Gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

C O L L E S S I E.
155
sman detachment from Kelso to proclaim his
father on the English ground opposite Cold-
stream, that being the nearest point of the
southern kingdom to his line of march ; by this
expedient he had the gratification of perform-
ing the ceremony a few days earlier than was
otherwise practicable. The Tweed is now
crossed here by a strong bridge of red free-
stone, consisting of five arches. The expense
of its erection and perpetual repair was liqui-
dated by a toll bar, which was lately removed,
the purpose of its institution having been ac-
complished ; this is, perhaps, the only instance
on record, at least in Scotland, of a toll-bar or
pontage having been removed, after it was once
planted. The bridge of Coldstream is placed
at the distance of a furlong from the east end
of the town, and from it a very delightful view
up and down the woody banks of the river is
obtained. A few neat villas, significant of the
vicinage of England, have of late years sprung
up in the environs of Coldstream ; some of
these enter delightfully into the composition of
this river-side landscape. The repair to and
fro at Coldstream is considerable, this being
the chief thoroughfare from Edinburgh to
Newcastle, and parts in that direction. Cold-
stream seems to subsist principally on this
thoroughfare, and on the trade created by the
opulent agricidtural country around it. On
the first Thursday of every month, there is a
great cattle market, chiefly resorted to by deal-
ers from the north of England. There is
also a corn market every Thursday. Cold-
stream enjoys part of that matrimonial trade
which has become so notorious at Gretna
Green. The person keeping the chief inn
shows, with some pride, the room in which
Lord Chancellor Brougham submitted to hy-
meneal bonds. * Previous to the Reformation
this place could boast of a rich priory of Cis-
tertian nuns ; but of the building not one
fragment now remains. The fabric stood upon
a spot a little eastward from the market-place,
where there are still some peculiarly luxuriant
gardens, besides a small burying-ground. Be-
sides the parish church of Coldstream, there are
two meeting houses of Presbyterian Dissenters.
General Monk resided at Coldstream, at the
time when he waited for a favourable oppor-
• It is a remarkable circumstance, that three Lord Chan-
cellors of England, out of four in succession, were mar-
ried in this clandestine manner. We need scarcely men-
tion that the other guilty persons were Erskine and Eldon.
tuiuty to spring into England, and effect the
restoration. During the winter of 1659-60,
which he spent here, he raised a horse regi-
ment, which was therefore, and has ever since
been, denominated the Coldstream Guards.
We beg to recommend to the attention of all
travellers who may happen to be unmarried,
the following popular rhyme regarding the
places around Coldstream - : —
Bught-rig and Belchester,
Hatchet-knows and Darnchester,
Leetholm and the Peel ;
If ye dinna get,a wife in ane o' thae places,
Ye'H ne'er do weel.
— Population of the town and parish in 1821,
2675.
COLINSBURGH, a village in Fife, pa-
rish of Kilconquhar, lying two miles inland
from the coast of the Firth of Forth, at Largo
bay, and five miles west of Pittenweem. It is
a thriving village, with a handsome and con-
spicuous dissenting church.
COLL, an island, lying off the west coast
of Midi, Argyleshire, from which it is distant
about seven miles, and forming part of the pa-
rish of Tiree, from which it is divided by a
narrow rocky sound. It is fourteen miles long
and about two and a half in breadth. There
is little appearance of cultivation. The island
is so covered with bare rocks, scarcely to be
called hills, that when viewed from a low po-
sition, nothing but a continuous, grey, stony
surface is visible, the whole conveying the no-
tion of a wide rude pavement on a gigantic
scale. The intervals are filled with green
pastures, pools, lakes, and morasses. The
inhabitants are exceedingly poor, and their cot-
tages are more like the wigwams of savages
than the dwellings of civilized people. The
grounds feed black cattle, and the inhabitants
employ a great part of their time in fishing.
The coast is a mixture of rocks and sands.
COLL ACE, a parish in Gowrie, Perth-
shire, of about two miles square, having
Cargill on the north and Kinnaird on the
south. The northern division rises gently to-
wards the Sidlaw Hills. The higher parts are
pastoral ; the lower are devoted to agriculture.
The hill of Dunsinnan is in the parish. The
parish is midway betwixt Perth and Cupar
Angus. — Population in 1821, 691.
COLLESSIE, a parish in Fife, lying east
of Auchtermuchty, on the north side of the
Hoive or vale in the centre of the county; ex-
tending eight miles in length by five in breadth ;