one of the south-eastern counties of Scotland, is bounded on the E. and S. by Northumberland and Cumberland; on the S.W. by Dumfriesshire; on the W. by Selkirk and Mid-Lothian; and on the N. and N.E. by Berwickshire. It is strictly a border county, its southern limit occupying nearly the whole of the border line, except a limited space at the eastern and western extremities. Its outline is very unequal, but the principal mass may be regarded as forming an irregular rhomboid, throwing out a projecting angle to the N., where it touches on Mid-Lothian, and another to the S., composing the basin of the Liddel, where it declines towards the English border. Its greatest length, from the north-eastern to the south-western extremity, is 43 miles, and its greatest breadth about 30; its superficial extent, according to the latest authorities, being 696 square miles, or 446,440 acres.
The Teviot being the only considerable river wholly included within the limits of the county, its basin comprehends by far the largest portion of its area, and from this circumstance the entire district was formerly called Teviotdale. It includes also Liddeisdale, an outlying fragment, as it were, of the county, and belonging to a river system extraneous to it, which finds its outlet in the Solway. The valley of the Tweed occupies the northern portion, running in a transverse direction, and uniting with that of the Teviot near Kelso. These great natural features, taken in connection with the mountain ranges, in which the rivers Roxburghshire originate, and to which they owe their direction, will enable us to form a pretty accurate conception of the physical aspect of the district. On the S. and S.E. the county may be said to be set in a frame of mountains, forming a pretty continuous ridge, and throwing off lateral offshoots, which gradually decline in height till they sink into the low lands bordering on the rivers. On the N.E. side they expand into the somewhat extensive group of the Cheviots, and in the S.W. they form a strictly mountainous country, often rising to a considerable elevation, presenting elongated ridges and insulated hills, sometimes rugged and rocky, but more frequently with rounded outlines, and densely clothed with grass to the very summits. The whole of this district is pre-eminently of a pastoral character, and the dense, fine herbage which everywhere covers the surface rears vast numbers of the finest sheep the county produces. This part of the county is almost destitute of wood, a few patches of dark pines in the valleys alone diversifying the view, or, rarer still, a scattered group of aged birch trees, the relicts of primeval and natural woods, hanging on the slopes of the hills. Cultivation is scarcely practicable here, save on the low valleys by the side of the streams, where patches of corn and turnips are occasionally reared; and this state of things continues along the course of the Teviot nearly to the vicinity of Hawick, the country gradually becoming more level, and undergoing a great improvement in soil and climate, which admits of extended cultivation, and the rearing of almost any kind of crop cultivated in the country. Below this, further amelioration of climate, both in regard to temperature and dryness, is perceptible; woods not only skirt the banks of the river, but are scattered over the upland localities, and a wide district on either side presents all the features of a highly-cultivated and flourishing country. Frequent hills and abrupt eminences, arising from the obtrusion of igneous rocks, diversify the surface, which is everywhere varied, undulating, and beautiful. Still further down, the valley of the Teviot becomes more and more expansive, till it ultimately becomes blended with that of the Tweed, and both open up into a wide expanse of champaign country, which for richness of soil, extent of woodland, and general beauty of scenery, is well known to be surpassed by few places in the kingdom. The transverse valleys formed by the various affluents of the Teviot from the N. and S.E. also present features of great interest, and exhibit a peculiarity in their scenery owing to the nature of the geological formation through which they flow. That formation consists of the old red sandstone, and being for the most part of a soft and crumbling consistency, it has gradually given way to the action of the currents, and they have scooped out for themselves a deep channel in the rock. "They form deep and narrow defiles, often finely wooded, in which scur, and wood, and water, and green mound-like banks, are blended into scenes of sequestered and varied beauty, such as the general aspect of the country scarcely promises. The high scurs are generally in one place, confined to one of the banks, and the horizontal lines, in this nearly perpendicular wall, are sufficiently broken by the windings of the stream and overhanging wood, to prevent them becoming monotonous; while their deep tints present a mass of colour so agreeably contrasting with the fringing foliage as to add materially to the general effect. Though destitute, therefore, of the most characteristic features of rock scenery, properly so called, they are possessed of others which form a good substitute, and which cannot fail to recommend them to the eye of taste. The most interesting examples of this style of landscape are to be found in the lower course of the Jed; and though not on a large scale, they have long enjoyed a well-merited reputation. Others of a similar kind occur on the Ale near Ancrum, on the Rule near Wells, on the Kale, and in the Dean above Denholm. As an instance of the same thing lying in the region of the conglomerate, may be mentioned the wooded dell at Hassen-dean Burn above Lurdon. The precipitous banks in this spot are of a remarkably sombre hue; there are no lines of stratification, and the projections are blunt or rounded masses, with no appearance of the numerous small angles naturally formed by the breakage of stone having a minutely granular structure."
