Earlston War Memorial - A short history

In mid-January 1919, and perhaps embarrassed by the poor turnout at the December meeting, the Secretary of the Men’s Committee, John Weatherston, called a meeting to discuss how to provide a war memorial. At the meeting, under the chairmanship of John Neil, a motion by Colonel Hope was carried – that a large committee would be appointed to consider the matter. And the committee was certainly large, with thirty-seven members. Colonel Hope was the chairman, Dodds, the bank manager, was the treasurer, the Reverend Davidson represented the church and George Dove, as the Mellerstain Estate Factor, represented the Earl of Haddington. Only seven of the dead were represented by family members, and only one member of the committee, Bill Frater, had seen active service. 

Within a month of that meeting, the committee considered a proposed design that would incorporate a Runic Cross with the names of the dead inscribed around the base. This design was deemed acceptable by the majority of the committee, and, more importantly, by Lady Binning of Mellerstain. Lady Binning vetoed the suggestion that the memorial be erected in the square opposite the Corn Exchange and indicated that she would accept the memorial being sited on the Green. And so, without any apparent sense of irony, the memorial to commemorate victory at the Battle of Waterloo was demolished to erect a monument to another war.

(L)The well pump and memorial to the Battle of Waterloo and the end of the Napoleonic Wars
(R) Dismantling the memorial to make way for the war memorial 

Captain Mitchell told the committee that some places had decided to build cottages in memory of the fallen, which were to be given to the severely wounded, but this concept was not progressed. The Veterans Housing Association had been formed in 1915, but it would not be until after the Second World War that Earlston would provide two houses on Mill Road for veterans under this scheme. 

It was agreed that a public meeting be held on 5 March to ‘settle the question’ regarding the final design. 

On the last Wednesday in February, Earlston school children were given a half-day holiday, owing to a visit to the village of a ‘Whippet’ tank. The Scottish War Committee arranged visits to the towns and villages of Berwickshire as a token of thanks for their contribution to the war effort. Earlston had financed three larger tanks in response to the War Implements Investment Week, and this was an opportunity for villagers to see a tank, albeit a smaller, lighter version, up close. The tank trundled its way along the High Street from the east end of the village. It was notoriously difficult to control, but its two-man crew (on this occasion) managed to prevent it hitting anyone and made numerous stops so that curious adults and children could marvel at this war machine. 

 

In late February, John Hardie, who had already lost one son in Gallipoli, received news from his daughter-in-law in Canada that his remaining son, James, had been killed at the Battle of Vimy, in September 1918. The report didn’t come through official channels, but a soldier who was in the same platoon as James had informed his widow on his return to Canada. 

A week later in early March, villagers found out that Robert Johnston had died in a German hospital, where he was being treated for his wounds following his capture. 

A brief announcement of the War Memorial Committee meeting was reported in the Scotsman on 13 March, which read: ‘Earlston – It has been decided to erect on the West Green, Earlston, a Runic or Ionic cross as the memorial to the local men who have fallen in the War’.  However, the final design did not have the agreement of the entire committee, as suggested in the Scotsman. 

When the committee met in mid-April the chairman, Colonel Hope, tabled the minutes of the previous meeting, which reported that it had been decided that, ‘Under all the circumstances the best memorial that could be erected would be a Northumbrian or Early Christian Cross’. However, the vice-chairman, Mr J.M.D. Simpson, advised the committee that he had agreed to the cross design on his understanding that a bronze figure or statue would be too expensive, but had learned post-meeting that the cost was not nearly as much as he had been told. 

Despite this new information, Colonel Hope proposed that a cross be erected, which was seconded by Mr Aitkenhead. Mr John Weatherston made a countermotion and proposed that a figure, rather than a cross be erected, provided the necessary funds could be raised. Mr W. Frater seconded this countermotion, and the motion was carried. The committee agreed to invite Mr Thomas Clapperton, a well-known local sculptor, to the next meeting to offer advice. 

Clapperton was born in Galashiels in 1879, and studied at Galashiels Mechanics Institute before winning a scholarship to study at Glasgow Art School. He also studied at Kennington School of Art in London and the Royal Academy Schools. By the time he was invited to speak to the War Memorial Committee, he had been commissioned to design the Flodden Memorial at Braxton and the Mungo Park Memorial in Selkirk. Arguably his two most viewed works are the Robert the Bruce statue mounted on the wall at the entrance to Edinburgh Castle, and a frieze on the Liberty Building in London. 

At his meeting with the committee in late April, Clapperton outlined his vision for the memorial, which would consist of the figure of a soldier in uniform. The statue would be cast in bronze and stand about six feet six inches high. The memorial would have a granite base on which bronze panels, inscribed with the name of the dead, would be mounted. 

We can only assume that the committee gave Clapperton the go-ahead to finalize his design and the final cost. 

