Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 2

KELSO.
81
north side of the Tweed, opposite Wooden. Turn-
pikes radiate in various directions from the town
toward Edinburgh, Greenlaw, Leitholm, Coldstream,
Sprouston, Yetholm, and Hawick, — two of these
lines being part of the great road from Berwick up
the Tweed and the Teviot leading onward to Car-
lisle. The bridges are substantial, and, in two in-
stances, elegant. Twenty- three years ago, an act
of parliament was obtained for a Kelso and Berwick
railway; but, for some unexplained reason, it con-
tinues to this hour a dead letter. Among the vari-
ous plans for completing a railway communication
between London and Edinburgh, is Mr. Remington's
inland line from Newcastle, by Morpeth, Wooler,
Kelso, and Dalkeith, an actual distance to Dalkeith
of 104 miles 10 chains; the equivalent being 110
miles 18 chains. This line would enter Scotland at
a point 59 miles distant from Newcastle ; and cross
the Tweed at Kelso between the 65th and 66th
mile Population, in 1801, 4,196; in 1831, 4,939.
Houses 618. Assessed property, in 1815, £15,619.
Kelso is the seat of a presbytery in the synod of
Merse and Teviotdale. Patron, the Duke of Rox-
burgh. Stipend £320 13s. 6d.; glebe £54 15s.
According to an ecclesiastical survey in November,
1835, the population then consisted of 2,670 church-
men, 2,042 dissenters, and 376 persons not known
to belong to any religious denomination, — in all
5,088. The parish-church was built in 1773, altered
in 1823, and enlarged in 1833. Sittings 1,314.
A new church in connexion with the Establishment
was begun in 1836, and finished in 1838, at a cost of
upwards of £3,000, defrayed by subscription. Sit-
tings 800 There are in the parish — their places of
worship all situated in the town — 5 dissenting con-
gregations. The United Secession congregation was
established in 1752. Their meeting-house was built
in 1787-8, and, with its pertinents, is estimated in
value at not less than £2,500. Sittings 955. Stipend
£200, with a manse and garden worth £30 The
Relief congregation was established in 1 792. Their
place of worship was built in 1 793, and is supposed to
be now worth £1,050. Sittings 768. Stipend £160,
with a manse and garden worth £45. — The Epis-
copalian congregation was regularly formed in 1757,
but claims to have been continued from 1688. Their
former chapel was built in 1763. Sittings 218; but
a new and handsome chapel has recently been erected.
Stipend fluctuating with the state of the funds The
Reformed Presbyterian congregation has existed for
more than 55 years. Their place of worship was
built about 55 years ago, and is supposed to have
cost about £300. Sittings 320. Stipend £84, with
a house and garden worth £16. — The Original Se-
ceder congregation was established and their meet-
ing-house built in 1772. Sittings between 600 and
700. Stipend variable, with a manse and garden
worth £10 to £12 There are in the parish 12
schools, conducted by 15 teachers, and attended by
a maximum of 765 scholars. One is a classical school,
whose teacher employs an assistant, and has £34
4s. 9£d. of salary, with £80 fees, and £10 other
emoluments; one is an English school, ranked,
jointly with the former, as parochial, whose teacher
has £5 lis. 6d. of salary with fees; two are board-
ing-schools for young ladies; one is the Friendly
school, whose teacher is guaranteed £40 a-year by
a voluntary association, and whose scholars, all boys
and 1 13 in number, pay each Id. per week; and two
are schools whose teachers are provided with school-
rooms and dwelling-houses, but have no other emo-
lument than fees The present parish comprehends
the ancient parishes of Kelso or St. Mary's, Max-
well, and St. James. The first of these lay on the
north side of the Tweed, and was within the diocese
II.
of St. Andrews, and the second and third lay on the
south side, and were within that of Glasgow, — the
river being here the boundary. David I., at his ac-
cession to the throne, witnessed the existence of
St. Mary's church of Kelso; and, in 1128, with the
consent of the bishop of St. Andrews, he transplanted
to it the monks of Selkirk. The church became
now identified with the monastery, and was hence-
forth called the church of St. Mary and St. John, —
the Tyronensian monks being accustomed to dedicate
their sacred edifices to the Virgin and the Evangelist.
In the church were anciently several altars dedicated
to various saints and endowed for the support of chap-
lains. When the Scoto- Saxon period began, the an-
cient parish of St. James, or of Old Roxburgh, was pro-
vided with two churches, — the one dedicated to St.
James for the use of the town, and the other dedicated
to St. John for the use of the castle. Malcolm IV.
granted both churches and their appurtenances to
Herbert, bishop of Glasgow. But the monks of
Kelso — to whom David I. made mention of it in their
charter — considered that of St. James as part of their
property, and drew from it a considerable revenue;
and, being little attentive to it except for its minis-
trations to their avarice, they, in 1433, received a
mandate from the abbot of Dryburgh, as delegate of
the Pope, commanding them to provide it with a
chaplain. The parish of Maxwell, or according to
its ancient orthography, Maccuswell, derived its
name from the proprietor of the manor, Maccus, the
son of Unwein, who witnessed many charters of
David I. Herbert de Maccuswell gave the church
to the monks of Kelso; and he built a chapel at
Harlaw, about a mile from it, dedicated it to St.
Thomas the martyr, and gave it also to the monks.
— On the left bank of the Teviot stood anciently
a Franciscan convent, consecrated by William,
bishop of Glasgow, in the year 1235. Till near the
end of last century, a fine arch of the church of the
convent, and other parts of the building, were in
preservation. On the right bank of the Teviot,
nearly opposite to Roxburgh castle, stood a Maison
Dieu, an asylum for pilgrims, and for the infirm and
the aged. On the estate of Wooden were, till
lately, vestiges of a Roman tumulus, consisting of
vast layers of stone and moss, both of a different
species from any now found in the parish; and near
Wooden-burn stone-coffins were dug up which en-
closed human skeletons. Roxburgh castle will
be noticed in a separate article. The Castle of
Floors or Fleurs has already been separately no-
ticed. The Abbey occurs to be described in our
account of the town.
Kelso, a burgh-of-barony, the largest town in
the eastern border counties of Scotland, and, both
in itself and in its environs, one of the most beauti-
ful of its size in Europe, stands in 55° 36' north
latitude, and 1° 20' west longitude from Greenwich;
42 miles south by east of Edinburgh; 23 miles west
from Berwick-upon-Tweed ; 10 miles north-east
from Jedburgh ; 9 miles south-west from Cold-
stream ; and 4J miles west from the boundary-
line with England. It is delightfully situated at
the confluence of the Tweed and the Teviot, on
the left bank of the former; and stretches along a
plain in the centre of the gently rising and magnifi-
cent amphitheatre formed by the basin-configuration
of its parish, commanding from every opening of its
streets bird's-eye views of exquisitely lovely scenery,
and constituting in the tracery of its own burghal
landscape an object of high interest in the midst of
its beautiful environs. The sumptuous architectural
character of its venerable abbey, — the air of preten-
sion worn by its public buildings, — the light-coloured
stone and the blue slate roofs of its dwelling-houses, —
F