The Teviot, pre-eminently the county river, takes its rise at a place called Teviotstone, on the E. side of the mountain range which divides the county from Dumfriesshire. It pursues a very direct course in a N.E. direction, almost bisecting the county, and after a run of about 40 miles, in which it passes many a spot famous in border story, falls into the Tweed a little above Kelso. The general direction and undeviating nature of its course, at least in its upper half, is owing to the disposition of the Silurian strata through which it flows, the vertical masses of the rock being almost invariably arranged from N.E. to S.W., while their slaty structure and rather soft consistency give full effect to the abrading power of the current. This river was once famous as a troutting stream, and has been celebrated in poetry for the limpid clearness of its "silver tide;" but in both these respects there has of late years been a great change to the worse, partly from causes which are probably of very general operation in such cases, and partly from others of a more local nature. Owing to extensive drainage and other agricultural improvements, all superfluous rain-water falling on the fields is speedily conveyed to the river and its tributaries; sudden floods are the consequence; and as the water is rapidly carried off, the floods subside almost as rapidly as they rise. From the same causes, in seasons of drought the river is often reduced to a very low ebb. This tendency to extremes, and these sudden and violent changes, are unfavourable to the finny tribes, and seriously disturb both their breeding and feeding places. But a much greater evil arises from the great quantity of soap-suds and dye-stuffs discharged into the river from the manufactories of Hawick. These deleterious substances taint and discolour the water for many miles below that town, until they at length become diluted by the influx of fresh streams, when their effects become less felt, or at least less apparent. Besides being directly injurious to the fish, these matters we know to be poisonous to the aquatic flies when in their larva state, on which they chiefly feed, and these are accordingly becoming much scarcer. No longer, then, can we exclaim with its native poet Leyden,
"Untainted yet thy stream, fair Teviot, flows."
This contamination, which must have other injurious effects besides those alluded to, and which is becoming too common in other localities similarly situated, is the more to be deprecated, from the consideration that, by a little care and expense, it might be altogether avoided. The principal tributaries of the Teviot on the north-west side are the Bothwick and the Ale, both rising in Selkirkshire, the former flowing through a pastoral country similar to that surrounding the upper reaches of the Teviot, and joining the main stream nearly opposite Goudlandis, a little above Hawick; the latter having its influx at Ancrum, among magnificent woods and romantic scenery, the last of which it principally contributes to create, by cutting deeply into the stratified rocks and producing lofty mural precipices of deep red sandstone. The affluent streams from the south are numerous, the principal being the Allan, the Slitrig,
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1 "Geology of Roxburghshire," by the Rev. James Duncan, in Jeffrey's History of the county, vol i., p. 130. Roxburghshire: the Rule, the Jed, the Oxnam, and the Kale. They all originate in the high grounds that skirt the county towards the English border, flow nearly due north, and join the main stream at an angle more or less acute. The only exception to this is the Kale, which has a more western course, and it doubtless owes its deviation from the prevailing arrangement to the disturbing influence of the Cheviot porphyries, whose operation is still further shown in this quarter by an irregularity in the course of the Teviot itself. Each of these tributary streams presents peculiar features both in natural scenery and in other properties. Such of them as flow through the Silurian district are often very impetuous in their course when under flood, carrying along with them large boulders of greenstone, and overflowing the low-lying lands on their banks. Hawick has frequently suffered in this way from the inundations of the Slitrig. The Jed, one of the most considerable of these tributaries, from the length of its course, is likewise the most celebrated both for its scenery and historical associations. It rises near Needlelaw, not far from the southern border, flows at first due north, then suddenly bends to the east, after which it resumes the normal direction, and continues by Old Jedburgh, Fernihurst, and Jedburgh, to the Teviot. The peculiar and highly interesting physiognomy it gives to the landscape, arising from its action on the rocks which prevail throughout the greater part of its course, has been already alluded to. In the vicinity of the town to which the river gives its name the valley opens to some width, the banks are richly clothed both with natural wood and timber trees, and from the road, which follows more or less the windings of the stream, frequent views of the high and deeply-tinted scours are obtained, as well as occasional glimpses of the lofty tower and lengthened roof of the abbey; the whole presenting a scene of great interest and picturesque beauty. The other smaller rivers, such as the Gala, Leader, Eden, and Beaumont, belong only partially to the county; and though this is likewise the case with the Liddel and Tweed, these two rivers occupy a prominent place in the history of the district. The latter enters the county near the point where it is joined by the Ettrick, and after a very winding course of about 30 miles in an eastern direction, leaves it at the influx of the Carham-burn. The Roxburghshire section of this noble river passes through scenes of rich and varied beauty, which have also been the theatre of events of the highest national interest and importance. The Liddel rises near the sources of the Jed, and follows an exactly opposite direction; and after receiving the waters of the Hermitage, proceeds southwards by Castleton and Mangerston, leaving the boundaries of the county at Liddelbank.
