74 On Hawick and its Neighbourhood. 



communication of mine to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 

 by Mr. David Milne Home, as far back as the year 1849. 



Antiquities of the Prehistoric Period of the Hawick 

 District. By James Brydon, M.D. 



In prehistoric remains our district is very rich; but the 

 examples are more numerous than varied. " I only know 

 two English neighbourhoods thoroughly," says the Old Boy 

 in his description of Tom Brown's birth-place, " and in each 

 within a circle of five miles there is enough of interest and 

 beauty to last a reasonable man his life." Such a neigh- 

 bourhood is that of Hawick to the archseologist. Within a 

 limit of five miles there are more ancient remains than 

 would occupy, in exploring them, the most assiduous 

 antiquary, not one, but many life-times. As, consequently, 

 this cannot be done in a flying visit such as the present, 

 I shall not confine myself to Thomas Hughes' narrow 

 limits. Our most noteworthy prehistoric antiquities are the 

 Catrail, the Hawick Moat, the British Forts, the Sepulchral 

 Tumuli, and the so-called Druidical Circles. It will be 

 impossible for you to visit all of these, so I shall confine my 

 notice to those most likely to come within the sphere of 

 your observation. 



The Catrail is a structure whose meaning, and even 

 extent, is shrouded in mystery. Its very existence as one 

 continued work has been doubted. While some aver that 

 it commences at Galashiels and runs across the country to 

 the head of North Tyne • others assert that it extends only 

 from Roberton parish to the northern confines of Liddesdale 

 — -that it begins at Henwoodie and ends at Robert's Linn. 

 Its course through the latter part is certainly much more 

 distinctly marked than through the wider range. It 

 consists of a broad ditch with lateral walls on each side. 

 The average width of the ditch at the bottom is from four 

 to five feet, and at the top of the walls, twelve to thirteen 

 feet. The mounds vary much in height, but in many places 

 they are four feet high. The walls are entirely made up of 

 earth and stones, without any appearance of building, and 

 the bottom of the ditch is the natural soil. But the most 

 curious feature in connection with it is that, though it can 



