ROXBURGH, a parish, in the county of Roxburgh;
containing, with the village of Hieton, 979 inhabitants,
of whom 123 are in the village of Roxburgh,
4 miles (S. W.) from Kelso. In old documents this
place is styled Rocliesburgh and Rokesburgh: the local
pronunciation is Roshurgh, indicating the probable derivation
of the name from Ros, " a peninsula," and
burgh. The place appears to have been formerly a town
of considerable importance; and there are still some remains
of an ancient castle, overhanging the river Teviot,
but atfording a very inadequate memorial of the original
strength of the fortress. The town was burned in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and having been each
time rebuilt chiefly of wood, very little of it is left: a
few indistinct traces of its former existence are occasionally
found in the present village. Roxburgh Castle
was taken and destroyed by Robert Bruce in 1312, and
again in 1460, when James II., who was present at the
siege, was killed by the bursting of a cannon: the s|)ot()n
which the king fell is marked out by a yew-tree planted
by the Duke of Rox1)urghe. The queen, after the death
of that monarch, assumed the government in the name
of her son, and continuing the siege, the castle, which
had for years been the seat of lawless violence, was
reduced and utterly demolished. In 1.547, the Duke of
Somerset, whose army was stationed in the neighbourhood,
repaired a portion of the castle, suflTicicnt for the
reception of an English garrison: traces of the repairs
may be discovered among the ruins, which are now
covered with trees. Adjoining the village are the ruins
of Roxburgh Tower, called also Wallace Tower, and
Sunlaws Tower, situated near the river. It formed part
of a chain of communication between Roxburgh Castle
and the towers on the rivers Kale and Jed. Only the
ground-plan can be traced, with some of the apartments
on the basement, strongly arched over as a place of
shelter for cattle.
The PARISH is bounded on the north for several
miles by the river Tweed, and is of very irregular form,
about eight miles in length, varying from one mile to five
miles in breadth, and comprising 7573 acres, of which
5617 are arable, 1735 meadow and pasture, and 200
woodland and plantations. Its surface is generally flat,
but in some parts undulated, and rising into eminences
of considerable elevation, two of which at the southwestern
extremity, the Dunslaw and the Penelheugh,
the latter bordering on Crailing parish, rise to the height
of 500 feet above the level of the sea. The river Teviot
flows through the parish; and there are numerous excellent
springs atfording an abundant supply of water.
In this district the soil varies very much, being in some
parts sandy and gravelly, and in others a fine rich loam.
The prevailing systems of husbandry are the four and the
five shift courses, which are found to be adapted to the
nature of the soil; and the crops are usually favourable,
having rapidly improved since the more extensive use of
lime. The plantations are well managed; the trees are
chiefly oak, ash, elm, birch, and beech, with various
kinds of pine. A remarkable elm, called the Trystingtree,
appears to have been more than two centuries in
attaining its present growth, but it has lately begun to
decay. The different grasses thrive in the parish, especially
the red clover, of which a sample of the seed exhibited
at a meeting of the Highland Society at Glasgow,
some years since, was much admired. In general the
farm houses and buildings are substantial and in good
condition; the lands are well inclosed, and the fences
kept with great care. The substratum is chiefly sandstone
of the secondary formation, varied with rocks of
basalt, greenstone, and greywacke. Under the sandstone
is a large mass of rock called the Trow Craigs,
about 450 feet in breadth, extending into the Tweed,
and forming an immense dam over which the water is
precipitated in a fall of sixteen feet. The sandstone is
not much valued for building purposes, and few of the
quarries arc regularly worked. There are fisheries on
the rivers; but the quantity of fish taken of late has
been inconsiderable, and the rental of the whole does
not exceed £60 per annum. A fair is held on the 5th
of August on St. James' Green, and is well attended: it
is for purposes of merchandise, for horses and cattle,
and the hiring of shearers and other servants; considerable
sales of wool are clfceted at it by the farmers of
the surrounding district, and generally to English dealers.
Fairnington, a plain ancient mansion, and Sunlaws,
a handsimie modern house in the Elizabethan
style, are the chief seats. Near the village of Roxburgh
is a ferry over the Toviot. There are some good roads,
one of which, leading from Kelso to Melrose, commands
a beautiful view of the surrounding country, of the
windings of the Tweed, and of the Teviot, over which is
a handsome bridge uniting this parish with that of
Kelso. In 1846, parliament authorized the construction
of a branch from the Edinburgh and Hawick railway at
St. Boswell's to Roxburgh and Kelso, and of a branch
railway from Roxburgh to Jedburgh. The principal
fuel is coal; but in the western parts of the parish there
is abundance of peat. The annual value of real property
in Roxburgh is £9248.
Ecclesiastically the parish is in the presbytery of
Kelso, synod ofMerse andTeviotdale, and in the patronage
of the Duke of Roxburghe: the minister's stipend
is £225. 2. 7., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £20
per annum. The church, situated in the village of Roxburgh,
was built in 1752, and substantially repaired in
1828, and gives accommodation to 500 persons. There
are two parochial schools, one in Roxburgh and one in
Hietou, both affording a useful education. The master
of the former has a salary of £34. 4., and of the latter,
one of £17. 2.; and the fees on the average, for each,
vary from £12 to £15 per annum. Each of the masters
has also a house and garden rent-free. About half way
between the towers of Roxburgh and Ormiston are the
remains of a camp, two miles up the river Teviot; its
origin is unknown, but it is generally supposed to have
been an out-post for the better defence and security of
those forts. Part of the Roman road from the Firth of
Forth to York passes through the south-west of the parish.
There are three caves at Sunlaws, which appear
to have been excavated in a remote age, probably as
places of refuge, or for the concealment of cattle and
other property, during the frequent incursions that took
place in the earlier periods of Scottish history.