The lochs form so insignificant a feature in the physical aspect of the county that they scarcely seem to merit special notice in a cursory view of its hydrography. They are both few in number and of inconsiderable dimensions, and some of them are gradually diminishing, while others have entirely disappeared under the influence of drainage and agricultural improvements. We have not yet learned in this country to turn our permanent reservoirs of water to useful account in the production of human food, although they are susceptible of being rendered even more profitable in this respect than an equal extent of land. Yetholm or Primside Loch, which is the largest, is about a mile and a half in circumference; Hosclaw, in Linton parish, three-quarters of a mile. Several small sheets of water exist in Ashkirk parish, and a few others in Roberton. They occur amid very wild and sequestered scenes, are the favourite haunts of a considerable number of aquatic birds, and in some of them the black-headed gull finds a suitable breeding-place.
The geology of the county is of considerable interest, owing to the variety of formations met with, consisting of the older rocks, and also for the organic remains which have lately been discovered. The Silurian rocks, which are so extensively developed in the southern division of Scotland, and which occupy almost the entire area of the adjoining counties of Selkirk and Peebles, also prevail in this county, extending over the whole western side, also on the south, and more or less on the south-east. The rock is very distinctly stratified, the strata standing on their edge, or nearly vertical, and the direction east and west, with slight deviations. It is of a fine texture, often running into clay-slate, of a bluish-grey colour, glimmering with minute scales of mica, and frequently traversed by veins of calcareous spar. This is succeeded to the eastward by an extensive deposit of the old red sandstone, forming an irregular quadrangular area towards the centre of the county, emitting two angular projections from its southern extremity, and interrupted in the middle of its north side by an intrusion of trap-rocks. It consists of three well-marked modifications: the conglomerate, which is the lowest of the series; the dark brownish-red somewhat earthy-looking mass, traversed by whitish or grey-coloured beds of marly matter, composing the scours formerly alluded to; and the compact red and white sandstones in the higher parts of the county used as building-stone. To the east of this there is a considerable portion of the county composed chiefly of dark greenstone; and around Kelso, and thence down the valley of the Tweed, the under-division of the coal formation prevails. This formation is also developed in Liddesdale.
According to Professor Nicol, the real axis of the old unfossiliferous greywacke ranges by Teviotdale, and corresponds to certain Silurian strata in Wales. It is certainly the fact that fossils are very rare in the Roxburghshire greywacke strata, but they have by no means been examined with sufficient care to justify us in asserting their non-existence. Until very lately the same thing was affirmed of the red sandstone, and it was accordingly difficult to determine its geological position; it has been described as the new red sandstone. Recently a new light has been thrown on the subject by the investigations of Mr Duncan of Denholm, who has discovered numerous fossils of the old red sandstone era, and has thus determined its real character. Fossil fishes, of the genus *Pterichthys* and *Holoptychius*, the scales of the latter occurring in some places in such quantities as actually to form beds, have been detected. Plants have been found in still greater number and variety, the taxoids being very plentiful in certain strata uncovered at Denholm Hill quarry, and in impressions remarkably distinct and characteristic. Vegetables of higher organization have likewise occurred,—what appears to be a species of fern (*Cyclopterus hibernicus*) and distinct petrifications of calamites. These were previously unknown in the upper beds of the old red, and their occurrence is therefore regarded as a matter of considerable geological interest.
