314 



On the Stature of the Men of Roxburgh and Selkirk 

 Shires. By J. F. Macpherson, late Captain and 

 Adjutant Border Rifles. 



In the sixth volume of the History of the Club (1869-1872) 

 there is a paper, by the late Mr George Tate, "On the 

 Stature, Bulk, and Colour of the Eyes and Hair of Native 

 Northumbrians," towards the conclusion of which the hope is 

 expressed "that some of our Eoxburghshire members will 

 gather materials to illustrate the phj'sical characters of the 

 people of that Border county." It would appear that this 

 appeal has never met with any response, which is to be 

 regretted, the subject being certainly an interesting one. I 

 propose to offer a slight contribution towards the repair of 

 this omission, and the elucidation of what Mr Tate justly 

 calls an important section of Natural History. 



Mr Tate's statistics were derived from returns of the 

 Northumberland Militia and of Yolunteer Corps in the northern 

 part of the county. He gives the average height of 390 

 Militiamen, and the average height and average weight of 

 400 Volunteers, all being "native Northumbrians" between 

 23 and 50 years of age. The results may be summarised 

 thus:— the average height of the whole 790 was 5 feet 7-56 

 inches, and the average weight of the 400 Volunteers 1623 

 lb. (11 stone 9 lb.) But there was a very marked difference 

 in stature between the Militiamen and the Volunteers, the 

 average height of the former being only 5 feet 6-30 inches, 

 while that of the latter was 5 feet 9 05 inches — a difference 

 which is accounted for by the statement that while the 

 Volunteers belonged to the rural distri(;ts of North Northumber- 

 land, "the Militiamen belong chiefly to Newcastle and the 

 other large towns on the Tyne, where they have been reared 

 under conditions unfavourable to physical development." 

 Taking into account, however, the returns of both, Mr Tate 

 says, "We may with some confidence conclude that the 

 average stature of native Northumbrians is fully 5 feet 7^ 

 inches, and this accords with Dr Beddoe's estimate of the 

 average height of Scotsmen, which is nearly an inch higher 

 than that of Englishmen, the former being 5 feet 7J inches, 



