Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 6

TRAQUAIR
The Kirk Burn drains the W section of the parish and
falls into the Tweed. The greater part of the Sel-
kirkshire boundary is high mountain watershed, and
includes, besides the three already mentioned, the
following summits of an altitude of 1500 feet and over,
viz., Elibank Law (1715 feet), Far Hill (1732), Hare
Law (1670), Plora Kig (1567), Minchmtjir (1856), Scarf
Rig (1552), Blake Muir (1522), Duchar Law (1779),
Kirkhope Law (1758), and Birkscairn Hill (2169). The
hills are mostly of a iumpish form, and generally green
on the S side and heather-clad on the N. Large flocks
of Cheviot sheep are reared on their pastures. The
interior of the parish is hilly, and, in many parts, rocky
and bleak, the heights diminishing in altitude towards
the Tweed, whose valley declines to an altitude of 450
feet above sea-level. The rocks are mainly Silurian.
The only object of geological interest is an old slate
quarry at Grieston on the Traquair estate, which
abounds in curious fossils. The mansion-house of
Traquair, perhaps the oldest inhabited mansion-house
in Scotland, stands in the Quair valley close to the
Tweed. It consisted originally of a single tower on the
bank of the river, which in those early days took a
sharp bend here. The straightening of the course of
the river was accomplished by one of the Earls of
Traquair. The house has been added to at various
times, chiefly during Charles I. 's reign, and now con-
tains the original tower in its NE corner. Built in the
style of the old chateau, and standing at the head of a
green meadow, with its back towards the river, it now
looks down a long broad avenue to the Peebles road.
The old-fashioned gateway, flanked by figures of two
bears in stone, are said to have suggested to Sir Walter
Scott the description of Tully Veolan in Waverley.
The avenue has not been used for many years. It was
closed up in 1796 by the seventh Earl after the
death of his countess, and he declared his intention
of never having it again opened till another Countess
of Traquair should be brought home to fill her
place, an event, however, which never happened.
The walls of the house are of great thickness ; and
the interior is fitted up partly in ancient and partly
in modern style, and includes the family library
and a Roman Catholic chapel. It was originally a royal
residence, and was visited from time to time by the
Scottish kings and queens. Here William the Lyon,
some time between 1175 and 1178, granted a charter
constituting the hamlet of Glasgow a bishop's burgh.
Mary Queen of Scots and Darnley stayed here for a short
time in Aug. 1566, six months before Darnley's tragic
death. It is also interesting as being the first place at
which Montrose halted during his flight after the
disastrous battle of Philiphaugh.
The lands of Traquair were gifted by Robert Bruce to
Sir James Douglas, and, after passing through the
hands of a branch of the Murray family, then to
Douglas of Cluny, and afterwards to the Boyds, they
were resumed by the crown in 1469. For 10 years
the property of Dr William Rogers (upon whom James
I. had conferred them, much to the disgust of his
nobles), it was sold by him in 1478, for a most
insignificant sum, to James Stuart, Earl of Buchan,
who bestowed it on his natural son James Stuart, the
first of the illustrious family of Stuarts of Traquair.
