Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/188

Rh PEEBLESSHIRE. 176 PELDON. the whole surface of the county was distributed timong eighty-eight landed proprietors, twenty-four of whom had a Scotch valuation not exceeding 60, and only seven a valuation exceeding 6,000. According to the old Scotch valuation of 1674, this rental was 51,937, but according to the new Valuation Act as ascertained in 1855, it was 79,484. In the same year the number of occupiers of land paying a rent of 10, or above, was 314, and the aggregate number of acres cultivated by them was 36,436. The staple industry is sheep-farming, there being no fewer than 115,000 sheep, and 61,000 lambs kept, chiefly of the Cheviot and black-faced breeds. There were also iu 1855, the year of the Highland and Agricultural Society's Report, 2,581 milch cows, 1,735 calves, and 3,037 other bovine cattle, besides horses and pigs. Poultry are only reared in such numbers as can find food for themselves about the farm ; and pigeons do not thrive. Kabbits are found wild in the sandy parts of the parish of Liuton, and wild game on the moors, but not in abundance. A few salmon and trout are caught. The climate is sharp, but bracing ; and although the average rain-fall is less than on either the E. or V. coasts, the number of rainy and snowy days is greater. The spring months have often a prevalence of cold east- erly winds, and the winter is very severe, the thermo- meter occasionally registering 14 below zero. Consi- derable damage is also done to vegetation by the frigid mist, or hoar frost, which frequently occurs at the latter end of August, or beginning of September, before the crops are ready for harvesting. The manufactures of Peebles are almost confined to the towns of Peebles and Inverleithen (which see). The whole commerce con- sists in the export of agricultural produce, and the im- portation of such small amount of goods as are required for local consumption. The population slightly declined in the decennial period between 1831 and 1841, but reco- vered itself in 1851, when it amounted to 10,738, and in 1861 had increased to 11,408. The number of inhabited houses in the same period advanced from 1,796 in 1851, to 1,979 in 1861. The only royal burgh in the county is Peebles, the capital, and which, in conjunction with the rest of the county, returns one member to parlia- ment. The parliamentary constituency in 1860 was 427. The principal villages are Innerleithen, Linton, Carlops, Skirling, Broughton, Drummelzier, and Eddie- stone, besides about eighteen hamlets. It is joined with Lothian in giving name to the first synod on the General Assembly's list. Its parochial charges comprise twelve parishes in the presbytery of Peebles, and two in the presbytery of Biggar. Parts of the parishes of Peebles and Innerleithen are within the limits of the adjoining county of Selkirk. Peeblesshire is governed by a lord- lieutenant, vice-lieutenant, convener, sheriff, sheriff's substitute, and eight deputy-lieutenants. The sheriff's court is held at Peebles every Tuesday and Thursday, and the sheriff's small-debts court every Friday. Owing to the impenetrable nature of this mountainous coun- try, the roads are comparatively few in proportion to its extent, but no fewer than eight diverge from the capital, or its immediate vicinity, and in general follow the courses of the principal rivers. The main lines are the two roads from Edinburgh, one by way of Eddlestone and Pennycuick, which traverses the whole length of the county, following the valleys of the Dead-burn, Lyne, and the Upper Tweed, the other by way of Big- gar, which only intersects the north-western portion of the county, and another main line of road from Glasgow and Kelso, which crosses the county in an opposite . direction, following the valleys of the Forth, Lyne, and the Lower Tweed ; also roads to Innerleithen and Dry- hope Tower, on St. Mary's Loch, in Yarrow ; but the part of the county on the right bank of the Tweed is nearly in its primitive state, having only footpaths and mule-tracks, wholly impassable for wheeled carriages. Two lines of railway enter the county, the