Counties > Midlothian (Edinburghshire) > 1870-71 - Edinburgh county directory

32 THE EDINBURGH COUNTY DIRECTORY.
the county of Peebles. He was a native of the parish, and erected the church
to the memory of his parents, who were interred in the burial ground. It is,
without doubt, one of the handsomest churches in the county. In this parish
there is a valuable mortification for the purposes of education. It is of the
annual value of ,£60, and was left by the late Col. Kinnaird, for the education
of the children of the industrious poor ; one third, however, goes for salary to
the teacher of the school in the village of Newlandrig, where he was born, and
where he received his education. An interesting fact may here be recorded of
Qol. Kinnaird. His father was a tailor in Newlandrig. When he died, the
son sold off, and with the proceeds endeavoured to purchase a commission for
India, through some persons in London who pretended to have such things at
their disposal. The money was dispatched, but the commission was not forth-
coming. Kinnaird found his way to the city, and made known his case to
gentlemen from his own neighbourhood in power at head quarters. His tale
excited sympathy, and being a " likely lad," he was forthwith sent out to India.
Previous to this he had formed an affection for a daughter of the miller at
Borthwick, and after the lapse of more than twenty years, he returned and
made her Mrs Col. Kinnaird. Dr Robertson, the historian, was born in the
manse. A mile to the north-east of Borthwick, on the banks of the Tyne,
are the interesting ruins of Crichton Castle, once the residence of Sir William
Crichton, Chancellor of Scotland in the minority of James II., " whose towers,"
says Scott,
" In different ages rose ;
Their various architecture shows
The builders' various hands."
From Tynehead Station (16 miles from Edinburgh), in the eastern portion of
the extensive parish of Heriot, the train passes through a hilly and uninterest-
ing tract of country. A mile to the south-west of Heriot Station is the parish
church and manse of Heriot, close to which is Borthwick Hall, on the south
bank of the Heriot Water, the residence of Charles Lawson, Esq. , Lord Provost
of Edinburgh in 1862-65. The next station, Fountainliall, 3 miles farther on,
is the centre of a more interesting district ; but the parish of Stow (10 miles
long, by 3 broad, part of which is in Selkirkshire), anciently called Wedale, is
generally hilly and covered with heath. Four miles south of Fountainhall is
the village and post-town of
Stow, a little to the east of the station, on the banks of the Gala Water,
a mile from its junction with the Lugate. At the south boundary of the county
is Bowland (30 miles from Edinburgh), the residence of W. S. Walker, Esq.,
Chairman of the Board of Supervision.