1061 



BERWICKSHIRE. 



BERWICKSHIRE. 



1062 



W. long. The greatest length of the county is 31 miles 2 furlongs ; 

 the greatest breadth 194 miles ; and its area ia estimated to contain 

 309,375 English statute acres. 



Surface, Hydrography, <tc. The surface of Berwickshire is on the 

 whole more level than is common in Scotland ; it is hilly to the north 

 and west, and slopes towards the south and east. Hume Castle, about 

 three miles south of Greenlaw, is built on an elevation of trap-rock, 

 898 feet above the level of the sea. This building, which forms a 

 conspicuous and picturesque object to the whole of the inland district 

 of Berwickshire, now consists of only a few battlements made out of 

 the ruins of the former castle, so as to look like a castle at a distance. 

 The old castle, taken by some of Cromwell's troops in 1660, was 

 damaged so much that it became a ruin. Almost every pariah contains 

 the ruins of some fortified place a memorial of the unsettled state 

 of the borders before the Union. 



The following table shows the elevation of the highest of the 

 Lamnierrnoor hills above the level of the sea, and the parishes in 

 which they are situated : 



Hills. Heifchti. Parishes. 



Lammerlaw . ISi'O feet I.auder. 



-law 



Dorrinptonlaw 

 Boonbill . 

 Sontra 



Cockburnlaw 

 Dunielaw 



1500 



1145 



1090 



1C 00 



912 



630 



Longt'ormacus. 



Do. 



Legerwood. 

 Channelkirk. 

 Dunse. 

 Do. 



The coast consists of bold rocky precipices of considerable height, 

 and is almost inaccessible except at Eyemouth and Coldiiigham bays, 

 and at two or three other places, where sandy or gravelly beaches at 

 the foot of the rocks are accessible to fishing boats. From the 

 boundaries of the town of Berwick the coast trends N.N.W. for 8J 

 miles to St. Ebb's or St. Abb's Head, where it takes a W.N.W. direc- 

 tion for 9 miles, until it is met by the boundary of East Lothian. 



All the streams of Berwickshire flow into the Iweed, except the 

 Eye and its tributaries, which fall into the sea at Eyemouth, and a 

 few brooks which run into the sea at other places. The Leader, or 

 Lainler, runs through the vale of Lauderdale, and after a course of 

 about 17 miles joins the Tweed, where that river begins to form 

 the south boundary of Berwickshire The Whiteadder rises in East 

 Lothian, unites with the Dye in a vale among the Lammermoor hills, 

 receives the Blackadder, near Allanbank, in the vale of the Merse, 

 and falls into the Tweed within the Berwick bounds, about three 

 miles from the sea. The Blackadder and its feeders rise on the 

 southern slopes of the Lammermoor hills. The Eye rises in Hadding- 

 tonsbire. Coldiiigham Loch is the only lake of any extent in 

 Berwickshire. It covers about 30 acres, is at a considerable elevation 

 to be so near the sea, and abounds with perch : it forms a lively 

 feature in the bleak and sterile tract in which it lies. There are 

 several rivulets and small lochs or lakes. All the streams abound in 

 trout and eels, and some contain pike and perch ; a few salmon and 

 lea-trout ascend the Whiteadder, and the Tweed abounds in excellent 

 salmon and grilses. 



Internal Communication. The chief post-road from Edinburgh to 

 London passes through Ay ton to Berwick. The other post-road leads 

 from Edinburgh to Greeulaw. The cross turnpike-roads are well 

 managed by commissioners, who have upwards of 200 miles of road 

 under their charge. The York Newcastle and Berwick railway affords 

 a communication for this county with the whole of England, while 

 the North British line on the other hand opens the communication 

 to the north and west of Scotland. A branch of the North British 

 line in open to Dunse, and the Berwick and Kelso railway is continued 

 beyond Kelso, forming a junction near Melrose with the Edinburgh 

 and Hawick railway. 



Geology. The geological features of Berwickshire are instructive 

 and interesting. Thin seams of coal are found in the lowlands, 

 limestone in various places, and clay-marl on the banks of the White- 

 adder and the Blackadder. Gypsum is got in small quantities on the 

 banks of the Whiteadder. Shell-marl, which is found in several 

 places, i worked in the parish of Merton. Sandstone pervades the 

 greater part of the county. Slate of indifferent quality has been 

 worked near Lander. Coarse pudding-stone occurs ; the outer pier of 

 Eyemouth harbour ia built of it, and has long withstood, without 

 apparent waste, the storms of the German Ocean. At Ordwell and 

 i places attempts have been made to work copper ore. Professor 

 Playfair, in his 'Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory,' mentions 

 several interesting facts in the geological features of Berwickshire. 

 Kor some miles beyond Berwick-upon-Tweed the secondary strata of 

 variuu* kiuds prevail until the sea-coast intersects a primary ridge, 

 the Lammermoor hills, which run from west to east; the section 

 which the sea-coast makes of the eastern extremity of this ridge is 

 highly instructive, from the great disturbance of the primary strata, 

 and the variety of their inflexions. The junction of these strata 

 with the secondary on the south side, is near the little sea-port of 

 "it.li ; but the immediate contact is not visible. On the north 

 tide of the ridge the junction i at a point called Siccar, not far from 

 la**. l',y being well laid open and dicsected by the working of 

 the sea, the rock here displays the relation between the two orders 

 of strata to great advantage. Dr. Huttou himself has described this 



junction (' Theory of the Earth,' vol. i. p. 464.) The appearances of 



the primary strata on the coast of Berwickshire also exemplify the 

 waving and inflexion of the strata on a large scale and with great 

 variety. Near the village of Priestlaw, in Lammermoor, on the 

 little river Fassnett, occurs an instance of real granite, disposed in 

 regular beds, but without any character of gneiss. (Playfair's 

 ' Huttonian Theory,' sections 190, 201, 294.) 



