Tibbie Tamson

Who is Tibbie Tamson?

Tibbie Tamson was a Scottish woman who is known to have once lived in the royal burgh of Selkirk in the Scottish Borders during the 18th century. Her grave is located on a hillside approximately 1.5 miles north of Selkirk at grid reference NT436296. While Tamson certainly did exist as she is recorded as dying in 1790, few other facts are actually known about her. Despite this however, each year as a matter of tradition and as way of an apology members of the Selkirk Common Riding Organisation place a wreath in remembrance of her.

Several different explanations attempt to explain her death and also to explain why she was buried in such an isolated spot.

The four most prevalent theories are:

⁕She suffered execution for practising witchcraft thus was buried outside of the burgh as a further penalty.

⁕She committed suicide and was denied Christian burial thus was buried outside of the burgh as a form of judicial retribution.

⁕She was a victim of a plague thus she was separated from the burgh as a form of infection control.

⁕She was the victim of the crime of homicide.