In August 1919, the committee announced that it intended to raise £2,000 (equivalent to approx. £58,000 in today’s money) to erect the memorial. Funds would be raised by voluntary subscriptions and not by entertainment, which was in contrast with the fundraising events for the war effort. Contributions could be made either as single sums or as instalments. 

Tom Murdison, a committee member, was so passionate that a fitting memorial be erected that he felt compelled to compose an appeal to Earlstonians: 

To Earlston Natives at Home and Abroad 

For the sake of the auld hame, and bygone days and tender memories, may I ask if you can kindly help us with our War Memorial Scheme. We are desirous that every Earlstonian – near and far – might have the opportunist of remembering his or her native village in this fashion. Better there could not be. The brave boys (48 in number) who gave their all for us, were our and your successors here - laddies who, like many of us, in the long ago, played about the street of the old place, who spent many a glorious hour ‘paddling’ in the burn and the Leader, speeling’ the Black Hill, picking’ the berries, the room and the wild rose on our bonnie banks and braes, bird nesting’ in the charming woods of Carolside and Cowdenknowes or kicking’ the ba’ on the Green around the old pump well.’ For their sakes, and also to enable us to record their immortal names on imperishable bronze through out the ages, we shall gladly welcome whet you care to send us. with sincerest greetings from Leaderside, about which our local weaver-poet, the late James Sanderson, wrote nearly 80 years ago: 

O’er pebbly beds, by wooded banks, 

The Leader rushes on,

 By Rhymer’s Tower and Blaikie’s grave 

That tell of time long ago.

To me more dear these sylvan shades, 

Than rivers more renowned. 

Loved memories linger on thy banks 

As on enchanted ground.  

Murdison planned that every house in Earlston should receive a copy of the appeal, but how he intended to supply Earlstonians ‘living abroad’ is not known. 

Sadly, his appeal and other fundraising efforts failed to reach the £2,000 target. And so, instead of Clapperton’s bronze statue, his more modest Celtic cross design was built. The memorial was described as a: 

Celtic Cross, with interlacing bands on all four sides, executed in Freetown granite, and stands on a rustic granite base in which are fixed three bronze panels bearing the names of the fallen and on the front the following dedicatory inscription: ‘To the Glory of God and in memory of 48 men of the Parish of Earlston who gave their lives for King and Country during the Great War, 1914–1918. Their name liveth for evermore’. 

The work was executed by Messrs G. Sutherland and Sons of Galashiels, at a total cost of £650. 

It would be natural to assume that the names of the dead inscribed on the memorial were from Earlston parish, or at least have some family connection with the village, but that isn’t necessarily the case. 

A service of commemoration was held in the village church in January when the Reverend Walter Davidson conducted the devotional part of the service and the Reverend James Turner preached the sermon. The names of the fallen were read out. Comparing those names with those inscribed on the memorial we find that Privates James Dunn, Thomas Blackie, Robert Anderson and William Bell are not listed on the memorial. 

Thomas Blackie was born in Earlston, but his name appears on the Hawick memorial; William Bell’s father lived in a cottage at Town Farm in Earlston yet his name is recorded on Lilliesleaf memorial, as is Robert Anderson, who lived and worked in Redpath, a village less than 2 miles from Earlston. Thomas Faichney, whose parents lived in Hawick, is listed on the memorial. Robert Halliday, whose mother lived at Bridgehaugh Mill, Earlston, is listed neither on the memorial nor was mentioned during the service. Lance Corporal James Rogers, whose wife lived in Earlston, was similarly absent from the service list and the memorial. 

It is sobering to consider that the number of war dead from a small village might well exceed the forty-eight men recorded on the memorial. 

Although the War Memorial Committee continued to argue over what was ‘the best’ tribute to Earlston’s dead, a peace celebration was held in July 1919, which took the form of a picnic on the banks of the Leader River, close to Cowdenknowes House, home of Colonel and Mrs Hope. A sports day was held in a field at Sorrowlesfield Farm on the other side of the river, connected by bridge to the picnic site. That evening a beacon was lit on the summit of the Blackhill and a firework display was held. 

Newspaper coverage of the event suggested that it was very well supported. The reports include the names of the successful athletes in the family sports events. Few, if any, of those watching the children run their races would have imagined that in twenty years’ time that generation would also be ordered to fight another war. 

 

Two years later, on the afternoon of 13 November 1921, the unveiling ceremony of the war memorial took place. A sizeable crowd gathered for the occasion, with the ceremony presided over by Colonel Hope. Before asking his wife to unveil the memorial, he addressed the crowd. His speech concluded: 

'This memorial cross which we are about to unveil will keep the memories of these brave men always before the minds of those seeing it from day to day or passing by it from time to time. We are proud also to see present today so many of those gallant men who went forth from this parish and have been spared to return to their homes. And now having all pulled together to win the war – for I really think that those who had to stay at home did something to help – shall we not all pull together to win the true peace and prosperity which are so much wanted throughout the world after all the devastations of the war.'

This text is an extract from 'A Village At War' by JJ Price