SELKIRKSHIRE. 



SENEGAL. 



490 



highest, the direction of the principal streams being from south-west 

 to north-east. The hills vary in height from a few hundred feet to 

 2000 feet Windlestraw Law (2295 feet), at the northern extremity ; 

 Blackhotue (2370 feet) ; Minchmoor (22SO feet), on the borders of 

 Peeblesahire; and Ettrick Pen (2200 feet), on the south-west boundary, 

 are the only hills which exceed 2000 feet in height. 



The county is comprehended in the basin of the Tweed, which 

 crosses it in the north from west to east, quitting it at its junction with 

 the Gal*. About 10 or 12 miles of its course belong to Selkirkshire. 

 The Ettrick is the county river; it gave to the district its former 

 name of Ettrick Forest. It rises in the south-west corner, and flows 

 in a north-east course till it joins the Tweed on its right bank, on the 

 east border of the county ; ita course is about 30 miles. The Yarrow 

 rises on the western border, and has its course nearly parallel to the 

 Ettrick, until it reaches Yarrow Ford, where it turns to the south- 

 east and joins the Ettrick a little above Selkirk ; ita course is about 

 20 mile*, including the lochs of the Lows and St. Mary, through which 

 it flows. The Gala, which has the greater part of its course in 

 Kdinburghshire, and the Cavdor, belong to the northern part of the 

 county ; they flow south-east, and join the Tweed on the left bank : 

 the Gala on the border of the county, the Cawdor a little above it. 



The principal lochs are those of the Lows and St Mary, separated 

 from each other by a very narrow neck of land. They are both 

 expansions of the Yarrow, which enters the loch of the Lows at its 

 upper end and quits that of St Mary at ita lower end. The Lows is 

 a mile long, a quarter of a mile broad, and about 70 feet deep ; 

 St Mary's is 3 miles long, half a mile broad, and from 80 to 90 feet 

 deep. They are at an elevation of 560 feet above the level of the sea. 

 The lochs are stored with pike, perch, and trout The rivers abound 

 with good salmon and trout, and contain barbel and other fish. 



The principal road is the great road from Carlisle to Edinburgh, 

 which passes through Selkirk and Galashiels. A branch parta from 

 H at Selkirk, and passing by Yair Bridge, reunite* with the main road 

 at Crosslee, 9 mils* N. from Selkirk. A road from Glasgow to Kelso 

 and Berwick crosses the county, following the valley of the Tweed. 

 The Edinburgh and Hawick railway jussim the border of the county 

 and has a station at Gahuhiela. 



Gtatoffy, Muuraiom/, 4c. The mountains have been described as 

 " on* large high bad of grauwacke and clay-slate, now cut by the 

 larger streams into long-chaped divisions, and cross-cut by the smaller 

 streams to a IMS dsptb, and into smaller and rounded divisions." The 

 hills an generally ridge-shaped and rounded on the tops, having 

 acclivities of from 10* to SO*. The projecting ridgw on on* side of 

 a valley usually have a corresponding race** on the opposite side. The 

 west and south-west side* of the transvsn* or smaller valleys are 

 generally the steeper. The strata for the most part dip to the north- 

 east, but with various dsgrses of inclination. At New House Lynns, 

 7 mile* above Selkirk, the rocks which form the bank of the Ettrick 

 rise to a surprising height perpendicularly; both here and at Newark 

 oo the Yarrow the strata are remarkably carved. On the western 

 aid* of the county, towards Peeblesahire, extensive strata of porphyry 

 are found alternating with thin strata of slate and granite. Shell- 

 marl occurs abundantly near Qalashiels, and was extensively used for 

 manure, until superseded by the introduction of lime. Granite and 

 whinstone are abundant 



Soil, AgricuUun, *<r. The arable land of the county lies on an 

 elevation of from 280 to 800 feet: none of it therefore is the best as 

 to climate. Wheat abound* in the lower districts, and ha* been 

 raised, at the height of 700 feet, to what would be called a good 

 crop in the Lothian* ; and considerably higher, near to the head of 

 Ettrick, oat*, turnips, barley, and clover hay thrive in regular rota- 

 tion. (' Nsw Statistical Account of Scotland.') The soil is light and 

 dry, and the harvest comparatively early. The quantity of land 

 DonesanUy under Ullage is small, the dampneai of the climate rendering 

 the county more appropriate for pasturage. 



The cattle are chiefly of th Tesewater breed. Highland cattle are 

 also graced on the hills. Black-faced sheep are reared on the high 

 pasturages, where they are found to thrive beet. Cheviots and 

 Leieeetsrs have been introduced. Considerable attention is paid to 

 breeding. The most improved mode* of culture and the best imple- 

 ment* have been introduced. The houses of the tenant* have generally 

 been rebuilt in better situations and in better style than before. The 

 food and clothing of the people have been both considerably improved. 

 The banks of the streams are generally well-wooded, and often 

 picturesque. Planting has been considerably extended. The indigenous 

 wood is chiefly oak (cut down periodically for the bark), ash, elder, 

 birch, elm, hasel, hawthorn, mountain-ash, Ac. 



Diritiom, Towm, Ac. The county contains nine parishes or part* of 

 parishes. Of these only two, Ettrick and Yarrow, are wholly included 

 in the county. The only towns are Selkirk and Galashiels. 



Silkirt, a royal burgh and market-town, and the county town, lies 

 on the right bank of the Ettrick, 36 mile* a&E. from Edinburgh. 

 The population in 1851 was 3314. In the middle ages Selkirk was a 

 town of some importance. The town was burnt by the English soon 

 after the battle of Flodden, and in the civil war of Charles I. Montrose 

 was here mrprid and routed by the Covenanters under David Lesly 

 in 1(M5. Selkirk ha* one principal street, expanding in one part into 

 triangular market-place, with a conspicuous public well in the centre. 



