Geological Changes in the South of Scotland. 39 



Perhaps there is not a finer example of those moraines in 

 Britain than that celebrated mound known by the name of 

 the Bed Shiel Karnes : that beautiful moraine, taking in all its 

 sudden bendings, is about 2£ miles Jong ; its height is from 

 15 to 60 feet; besides, a great part of it is buried to an un- 

 known depth in the morass. It runs along the middle of an 

 extensive swamp called Dogton Moss in Berwickshire, about 

 3 miles north from the village of Greenlaw, and near the south 

 base of the Lammermuir hills, from whence the debris com- 

 posing it is chiefly derived. 



Having lately been informed by a very intelligent gentle- 

 man at Rule water, that he supposed he had discovered a fine 

 moraine in the south border of Roxburghshire, in a late tour, 

 in following up other investigations in that district, we made 

 a point of visiting that locality, and were not disappointed. By 

 its striking appearance we soon caught a view of it, although 

 still at a considerable distance, by the aspect of the vegetation 

 which clothed it, which differed so much from the neighbouring 

 hills, or the black heathy moor around it. As we approached 

 the place we found the gentleman's account of it to be exceed- 

 ingly correct ; it is situate upon the lower corner of an up- 

 land vale which rises with a considerable acclivity towards a 

 crescent bend in the Carter fell, which is about a mile distant 

 south. Close by the moraine to the north-west and west, the 

 ground rises rather rocky and precipitous to a height of 

 about 40 feet ; two small mountain burns join their waters at 

 a short distance behind the moraine, and run down a narrow 

 gorge that the mound must once have choked up; but those 

 streams have subsequently cleared their way and rounded the 

 mound to its present form. However, it is evident that ages 

 have elapsed, and may again roll by, without those tinny rills 

 making any further alteration upon it. That mound is known 

 by the name of the Scaud-law ; it is of a circular form, about 

 635 paces in circumference, and 80 feet high. From base to 

 summit it is wholly composed of the rocky debris of the 

 neighbouring hills, which debris is of all sizes, from coarse sand 

 to blocks of many ton weight, consisting of sandstone, shale 

 and lime, confusedly tossed together, lying at all angles, and 

 peering out of the surface like tombstones in a country church- 

 yard. 



We have been particular in describing this singular mound, 

 as we deem it one of the strongest evidences of the glacier 

 theory we have witnessed. The drifted debris there as well as 

 elsewhere seems likewise to have been driven to the eastward, 

 but that composing this mound has been carried in a nearly 

 opposite direction, that is, to the north-west. Nor is that a so- 



