The Monks

The Monks of Kelso

In addition to the land held in the name of the church, the monks of Kelso owned huge tracts of land.

Lady Eschina of Molle, in the mid thirteenth century, granted to Kelso Abbey the lands of Hethou, bounded

'as the water descends from the fountain called Bradestrother, between Hethou and Faveside, and as far as the rivulet which descends from Wester-hethoudene; along that rivulet as far as the passage of the upper ford of the same rivulet, next to Crag, and so across Hathoudene, eastwards, as the crosses have been placed, and the ditches have been made, and the furrow has been drawn, and the stones have been set, as far as the rivulet of Easter Hethou; and from the ford of the same rivulet ascending as the wood and arable land meet above Halreberge, and so eastward, as far as Grenelle, near the white stone, as far as the foresaid head of the fountain of Bradestrother; with a certain portion of land beyond the rivulet of Hethou, westward as far as Blyndwell, as the meadow and arable land meet, descending as far as the foresaid rivulet of Hethou.'

This was sufficent land to allow pasture for 400 sheep, 16 cattle, 2 work-horses and 12 swine.

In 1198, or thereabouts, she added

'pasture for twenty cows and their calves, till the latter were grown up. and also one bull, part of a meadow which lay between Eddredesete and the rivulet of Ruhope, as far as the water of Blakepool; and that portion of land which lay above the bank of the Bolbent, opposite Blakepool; and the croft lying in the north side of the house of William the Forester, under the hill, and gave up every claim which she might have on the mill'

Before 1249, her daughter Cecilia, with the consent of her husband, gave the monks the toft and croft which belonged to William of Mollehope (Mowhaugh), on the moors near to the outlet at Whitelaw, on the English border; and 26 acres of the demesne lands of Molle which were arable. In addition she gave them large parcels of land all over the area which are detailed in the Liber de Calchou. They were also granted the use of sheepfolds and free passage. The monks could also remove materials from the woods of Persouth to make their ploughs and fences.

After her death, Sir Gilbert Avenel confirmed all these grants, and asked the feudal overlord of Molle, Eustace de Vesci, to confirm the monks in all these possessions.

Pope Innocent IV also confirmed the grants before 1254, and Henry of Halyburton did the same in 1270.

Anselm of Molle, about 1190, granted to the monks of Kelso

'all the land and meadow and wood in the territory of Molle, which was on the east side of Erndbrandesdene - namely, from the bounds of the lands of the monks of Mailros, by the direct path as far as Erndbrandesdene, as far as the ford of Bolbent, which included all the lands and the wood and the meadow which extended from these bounds to the eastward, as far as the counds of the church-lands of Molle, and upwards towards Hunedene; all Hulcheshou, in wood, plain, and pasture, except one acre of land which he gave to Walter the Mason.'

From Richard, son of Anselm, they got the tilth of Ladladde, containing eight acres and a rood. Richard of Lincoln, who had married Anselm's daughter, Matildis, confirmed the grant , and added an acre of land.

About 1200, Isolde, Anselm's younger daughter, with the consent of her husband, Alexander, gave the monks an oxgang of land which lay on the east side near the land which Henry the Fat held of Richard Scott, with the pertinents thereof.

In 1255, Richard, the son of Richard of Lincoln, gave them twenty acres of arable land and meadow in Mollehope, which the canons of Jedworde held of him in ferme, and pasture for sixty sheep and four cows, wheresoever they pleased, in all his lands of Molle, except cornland and meadow, for the term of ten years after Whitsunday 1258, for ten merks yearly.

In 1260, Matildis, wife of Richard of Lincoln, in her free widowhood, 'forgave to the monks all causes and complaints which she had or could have against them, their men, and their servants.' She also granted the monks all the lands which they held in ferme from her late husband in Molle,

'to possess the same without claim or hinderance, on the condition that they should find her son William in victuals, along with the better and more worthy scholars in their poor's house, as long as they retained the said lands in their hands.'

About 1300, Adam de Roule and his wife Johanna Halyburton, granted the monks

'four acres of land in the tenement of Molle, which lay in the upper part of Stapelaw, to be held so as they were not entitled to claim any commonty within their demesne lands of Molle, for which grant the monks received the granters into their prayers, and engaged to celebrate one mass weekly for their souls.'

As can be seen from all the above much of the land of Molle was in the keeping of the monks of Kelso, either granted or leased. The main usage was obviously for the grazing of sheep on the hill slopes, with lesser areas for cattle, as the better arable land appears to have been kept by the owners.

The Monks of Melrose

The monks of Mailros also obtained valuable grants in this manor.

Anselm of Molle, before 1185, granted them

'the whole of his petary, which was between Mollehope, Bereop, and Herdstrete, which separated the lands of Molle from Hunum and his wood of Mollope, as much brushwood as one horse could carry to their grange of Hunedune, every year between Easter and the Nativity of St Mary.'

This granting of the right to collect firewood and the right to cut peat was essential to the viability of any establishment in which those monks, who looked after the stock in these hills, lived. The mention of the grange at Hunedune (Hownamlaw) is very interesting as there is of course still a farm called Hownam Grange, where the Thomson family raise their prize-winning Border Leicesters.

Anselm also granted to them

'that portion of land in the territory of Molle which was next their land on the south of the hill of Hunedune, and on the east bounded by the road from that hill to Molle, which road lay between the foresaid land and the church-lands of Molle, as far as a fountain on the west side of Kippemoder, as far as certain large stones of the old building, which stood upon a small ridge on the south side of the land called Cruche. Afterwards, the boundary descended along the same ridge to the south side of the same Cruche, as far as the rivulet between the lands of Hunum and Molle.'

In 1236, Walter, grandson of the first Walter the Steward, granted to the same monks

'all the lands in Molle which he had in the fief of Sir William de Vesci, and all rights competent to him, in exchange for Freertun, which formerly belonged to the nuns of Southberwick, with 200 merks in boot.'

About the same time, Alexander II erected the lands which the monks held in Molle into a free forest.

About 1258, the monks purchased Hungerigge from Adam of Hetune.

William of Sproveston (Sprouston), about 1285, gave the monks of Mailros

'that part of the lands of Altonburne which he had obtained from John de Vescy, his overlord.'

They also had the lands of Uggings.

The Monks of Paisley

About 1157, the wife of Walter the Steward, gave them

'a ploughgate of land in the west part of Blackdene, according to the boundaries measured to them at her command by Eldief, provost of the town of Moll, viz, as the Stelnaburn falls into the Blackburn, and along that stream as far as two stones lying near the bank opposite the house of Ulf the steward, on the west; as far up as a certain ditch, and two stones standing in that ditch; and from these stones as far as another ditch heaped with stones, to another ditch also heaped with stones, and from thence to heselensahe, which goes as far as the ford of the torrent of Alembarke; from thence to the ford of Stelanburn, and down that stream to the Blackburn; four acres and three roods in the towne of Molle, with common pasture belonging to one ploughgate. She also granted them pasture for 500 sheep.'

The monks let their ploughgate to Robert Maleverer for payment of half-a-merk of silver.

In 1396, Robert III granted to the monks the lands which they held in this territory, as part of the regality of Paisley.

The Canons of Jedburgh

Prior to 1255, the canons of Jedburgh had held the twenty acres which were then granted to the monks of Kelso.

More: Other Recorded Landowners in Molle