120 Notices concerning Oxnam Parish. By J. Hardy. 



Christ than of the A.S. thyrstan. Scots people do not saj r that 

 they are thirsty, but that they are dry. Primarily the sanctity of 

 the wells may have arisen from pagan well-worship to which the 

 Anglo-Saxons were prone. The superstitious adoration of foun- 

 tains was forbidden by canons made in the reign of King Edgar, 

 A.D. 960 ; and also in the canons of St Anselm made in 1102. 

 (see Brand, ubi sup., ii., 223.) 



Mr Simson, Courthill, mentioned to me that a Bell was found 

 in his mother's time, in the Oxnam below the Crag-Tower. A 

 silver coin of Eobert Bruce (perhaps a silver penny, but called a 

 shilling) was found at a garden in Newbigging in 1791. (Old 

 Stat. Acct. xi. p. 331, note.) 



At Bloodylaws, to account for the name, there is a myth or 

 tradition of a battle, and a three days' running of the Oxnam red 

 with blood. I cannot find any notice of Bloodylaws Peel and 

 Sike. It is possible that it may be identified with " Sykis." 

 Hall of the Sykis is repeatedly mentioned as a notable Border 

 thief. 



(8). Geological Notes. — Prof. Geilde's Directions. 



" 1 shall very briefly note the Geological points that you may 

 look at along the route you name. At Jedburgh you will 

 remember that the Silurian Greywackes and Shales are seen in 

 the bed of the Jed standing at a high angle. They are disclosed 

 of course owing simply to the denudation of the overlying Sand- 

 stones, Shales, etc., of the Old Eed. In the bed of the river 

 immediately above the Bridge, close to the turnpike toll-bar, you 

 see the conglomeratic Sandstone, etc., that rests directly on the 

 Silurian. The section at Allars Mill is a fine case of unconformity. 

 Passing up the Jed the Old Eed beds are seen in nearly horizon- 

 tal strata all the way to Dovesford, at which place the Silurian 

 comes in. The road by Dolphinston keeps upon Upper Old Eed 

 Sandstone all the way till you reach the Oxnam. But the hills 

 immediately to your right {i.e. east of Ladfielcl and Newbigging 

 Bush) are the Porphyrites of the Lower Old Eed (Cheviot traps). 

 At Swinside Hall you are on the Porphyrites which rest there 

 upon the Silurian. From Swinside, if you cross the Oxnam near 

 Bloodylaws, you will see the Silurian. Walk down that side of the 

 stream to the Eow Hill, and you will see the Old Eed Sandstone 

 faulted down against the Silurian. There is nothing in the 



