Notes on the Catrail. By Miss Russell. 101 



the whole slope to the Ettrick, as far as the Tweed, which would 

 naturally be the original meaning : — the Long Lee, There is 

 now no road, that can be called such, on this hill, to the east of 

 the bridle-path from Yair to Broadmeadows, but the Act of 1681 

 mentions " the high street to the east of the Peat Law " and a 

 " green rod " there. Gordon implies that the Catrail went by 

 the fort on Sunderland Hall ground, of which a few stones still 

 remain, at a place where four fields meet. 



A former map of Selkirkshire has confused matters much by 

 lajing down as the Catrail a double line of old fail-dyke along 

 the march of Yair and Sunderland Hall, chiefly, now, on the 

 Yair side. It was only after devoting four days to it in different 

 seasons, and in fact taking a great deal of trouble about it, that 

 I became convinced it was nowhere much larger than an ant hill, 

 and had no appearance of ever having been larger ; I then 

 recollected a story of there having been a strip of plantation 

 along the march which was neutral ; by no means probable, but 

 showing there had been such a strip, and of course fenced. 



On the bank of the Tweed, just east of the march, where the 

 Sunderland Hall woods begin, the 6-inch Ordnance map marks 

 a small work turning at an angle, which I have never seen. 

 But on the north bank of the river I have lately detected what 

 must be the Catrail, a long raised bank, as large as a natural 

 ridge, which is the foundation of a hedge running straight down 

 to the river ; there is hardly any haugh or flat ground at this 

 point. The Catrail can be traced above the road running in this 

 direction. It is certainly not to be seen where the Ordnance 

 map brings it down, opposite the Howden Pot Burn. 



I do not see any reason to suppose that either the fragment of 

 the Catrail remaining on a steep bank west of the Eink, or the 

 fort there, have ever been very different from what they are 

 now, a barbarous imitation of the Roman rampart in the mate- 

 rial at hand, loose stones of moderate size, which would be avail- 

 able as missiles at close quarters. The foot or so of dry stone 

 Eoman wall remaining at Castlecary is a neat and solid construc- 

 tion still. I remember a woman telling me she had seen a great 

 many instruments of torture which came out of it (the Eink fort), 

 " and they gaed down to the Shirra," by whom it appeared she 

 meant Sir Walter Scott. That he made no catalogue of his 

 collection has often been regretted. Mr Hardy suggests that the 

 old name of the farm, Langrink, refers to the great ditch and 