The diversified nature of the county, and the beautiful and romantic scenery so frequently met with, is chiefly owing to the eruption of igneous rocks, frequently in the form of insulated hills. These consist for the most part of a dark augitic greenstone, somewhat resembling clinkstone in texture, and not unlike basalt in colour. Such are Penielheugh, Dunian, Ruberslaw, Minto Craigs, Southdean Hill, Windburgh, &c. The form, position, and colour
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1 For a detailed account of these fossils, see the work referred to in the previous note, and Hugh Miller's remarks on them in the *Testimony of the Rocks*, p. 452. Roxburghshire.
The beautiful group of the Eildon Hills indicate at once a different composition and structure; they consist of felspathic porphyry, and form the nucleus of a circular area of that substance of no great dimensions. A similar formation is extensively developed in the Cheviot Hills, which, however, vary much in lithological structure, and in other respects, although all referable to the same class of rocks. The highest hills in the county—such as Chilhill, one of the Cheviots, Millenwood Fell, and Tuddhope Hill—do not exceed 2000 feet; those in the interior are usually much lower.—Ruberslaw, 1174; Dunian, 1031; Eildons, 1634.
Even in the briefest outline of its geology it would be improper to omit mention of the remarkable greenstone dyke, from 12 to 20 or 30 feet in width, which runs across the county from east to west, nearly dividing it into two equal halves. It is a very remarkable geological phenomenon, from its great length as well as from its composition and other circumstances.
Both the greywacke and greenstone are occasionally employed as building-stones, for which neither of them is well adapted, especially the former, as, owing to its lines of cleavage, it is apt to open in rents after being placed in position, and admit moisture. Both these rocks make excellent road metal. The sandstones of the coal formation, and also the upper beds of the old red, afford admirable building materials, and are in general use throughout the county, although they have often to be conveyed for considerable distances.
One of the greatest inconveniences felt in the interior parts of the county is the distance from coal. It was formerly carted chiefly from Dumfriesshire and Northumberland; and the western parts of the county are still supplied in this way from the first-mentioned of these places. The greatest boon that was expected from the introduction of railway conveyance was the facilities it should afford for the transport of coal and lime. These advantages have been by no means hitherto realized to the extent anticipated, and good coal for domestic purposes is nearly as expensive as it was formerly. Limestone is plentiful in many places, but coal is often found too expensive for burning it. It used to be carted from various places near the English border, and still is to some extent; but the chief supplies both for agricultural and building purposes are now obtained from the Lothians by railway.
The climate cannot be said to present any very marked peculiarities. The mean annual temperature approximates to that of the kingdom at large, being, as determined by observations at Makerstoun on the Tweed, 46°1. The mean annual quantity of rain, as registered at the same place, is found to be 24½ inches. Were we in possession of a continuous series of hygrometrical observations, the results would no doubt present striking disparities in different places. The air is for a great part of the year extremely humid in the high grounds to the west, the evaporation from extensive grass lands, with a marshy bottom, being at all times considerable. In the low and arable portions of the county, on the contrary, the air is in general very dry, entire winters sometimes passing over with comparatively little rain. In former times corn crops in the uplands were frequently overtaken by the storms of winter before they could be housed; drainage, special manures, and, above all, the extensive use of lime, have produced a most beneficial change in this respect; and the crops come to maturity almost simultaneously in the upland districts and the haugh lands of the interior.
The agriculture of Roxburghshire has always borne a high character, and it may be safely affirmed that it has kept pace with the progress which every branch of husbandry has made of late years. Many of the better class of farmers are men of education and enlightened views, capable of appreciating modern improvements, and possessed of sufficient capital to carry them into full operation. Roxburghshire.
The greater part of the arable lands have been adequately drained; the old implements have been supplanted by others of the most improved construction; special manures are in extensive use; and every means employed to bring the land into the highest state of cultivation. In most of the exposed situations belts of plantation have been reared, and additional shelter thus obtained for both cattle and crops. Subsoil-ploughing is frequently resorted to; and the grubber seems to be often substituted for the plough, as an easier and more efficient method of preparing the land, especially for turnip crops. The area of cultivated land has been greatly extended in many quarters; and while certain species of crop, such as flax, which once occupied a corner on almost every farm, have disappeared, others have been introduced, and are not unlike to come into more general favour. This seems to be the case more especially with mangold-wurzel; for the notion, that it is unsuited to our soil and climate, may now be regarded as erroneous, for certain early varieties have been cultivated with great advantage.
