BERWICK

BERWICK, a county situated at the south-eastern extremity of Scotland, is bounded by the German Ocean on the east; by East Lothian on the north; by a part of Mid Lothian, but chiefly by Roxburghshire, on the west; by the river Tweed, and that part of Roxburghshire which lies to the north of the same river, on the south; and by the township of Berwick on the south-east. On the south, the Tweed, in a winding course of about thirty-five miles, divides it, first, from the part of Roxburghshire which lies south of the river; secondly, from Northumberland; and thirdly, from North Durham. Its northern extremity is situated in north latitude 55. 58. 30., and its southern point upon the Tweed is in 55. 36. 30. Dunse, its principal town, and situated nearly in the centre of the county, is 2° 20' west of Greenwich. Its extreme length is thirty-one miles and a quarter, and its extreme breadth nineteen and a half miles. Its superficies is 446 square miles, or 285,440 acres, of which more than one half is supposed to be arable, the remainder consisting of upland pasture and unreclaimed moor.

The county consists of two divisions, greatly distinguished from each other by their natural characters. The first is the mountainous range of the Lammermoors, extending inland from the promontory of St Ebb's, commonly called St Abb's, Head on the east, to the confines of the county on the west; the second is the lower country, extending from the foot of the Lammermoor Hills on the north, to the Tweed and the boundaries of the county on the south. This is termed the Merser, from its ancient name, the March or Border. The Lammermoor comprehends within it the valley of the Leader, termed Lauderdale, and generally regarded as a distinct division of the county.

Of the elevated tract of the Lammermoors, the northern part is in East Lothian, where it is more rugged and precipitous than towards its southern slope. The whole range is bleak and unfertile. The summit-level may be held to be upwards of 1000 feet above the sea, rising at one point, Criblaw, on the north-west, to the height of 1615 feet. On the south the mountains generally sink into the lower grounds of the Merser, by an easy declivity. Here they are cultivated, and interspersed tracts of ara-

Berwick. ble land extend throughout the range. But, generally speaking, the tract is barren, and productive, for the most part, only of heath and the coarser herbage. Its soil and climate are unpropitious to vegetation in a greater degree than its elevation alone would lead one to expect. In this respect it differs from the hills around Cheviot on the southern side of the Tweed, which, at the same or a higher altitude, are greatly more rich and verdant. This arises from the different nature of the mountain rocks of these two chains, but may be partially produced by the difference of their aspect and exposure. In Lammermoor the gradual rise of the mountains, and their continuity, afford little natural shelter. In the Cheviots, the mountains, springing separately from their bases in a conical form, protect each other in every direction. The sheep pastured in this extensive district are partly the Cheviot, but chiefly the black-faced mountain sheep, common in the other highlands of Scotland.

The Merse, the other great division of the county, rises gradually from the valley of the Tweed to the foot of these mountains. Though presenting from an eminence the appearance of an unbroken plane inclining towards the south and east, and surrounded on other sides by the high grounds, it yet possesses much diversity of surface, forming in some places considerable swells, and in others valleys through which the rivers and streamlets of the country find their way to a lower level. At some parts the elevations are considerable, as at Dunse Law, contiguous to the Lammermoor range, and at Home-Castle, situated on an elevation of trap-rock, at the western part of the plain of the Merse, 898 feet above the level of the sea. This castle, which forms a beautiful object to the surrounding country, is merely a slight modern structure, built upon the ruins of the ancient edifice, which, on the refusal of the governor to surrender, was destroyed by a detachment of the army of Oliver Cromwell. The whole of the tract, from this point eastward to the sea, as well as the low land to the westward, is admirably cultivated, subdivided by innumerable hedges, and everywhere ornamented by plantations, pleasure-grounds, and country seats, and, above all, by excellent farm-houses; presenting an appearance of industry and rural prosperity nowhere surpassed, and forming a striking contrast to the wretchedness and habits of plunder by which, till the union of the British crown, the inhabitants of this, as of all the border districts, had never ceased to be distinguished.

The rivers of the county are, the Tweed, which skirts it for about 27 miles, and falls into the sea at Berwick; the Whitadder and the Blackadder, both taking their rise in different parts of the Lammermoor Hills, and, after uniting, falling into the Tweed; the Eye, running into the sea at Eyemouth; the Leader, which gives its name to Lauderdale; of smaller note the Dye, the Leet, and, for a short part of its course, before it enters Roxburghshire, the Eden.

The salmon-fishery of the river Tweed is very valuable, and has been the subject of many royal grants. Within the limits of the township of Berwick, it becomes mostly the property of that corporation. The fish, which are caught in vast numbers, chiefly near the mouth, are taken to Berwick, where they are packed in ice and shipped for the London market.

