Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 21, ROT-Siam

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SELKIRK
SELKIRK, a lowland county of Scotland, of tortuous
outline, is bounded by Midlothian on the N., by Peebles on
the M. and W., by Dumfries on the S., and by Roxburgh
on the E. Its extreme length from south-west to north¬
east is 28 miles, its greatest breadth from east to west 17,
and its total area 260 square miles or 166,524 acres, of
which 1997 are water. This includes two detached portions,
one to the north-west, surrounded by Peebles, and another
on the east, the estate and barony of Sinton, separated from
Roxburgh in the reign of William the Lion on the appoint¬
ment of Andrew de Synton to the sheriffship of Selkirk.
From its lowest altitude (300 feet) at the junction of the
Gala and the Tweed the surface rises to 2433 feet at Dun
Rig, a wild and desolate summit on the western boundary.
Level haughs, beds of ancient lakes, occur in the courses
of the rivers; but the county is otherwise wholly mountain¬
ous and only a small proportion of it arable. Of its prin¬
cipal summits, Ettrick Pen (2269), Capel Fell (2223),
Deer Law (2064), Herman Law (2014), are in the south,
and Windlestrae Law (2161) in the north, about a mile
from the borders of Midlothian. Broadly speaking, Selkirk
may be said to consist of the two entire valleys of Ettrick
and Yarrow and a section of the valley of Tweed, the first
two sloping from the south until they merge in the last,
which forms the northern portion of the county. Besides
St Mary’s Loch and its adjunct the Loch of the Lowes,
together about 4|- miles long, there are several others of
considerable size, mostly in the eastern uplands between
Ettrick and Teviotdale—the two lochs of Shaws, Clearburn
Loch, Kingside Loch, Hellmuir Loch, Alemuir Loch, and
Akermuir Loch. These, with the larger rivers and the
mountain “burns,” attract anglers to Selkirk from all
parts of the kingdom.
- Geologically, the Selkirk rocks are a portion of that
great Silurian mass which occupies the south of Scotland
from Wigtown to the north-east coast of Berwick. At no
part are they known to be covered by rocks of later forma¬
tion ; but here and there (at Windlestrae Law and Priest-
hope, for example) igneous rocks protrude in massive out¬
crops, almost granitic, one measuring over 100 feet in
thickness. The hillsides yield inexhaustible supplies of
blue - grey whinstone, suitable for building; but repeated
efforts to establish slate-quarries and lead-mines have ended
in failure. According to records of the 16th century, gold
was found at Mount Benger, Douglas Craig, and Linglie
Burn,—“an ingenious gentleman” named Bevis Bulmer
having been “most successful upon Henderland Moor in
Ettrick Forest, where he got the greatest gold—the like
to it in no other place before of Scotland.”
Corresponding with the high average altitude, the pre¬
vailing climate is cold and wet, and, as the soil is mostly
thin, over a close subsoil of clayey “till,” agriculture is
carried on at a disadvantage. About the middle of the
19th century large areas of virgin soil were brought under
tillage; but the prudence of the “ improvement ” is now
greatly doubted, in regard to a large proportion at least,
—its restoration to permanent pasture being now found
almost impracticable.
In 1884 23,263 acres, or nearly a seventh of the whole, were under
cultivation and 3228 under wood. The rotation of crops most
commonly followed is a six-course shift of (1) turnips, (2) barley
or oats, (3), (4), (5) grass or pasture, and (6) oats. Horses in
1884 numbered 580, cattle 2657, sheep 165,061. Till about a
century ago the upper farms of the county were stocked exclusively
with sheep of the blackfaced breed, and in high heathery tracts
these still predominate. But as altitude diminishes sheep improve
in quality, from pure Cheviot to half-bred and three-quarters-bred
Leicester-Cheviot. Upwards of 60,000 acres, more than a third of
the county, belong to the duke of Buccleuch, whose title is derived
from an ancient possession of his family in the vale of Rankleburn.
Other principal landowners are Mr Maxwell - Stuart of Traquair
(9765 acres) and Lord Napier and Ettrick (6988 acres).
Manufactures.—So early as the beginning of the 17th century
the village of Galashiels did a considerable local trade in woollen
cloth, then or shortly afterwards known as “ Galashiels grey,” and
towards the end of the 18th century this industry was greatly
stimulated by judicious grants from “the equivalent” paid by
England at the Union. About the end of the first quarter of the
19th century a few novelties in pattern (mostly accidental) led to
the opening up of what has now become a vast industry—the Tweed
trade, which still has its acknowledged centre in Selkirk.
