22 Dr. Wilson on Linton and its Legends. 



itself, and many others, tell plainly of the later immigration of 

 the Anglo-Saxon race ; and speak also, though with less distinct- 

 ness, of a more limited and less enduring settlement on the part 

 of the Frisians and Danes. The condition of a still later period 

 portrays itself in the ruined towers of Cessford, Whitton, and 

 Corbet, and in the recollection of others now levelled with the 

 ground; all unhappily teeming with traditions of that feud, 

 bloodshed and rapine, which were here the prevailing character- 

 istics of the " good old times." It is, however, with the legends 

 and traditions immediately relating to the church of Linton that 

 the following observations will chiefly connect themselves : and 

 it is hoped it may be shown that these traditions are invested 

 with a degree of real interest, which certainly may be easily sur- 

 passed elsewhere, but which has at least no parallel among the 

 similar records of the neighbouring rural fanes. Such subjects 

 of inquiry have frequently been suggested as coming properly 

 within the limits of the Club^s researches ; and I have, there- 

 fore, no apology to ofi*er, unless for defects of execution, in 

 laying before the scholar and the antiquary, or the observer of 

 mankind, these easy illustrations, gathered almost at random from 

 among severer studies, of the early evolvements of our dawning 

 civilization, with its crude yet bold imaginations, simple in the 

 infancy of culture as in the infancy of age. 



Let us then descend from the eminence, the prospect from 

 which, with its wide associations, we have just faintly character- 

 ized ; and passing by, in the meantime, the sheltered churchyard 

 lane, let us wind our way towards the closely adjacent mill of 

 Linton, whose once picturesque aspect has recently receded be- 

 fore the progress of improvement ; and here, seeking the stile 

 leading into the little meadow on the right, we at once find our- 

 selves beside the low, irregular mound, which hides, with its 

 covering of grove and verdure, all that now remains of the ancient 

 stronghold of the barons of Linton. The first notice of Linton 

 which has occurred to my observation dates towards the middle 

 of the twelfth century; when Earl Heniy, the eldest son of 

 David I., bestowed it as a manor upon Richard Cumyn, the 

 earliest of that powerful race who obtained possessions in Scot- 

 land. It appears, however, to have remained only a short time 

 in the tenure of the Cumyns, fdr we find that in 1174 it was 

 transferred to John Somervill, a baron of Norman descent, and 

 a recent settler from England. This baron is said to have 

 reared the tower of Linton ; and, dying at a ripe age, was buried 

 in the quier of the adjoining church*. His descendants appear 



* '^Memorie of the Somervills,' from the MS. of James, eleventh Lord 

 Somerville, 1679. The facts are there stated to have been gleaned "mostly 

 in ther oune chaiters and those of ther vassals." 



