LESSUDDEN, a village, in the parish of St-Boswell's,
district of Melrose, county of Roxburgh,
4 miles (E. S. E.) from Melrose; containing 399 inhabitants.
The name of Lessudden, often given to the
parish, is more appropriately applied to this village. It
is probably derived from Edwin, King of Northumbria,
who had a fortress here; and in a charter of Robert II.,
by which the lands were granted to the abbey of Melrose,
the place is called Lessedwiii, signifying " the manor
of Edwin." The village is beautifully situated in the
north-eastern part of the parish, adjacent to the south
bank of the Tweed, and on the high road from Melrose
to Jedburgh; it is built at the east end of a spacious flat
green, amid pleasant gardens, and in the neighbourhood
of woods that overhang the Tweed. The air is salubrious;
and from the advantages the village possesses,
it is likely to increase in extent and population. A subscription
library, containing more than 1000 volumes,
was established here in 1799, under the patronage of
Sir David Erskine, of Dryburgh Abbey.