Morning journal and courier., 1891-07-11

Edwards, Henry VI and Margaret of An.
1 jou; followed by Warwick, Surrey, Som
| set, Norfolk, Russell, Dacres, Bolingbroke
and Northumberland; with Queen Mary,
England's first James, Charles I and III, re-
lentless Cromwell, grim John Knox; and
the dauntless Scottish kings, David Grego-
| ~, Donald, Alexander and hearted
Bruce; al and countless more, are wrought
into tho brilliant perspective of its histo-
| ry, and spring into wraithful being with
| every football upon its grim old streets.
Taking ones way along the Scottish
border to the southwest, every hill, haugh,
brae burn or acre of ground has its glori-
GUS or bloody memory. Some portion of
the Cheviots, Lammermoors, Eildons or
Kylo Hills are ever in sight. Wherever
one turns it seems that there must be
heard through the screech of the pibroch,
March, march, Ettrick and Teviotdale,
Why, my lads, dinna ye march forward in order
March, march Eskdale and Liddesdaie
All the blue bonnets are over the border
Here at Coldstream you can look over
| upon Flodden Field where James "
brought his army and himself to slaugh
| ter. They passed its ford, as have scores
of Scottish and English armies before and
since. 1t was Monks headquarters before
ne marched to London to restore Charles
III, and it was in this lovely old town upon
the Tweed in which he raised the regi-
| ment, existing to this day, and known the
world over Us the famous Coldstream
Guards. A wonderful old priory for Cjs-
tercian nuns once existed here, but all that
is left is tons of human bones, for the
Scottish heroes of Flodden were borne
back here for burial. The dreamful old
place once enjoyed nearly as high repute
as Gretna Green for the celerity with
which fsSpnfnh :.
by the priests" of Hymen, all the runa-
way couples of northwestern England Sc
curing safety and contamination here, the
ford of the Tweed once being crossed
A little farther on is ancient Kelso.
where the Teviot stream forms a confiu-
ence with the Tweed. What tonrist ever
came here. Yet it is one of the ouaintest
and most beautiful places in Britain.
Built around huge market square. its
fine old structures, shady wynds and clos.
es, give you an almost exact reproduction
of the oldest burghs of Holland. Its sb-
hey ruins, of which few outside of its
own shire know, or ever looked upon, are
among the finest to be found in Europe
The abbey was built early in the twelfth
century, and received its confirmation
from Pope Innocent II. A few miles to
the south is Yetholm, cradled in the Che
viots, ard headquarters of the Scottish
gipsies. 1t was in Kelso that the boy,
Walter Scott, afterwards Sir Walter.
passed his first school years at public
school, which had been fitted ND within
the old abbey walls, and formed the &C
quaintance of the brothers Ballentyne the
printers of the Kelso Nail, who afterwards
became the great novelist's publishers. 1t
is but three miles, for have tramped it,
from kelso to the former home of Thorn
son, author of 1.-THE Seasons" And over
there on that emerald haugh, opposite the
city, where the Teviot and Tweed unite,
once stood the royal castle OF Ro&burgh,
perhaps the first of Scotland's stupend0us
border castles, now the site of a famous
annual border fair.
A little farther to the westward are the
"sylvan Jed" of Thomson and its lovely
vale, and the old shire town of Roxburgh-
| shire, waspish, uncompromising but beau
| tiful Jedbnrgh. No tourists ever come TO
| it, but here is known antiquity of over
| one thousand years: and an abbey nearly
/ eight hundred years old, wonderfully in
| teresting in the mixed character of its
arches and interlsced arcade: the school
boy home os Thomson; and the place in
| whose ancient castle, celebrated in song
| and story, the spectral mask appeared at
the marriage festivities of Alexander III.
In the hard old burgh, the scene of count
less grim and CORY clashings in border
| warfare, In ancient times scores of male
gipsies were hanged, and dozens of female
gipsies were drowned in Teviot's singing
waters. Indeed here originated the term
Scotch justice" or "Jethart Justice, 4" i'm
| plying the practice of first hanging and
| subsequently judging a culprit. And
roundabout, every hill, stream and noun
tain glen is given weird fascination by
remains of Roman camps and fortresses,
| with uncounted relics in tumuli and crom-
lechs of the Gaelic age beyond
| And thus, all the way through this bor-
derland of cloud kissed hills and misty
valleys to the Irish sea, book thrilling
| with legend, romance and sad and glorious
history could be made upon every city,
town or slumberous clachsn and hamlet
Here at Langholm, at the meeting of the
waters of the Ewes and Esk in lovely Esk-
dale, with ancient Wauchope castle hang
| ing from the brow of the precipice above.
is perfect mine of weird memories for
romancer or poet, with a myriad scenic
/ GENE for the artist. Besides who has not
heard of the Langholm witches, and 'the
branks" to subdue thema This was sim
pie instrument formed so as to a. firmly
| on the head, and to project into the mouth
a sharp spike for subjugating the tongue
1t was much preferred to the ducking.
stool, (which not only endangered the
health of the patient but also gave the
tongue liberty betwixt every dip." Score,
of these patients" were burned along
eide Langholm castle: and the spot is full
ly as interesting our own reminder o.
the gentle days, Gallons Hill, at Salem
| Then comes sunny Annandale. 1t il
also unknown to tourists. Yet it seems Il
me in few particulars to possess extraor
dinary interest. At the very border is lit
tie Gretna Green, one of the most famous
courts OF Hymen on earth, where William
Loing, village postman and Gretna "priest,
still ties the nuptial knot, for considers
ton, with his weazened and deaf old wifi,
as witness. At LoChmaben are the ruin
of one of the Oldest and certainly one o.
the most historic of ancient Scottish cas-
ties, the first home in Scotland of Rober
the Bruce. In Amman, where those won
derful phenomena, the tide-bores of th,
Solway, may be best seen, is the birth
place of the greatest and most unfortunat.
of all Scottish preachers, Edward Irving
And at Eeclefechan is found an almos
unknown yet noble shrine, as the memo
ries of men are measured, the birthplac,
glorious old Thomas Carlyle.
And even now you are at the threshold
of another border region, magnifcen
Nithsdale. Here, at it's sweet old metrop
oils, legend-haunted Dumfries town, You
eye may range to the east, over beyont
fair Annandale; across Kirkcudbright
shire to the west, to the noble hills skirt
ing Aver; to the north, up dreamlant
Nithsdale, past bonnie Ellisland, the farm
home of Burns, to the far grim turrets O
Drumlanrig Castle; and, to the south, +
the vast expanse of Solway Firth, where
to the right of Nith's-mouth, looms gray
browed Criffel, and, to the left, is caugh
gleam of the sands by Brow Well. q
whose waters Burns too late struggled b
save his life. 1t is the land of Burns
No other eulogy need be said. wher
stood Dumfries' ancient Greyfriars Monas
terry, Robert Bruce stabbed Red Comyn
high challenge to the patriotic war whicI
ended at glorious Bsnnockburn. Nor
glorious still, here lived and died and lie
buried in that noble mausoleum in ST. hi
chael's churchyard, the one who above al
others struck down, with the weapons o
poesy and satire, the tyrants, Bigotry
Cant and Superstition, that held. the olde
Scotland in chains. In all the wrath prc
, cessions of kings, abbotts, knights
squires, moss-troopers and hardy border
ers of this wondrous British Borderland
! here dwelt the monarch of them all, i'm
mortal Robert Burns.
, EDGAR L. WAKKMAN.