A VISIT TO AIKENGALL DEAN 273 



Although much rain had fallen for the past week in the 

 Merse, there seems to have been none here. The bed of 

 the ravine was quite dry, except where occasional springs 

 were met with. Two old black cocks were put up in this 

 ravine feeding on the fruit of the Alpine strawberries, which 

 are here abundant. A few grouse were seen on the moors. 

 The meadow pipit, thrush, chaffinch, stonechat, wheatear, 

 and wag-tail were the principal small birds met with, and 

 there was a disappointing want of variety as regards bird 

 life. The physical appearances are undoubtedly the features, 

 which will engage most attention here. The wonderful 

 boulder clay banks, full of water-carried stones, rising in 

 some places to the height of a hundred feet, are very 

 striking. A most remarkable dyke of brown sandstone 

 intersects the lower part of the ravine, in a slanting 

 direction, and no doubt is a continuation of the one we 

 saw in the higher part of the Sheeppath Dean. We came 

 to this conclusion after seeing the first one, and comparing 

 the direction from which we had come. Its definite 

 inclination, both here and at the other dean, led us to this 

 opinion. This dyke is popularly named by the country 

 people "Fairy Castles," and is for itself worth coming all 

 the way from Cockburnspath to see. 



The whole region is classical, having been carefully 

 explored by the late Sir James Hall, Dr Hutton, and 

 Prof. Playfair, as regards its geological features. Many 

 cracks or landslips in the sides of the hills — carried away 

 by melting snow, and named " Steels " with the name of 

 hill prefixed, where they occur — are seen on the hill sides. 

 These names are similar to other Border designations as 

 "Laidlaw Steel," etc. The ravine we are traversing brings 

 the wanderer out at Stottencleugh, a rather painful journey 

 in a warm day for the feet, the loose stones being very 

 uncomfortable to walk over. As we walk downwards, the 

 beautiful wild thyme (Thymus serpyllum), in many shades of 

 pink, delights the eye, covering as it does, as with a carpet, 

 the gravelly and stony bed of the almost dry ravine. The 

 stately foxglove grew on the banks among the ferns further 

 down, in many shades of rich purple. Under a shady rock 

 the golden saxifrage, beech fern (Polypodium phegopteris), 

 jj 



