S E L 



S E L 



fine poem by Mr. Cowper, with which all our readers are 

 no doubt well acquainted. Biog. Brit. 



Selkirk, in Geography, a royal borough town, and a 

 parifh, in the county of Selkirk, Scotland. It derived its 

 name from the Celtic word Scheleckgrcch, which fignifies 

 the kirk hi the wood ; expreffing thus in one word the fitua- 

 tion of the place itfelf, and the Itate ;)f the furrounding 

 country, wiiicli in former times was one continued foreit. 

 From the circumdance of its being placed on the lummitof 

 a conliderable eminence, Selkirk enjoys an extenfive pro- 

 fpett in all diredions, efpecially up and down the river 

 Ettrick. The inhabitants boail greatly of the fpirit dif- 

 played by their anceftor? at the celebrated battle of Floddon. 

 Of a hundred citizens of Selkirk, who followed the fortune 

 of their prince on that occafion, it appears that feveral fur- 

 vived the conteft, and even carried oft fome fpoils and 

 trophies. The Englilh, in refentracnt, reduced their town 

 to afhes. But, on the other hand, king James V. granted 

 to them a thoufand acres of the forell ; the trees for re- 

 building their houfes ; and the property as the reward of 

 their heroifm. Thefe borough lands are now worth about 

 1500/. per annum, and are divided into a great number of 

 fmall properties ; a circumllmce which tends to damp that 

 fpirit for commerce and nianufaftures, by which the in- 

 habitants of towns are in general dillinguidied. On the 

 day on which the magillratea annually furvey this trad, a 

 ftandard, taken from the Englifh in the iield of Floddon, is 

 carried before the corporation of weavers, a member of 

 which was the captor. It may be added, that the fword 

 of William Brydon, the town clerk, who led the citizens to 

 the battle, and who is laid to have been knighted for his 

 valour, is ilill in tiie pofleflion of a citizen of Selkirk, his 

 lineal defcendant. 



Selkirk has a weekly market held on Tuefday, and fix 

 annual fairs ; two in March, and one in July, Auguft, Oc- 

 tober, and December. As a royal borough, it unites with 

 Lanark, LinUthgow, and Peebles, in fending one member 

 to parliament. The corporation coniilts of two bailies, 

 a dean of guild, treafurer, and ten counfellors, and poUefles 

 a revenue of about 300/. per annum, drawn fronTthat por- 

 tion of the borough lands which has not been alienated in 

 fee to private individuals. The parifh, which is about ten 

 miles fquare in extent, lies partly in Selkn-kfhire and partly 

 in Roxburghftiire ; and, according to the parhamentary re- 

 turns of 181 1, contains 440 houfes, and a population of 

 2466 perfons, of whom about looo are refident within the 

 borough. 



The principal objed of intereil in this vicinity is Newark 

 caftle, fituated on a peninfula, formed by the ftream of 

 Yarrow, which has here cut its turbid courfe through a 

 deep gulf of rugged rocks, enveloped in wood, and pre- 

 fenting a molt " fantaitically wild fcene of grandeur and 

 beauty." The caftle is now a ruin, but enough of it yet 

 remauis to evince its ancient ftrength and importance. It 

 is generally fuppoled to have been the birth-place of Mary 

 Scot, the flower of Yarrow. Beauties of Scotland, vol. ii. 

 8vo. 1805. Statiltical Account of Scotland, by Sir John 

 Sinclair, vol. ii. 1792. 



SELKIRKSHIRE, one of the fouthern counties of 

 Scotland, is fituated between 55° 22' and 55° 43' N. lat. 

 and between 2° 50' and 3''- 20' W. long, from the meridian 

 of Greenwich. It is bounded on the W. by the county of 

 Dumfries ; on the E. by Mid-Lothian and Roxburghfhire ; 

 on the S. by the county laft mentioned ; and on the N. by 

 that of Peebles. Its greateft length, from the fource of 

 Ettrick water to the jundiou of Gala and Tweed, is 27 

 miles, and its greateil breadth from Borthwick brae to Glen- 



faxburn, about 17 miles. Taking, at a medium, 20 miles 

 for its length, and 12 for its breadth, its contents may 

 be calculated at about 240 fquare miles, or 153,600 acres. 

