Dr. Henry Duncan, who spent much of his
life as a minister in the village
of Ruthwell, would be
turning in his grave if he could witness the goings-on in today's world of
personal finance. He would be horrified
at the rapacious treatment of the poorest in society by the purveyors of
so-called "pay-day loans", and he would despair of the derisory
interest rates offered to hard-working savers.
Dr. Duncan believed passionately in the dignity of the poor, of whom
there were plenty at that time - the early 1800s - and he campaigned for the
financial independence of the ordinary man, setting up "an economical bank
for the savings of the industrious", effectively the first proper trustee
savings bank. The bank offered the
chance to open an account with as little as sixpence and an interest rate on
deposits of 5% - a distant dream for today's savers. There is a Savings Banks Museum in Ruthwell
which tells Dr. Duncan's story.
Dr. Duncan also had a hand in the other
main attraction in the village, namely the Ruthwell Cross. The cross dates from the 7th century and is
carved with Biblical scenes and verses from The Dream of the Rood, the oldest-known
English poem, whose authorship is unknown but is likely to be an Anglo-Saxon
poet. The cross was smashed by
Presbyterian iconoclasts in the 1600s, but Dr. Duncan restored it and it now
has pride of place in the cute little whitewashed Ruthwell Church. To the west of the village is a well called
Brow Well, with water containing supposedly health-giving salts of iron. The well was visited in 1796 by Robert Burns,
in a quest to cure his ailments by drinking the water. Near Ruthwell is the village of Powfoot,
which has a golf course and a beach which is suitable for paddling but not
swimming. There is a coastal path and
plenty of birdlife to watch out for.
Map of the area.
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| Ruthwell Parish Church - geograph.org.uk - 1065124. Photo by Walter Baxter, via Wikimedia Commons |
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