ETTRICK, or Etterick, a parish, in the county of Selkirk, 18| miles (S. W.) from Selkirk; containing 525 inhabitants. The name, of uncertain origin, is supposed by some to be in the Gaelic language descriptive of the river on which Ettrick is situated. The parish is about ten miles in length, and nearly of equal breadth in the widest part, and comprises 43,96s acres, of which 217 are arable, 120 meadow, 270 in woods and plantations, 150 water, and the remainder pasture. Its surface is broken by numerous hills, some of which are of mountainous height, and all covered with verdure from their base to their summit, with the exception only of a few whose brows and summits of heath add to the variety and beauty of the landscape. Ettrick or Eskdale Pen, the highest of these mountains, has an elevation of 2200, Wardlaw of 1980, and Old Ettrick hill of ISOO feet above the level of the sea. The chief river is the Ettrick, which rises on the south side of a mountainous ridge, between Loch-fell and Capel-fell, and in its progress through the parish receives numerous streams descending from the heights. It generally flows with an equable and tranquil current, but when swollen by continued rains, it acquires the impetuosity of a torrent, and, frequently bursting its banks, inundates the adjacent lands. After leaving the parish, it pursues a north-eastern direction, and falls into the Tweed near Abbotsford. The Timah, a small rivulet, has its source in the hills on the confines of the parish of Eskdalerauir, and after a course of about six miles through this parish, falls into the Ettrick near the church. The Rankleburn, also a small rivulet, rises near the source of the Timah, and joins the Ettrick not far from the ruins of the castle of Tushielaw. These streams abound with trout; and in the Ettrick, salmon and seatrout are found in the ordinary seasons. The SOIL is very various; on the summits of the hills, a deep moss; on the slopes, a mossy gravel; on the low lands, a rich alluvial deposit, and in general fertile. The crops are oats and barley, with potatoes and turnips: the system of agriculture is improved; the lands have been drained and partially inclosed, and the farm-buildings are commodious and well built. The principal attention, however, is paid to the rearing and pasture of flocks of sheep; the Cheviot breed of sheep has altogether superseded the old black-faced kind, and the average number at present pastured in the parish may be taken at about 26,000. Recently, Highland Kyloe cattle have been introduced on some of the farms; they eat the refuse of the pastures, and render them more fertile: the milch-cows are all of the short-horned and Ayrshire breeds. On the whole, about 400 head of black-cattle are pastured. A due degree of attention to the improvement of live stock has been e.xcited by the Pastoral Society, instituted in 1818, under the patronage of the late William John, Lord Napier, and which holds one of its yearly meetings here. The annual value of real property in Ettrick is £7844. Though formerly part of an extensive forest, there is very little old timber in the parish; the chief trees are the mountain and common ash, birch, alder, willow, and thorn. The plantations, which are of comparatively recent formation, consist of Scotch and spruce firs and larch, intermixed with the various kinds of forest-trees; they are well managed, and in a flourishing condition. The principal substrata are greywacke and clayslate, of which the rocks are mostly formed. A nodule of antimony was once found in the channel of a burn, near the source of the Ettrick; but after diligent search, no further appearance of it could be ascertained. Pyrites of iron has been also discovered occasionally; and near the loch of the Lowes, which borders on the parish, is a black rock of glossy appearance, supposed to consist of aluminous slate. Thirlstane, the seat of Lord Napier, is a handsome mansion of modern erection, situated in a romantic and deeply-sequestered spot. Facility of communication is afforded by excellent roads, which traverse the parish for an extent of thirty miles, opening up an easy intercourse between its most distant parts and with the neighbouring towns. All of them were constructed, and brought to their present state of perfection, under the persevering efforts of the late Lord Napier, to whom the parish is deeply indebted for its present improved condition, and by whose liberality numerous pleasing and comfortable cottages have been spread over a tract of land previously Lttle better than a dreary desert. Fairs are held at the end of March, for the sale of ewes and the hiring of farmservants and shepherds; at the end of July, for lambs and wool, and the transaction of general business; at the end of September, for draft ewes, young lambs, and fat sheep; and in November, for fat sheep for the markets. The September fair is the most numerously attended: as many as 9000 head of stock have been exposed for sale at it. There is a small prison for the temporary confinement of offenders, called the " Round House", near the ground where the fairs are held. Ettrick is ecclesiastically in the presbytery of Selkirk, synod of Merse and Teviotdale, and in the patronage of Lord Napier; the minister's stipend is about £228, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £28 per annum. The church, situated nearly in the centre of the parish, was rebuilt upon a larger scale in 1824; it is a neat and handsome edifice, adapted for a congregation of about 450 persons. The parochial school affords a liberal course of instruction; the master has a salary of £34. 4. 4. per annum, with £15 fees, and a house and garden. A parochial library, now containing more than SOO volumes, has been maintained by subscription and donations, to which the Napier family have largely contributed; and a Bible and Missionary Society is also supported here, under the patronage of Lord Napier. In the retired valley of the Rankleburn, which is inclosed with lofty and precipitous hills, are two farm-steads called the Buccteuchs, that give the family of Scott their ducal title; and in a deep ravine leading from them to the Hawick road, is the spot where the buck was killed, from which circumstance the name of these lands is said to have been derived. About a mile from the farm, and on the bank of the burn, may still be traced the foundations and part of the walls of the church or chapel of Buccleuch. On the road on the banks of the Ettrick are the ruins of the ancient castle of Tushielaw, formerly the stronghold of the Scott family, noted for their predatory excursions in the neighbourhood, and of whom two individuals were convicted in the reign of James V. of exacting black mail, one being hanged on a tree near the gate of his castle, and the other beheaded at Edinburgh, and his head fixed on the Tolbooth. About two miles from this spot are the remains of the ancient baronial castle of Thirlstane, surrounded by some ash-trees of very ancient growth; and on the opposite bank of the Ettrick are the ruins of the castle of Gamescleuch, the residence of a branch of the family of Scott of Thirlstane. On the farm of Kirkhope may be traced the boundaries of a cemetery formerly belonging to some church or chapel of which there are no vestiges remaining; and near the farm of Chapelhope are the site and foundations of another church or chapel, with a cemetery attached. An ancient tripod and two stone hatchets were found some years since, and are now in the possession of Lord Napier. About a quarter of a mile from the church till lately stood a house with a gable end, fronting the road, in which James Hogg, the Ettrick Shephtrd, was born: his remains rest in the churchyard. Alexander Cunningham, minister to the state of Venice in the reign of George L, and author of a History of Great Britain from the Revolution in 1688 till the Accession of George I., written in Latin, and long after his decease translated into English, and published, in 178", by Dr. WiUiam Thomson, was born here during the incumbency of his father. Boston, author of the Fourfold State, was minister of Ettrick from 1707 to 1732.