TWEEDSMUIR, a parish, in the county of Peebles,
13 miles (S. E. by S.) from Biggar; containing 276 inhabitants.
This place derives its name from the moorish
aspect of the ground in that part of the parish through
which the river Tweed flows, immediately on issuing
from its source. It appears to have originally formed
part of the parish of Drummelzier, on its separation
from which, in 1643, it assumed its present appellation.
The parish is from eight to nine miles in length, and
nearly equal in breadth; comprising an area of about
42,000 acres, of which 375 are arable, thirty woodland
and plantation, and the remainder meadow and hill
pasture. Its surface is strikingly diversified with hills
and numerous small valleys. I'he highest of the hills
are. Broad Law, in the north, which has an elevation,
according to a survey made by government, of 2741
feet above the level of the sea; and part of the Hartfell
range of heights, on the south, of which the loftiest
point is 2635 feet. These hills are of gradual ascent,
and perfectly flat upon the summit. The former commands
an unbounded prospect, extending to the English
border, and comprising the mountains which invervene
in almost endless succession, with an interesting assemblage
of highly picturesque and strikingly varied features,
and the German Ocean. The home scenery is
greatly enlivened by the winding course of the Tweed
and other streams, which flow along valleys of romantic
appearance, enriched with thriving plantations, and in
a state of luxuriant verdure. The Tweed has its source
in a spring in the upper part of the parish, which has
an elevation of 1500 feet above the sea. It flows for
ten miles through the parish, receiving in its progress
numerous tributaries: of these the Core, the Fruid, and
the Tala, which all have their sources within the parish,
are the principal. Leaving the district, it pursues a
winding course of more than ninety miles, and falls
into the sea at Berwick. At the base of the hill in
which the Tweed rises, and which is about half a mile
from Lanarkshire on the west, and from Dumfriesshire
on the south, are also the sources of the rivers Annan
and Clyde. All the streams abound with trout, par,
and eels; and in the Tweed, salmon of considerable
size are frequently taken. Among the smaller burns
is the Gameshope, which is a tributary of the Tala, and
in its course spreads into a lake, about 600 yards in
circumference, said to be the highest water in this part
of the country; it abounds with excellent trout of a
dark colour, and is much frequented by anglers. Near
the summit of Broad Law is a powerful perennial spring
called Giddes Well; and at the southern extremity of
Hartfell is a strongly impregnated chalybeate spring, in great repute.
In some parts the soil is a strong loam formed of
earth and moss, and in others a light loam intermixed
in a few instances with gravel. The mountains are
covered to their summits with luxuriant verdure, and
may be mowed to almost any extent; they afford rich
pasturage for sheep and black-cattle. The chief crops
are oats, barley, turnips, peas, and potatoes, with artificial
grasses of every kind, which thrive in great abundance.
Agriculture is improved; the farmhouses are
substantially built of stone, and roofed with slate; and
every improvement in implements of husbandry has
been introduced. The want of lime, however, which is
only to be procured from a distance, has greatly retarded
the cultivation of the lands. The sheep, of which
16,000 are kept in the parish, and pastured on the hills,
are of the Cheviot and black-faced breeds; there are
9000 of the former, and 7000 of the latter. Considerable
attention is paid to the improvement of the breeds;
and at a late annual meeting of the Highland Society,
the tenants of the farms of Carterhope and Menzioa
gained the highest premiums for specimens, one of the
black-faced, and the other of the Cheviot. The woods
in the parish, formerly extensive, have almost entirely
disappeared, and only a few trees remain on the lands
of Fruid and Hawkshaw; the plantations are chiefly
Scotch and silver fir, larch, birch, and poplar, which
seem best adapted to the soil. Among the ancient
residences were, Hawkshaw, which for some hundreds
of years was the seat of the family of Porteous, and near
which are remains of a chapel and burial-ground;
Oliver Castle, the seat of the ancient family of Fraser;
Menzion House; and Fruid. Facility of intercourse
with the market-town, and with places in the more
immediate vicinity, is afforded by good roads, of which
the turnpike-road from Edinburgh to Dumfries passes
for ten miles within the parish. The annual value of
real property in Tweedsmuir is £3992.
It is ecclesiastically in the presbytery of Peebles, synod
of Lothian and Tweeddale, and in the patronage of the
Principal and Professors of St. Mary's College, St. Andrew's;
the minister's stipend averages £237, with a
manse, and a glebe valued at £12. 10. per annum. The
church, beautifully situated on a peninsula formed by
the junction of the rivers Tweed and Tala, was erected
in 1648, and is adapted for a congregation of 160 persons.
The parochial school affords a useful course of
instruction; the master has a salary of £32 per annum,
w'ith £12 fees, and a house and garden, and the garden
being less than the usual size, he receives one boll of
meal also. There is a school for children living at an
inconvenient distance from the parochial school; the
master has an endowment of £8 a year from the heritors,
in addition to the fees. Near the source of the
Tweed, in a spot called Tweed's Cross, was an upright
stone supposed to have been a Druidical relic, and subsequently
a guide for passengers. There are still some
remains of a Druidical circle elsewhere, of which, however,
but one upright stone is left, the remainder having
been taken away to furnish materials for dykes. On
removing a cairn on the side of the Tweed, a kistvaen
was discovered, formed of smoothed stone, and covered
with a large flag; containing fragments of an urn of
ancient character. A similar grave was discovered on
the lands of Menzion. Sir Simon Fraser, who, assisted
by Gumming, at the head of 10,000 Scottish forces,
attacked and defeated the army of Edward I., consisting
of 30,000 men, near Roslin, in 1303, was lord of Tweeddale,
and resided at Oliver Castle, in this parish.