WHITEADDER AND BLACKADDER. 19 



river additional strength ; and thus it leaves Ellem-ford with a 

 broader and heavier stream guided eastwards for a space by very 

 steep heath-clad banks. It glides on and soon overtakes the 

 pretty vale of Abbey St. Bathans. Monnienut burn joins here, 

 racing down a nari'ow glen in which Godscroft stands ; and a 

 little lower down, the Whiteadder receives another burn which 

 rushes from the ravine in whose shelter Mattie Pringle was 

 wont to hang out her hospitable sign*. There is here some 

 aboriginal wood and a good deal of recent plantation, which the 

 river leaves on passing the Retreat, when it winds around the 

 base of Cockburnlaw almost in a circle. It has now attained the 

 culminating point of attraction to the angler, and there is no 

 finer water anywhere. The river flows on, washing the base of 

 the sandstone fossiliferous bank at Preston-bridge, — lightening 

 up the rich valley of Preston -haugh, — lending beauty to the 

 open demesnes of Broomhouse, and to the sylvan and cereal 

 grounds of Blanerne ; and thence onwards, with its customaiy 

 curves and beauty, to the romantic scenery at and about Cbirn- 

 side-bridge. Another wide sweep, directed by the steep banks 

 on the north, brings the river to Allanton, where it receives the 

 tribute of the Blackadder. Now a noble stream, the Whiteadder 

 meanders, at a moderated pace, through the sunny haughs of 

 Whitehall; and thence, for several miles, it winds with wide 

 sweeps, alternately from right to left, until it has passed the 

 overhanging cliffs on which the ancient castle of Edrington did 

 stand. This portion of the river is excellent in beauty, and is a 

 series of lovely pictures, each well-defined by the peculiar sinuous 

 character of the channel. From Edrington the Whiteadder 

 proceeds slowly to Newmills, where, turning to the south, it 

 waters a vale without much interest, and soon afterwards mingles 

 with the Tweed. The tide influences the flow of the stream for 

 upwards of a mile. 



The Blackadder takes its rise at Wedderlie in the parish of 

 Westruther, at an elevation of about 1130 feet. The dark tinc- 

 ture of its water is derived from the peat-mosses in which its 

 sources are placed. It flows in a south-easterly direction, and 

 as it descends along the skirt of Harelaw moor, meanders through 

 a rich meadow which promises well to the naturalist. In its 

 futui'e course the Blackadder skirts the plantations that shroud 

 Marchmont-house, — traverses the policies of Kimmerghame and 

 of Kelloe, and winds in the midst of the grounds of Blackadder 

 and Allanton as if loath to leave them. The fall of the river is 

 inconsiderable, and its bed is one of coarse gravel and large 



* There is a tolerably accurate description of this secluded inn in Mr. 

 Maxwell's Border Tales, p. 28. Lend. 1852. 



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