16 Antiquities of Eskdalemuir. 



And now that you may have a less general and more parti- 

 cular idea of the parish than you may have been able to form from 

 these few and fragmentary descriptions, I propose starting from 

 the head of the parish, particularising as I proceed downwards, 

 and commenting briefly upon any object, scene, or locality that 

 that may be supposed to possess the smallest degree of interest 

 for the Antiquarian. Well ! looking down from our present point 

 of vantage upon the spacious glen beneath our feet, we are look- 

 ing upon what once formed, on the opposite side of the river, the 

 lands given by Robert Avenel to the Monks of Melrose for 

 pastoral, hunting, ajid sporting purposes generally. Then the 

 wild deer and boar as wild frequented these upland solitudes — for 

 Ettrick Parish coupled with Eskdalemuir was once a favourite 

 hunting ground of the Scottish Kings. These lands appear to 

 have been known by the ancient name of Weid-Kerroc or Weit- 

 Kerrock. If a single passage cr two in Armstrong's " History of 

 the Debateable Land" are to be relied upon, then, during the 

 reign of David First (1124 to 1153) Robert Avenel received from 

 that Monarch a Charter of the lands of Tom-loher and 'Weit- 

 Kerrock in Upper Eskdale. We are further told that the teinds 

 of Eskdale were granted by him to the Monks of Melrose, and it 

 is also stated for the repose of the souls of certain individuals 

 whose names are given, and for his own soul and for the soul of 

 his wife, Sibilla, he granted the aforementioned lands to the 

 Monastery of Melrose. It may be proper to mention in this con- 

 nection that David I. was uncommonly fond of establishing 

 relio-ious or Monastic Houses. As he was the great Benefactor of 

 the Church, the clergy willingly bestowed on him the epithet of 

 Faint, a character which one of his successors seemed to consider 

 rr.thir dubious. The alienation of so much of the Royal property 

 led him to remark that " St. David had been a sair sanct to the croon." 

 But to return to the name of the lands thus given to the monks at the 

 head of Eskdale — viz., Weit Kerrock, I would have you note that the 

 term Caer (c-a-e-r) which occurs in the Kerrock is, according to 

 Professor Veitch, one of the most frequent names for a hill-fort in 

 all the Lowlands of Scotland ; it is a Celtic, even a Cymric term, 

 and appears everywhere in the names of places already existing 

 before the times of Caesai- and Agricola. This being so, we at 

 once look for a hill-fort, and we are not disappointed, for over 

 ao-ainst us, on the western side of the river, tliere .stands a fine 