Climate, Soil, &c. From the geographical position of Berwickshire 

 and its proximity to the North Sea, the climate is at the same time 

 colder and more subject to sudden variations of temperature than 

 the more inland and southern parts ; but is comparatively dry, and 

 on the whole favourable to agriculture. The comparative dryness 

 of the climate is ascribed to the influence of two ranges of high laud, 

 the Cheviot hills on the south, and the Lammermoor hills on the 

 north, which are connected by a range of lower hills on the west ; 

 these boundaries embrace a considerable extent of country, and 

 include the basin of the Tweed between them and the sea. The 

 prevalent winds in spring are from the eastern points, and in summer 

 from the west ; the winters are seldom very severe or long, though 

 cold frosty weather is apt to continue far into summer and blast the 

 prospect of orchard fruit. 



The basin of the Tweed contains numerous smaller elevations and 

 dales comprehending the Merse or lowlands of Berwickshire, the 

 detached northern part of the county palatine of Durham, and parts of 

 the counties of Roxburgh and Selkirk. This tract of land shelves 

 gradually from both sides towards the Tweed, which receives all its 

 streams. It exhibits the most improved practical system of husbandry, 

 by which a soil but moderately fertile on the whole has been made 

 to produce in perfection all the crops which were formerly confined 

 to the more southern parts of the island. 



Berwickshire may be divided into two distinct portions, the hills 

 and the lowlands. Some of the eminences of the Lammermnor hills 

 rise to more than 1500 feet above the level of the sea. They are 

 consequently bleak, cold, and unproductive, except on their lower 

 slopes, where tolerable pastures are found, in which a hardy race of 

 sheep and cattle is reared. In the midst of the hills are several 

 valleys capable of cultivation, and the industry of the inhabitants 

 has converted many moors and bogs into productive arable land. 

 The Merse contains about 100,000 acres of land diversified by smaller 

 hills and dales, which fonn a pleasant undulation of the surface, with 

 a soil extremely various. Most of the farms have land attached to 

 them of every variety and quality, but on the whole the good soils 

 prevail. There is a total absence of chalk, or of any perceptible 

 quantity of calcareous earth in the soil. A few veins of limestone 

 exist in the western part of the county, but in consequence of the 

 want of coal mines, except in the south-eastern extremity of the 

 county, none of it is burnt into lime ; so that this substance, so 

 useful as a manure and a means of improving the soil, is brought 

 from a considerable distance. Along the course of the Tweed, the 

 Whiteadder and Blackadder rivers, there are long tracts of a very 

 fine deep and free loam lying on a substratum of gravel or clay ; and 

 throughout the valleys the good loamy soils prevail. 



The best soils are of a reddk-h colour, indicating the presence of 

 oxide of iron in that state of oxidation in which it is most favourable 

 to vegetation, and to which it is reduced when clay is burnt which 

 contains it. In every part of the county moors occur of greater or 

 leas extent, some of which are very poor. The thin black soil of the 

 moors is of a loose porous nature, covering a subsoil of an impervious 

 till or ba.-ren clay. Such a soil can never be improved with any 

 prospect of advantage. 



The farms in Berwickshire are generally of considerable size, from 

 500 to 1000 acres, or more, and tenanted by men of good capital, who 

 cultivate the land in a regular and scientific manner. Leases, generally 

 for 1 9 years, are almost universal ; and this may be considered as one 

 of the chief causes of the high state of cultivation in which the land 

 is kept, and the expensive improvements which have been made by 

 the tenants. The farm-houaes and buildings are of a superior order, 

 adapted to the condition of the tenants, and the advanced state of 

 agriculture. 



In Berwickshire small portions of grass-land are frequently let to 

 cottagers, mechanics, and small tradesmen in villages, thus enabling 

 them to keep a cow without being incumbered with land. They pay 

 a high rent for the grass, but this is the whole outlay. The high rent 

 remunerates the farmer, and the milk and butter of the cow are 

 cheaply obtained by the owner. Butter is made for the use of the 

 farmer's family only, except near towns, where a portion is sold in a 

 fresh state. The markets are mostly supplied by the labourers who 

 sell their butter, the produce of the cow kept for them by their 

 masters as part of their wages. 



Cattle. On the hills there is a coarse breed of black cattle, which 

 fatten well in the richer pastures of the valleys, and produce well- 

 flavoured meat. The short-horned oxen from Yorkshire and Durham 

 are in repute with the larger farmers for stall-feeding. The Holder- 

 ness and Ayrshire cows are preferred for the dairy and for their calves. 

 The farm horses are generally of a middle size, muscular, and active, 

 with clean legs without much hair on them, more allied in shape to 

 the coach-horse than to the heavy English cart-horse. They are 

 mostly bred in the counties of Ayr and Lanark. 



