A Hill and a Half-Hill Farm. 
397 
the remainder in old grass and hill. Kilham Hill is only 
1200 feet above the sea-level, and barely half the height of 
Cheviot, which rises some 6 miles to the south of it. It is 
what is called " white land," with short green grass, which will 
not make mountain-hay, and is rather benty in its texture above 
500 feet. There is scarcely any heather, but plenty of fern in 
the ravines, which shelters a few grouse, and even partridges may 
be found on the top. The hill is remarkably well watered by 
natural springs, which are cleaned out yearly, as well as by the 
burns at its foot. Hardly three trees are to be found on it, but 
one or two thick thorn hedges steal half-way up, and often help 
to break the storm for the ewes. It looks down on Flodden Field 
in the distance, the site of which is marked by a few fir-trees 
near Marmion's Well, which has been restored by the noble 
mistress of Ford Castle. The scene of the battle is all cultivated 
ground, and if no " battle sheaves " are garnered to tell of that 
bloody day, an old spur or dirk is occasionally turned up by the 
ploughshare. 
Kilham Hill is too good for Cheviots, and hence Mr. Borth- 
wick farms it with a thousand half-bred ewes. Half-breds to 
half-breds has been his system from the first. The germ of his 
ewe-flock is to be found in a careful cross between the Cheviot 
and the Border Leicester, which is kept up annually with gim- 
mers from its own ranks. To use his own expression, " The 
ewe never changes," and on the next hill the ewe-flock of his 
brother, Mr. Charles Borthwick, has gone on ever since 1811. 
In order to keep the blood as pure as possible he has a separate 
flock of forty picked cast Cheviot ewes, to cross with Border 
Leicesters, for the purpose of breeding the half-bred rams. These 
Cheviot dams have been principally selected from the flocks of 
Mr. Elliot of Hindhope, Mr. Wilson of Raeburn, Mr. Sheil 
of Sourhope, and Mr. Shortreed of Attonburn, while the Kelso 
September fair always furnishes 2000 Border Leicester rams for 
choice. The ewes have thi'ee crops of lambs, and the cast, which 
is generally 300 strong, is sold by auction each September, It 
has been Mr. Borthwick's practice for eight years back to have a 
displenishing sale in the autumn, and during the rest of the year 
no sheep stock is sold off the farm. The top ewe lambs out of 
the flock take the place of the cast ewes, and the rest of the ewe 
lambs are sold as gimmers, but kept in an inferior way to the 
wether lambs, which go off as dinmonts. 
The ram begins to run with the ewes on the hill about Gun- 
powder Plot day, and the lambing commences on or about 
April 8th. Nearly two months before lambing time the ewes 
leave the hill, and have turnips on the grass-land below. 
Like the Cheviot breeders, Mr. Borthwick has no wish for 