The geological state of the county, with relation to its minerals, does not present peculiar interest. Thin seams of coal have been found traversing the sandstone of the lower country; but none of a thickness to be worked has yet been discovered, except in the parish of Mordington, near the sea, where it is said seams of workable thickness exist. This valuable mineral is brought by a distant land-carriage from the mines south of the Tweed, and from the Lothians. Limestone is found in various places, but can-

not be worked with advantage, owing to the want of coal; and the immense quantity of it used for the purposes of agriculture is therefore brought by a costly land-carriage from the adjoining counties. Clay-marl, found chiefly along the banks of the Whitadder and Blackadder, was once extensively employed as a manure; but it has for many years given place to lime. Gypsum exists in small quantities on the banks of the Whitadder. Shell-marl is found in different places, and is worked to a considerable extent in the parish of Merton. Sandstone of different kinds occurs throughout the greater part of the county. That at Dryburgh, on the Tweed, is of fine grain, and is supposed to have furnished the stone of that beautiful structure, Melrose Abbey. Slate, but not of good quality, has been found and worked near Lauder. A species of breccia, or coarse pudding-stone, occurs in some places. The outer pier of the harbour of Eyemouth is built, without cement, of stone of this kind, taken from an adjoining promontory, and has withstood for a long period the storms of the German Ocean, without apparent waste. Copper has been found in some places. At Ordwell, on the Whitadder, attempts were made to work the ore many years ago. Other attempts have been recently made in different places, but they have been unsuccessful.

Berwickshire has been long noted for the excellence of its agriculture. This is chiefly distinguished by the judicious combination of pasturage with tillage, usually termed the convertible husbandry, under which system a considerable portion of each farm is kept in grass, and the land is changed from tillage to pasturage in regular succession. Great attention has been paid to the breeding of stock. The short-horned breed of cattle is introduced into all the lower district, and in many cases into the higher. The sheep of the lower country are the new Leicester breed, and have been brought to great perfection by the example of many eminent breeders. Farms are generally large, a common size being from 400 to 500 acres. The farm-houses and out-buildings are generally substantial and convenient.

The towns are few and inconsiderable. Berwick, from which the county takes its name, forms no part of it, though it is from it that the principal exports of the county take place. The chief town with respect to population is Dunse. The other towns are Eyemouth, Coldstream, Greenlaw, Lauder, and some others of no note. Eyemouth is the only shipping port. The county town, though otherwise inconsiderable, is Greenlaw.

The valued rent of Berwickshire is L.178,366. 8s. 6½d. Scots; and the real rent, as assessed to the property-tax for the year ending April 1811, was, for the lands L.231,973. 2s. 7d., and for the houses L.8152. 17s. 6d. sterling. About a third part of the valued rent is held under entail. In 1795 the rental was estimated at L.112,000, so that it had more than doubled in sixteen years. It is universally paid in money, and the farms are held on leases for a term of years; here, as in every other part of Scotland, nineteen years being the most common period.

The manufactures of the district are inconsiderable, the principal being that of paper. There are, indeed, bleach-fields, breweries, corn-mills, and similar small establishments, but these are chiefly for the home supply. The principal export of the county is raw produce; and the imports are coal, lime, timber, iron, and other commodities for the consumption of the inhabitants. The grain is chiefly exported to the London market from Berwick. The cattle and sheep are driven partly to Edinburgh, but chiefly to Morpeth and other markets of the south. Besides the salmon-fishery before referred to, there is a sea-fishery, of which the principal stations are Eyemouth and Coldingham.

The antiquities of Berwickshire consist in the remains of rude military works, tumuli, and cairns; in the traces of military stations of a later age, distinguished from those of the early inhabitants by the square instead of the circular form; and in the ruins of many towns and castles, erected during ages of unhappy feuds,—all of which time and the progress of cultivation are fast obliterating. Of the religious houses, once so numerous, few remain. One of the most famous of these, the priory of Coldingham, was burnt by the earl of Hertford, in his barbarous incursion into Scotland in the year 1545. The abbey of Dryburgh shared the same fate, and by the same hands, though its ruins yet remain to delight the eye of the traveller. The deep glen called the Pease, in the north-east angle of the county, on the road from Edinburgh to Berwick, has been celebrated in

history as one of the natural defences of Scotland. The bridge thrown over it consists of four arches; and its romantic situation, and the great height above the stream below, used to be an object of some curiosity. But the modern road now conducts the traveller at a little distance from it.

Berwickshire is divided into thirty-three parishes, two of which, however, are annexed to parishes in the adjoining counties; these are Home, annexed to Stitchel in Roxburghshire, and a part of the parish of Oldhamstocks in East Lothian. Regular assessments for the poor have long been established, and in some of the districts have become very heavy.

By the returns made to Dr Webster in 1755, the population was 24,946. The following table exhibits the returns for 1811, 1821, and 1831.

Total population for 1831, 34,000.