Administration and Population. — Selkirkshire with Peeblesshire
forms one parliamentary constituency. Of entire civil parishes it
contains only two, with parts of nine others ; there are also, taken
from these, three quoad sacra parishes and part of a fourth. The
population, 4937 in 1755 and 9809 in 1851, was in 1881 returned at
25A64,—an increase partly due to the annexation of a portion of
Galashiels formerly reckoned in Roxburgh. Outside the two towns
of Galashiels (population 9140 in 1881) and Selkirk population has
been almost stationary for more than a century, that of the landward
parishes in 1755 and 1881 being respectively as follows :—Ashkirk
200 and 138; Innerleithen, 60 and 61; Ettrick, 397 and 397; Stow’
260 and 441 ; Yarrow, 1180 and 611 ; Roberton, 250 and 250.
Antiquities and History.—The shire is not rich in antiquities,
although its hillsides here and there reveal earthen enclosures
known as “British camps,” as well as tumuli yielding human
remains and the usual fragments of rude pottery. A mysterious
ditch, known as “the Catrail,” beginning at the north end of the
county, traverses its entire extent before entering Roxburgh on
its way to the English border. Besides smaller redoubts, there
is on its line, at Rink in Galashiels parish, a well-preserved circular
fort of formidable strength and dimensions. Near Minchmoor the
Catrail is crossed by “Wallace’s trench,” where, according to an
historical document recently published, the Scottish patriot defied
for a while the generals of Edward I. Close by is the hill-track
by which Montrose escaped from the disastrous field of Philiphaugh
in 1645. _ Newark Castle, built by James II., still stands in fair
preservation, notable enough historically, but more familiar as the
recital-hall of the “last minstrel’s” immortal lay. The county is
dotted over with other towers of smaller size, in various stages of
decay. Around them cluster those traditions which, sung in
ballads full of simple force and tenderness, have made Selkirk
the poet’s chosen haunt. Yarrow, “ garlanded with rhyme, ” has,
without hyperbole, been termed “ the Tempe of the West.” Selkirk
was long known officially as the “shire of the Forest,” an appellation
its famous sheriff Sir Walter Scott loved to recall. Except the
burgh of Selkirk, its lands, and a large tract in upper Ettrick be¬
longing to Melrose Abbey, the county remained long under the
jurisdiction of a forest court, and its forest-steadings were held by
tack from the crown till the time of Queen Mary. It was a favourite
hunting-ground of Scottish monarchs and formed the dowry-land
of at least two foreign princesses who became queens of Scotland.
See T. Craig-Brown, ffist. of Selkirkshire.
SELKIRK, the county town of Selkirkshire, is on the
river Ettrick, between its absorption of the Yarrow and
its junction with the Tweed, and is connected by a branch
railway with the Waverley line from Scotland to Eng¬
land. Although almost entirely a manufacturing town,
having several large mills for woollen cloth and yarn, it
is not without importance as the centre of an extensive
pastoral area. The county offices and prison excepted, the
public buildings of Selkirk are not striking. The popula¬
tion of the burgh was 1053 in 1735, 1800 in 1831, and
6090 in 1881.
From the charter by which David I., while prince of North¬
umbria, established in Selkirk the Benedictine abbey afterwards
removed to Kelso, it appears that even at that remote period (1119-
24) it was an old town and the prince’s residence. David’s castle
continued to be a frequent resort of his successors on the throne,
particularly of William the Lion, many of whose charters were
signed “ in plena curia apud Scelchircham.” Enlarged and strength¬
ened by Edward L, the fortress was captured by the patriotic party
soon after Wallace’s return from France. Nothing now remains of
it but green mounds and the name “Peel Hill.” It is significant
of the destruction wrought by repeated conquests and reconquests
that Selkirk, notwithstanding its antiquity and early importance,
boasts not one building a century and a half old. As its early
name (Scheleschyrche) implies, it was originally a collection of
forest “shiels” beside which an early church was planted, probably
by the Culdees of Old Melrose. Clear light is thrown upon the
manners and customs of old border towns by the ancient records of
this burgh, still extant (with gaps) from 1503. A minute of 1513
mentions the steps taken to comply with the king’s letter ordering
the levy before Flodden, where, according to tradition, the burgesses
of Selkirk fought with stubborn valour. James V. granted the
community right to enclose 1000 acres from the common and gave
them leave to elect a provost, the first to fill that office being slain