TRAQUAIR, a parish, in the county of Peebles,
8 miles (S. E.) from Peebles; containing 682 inhabitants.
This place, the name of which is supposed to be a modification
of Strath-Quair, " the valley of the river Quair",
is not distinguished by any incidents of historical importance.
The Marquess of Montrose is said to have
rested here, at the house of the Earl of Traquair, on the
night after the battle of Philiphaugh. In I674, the
greater portion of the ancient parish of Kailzie, which
was at that time suppressed, was united to this parish,
and the remainder to the parish of Innerleithen. Tra-
quair is situated in the eastern part of the county, and
bounded on the north by the river Tweed. It is about
eight miles in length from east to west, and five miles
in breadth, comprising 17,600 acres, of which 3000 are
arable, 600 woodland and plantations, and the remainder
hilly moorland and sheep pastures. The surface is very
hilly, with tracts of valley on the banks of the Tweed
and the Quair. In some parts the hills attain a mountainous
elevation. The highest are, Minchmoor, nearly
2300 feet above the level of the sea, situated in the
eastern part of the parish, and Gumscleugh, in the west,
which is about 2500 feet high, and was selected as one
of the stations for carrying on the trigonometrical survey
of Great Britain. Tlie other hills, though rather
steep, are not of very great height, and afford good pasturage
for sheep. Among the hills near Gumscleugh
are the banks of Glendean, forming a strikingly romantic
chasm between rocks of nearly perpendicular elevation,
which extend for more than half a mile on both sides.
The lands are intersected by numerous streams, of which
the Quair is the principal. It has its source within the
parish, through which it flows for five or six miles, receiving
in its devious course many streamlets and burns,
whereof the Glenlude and the Glengaber arc the most
considerable. Other burns fall into the Tweed near the
eastern extremity of the parish. This river contains
abundance of salmon at certain seasons, particularly
after floods; but, from so long a run, they are seldom
of good quality: trout of excellent quality abound both
in the Tweed and in the Quair, and also in the several
burns that flow into them.
The SOIL is generally light and thin, and on some
grounds, probably from over-cropping, appears to be
very much exhausted for barley and turnips; the crops
are oats, barley, wheat, turnips, and potatoes. Agriculture
is improved, and the lands are in general very well
drained and inclosed; but the distance from limevvorks
and collieries, which is not less than twenty miles, and
the acclivity of the farm roads for conveying heavy
manures to the fields, greatly retard advancement. The
farm-houses are substantial and commodious, and the
various improvements in the construction of agricultural
implements have been adopted. Much attention is paid
to the breed of live-stock. The cattle are the Teeswater
or short-horned, with an occasional cross of the Ayrshire;
the number reared is not very great, but considerable
numbers are bought, and pastured and fed for
the market. The sheep are almost entirely of the Cheviot
breed, and about 1200 are annually fed off (or fattened
for the butcher) chiefly on turnips; about 2300
lambs are disposed of in the autumn. There is but
little ancient timber remaining. The plantations are
mostly Scotch fir, spruce, and larch, of which fine specimens
are found in the demesnes of the resident heritors.
For the most part the rocks are whinstone
of various qualities; with some slate, of inferior quality,
and not much used, one small quarry of it only having
been wrought. A vein of porphyry is found in the hills.
Traquair House, the seat of the Earl of Traquair, is an
extensive mansion, of which part is of very great antiquity,
though the precise time of erection is not known.
The mansions also of Cardrona, Kailzie, and the Glen,
are elegant residences, situated in well-planted demesnes
commanding much interesting scenery. Facility of communication
with the neighbouring places is afforded by
good roads, of which the turnpike-road to Edinburgh
passes near. The annual value of real property in Traquair is £.5565.
It is ecclesiastically in the presbytery of Peebles,
synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, and in the patronage
of the Crown: the minister's stipend is £216. 3., with
a manse, and a glebe valued at £'20 per annum. The
church, built in 1*88, altered in 1S21, and much improved
in 1840, is situated nearly in the centre of the
parish, but at a distance from those portions which are
most thickly inhabited; it is adapted for a congregation
of 350 persons. On the outside wall is a tablet to Mr.
Brodie, a native of this place, who, as an iron-master in
the county of Salop, in England, accumulated property
to the amount of nearly half a million sterling. At
Traquair House is a private Roman Catholic chapel for
the family. The parochial school affords a useful course
of instruction; the master has a salary of £34. 4., with
£25 fees, and a good house and garden. A handsome
and commodious parochial school-house was lately
erected by the heritors. A friendly society has been
established some time in the neighbourhood. Near the
house of Cardrona are remains of a large British camp.
An urn of Roman bronze, and a small battle-axe, were
found in making a drain on the lands of Kailzie; and
sepulchral urns containing ashes have been found in the
parish at various times. The Earl of Traquair takes his
title from this parish.