YARROW, a parish, in the county of Selkirk, 9
miles (W.) from Selkirk; containing, with the village of
Ettrick-Bridge and part of Yarrowford, 1'264 inhabitants.
This place, which is of considerable antiquity,
was originally known as the parish of St. Mary; its
present name was acquired from the removal of the
church to the banks of the river Yarrow, about the
middle of the seventeenth century, since which time the
parish has invariably retained the name of that river.
The surrounding district formed part of the royal forest
of Ettrick, and in the reign of Bruce was recovered
from the English by Sir James Douglas, upon whom, as
a reward for his fidehty, that monarch conferred the
lands, which at the same time he erected into a free
royalty. On the attainder of the Douglas family in
1455, the lands became forfeited to the crown, and part
of them were granted to Sir Walter Scott, ancestor of
the Dukes of Buccleuch, in consideration of his active
services in the suppression of the rebellion of that period.
The forest of Ettrick was afterwards given by
James IV. to his queen, the Lady Margaret, of England;
and James V. frequently resorted to this place to enjoy
the diversion of the chase, a memorial of which is still
preserved in the name of a pass called the " Hart's
Leap ", marked by two stones said to have been placed
there by the king and his attendants.
The PARISH is of very irregular form, about eighteen
miles in extreme length, and nearly sixteen miles in
breadth. It comprises 71,410 acres, of which 2740 are
arable, 640 woodland and plantations, and the whole of
the remainder moorland, affording rough pasturage for
sheep and a few cattle. The surface is hilly and mountainous,
and intersected by three continued and precipitous
ranges, which traverse the parish in a northeastern
direction, and of which the Blackhouse Heights
have an elevation of almost 2400, the Minchmoor of
about 2300, the Hangingshaw Law of 2000, feet above
the level of the sea. The chief rivers are the Yarrow,
the Ettrick, and the Tweed, which last in some parts
forms the northern boundary. The beautiful river Yarrow
has its source in the hills on the confines of Dumfries-
shire: with other streams, it forms two considerable
lakes; and after a course of many miles through the
parish, it falls into the Ettrick. The valley through
which this river winds abounds with picturesque and
romantic scenery, and perhaps no stream in the country
is associated with reminiscences of deeper interest, or
more closely identified with the finest strains of Scottish
minstrelsy. The two lakes are the loch of St. Mary
and the loch of The Loices. Of these the former, seven
miles and a half in circumference, is separated from the
latter, which is about a mile and a half in circuit, by a
narrow neck of land, or sandbank, thrown up by opposite
currents of two small streams; the larger lake is
thirty fathoms, and the smaller eleven fathoms, in depth.
Their borders are thinly ornamented by some dwarfish
trees, part of the remains of the ancient forest, and by a
few plantations of recent date. The picturesque ruins
of the church of St. Mary, in the neighbourhood of
these lochs, have now nearly disappeared. There are
several lakes of less importance, some of them containing
rich beds of shell-marl, which is used as manure
for the lands. Numerous springs of excellent water
afford an abundant sujiply for domestic use.
In general the soil is a light brown loam, of good
quality, but thickly intermixed with stones; along the
banks of the rivers it is gravelly, and in some other
places clayey, inclining here and there to bog. The
crops are oats, barley, turnips, and potatoes; agriculture
is much improved, and the four and the five shift
courses are now adopted. Bone-dust has been introduced
with success in the cultivation of turnips. The
marshy lands have been mostly drained, and irrigation
has been practised on lands requiring it: the arable
farms have been inclosed, and also the sheei)-walks in
the hilly pastures. Improvements in the jiarish have
been mucli promoted by the encouragement held out by
the Selkirkshire Pastoral Society, established under the
patromige of tiie late Lord Napier, and which holds a
triennial meeting in this parish. Considerable attention
is paid to live-stock. About 45,000 sheep are kept:
they are chiefly of the Cheviot breed, with about 1200
or 1500 of the black-faced kind, once the prevailing
breed; also a few of the Leicester on some of the farms.
The cattle are of the Ayrshire crossed by the shorthorned
breed: the number of milch-cows is 200, and
of young cattle nearly the same; and about 130 Highland
cattle are pastured on the hills. There are but
very few, and these widely scattered, remains of the
ancient forest; the chief are some oak-trees on the
West Faldshope hills, but they are more remarkable for
their great age than for the stateliness of their growth.
