Scotland/Scots > Black's picturesque tourist of Scotland

GALASHIELS—SELKIRK.
97
in the valley of the Tyne, (see page 92.) A little beyond Heriot
,, Station, to the left, is Crookston (J. Borthwick, Esq.)
S' Proceeding onwards, we reach Stow Station, opposite the
a> ancient and irregular village of the same name, situated in the
^middle of a district which formerly bore the name of We-dale
I (the Yale of Wo). The whole of this territory belonged at one
time to the Bishops of St. Andrews, and many of their charters
are dated from We-dale. The line now crosses the Lugate
Water by a viaduct, and reaches Crosslee, on the confines of the
county of Roxburgh. The river Gala here forms the boundary
between the counties of Roxburgh and Selkirk, and the alder,
birch, and hazel, are found in abundance on its banks. The
Braw Lads of Gala Water” are celebrated in Burns’s well-
known beautiful lyric of that name. In the immediate neigh¬
bourhood, but not visible from the line, is Torwooiulbe, the
mansion of Pringle of Torwoodlee.
! Galashiels [Inns: The Bridge Inn. Population about
| 4000] is situated on the banks of the Gala, about a mile above
| its junction with the Tweed. It is noted for its manufactures
|_of tartans, tweeds, and shawls of the finest texture and most
[ brilliant colours. The wool used is principally imported from
i- Van Diemen’s Land. Within the last few years the town and
its manufactures have increased with great rapidity, and the
mills have grown to four times their original size.
The town is partly in Selkirkshire, and partly in Roxburgh.
Galashiels proper is a burgh of barony, under the family of
Gala, which now bears the name of Scott, though representing
the ancient Pringles—the ancestor of Mr. Scott having married
the heiress of that baronial house, and succeeded to its fortunes
in 1623. An old pear-tree exists near the house, on which the
destined bride is said to have been amusing herself in youthful
frolics whilst the marriage-contract was signed.
The higher ground of the parish is traversed by the remains
of an ancient wall, supposed to be the Catrail, and near it at
Rink, on an eminence, is an old British Camp.
| Selkirk [Inns : Mitchell’s Inn ; The Fleece Inn. Popula¬
tion, 2593] is connected with Galashiels by a branch line of
railway. It is situated on a piece of high ground overhanging
the Ettrick. Close to the town is the Haining, the seat of the
late Robert Pringle, Esq., of Clifton, now belonging to his sister,