Bedrule

Bedrule Name

Bedrule_nature_034 The name of the parish (Bedrule) as well as that of the stream near which it is situated, appears to be of Gaelic origin. From the modern spelling, one might be led to suppose that the village is so called, from its being in the hollow or what once formed the channel of the river. But neither the position of the village, nor the old spelling, will warrant this conclusion. It was formerly written Bedderull, Bedderoull, and Badroull, and the inhabitants still (1837) pronounce it as if written Betherule.

Rule, or more properly Roull, is composed of two Gaelic words, and has not reference to or connection with St. Regulus – Ruchd-Thuil, pronounced as if written Ruch-oul, contracted into Roull, signifying the rumbling-noised river, - meaning very description of the stream, which, especially near the village, and till near its confluence with the Teviot, runs with a hoarse sound, over a very rough rocky channel composed of boulders and fragments of freestone rock, loosened by the action of the stream, through a long course of ages. Bad in Gaelic signifies a tuft of threes of ordinary extent, separated from a large neighbouring wood, or a collection of houses in a spot distinguished by its aptitude for building, compared with the surrounding localities, a meaning peculiarly applicable to the situation both of the old and new villages.

Thus the whole word will be Bad-Ruchail pronounced by a true Celt very nearly as the vulgar Betherull. The true orthography then seems to be Badroull, as it is found in the ancient distich,

“And Auld Badroull had on his Jack,
Wi’ a’ the Turnbulls at his back.”

And the name of the village in Gaelic means the village by the roaring stream. - Rev. Archibald Craig, parish minister 1837

Download Rev. Archibald Craig's complete 1837 report about Bedrule Parish (Bedrule_1837.pdf 3.8Mb)

Bedrule Village

Bedrule was home to the Clan Comyn (Cumming), who had come from the town of Comines in northern France at the time of the Norman invasion, until John III (Red) Comyn was killed by Robert the Bruce. There is a 14th-century charter by Robert I granting Bedrule, called Bethocrule, to James Douglas who, in turn, granted it to the Turnbulls for protection against the English.

Bishop William Turnbull, who founded Glasgow University, was born in Bedrule around 1400.

The Bedrule kirkyard provides a spectacular view of Rubers Law rising to the west above the Rule Valley.

The kirk contains beautiful stained glass windows and a number of plaques about the Turnbulls and other families.

Bedrule Castle

The oldest and largest stronghold in the Rule Valley was undoubtedly Bedrule Castle built in the 13th century by the Comyns, another influential family, who entertained Edward I there during his Scottish visit in 1298. On the death of the Red Comyn at the hands of Robert the Bruce in 1306, all the Comyn's lands were forfeited. Before 1320, the castle had been added to the Douglas possessions.

Sir James soon installed a Turnbull as its occupant and members of that branch of the family remained there for many generations. The power of the Douglases eventually almost equalled that of royalty and, indeed, as one old historian remarked that "nae man was safe in the country, unless he was either a Douglas or a Douglas man." And, of course, the Turnbulls proved themselves to be good and reliable Douglas men!

Although Bedrule Castle, among other Scottish Border strongholds, was destroyed by the English in 1545 during their devastating raid, the Turnbulls continued in heritable possession until about the end of the 18th century. - R.E. Scott, I Saved The King - 1977

Fulton Tower

Built as a stronghold for the Fulton family in the 1400s, the tower was one of those destroyed by the Earl of Hertford during his 1545 Rough Wooing raids.

In 1566, Mary, Queen of Scots, stopped by the rebuilt Fulton Tower on her remarkable horseback journey from Jedburgh to visit her wounded lover James Hepburn at Hermitage Castle.

The towerhouse and lands passed to William Turnbull of Bedrule by marriage in 1570. There is a Borders legend that the last person who inhabited Fulton Tower was a Turnbull engaged in a deadly feud with the Kerrs of Ferniehirst. The story has it that the Kerrs got access to the tower by stealth and surprised Turnbull who was holding his infant child on his knee. While the gudewife prepared the sowans for supper he was amusing their child by singing the old ‘Highland Muster Roll.’