im.] EXCURSION TO ETTRICK FOREST. 5$ 



His Grace the party were permitted to inspect the raasjaificent mansion 

 of Bowhill with its art treasures — amonjjst the most notable being the 

 tapestry illustrative of a Roman triumph, the colours of which, albeit 

 several hundred years old, are as fresh and bright as the day they were 

 sewed. Luncheon was partaken of in one of the halls attached to the 

 offices of the mansion, a stroll was afterwards leisurely taken through 

 the policies. The combination of wood, and lake, and sloping lawn 

 was very attractive, and many a lingering glance was taken of the 

 sylvan glades in the vicinity of the Yarrow. From an arboricultural 

 point of view, however, the deepest interest attached to a visit to Howe- 

 bottom, or the * Hained Ground,' with which the afternoon chiefly 

 was occupied. The Rev. James Farquharson, M.A., Selkirk, in the Pro- 

 ceedings of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club for 1878, thus speaks of 

 the 'Hained Ground' : — 



THE BEECH AVENUE AT BOWHILL. 



'Howebottom is a large irregularly triai)giilar area of about 300 acres in extent, 

 occupying the southern portion of the height on which Bowhill stands, where it 

 runs out into Fauidshope Hill. It ranges in height from 600 to 1,000 feet above 

 sea-level, the upper and narrower portion being steep, the lower falling with a 

 more gentle slope towards the east into the valley of the Ettrick. On the south 

 side it embraces the pretty dell of Shielshaugh Burn ; and the surface rises in a 

 low swell from the margin of the dell to fall on the north side into the hollow 

 from which the whole area has taken the name of Howebottom. A stone wall 

 running parallel to Shielshaugh Burn divides Howebottom from Fauidshope Hill, 

 on which sheep pasture ; on the other side it is unenclosed, and bordered by the 

 woods of Bowhill, which consist of Scotch Fir, Spruce, and Larch, with a mixture 

 of Oak, Beech, and Ash. At one of the lower corners it touches on an old Birch 

 wood. The general exposure is S.E., and considerable variety of soil and shelter 

 is found within the limits I Lave described. For the most part the soil is the 



