POLWARTH, a parish, in the county of Berwick,
4 miles (S. W.) from Dunse; containing 260 inhabitants,
of whom about 160 are in the village of Polwarth, and
the remainder in the rural districts. This place forms
part of the estates of the Marchmont family, whose ancestor.
Sir Patrick Hume, during the period of religious
persecution was compelled to seek for safety in a vault
under the church, where he remained in concealment.
Here he was supplied with food, always in the dead of
night, by his then young daughter, Grizzel Hume (afterwards
Lady Grizzel Baillie), through whose assistance,
with that of his wife and faithful domestic servants, he
was eventually enabled to make his escape into Holland,
where he stayed till the era of the Revolution. After
his return to his native land, he was successively created
Lord Polwarth and Earl of Marchmont, which titles
continued in the family till the demise of Hugh, the
third earl, when they became extinct, and the estates
passed to the family of Sir Hugh Purves Hume Campbell,
Bart., the present proprietor. The parish is situated
nearly in the centre of the county, and is of triangular
form, about three miles in length and two miles
in extreme breadth. It comprises 3052 acres, of which
1540 are arable, 400 in woods and plantations, 1030
heathy moorland and moss, and eighty-two in roads,
fences, and homesteads. The surface is varied, rising
by gentle undulations from the east to Kyleshill, an
eminence near the western extremity; the scenery is
pleasing, and enriched with thriving plantations and
clusters of trees, which, crowning the heights, have a
very interesting appearance. The soil is various, but the
arable lands generally not unfertile. Most of the eastern
part of the parish is heavy clay; the greater part of the
rest of the arable land is of a lighter nature, with a
clayey subsoil: further to the west, and verging on the
moorland, the arable land has much of the characteristics
of moor that has been reclaimed a number of j'ears: the
moorlands to the west, though depastured by sheep and
cattle, are of little value. The crops are oats, barley,
wheat on the heavy lands, potatoes, and turnips. The
soil has been much improved by a judicious system of
agriculture; and a considerable portion of old grass
land, divided into inclosures of from teu to thirty acres,
is let at high rents to farmers who want additional pasture
for live-stock. The annual value of real property
in the parish, according to income-tax returns, is £1829-
The chief substrata are sandstone of the new and old
red formations, the former prevailing in the southern, and
the latter in the northern districts; Kyleshill is formed
of a compact reddish porphyry, interspersed with embedded
crystals of felspar.
The woods consist of all the ordinary varieties of
forest-trees; they are well kept, and in a thriving condition.
There are some splendid aged oaks, elms, ashes,
and beeches; near to and around the site of Redbraes
Castle are some very fine old yews, and a little further
to the east some stately Spanish-chesnut trees. Redbraes
Castle was taken down about a century ago, and
the present mansion of Marchmont House built about
200 yards west of it. Marchmont House, the seat of
Sir Hugh Campbell, is a handsome mansion erected by
the last Earl of Marchmont, and is pleasantly situated
in an ample demesne embellished with stately timber:
it has a noble avenue about a mile and a half long. The
village, consisting of small clusters of houses in detached
spots, is neatly built, and, from the portions of land and
garden-ground attached to each of the houses, has a
very pleasing and rural aspect. It is inhabited chiefly
by persons employed in agricultural pursuits, and in the
various handicraft trades requisite for the supply of the
parish. In the centre of the village-green are two thorntrees
marking out the spot for the ancient celebration of
marriage festivities, for which this place was renowned.
Facility of intercourse is maintained by the line of road
from Dunse, the nearest market-town, to Edinburgh;
and by good roads kept in repair by statute labour.
Polwarth is in the presbytery of Dunse and synod of
Merse and Teviotdalc: the minister's stipend is about
£180, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £19 per annum;
patron. Sir Hugh Hume Campbell. The church,
pleasantly situated within the demesne of Marchmont
House, appears to have been originally erected at a very
early date, and rebuilt in 1703 upon the ancient foundation;
it is a neat edifice, and beneath it is the sepulchral
vault of the Marchmont family, in which Sir Patrick
Hume was concealed. The parochial school affords instruction
to about fifty children; the master has a salary
of £.30. 16., with £15 fees, and a house and garden.
Each of the poor on the parish list has a house and
garden rent free, and the late Sir W. P. H. Campbell
also bequeathed £25 per annum for the relief of the industrious
poor not on the roll.