MIDDLETON-AND-NORTH-MIDDLETON, villages,
in the parish of Borthwick, county of Edinburgh, one
distant 12^, the other 12, miles (S. E. by S.) from Edinburgh;
containing respectively 148 and 6s inhabitants.
The first of these places was of some importance; it was
once the chief village in the parish, and one of the prebends
which belonged to the collegiate church of
Crichton. The great road to the south formerly passed
through it; and it had a stirring population, many of
whom were of the gipsy tribe, who made it one of their
priiK'i|)al places of abode. It has, however, become remarkalily
quiet and retired, the inhabitants being occupied
in agriculture and sucii handicraft trades as are
necessary to small communities; there are two farmhouses
in the vicinity. North Middleton is on the road
side, aii<l consists of a line of cottages, most of which
have been built within the last twenty or thirty years.
Two streams, called the North and South Middleton
burns, unite at the termination of a neck of land on
which the castle of Borthwick stands, when they assume
the name of the Gore. Middleton House, built in 1710,
is surrounded by an extensive wood of tall beech-trees,
and has an air of genteel seclusion: the gardens attached
to it are exceedingly admired.