Topographical dictionary of Scotland > Volume 2

WEST
WEST
buildings ; the North church contains 900 sittings, the
East church 700, and Papa-Westray 220 sittings. Divine
service is performed at each, in rotation, every third
Sunday. There are also places of worship for members
of the United Secession and Baptists. The parochial
school, in Westray, is well attended ; the master has a
salary of £2S, with a house and garden, and the fees
average about £3 per annum. A school in Papa-West-
ray is supported by the Society for Propagating Christian
Knowledge, who pay the master a salary of £16. 10. ;
and there are various other schools supported by the
fees. An itinerating library was instituted by Thomas
Balfour, Esq., which makes the circuit of the North
Isles, remaining in each for one year. There are several
remains of ancient chapels, of which one, called Cross
Kirk, is on the south-west side of Westray, close to the
sea ; and on the island of Papa-Westray is another, called
the Kirk of How, beautifully situated on a rising ground,
and surrounded by a cemetery inclosed with a stone
wall. In two fields, one on the north and the other on
the south of Westray, are numerous graves which have
been discovered by the removal of the sandy surface in
strong gales ; several have been opened, and found to
contain skeletons, with some arms, chiefly swords, in a
very decayed state. Doubtless, these were bodies of
men slain in some sanguinary battle that took place
here. Tumuli are scattered through the parish, in one
of which were found an urn, a drinking cup, a quern,
and some domestic utensils ; and there are also several
Druidical remains, and Picts' houses.
WESTRUTHER, a parish, in the county of Ber-
wick, 5^ miles (E. by N.) from Lauder ; containing 829
inhabitants. This place was perhaps originally called
Wolfstruther, from the number of wolves with which it
was infested, but subsequently, on their disappearance,
was styled IVestruther, to distinguish it from an extensive
morass to the east of it, now called Dogden Moss. The
term Struther signifies " a marsh." The lands anciently
formed part of the parish of Home, from which they
were separated at the time of the Reformation, and an-
nexed to the parish of Gordon ; and owing to the dis-
tance of the church of Gordon, the remains of an old
chapel in the village of Bassendean were fitted up as a
place of public worship for the inhabitants. This place
of worship, however, being eventually found inconve-
nient for the population of the northern parts of West-
ruther, a church was erected in the village of West-
ruther in 1649; and the adjacent lands being severed
from Gordon, were erected into an independent parish
by act of the General Assembly. A battle is said to
have taken place on the northern heights of the parish
between the Anglo-Saxons and the Scots, who had pre-
viously been engaged in frequent wars. On this occa-
sion, a challenge given by one of the Saxon chieftains to
decide the contest by single combat, was accepted by
Edgar, the only son of an aged Scottish warrior, and
whose twin-brother had been carried off captive in his
infancy by the Saxons in a former battle. The Saxon
chieftain was killed, and Edgar himself severely wounded.
After the combat, an aged Saxon, lamenting the death
of the chieftain, whom he eulogised as the bravest of the
Edgars, and bewailed as his adopted son, betrayed the
secret of his Scottish birth ; and Edgar, frantic with
remorse, tore the bandages from his wounds, and expired
on the corpse of his long-lost brother. Two large piles
Vol. II.— 601
of stones, now called the Twinlaw Cairns, were raised
by the soldiers of both armies to commemorate this
melancholy event, for which purpose, suspending all
hostilities, and ranging themselves in one continued line,
they passed the stones from the brook at the base of
the acclivity, from hand to hand, to the summit, till the
monuments of their fallen and lamented leaders were
completed.
The parish is of elliptical form ; nearly seven miles
in extreme length from north to south, and from three
to five miles in breadth from east to west; comprising
about 13,000 acres, of which 11,000 are arable, 850
woodland and plantations, and the remainder moorland,
moss, and waste. The surface is varied, and terminates
towards the north in one continuous ridge of hills of
bleak and barren appearance, attaining an elevation of
1260 feet above the level of the sea, and commanding
extensive prospects over the fertile vales of Merse and
Teviotdale, which abound with picturesque and romantic
scenery. Towards the south, the lands by a gradual
descent expand into a spacious and undulating valley,
which intersects the parish from east to west throughout
its whole breadth, but, though of wavy appearance, with-
out exhibiting any ground that deserves the name of a
hill. The only stream of importance is the Blackadder,
which has its source near Wedderlie, in this parish,
through which it flows for very nearly three miles in a
winding course : afterwards, taking a south-eastern
direction, and forming a boundary between the parish
and Greeulaw, it falls into the Whiteadder at Allanton.
Several rivulets also intersect the grounds in various
directions, constituting tributaries to the Leader and
the Tweed : of these, the Eden, celebrated for the size
and quality of its trout, affords excellent amusement to
the anglers whom it attracts from all parts of the cir-
cumjacent country. Numerous perennial springs afford
an ample supply of pure water ; and on Harelaw moor
is a chalybeate spring which, from the efficacy of its
water in scorbutic complaints, was formerly frequented
by numbers of invalids, who took lodgings in the neigh-
bourhood, but which has of late years fallen into ne-
glect.
The soil is generally light, resting on a rocky or
gravelly subsoil ; in the higher lands, a deep tenacious
clay well adapted for wheat ; and in some other parts, a
black sandy loam. The crops include oats, barley, a
little wheat, potatoes, and turnips, with the usual grasses.
The husbandry is greatly improved; the lands are well
drained, and inclosed with hedges of thorn and dykes of
stone : and considerable breadths of waste land have
been reclaimed and brought into profitable cultivation.
The farms, which were formerly of very small extent,
have been much enlarged ; the farm houses generally are
now substantial, and the offices also well built. Lime,
though brought from a distance of twenty miles, is libe-
rally used for the improvement of the lands, and bone-
dust has been likewise introduced ; threshing-mills have
been erected on all the larger farms ; and under the en-
couragement afforded by the proprietors, every recent
alteration in the construction of agricultural imple-
ments has been adopted. The greatest attention is paid
to the management of live-stock. The cattle, which are
of various breeds, have been much improved by a cross
with Teeswater bulls ; the sheep are of the Cheviot,
Leicestershire, and black-faced breeds ; and of all, the
4H