ANTIQUITIES, — FAMILIES. 29 



towers, as our readers are aware, was appropriated for the cattle, a practice 

 still common in the Alps, whether bred, or imported in successful foray ; and 

 were perforated by numerous loopholes, for the double purpose of admitting 

 air, and discharging missiles on the approach of an aggressor. The upper part 

 was distributed into family apartments, which offered a most singular and 

 striking contrast to those of later times. Some idea of the rapacity with 

 which the reiver warfare was carried on in this quarter, may be formed from 

 the fact, that, in Westruther alone, five thousand sheep, two hundred oxen, 

 and thirty horses, were driven off in one night by a party of marauders. 



In breaking up some ancient pasture grounds by the plough, several 

 stone coffins have been discovered, and coupled with the fact of others having 

 been found in various parts adjacent, it seems probable that these heights 

 have been, what tradition reports, the scene of remote but sanguinary conflict 

 between the natives and their invaders. The skeletons, thus accidentally 

 exposed, were, in many instances, almost perfect ; the sarcophagi in which 

 they lay were formed of broad flat stones, and arranged with great order 

 and regularity. The same battle-field is remarkable for the Twinlaw-cairns, 

 or stone-tumuli, consecrated by local tradition as the resting-place of twin 

 brothers, chiefs of the adverse armies, who, ignorant of their relationship, 

 and, anxious to spare the effusion of blood, undertook, like the Roman 

 champions, to decide the question of victory by single combat — a trial in 

 which both were mortally wounded.* 



Of the distinguished individuals and families who have shone conspicuous 

 in the history of the country at large, we may cite those of Spottiswoode and 

 Bassendean. That of Spottiswoode has had a local habitation and personal 

 influence in this district from the earliest records down to the present time. 

 The representative of the family still resides the greater portion of the year 

 on his hereditary estate, where a magnificent mansion, now in progress, 

 promises to vie in scale and execution vnth the finest specimens of architecture 

 in the south of Scotland.f John Spottiswoode, says a biographical notice, 



• This story has been beautifully narrated in a ballad, which has only appeared within the last 

 twelve months, although known ui the district for upwards of a century, and which the reader will find 

 in the New Statistical Account. 



t It is in the old English style— the public rooms are splendid— it is surrounded by a very handsome 

 terrace, three hundred feet in length, ornamented by equally handsome balustrades, pedestals, and vases 

 —the corridor is lighted by a well-proportioned tower in the centre of the building, and the tower itself, 

 over-topping the tall trees, has a very striking effect when viewed from a distance. This new house is 

 connected with the old family mansion, which has undergone very important alterations, so that the whole 

 will have a very unique appearance. — June, 1834. 



