History of Cousland Village

Westfield Cottages, Cousland

The village of Cousland has a long and varied history documented as far back as 1160 as Cowsland, Land of the Cows, a theory supported today in other local names.

Some years ago, stone coffins were found in the area known as The Nunnery which point to it having been used for burials in pre-historic times and indeed there are several enclosures located by RCAHMS in the surrounding countryside attributed to the Iron Age. More recently the village would have centred on the Castle, destroyed around the time of the English invasion in 1547.

Drilling for Oil in Cousland, 1937

Little information exists on the next century save for reports of witches from Cousland being tried in 1630 at Dalkeith, although Cousland lime is mentioned in the Edinburgh Burgh records of 1557, so lime working was underway then and was probably quite a considerable industry.

The Cousland Smiddy is reported to be from around 1703 and has been in continuous use since then, being very much the core of village activities for more than 250 years.

The Village Smiddy, Cousland

Much of the village was under the ownership of Stair Estates until the 1950's and the surrounding farms are still tenanted from the Dalrymple family. Their ancestors were pioneers in agricultural methods and in the Statistical Account of 1790 it is reported that 'Sir John Dalrymple of Cousland…greatly improved the breed of horses and black cattle, and was among the first who sowed clover and rye grass'.

Good records exist in local archives of parish records, valuation rolls and census's which give us a lot of detail on owners and tenants of properties in the village and also their occupations.

The Village Cartwright's Shop, Cousland

We know that there was an inn in the village from the late 1790's at least, and are working hard to trace its history. There has been no pub in the village in living memory, although tales of sessions in the back room of the old shop and Smiddy are still told! The new extension to the village hall has allowed a small bar to be built for use on special occasions.

There is a lot more to find out about the history of Cousland - keep visiting this site for regular updates.