It is now rather more than a century since the drill culture of turnips was introduced into this county from Norfolk, and this description of crop is now reared to a vast extent. Indeed, no county in Scotland has such a breadth of land under turnips in proportion to its cultivated area; and in the amount of its gross produce it is exceeded only by three other counties. Guano, bone-dust, and most of the modern manures, are in general use for this crop; and it must be admitted that although it is indispensable in the economy of the farm, according to the present system of management, it is reared at a great and early-increasing expense. In this district the crop has always been particularly subject to the finger-and-toe disease, and of late years it seems to be rather on the increase. Now that the cause of this disease is known, it is understood why lime has so far a remedial effect; it is far, however, from being a complete preventive, and it is to be hoped that some more effectual one will be discovered.
The number of occupiers of land, according to the agricultural statistics of 1856, is 992, whose rents are at and above L10. The total acreage under tillage is 126,113½, which is considerably less than one-third of the entire area. The kinds of crops, and the proportional extent of their cultivation, as well as the kind and amount of stock, are as follows, omitting fractions:
| Crop | Acres | |--------------|-------| | Wheat | 10,148| | Barley | 10,398| | Oats | 23,192| | Rye | 113 | | Beef | 16 | | Barley | 1,070 | | Pease | 565 | | Vetches or tares | 620 | | Turnips | 24,016| | Potatoes | 1,772 |
Horses for agricultural purposes above three years
| Horse Type | Old | Under three years | |------------|-----|-------------------| | Do. | 3,691| | | All other horses | 1,094| | | Total horses | 5,450|
Milk cows
| Milk cows | 4,401|
Other cattle
| Other cattle | 8,974|
Calves
| Calves | 3,721|
Total cattle
| Total cattle | 17,096|
Sheep of all ages for breeding
| Sheep | 230,623|
Do. for feeding
| Sheep | 40,117|
Lambs
| Lambs | 177,955|
Total sheep
| Total sheep | 448,695|
Swine
| Swine | 3,917|
Total stock
| Total stock | 475,158|
A considerable number of farms of mixed pasture land Roxburghshire and tillage are of great extent, amounting in some instances to 3000 acres; while farms of 1000 acres are not very rare. The average size of arable farms, however, may be stated at between 250 and 500 acres, and the rental varies of course with the qualities of the soil, distance from markets, and other circumstances. A great advance in rents has taken place of late years; few farms have been recently in the market which have not risen between 25 and 40 per cent. The Duke of Buccleuch's farms, which, from being usually given to tenants for political services, were very unequally rented and sometimes very low, have now been greatly raised; in some instances, it is believed, to double the original amount. Leases are generally of fifteen or nineteen years' duration; in regard to sheep farms, however, where expensive improvements yielding slow returns are less practicable, shorter periods are adopted; frequently it is nine years. The farmsteadings have been much improved of late, and some of those recently erected are not surpassed by any in the kingdom; the dwelling-houses are often handsome and commodious. These accommodations are of course provided by the landlord; but to this there is a partial exception in the case of the Buccleuch property, the management of which is in so many respects anomalous, the tenant being obliged to cart all the building materials, implying a considerable outlay in the present state of labour, and also to pay a percentage of L3 on the money expended on the buildings. Rents are usually paid by a fixed sum, but in some instances grain rents are still partially in use.
The condition of farm-labourers is nearly on the same footing as in Berwickshire, to which article reference may accordingly be made for details. Hinds, however, are now better paid, receiving in all what is nearly equivalent to L35 in money, with a free house and garden. The hind is under obligation to keep a bondager, or female worker for the farm, for whom he receives from the farmer Ls. a day for nine months, and 10d. a day for the three other months of the year; and both the hind and bondager receive a month's victuals during harvest. Wages for all kinds of servants and work-people have risen very high of late years. A man's wages for reaping is from 18s. a week to L1; those of a female two or three shillings less. The smooth-edged hook, or sickle, is now very generally used, and it is thought that with this implement four good reapers will cut as much corn as six with the toothed hook; the latter, however, has the great advantage of arranging the corn more regularly in the sheaf. Scythes for cutting the grain crops are now pretty generally employed; and owing to the high price of manual labour, a strong desire is manifested to introduce reaping-machines. A few of these have been already in operation in the county; and that they are not more general is, we believe, owing chiefly to the fact that farmers are waiting in the expectation that the machine will soon undergo further improvements.
