| By parish, from the General Registrar’s office | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | 684 | 341M | 343F |
| 1951 | 601 | 306M | 295F |
| 1961 | 484 | 248M | 236F |
| 1971 | 439 | 222M | 217F |
| 1981* | 596 | 392M | 204F |
| 1991 | 275 | 149M | 126F |
| 2001 | 445 | 227M | 218F |
| By Parish, from ELDC | By settlement, from ELDC | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 347 | |||
| 1997 (est.) | 406 | 218M | 187F | 172 |
| 2001 | NO DATA | NO DATA | ||
* the rise in the male population figures in 1981 is explained by the Torness construction force.
Population figures are difficult to compare, as no two sources extract data in the same way.
This small rural parish could not sustain its natural increase and, in common with the rest of rural Scotland, young people – particularly male – went off to seek fame and fortune or at least a job elsewhere. This was not new, the most famous example being Alexander Sommerville, author of the Autobiography of a Working Man, nor was it only the sons of the poor. A few men who had come as a result of the war stayed – German prisoners, Polish soldiers, and some English – and some of the Irish workers settled. In more recent times others have come to live or retire from various places.
Dialect is certainly still spoken by most of the indigenous population, but who in most cases speak standard English when required.