98 On Bonchester, Rule Water. By Walter Deans. 



the cottages were constructed, a complete waste covered with 

 whin and broom ; but the proprietor by granting the allotments 

 at a low rental, enabled the occupants to improve the land to 

 advantage. Among the first indwellers there, were Gilbert Boa, 

 mason ; William Laidlaw, road-contractor ; and George Steven- 

 son, blacksmith. The cottages were at first thatched with broom, 

 an article which at that time greatly abounded in the parish, but 

 they now participate in the advancements of recent times, and the 

 proprietor, Mr Tancred of Weens, has added much to their 

 amelioration and comfort. 



St James's flood, which happened on the 9th of August, 1806, 

 wrought much havoc through Teviotdale, and nowhere was the 

 flood more severely felt than at Bridge-end. The inmates escaped 

 with their lives, but much of their property was swept away. 

 The haugh which had cost them so much labour and charge to 

 improve was again rendered a waste of gravel. Shortly after 

 this disaster, a byre belonging to one of the indwellers took fire, 

 and a horse and a cow were burned to death. On the 29th July, 

 1846, exactly 40 years after the former flood, an immense deluge 

 accompanied by fearful lightnings and thunder swept down the 

 Rule valley. The river rose from ten to twelve feet above its 

 ordinary level, and according to the testimony of the older in- 

 habitants, the Rule was higher than at the flood of 1806. Large 

 trees were floated past. Much damage was done at Bridge-end, 

 as the water in front of the cottages rose to a height of five feet. 

 The aged inmates were borne to places of safety on the backs of 

 the young and sturdy. Several people dated their decline in life 

 to what they endured on that dismal night. The flood was at its 

 greatest height at midnight, and as the morning dawned, the 

 disasters were revealed. Thomas Boa and William Dun were 

 the only individuals who had stuck to their houses ; all the rest 

 had fled. Hobsburn stone bridge was entirely swept away, as 

 were many other in the district. Many curious details are still 

 preserved by the old people of what happened on that dreadful 

 night. 



Bonchester is now the stamped title of the local Post-office, 

 where a considerable amount of postal business is transacted ; 

 and a Money Order Office and Savings Bank have been estab- 

 lished, to the great convenience of the district. Few places in 

 the South of Scotland can vie with Bonchester Bridge for romantic 

 scenery. The banks and braes of the Rule are covered to the 





