Nell Burn, Livingston

Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 3 Jan 2023

Although Nell Burn is shown on the largest-scale maps as being a small pond upstream of the mini-waterfall, it is unlikely that this is often the case. There has been a lot of rain over the last few days, and from the point the burn leaves the trees in the distant background, to its passage under a railway line just South of here, it flows through - and sometimes over - grassland. This is an odd site in an urban environment; usually such grassy meanderings are only found in remote countryside. The burn begins as a series of drains in Dechmont, then goes underground through the North of Deans, the Northernmost area of Livingston. When the water re-emerges in central Deans it achieves named status (this didn't happen until relatively recently though); then, by way of an old reservoir, it flows through the Eliburn area of the town, before joining Lochshot Burn. According to one website it sometimes also goes by the name of 'Eli Burn', which is obviously how that area of the town got its name. Nell and Ellie are interchangeable shortenings of some female names - e.g. Ellen. 'Eli' is an odd spelling of Ellie - it turns out though that it has something to do with some old noble family (startlingly, still lording it about in 2023!) who occupied Livingston Peel in the mid 1600s, shortly after they were granted the use of the title of Lord Elibank for some favour or other back in the day. Livingston Peel was basically a fancy house masquerading as a castle which once sat in the Eliburn area, and was all there was around here in mediaeval times apart from a few fields, and is the basis for the town's name. Elibank presumably derives from the area that belonged to the Murray family (aka the Elibanks) at the time the peerage was bestowed. A hill, a burn, some crags and a ruined castle still have the name. All are near Walkerburn, in what used to be Peeblesshire, and look to be close to where the family once owned (and no doubt probably still do own) land.

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