Longformacus
Village in Scottish Borders, Scotland
title: "Longformacus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["villages-in-the-scottish-borders", "berwickshire", "parishes-in-berwickshire"] description: "Village in Scottish Borders, Scotland" topic_path: "general/villages-in-the-scottish-borders" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longformacus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Village in Scottish Borders, Scotland ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox UK place"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| country | Scotland |
| official_name | Longformacus |
| coordinates | |
| os_grid_reference | NT693572 |
| unitary_scotland | Scottish Borders |
| lieutenancy_scotland | Berwickshire |
| constituency_westminster | Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk |
| constituency_scottish_parliament | Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire |
| post_town | DUNS |
| postcode_district | TD11 |
| postcode_area | TD |
| static_image_name | Longformacus, Scottish Borders - geograph.org.uk - 699118.jpg |
| static_image_caption | entering the village |
| :: |
|country = Scotland |official_name= Longformacus |scots_name= |gaelic_name= |population = |coordinates = |os_grid_reference = NT693572 |civil_parish= |unitary_scotland= Scottish Borders |lieutenancy_scotland= Berwickshire |constituency_westminster = Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk |constituency_scottish_parliament = Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire |post_town = DUNS |postcode_district = TD11 |postcode_area = TD |dial_code= |static_image_name= Longformacus, Scottish Borders - geograph.org.uk - 699118.jpg |static_image_caption= entering the village |london_distance= |edinburgh_distance=
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Longformacus.jpg" caption="Longformacus"] ::
Longformacus () is a small village in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is around 10 km north-west of Duns, in the Lammermuir Hills. The Dye Water runs through the village, flowing east towards its confluence with the Whiteadder Water nearby.
In the vicinity are traces of an ancient fortification at Runklie or Wrinklaw and the Mutiny Stones cairn.
The opera Lucia di Lammermoor, written by Gaetano Donizetti and based on Sir Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor, was set in the Lammermuirs and an old form of the village's name, Lockermachus, is mentioned in Scott's novel.
The Southern Upland Way, a Long Distance Route which crosses southern Scotland, passes through the village, and the Sir Walter Scott Way from Moffat to Cockburnspath passes through Longformacus.
Etymology
Longformacus derives its name from the Gaelic Longphort Mhacais, meaning 'Macas's camp'. Derivation from Lann Fothir Maccus, meaning 'church on the land of Maccus' has also been suggested.
History
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Longformacus_House_(geograph_2359689).jpg" caption="access-date=30 December 2019}}"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Longformacus_Church_-geograph.org.uk-_489075.jpg" caption="access-date=30 December 2019}}"] ::
The church of Longformacus was dedicated by Bishop David de Bernham, 11 March 1243. In 1667 the choir was in ruins, the church itself being "very ruinous." It was rebuilt on the old foundations in 1730, and a thorough renovation was made, in 1895. Our Lady's Well is on the Dye Water, about a quarter of a mile east of the village. The parish was long united to Mordington, but was disjoined in 1666. Longformacus and Ellem were united in 1712; and Ellem church was disused. There was some copper ore in the area which a former minister smelted but large scale production was not successful.
People from Longformacus
- Prof Alexander Christison FRSE
- Thomas Ord, circus horseman, son of the Longformacus minister.
References
References
- "OS 25 inch Map 1841-1952". National Library of Scotland.
- Groome, Francis H.. "Longformacus". Gazetteer for Scotland.
- (1909). "First Report and Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the County of Berwick". HMSO.
- (1800). "The heart of Midlothian; The bride of Lammermoor". Dana Estes & company.
- "Scottish Parliament - Placenames K-O".
- (1892). "Place-names of Scotland".
- (1834). "The new statistical account of Scotland". William Blackwood and Sons.
- (1896). "The churches and churchyards of Berwickshire". Rutherford.
- (1917). "Fasti ecclesiae scoticanae; the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation". Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.
- (1866). "The southern counties' register and directory; containing much useful and interesting information, and very complete lists connected with the counties of Roxburgh, Berwick, and Selkirk.". J. and J.H.Ruthderfurd, etc..
- (1791). "The statistical account of Scotland". Printed and sold by William Creech.
- (1895). "Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland : a survey of Scottish topography, statistical, biographical and historical". W. Mackenzie.
- C D Waterston. (July 2006). "Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1783–2002: Part 1 (A–J)". RSE Scotland Foundation.
- (1898). "Annals of Duddingston and Portobello". Andrew Elliot.
- (1886). "Slater's (later Pigot and Co's) Royal national commercial directory and topography of Scotland". Isaac Slater.
- "Longformacus". [[Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland]].
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