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© National Museums of Scotland |
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Yetholm's Royal Palace |
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The Gypsies were first recorded in Scotland in 1506, having arrived from the Continent, and are thought to have their origins in the Persian Gulf. A nomadic race, the gypsy way of life was simple. They would find work on farms, doing even the most menial work through the spring and summer, earning enough food or money to see them through the long winter months. They never put much stock in possessions, apart from a fierce loyalty to their horses. Their society was hugely reliant on family, and it was the Faa family who made headquarters at Kirk Yetholm.
Located near the English border, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Kelso, Yetholm is adjacent to Bowmont Water and in the old county of Roxburghshire. The town Yetholm is the younger of two parts of a village, which also includes Kirk Yetholm. The nature of the land in the Borders - constantly disputed ownership between the Scots and the English - made it a perfect place for gypsies to settle. The Faa family's first official involvement in the area was reported in Chambers' Journal, August 18th 1883, "the land (where the Gipsy Palace stands), was given to the gypsies by Bennet of Grubbit and Marlefield, Laird of Kirk Yetholm, after a brave gypsy named Young saved his life during the Battle of Namur, in 1695."
© SCRAN
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The photographer, Alasdair Alpin MacGregor, met a resident of Yetholm called Robert Christie in 1935, who could vividly remember the 1898 coronationof Charles Faa Blyth, the last king: 'There were ten thoosand folk here the day Chairlie Blythe was crooned, and twa hundred cuddies [horses]. He was crooned oot there on the Green o' Kirk Yetholm...The gypsies wended their way up the Loanings toward the tract o' land known as the Common. There they put a tin croon on him, and broke a bottle of whisky ower his heid, and then bound a hare roond his neck. Chairlie then walked down the Loanings to his Palace as 'His Majesty!'. The hare, of course, was indicative o' the chase - or rather, o' the ancient art o' poaching, whereby the gypsies derived so much o' their sustenance. They regarded poaching as their birthright, so to speak.'
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