Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland
(1637) Page 1629
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YAIR
YARROW WATER
YAIR, a mansion, with beautiful grounds, in
Selkirk parish, Selkirkshire, on the right bank
of the Tweed, 5 miles NNW of the town of
Selkirk. It was built towards the close of the
18th century by Alex. Pringle of Whytbank, Scott's
neighbour at Ashiesteel (see Introd. to Canto II. of
Marmiori). His grandson, Alex. Pringle, Esq. (b.
1837; sue. 1857), the present proprietor, is male repre-
sentative of the original Pringle stock. — Ord. Sur., sh.
25, 1865.
Yarrow, a parish of Selkirkshire, whose church
stands on the left bank of Yarrow Water, 9 miles
W by S of Selkirk, under which there is a post office
of Yarrow. It is bounded N by Peebles, Traquair,
Innerleithen, and Stow, E by Selkirk, SE by Eirkhope,
S by Ettrick, and W by Tweedsmuir, Drummelzier,
and Manor. Its utmost length, from NE to SW, is 20
miles; its utmost breadth, 7 J miles. The Megget dis-
trict of the Peeblesshire parish of Lyne and Megget was
transferred by the Boundary Commissioners in 1891 to
the parish of Yarrow — Lyne and Megget being hence-
forth called simply Lyne parish. At the same time,
however, Yarrow parish gave to the Peeblesshire parish
of Traquair a detached portion that lay to the south of
Cardrona, and an almost detached portion that lay to
the north of Minchmoor, both portions being situated
in the Tweed valley. St Mary's Loch (3xJ mile;
814 feet above sea-level) lies to the SW, on the Ettrick
boundary; and, issuing from its foot, Yarrow Water
flows 11 J miles east-north-eastward (for the last 2 J
along the Selkirk boundary), till it passes off, near
Broadmeadows, into Selkirk parish. The Tweed flows
4 miles east-south-eastward, past Elibank and Ashie-
steel, along all the Innerleithen and Stow boundary.
Beside Yarrow Water the surface declines to 585, beside
the Tweed to 397, feet above the sea; and chief eleva-
tions to the N of the Yarrow, as one goes up the vale,
are Elibank Craig (969), Ashiesteel Hill (1314), *Elibank
Law (1715), Brown Knowe (1718), *Minchmoor(1856),
Blackgrain Rig (1652), Snouthead (1483), Mountbenger
Hope (1784), Ward Law (1377), *Dun Rig (2433),
•Blackhouse Heights (2213), *Black Law (2285), *Deer
Law (2065), *Broad Law (2723), and *Cairn Law (2352),
where asterisks mark those summits that culminate on
the confines of the parish. To the S of the Yarrow rise
*CrookHill(1580feet),*SundhopeHeight(1684),*BLACK
Knowe Head (1806), *Turner Cleuch Law (1809), Peat
Law (1737), Bowerhope Law (1570), and the Wiss
(1932). Except along the Tweed and the lower reaches
of Yarrow Water the parish is almost treeless, though
once it was all included in Ettrick Forest. Now
far the greater part of it is sheepwalks. Its endless
memories, richer than those of any other parish, are
recorded under Altrive, Ashiesteel, Blackhouse,
Douglas, Dryhope, Elibank, Hangingshaw, Mount
Bbnger, St Mart's Loch, and Yarrow Water.
Here, however, may be noticed the ' Yarrow Doctor, '
John Rutherford, M.D. (1695-1779), whose father was
parish minister, and who held the professorship of
medicine in Edinburgh University from 1726 till 1765.
Giving off a portion to Caddonfoot quoad sacra parish,
Yarrow is in the presbytery of Selkirk and the synod of
Merse and Teviotdale; the living is worth £352. Its
ancient name was St Mary's or St Mary's of the Lowes
(de Lacubus), and a pre-Reformation chapel stood at
Deuchar or Duchoire, a little way NE of the present
church. Kiekhope was disjoined from it in 1851.
