Mac an Tàilleir suggests the form Aldenacraw may be derived from a name for the watercourse (such as the Gaelic Allt na Crà, "stream of the salmon trap") rather than the settlement itself.

[citation needed] James Hutton, the founder of modern geology, farmed two miles to the west.

South of Auchencrow towards Chirnside, during the war of the Rough Wooing, Billie was burnt in May 1544 during the withdrawal of Lord Hertford's army from Edinburgh.

Auchencrow and Billie were mentioned in place-name verses recorded in the 19th century;I stood upon Eyemouth Fort,And guess ye what I saw,Ferneyside, and Flemington,Newhouses, and Cocklaw,The fairy-folk o' Fosterland,The witches o' Edencraw,And the bogle in the Billy-myre.and among verses referring to witches and warlocks;Bourtrees, Bees, and Bairns,Are rife in Auchencraw,Where in the days o' auld lang syne,The wives were witches a',And Jamie Bour the auld gley'd carle,Was warlock in yon raw.

[5] Although the 19th-century editor considered the latter verse of recent origin, he noted "Jamie Bour" as a reference to the servant of Robert Logan of Restalrig and Fast Castle mentioned in the Gowrie Conspiracy trial in 1608, who had property in the village.