350 Mr. Jeffrey on Jedburgh. 



putes which followed the death of Alexander, and having 

 obtained seizin of the kingdom in order that he might give 

 effect to the judgment, committed the castle to the keeping of 

 Laurence de Seymnor, and in the same year it passed into the 

 hands of Brien Fitzallen. In 1295 John Baliol delivered it 

 for security to the Bishop of Carlisle, and the Abbot of New 

 Abbey, while the English king was absent in France. In 

 1297, Sir William Ruthven, the governor of Jedburgh, and 

 Sir Christopher Seton, took it from the English. In 1304 

 Edward was at Jedburgh and the castle again in his hands. 

 After changing hands repeatedly, the commons of Teviotdale 

 rose en masse, took the castle, and razed it to the founda- 

 tions. When the English king possessed the castles of Jed- 

 burgh, Roxburgh, and Hermitage, he commanded the whole 

 country by a chain of forts from the Solway to the German 

 Ocean. 



In the same street with the castle, is 'the house in which 

 the unfortunate Charles Stewart resided on his way to Eng- 

 land in 1T45. It was then the property of Ainslie of Black- 

 hill on the Jed. The family of Ainslie is seen in connection 

 with lands on the Jed, from the beginning of the 13th down 

 to the end of the 17th century. The prince had a number of 

 adherents in Jedburgh. 



At the foot of the Canongate, a fine old bridge with deep 

 ribbed arches spans the river. The date of its erection is un- 

 certain. The style of building and material would lead to the 

 belief that it is coeval with the abbey. 



There are no very old houses in Jedburgh owing to the 

 destruction of the toAvn in the inroads of Surrey, Hertford, 

 Eurie and Laiton. The inhabitants of Jedburgh were well 

 known in Border warfare. Surrey, who knew them well, 

 says they were " the boldest and the hottest " that ever he 

 saw of any nation, and that he could not take the town as 

 long as any portion of it afforded the means of defence to the 

 inhabitants, and even after the town was burned, the defence 

 was continued among the burning ruins. The battle of the 

 Red swyre was among the last of their feats in arms. The 

 weapon which they used in battle was called a staffe, de- 

 scribed as a stout stake shod with iron, the iron being four 

 feet long. 



Jedburgh is famous for its Monastery. The exact time 

 of the first foundation of a religious house has not been ascer- 

 tained with any degree of certainty, but there can be little 

 doubt that a church existed here at a very early period. On 



