DUNSE, a parish and market-town and burgh, in the
county of Berwick, 15 miles (\V.) from Berwick, and
42 (S. E.) from Edinburgh; containing, with the former
quoad sacra district of Boston, 3l6'2 inhabitants. This
place derived its name from the situation of the ancient
town on the north-western acclivity of the hill on the
south side of which, after the old town was burnt by the
English, the present was erected near the base of the
eminence, towards the close of the sixteenth century. It
is neatly built; the houses are chiefly modern, and of
good, and in some instances handsome, appearance: the
streets are spacious, well paved, and lighted, and the inhabitants
are amply supplied with water by a committee
of the feuars, at the expense of the common property
of the town. There are neither any manufactures, nor
much business carried on here, except such handicraft
trades as are requisite for the supply of the inhabitants
and the immediate neighbourhood; but the town is thriving,
and is one of the most important in this part of
Scotland. A public library, forming a very fair collection,
is maintained by subscription; and there are also
a reading-room furnished with newspapers and periodical
publications, and two circulating libraries that are liberally
supported. The post has a good delivery. The
market is on Wednesday, and fairs for cattle and horses
arc held in June, August, and November, and are well
attended; there are also markets in March, May, July,
and September, for sheep, of which a great number are
sold. Facility of communication with Berwick, Edinburgh,
and other places, is afforded by the Dunse branch
of the North-British railway, and by excellent roads.
A charter was granted In 1489, by James IV., constituting
the town a burgh of barony, with power to
choose magistrates, and to exercise all the privileges
usually enjoyed by burghs of barony; and these rights
appear to have been exercised for nearly two centuries,
during which the bailies and burgesses had municipal
jurisdiction within the limits of the burgh. In I67O, a
charter was granted by Charles II. to Sir James Cockburn,
who had purchased the lands of Dunse from the
Homes of Ayton, confirming all the previous immunities,
which were afterwards vested in the family of Hay of
Drummelzier, whose descendant William Hay, Esq., of
Dunse Castle, is the present superior of the barony.
Under the superior the government of the burgh is administered
by a baron-bailie, who exercises the ordinary
jurisdiction in cases of petty offences against the peace,
and in pleas of debt and trespass to a limited amount.
The town-hall, erected in 1816 at an expense of £'2688,
of which £1488 were raised by the sale of the common
belonging to the burgh, and the remainder by subscription,
is a handsome edifice in the ancient style of English
architecture, the upper part containing a spacious hall or
court-room for the transaction of business relating to the
burgh, and for the holding of public meetings, under
which are some shops. The police is under the direction
of commissioners under the general burgh police act,
who represent the ancient burgesses, and unite with the
baron-bailie in the general management of the town.
There are within the burgh 148 houses of the annual
value of £10 and upwards, and eighty-four of more than
£.5 and under £10.
The PARISH is about six miles in length from southeast
to north-west, and three miles and a half in average
breadth, and of very irregular form. It is bounded on
the north and east for a considerable space by the river
Whitadder, and comprises 12,000 acres, of which nearly
6000 are arable, 1000 in woods and plantations, and the
remainder hill-pasture. The surface is exceedingly diversified:
in the north it forms part of the Lammermoor
range of hills, including Cockburn Law, which is about
900 feet above the level of the sea, and a conspicuous
landmark for vessels navigating the coast; and in the
eastern and southern portions, also, it rises in gentle undulations
to a considerable height, attaining at Dunse
Law an elevation of 630 feet above the sea. Besides the
Whitadder, there is a small rivulet called Langtou burn,
which has its source in the parish of that name, and after
forming a part of its southern boundary, falls into the
Blackadder near Wcdderburn. There are springs of
water fit for domestic use in the town, and a supply was
formerly obtained from a spring on Dunse Law; but by
the appropriation to that purpose of a considerable sum
of money bequeathed by Alexander Christie, Esq., of
Grueldykes, an abundant supply of excellent soft water
has, with the permission of Mr. Hay, been conveyed in
pipes from a spring near the site of the old town. There
is a lake of artificial construction, formed in the grounds
of Dunse Castle for the enibelhshment of the demesne.