North British, which follows the vale of the Eddlestone to Peebles, and go to Innerleithen, where it terminates, and a branch of the Caledonian, which branches off at Symington, and passes through Biggar to Peebles. A few of the nobility have seats in this county ; among which are Darnhall, Lord Eli bank ; Haystown and Kingsmeadows, of Hay, Bart. ; Stobo Castle and Whim, of Montgomery, Bart. ; Castle-Craig and Skirling, of Carmichael, Bart. ; Dai- wick, of Naesmyth, Bart.; besides others of the local gentry. PEEL, or HOLM TOWN, a town and small seaport in the par. of St. Germain, Isle of Man, 12 miles W. of Douglas. It is situated on a spacious bay on the western coast of the island. The town, which was once of more importance than at present, is an irregularly built place stretching along the shore. It contains a small church dedicated to St. Peter. The commerce has declined, and the harbour and pier are now utterly neglected. There is, however, a prolific fishery in the bay, chiefly of red cod and herrings, and in the neighbourhood slate is quarried. About a hundred yards N. of the town, and divided from it by a narrow channel which is very shallow at low water, is a small rocky island, on which stand Peel Castle and two ruined churches; the one dedicated to St. Germain, the first bishop of the island, was built in 1245, and has at the eastern end a dungeon formerly used as the ecclesiastical prison ; the other church was dedicated to St. Patrick, and has, nearly adjoining it, the bishop's palace, the lord's mansion, and the armoury. The ruined walls of the old castle are flanked by towers said to have been built at the com- mencement of the 16th century by Thomas Earl of Derby, and enclose an area of about 2 acres. In this castle was confined Eleanor Cobham, wife of Humphrey Duke of Gloueester, Lord Protector in the minority of Henry VI., who had been convicted of conspiring against the government, and practising the arts of sor- cery, and whoso spirit in the form of the " Moddey Doo," or spectre hound, is asserted by the ignorant still to haunt the ruins. About 3 miles eastward of the town is the Tynwald Hill, an artificial mound, the summit of which is approached by a flight of steps fronting the ancient chapel of St. John the Baptist, which was re- built about 1800, hut is only used on the 5th July, the day of the promulgation of the local enactments or insular laws, hence called the Acts of Tynwald. Below the summit of the hill are three circular seats for the different orders or classes of the people, and above was anciently placed the chair of state for the governor of the island, and here Sir John Stanley, as king and lord of Man in 1417, assembled the whole body of the people to witness the first promulgation of the laws. PEELE, a tnshp. in the par. of Tarvin, second div. of the hund. of Eddisbury, co. Chester, 5 miles N.E. of Chester. It forms, in conjunction with Horton, a township. The old mansion of the Whitleys, visited by James II., is now converted into a farmhouse. PEEL FELL, a summit of the Cheviots, on the Scot- tish border, between the counties of Roxburgh and Northumberland. PEEL HATCH, a hmlt. in the par. of Hillingdon, co. Middlesex, 1 mile S.E. of Uxbridge. PEERSTON-JAGLIN. See PURSTON - JAOLIN, co. York. PEFFER, several small streams of this name in cos. Ross and Haddington. PEGSWOOD, or PEGSWORTH, a tnshp. in the par. of Bothal, E. div. of Morpeth ward, co. Northumber-. land, 2 miles N.E. of Morpeth. The village, which is of small extent, is situated near the river Wansbeck. The Morpeth Banks Colliery Company is in this town- ship. PEGWELL, a hmlt. in the par. of St. Lawrence, Isle of Thanet and lathe of St. Augustine, co. Kent, 1 mile S.W. of Ramsgate. It is a coastguard station on Peg- well Bay, and celebrated for its lobsters and shrimps, the latter being potted by the inhabitants to a great extent. Pegwell Cottage is the principal residence, and was formerly the seat of Counsellor Garrow. PEIRSTOUN, an ancient par. in the co. of Ayr, Scotland, now joined to Dreghorn. PELDON, or PELTINGTON, a par. in the hund. of Winstree, co. Essex, 7 miles S. by W. of Colchester,