The towns are Kelso, Jedburgh, Hawick, and Melrose; and to the articles treating of these respectively reference must be made for an account of the different abbeys which give such an interest to most of them, of the ecclesiastical state, &c., and also of the manufactories which are concentrated in these places. Weekly markets are held in all the towns, as well as periodical fairs. That of Melrose has lately risen into great importance, and is now the principal market for lambs; Castleton in Liddesdale has also become important for its sheep markets; St Boswell's fair, which once possessed something of a national character, has now fallen off considerably; and from being a market for almost everything in ordinary use, is now chiefly confined to the sale of horses, cattle, sheep, and wool.
The county has now enjoyed for a considerable time the advantage of railway communication with the metropolis. The Hawick branch of the North British Railway enters the county at Galashiels, and continues by Melrose, Newtown, Belsay, and Hassendean, to the terminus at Wilton, which may now be said to form part of the town of Hawick. A branch leaves Newtown and joins the Berwick line at Kelso, thus opening up communication with the south; another branch connects the town of Jedburgh with this system. The want of a railway over the southern border, which might at once serve as a through line, and bring the coal and lime of England and Dumfriesshire into the interior of the county, has long been felt; and great exertions have recently been made to supply it. Two separate lines have been proposed for this purpose: one along the upper valley of the Teviot, by Langholm and Canonbie; the other running up the valley of the Slitrig, and continued by Riccarton, Newcastle, and Longtown to the great southern line at Carlisle. After a struggle which has been scarcely equalled in the annals of railway partisanship, the last of these has been at length adopted; and the Border Union Railway has received the final sanction of the legislature while these pages are passing through the press.
The chief proprietors are the Dukes of Roxburgh and Buccleuch, Marquis of Lothian, Earl of Minto, Douglas of Cavers, Sir William Elliot, and various families of the name of Elliot, Ker, and Scott. Most of them have residences in the county. Of these, the most imposing is Fleurs, the residence of the Duke of Roxburgh, a palatial mansion standing on a beautiful terrace which overlooks the confluence of the Tweed and Teviot, and in the midst of a scene where most of the elements of a fine landscape are blended in rich profusion. Minto House is a very large modern mansion, without many architectural pretensions, surrounded with fine woods, and in the vicinity of the romantic Craigs, which are again crowned with their square tower, even more conspicuous than of old, adding an interesting feature to the landscape. The Lord Chancellor Campbell has built a considerable mansion at Hartrigg, which overlooks Jedburgh, and is the only residence of any note in that neighbourhood. But the whole valleys of the Tweed and Teviot are studded with handsome mansions; and the county can claim Abbotsford, although standing near its verge, which has long been an object of such general interest.
The county is divided into 34 parishes. The progress of the population will be seen from a comparison of the census returns at the four following decennial periods:—1821, 40,892; 1831, 43,663; 1841, 46,025; 1851, 51,642. There were in 1851 in all 67 places of worship, with 28,259 sittings, in the county. Of the former, 22 belonged to the Established Church, 14 to the Free Church, 16 to the United Presbyterians, 7 to the Independents, 3 each to the Episcopalians and Baptists, 2 to the Original Seceders, and 1 to the Roman Catholics. In the same year it contained 74 public and 32 private schools, attended by 7704 scholars. The valued rent in 1674 was L314,663; and the annual value of real property, as assessed in 1843, L264,321. The parliamentary constituency in 1854 was 1896, and there has been a decrease since.
There is scarcely any county in Scotland possessed of a more national interest than Roxburghshire. Lying on the verge of the two kingdoms, it has been the theatre of many a hard-fought field, and of many a scene of rapine and plunder during the endless wars that so long distracted the two kingdoms. The events that have transpired in it constitute a large share of border history, and that is so closely connected with the history of Scotland that we cannot here enter into any details. No part of the country presents so rich a field in the remains of feudal power and the means of national defence; even the seats of royalty are not wanting. It may be considered unrivalled in the relics of monastic magnificence, institutions which, however much we may despise them in the periods of their decay, were