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Peebles
and Selkirk
Watershed, Rivers and Lochs |
The Southern Uplands is a land of waters and
watersheds. "A hill, a road, a river" was an English traveller’s terse
description in the eighteenth century. Although now in many parts woods
and forests cover the slopes of the hills and fringe its roads and rivers,
hills and rivers still remain its prominent features.
The region was at one time an undulating plateau from
whose higher parts streams flowed in all directions. The Tweed, therefore,
in a real physical sense has made these hills; and not only made them, but
also established them; for, by the Tweed along with other sub-aerial
influences they have been made into hills of "stable equilibrium." Without
the river, then, the region would be meaningless not only to those who
take delight in its beauty and in its historical associations, but also to
those who study its physical configuration.
The general slope of the plateau is
towards the southeast. Hence the Tweed in its course from Peebles to
Berwick, with its tributaries the Lyne, the Eddleston, the Leithen and the
Gala, flows to the south-east. As the course of these rivers was
originally determined by the slope of the ground they are called
consequent, from which we infer
that they are the oldest rivers of the country. This agrees with the fact
that in former geological days, a great river crossed the country from the
region of Loch Fyne to the North Sea, by the present Clyde Valley, and by
the present Tweed Valley, which it entered near Biggar. Various changes
occurred, which ultimately resulted in the Clyde and the Tweed as we know
them. On the other hand, the Tweed from Tweedsmuir to Drummelzier, and the
tributaries, the Holms Water, the Yarrow, the Ettrick, all flowing
north-east, must have been formed subsequently to the time when the
course of the main rivers was settled—probably after the great ice age.
Hence such rivers are called
subsequent.
The Tweed
(103 m.) rises at Tweedswell, 1250
feet above sea-level. After a north-easterly
direction as far as Peebles it turns east-by-south through Peebles and
Selkirk till it meets the Ettrick; then
turning north, it receives the Gala and a little below Galafoot enters the
county of Roxburgh. Its total course through Peeblesshire, from Tweedswell
to Scrogbank, is 40 miles, and through Selkirkshire from Scrogbank to the
railway bridge, between Galashiels and Melrose, 10 miles. In Tweedsmuir
the only tributary of any size is the Holms Water, which unites with the
Biggar Water and the Broughton Burn. The hills in the south-west of
Peeblesshire have their highest summits lying to the east and north of
Tweedswell, on the boundary line between Peebles, Dumfries and Selkirk.
These are Hart Fell (2651), Loch Craighead (2625), Broad Law (2723), and
Dunlaw (2584). It is in these hills that the Tweed receives such streams
as the Fruid, the Talla (the catchment area of Talla Reservoir) and the
Stanhope. After a course of 15
miles it enters, below Rachan, the haughlands of Drummelzier, the widest
part of the Tweed valley above Melrose. Into this plain the valleys of
Biggar and Broughton converge from the west. Near Drummelzier church the
Tweed is joined by the Powsail Burn from Merlindale. The rhyme, attributed
to Thomas of Ercildoune,
"When Tweed and Powsail meet at
Merlin’s grave,
England and Scotland shall one
monarch have,"
is said to have been fulfilled on
the day that James VI became James I of England.
Eastwards, beyond Dawyck and Stobo
with their beautiful woods, the Tweed receives the Lyne from the
north-west of the county. More than a mile further on it meets the Manor
Water, with a course almost parallel to that of the Tweed, the heights
between the two streams comprising Dollar Law, Pykestone, and the Scrape.
The river has now arrived at the picturesque pass of Neidpath, through
which it joyously forces its way above the town of Peebles (see page 2).
Here it is joined on the north bank by the Eddleston Water, which flows
almost due south from Leadburn heights through a beautiful upland valley.
Haystoun valley to the east and south of Peebles, through which flows
Haystoun Burn, shows evidence of having once formed the old bed of the
river, which flowed from a large lake stretching beyond Neidpath and
Cademuir, well up towards Drummelzier. Once the water at Neidpath had worn
down the shaly rock sufficiently to drain the lake, the course in the
Haystoun valley gradually shrank from one lake with a river current
through it to a series of small lakes joined by a narrow stream. These
lakes existed up to 1823, when they were drained and the cutting exposed
the bottom of the old lake.
At Peebles the river has fallen 800
feet. Between Peebles and Innerleithen on the north and Traquair on the
south bank, the river winds through a beautiful valley diversified with
gently sloping and interfolding hills, natural forest, wooded parks, green
haughs with glimpses of cattle cooling their limbs at summer noon in
shaded pools, of ancient peel towers perched on rocky slopes, or of modern
mansions gleaming through the trees. Near Traquair House the Tweed was
diverted northwards for a distance of two miles from its old course. This
part of the river used to be known as the "New Water." The Quair, which
here joins the Tweed on the south bank, small as it is, is one of the
historic streams of Scotland. It runs parallel to Manor and in its
romantic valley stand the church of Traquair, and the mansion house of the
Glen. Half a mile further on, the Tweed is joined by the Leithen Water
flowing down a steep pastoral valley from the Moorfoot Hills.
About one mile west of Elibank
Castle the Tweed becomes the boundary between the counties, and half a
mile below Thornilee station it enters the parish of Caddonfoot in
Selkirkshire. Nearly three miles to the south-east it passes Ashestiel,
opposite which the highroad strikes over the hill to Clovenfords. South of
Clovenfords the Caddon Water enters the Tweed at Caddonfoot. Neidpath hill
on the opposite bank turns the current to the south towards Yair House,
where the river rushes over a series of rocky boulders called "Yair Trows."
