Anniversary Address, 51 



grounds, indeed, are of a charming description. Naturally very 

 undulated, and showing- many broken outlines, successive pro- 

 prietors during last century, and the early part of the present, 

 were at great cost, and displayed good taste in beautifying them. 

 In spring, when the trees around the Loch present their varied 

 tints of green, or in autumn, when rich browns and golden yellows 

 pervade the masses of foliage, the house makes a pretty picture 

 with its row of white statues on the terrace gleaming in the sun, 

 and numberless water-fowl, wild and tame, disporting themselves 

 on the green slopes, and on the surface of the water. On occa- 

 sion of our visit the weather was not of a nature to bring out all 

 the charms of The Haining. The sun refused to shine ; the 

 clouds lowered, if they did not send down their contents on our 

 forenoon walk ; and passing gusts brought showers of leaves 

 to our feet, reminding us that the glory of the woods was past. 

 Enough was seen, however, to call forth the admiration of the 

 party, and to make them wish their visit had been paid at an 

 earlier period of the year, and that they had formed acquaintance 

 with Haining in its full summer or autumn beauty. 



When Haining first comes within the range of documentary 

 evidence, it appears as a demesne attached to the Castle of Sel- 

 kirk, the site of which is on a wooded knoll between the present 

 house and the highest part of old Selkirk, now known as Castle 

 Street. No vestige of the Castle remains. '^- At a very early 

 period Haining was granted by the King in tack to the Constable 

 of the Castle. In the end of the 15th century it was in the 

 possession of a Scott, a member of the Buccleuch family. Then 

 in succession it appears to have become the property of the 

 Murrays of Falahill and Philiphaugh ; again of the Scotts ; and 

 then of the Eiddells of Eiddell. The last proprietor of the name 

 of Eiddell was notable as a persecutor of the Covenanters. After 

 his death Haining passed by purchase to the Pringles of Clifton, 

 of whom the present proprietress, Mrs Pringle Pattison, is the 

 representative. The Pringles of Clifton and Haining, a branch 

 of the Pringles of Galashiels and Smailholm, were a family which 

 produced many men of ability and public spirit. For several 

 generations the head of the family represented Selkirkshire in 

 Parliament ; and during last century two of the lairds of Haining 



* For many of the antiquarian details in this report I am indebted to 

 T. Craig-Brown, Esq., Selkirk, who has a County History of Selkirkshire 

 nearly ready for publication. 



