| How many people have ancestors who lived & worked for over 200 years in the same historic 18th century Mill? One new member of the Armstrong Clan Association can! The earliest record of a meal mill at Riccarton, Castleton dates from 1611, and a new mill was built in 1718 for William Elliot, the tenant of RIccarton Farm, whose granddaughter Christian Elliot married Thomas Armstrong of Sorbie, and she moved back to the Mill after his death. The Elliot family held the tenancy of the Mill until 1766, when it passed to the widowed Christian Armstrong and remained in the hands of the Armstrongs for nearly 200 years The Mill then passed down the Armstrong family, with visits by Sir Walter Scott, legends of hidden gold sovereigns nearby, and gifts from the Duke of Buccleugh over the years. The Armstrongs bought the Mill in 1919, and the family lived there until 1944. Jane Armstrong was one of the last of the line to live at the Mill, and her daughter recalls this special family history & memories in issue 81 of the Armstrong News. |  |
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