LEGERWOOD, a parish, in the county of Berwick,
5| miles (S. E. byE.) from Lauder; containing 5/1 inhabitants.
The name of this place, signifying in the
Saxon " the light or hollow wood," is supposed to have
been derived from the situation of its church in a spot
almost surrounded by woods. At one time, the whole
or part of the lands belonged to the family of Stewart,
to whom they were confirmed by charter of Malcolm IV.,
King of Scotland, in 1160. Legerwood is about six
miles in length and four and a half in breadth, is bounded
on the west by the river Leader, and comprises 8430
acres; 3470 acres are arable, ISOO meadow and pasture,
400 woodland and plantations, and the remainder moorland
and hill pasture. The surface is generally elevated,
and is traversed in the northern part by three ridges of
hills, of which the highest. Boon Hill, is nearly 1100
feet above the level of the sea; in the southern part is
also a hill of considerable elevation, rising by a gentle
acclivity from the east. The scenery is diversified with
valleys, and enriched with woods of ancient growth, and
thriving plantations. The Eden, a rivulet which has its
source in the Boon Hill, pursues a winding course through
the parish, and falls into the Tweed below Newton-Don.
Numerous smaller streams, tributaries to the Leader and
the Eden, rise in the higher grounds, and in parts of
their course exhibit some very pleasing scenery; and
there are also many springs, affording an excellent supply
of water. A lake of consideralile extent, on the laniis of
Corsbie, has been drained, and partly converted into
meadow land.
The SOIL is very various in different parts of the
parish, but upon the whole is tolerably fertile, and, under
good management, jjroduces favourable crops of oats,
barley, beans, potatoes, and turnips. The system of
agriculture is in an advanced state, and the five-shift
rotation generally practised; the lands are drained and
inclosed; the farm houses and offices are substantial and
well arranged, and all the more recent improvements
in implements have been adopted. Much attention is
paid to live stock, and considerable numbers of sheep
and cattle are pastured; the sheep are of the Leicestershire
and Cheviot breeds, with an occasional cross between
the two, and the cattle chiefly the short-horned.
The little natural wood consists of oak, ash, alder, birch,
and hazel: the plantations are larch, spruce, and Scotch
firs, with a small proportion of hard-wood; they are
well managed, and appear to be in a flourishing state. In
this parish the substrata are mainly sandstone of the
secondary formation, grcywacke, and greywacke-slate.
Small portions of copper-ore have been discovered on
the lands of Dods farm, supposed to have been washed
from the soil by rain; and particles of copper have been
found in various parts of the parish. The Boon Hill is
composed of a species of conglomerate; and a quarry
has been opened, supplying materials for the roads, for
which use it is well adapted. Facility of communication
with the nearest market-town and other places in the
vicinity is afforded by good roads, of which those from
Kelso and Hawick to Edinburgh pass, the former on the
east, and the latter on the west, side of the parish: there
are also commodious bridges over the different streams,
kept in excellent repair.
Ecclesiastically the parish is in the presbytery of
Lauder, synod of Merse and Teviotdale, and in the patronage
of Henry Ker Seymer, Esq.; the minister's stipend
is £205. 4. 6., with a manse, and a glebe valued at
£15 per annum. Legerwood church, an ancient edifice,
repaired in 1/17 and 1804, and enlarged in 1837, is a
substantial and neat building, adapted for a congregation
of about 300 persons. The parochial school affords instruction
to about seventy children; the master has a
salary of £28, with £20 fees, and a house and garden.
Several children of the parish, on account of their distance
from this school, attend the schools of Westruther
and Melrose. A small library, supported by subscription,
is gradually extending its collection; and the parish
regularly contributes to the various missionary schemes
of the General Assembly. On a small mount, richly
wooded, and formerly surrounded by the lake of Corsbie,
which has been drained, are the remains of an ancient
castle, the residence of the lords of the barony: there
are also remains of a baronial castle at Whitslaid. The
date of the foundation of these castles is unknown; but
they are thought to have been erected in the reign of
James II. Upon the summits of Legerwood and West
Morriston Hills are traces of ancient camps, and there
are vestiges of another on Birkinside Hill; but they have
all been much defaced by the plough, and have nearly
disappeared under the modern improvements in cultivation.
On the Boon Hill is an upright shaft of sandstone,
rising from a block of the same material; it is called
Dods Corse Stane, and is said by some to be an ancient
cross pointing out the site of a market formerly held
here, whilst others say that the stone denotes the place
where a duel was once fought.