84 Transactions of the [Sess. 



anon by the Scots, until more peaceful times intervened, and law 

 was re-established. Several members of the Scottish nobility then 

 successively received tacks of the whole estate, including, amongst 

 other honours and privileges, the sheriffdom of the county, the right 

 to the burgh customs, and occasionally the office of provost. From 

 about 1480 to 1630 The Haining was held by a branch of the Scotts 

 of Buccleuch. The Scotts were followed by the ancient family of 

 the Eiddells, and these again by the Pringles — a descendant of the 

 latter family being now in possession. The Pringle family has not 

 been wanting in illustrious names, two at least being " men of 

 mark" in Scotland — viz., John Pringle, Lord Haining, appointed 

 a senator in 1729 ; and Andrew Pringle, Lord Alemoor, elevated to 

 the bench in 1759. ■*• 



The Haining occupies a somewhat elevated position, the "bench- 

 mark " at the main gateway being given in the Ordnance Survey 

 map as 495 feet above the sea. Several portions of the estate are 

 at a much higher elevation — for, as every one knows, Selkirk is 

 pre-eminently "a city set on a hill," and the town clusters in great 

 part round the slope of the estate. The grounds are thus beauti- 

 fully diversified, from their undulating nature, and are thickly planted 

 in many parts with trees and shrubs, which are in fine healthy con- 

 dition. Some splendid avenues are thus formed of Lime, Birch, 

 and Chestnut, from which glimpses of the lake and the family 

 mansion can be obtained. From elevated knolls, also, one can look 

 down on the haugh or valley of the Ettrick and Yarrow, and around 

 on the encircling hills. Perched on such an outlook, the words of 

 Dr John Brown, in ' Minchmoor,' may partly be realised in their 

 truth and beauty. He says : " The great, round-backed, kindl}^, 

 solemn hills of Tweed, Yarrow, and Ettrick lay all about like sleep- 

 ing mastiffs, — too plain to be -grand, too ample and beautiful to be 

 commonplace." No one but the genial author of ' Eab and his 

 Friends ' could have penned such a sentence as that ! The Hain- 

 ing thus holds out attractions both for the botanist and for the lover 

 of nature, — in which latter category, indeed, every true botanist is 

 included. 



I was very fortunate, in my first visit to The Haining in August 

 last, in having as cicerone the Eev. Mr Farquharson, President of 

 the Berwickshire Naturalists' Field Club, whose picturesque manse 

 is in the vicinity. This gentleman kindly gave me some interest- 

 ing information as to the natural history of the estate and of the 

 district. Probably owing to the humidity of the climate, and the 

 absence of cold winds — the prevailing direction being S.W. — vege- 

 tation was most luxuriant. This was everywhere very noticeable : 

 moreover, the fronts of several of the houses in and around the 

 town were covered by the showy perennial Tropreolum speciosum, 

 ^ Vide Chalmers, 'Caledonia,' vol. ii. p. 991. 



