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Traquair is said to mean “hamlet on the Quair Water”, a river which runs northwards from Slake Law to drain into the River Tweed north of Traquair. The village was once surrounded by the great Ettrick Forest, the remnants of which are still strongly in evidence
In early times the village bore the name Kirkbryde or Strathquair, the Kirkbryde coming from the local church which was dedicated to St Bride or Bridget. As early as the 12th century, Traquair was important enough to be raised to the status of a sheriffdom.[2]
Although the present church, an 18th century Grade B listed building, is not on the original site of the older buildings, it still marks an area that has seen over 900 years of continuous Christian worship. A building was first written about in the 12th century and was named for St. Bride. At the time of the Reformation it was renamed Traquair Kirk and regularly moved between Presbyterian and Episcopal forms of worship and governance and finally in 1690 the Church of Scotland became Presbyterian.
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