Let Yetholm Flourish
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In the mid-nineteenth century the lawyer and antiquarian Alexander Jeffrey (who married a girl from the village) devoted a long section of his History & Antiquities of Roxburghshire to Yetholm. His transcriptions of relevant medieval documents are still a valuable source for the local historian. However, probably the first texts specifically about Yetholm were produced by John R Watson, boot and shoemaker, of Town Yetholm. His pamphlets are undated, but were likely produced c. 1920. Yetholm had been something of a tourist destination from the early nineteenth century. From that period many houses in Yetholm were rented out to summer visitors and John Watson recognised that he could supplement his income from this seasonal trade. Watson's work is hardly in the same league as that of the scholarly lawyer, but they give us a charming glimpse of how Yetholm was being 'marketed' to the general public in the early 20th-century.
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John Watson produced two souvenir texts called Let Yetholm Flourish for the edification of visitors, both of which are reproduced below. Who knows – maybe they will be of interest to modern visitors to the village? YHS has been given a scan of the first text and owns a copy of the second, courtesy of the estate to Tom Tokely. The title of both texts is derived from the Yetholm flag in use in that period which, as early newspaper reports of the Fastern’s E’en games make clear, was emblazoned with the motto ‘LET YETHOLM FLOURISH’.
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Who was 'John R. Watson, Bootmaker, Yetholm' - ?
John Robert Watson was born in Jedburgh in 1879. He was the eldest son of a shoemaker, William Watson and his wife Amelia Fernback (sometimes ‘Fairnback’, born in Moray). In the 1881-1901 censuses he is living with his family in Jedburgh. In 1901 he is described as a ‘bootcloser’ – a worker who stitches the upper part of a shoe’ – so presumably an apprentice. In July 1905 he married Mary Hardie Aitken in Edinburgh. Mary was the daughter of Robert Aitken, another bootmaker, from Jedburgh, and his wife Mary Hardie. On their wedding certificate Mary, like several of her sisters, is working in a mill in Jedburgh and John is still a ‘bootcloser’. However, by the 1911 census, the pair are living in Yetholm, with three children and he has obviously started up his own business. The family lived in the cottage now known as ‘Huntsmans Cottage’ which, in the early 19th century, had been the family home Robert Gray, the ‘Yetholm Poet’. The cottage can be seen in the adjacent image – the first floor window is a recent edition, but the larger lower window probably acted as the shop-window for Watson’s business.
John Robert Watson was born in Jedburgh in 1879. He was the eldest son of a shoemaker, William Watson and his wife Amelia Fernback (sometimes ‘Fairnback’, born in Moray). In the 1881-1901 censuses he is living with his family in Jedburgh. In 1901 he is described as a ‘bootcloser’ – a worker who stitches the upper part of a shoe’ – so presumably an apprentice. In July 1905 he married Mary Hardie Aitken in Edinburgh. Mary was the daughter of Robert Aitken, another bootmaker, from Jedburgh, and his wife Mary Hardie. On their wedding certificate Mary, like several of her sisters, is working in a mill in Jedburgh and John is still a ‘bootcloser’. However, by the 1911 census, the pair are living in Yetholm, with three children and he has obviously started up his own business. The family lived in the cottage now known as ‘Huntsmans Cottage’ which, in the early 19th century, had been the family home Robert Gray, the ‘Yetholm Poet’. The cottage can be seen in the adjacent image – the first floor window is a recent edition, but the larger lower window probably acted as the shop-window for Watson’s business.
John was obviously an enterprising individual. He seems to have quickly recognised that Yetholm was something of a tourist destination and that this offered a business opportunity. The final page of the first of his pamphlets shown below shows that his shop sold ‘Cycle accessories, Stationary, Post Cards and a Let Yetholm Flourish souvenir’. He also offers to arrange accommodation. He commissioned photographic postcards and the two ‘Let Yetholm Flourish’ booklets were obviously put together by him and some of the text may well have been written by him. His career as a literary entrepreneur is also reflected by the fact that he was appointed ‘literary agent’ for the Southern Reporter newspaper in January 1914 – presumably many of the local reports in that paper from that date until his death were contributed by him.
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The 1921 census shows the Watson family still resident in Yetholm, but John was to die in February 1923, of heart disease. He was only 42 years old. His two booklets were probably produced between the end of the First World War and the time of his death. Some of the text and poems in his booklet are signed ‘J.T. Aitken’, who must be a sibling of John’s wife – either her sister Jane Turnbull Aitken (b. 1873) or her brother James Turnbull Aitken (b. 1882). Another poem, Sunset from the Law, by E Elmthirst of Barnsley, is presumably the work of a happy holidaymaker. YHS also owns two tiny nick-nacks (left) which were clearly produced for the tourist trade and it is possible that they were also commissioned by the enterprising bootmaker.
To read the texts below, click on each image for an enlarged version.
To read the texts below, click on each image for an enlarged version.
John Robert Watson was buried in Yetholm kirkyard, but there is no memorial stone. His wife and three sons left the village at an unknown date. His wife Mary died in Duns in 1958, aged 80. No photograph of John Watson has survived, but he may be among the crowd shown in the photograph in this blogpost - HERE