Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/434

Rh SELKIRKSHIRE. 422 SELKLEY. independent county. In 1503 the hereditary sheriffdom was granted to Murray of Falahill, whose descendants held it till the ahplition of hereditary jurisdictions. During the desolating wars of the succession the land was denuded of its natural woods, and the arable land, once very productive, became comparatively sterile. Agricultural vigour, accompanied by any considerable amelioration in the condition of the population, did not revive till near the middle of the 18th century, and even modern plantations and improvements have failed to produce the like change on the solitudes and general aspects of Selkirkshire as in other parts of Scotland. Yet everywhere the signs of progress are observable, chiefly through the extension of the plantations and drainage of the soil. Scotch firs were formerly the favourite trees, but where the land is drained or naturally dry, oak, ash, elm, beech, and plane flourish, interspersed with larch, birch, spruce firs, and alder. The indigenous wood is chiefly oak, ash, birch, hazel, mountain ash, and hawthorn. The oak is valuable on account of its bark, which forms a staple article of export. Though situated in the centre of the southern highlands, the elevation of the land varies from 280 to 800 feet above sea-level, averaging probably 500 feet, or only about one-half of the altitude of the vale of Badenoch-on-the- Spey. The surface is hilly, and in many parts moun- tainous, the summits rising upwards of 2,000 feet above sea-level : the highest peaks are Windlestrawlaw, near the northern border ; Blackhouse-Hill, Minchmoor, on the borders of Peeblesshire ; Ettrick-pen on the south- western border; and Lawkness, Hangingshaw-law, "Wardlaw, Peat-law, Throe-Brethren-Cairn, Black- Andrew-Hill, Old-Ettrick-Hill, with many others, varying from 1,000 to 2,000 feet. The principal rivers are the Tweed, which enters the county from Peebles- shire, and crossing the northern extremity from W. to E., during a course of 9 miles, passes on to Rox- burghshire. The Ettrick, which formerly gave name to the county, rises near the S.W. border, and after a course of 30 miles joins the Tweed on its right bank ; the YaiTOw rises at a place called Yarrow Cleugh, near the source of the Moffat Water in Dumfriesshire, and entering the county from the W., after a course of 20 miles, joins the Ettrick a little above Selkirk. The Gala cannot be esteemed a river of this county, having the greater part of its course in Edinburgh and Roxburgh shires, but enters the county on the N., and flowing for a few miles in a south-easterly direction, joins the Tweed on its left bank. A thousand rills and burns run to the Ettrick and Yarrow, all abounding in salmon, trout, barbel, and other fish. The county has numerous small lochs stored with pike, perch, and trout, but the only two of any considerable size are St. Mary's Loch and the Loch of the Lowes, both formed by the Yarrow water. The surface rises towards the W. and S.W., which gives to all the princi- pal streams a north-easterly direction. The only strip of level ground extends along the eastern border; all the rest of the county is a congeries of hills, round topped and green to the summits, but rising one above another in endless series, only intersected by gulleys, glens, and narrow vales. The greater portion of the uplands is covered with a short sweet herbage, affording good pas- turage, but some portions are clothed in heath, and a considerable tract in the S.E., extending between Borthwick and Ettrick Waters, is an unprofitable moss, consisting of bog, moorland, and mountain tarn. The proportion of tillage is small, being entirely confined to the lowlands along the river banks, and the narrow but fertile glens where wheat, barley, oats, turnips, potatoes, and clover, are easily raised and yield well by a proper rotation of crops. The climate is humid, but the soil light and dry, and the harvest comparatively early. According to the statistics presented to the Board of Trade in 1855 by the Highland and Agricultural Society, the distribution of the land with reference to crops was as follows: 2,964 acres under oats, 677 under barley, 116j under wheat, 196 under potatoes, 1,940 under turnips, 32 under