the unhappy slaughter of the umwhile Sir Walter Scott of Branxholm, knight, and for the better continuance of amity, favour, and friendship amangs them in time coming, the said Sir Walter Kerr of Cessford sall, upon the 23 day of March instant, come to the parish kirk of Edinburgh, now commonly callit Sanet Giles's Kirk, and there, before noon, in sight of the people present for the time, reverently upon his knees ask God mercy of the slaughter aforesaid, and sie like ask forgive ness of the same fra the said Laird of Buccleuch and his friends whilk sall happen to be present; and thereafter promise, in the name and fear of God, that he and his friends sal! truly keep their part of this present contract, and sall stand true friends to the said Laird of Buccleuch and his friends in all time coming; the whilk the said Laird of Buccleuch sall reverently accept and receive, and promise, in the fear of God, to remit his grudge, and never remember the same." A subsequent part of the agreement was, that the son of Cessford should marry a sister of Buccleuch, and Sir Andrew Kerr of Fawdonside another sister, both without portion. cairn," iii., 390.) ("Pit XIV. “PEEBLES FOR PLEASURE” (1608). The records of Privy Council are still full of instances of assaults made by men of rank and others with deadly weapons upon persons against whom they bore hatred. It would be wearisome to enumerate even those which occur throughout a single year. It is to be remembered there were famous Acts of Parliament against going armed defensively or offensively; yet in every case we find the guilty parties set about their vengeful proceedings in steel bonnets, gauntlets, and plait-sleeves, and with swords and pistolets. As an example-one Gavin Thomson, burgess of Peebles, was held at hatred by Charles Pringle, another burgess; we do not learn for what cause. One day in September, 1608, as Gavin was walking in sober and quiet manner along the High Street of the burgh, Charles Pringle, accompanied by nine or ten persons, all armed with lances and whingers, set upon and "cruelly hurt and wounded the said Gavin upon the left hand, drove him perforce back, and housit him within the dwelling-place and lock-fast yetts of Isobel Anderson; and were it not by the providence of God, that the Person and Minister of Peebles, accompanied with some others weel-affected persons to the peace of the said town, and knowing the said Gavin his innocency, come forth to the redding,* they had not failit, as they had begun, with great jeists, trees, and fore-hammers, to have surprised and strucken up the yetts and doors of the said dwelling-house, and within the same to have unmercifully slain and murdered the said Gavin." For several subsequent months Pringle and his associates had lain in wait at divers times to kill Gavin, so that he had been prevented from attending kirk or market, or going about the business of his farm. At length, on the 2nd of December, as he was walking peaceably on the street, they attacked him again, armed as before. "Being informit that he had come furth of his house, they first bostit and menaced him aff the hie street, and he retiring himself hame again in quietness, they all followit and pursewit him with drawn swords," when one of the party, Alexander Dalmahoy, "by his sword, with ane great stane of aucht pund wecht in his hand, hurt the said Gavin his thie-bone." The assailants "hurt and woundit William Murray of Romanno and divers other gentlemen redders, and in end fiercely pursewit Gavin and housit him within the dwelling-house of the close yetts of William Elliot, and cryit for jeists and fore-hammers, and had not failit to have strucken up the doors and vetts thereof, and to have slain the said Gavin within the same, were not timous relief come at hand." The active parties in this wickedness were denounced rebels by the Council. [“Privy Council Record.”] There are very few people now alive who saw Sir Walter Scott. One who in his youth received more than one pleasant and kindly recognition from the author of "Waverley recently passed away in Melbourne at the patriarchal age of 93. His name was Robert Laidlaw, and his parents were near neighbours of Sir Walter. At the age of 24 he emigrated to Australia and started sheepfarming near Melbourne, which at that time was a little scattered hamlet of a hundred houses At his death Mr Laidlaw was Melbourne's oldest inhabitant. He had witnessed the growth of the settlement from a small village into a great city, and the capital of a Commonwealth. Literally, the separation; in larger sense, the restoration of order. JAMES ROBERTSON, Esq., EDINBURGH. Portrait Supplement. BY DUNCAN FRASER, THE TRAGEDY OF BOLDSIDE FERRY, BORDER INCIDENTS FROM THE PAST, THE BORDER Keep. BY DOMINIE SAMPSON, GEORGE BORROW AND THE BORDERS. PART I. BY JOHN PRINGLE, HARROW, BORDER NOTES AND QUERIES, One Illustration. By F. A. J., A BORDER SCOT'S FIRST VISIT TO CARLISLE. BY D. A., EDITORIAL NOTES. PAGE 41 44 47 48 50 52 55 56 59 All Scottish Patriots must regret the passing of the "Scottish Review," especially as that admirable publication filled a special place in our weekly literature, and kept the Lion Flag flying. The editor of the Review on one occasion expressed his delight with the BORDER MAGAZINE which he read each month. A correspondent suggests that our "whin-coloured monthly" might, to some extent, fill the blank. While not so ambitious we believe the BORDER MAGAZINE holds its own in regard to Border matters. THE BORDER KEEP. (In which are preserved paragraphs from various publications, to the authors and editors of which Duns Scotus is nowadays seldom numbered among the galaxy of famous Scots. The part played by the great philosopher, whose fame was a European one during the opening years of the fourteenth century, has, however, been recalled by the recent death of his descendant, the Rev. Dr John Duns, Emeritus Professor of Natural Science in the New