The late Mr James Watson, Jedburgh. Contributed by 



A. C. MoUNSEY, Jedburgh (at the request of 



the late Dr Hardy.) 



Mr James Watson, the Historian of Jedburgh Abbey, and 

 an Associate Member of this Club, died at Jedburgh, on the 

 13th of April last, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. 



Mr Watson was for many years connected with the 

 periodical press, and devoted much of his time to literary 

 and antiquarian pursuits. In 1859, he edited and published 

 a collection he had made of contemporary Border poems, 

 under the title of "Living Bards of the Border" (Edinburgh: 

 Paton & Ritchie.) This was followed by a well-written and 

 interesting "Guide to Jedburgh," (Jedburgh: Thomas Small), 

 which has superseded all others, and was pronounced by 

 John Bright to be the best book of its kind he had ever 

 met with. In 1877, he gave to the world the first edition 

 of his History of Jedburgh Abbey, under the title of 

 "Jedburgh Abbey: Historical and Descriptive" (Edinburgh: 

 David Douglas), the second edition of which, with large 

 additions, and almost wholly re- written, appeared in 1894 

 (Edinburgh : David Douglas), a valuable work that will 

 always secure for its author an honourable place in Border 

 literature. Mr Watson contributed to the Proceedings of the 

 Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, amongst other communica- 

 tions, a paper on the " Restoration of Jedburgh Abbey," 

 1882, Vol. X., p. 127 ; and a Report of the Meeting at 

 Jedburgh in 1885, Vol. xi., pp. 10 and 23. He also, at 