The town contains many good houses. The parish church is in the 

 town ; and there are two chapela for United Presbyterians, and one 

 each for the Free church, the Independents, and the Episcopalians. 

 The town-hall has a spire 110 feet high. Close to the town are flour- 

 mills, some stocking-looms, a fulling-mill, and a small tan-yard. There 

 is a small prison for the burgh and county. In the town are the 

 parochial school, the Burgh school, two endowed schools, a savings 

 bank, a parochial library, two subscription libraries, and a reading- 

 room. 



Galaihitls, a considerable manufacturing town, is situated on the right 

 bank of the Gala, just above its junction with the Tweed, about 6 miles 

 N.E. from Selkirk, and 33 miles S. from Edinburgh by the Hawick 

 railway. The population in 1851 was 9918. A bridge over the Gala 

 connects the town with the village of Buckholmsido in Roxburghshire. 

 The church is a gotliic building of considerable size ; and there are 

 two chapels for United Presbyterians, and one each for the Free Church 

 and the Independents. Part of the town is included in the burgh of 

 barony of Galashiels. There are the parochial school ; a subscription 

 school ; two libraries, a reading-room, and a savings bank. Galashiels 

 has long been distinguished for its woollen manufactures, the most 

 considerable of the kind in the south of Scotland. For a considerable 

 period coarse cloths were chiefly made, such as are worn by shepherds 

 and mechanics, popularly known as ' Galashiels grays ;' fine broad- 

 cloths are now produced ; and a hall has been established for the sale 

 of the various fabrics. 



tfittory and Antiquities. This part of Scotland appears to have 

 belonged originally to the Gadeni. On the retreat of the Romans it 

 was overrun by the Anglo-Saxons of Northumbria. At this time it 

 was a forest, and had few settled inhabitants. With the exception of 

 the Catrail [ROXBURGHSHIRE], there are very few British or Roman 

 remains. Near the south-eastern border are a few hill-forts, with a 

 square Roman camp in the midst of them ; and there are traces of two 

 camps and of a Roman road in Galashiels pariah. After the cession 

 of the southern part of Scotland by the Anglo-Saxon princes, the 

 Scottish kings had a residence at Selkirk. It was probably established 

 as a county before the death of Alexander II. It belonged in the 15th 

 century to the Douglases. In 1503 the hereditary sherifl'dom was 

 granted to Murray of Falahill, whose descendants held it till the 

 abolition of hereditary jurisdictions. Several castles were erected in 

 this county : there was one at Selkirk early in the 12th century, which 

 was occasionally used as a royal residence ; and near it was another 

 castle, called Oldwark; but of neither of them is there now any 

 remains. The ruins of Oakwood and Newark (that is, New-work, as 

 distinguished from Old-work), both near Selkirk, are yet standing. 



Statutict . Rftiyiout Wortkip and Education. According to the 

 Returns of the Census in 1851 there were then in the county 15 places 

 of worship, of which 5 belonged to the Established Church, 5 to the 

 Free Church, 2 to United Presbyterians, and 1 each to Independents, 

 Glauites, and the Evangelical Union. The number of sittings pro- 

 vided in 10 of these places of worship was 3413. Of day schools there 

 were 24, of which 15 were public schools with 940 scholars, and 9 

 private schools with 392 scholars. There were eleven Sabbath schools 

 with 71 1 scholars. 



Saringt Bant. In 1853 the county possessed one savings bank, at 

 Selkirk. The amount owing to depositors on November 20th 1853 

 was C209/. Ui. 6d. 



SELLES-SUR-CHER. [LoiE-rr-CflER.] 



SELMAS. [PERSIA.] 



SELSEY. [SUSSEX.] 



SEMINARA. [CALABRIA.] 



SEMISUPOTSHNY. [ALECTIAX ISLANDS.] 



8EMLIN (Zemlin, Zimonig), a fortified town in the Austrian Military 

 Frontier, is situated in 44 50' N. lat, 20" 25' E. long., on the right 

 bank of the Danube at its confluence with the Save, on the declivity 

 of a mountain opposite to the Turkish fortress of Belgrade, from which 

 it is separated by the Save. It consists of the inner town and the 

 suburb Franrenstual, and has about 10,000 inhabitants, who are chiefly 

 Serb* and Greeks, with a few Germans, Jews, and gipsies. In the 

 inner town there are some good streets with stone houses, but on the 

 whole it is by no means a well-built place. The gipsies live in a 

 wretched quarter. There are five Catholic and two Greek churches, 

 a synagogue, an hospital, and a theatre. Semlin is the seat of a Greek 

 protopapas, and the residence of the Austrian commander of the dis- 

 trict It is the chief point of communication between the Austrian 

 and Turkish dominions, and contains the greatest quarantine establish- 

 ment on the Austrian frontier. At the east end of the town is the 

 great market-place, where two rows of palisades used to separate the 

 dealers, to prevent any hazardous communication ; but the strictness 

 of the quarantine regulations have been in recent years greatly relaxed. 

 There are many shops in the town. The transit trade is very import- 

 ant The exports to Turkey, Bohemia, and Moravia are woollen- 

 cloths, porcelain, and glass ; the imports from Turkey are cotton-yarn, 

 Morocco leather, hare-skins, lamb-skins, honey, and meerschaum pipep. 



SEMUR. [COTE-D'OR; SAONE-ET-LOIKE.] 



SENECA FALLS and LAKE. [NEW YORK, State of.] 



SENEGAL is the name of a large river in Western Africa, which 

 enters the Atlantic by two embouchures between 16 50' and 16 30 

 N. lat. It is the largest river of Senegambia, and with its tributaries 



