SOUTHEEN SCOTLAND. 303 



whicli it encloses, it has exercised a powerful influence upon tlie peopling of 

 Southern Scotland. 



But even long before the working of the coal mines had attracted a crowded 

 population to the plain of the Clyde, the Lowlands, osving to their mild climate, the 

 fruitfulness of their soil, and the facilities for opening up communications, had 

 become the seat of towns. The veritable centre of historical Scotland must be 

 looked for along the line which joins the banks of the Tay to those of the Forth, 

 and the inhabitants of the lateral valleys and of secondary river basins gravi- 

 tated towards the towns in this central plain. A cradle of civilisation, distinct 

 from those of England, sprang up of necessity in this part of Great Britain. 

 That island, being very elongated in proportion to its width, and moreover 

 inhabited by different race» not then fused into a single nationality, naturally 

 became the seat of distinct political organizations, and political unity was 

 established only after prolonged struggles. The boundar}^ between Scotland and 

 England changed frequently with the fortunes of war, until it was finally fixed at 

 the Solway Firth, the Cheviot Hills, and the Tweed, and there it remained until, 

 through a pacific arrangement, the two countries became one. Few wars have 

 been more bloody than were those waged between Scots and English, and innu- 

 merable have been the occasions on which the borders were crossed with hostile 

 intent. The Scotch Lowlanders, reinforced by Highland clans, frequently invaded 

 Northern England, and on one occasion, in 1403, they advanced as far as Shrews- 

 bury, in the valley of the Severn. The English, on their side, being more 

 numerous, succeeded several times in conquering Scotland, and frequently laid 

 waste the fertile fields of the isthmus. The natural advantages which that part of 

 Scotland enjoyed in time of peace, its wealth acquired by the commerce carried 

 on through its firths, and its fertile and well-cultivated soil naturally invited 

 invaders from the south. 



The Cheviot Hills, which form the central portion of the Anglo-Scotch 

 frontier, are not very elevated ; but as their summits, owing to the severe 

 climate, remain covered with snow for several months during the year, they 

 form a substantial obstacle, and communication between their two sIojdcs is 

 difiicult. 



The Louther Hills lie within a belt of Silurian rocks which extends obliquely 

 across Southern Scotland from the shores of the Irish Sea to the German Ocean. 

 Within this same belt, but farther towards the south-west, and in the midst of a 

 desolate region of crags, gullies, and lakes, rises one of the most elevated hills 

 of this district, the Merrick (2,764 feet). A rugged upland stretches north- 

 eastward from the Louther Hills, and connects them with the Moorfoot (2,136 feet) 

 and Lammermuir Hills (1,722 feet), the spurs of which extend to the seashore. 

 A second range of hills, less elevated and formed of more recent rocks, runs parallel 

 with the main range, and sinks down to the level country of the Clyde and Forth. 

 In a remote geological epoch, whilst the old red sandstone and the carboniferous 

 strata were being deposited in the sea which then covered Scotland, numerous 

 active volcanoes rose above the surface of the water. These volcanoes account for 