The parish church, built in 1640, contains 430 sittings,
and in 1884 was adorned with two beautiful stained-
glass windows, one on each side of the pulpit, in memory
of Dr Russell and his father, ministers of Yarrow from
1791 to 1883. The subjects are ' Christ blessing little
children' and the 'Resurrection.' There are also a
-chapel of ease, Megget and St Mary's, and a Free church.
Jn connection with the parish church there is an en-
104
dowment called the ' William Thomson Linton Endow-
ment,' for the promotion of the study and knowledge of
holy scripture. Four public schools, Megget, Mount-
benger, Yarrow, and Yarrowford, with respective ac-
commodation for 19, 35, 91, and 45 children, have an
average attendance of about 10, 15, 50, and 20, and
grants amounting to nearly £15, £30, £70, and £30.
Pop. (1861) 643, (1871) 662, (1881) 639, (1891) 638, of
whom 490 were in the ecclesiastical parish. — Ord. Sur.,
shs. 24, 16, 25, 17, 1864-65. See James Russell, D.D.,
Reminiscences of Yarrow (1886 ; new ed. 1894).
Yarrow Water, a stream of Selkirkshire, issuing from
the foot of St Mary's Loch, and flowing 14£ miles
east-north-eastward, through Yarrow and Selkirk
parishes, till, after a descent of 405 feet, it falls into
Ettrick Water at a point 2 miles SW of Selkirk town.
It is a capital trouting stream, the fish weighing from
1^ lb. downwards; and its waters above Broadmeadows
are open to the public.
' What's Yarrow but a river bare,
That glides the dark hills under?
There are a thousand such elsewhere
As worthy of your wonder.'
So Wordsworth lightly sang in the first of his 'Three
Yarrows' — Yarrow Unvisited (1803), Yarrow Visited
(1814), and Yarrow Revisited (1831). On the first occa-
sion, he and his sister Dorothy had just left Scott, and
were to meet him again next day at Melrose; on the
second, ' the Ettrick Shepherd ' guided him over the
hills from Traquair to St Mary's Loch, and thence down
the whole course of Yarrow to its union with the Ettrick;
on the third he drove with Scott from Abbotsford to
Newark Castle — they were both over sixty years old,
and Scott was in two days to leave for Italy. Then
there is Foulshiels, the birthplace of Mungo Park,
and the Yarrow's deep pool where Scott found him
plunging one stone after another into the water, and
anxiously watching the bubbles that rose to the surface.
' This appears, ' said Scott, ' but an idle amusement for
one who has seen so much adventure. ' ' Not so idle,
perhaps, as you suppose, ' answered Mungo ; ' this was
the way I used to ascertain the depth of a river in
Africa.' He was then meditating his second and last
journey, but had told no one. Carterhaugh, scene
of the ballad of Young Tamlane, ' sweet Bowhill ' and
Newark Castle, Philiphaugh, where Leslie routed
Montrose, and Hangingshaw, erst a stronghold of the
' Outlaw Murray ' — these all are set amid the lower vale's
1 Eich groves of lofty stature,
"With Yarrow winding through the pomp
Of cultivated nature.'
But the very Yarrow, the Yarrow of mournful song, is
that of the upper valley, where the ' deep, swirling
stream, fdbulosus as ever Hydaspes, ' laves ' the inner
sanctuary of the whole Scottish Border, of that moun-
tain tract which sweeps from sea to sea, from St Abbs
Head and the Lammermuir westward to the hills of
Galloway. It concentrates in itself all that is most
characteristic of that scenery — the soft green rounded
hills with their flowing outlines, overlapping and
melting into each other ; the clear streams winding
down between them from side to side, margined with
green slips of holm ; the steep brae-sides with the
splendour of mountain grass, interlaced here and there
with darker ferns or purple heather ; the hundred side-
burns that feed the main Dale river, coming from hidden
Hopes where the grey peel-tower still moulders; the
pensive aspect of the whole region so solitary and deso-
late. Then Yarrow is the centre of the once famous
but now vanished Forest of Ettrick, with its memories
of proud huntings and chivalry, of glamourie and the
land of Faery. Again, it is the home of some "old
unhappy far-off thing," some immemorial romantic
sorrow, so remote that tradition has forgotten its inci-
dents, yet cannot forget the impression of its sadness.