Here Sir Walter Scott used to "leister" salmon. The Tweed is now joined by
the Yair Burn. On the left bank a little further on stands Fairnilee, and
below Sunderland Hall the Ettrick from Selkirk, the largest tributary,
enters on the south bank. Then passing Abbotsford and receiving the Gala
from the Moorfoots, half a mile beyond Galafoot, the Tweed enters
Roxburgh, where it finally leaves the Southern Uplands for the wide plain
between the Cheviots and the Lammermuirs.
The Ettrick (30 miles) rises in
Ettrick Pen. Its valley is larger and wider than Yarrow’s, and, in its
upper reaches, wilder and more picturesque. Only a few of its numerous
tributaries can be noted. On the right is the Tima, from Eskdalemuir; on
the left the Kirkburn and the Scabscleuch, with a road over to Yarrow.
Further down is the Rankleburn with the Buccleuchs, Easter and Wester,
whence the family took their title. On the north is Tushielaw Tower, home
of Adam the Reiver. Three miles on Ettrick receives Gilmanscleuch Burn on
the left, and then the Dodhead Burn, scene of Jamie Telfer’s "Fair Dodhead,"
on the right. Northwards through Ettrick Shaws the scenery is picturesque,
Ettrick rushing through thick plantations over its rocky bed till Ettrick
Bridge End is reached and the old bridge of Wat o’ Harden. On the right is
Oakwood Tower, on the left Bowhill, where now Ettrick sweeps with opposing
curve to meet Yarrow round the Carterhaugh, scene of "Young Tamlane."
Thence northwards Ettrick passes Lindean and enters Tweed.
The Yarrow, rising near Birkhill,
flows through the Loch o’ the Lowes and St Mary’s Loch, into which also
flows the Megget. On the shores of the loch are Tibbie Shiel’s Inn, the
Rodono Hotel and, near the high road, Perys Cockburn’s Grave. Further down
the valley are St Mary’s Chapel, Dryhope Tower, Blackhouse Tower— all
three famous in tragic ballad. Still further on, the Gordon Arms, Mount
Benger, Yarrow Manse, "the Dowie Dens," are passed, till Hangingshaw with
its noble trees, Broadmeadows, once the desire of Walter Scott’s heart,
Bowhill and Philiphaugh, all beautifully wooded, proudly welcome Yarrow
home as it ends its course in Ettrick, east of Carterhaugh.
St Mary’s Loch and the Loch o’ the
Lowes, originally one, stretch along the valley of the Yarrow for about
two-thirds of their length. The Oxcleugh Burn and the Whitehope Burn have
pushed their deltas out from the shore until they have eventually cut the
loch into two parts, and raised the water level of the upper part (the
Loch o’ the Lowes) so that it drains across the lowest part of the
encroaching delta to the lower sheet of water (St Mary’s). The Megget is
also extending its delta towards the shore below Bowerhope hill, the
distance between the two shores being now only a quarter of a mile. In
time, therefore, there will be three lochs instead of two. The lochs are
remarkably free from vegetation
"nor fen nor sedge
Pollute the pure lake’s crystal edge,
Abrupt and sheer the mountains sink
At once upon the level brink."
The tableland between Ettrick and
Teviot has a chain of small lakes representing evidently an ancient river
bed. Some of them contain deposits of shellmarl. These are Kingside Loch,
between Selkirk and Roxburgh; Crooked Loch, a mile further east; Clearburn
Loch; Hellmuir Loch; Shaws Lochs (Upper and Under); Alemuir Loch.
Another row of lochs parallel with these extends for a distance of six or
seven miles through Ashkirk, northwards to Selkirk—Shielswood Loch,
Essenside Loch, Headshaw Loch, and the Haining Loch. The Haining Loch is
an example of a loch tending to disappear through the growth of
vegetation. A fresh-water weed, not met with in any other British lake,
was discolouring the loch and threatening to fill it up. In 1911 an
attempt was made to kill the weed by a solution of sulphate of copper, and
so far the experiment has been successful. Cauldshiels Loch, three-eighths
of a mile long, one-eighth of a mile wide, 80 feet deep and 780 feet above
sea-level, is situated near the boundary line between Selkirk and
Roxburgh, with Abbotsford Estate on one of its sides.
The lochs in Peeblesshire are
neither so numerous nor so large as those in Selkirkshire. Gameshope Loch,
in the very heart of the Peeblesshire wilds, is the highest sheet of water
in the south of Scotland, being between 1750 and 2000 feet above
sea-level. Talla Reservoir is an artificial barrier loch, forming one of
the Edinburgh and District supplies. The surface area of the Reservoir
when full is 300 acres; the daily quantity of water available is ten
million gallons. Slipperfield Loch, near Broomlee station, 1½ miles in
circumference and 845 feet above sea-level, is an example of a lake formed
in the upper or stratified drift common in the hills between Linton and
Dolphinton, where sand and gravel undulate into hummocky and conical forms
and sometimes, as here, enclose pools of water. Portmore Loch, 1000 feet
above sea-level, is surrounded by the beautiful woods of Portmore. The
North Esk Reservoir, on the boundary between Midlothian and Peebles, and
about one mile north of Carlops, supplies Edinburgh and District with
water. |
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