Mrs Douglas - Refreshments

The Bill Rae Archive contains two mystery photographs, one of which has recently been restored to the collection – shown above. Both are of poor quality, but obviously show the same building, which has a sign over the door reading, it would appear, ‘Mrs Douglas, Refreshments’. Bill clearly had reason to believe the photos had a Yetholm connection, but who gave them to him and what information they gave him about them was never recorded.

Enquiries proved fruitless. Could it have been taken at Venchen quarry cottages – or the now demolished farm row at Yetholm Mains? In the end the sloping roof in the group photo gave a vital clue. The building in the photo turns out to be one of the cottages on Kirk Yetholm green, which still exist, on the slope on the other side of the road which passes between them and the Border Hotel. That this is the case is proved from a postcard in our collection, shown below. The wooden sign above the door can be seen, slightly obscured by the shafts of the trap standing in the foreground.

The 1901 census shows that this cottage was inhabited by Matthew Douglas (56) and Mary Douglas (49). Matthew is described as a labourer, while Mary is listed as ‘Grocer/Merchant’. It seems likely, then, that the couple shown together in the doorway are Matthew and Mary Douglas. In the group photo the lady standing in the doorway is probably not Mary. Mary appears to be sitting on a cracket to left of the door, wearing the same kind of flat-cap that she has on in the first photograph, while Matthew does not appear to be present. The post card which enabled us to locate the cottage was sent in 1904 and it seems likely that the two images were taken around that date. In the 1911 census Matthew is described as a skin-dealer, while Mary is not given any occupation – possibly she had ceased trading at that date - ?

Matthew was born into a gipsy family. His death certificate (1921) shows his parents were Matthew Douglas and Jane Gourlie – in the 1851 census Matthew snr is described as a ‘hawker of crockery’, a common description of a gipsy’s occupation. Matthew jnr., though, seems to have led a more sedentary life, showing up in most 19th century censuses as an agricultural labourer, although by the time of his death he seems to have ascended the economic ladder to become a 'skin-dealer' (or 'wool-dealer' as a notice of his death in a local paper puts it).

Mary, Matthew’s wife, was also probably of gipsy stock, given that her maiden name was Young. Like her husband she seems to have aspired to running her own business. That her shop is described as providing ‘Refreshments’ rather than as a ‘Grocer’s Shop’ perhaps indicates that she was catering to the ever increasing numbers of visitors who were turning up in the ‘Gipsy Village’ and calling in on Royal Family in the Gipsy Palace on the other side of the green.

Matthew and Mary Douglas had no children. The adjacent cottage was occupied by another Matthew Douglas – also of gipsy heritage – although the two Matthews were not apparently closely related. This second Matthew, with his wife Elizabeth, by way of contrast, was the father of numerous children. He was the village scavenger, a trade which he passed on to his son Charles ‘Skaffy’ Douglas, who was the subject of an earlier blog – HERE.

Matthew and Mary may have been childless, but the censuses show they took in lodgers. In 1901 they have a boarder called Robert Pringle, 40, tailor/pauper, who is also described as a ‘lunatic’. In 1911 they have three boarders, one of whom is Eliza Panton, 40, who is labelled ‘imbecile/lunatic’. Interestingly, in 1901 Matthew and Elizabeth Douglas, also have a boarder – Alexander Taylor, 40 – who is described as a pauper and labelled ‘lunatic/simple minded’. Presumably all three of these ‘lunatics’ were lodged at the expense of the local Poor Board and provided some additional income for the two Douglas families. Might some of these  boarders be present in the group photograph …?