1629
YARROW WATER
YAIR, a mansion, with beautiful grounds, in
Selkirk parish, Selkirkshire, on the right bank
of the Tweed, 5 miles NNW of the town of
Selkirk. It was built towards the close of the
18th century by Alex. Pringle of Whytbank, Scott's
neighbour at Ashiesteel (see Introd. to Canto II. of
Marmiori). His grandson, Alex. Pringle, Esq. (b.
1837; sue. 1857), the present proprietor, is male repre-
sentative of the original Pringle stock. — Ord. Sur., sh.
25, 1865.
Yarrow, a parish of Selkirkshire, whose church
stands on the left bank of Yarrow Water, 9 miles
W by S of Selkirk, under which there is a post office
of Yarrow. It is bounded N by Peebles, Traquair,
Innerleithen, and Stow, E by Selkirk, SE by Eirkhope,
S by Ettrick, and W by Tweedsmuir, Drummelzier,
and Manor. Its utmost length, from NE to SW, is 20
miles; its utmost breadth, 7 J miles. The Megget dis-
trict of the Peeblesshire parish of Lyne and Megget was
transferred by the Boundary Commissioners in 1891 to
the parish of Yarrow — Lyne and Megget being hence-
forth called simply Lyne parish. At the same time,
however, Yarrow parish gave to the Peeblesshire parish
of Traquair a detached portion that lay to the south of
Cardrona, and an almost detached portion that lay to
the north of Minchmoor, both portions being situated
in the Tweed valley. St Mary's Loch (3xJ mile;
814 feet above sea-level) lies to the SW, on the Ettrick
boundary; and, issuing from its foot, Yarrow Water
flows 11 J miles east-north-eastward (for the last 2 J
along the Selkirk boundary), till it passes off, near
Broadmeadows, into Selkirk parish. The Tweed flows
4 miles east-south-eastward, past Elibank and Ashie-
steel, along all the Innerleithen and Stow boundary.
Beside Yarrow Water the surface declines to 585, beside
the Tweed to 397, feet above the sea; and chief eleva-
tions to the N of the Yarrow, as one goes up the vale,
are Elibank Craig (969), Ashiesteel Hill (1314), *Elibank
Law (1715), Brown Knowe (1718), *Minchmoor(1856),
Blackgrain Rig (1652), Snouthead (1483), Mountbenger
Hope (1784), Ward Law (1377), *Dun Rig (2433),
•Blackhouse Heights (2213), *Black Law (2285), *Deer
Law (2065), *Broad Law (2723), and *Cairn Law (2352),
where asterisks mark those summits that culminate on
the confines of the parish. To the S of the Yarrow rise
*CrookHill(1580feet),*SundhopeHeight(1684),*BLACK
Knowe Head (1806), *Turner Cleuch Law (1809), Peat
Law (1737), Bowerhope Law (1570), and the Wiss
(1932). Except along the Tweed and the lower reaches
of Yarrow Water the parish is almost treeless, though
once it was all included in Ettrick Forest. Now
far the greater part of it is sheepwalks. Its endless
memories, richer than those of any other parish, are
recorded under Altrive, Ashiesteel, Blackhouse,
Douglas, Dryhope, Elibank, Hangingshaw, Mount
Bbnger, St Mart's Loch, and Yarrow Water.
Here, however, may be noticed the ' Yarrow Doctor, '
John Rutherford, M.D. (1695-1779), whose father was
parish minister, and who held the professorship of
medicine in Edinburgh University from 1726 till 1765.
Giving off a portion to Caddonfoot quoad sacra parish,
Yarrow is in the presbytery of Selkirk and the synod of
Merse and Teviotdale; the living is worth £352. Its
ancient name was St Mary's or St Mary's of the Lowes
(de Lacubus), and a pre-Reformation chapel stood at
Deuchar or Duchoire, a little way NE of the present
church. Kiekhope was disjoined from it in 1851.
The parish church, built in 1640, contains 430 sittings,
and in 1884 was adorned with two beautiful stained-
glass windows, one on each side of the pulpit, in memory
of Dr Russell and his father, ministers of Yarrow from
1791 to 1883. The subjects are ' Christ blessing little
children' and the 'Resurrection.' There are also a
-chapel of ease, Megget and St Mary's, and a Free church.
