FER,NIEHERST CASTLE 205 



road into England it figured in tlie annals of the country 

 as the scene of many disputes, and associated with the 

 neighbouring Royal Burgh of Jedburgh through its owner 

 being frequently elected provost, its lairds and dependants 

 were knit together with the inhabitants of the town in a 

 common bond for mutual protection. Their old war-crv was 

 sufficient to strike terror into the hearts of the iiivaders, 

 and the mighty onslaughts of those who gave utterance 

 to it testified that in their hands the staff was no mean 

 weapon. Many acts of violence and oppression were constantly 

 taking place, and for the just punishment of their authors it 

 was needful that measures should be taken to check them. In 

 October 1602 a general bond was signed at Jedburgh by the 

 King, noblemen, l)arons, landed gentlemen and others, against 

 thieves, murderers and oppressors, in which it was agreed to 

 unite in the use of " 8ic lauchfull and allowable remedis, as 

 God, our honoures and the memorable exemples of oure pre- 

 dicessouris still extant in the recordis for their dayes, craves 

 at oure handis for the repressing of theivis and murtherars 

 within the Heylandis and Bordours." 



The late Lord Lothian, as indeed all the meiubers of his 

 family, had a great afi'ection for the old pile, ai^d when the 

 lease of the farm expired, he intended to restore the house. 

 Considerable progress was made in the work, but from one 

 cause or another it was never completed. The arms of Sir 

 Andrew Kerr and Dame Ann tStewart, his wife, appear above 

 the doorway, as well as the arms of Sir Andrew after he harl 

 been made Lord Jedburgh. For many years tlie C istle was 

 the principal seat of the family, but in its turn it gave place 

 to Ne\vbattlt\ and, at a later date, to Monteviot. From the 

 Castle, which is now standing empty, there runs a wooded path 

 to the riverside, and near by is a spring of cold water, which 

 tiows summer and winter, and may have been o)ie of the 

 water supplies of the garrison. It is known as the " Wine 

 Well." This wooded bank, in its season, is a mass of snow- 

 drops, which grow to perfection in its kindly shelter. At 

 the back of the Castle facing the South is the garden, and 

 on its outskirts are some fine specimens of the Lime tree. 

 In giving a description of them it may be well to quote 

 ]3U 