There are also some remarkably fine trees at Hangingshaw,
among which are a plane and a beech of very
large size. The plantations consist of oak, ash, elm,
beech, and plane; with alder, birch, larch, spruce, and
Scotch fir, as nurses. The substrata are chiefly greywacke
and clay-slate. Sandstone is found in some
places, with aluminous shale; pyrites of iron and calcareous
spar are also prevalent, and nodules of galena
are occasionally met with. The annual value of real
property in the parish is £1 1,690. Ashicsteel, the seat
of Major-General Sir James Russell, K.C.B., is pleasantly
situated on the banks of the Tweed; the mansion-
house has been enlarged and beautified, and the
grounds are tastefully laid out, and embellished with
plantations. Elibank Cottage, which had also been enlarged
and improved, was destroyed by an accidental
fire in 1840. There are small villages at Yarrowford
and Ettrick-Bridge, chiefly inhabited by persons employed
in the handicraft trades requisite for the wants
of the parish. A circulating library is supported by
subscription. Facility of communication with the neighbouring
tovvns is afforded by good roads along the banks
of the rivers, and by bridges kept in excellent repair.
This place is in the presbytery of Selkirk, synod of
Merse and Teviotdale, and in the patronage of the
Crown. The minister's stipend is £233. 8. 1., with a
manse, and a glebe valued at £34. 10. per annum. Yarrow
church, erected in 1640, and thoroughly repaired
in 1826, is a plain edifice adapted for a congregation of
430 persons. At Ettrick-Bridge is a chapel in connexion
with the Establishment, erected and endowed by
the Duke of Buccleuch. There are two parochial schools,
one at Yarrow and the other at Ettrick-Bridge. The
master of the former has a salary of £31. 6. 6., with
£12 fees, and a good house and garden: a handsome
and commodious schoolroom was built for this school
in 1830. The master at Ettrick-Bridge has £20 per
annum, with £10 fees, and a house and garden. Three
other schools are supported by subscription of individuals,
for the children of those districts in which they
are situated; but there are, notwithstanding, in the remoter
parts of this extensive ]iarlsh, some children who
are not within the reach of instruction. A branch of
the Selkirk Savings' Bank was established in 1815. In
various places are remains of strongholds or castles
occupied bj' chieftains of feudal times. The most considerable
ruin is Blackhouse, seated in a lonely glen,
and anciently the seat of the Black Douglases: in the
inuncdiate vicinity are seven large stones, pointing out
the spot where seven brothers of that family were killed.
A portion of Elibank Castle still overhangs the river
Tweed; and the lower portions of the massive walls of
Dryhope Castle, the seat of the Scott family, are entire.
To the west of the church is a spot regarded as the scene
of a sanguinary conflict between some rival clans; and
two large upright stones are supposed to indicate the
sepulchres of the chieftains who fell on that occasion.
In the progress of cultivation, a large flat stone was
discovered by the plough, inscribed with a legend in Latin,
of which the only legible portion was, hie memoruc et . . .
hicjacent in tumulo duoJUii Uberali. On Dryhope Haugh
was a large cairn, the stones of which were removed to
furnish dykes for inclosures.
Connected with this parish have been numerous
remarkable persons, of whom were, Mary Scott, celebrated
in minstrelsy as the " Flower of Yarrow ",
daughter of John Scott, of Dryhope; Sir Gideon Murray,
senator of the College of Justice by the title of
Lord Elibank; Dr John Rutherford, pupil of the celebrated
Boerhaave, and subsequently professor of the
practice of physic in the university of Edinburgh, who
was born in the parish during the incumbency of his
father; Russell, the historiau of ancient and modern
Europe, who resided at Elibank; and his kinsman.
Colonel William Russell, distinguished for his military
exploits in India, and more particularly at Manilla.
Sir Walter Scott resided at Ashiesteel for ten years
after the demise of Colonel Russell. Soon after he had
been appointed sheriff of Selkirkshire, while resident
here, he is said to have composed some of his earliest
works; and a small hillock, now covered with shady
trees, and which was his favourite resort for study, is
still called the Sheriff's Knowe. James Hogg, better
known as the "Ettrick Shepherd", was long resident in
the parish.