Shorthope Street

Spotted this in Musselburgh today and it seemed quitea sad name for a street. Off I set on a wee local histor and place name search. It relates to Thomas MacMillan of Shorthope which is in Selkirkshire.

"Hope" features in a lot of place-names e.g. Midgehope, Deephope, Kirkhope, Phawhope etc. Nothing to do with hope as I was thinking of it…it derives from an Old English word "hop" which means an small upland valley or hollow. Fascinating!