He acquired by marriage the baronies of Rutherford
and Wells, and fell in Flodden (1513), leaving a son
William. In 1628 Sir John Stuart was raised to the
peerage, under the title of Lord Stuart of Traquair,
and in 16.33 was further honoured with the dignity of
Earl of Traquair, Lord Linton and Caberston. At one
time Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, and Lord High
Commissioner of the General Assembly of the Church,
he sank, towards the close of his life, to a state of
destitution. In the former capacity he played a very
prominent part in carrying out the commands of Charles
I. regarding the introduction of the liturgy into Scot-
land, and in the latter presided over the Assembly of
12 August 1639, which ratified the Scottish Covenant.
As commissioner, he opened parliament after the as-
450
TRESHNISH ISLES
sembly, but owing to the incompatibility of its demands
with the royal orders, he was obliged to prorogue it. Soon
after he was impeached by Parliament as a grand in-
cendiary, and only escaped capital punishment through
the efforts of the king. His treasurership was taken
from him, and he received a pardon on condition that
he did not approach the royal person. His breaking
through this condition led to further penalties and his
banishment to Scotland. Restored to parliament in
1647, again through the King's intercession, he, in
1648, was taken prisoner at the battle of Preston, fight-
ing for the royal cause. He was confined in Warwick
Castle for four years, and his estate, considerably drawn
upon, was meantime sequestrated. He died in 1659,
after living some years in great obscurity and abject
poverty. A man of great intellectual vigour, he con-
tributed to his own fall through his rashness and incon-
sistency. By his countess, Catherine Carnegie, he had
four daughters and one son, John Lord Linton (b. 1622),
who succeeded as second Earl of Traquair, and died
1666, leaving his young family in charge of his second
wife, Lady Ann Seton, who, being a stanch Catholic,
educated William, third Earl, in that faith. He was
succeeded by his brother Charles, fourth Earl (1659-
1741), who was succeeded by his sons Charles (fifth) and
John (sixth). Then follow in direct descent Charles,
seventh Earl, and Charles, eighth Earl. The latter
(b. 1781) died unmarried in 1861, the title thus becom-
ing dormant. The last of the line, the venerable Lady
Louisa Stuart of Traquair (b. 1776), sister of the eighth
earl, died 8 Dec. 1875 in her hundredth year. The
estates passed by will to her kinsman, the present
proprietor, the Hon. Henry Maxwell, of the ancient
family of the Maxwells Earls of Nithsdale, who assumed
the name of Stuart on his accession to the property. He
owns 10,778 acres in the shire, valued at £4846. Traquair
is in the presbytery of Peebles and the synod of Lothian
and Tweeddale ; the living is worth £461. The parish
church, near the right bank of Quair Water, 2J miles
S by W of Innerleithen, was built in 1778, and, as
altered in 1821, contains 350 sittings. Attached to
the N wall is the burial aisle of the Traquair family.
Traquair public and the Glen school, with respective
accommodation for 104 and 37 children, had (1884)
an average attendance of 75 and 25, and grants of
£41, 7s. Id. and £32, 4s. 6d. Valuation (1860)
£6071, (1885) £7526, plus £2237 for railway. Pop.
(1801) 613, (1831) 643, (1861) 687, (1871) 669, (1881)
75i.—Ord. Sur., sh. 24, 1864.
Traside, a mansion in Temple parish, Edinburgh-
shire, 8 miles SW of Gorebridge.
Treesbank, a mansion in Riccarton parish, Ayrshire,
2| miles S by W of Kilmarnock. It was founded about
1672, when James, second son of Sir Hugh Campbell
of Cessnock, obtained the estate from his father ;
and it was enlarged in 1838. The present proprietor,
Captain George James Campbell (b. 1832 ; sue.
1880), holds 1049 acres in the shire, valued at £1882
per annum. — Ord. Sur., sh. 22, 1865. See A. H.
Millar's Castles and Mansions of Ayrshire (Edinb.
1885).
Treig, Loch, a wild and beautiful lake in Kilmonivaig
parish, Inverness-shire. Lying 784 feet above sea-level,
it extends 5\ miles north-by-eastward ; varies in breadth
between 1 and 5J furlongs ; is overhung by mountains
2000 to 3658 feet high ; abounds in fine trout ; and
sends off the river Treig 2§ miles north-by-eastward to
the Spean, at a point 6 miles E of the Bridge of Roy and
18| ENE of Fort William. —Ord. Sur., shs. 54, 63,
1873.
Treshnish Isles, a group of Hebridean islets, 5 miles
NNW of Staffa, 5J SE of Coll, and 3 W of the entrance
of Loch Tuadh in Mull. They are disposed in a chain
of between 4 and 5 miles in length from NE to SW - y
and consist of five principal isles and some intervening
rocks. Their whole coasts, with little exception, pre-
sent perpendicular cliffs of from 40 to upwards of 60 feet
in height ; and, as seen from a little distance, they
possess a singularly interesting appearance, and give a