REPORT OF MEETINGS FOR 1908 257 



position was secure, except from the East. The natural 

 strength of the place was alluded to by one of the Homes 

 of Wedderburn, who once garrisoned it, when he wrote — 

 " With the mills below, and water plenty, we set all enemies 

 at defiance." The water here alluded to could hardly have 

 been the river, access to which might have been cut off by 

 enemies, but that of the Castle well, discovered some time 

 during last century, which perforates the solid rock for a 

 considerable depth, but not necessarily, as has been supposed, 

 as far down as the level of the river, because, to judge from 

 the number of springs in the neighbourhood, the Tuedian 

 sandstone through which the well perforates, is probably 

 charged with water at no very great distance from the 

 surface. As one may see, the lower part of the well is now 

 choked with stones and rubbish. It is said to have been 

 built up formerly to the level of the Castle above. The 

 mediceval name of Edrington Castle in Anglo-Scottish confer- 

 ences was Caw Mills — sometimes spelt with a 

 Cawe terminal e— under which designation we gener- 



Mills. ally find it described and alluded to in history, 



on the ground, as may be conjectured, that the 

 flour mills which are situated at the foot of the Castle were 

 considered as the most valuable asset of the property, and 

 lent their name to the whole of it. The etymology of the 

 name is obvious, the Scottish verb "to caw" signifying 

 " to drive or impel." The earliest mention of the mills is 

 probably that of 1304, when they are described as being 

 the property of Edward I., from which he received rent; and 

 again in 1335, when Edward III. conveyed the Castle, mill, and 

 lands, then of considerable value, to one William de Pressen. 

 In 1532 they were in Scottish hands, when, it is chronicled, 

 a large force from Berwick besieged a Pele, called Cawe Mills in 

 Scotland, outside Berwick, "which yielded after a long defence." 

 The record continues: — "These Cawe Mills have ever been a 

 den of thieves, and a great enemy to the town of Berwick, 

 often stealing their sheep, so if the king (Henry YIII.) doth 

 not approve of repairing them, they ought to be cast down 

 to the ground, and the stones thrown into the Whittetarre 

 water that runneth into the Tweed under the same Cawe 

 Mills." Again in 1553, it was reported that negotiations 



