422 Meetings of Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, by J. Hardy. 



Wordsworth, and his sister, 18th September, 1803, rested a night, 

 when he would not " turn aside and see the braes of Yarrow ;" 

 and to this circumstance we are indebted for those " unspeakably 

 precious possessions," his memorable series of Yarrow poems. 

 A Mr Garnie was then the innkeeper. Miss Wordsworth 

 describes it, as " a single stone house, without a tree near it or 

 to be seen from it. On our mentioning Mr Scott's name, the 

 woman of the house showed us all possible civility, but her slow- 

 ness was really amusing. I should suppose it is a house little 

 frequented, for there is no appearance of an inn. We dined 

 and drank tea — did not walk out, for there was no temptation ; 

 a confined barren prospect from the window."* It is now let as 

 private lodgings by Mr Pringle of Yair, who is the proprietor, to 

 Sir Henry Clavering, who also has Yair fishings taken. 



We now experienced the proverbial " Club weather," and the 

 long line of brown hills between Yarrow and Tweed fronting 

 us, had freed themselves of the morning's mists, and stood un- 

 covered in their brightness. Upwards the dun heights of 

 Thornilie and Elibank rose in solitary grandeur, afar off. As we 

 turn down to Ashiesteel, Tweed winding in a narrow green 

 haugh, proceeded from the bosom of the pastoral hills, and 

 passed away downwards towards more fertile lands ; its banks 

 overhung with stately timber, clumps of wildwood, or broad 

 plantations ; occasionally interrupted by streams of stones, or 

 heathery barren steeps ; or expanding into fair meadows and 

 cultured fields, from which looked out family mansions from 

 sheltered sylvan retreats ; or the homelier farm-steading with its 

 closely clustered harvest stores ; or the lately completed church, 

 and its accompanying school, appearing in the freshness of their 

 masonry, and in their remote situation, like a new settlement far 

 away in an American savannah. Surrounded with, these 

 amenities, we almost forget that close behind, scarcely screened 

 from sight, lie the far extending hill-side wastes, where the 

 tempests often rage fiercely, where the winter snow lies long, 

 and the spring frosts bite keenly. Before arriving at the bridge, 

 Hypericum perforatum asserts its predominance as a Tweedside 

 plant, by its abundance on the roadside slope. Ashiesteel bridge 

 has a single arch, one of the largest of its period. It broke down 

 in the first attempt made here to span the Tweed. 



* Recollections of a Tour in Scotland, pp. 251, 252. 



