A turn off the road

Yester Kirk

Graveyards are always worth a visit when stravaiging about the countryside. The older ones attached to a kirk never fail to provide a story or two (Blog 2/7/2015).

On the way back from a necessary but fairly uninteresting visit to Edinburgh, I thought I deserved a turn on to the road less travelled and left the coast and the dual carriage-way for the Lammermuirs.  

Sign posts

Following some very specific sign-posts, I arrived in Gifford, perhaps the birth place of that noted misogynistic Calvanist, John Knox, a claim that is also made for the neighbouring Haddington. What that railer against the "monstrous regimen(t) of women" would have made of the current equality of the sexes in all walks of life and not just politics, would be interesting.

A gravestone to a former minister, James Witherspoon, mentions his son, John, who was the only clergyman to sign the American Declaration of Independence.

A look round the quiet kirk-yard showed the prominence of the Hay family, the Earls and Marquesses of Tweedale as well as other little historical insights. Two, dedicated to officers of that forerunner of the global economy, the East India Company, gave a reminder of Empire and the Raj.

Stones with the names of Gian Carlo Menotti and his wife, Malinda lie side by side. 

 They lived in Yester House, once the seat of the Earls of Tweeddale. Menotti composed several operas but his most well known must be Amal and the Night Vistors, a children's Christmas opera specifically conceived for television.

Yester House

It is surprising where a five minute stroll can take you on a turn off the road.

Gifford is also the site of the Goblin Ha'  at Yester Castle, giving its name to a local hotel.  Mentioned in Marmion by Walter Scott,  it is a fascinating place but too far off the track to explore today.  I'll have to come back again.