ROXBURGHSHIRE. 



*475 



htrr. 



Minerals 



comes through a district more marshy and level. After 

 its junction with the Hermitage the Liddal is increa- 

 sed l>v *me considerable brooks, and with a velocity 

 which, in the course of time, has excavated beds for 

 pools of an uncommon depth, descends southward 

 through vallics capable of high cultivation, till it 

 reaches, as we formerly noticed, the sotithmost point 

 of the county, dividing Cumberland from Dumfries- 

 shire, where, mingling with the river Ksk, its waters 

 are carried westward into the Solway Frith. In an in- 

 land county, whose lowest point is above twenty miles 

 from the sea, the quantity of salmon is greater than 

 might be expected, though of lute years it has been 

 much diminished, owing to the mode of fishing adopt- 

 ed within tide-mark. 



The aspect of the county is finely variegated in re- 

 spect of surface and elevation. The land on the two 

 sides of the Tweed, as that river advances toward Kelso, 

 rises gradually toward the north, till the prospect ter- 

 minates with the range of the Lammermuir hills, ex- 

 tending from Berwickshire to the Lothians. 



There are several springs in the county, more or less 

 impregnated with iron and sulphur ; one in particular of 

 a sulphureous nature in the morass called Dead Water, 

 at the source of the Liddal, to which invalids frequently 

 repair. There is one of a somewhat petrifying quality 

 in Liddisdale, and another in the parish of Roxburgh. 

 Iron stones are frequently seen near the surface, and 

 fragments of agate, jasper, and rock crystal, are of- 

 ten found, particularly at Robert's Linne, towards the 

 southern part of the parish of Hobkirk, near Liddisdale. 

 * >al - It appears from Dr. Douglas' agricultural survey, 



that between 1760 and 1770, coal was discovered on the 

 hill called Carter Fell, in this county, near the border 

 of Northumberland; but though wrought for sometime, 

 it was abandoned as of little value. Another seam of 

 better quality was subsequently found near the south- 

 ern point of Liddisdale, from which little benefit has 

 been derived beyond that detached district. Various at- 

 tempts have been made to discover coal in different 

 places of the county ; but not one of them was conduct- 

 ed upon a scale adequate to the importance of the ob- 

 ject. Last season a new seam of coal was discovered on 

 the Carter ; in consequence of which a cart-load, the 

 first fruits of the mine, was burned in triumph in the 

 market-place of Jedburgh, whose inhabitants, from their 

 vicinity, are chiefly concerned in its success ; and some 

 indeed of whom have an interest as proprietors. Many 

 hands were employed during this summer, (1825,) 

 in making roads from the site of the coal to the neigh- 

 bouring turnpikes; and as there is good limestone in 

 the vicinity, it would be an object of great agricultural 

 importance to the district, that the experiment should 

 prosper. Meanwhile the inhabitants of the western 

 parts of the county in general, bring their coal from the 

 Lothians and Dumfries-shire ; and those in the eastern 

 parts of the county, principally from Northumberland 

 and North Durham, at distances varying from perhaps 

 sixteen to thirty miles and upward. Under such cir- 

 cumstances of disadvantage, the high cultivation of the 

 county may well be considered astonishing. Through 

 Limestone, the whole of Liddisdale limestone abounds; but, from 

 the state of the roads, the difficulty of access, and the 

 elevation of the ground, little is calcined for general sale. 

 Great quantities of shell marl are found in the parishes 

 adjoining .Selkirkshire. Marl pits have also been found 

 many years ago at Eckford, Eilnam, and other places ; 

 and a few years ago marl, in large quantities, wns found 

 near the Berry I\loss, in Kelso parish, during the ope- 

 rations connected with draining that morasp. More 

 recently still, a large stratum of marl in Linton Loch, 



Marl. 



near Morvbattle, has been made available for the use Kotburgh- 

 of the public, and is now on nale. This is of great im- ******* 

 portaiicc to farmers in the neighbourhood ; as marl it * """'"""' 

 found to be a manure admirably adapted for meliorat- 

 ing land, especially light toils ; but the quantity requi- 

 red render-, tl: too expensive for distant u*e. 

 Ii .' ' rsta of freestone run in a north- 

 east direction, from the southern extremity of Liddisdale Q ar "* ot 

 to the neighbourhood of Sprouston, where it is regular- fttttUf0 *" 

 ly quarried. This quarry h s indeed been long highly 

 valued, both for the beauty of the materials which it fur- 

 nishes for building, and for the facility with which it it 

 wrought. For the ornaments of public buildings, how- 

 ever, Eccles and Swinton quarries in Berwickshire are 

 found to be more durable, as also for pavements and 

 similar works. Arbroath stone is preferred, though its 

 distance and expense make it a luxury. There are also 

 'one quarries at Denholm and Pinnacle. Different 

 sorts of whinstone are found every where on the sur- 

 face, in the beds of rivers, and in inexhaustible quarries. 

 To the eastward of the Jed, the hills are covered with 

 a thick sward of rich grass, and some are bare and 

 rugged. Some of them, as the Eildonhills and Hubers- 

 law, rise beautifully from the plain, and most of them 

 are verdant to their summits. 



In a county so extensive and elevated, the proper- Surface tnd 

 tion of heath and moss is inconsiderable, and these are *^ 

 gradually yielding, where circumstances admit, to the 

 efforts of agricultural skill and capital. In Liddisdale, 

 indeed, there is much mossy ground ; and a large track 

 of stubborn clay stretches from the south-west skirt of 

 Ruberslaw to the confines of that district. But even 

 in these districts dry and sound soil greatly predomi- 

 nates. In the arable land, the soil is of various quality 

 and composition, consisting sometimes of rich loam, 

 sometimes of sand and loam mixed, and sometimes of 

 sand, gravel, and clay in various proportions. The loam 

 and rich soil is generally found on low and level lands 

 near the beds of rivers and rivulets. The heavy clayey 

 soil chiefly occupies the higher grounds ; the largest 

 part of it is immediately south of Eildon hills, includ- 

 ing the parishes of Minto, Lilliesleaf, Bowden, Melrose, 

 and a part of Ancrum, Maxton, and Roxburgh. The 

 extent of the district of clay is supposed to be about 

 10,000 acres, of which about one-eighth part may have 

 been planted. About one-half of the remaining part 

 of this heavy soil bears luxuriant crops of wheat and 

 other produce. In. the parishes north of Tweed, near 

 Kelso, heavy soil is rather most prevalent, and is in 

 general of good quality. Another portion of it runs 

 along the higher grounds south of Tweed, near Kelso. 



At the first Roman invasion of this part of the king- 

 dom, it appears to have been in a state of uncultivated Progress 

 nature, covered with impervious woods and dreary and preent 

 wastes ; and the civilized invaders did little for the im--"* 1 * of 

 prcvcment of the soil, except around their encamp- *6 ncullure - 

 ments. The Saxons, in a later age, partially cut down 

 the woods, and cultivated the land ; but it was not till 

 the reign of David I. that something like a plan of sys- 

 tematic cultivation was adopted. During the reign of 

 Malcolm IV. the land was partially enclosed and im- 

 proved ; and the most skilful husbandmen of those 

 times in this county were the monks, especially those 

 of Kelso, who possessed extensive property. The 

 civil wars by which Scotland was long distracted, as 

 well as the frequent wars between Scotland and Eng- 

 1-ind, retarded agricultural and every other species of 

 improvement ; and the Borders, which were the focus 

 of hostile contention, were peculiarly liable to devasta- 

 tion. We must therefore date the substantial improve- 

 ment of agriculture from the union of the crowns, 



