The original name of Abbotrule is said to have been Rule Hervie before it became the property of the Church. Prior to 1135
David I of Scotland granted it to the canons of
Jedburgh Abbey. About 1165
William the Lion confirmed the grant, and after this the name was changed to Abbotrule. The rectory of Abbotrule appears in
Bagimonds Roll of c.1280. Abbotrule continued in the possession of the monks until the
Scottish Reformation in 1560, at which time the lands and mill yielded £40 yearly. After the Reformation the
advowson was vested in the
Crown, which continued as the ecclesiastical patron until the suppression of the parish in 1777 and its division between Hobkirk and Southdean parishes. The lands of Abbotford were sold in 1569 as part of a larger transaction by Andrew Home, the
commendator of Jedburgh Abbey, to Adam French, eighth laird of Thornydykes, and his wife Marmret Hoppringle, for 3,000
merk. Before 1658, the lands had passed into the possession of the
William Kerr, 1st Earl of Lothian, who passed it to his son Charles, thereafter entitled Charles Kerr, first of Abbotrule. Kerrs held Abbotrule until 1818, when the land was auctioned for £35,000 plus the payment of legacies of £21,000, to Robert Henderson. In 1887, the lands passed to a cousin of the last of the Hendersons upon his death, James Cunningham, who commissioned a redesign of Abbotrule House in the period 1888 to 1890, as well as investing in the estate. ==See also==