History of the Haining
A short history of the Haining site.
Historic Haining
The Haining Estate includes the site of the mediaeval Selkirk Castle.
The Castle was first built in the late 11th Century, before Selkirk became a Royal Burgh. Situated on the edge of Ettrick Forest, the castle was an important fortification during the wars of independence, being a stronghold for both Scots and English armies. In 1302, Edward 1 rebuilt the ravaged castle from earth and timber with some stone features surrounded by a pele. By 1334, very little remained of the castle.
The Haining derives its name from being ‘hained ground’ i.e. an area of land reserved for a purpose, and possibly, for the king.
A tower house existed where the Georgian mansion now stands, and it is suggested that the basement retains features of the old tower.
Earliest records of The Haining have Robert Scott (‘of Hanyng’) as owner of the ‘forest stede’ in 1463.In 1507, John Scott secured the land and developed the estate. In 1625, Lawrence Scott sold the Haining to Andrew Riddell, at which time, the estate extended to 7000 acres. Riddell had the level of the loch lowered in 1660, following the tragic drowning of one of his children.
1701
Andrew Pringle of Clifton bought The Haining from Andrew Riddell for his son, John Pringle, who was a lawyer.
John built the old (white) house which stood adjacent to where the Georgian mansion now stands. John’s younger brother, Mark, fought a dual with Sir Walter Scott’s great grand uncle, Walter Scott of Raeburn, over a disagreement about the 1707 Act of Union. Being a victor, Mark was forced to flee to Spain.
During his fifty year ownership, John Pringle experienced financial difficulties and, upon his death in 1764, the Haining passed to his younger son, also John, who had made his fortune as a merchant in Madeira.
John died unmarried in 1792, and his great nephew, Mark Pringle, inherited the estate. During Mark’s ownership, the Georgian mansion was built in the Palladian style in 1794 (by William Elliot of Kelso). Further extensions were planned to replace the adjacent old house, but these were never carried out. The old house was then used as kitchens and servants’ quarters.
1812
When Mark died in 1812, the Haining passed to his eldest son, John – a cornet in the 7th Hussars.
In 1819, John had the house ‘remodelled’ adding an arcaded portico with columns on the North side, and a rounded central projecting loggia with pillars and a balcony on the South side. The stables and coach houses were built at this time too, and a row of marble statues were placed on the South terrace. The statues represent the Greek Goddesses:
Ceres – Greek Goddess of Harvest
Diana – the Huntress
Terpsichore – Greek Goddess of Music and Dance
Venus – Greek Goddess of Love
Minerva (wearing a helmet) – Greek Goddess of Wisdom, Arts, Crafts and War
Flora – Greek Goddess of Flowers (sadly missing her bunch of flowers)
John collected an extensive menagerie of exotic animals including a herd of fallow deer, peacocks, guinea fowl, a bear, a wolf and a monkey. Sir Walter Scott, a regular visitor to the Haining, remarked in his journal,’ young Pringle has brought a bear to teach us manners and a wolf to instruct us in moderation.
John Pringle met with a tragic and untimely end in 1831, when the horse, pulling a gig he was driving, bolted, causing John to be flung from the gig. He received a fatal blow to the head on the stone arched entrance to the stable area.
1842
John was succeeded by his brother, Robert of Fairnilee, also a former Hussar. Captain Robert Pringle served briefly as an MP in the first parliament after the Reform Act.
Robert also gained a reputation, along with his sister, Margaret Violet, as a successful breeder of Dandie Dinmont terriers. Robert died in 1842, aged only forty-four, and the state of Haining and Clifton passed to Margaret Violet.
Margaret Violet Pringle Douglas died in 1868, and the Haining was inherited by her only child, Anne Elizabeth. Mary Elizabeth Pringle-Pattison died in 1898 and her cousin, Andrew Seth, who became a Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at Edinburgh University inherited the estate on condition he took the Pringle-Pattison name. Sadly, in 1916, Andrew’s son, Ronald, was killed at Delville Wood during the Great War, aged only nineteen. A memorial cairn to Ronald is situated on the Pele Hill. During the war, the Lothian and Border Horse had their training camp on the estate.
When the Professor died in 1931, his son, Norman, a career soldier, inherited the Haining and stayed there until the outbreak of World War II, when he sold the estate to a Thomas Place.
1935
In 1935, a pageant was held in the Haining grounds to commemorate the quarter centenary of the granting of the Burgh Charter by King James V. This involved the costumed re-enactment of Selkirk’s historical heritage from the earliest times.
The Haining was requisitioned by the army, and the house and grounds were home first to the Welsh Fusiliers and then the Polish Free Army. Sadly, there was extensive damage inflicted due to a fire in 1943, which destroyed the old house and part of the Georgian mansion. The old house was eventually demolished in 1950.
After the war, the house and estate had three private owners, including the Rodger family. In 1959, Andrew Nimmo Smith, a grandson of Professor Seth, and the son of the Professor’s daughter, Elinor Nimmo Smith, bought the Haining for his mother, and lived there with her and after her death until his death in 2009.
Andrew kindly bequeathed the house and estate to the Haining Charitable Trust, to be managed and developed for the benefit of the community of Selkirkshire, and the wider public.
The Haining House and the Stable Block and Coach Houses are Grade A listed buildings. Category A is the highest grade, reserved for buildings of national or international importance. These structures are outstanding examples of a particular architectural period or style. Only about 7% of all listed buildings in Scotland fall into this category. There are 187 in the Borders – 3 of which are at The Haining.