The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-16 00:00:00

Lcess of Wales

_
----4*--KELso, Saturday.
-mths past the Prince and Princess of Wales
For s',llne ted to honour Roxburghshire with a visit,
have been expo°, accepted and invitation from the Duke
having received an ,
and Duchess of Rex. "astle, near Kelso. In accord-
palatial residence of Floo2-s their Royal Highnesses
will arrive at Moors on Tuesda - next' ,urghe to stay a few days at their
and they have inti-
ance with crevious arrangement,
mated their intention of attending The ducal
on the following Wednesday an, The .113bNI1/4 with
ursday.. '-
family have been honoured on two forme
'so race-meeting
former occasion..

a visit from Prince Alfred, who then enjoyed some exce.
lent fishing on the Tweed; and it is said that the Duke 11
contemplates initiating the heir-apparent to the throne into
the mysteries of salmon-fishing. The enthusiasm of the

Borderers shows their high appreciation of the honour
conferred upon them by their distinguished visitors. In
the times when the Kers, the Scots, the Douglases, the
Elliots, and tho Armstrongs rejoiced in their raids upon
offending or prosperous neighbours, or patriotically united

in repelling an incursion of the "hated Southrons," the
presence of royalty in Tweedside and the adjacent country

was not so rare an event as now, nor sometimes, we may
add, so agreeable. Witness the Laird of Henderland as he
swung before his own castle-gate by the peremptory order
of his incensed monarch, James V. But tempora mutantur,
the advent of royalty to this district comes now as a luxury,
_ _

and the preparations being made in Kelso and the neigh-
bouring towns to give the Prince and Princess a suitable
welcome; show that their arrival will be marked as a red-
letter day in the Border calendar. Kelso has called in the aid

of art to add to and enhance its many natural attractions ;

,riumphal arches, decorations, &c., have been speedily

subscribed for, and are being busily erected; holidays have
been promulgated by the town authorities; while hotel-
keepersm and others possessed of letable apartments tell, in
their own cautious, self-complacent way, how they have,
without difficulty, drawn on the pockets of intending visi-
tors during the race days to the tune of a " gowden guinea"
or two, in exchange for a single night's accommodation.
It may not, therefore, be out of place to give some descrip-
tion of this interesting and picturesque locality, noticing
a few particulars in the history of the family whose guests

the Prince and Princess axe so soon to become. It is a
difficult matter to determine the founder of the ducal house
of Roxburghe. On the Innes's side it is said that the pre-

sent Duke is the 30th in descent from Berowaldus, a famous
Fleming who settled in Moray about the 12th century,
while the name of Ker is said to have been borne by one of
the principal officers of William the Conqueror. The peer-
age writers, however, give John Ker, of the Forest of Sel-
kirk, who lived about 1358, as the founder of the house of
Cessford and Roxburghe. Ever since.the 14th century the
family of Ker has occupied a prominent place in the history
of Scotland. As wardens of the middle and eastern marches,
and having their baronies in the debateable borderland
between England and Scotland, they, with the Scotts and
Douglases, were the chief actors in those raids, fire-rais-
ings, and conflicts which had so much of the romantic in
their nature that their history has been recorded in ballads
and songs. The first of the family raised to the peerage
was Sir Robert Ker, of Cessford, by the title of Earl
Roxburghe. He was Gentleman of the Bedchamber to James
VI., and in 1606, seven years after his first creation, he
was made Baron Ker. Having no male heir, he in 1648,
by charter from the crown, nominated Sir William Drum-
mond, son of his daughter Jean, Countess of Perth, hisheir,
and at his death Sir William succeeded to the title. Earl
William was distinguished for his military genius in Hol-
land, and for his strong attachment to the Royalist cause
was fined £6,000 by Cromwell. His son John, for his ser-
vices in bringing about the Union, was created Duke of
Roxburghe by Queen Anne. A writer of his time de-
scribes him "as an honour of his country abroad, the or-
nament of the court at home ; a prince of great learning,
as well as a fine gentleman ; was Secretary of State to
Queen Anne, and continues the same to King George."
Robert, his son and successor, never married. He had
wooed and would have been married to Christina Sophia,
daughter of the Duke of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, had not
her younger sister, the Princess Charlotte, 'been espoused
to George 111., and it was thought not proper that the
elder sister should be the subject of the younger. On the
demise of William, the fourth Duke, in 1805, without issue,
a long litigation ensued between two claimants for the
honours and estates in the persons of Sir James Norcliffe
Innos and Brigadier-General Ker of Littledean, and not

until 1812 did the law decide in Sir James's favour. He
assumed the name of Ker, and had been married in 1807
to Harriet, daughter of Benjamin Charleswood of Windles-
ham. He died in 1823, leaving issue the present duke,
who was born in July, 1816, and who married the
daughter of General Sir Charles Dalbiac, G.C.B. Her
grace's mother is mentioned in Napier's "Peninsular
War" for her heroic conduct in fearlessly attending her
husband through the dangers and privations of two cam-
paigns. The duchess, as one of the ladies in waiting on
the Queen, recently accompanied her Majesty to Germany.

