12 THE EASTERN BOKDEllS, 



turesque is the Cove, a little bay surrounded by precipices of 

 above 100 feet in height, and which, by the building of a break- 

 water, &c., has recently been converted into a pretty little harbour 

 for the protection of fishing-boats. So perfectly secluded is this 

 Httle bay, and so unexpected is the scene which almost instan- 

 taneously opens to the view, that it uniformly produces on the 

 mind of the stranger an almost electrical effect of surprise and 

 admiration. A remarkably fine insulated cliff, perforated in the 

 centre by the action of the waves, and another lofty and magni- 

 ficent rock, bearing at a short distance so close a resemblance to 

 an ancient tower or cathedral, as to be very easily mistaken for 

 such in ruins, add greatly to the effect of the other oBjects ; while 

 the extent of ocean beyond, the vessels of every size and descrip- 

 tion entering or leaving the Frith of Forth, and the bold head- 

 lands along the coast, complete a scene of remarkable beauty. 

 Several natural excavations round this little bay have probably 

 given to it the name of the Cove. These have partly been taken 

 advantage of to form a range of cellars in the rocks, and also a 

 road or tunnel of about 60 yards in length, through one of the 

 rocky sides of the bay, affording at high water the only means 

 of access to the shore. 



''Various other very interesting coast scenes might be de- 

 scribed, especially in the neighbourhood of Redheugh, in the 

 eastern part of the parish ; and at a spot named the Siccar Point, 



which may now be said to be almost classic ground It is a 



lofty cape or headland running abruptly into the sea, at the base 

 of which, by a good deal of scrambling, we arrive at a remark- 

 ably fine cavern of considerable height and extent, the roof being 

 covered with very beautiful calcareous stalactitic incrustations, 

 and the entrance being guarded by ranges of cliffs and isolated 

 rocks, producing at high water, and especially when the wind 

 has been for some days in the sea, a very splendid, effect. Both 

 the natural and scientific beauties of this place. Sir John Hall, 

 Bart., the proprietor, has lately rendered more accessible to 

 strangers, by means of a winding footpath along the sides of the 

 steep sea-bank*.'" 



Within and parallel to this sea-board, and often separated 

 from it by a strip of rich alluvial land, there is a broad ridge of 

 very unequal ground extended from Halidon Hill, in the Liber- 

 ties of Berwick, to St. Helen's above the Pease-dene. The 

 greater portion of this ridge is under cultivation, but Lamberton 

 Moor, and the more extensive moor of Coldingham, retain still 

 some portion of their original wildness and barrenness. The 

 Lammermoor Hills may be considered as a continuation of this 

 eastern ridge prolonged from St. Abb's in a westerly direction ; 

 "^ Stat. Ace. Berwickshire, p. 291-2. 



