| Duns Through the Ages |
| Circa 1200 | Probably of Norman origin, the first recorded mention of Dunse occurs in a chapter of William the Lion (1165-1214); a Hugo de Duns was one of the signatories. |
| 1296 | The priest at Duns swore fealty to Edward 1st at Berwick; the lands of Dunse were granted by King Robert the Bruce to his nephew Randolph. |
| 1320 | He built Duns Castle |
| 1377 | The town motto is "Duns Dings A, and the townspeople Dingers!", this came about in 1377 when the Earl of Northumberland invaded Scotland and camped for the night at Dunsewood. When the English were asleep, the townspeople crept to the camp and 'dinged' (shook) a cattle rattle made of dried animal skin and having a few pebbles inside, made a 'dinging' noise; this scared the English horses so much that they broke loose and ran off, leaving the English to slink off home on foot. |
| 1558 | The Town had a turbulent history, sacked and burned many times by the English on its old site of the law, west/northwest. This is now known as the Bruntons (Burned Town), the town was built on its present location in this year. |
| 1639 | General Leslie raised an army on Dunse Law to oppose an edict by Charles 1st who tried to impose episcopalian religion on Scotland. The 'cocent' of Scotland was signed on Dunse Law to confirm that Scotland would fight to keep their own religion. The convenanters, as they became to be known, were credited to keeping Scotland's religious freedom, so that it became known that it was not by Canon Law or Civil Law, but by 'Dunse Law' that this was achieved. |
| 1646 | The Hay family bought Duns Castle estate. (This castle is now used as an exclusive venue for weddings and has been the location for many TV and film recordings. Many scenes of Mrs Brown (starring Dame Judy Bench and Billy Connolly) were shot there. Also a TV film depicting Princess Diana despite Royal wishes. Alec Hay was stripped of his Royal Archer status as a result.) |
| 1816 - 1966 | Duns had a Town Hall which stood in the square. This was destroyed by official vandalism, the excuse being that "it was in a dangerous state"!... nonsense. |
| 1948 | The railway system was washed away in the floods which led to the demise of Duns as a market town. |
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| Notable Citizens of Duns |
| John Duns Scotus | born 1275 - a famous scholar of World Reknown, died in Cologne in 1308. |
| Thomas Boston | born 1676, a well known scholar - Boston House in Newton St. was his birthplace. |
| Abraham Robertson | born in Duns in 1751 - a Savillian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford. |
| Thomas McCrie | 1817-1833 - distiguished biographer of John Knox, who was one of the most outstanding ministers of his day. |
| Sir John Pirie | born at No 6 Bridgend, became Lord Mayor of London in 1842. |