Salmon and grilse are found in abundance in the Whitadder,
during the months of September and October;
and in the month of May, trout of a delicate flavour
are plentiful in the Langtonburn. The scenery is richly
diversified, displaying in some parts a considerable boldness
of feature, and in others much picturesque beauty;
and from the higher grounds are extensive and finelyvaried
prospects.
In the northern district of the parish the soil is of a
dry gravelly quality, in the south a rich deep loam, and
in those parts in the more immediate vicinity of the town
a dark sandy loam. The crops are, grain of all kinds,
potatoes, and turnips. The system of agriculture is in a
very advanced state, and the five-shift course generally
practised; the lands are well drained and inclosed, and
all the improvements in hu.sbandry and in agricultural
implements have been adopted. A due degree of attention
is paid to live stock; the sheep are of the Leicester and
Cheviot breeds, and the cattle of the short-horned or
Teeswater, with the exception of some Kyloes or Highland
oxen fattened for home consumption, the others
being chiefly reared for the Enghsh markets. The annual
value of real property in the parish is £15,922. The
woods and plantations are under good management, and
in a very thriving condition. The chief substrata are
greywacke and greywackc-slate, with alternations of
greenstone and of red sandstone both of the old and new
formation: granite and porphyry are found in some of
the hills. The sandstone is quarried in the southern part
of the parish, and abounds with vegetable impressions.
Dunse Castle is an elegant and spacious mansion in the
ancient English style, mostly of modern erection, and
including the old tower built by Randolph, Earl of Moray,
which is incorporated with the present structure; it is
beautifully situated in a demesne tastefully laid out, and
embellished with the lake already referred to, abounding
with tench and perch. li'edderbiiTn Castle is a stately
mansion in the Grecian style, finely seated in richlyplanted
grounds; and Manderston is also a handsome
house, the grounds of which are embellished with a sheet
of water, and flourishing plantations.
Ecclesiastically the parish is in the presbytery of
Dunse, synod of Merse and Teviotdale, and in the patronage
of Wilham Hay, Esq.; the minister's stipend is
of the average value of £300, with a manse, and a glebe
valued at £25 per annum. Dunse church, erected in
1790 to replace the ancient building, of Norman character,
which had fallen into decay, is a plain neat edifice
adapted for a congregation of 900 persons. There are
places of worship for the United Presbyterian Synod and
members of the Free Church. The parochial school
affords education to about 1'20 children; the master has
a salary of £34, with £70 fees, and a house and garden.
The poor have the proceeds of a legacy of £100 by General
Dickson, and of one of £1000 by Alexander Christie,
Esq. There are also two friendly societies and a savings'
bank, which have contributed to diminish the number of
applications for parochial relief. The foundations are
still remaining of Edinsliall Castle, situated on the slope
of Cockburn Law, and one of the earliest of the fortresses
erected by the Saxons on their invasion of Britain. It
was of circular form, about eighty-six feet in diameter,
and the walls were nearly sixteen feet in thickness, and
perforated in the interior with numerous cells, extending
round the whole, and apparently vaulted; but the materials
have been almost entirely removed for various purposes,
and little more than the foundations are remaining.
On the east and south of the circular tower, are the
foundations of several quadrangular buildings; and the
whole was defended by ramparts of stone and earth, between
which were trenches of considerable depth. From
the situation of the building, it appears to have been
rather intended for a residence than a military post. On
the summit of Dunse Law are vestiges of the intrenched
camp occupied by General Leslie and 20,000 Covenanters
in the year 1639. Boston, author of the Fourfold State,
a well-known religious work; Abraham Robertson, LL.D.,
Savilian professor of astronomy in the university of Oxford;
the Rev. Thomas Mc Crie, D.D., author of the
Life of John Knox and other works; and the Rev. James
Gray, who, officiating in his ministerial capacity at Cutch,
in the East Indies, and superintending the education of
the prince of that country, died there in 1830, were natives
of the place. It is said that the celebrated Duns
Scotus was likewise born at Dunse, in the year 1274,
.and the place where his house is supposed to have stood
is still pointed out.