pease, 49 under vetches, 103 in bare fallow, and fi,048 under grass and hay in the course of the rotation of the farm. The number of live stock comprised 468 farm horses of all ages, 122 other horses, 1,012 bovine cattle, besides 697 milch cows, and 444 calves, 79,135 sheep for breeding, 3,577 for feeding, 62,396 lambs, and 322 swine. The total number of proprietors on the new valuation rolls is 498, and the number qualified to be commissioners of supply is 87. The old valued rent was 6,692, but the new valuation for 1861, including the burgh of Selkirk, was 65,069. As seen by the above quoted returns Selkirk is pre- eminently a pastoral county, and considerable attention has been paid to breeding. The cattle are chiefly of the Teeswater short-horned breed, but many Highland cattle are grazed on the hills. The most prized varieties of sheep are the Cheviot and Leicester, but the black-faced sheep are found to thrive best on the upland pasturages. The houses of the tenants and other farm buildings have within the last half century been mostly rebuilt in better situations and more comfortable style. The roads have also been improved, and a branch line of railway con- structed from Selkirk to Galashiels in connection with the North British line. Of minerals, none of the more useful, as coal, lime, and sandstone have yet been found in sufficient quantities to repay working. The prevail- ing rocks form one large high bed of greywacke and clayslate, with porphyry and granite in parts, and abundance of shell marl, which last was formerly exten- sively employed for agricultural purposes. There are quarries of whinstone and granite. The only manufac- tures are carried on at Selkirk and Galashiels, and com- prise woollen tweeds, blankets, and flannels, hosiery and shoes, together with the tanning of leather and the dressing of sheep and lamb skins ; a few persons are also employed as weavers and dyers. The population in 1851 was 9,809, inhabiting 1,331 houses, and in 1861 10,449, with 1,466 inhabited houses. Selkirkshire returns one member to parliament for the county, including the county town of Selkirk. The parliamentary constituency in 1860 was 394. It is governed by a lord-lieutenant, vice-lieutenant, sheriff, and sheriffs substitute, assisted by twelve deputy lieutenants and other officers. The county contains three entire parishes and parts of seven others, constituting a presbytery in the synod of Merso and Teviotdale. The only towns are Selkirk and Galashiels, the former a royal burgh, and the latter a burgh of barony, also about fifteen vils. and hmlts. The principal seats are Thirlestaue Castle, of Lord Napier, with its old tower, in which the " Flower of Yarrow " was born ; Bowhill, of the Duke of Buceleuch ; Elibank, of Lord Elibank ; Ashiesteel, celebrated as the place where Sir Walter Scott wrote the " Lady of the Lake" and "Marmion;" Newhall, of Sir J. Pringle, Bart. ; Holylee, of the Ballantynes ; Philiphaugh, of the Murrays, close to the spot where General Leslie defeated Jlontrose in 1645 ; Gala House, of the Scotts ; Hanging- shaw, of the Johnstones ; Todrig, of the Potts ; and Et- trick Hall of the Pattersons. There are besides many ruined castles, including Tushielaw Tower, once the stronghold of Adam Scott, " king of the border ; " Oak- wood Tower, where the famous reputed wizard, Sir Michael Scott, resided ; Newark Castle, where Sir Walter Scott makes his " Last Minstrel" tell his " Lay " to Anne Duchess of Monmouth, who was born in it ; Oldwark, once a hunting seat of the kings of Scotland ; Foulshiels, now a farm, where Mungo Park, the African traveller, was born ; and the village of Ettrick, famed as the birth- place of Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd. There are also a few British and Roman remains, including the Africa camp at Roberton, the Catrail mentioned above, two camps in the parish of Galashiels, traces of a Roman road, and several bill forts near the S.E. border. SELKLEY, a hund. in the co. of Wilts, contains the town of Marlborough, and the pars, of Aldbourn, Ave- bury, Broad Hinton, East Kennet, Mildenhall, Og- bourne, Preshute, North Savernake, Winterbourne- Bassett, Winterbourne-Monkton, and parts of Hillmar- ton and Overton, comprising an area of 47,100 acres, exclusive of Marlborough.