The Inneses are of Flemish extraction, and many remark
able men who filled high offices in Church and State have
sprung from Berowaldus, the first of the name, and of his
posterity it has boon said "they have either been notable
or h*PPY in that their inheritance never went
that none of them married an ill wife, and that no friend
ever suffered for their debt."
Sir Walter Scott, in speaking of the situation of Floors
Castle, the residence of the Duke of Roxburghe, says :
" The mansion of Fleurs (or Floors), with its terrace, its
woods, and its extensive lawn, forms altogether a kingdom
for Oberon or Titania to dwell in, or any spirit who before
their time might love scenery of which the majesty and
even the beauty impress the mind with a sense of awe
mingled with pleasure." The Tweed, for some miles above
the castle, flows between lofty and picturesque banks, but
at Floors a spacious plain opens up on the left bank, and
on a terrace commanding the view of the river the castle
is built. Its dimensions are palatial, and the architecture
of the Tudor-Elizabethan order. A large rectangular block,
flanked by towers crowned with minarets, occupies the
centre of the building, and on each side of the towers ex-
tensive wings, surmounted by dome and turret, stretch
northward, forming a stately quadrangle, from which can
be viewed the old and once almost impregnable baronial
seat of the Homes and the weird three-cleft Eildons. The
prospect from the south side of the castle is very fine, and
embraces the old castle of Roxburgh, the town of Kelso,
with its venerable massive ruined abbey, and the delight-
ful panorama of country where Tweed and Teviot flow
almost side by side, and at last mingle their waters ; as also
the gently undulating and finely wooded upland stretch-
ing to and bounded by the blue Cheviots. In the lawn
sloping from Floors Castle to the Tweed is the spot
marked by a holly-tree where James 11. was killed by the
bursting of a cannon, when besieging Roxburgh Castle,
which stands facing Floors. Of this old and once im-
portant fortress, the scene of many a siege and treaty—at
one time. in the possession of the English, at another of
the Scottish armies—the remains yet convey an idea of its
size, strength, and strategical importance in Border warfare.
Occupying almost wholly the neck of the peninsula be-
tween the Tweed and Teviot it was naturally well forti-
fied, and from its geographical position was, in the words
of Earl Hertford in a letter to Henry VIII., "surely the
very seat and place which shall and may scourge, and keep
in obedience, both the Marches and Teviotdale." The
archways and huge blocks of wall on the Teviot side still
remind the traveller of the "towering fortress" and its his-
torical associations; but within its walls tall trees now
rise, and sheep browse on its battlements and in its moat,
and on summer holidays picnic partiesquietly regale them-
selves, after satisfying their historical tastes and beholding
the magnificent view from the ridge on which it is built,
with the contents of their hampers—fearing no foe.
Under the west wing of Floors Castle stands what up to
within a few yams was the principal flower garden. It is
still, however, kept up, and presents a very gay appear-
ance during the spring and summer months, being bedded
Out with choice flowers. This garden is of limited dimen-
sions, but is laid out, after a very elaborate and tasteful
design, in the Italian or geometrical style. At the north
end of it itte.oesservaterA +always filled with gorgeous
flowers from the conservatories and green-houses when
the ducal family are residing at the castle. In the centre
of this house is a bed filled with camelias of considerable
size, all in excellent heath, some of which aro reckoned
among the best specimens in Britain. Leaving this part
of the gardens, there is a choice of two paths leading to
der flower and kitchen gardens, which aro about three
`hundred Jards to the west. The way by which we ap-
proached was though what may be termed a bower, formed
on the one side by the flank of a wood and on the other by
some noble specimens of Spanish chestnuts ; at the extreme
of which there at once bursts upon our view in all its
splendour the principal flower garden. Nature could not
have perhaps provided a more beautiful site for it, and Art
has done its share in make it a delightful spot. It is bounded
on the north side by what is generally acknowledged to be
the finest range of glass in Britain, extending to about
35,000 square feet. On the east
stately trees. andpalaynesat
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The west side is bounded by the east
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the skill of science and art. This garden has an area of
several acres laid out on the geometrical style, and planted
after the same fashion as the gardens of South Kensington.
The glass already referred to is divided into eight compart-
ments, all span roofed ; the largest house being a conser-
vatory 250 feet long, having a winding walk up the centre,
and filled with many rare and beautiful specimens,of the
finest exotics. The other houses are all of a size, two of them
being conservatories, one a plant stove, three vineries, and
one peach-house. The plants are of the finest in cultiva-
tion, and bear evidence that the highest skill and ability
have been employed in their management. The kitchen
garden comprises four acres, and is nicely walled in, having
six acres without for growing the more common vegetables.
Glass here is also in great abundance, consisting of peach-
houi-le, vineries, pineries, orchard and fern houses,
greenhouses, cucumber, melon, and propagating houses,
with numerous other places for horticultural purposes.
All these different divisions have been laid out within
the last seven years, under the direction of Mr. Rose,
the principal gardener, whose skill 'as an eminent horti-
culturist was evinced at the international flower show
held in Edinburgh a few weeks ago.—Telegraph.