 The proportion of arable land adually occupied in huf- 

 bandry maybe computed at about 6880 Scotch acres. 



General A/pea of the County. — With the exception of a 

 few vallies, the whole of Selkirkfhire is mountainous, and 

 prefents elevations of confiderable height, Meade, in the 

 parifh of Galaihiels, being 1480 feet above the level of the 

 fea. In the parifh of Ettrick, the molt remarkable hills 

 are the Ward Law and Ettrick Penn : the former rifes lOOO 

 feet above the level of the fea, the latter 2200. In the 

 parifh of Yarrow, the hills are in general fteep and tower- 

 ing : the moit remarkable are thofe called " Blackhoufe 

 heights." The higheft point of elevation above the level ot 

 the fea meafures 2370 feet. For the moft part, the moun- 

 tains exhibit a green appearance ; though upon fome few 

 there is a confiderable quantity of heath. Toward the 

 fource of the waters of this county, that is, on its weltern 

 extremity, the hills are more green, and are covered with 

 long coarfe grafs. Towards their jundion with the Tweed 

 they have a greater mixture of heath, and the grafs is 

 (horter. On the north fide of the Tweed, fome of the hills 

 are covered with loofc Hones, but none of them are very 

 rugged or barren of herbage, or interrupted by mofTes. 

 Bordering on Minchmoor, over which was the old road 

 from Peebles to Selkirk, their afpeft is bleak and barren, 

 and forms a itriking contralt with the green hills on the op- 

 pofitc fides of the Yarrow and the Tweed. 



Rivers and Lakes. — The Tweed, Ettrick, and Yarrow, 

 flow through this county. The Tweed enters it near the 

 ancient feat of Elibank, and flows through it for nearly 

 ten miles, along a well-cultivated and fertile but narrow 

 valley. At the ealtern corner of the county it receives the 

 Gala, a fmall water, which rifes in Mid-Lothian, and 

 which forms the boundary of Selkirkfliire for five miles. 

 Yarrow water rifes near the weitern extremity of the county, 

 and flowing through the Loch of Lows, and St. Mary's 

 Loch, augmented by many fmaller waters, joins the Ettrick 

 about a mile above Selkirk. From the nature of its 

 fource, lochs, and from the circumlcance of its receiving 

 in its courfe many additional ftreams from the hill.^, the Yar- 

 row, in time of high winds and rain, is rapidly flooded, and 

 rendered impaffable ; but, from its rapid defcent, it as rapidly 

 fubfides. 



The Ettrick alfo takes its rife in the wettern angle of the 

 foreft, and running in an almoft parallel diredion with the 

 Yarrow, unites with it about a mile above ; they fall into 

 the Tweed three miles below Selkirk, after a courfe of 30 

 miles. Thele waters, as they pafs through this county, 

 form many beautiful windings. Near their fource they are 

 hemmed in on each fide by high towering hills ; but as they 

 approach their confluence with the Tweed, the expanfe be- 

 tween the hills becomes wider and more open ; and they flow 

 tlirough fertile vallies, in a broader channel, with a lefs rapid 

 ftream. For a confiderable way above their jundion, they 

 are finely fringed with natural and artificial wood ; but 

 the extenfive torefts which once beautified and adorned 

 their banks, and from which the country obtained the ap- 

 pellation of Ettrick fore/}, are now almoft entirely deftroyed. 

 Every ftream abounds with trout ; and for a confiderable 

 way up the Ettrick and Yarrow, falmon are caught in large 

 quantities. Ale water takes its rife from the Kingfmoor loch, 

 but only runs in this county for a fhort way ; in fome 

 places palTing out of it into Teviotdale, and in others form- 

 ing its boundary. Borthwick water alfo conftitutes part of 

 its boundary. The hills are every where interfededby fmall 



Itreami 



