Villagers’ anger as Ettrick Shepherd James Hogg’s headstone is laid flat by council workers

The gravestone of Ettrick Shepherd James Hogg, author of 1824’s Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, was one of 48 laid on the grass in Ettrick Kirkyard after failing safety tests carried out by Scottish Borders Council staff.

Villager Elizabeth Davidson told us: “If you were choosing a place in which to spend eternity, this peaceful, rural graveyard would be an ideal spot, but it now looks as though vandals have run amok.

“As you walk up the path to the church through the graveyard, all you can see are flattened gravestones.”

She added: “James Hogg is also an ancestor of one of Canada’s greatest living writers, Nobel Prize for Literature winner Alice Munro.

“Her book View from Castle Rock begins with Munro recounting a visit to this same graveyard to see her now-flattened direct ancestor’s grave.”

Elizabeth said that gravestones of relatives of hers, including that of her great-grandparents, had also been flattened.

She added: “My relatives think the council should have made an attempt to reach us, which would have been relatively easy in this area, or to provide warning – for example, through a notice in the local paper.

“They think the action was disproportionate to the risk involved from a falling headstone, some of which have stood for two centuries through snow, storms and high winds, and the council could have addressed any legal risks by putting a warning notice at the entrance or, if necessary, cordoning off any dangerous stones.

“They are also angry at the lack of communication – for example, there is no information on what happens next.”

However, a council spokesperson said the work was only carried out after speaking to the village’s community council.

The spokesperson said: “We understand the cultural and historical importance of this memorial, which is why we held discussions with the local community council in advance of the work being carried out so that reinstatement could be considered.

“We understand plans are now being progressed in the local community to reinstate the memorial.”