, and Bedrule until it joins the River Teviot at Spittal-on-Rule. The Rule Water is a river and is a tributary of the River Teviot. The Baptie family were protestant and belonged to the Church of Scotland. (Upon immigration to Canada – Scots who were part of the Church of Scotland were instrumental in forming the Presbyterian church. Adam and Susannah were part of the Presbyterian congregation in Canada).
James Baptie was in the employ of the local laird, Sir Walter Elliot, as shepherd and later as head games keeper on the Elliot estate lands in the area known as the Rule Water. The Rule Water is a river and is a tributary of the River Teviot. The Rule Water rises in Wauchope Forest and passes Hobkirk, Bonchester Bridge, Hallrule, Abbotrule, and Bedrule until it joins the River Teviot at Spittal-on-Rule.
The journey of discovering the roots of the Baptie family started with the knowledge In addition to the Parish of Teviothead, named after the River Teviot, events in this family trace to the neighbouring Parishes of Hawick, Hobkirk, Roxburgh and Southdean. Towns of note are the towns of Hawick and Roxburghshire county seat of Jedburgh. A history of the Rule Water entitled “Rulewater and its People; An account of the Valley of the Rule and its Inhabitants” by George Tancred. published in 1907 is a fascinating read. Among the recounting of stories of the many families in the area, it tells us of Thomas Baptie who lived at xxxx
Dating back to medieval times, and described as a sheepfold in the National Record of the Historical Environment, Adam’s birthplace of Limeycleuch (now known as Limiecleuch), was stone cottage southwest of Teviothead between the towns of Hawick and Langholm in Roxburghsire, (the historic County of Roxburgh). The old name Limeycleuch, was derived from “Limey” (which is the name of the adjacent hill and stream) and clough or “cleuch” in Scots meaning a deep ravine or narrow glen https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/cleugh.
“TEVIOTHEAD, a parish, containing a post-office station of its own name, on the south-west border of Roxburghshire. It is bounded by Dumfries-shire, and by the parishes of Roberton, Hawick, Cavers, and Castleton. It was erected in 1850 out of the parishes of Hawick and Cavers. It is all an upland region, drained by the head-streams of the Teviot. Population in 1861, 438.” From the Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, edited by John Marius Wilson, 1868.
Confusing place names...
The County of Roxburgh, also referenced as Roxburghshire in the historical records, no longer exists. In 1891, this county, along with many other historic counties, became known as the Scottish Borders.
What is a Parish?
A parish is a political subdivision of a Scottish county, usually corresponding in boundaries to a historic ecclesiastical parish. Parish boundaries were often drawn along the same boundaries of manor estates. Because most of the pre-industrialization population was rural, where you came from was identified firstly by the county, then by the parish, and thirdly in relation to a geographical or historical marker such as a hill, bridge, ruin or a cairn.
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