ROXBURGHSHIRE, a county (inland), in the south
of Scotland, bounded on the north by Berwickshire, on
the east by Berwickshire and the English county of
Northumberland, on the south by Dumfries-shire and
the counties of Cumberland and Northumberland, and
on the west by Dumfries-shire, Selkirk, and Edinburgh or
Mid-Lothian. It lies between 55° 6' 40" and 55° 42' 52"
(N. Lat.), and 1° 39' and 2° 36' (W. Long.), and is thirtyeight
miles in length and twenty-eight miles in breadth;
comprising an area of 696 square miles, or 445,440
acres; and containing 9019 houses, of which number
8661 are inhabited; and a population of 46,025, of whom
21,941 are males and 24,084 females. This county, including
Teviotdale and Liddesdale, was originally inhabited
by the Gadeni and Ottadini, of whom the former
possessed the western portion, and the latter the eastern,
which was of inferior extent. Of the numerous fortresses
erected by those warlike tribes on the heights,
the chief, on the Eildon hills towards the north, was
subsequently converted by the Romans into a station
near the line of their military road, which passed along
the eastern base of these hills to the river Tweed. During
the border warfare, the county participated greatly in
the frequent hostilities tliat took place, and was alternately
in the possession of the English and the Scots;
and the continued battles in which they were engaged
appear to have fostered a warlike spirit in the inhabitants,
many of whom fought under the banner of David
I. in 1138 at the battle of the Standard, in which the
men of Teviotdale were distinguished for their valour.
The county was anciently included in the diocese of
Lindisfarne, and subsequently in that of Glasgow; it is
at present mostly in the synod of Merse and Teviotdale,
and comprises several presbyteries, and thirty-two pa-
rishes. For civil purposes, it is divided into the four districts
of Jedburgh, Kelso, Melrose, and Hawick, in each
of which the magistrates hold courts quarterly, or oftener,
as occasion may require. It contains the royal burgh of
Jedburgh, which is the county town; the market-towns
of Hawick, Kelso, and Melrose, and part of the town of
Galashiels. Under the act of the 2nd WiUiam IV., the
shire returns a member to the imperial jjarliament; the
number of persons qualified to vote is about 2000.
The SURFACE, though comprising some fine tracts of
level land, is mountainous towards the south, and is
throughout strikingly diversified with hills, generally of
pleasing aspect, and covered with verdure to their summits.
In the north and centre the principal heights
are, Ruberslaw, which has an elevation of 1419 feet; the
Eildon hills, terminating in three conical summits, the
highest of which has an elevation of 1330 feet; the
Dunian hills, which rise to the height of 1021 feet; the
Minto, of which the two summits are flat, and 858 feet
high; and various other hills of inferior height. The
Carter Fell, on the confines of Northumberland, has an
elevation of 1602; and the Millenwood Fell and the
Windhead rise to 2000, feet. About two-fifths of the
land are arable and the remainder chiefly sheep-pasture;
with about 8000 acres in woodland and plantations.
Among the rivers are the Tweed and the Teviot. Of
these the Tweed enters the county at Faldanside, and
flows along the vale of Melrose, then forms part of the
northern boundary of Roxburghshire, and afterwards
runs through the north-eastern part of the county, which
it leaves at Redden; it receives the streams of the Gala, the
Liddel, the Allan, the Eden, and the Ettrick. The Teviot,
after winding along richly cultivated valleys for nearly
fifty-four miles, falls into the Tweed between Roxburgh
Castle and Kelso; it receives the streams of the
Ale, the Slitrig, the Borthwick, the Kale, the Oxnam,
the Rule, the Allan, and the Jed. The Hermitage, which
has its source near the Millenwood Fell, flows into the
Liddel near Castleton. There are no minerals peculiar
to the county; the substrata are mainly greywacke, the
coal formation, red sandstone, and trap. Greywacke
and greywacke-slate prevail in the whole of the western
portion except Liddesdale, and form most of the hills
in that district; the coal formation occupies all Liddesdale.
The red sandstone is found in the middle and
northern parts of the county; sandstone, also, of white
colour, occurs in some places: both are extensively
quarried. The trap rocks, which form the higher hills,
consist of greenstone, basalt, trap-tuffa, amygdaloid, and
porphyries of various kinds, of which the felspar, usually
of a reddish brown colour, is the most prevalent. The
principal manufactures are those of woollen cloth, flannels,
blankets, and stockings and worsted pieces; employing
a large number of persons: tanning and skinning
are carried on to some extent, and there is a manufacture
of coloured thread. The annual value of the real
property in the county, as assessed to the income-tax,
is £284,204, of which £235,041 are returned for lands,
£48,684 for houses, £298 for quarries, and the remainder
for fisheries. Facility of communication is maintained
by the Edinburgh and Hawick railway and the
Kelso and Berwick railway, and by good roads, which
have been much improved, and are kept in excellent repair.
British forts and Roman camps are numerous in
various parts of the county, which is intersected from
north to south by the Roman road into North Britain,
called the Watling-street. Roxburghshire contains the
ruins of some important castles, and is still more remarkable
for its monastic structures: the abbeys of
Jedburgh and Melrose stood at the head of their class,
both for wealth and architectural grandeur, and the abbey
of Kelso was an institution of almost equal dignity.