College, Edinburgh. For many centuries, the Duns family has been intimately associated with the little Border town of the same name. Of the late Professor's published works, the most popular was the "Memoir of Sir James Simpson," of chloroform fame. This was reviewed by Russell of the Scotsman," who asserted that the story of Simpson's conversion was the only part of the book which he failed to understand. Some time after Russell's death, much interest was evoked by the announcement that during his last hours the great editor had requested a relative to read those passages in the "Memoir" to which he had previously taken most exception. * An old Gilmorehill boy writes:-Many former students of Glasgow University will be interested to learn that a bronze panel has been inserted in the wall of the house at Biggiesknowe, Peebles, where the late Professor Veitch was born in 1829. This is not the first tribute that Peebles has paid to her distinguished son. A Memorial Fountain adorns the High Street of the burgh, while a Veitch Cairn has been erected in the neighbouring valley of Manor. No one who can recall the fervour with which "Johnnie," as the eminent logician was affectionately called, recited the old ballads of the Border, will be likely to consider these memorials misplaced. Still more striking testimony to his contributions to Border literature is to be found in the fact that photographs of Veitch figure as prominently in the historic inns of Tweedside as representations of the Ettrick Shepherd and of Christopher North. At the University which he served so long and so faithfully, a tablet commemorating the merits of the genial Professor was unveiled shortly after his death in the summer of 1894. edition of Dr Horatius Bonar's hymns, selected and arranged by the Rev. H. N. Bonar, his son. With minor alterations, the new edition is a reprint of that originally published in 1904. In an interesting introduction, Mr Bonar shows how his father first took to hymn-writing in Leith, where he was an assistant minister, in order to find words to suit the capacity and keep up the interest of the young folk among whom he was labouring. The circumstances in which many well-known hymns were written are given, and Mr Bonar tells how his father received a letter from a Catholic priest, showing that while they__were probably far as the poles asunder from Dr Ponar on some points of theology, the Roman Catholics prized his hymns. Mr Bonar shows what one would hardly have expected, that Dr Bonar had considerable sense of humour. Here is a quotation from some lines which he wrote after reading Carlyle's "Reminiscences" : There are Tammases no' very canny; And he's no like the rest ava'. He's aye gruntin' and growlin', Or flytin' and bitin', Or moanin' and groanin', Unique privileges are enjoyed by the inhabitants of four Annandale hamlets. The "Four Touns," as they are locally called, are Greenhill, Smallholm, Heck, and Hightae; and their distinctive rights are supposed to date back to the time of Robert the Bruce. A charge of salmon poaching that recently engaged the attention of the Sheriff of Dumfriesshire has given additional prominence to this peculiar system of land tenure. One of the witnesses named James Rae asserted that for upwards of six hundred years the King's kindly tenants had enjoyed the exclusive privilege of fishing on a certain stretch of the Annan. It was also his opinion that neighbouring landlords had absolutely no proprietary rights on that part of the river. Curious as it may seem, this argument secured the discharge of the accused, who claimed to have acted with the consent of the kindly tenants. The names of Rae, Kennedy, Nicholson, Wright, and Richardson, which still predominate in the "Four Touns," are said to have been borne by many of the more active followers of Wallace and Bruce. The death is announced of Mr James Armstrong, better known in the Border district as the author of the "Wild Hills o' Wanny," a song which is very popular in the upper reaches of the North Tyne and of Redewater. The song is one of the gems of a collection that is redolent of the romantic district which Armstrong loved so well. It brings with it the scent of the wild thyme, breathes the large freedom of the heathery uplands, and instils the sense of repose of secluded glens, and the romantic associations of the swan waters of mountain and valley. To read his poems is to catch a glimpse of the life that 1ejoices in the shifting aspects of earth and sky, Armstrong was passionately fond of nature, of animals, and birds. Nobody enjoyed a day's sport on a mountain stream, angling for the speckled trout, than he did, and no one could cook it better in primitive fashion than he was wont to do. At one time he owned a famous breed of terriers, noted on both sides of the Borders, and for otter hunting and all sorts of out-door sports he was a genuine enthusiast. His was the happy thought to strike a key that had never been struck before; his the ingenuity to give musical measure to those romantic crags, fashioning their beauties in verse. So it is that many who have never seen, and never will see, the wild hills o' Wannys, have heard sung, and can sing : O! my heart's in the west, on yon wild mossy fells, 'Mang muir-cocks an' plovers an' red heatherbells, Where the lambs lie in clusters on yon bonnie brae, On the wild hills o' Wannys sae far, far away. His death at Bellingham, at the ripe old age of 85, will awaken many precious memories amongst a very large circle of friends and admirers. What was Burns' favourite word, as shown by his poetry? In view of the great festival of the 25th, I have had the curiosity to look up Mr J. B. Reid's "Burns Concordance," and measure the amount of space devoted to certain words. In the result I find that Burns uses the word "heart" more than any other, the quotations under this word filling no fewer than six of the closelyprinted columns. "Lass," "friend," and "heaven" come next, each having about two columns. Lassie has one column. It is curious that green has only seven entries. One would have said offhand that 'green must occur much oftener than "friend." But Burns had a tendency to use English for the expression of this more serious sentiment. " * " The sport of fox-hunting by shepherds is pursued on very unconventional lines. Shortly before the advent of the lambing season a company of shepherds assemble at some rendezvous with the object of examining every cave and crevice within a radius of several miles. The war is one of extermination, and as the efforts of the faithful collies are backed by all the old muskets in the neighbourhood, poor Reynard is not favoured with the sporting chance that lends a special interest to orthodox hunting. From time to time, sportsmen have indicated their disapproval of the practice; but in outlying parts of the Border it has the sanction which immemorial usage can alone confer. Readers of Scott's "Guy Mannering will remember that a day with the hillfoxes had special attractions for the most lospitable and jovial of Liddesdale farmers, Dandie Dinmont. DOMINIE SAMPSON. GEORGE BORROW AND THE BY JOHN PRINGLE, HARROW (LATE OF SELKIRK). EORGE BORROW, the scholar, the gipsy, and the anti-priest, was born on July 5th, 1803, at East Dereham, a pretty country town in the county of Norfolk. His father-Captain Borrowwas attached to the West Norfolk regiment, and was at that time engaged on recruiting expeditions to repair the waste incurred by cur long war with Napoleon; and as the family usually accompanied the regiment wherever it went Borrow's early life was spent in a whirl of change, staying in strange towns, tramping on strange roads, seeing strange faces, and hearing strange tongues. Small wonder then when he grew up to manhood he was ruled by the same hunger for the open road." From the year 1813 to 1814 his father's regiment occupied Edinburgh Castle, and, as had been Captain Borrow's custom, wherever a long stay was to be made, he sought out a school for his boys, so George and his brother were sent to the High School. During their stay in Edinburgh, much to the disgust of his estimable father, George picked up the Scotch dialect. On the termination of the long war with Napoleon, the regiment was ordered to return from Edinburgh to Norwich. Many of the soldiers made the journey by sea, but Captain Borrow and family travelled by land; and this seems to be the occasion which Borrow recalls in his diary, written fifty-two years later, referred to in the latter part of this article. On leaving school Borrow entered a lawyer's office in Norwich, but instead of applying himself to the study of the law, he was assiduously learning languages, and translating the poetry of a famous Welsh poet, Ab. Gwilym. Moreover, shut up in an office, he felt as a caged bird. He had tasted the sweet life of "the open road," and the clear call of the fields came to him while he pored over the parchments. The result was that when the end of his apprenticeship came he knew next to nothing of the law. After the death of his father, Borrow drifted aimlessly, working in London as a literary hack, and roaming through this country and on the Continent. At last recog nition came. The Bible Society were in need of a qualified man to go out to St Petersburg to translate the New Testament into the Mancliu-Tartar language, and their choice fell on Borrow. The Russian task satisfactorily completed, he was sent out to Spain, and the experiences and adventures which befel him in that restless country he tells in that delightful and entertaining book, "The Bible in Spain." On returning to England in 1840 he married a Mrs Clarke, a lady of independent means, and Borrow, now being secure from the need to work for his living, concentrated his energies, and gave to the world those books which will always be a delight to book-lovers. His wanderings were now considerably curtailed, but he continued to roam over Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and England, visiting his gipsy friends, and collecting material for his last work-" The Romano Lavo Lil." Borrow died in 1881, and was buried beside his wife, who predeceased him, in Brompton Cemetery. BORROW'S FIRST VISIT. Borrow visited the Scottish Borders on two occasions, as a child and as a man. His first visit was made when he was only ten years of age, when, in company of his father's regiment, he passed through Berwick en route for Edinburgh; and how vividly he retained the impression that our glorious river, the Tweed, made on him will be seen from the extract from Lavengro, which I quote in full. Northward, northward still! And it came to pass that, one morning, I found myself extended on the bank of a river. It was a beautiful morning of early spring; small white clouds were floating in the heaven, occasionally veiling the countenance of the sun, whose light, as they retired, would again burst forth, coursing like a race-horse over the scene and a goodly scene it was! Before me, across the water, on an eminence, stood a white old city, surrounded with lofty walls, above which rose the tops of tall houses, with here and there a church or steeple. To my right hand was a long and massive bridge, with many arches and of antique architecture, which traversed the river. The river was a noble one; the broadest that I had hitherto seen. Its waters, of a greenish tinge, poured with impetuosity beneath the narrow arches to meet the sea, close at hand, as the boom of the billows breaking distinctly upon a beach declared. There were songs upon the river from the fisherbarks; and occasionally a chorus, plaintive and wild, such as I had never heard before, the words of which I did not understand, but which, at the present time, down the long avenue of years, seem in memory's ear to sound like 'Horam, coram, dago.' Several robust fellows were near me, some knee-deep in water, |