Lo and Behold ...

Last year (see HERE) we discovered a medieval mortar in Grafton Bank. 2019 starts off - lo and behold - with another one, this time in a garden of The Crescent in Town Yetholm. The new owners of Balcherry drew our attention to the object shown above. Overgrown with moss and half filled with soil , but the function is unmistakable. Externally the surface is rough, but the bowl is smooth - worn down, presumably, by generations of Yetholm folk pounding oats or peas to make their porridge.
   In the background is one of Yetholm's old pumps - a fine example, in good condition. It is probably the one which once stood on the corner of Dairy Wood, near the old policeman's house, further along The Crescent. See the image below, from the YHS archive, which shows the pump in action circa 1900 (note the policeman lurking in the background!)

The Crescent, Town Yetholm, circa 1900.