K E L 



432 



K E L 



Kelp, fected by the union of the carbonaceous matter of the 



KriM>. wee ,i w jth t | K . ,,xygen of the acid, and has therefore 



*~^f' exac t] v t|,e same rationale with the process already 



mentioned, to which soaper's lees are subjected, by the 



artificial mixture with carbonaceous matter. 



Mtaiucf From some ingenious experiments of Dr. Fyfe, one 



incnuiing valuable practical result was obtained ; that the quan- 



the (Hull. tjty o( - . l]ka ii j,, k e ip raa y be increased, by sprinkling 



water on the weed while it is drying. During hot 



weather, when it is nearly sufficiently dry, this might 



be done without much risk of a retardation to the ma- 



nufacture, by the occurrence of the rains, to which our 



uncertain climate is so liable. Perhaps a similar sprink- 



ling might be employed during the burning of the 



weed, especially when at any time the heat is too pow- 



i rfnl, and the combustion too rapid. 



KELSO, a market town of Scotland, in the coun- 

 ty of Roxburgh, is. situated on the north bank of the 

 Tweed, at its confluence with the Tiviot. In ancient 

 writings it is called Palco, and spmetimes Kelkoiv, &c. 

 but its etymology is quite uncertain. Kelso extends 

 about half a mife along the sloping ground, on the 

 bank of the river; and the plan of the town is uncom- 

 monly striking and convenient. A spacious square is 

 near the centre, from which six streets diverge in dif- 

 ferent directions. Mr. Pennant, who visited Kelso in 

 1772, observes that it is built much after the manner 

 of a Flemish town. He perhaps alludes not so much 

 to the general aspect of the town, as to the awkward 

 fashion which then too much prevailed, of placing the 

 gables instead of the fronts of the houses towards the 

 street. This clumsy contrivance has now given way 

 to a better taste, and the square and. principal streets 

 contain many neat, and some elegant shops and dwel- 

 ling houses, built of the beautiful freestone of Sprous- 

 ton quarry. Slates are now substituted for thatch, 

 which used to be employed in covering the older 

 buildings. The square was for many years deformed 

 by an old and ruinous town-house, which was taken 

 down several years ago. In March 1816, the founda- 

 tion of a new and elegant one was laid, which is now 

 nearly finished, (Jan. 1818.) The building, carried 

 on by subscription, under the liberal patronage of the 

 Duke of Roxburgh, contains on the ground floor a 

 piazza, surrounded by arcades, which is intended for 

 a market-house. The principal story, adorned with 

 simple Ionic columns, and surmounted by a balustrade, 

 contains the town-hall, and other apartments. 



^ he S reatest ornamentof the town is the abbey, found- 

 ed by David I. about the year 1128, of which a large 

 part has resisted the ravages of time, and the desola- 

 tions of border wars. This pious prince, before he suc- 

 ceeded to the throne, and while he was earl of Cum- 

 berland, had planted a colony of monks, of the order 

 called Tyronensis, at Selkirk. These he attempted to 

 establish at the ancient city of Roxburgh ; but finding-, 

 as we are told, in the preamble of the charter, that they 

 could not be properly accommodated there, he re- 

 moved them to the church of the Holy Virgin, at Cal- 

 cow, (Kelso.) This church was delivered up to the 

 monarch, for this purpose, by Robert, bishop of St. 

 Andrew's, in whose diocese it then was. In the deed 

 of conveyance, he declares it " salutam et ab omni sub- 

 jectione et exactione liberam," and allows the monks 

 and abbots of Kelso to receive ordination, and other 

 sacraments of the church of Rome, from any bishop 

 they pleased in Scotland or Cumberland. For their 

 accommodation, David caused to be built a magnifi- 

 cent abbey ami monastery, in the Saxon style, by art- 



! 



iste brought from various countries. By the charter of Kels*. 

 the re-establishment from the royal founder, which S< ^"Y" " 

 makes part of the chartulary deposited in the Advo- Abbey of 

 cates' Library, Edinburgh, ,t well as by other politi- Kelso. 

 cal and historical documents, it appears tfeat its posses- 

 sions, privileges, and immunities, were great. The 

 abbey had its original charter of confirmation from 

 Pope Innocent II. In the chartulary already men- 

 tioned, is to be found a bull of Pope Alexander III. 

 allowing the abbot to wear a mitre, and other pontifi- 

 cal distinctions, and to be present at all general 

 councils. Innocent III. granted some important pri- 

 vileges to the abbey, and in particular exempted the 

 abbot from all episcopal jurisdiction. He and his 

 clergy, notwithstanding their removal, Detained the 

 churches of Selkirk and Roxburgh, " and the tythes 

 with the schools of Roxburgh." They had various 

 churches granted to them at different times ; among 

 others, thoseof Sproaston, Makerston,Greenlaw, Hume, 

 Keith, Gordon, &c. &c. The Tyronensian monks are 

 said to have been particularly attentive to agriculture 

 and thearts ; and to have maintained within their monas- 

 teries husbandmen and mechanics, the profits of whose 

 labour formed a part of the funds of the establishment. 

 Many persons of distinction have held the office of ab- 

 bot, among others James Stuart, natural son of James 

 V. The rental contained in the chartulary, is curious, ' 

 but much too long for insertion in a work of this na- 

 ture. Upon the forfeiture of Francis, Earl of Both- 

 well, admiral of Scotland, James the VI. granted the 

 superiority of the abbey to Sir Robert Ker of Cessford, 

 the ancestor of the dukes of Roxburgh. Although 

 this venerable structure was in a great measure de- 

 faced and demolished, in consequence of the civil and 

 religious struggles that prevailed, especially at the 

 glorious era of the Reformation, yet the principal part 

 of it was probably early used as a Protestant place of 

 worship ; and in the seventeenth century, it under- 

 went considerable additions and repairs, in order to fit 

 it for a Presbyterian church, From this time it was 

 the parish church, till the year 1771, when a false 

 alarm being spread during public worship, that the 

 building was falling, it was never again used. This 

 alarm was the more easily excited, as there was pre. 

 viously a popular fear, grafted on a traditional prophe- 

 cy of Thomas the Rhymer, that the abbey would fall 

 when it was at the fullest. (Vide notes to Scott's 

 Slinstrel.iy of the Border, vol. iii.) From this time the 

 building was neglected, till the late duke William ol 

 Roxburgh caused an ugly modern aisle, and a part ot 

 the modern wall to be removed ; and the present duke 

 James has had almost the whole of the modern defor- 

 mities taken away, by which means the transept, and 

 many windows and side arches of the original abbey 

 are displayed. The style of the building is Saxon, . 

 with a slight mixture of Gothic. The central tower is 

 about ninety feet in height. There" is none of _that 

 exuberance of ornament, for the quantity and nicety of 

 execution of which the neighbouring abbey of Melrose 

 is remarkable, and there are no remains of niches for 

 images or statues. But the arches are clustered with 

 admirable strength and beauty, and those which sup- 

 port the lantern are truly magnificent. (See CIVIL AR- 

 CHITECTURE, Plate CLXVII. Fig. 2.) 

 , During the border wars, Kelso is recorded to have 

 been no less than three times burnt down by the Eng- 

 lish, It appears surprising, that religious houses, 

 which exhausted so much of the wealth of the nation, 

 and were deemed its greatest pride, should in so many 