Jn connection with the parish church there is an en-
104
dowment called the ' William Thomson Linton Endow-
ment,' for the promotion of the study and knowledge of
holy scripture. Four public schools, Megget, Mount-
benger, Yarrow, and Yarrowford, with respective ac-
commodation for 19, 35, 91, and 45 children, have an
average attendance of about 10, 15, 50, and 20, and
grants amounting to nearly £15, £30, £70, and £30.
Pop. (1861) 643, (1871) 662, (1881) 639, (1891) 638, of
whom 490 were in the ecclesiastical parish. — Ord. Sur.,
shs. 24, 16, 25, 17, 1864-65. See James Russell, D.D.,
Reminiscences of Yarrow (1886 ; new ed. 1894).
Yarrow Water, a stream of Selkirkshire, issuing from
the foot of St Mary's Loch, and flowing 14£ miles
east-north-eastward, through Yarrow and Selkirk
parishes, till, after a descent of 405 feet, it falls into
Ettrick Water at a point 2 miles SW of Selkirk town.
It is a capital trouting stream, the fish weighing from
1^ lb. downwards; and its waters above Broadmeadows
are open to the public.
' What's Yarrow but a river bare,
That glides the dark hills under?
There are a thousand such elsewhere
As worthy of your wonder.'
So Wordsworth lightly sang in the first of his 'Three
Yarrows' — Yarrow Unvisited (1803), Yarrow Visited
(1814), and Yarrow Revisited (1831). On the first occa-
sion, he and his sister Dorothy had just left Scott, and
were to meet him again next day at Melrose; on the
second, ' the Ettrick Shepherd ' guided him over the
hills from Traquair to St Mary's Loch, and thence down
the whole course of Yarrow to its union with the Ettrick;
on the third he drove with Scott from Abbotsford to
Newark Castle — they were both over sixty years old,
and Scott was in two days to leave for Italy. Then
there is Foulshiels, the birthplace of Mungo Park,
and the Yarrow's deep pool where Scott found him
plunging one stone after another into the water, and
anxiously watching the bubbles that rose to the surface.
' This appears, ' said Scott, ' but an idle amusement for
one who has seen so much adventure. ' ' Not so idle,
perhaps, as you suppose, ' answered Mungo ; ' this was
the way I used to ascertain the depth of a river in
Africa.' He was then meditating his second and last
journey, but had told no one. Carterhaugh, scene
of the ballad of Young Tamlane, ' sweet Bowhill ' and
Newark Castle, Philiphaugh, where Leslie routed
Montrose, and Hangingshaw, erst a stronghold of the
' Outlaw Murray ' — these all are set amid the lower vale's
1 Eich groves of lofty stature,
"With Yarrow winding through the pomp
Of cultivated nature.'
But the very Yarrow, the Yarrow of mournful song, is
that of the upper valley, where the ' deep, swirling
stream, fdbulosus as ever Hydaspes, ' laves ' the inner
sanctuary of the whole Scottish Border, of that moun-
tain tract which sweeps from sea to sea, from St Abbs
Head and the Lammermuir westward to the hills of
Galloway. It concentrates in itself all that is most
characteristic of that scenery — the soft green rounded
hills with their flowing outlines, overlapping and
melting into each other ; the clear streams winding
down between them from side to side, margined with
green slips of holm ; the steep brae-sides with the
splendour of mountain grass, interlaced here and there
with darker ferns or purple heather ; the hundred side-
burns that feed the main Dale river, coming from hidden
Hopes where the grey peel-tower still moulders; the
pensive aspect of the whole region so solitary and deso-
late. Then Yarrow is the centre of the once famous
but now vanished Forest of Ettrick, with its memories
of proud huntings and chivalry, of glamourie and the
land of Faery. Again, it is the home of some "old
unhappy far-off thing," some immemorial romantic
sorrow, so remote that tradition has forgotten its inci-
dents, yet cannot forget the impression of its sadness.
1629
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