Notes ny ax Old Thaditiox. 1;"5 



that tliP marks of tools can yet be seen, and so canspfl the rivei' 

 to flow first into the bed of tlie Glenessland Burn and then into 

 that of tlic Chidcn beloAv the Kontin' Bridge. Another form of 

 the tradition makes the Romans and not tlie Melrose moidcs the 

 engineers of the diversion, but tliat tlie diversion, by whomsoever 

 efteeted, has taken place it is confidently affirmed. Hence, it is 

 said, come the facts I liave already referred to, that the smaller 

 stream gives name to the combined stream below the junction, 

 and that the same stream aliove the junction is called the Old 

 Water. Hence, too, comes the further fact that beside the 

 supjiosed original course of the Cairn there is a farm which to 

 this day bears the name of Cairnhall. 



The fact of this tradition being so definite, so long established, 

 and so persistent as many of us here know it to be, almost seems 

 to establish a kind o^ prima facie presumption in its favour ; but 

 it may be pointed out that those arguments in support of it to 

 which I liave just referred have less in them than might at first 

 sight appear. It is no uncommon thing for the smaller of two 

 uniting rivers to give its name to the product of their union. 

 The Teith is a much larger and finer river than the Forth, and 

 yet it has to yield its name to its weaker rival. So too with the 

 Missouri and the Mississippi. Then as to the Old Water, Sir 

 Herbert Maxwell has jjointed out that Ave have here an instance 

 of a mistaken etymology due to a resemblance in sound of two 

 entirely different M'ords. Speaking of the name as it appears on 

 the Ordnance ]\Iap, he says : " A common Gaelic word for a 

 stream is allt ; this coincided in sound with the broad Scots 

 ' auld ;' apparently those who advised the English surveyor 

 thought it more genteel to write ' old,' and the real significance 

 is completely hidden by a forced interpretation." Witli regai'd 

 to Cairnhall, it may be I'emembered that there is a Cairn Mill on 

 the Scar, in the parish of Penpont, far away from any possible 

 former course of the Cairn; so too much need not be made of 

 that point. 



Whether the diversion of the river in the Avay the tradition 

 states was physically possible I do not profess to be able to say, 

 but must leave that to those better accjuainted with the topo- 

 graphy and geology of the district. Whether, too, as I have 

 heard it said, the tradition finds confirmation in certain ancient 

 charters or title deeds I am also unable to say, for I have not had 

 the opportunity of examining them. But some time ago I had 



