_~ Roxburghfhire, 22 miles. 
1800. | 
- 
‘ 
hanging-woods on’each fide, forming al- 
moft a continued vifta, the murmuring 
ftream below, the height of the hills above, 
and the whole beheld under the veil of 
twilight (fuch as it happened to be when 
I pafied), form altogether a folemn {cene. 
Numerous rills are trickling down the 
glens, among the ftones. 
I reach Langholm, and find tolerable 
accommodations at the Salutation inn. I 
found vigtuals more plentiful and {olid, 
than neatly dreffed ; and more honefty than 
ceremony ufed by the mafter and his fer- 
vants. The landlord’s daughter and ferv- 
ant girl a&ted as waiter and chamber- 
maid, and tripped lightly over the carpet 
barefoot. ‘The cuftom of young women 
and children going without fhoes aud ftock+ 
ings is fo prevalent here, that people of 
almoft every defcription adopt it. 
The next morning went to fee the Duke 
of Buccleugh’s feat, about three quarters 
of a mile from this town. It is a {mall, 
neat, modern-built houle, where His 
Grace refides generally about a month or 
fix weeks during the feafon of groufe 
fhooting ; and where he occafionally lodges 
in, his road from- Dalkeith to England. 
The vale is here perfectly level, rather 
{pacious, and compofed of lawns, mea- 
dows, pleafure-grounds, &c. The fur- 
rounding hills are beautifully fmooth, 
{oft and verdant, and their bafes fringed 
with large woods and thriving plantations, 
traverfed in every direCtion by walks, 
which occafionaliy vifit an arbour, grotto, 
&c. 
About an hundred yards from the houfe 
a beautiful wooden arch {prings acrofs a 
{mall river, which runs in a hollow rocky 
channel, —From hence I walked a mileand 
a half up the vale, tothe houfe of Mr. Keir, 
the Duke’s faétor or agent, for the purpofe 
of feeing fome irrigation lately executed 
there, under the direétion of Mr. Stephens, 
a gentleman from Gloucefterfhire. This, 
I am told, is the firft effay of the water- 
ing fyftem in this part of the kingdom ; 
and bids fair to anfwer the moft fanguine 
expectations of the projectors. But many 
of the neighbouring people laugh at the 
{cheme, and confider it a mere whim, 
which will be ofnoreal advantage. How- 
ever, there is no doubt that a little time 
will thew them that irrigation, where prac- 
ticable, is the moft profitable fpecies of 
agricultural improvement. ‘This is .a 
fheep-farming country and the farms are 
very extenfive. 
- IT return to Langholm, and, July 22d. 
left this place, and rode to Hawick, in 
I purfued the 
MONTHLY MAG. NO, 60, 
LToufman’s T our in Scotland, 
541 
courfe of a branch of the Efk towards its 
fource. The vale varies in breadth, is 
generally of a dry, gravelly foil, and 
produces good barley, oats, and clover. 
It is‘cultivated a little up the fkirts of the 
bordering mountains, which are dry green 
hills, and form the fineft fheep-walks. 
Farms are here very extenfive, and almoft 
wholly belong to the Duke of Buccleugh. 
At about five miles and a half from Lang- 
holm, I called on Mr. Henderfon, of Buth, 
on whofe farm fome improvement, by 
watering or flooding land, had lately been 
effected by the Mr. Stephens mentioned 
before. The fubjeét of this operation was 
a mere bed of gravel, which fcarcely pro- 
duced any thing, and which was pointed 
out by the Duke of Buccleugh, as a proper 
place on which to try the experiment, 
whether the effects of irrigation aré fuch ag 
had been reprefented to him. Mr. Ste- 
phens accordingly fet to work ; firft level- 
{ing the ground by filling up hollows, re- 
moving hillocks, &c. and afterwards form- 
ing the work. This being done, the 
water was applied, and the effect is truly 
aftonifhing: a heavy crop of grafs is now 
almoft'teady for cutting, although this is 
the firft year. The expence in this cafe 
was {.5 per acre. Mr. Headerfon now 
fees the great advantage of wate?-mea-~ 
dows, and intends to apply the brook 
which runs through his farm to as much 
of his ground as he poflibly can. Farms 
in this diftriét are very extenfive, compre- 
hending large traéts of the adjoining 
mountains. Mr. Henderfon obferves that 
his is between 7 and 8 miles in circum- 
ference ; and, what feems to me rather a 
fingular opinion, he thinks the hills he oc- 
cupies are too much covered with green 
{ward, and’ would prefer a fmall mixture 
of heath and mofs for depafturing a fheep~ 
ftock. 
Mott of the farm-houfes are pretty well 
built with ftone, and covered with blue 
flate. All'the new cottages are likewife 
neatly erefted with ftone, and covered 
with flate ; but the old cottages, and fome 
farm-houles, are the moft milerable hovels 
that can be conceived :—The wails from 
four to fix feet high: windows very {mall, ’ 
generally with glafs, but fometimes with- 
out: chimnies of a fort of wicker-work 
bound round with ropes of ftraw; and 
I obferved fome where the {moke iffued 
from a mere hole inthe thatch. Nor are 
the generality of thefe wigwanis interiorly 
more inviting: a fod-floor, unplaftered 
walls, mean furniture, and the whele very 
dirty. Whifky and bottled-ale may, how- 
ever, be had. at almoft every turnpike- 
4A coitage 
