Makerstoun

   MAKERSTOUN, a parish, in the district of Kelso, county of Roxburgh; containing 355 inhabitants, of whom 79 are in the village, 5 miles (W. S. W.) from Kelso. This place is supposed to have derived its name from its original proprietor, Machar, or Machir. The parish is beautifully situated on the river Tweed, which forms its southern boundary, dividing it from Roxburgh; it is nearly four miles in length from east to west, varies from two to three miles in breadth from north to south, and comprises 2892 acres, of which 2574 are arable and pasture, and 318 woodland, plantations, and roads. The surface has a considerable rise towards the north, where it attains an elevation of 471 feet above the level of the sea; and the lands are agreeably diversified with thriving trees. The soil in the southern part is a dry loam, exceedingly fertile; but it is less productive towards the north, being chiefly a thin clay. The substratum is generally gravel and sandstone. The crops are, wheat, barley, oats, peas, turnips, and potatoes, of which two last there are on the average 400 acres; the plantations include the different kinds of timber usually grown in this part of the country, and there are some good meadows and rich pastures. Nearly all the land is the property of Sir Thomas and Lady Makdougal Brisbane; the remainder belongs to the Duke of Roxburghe. The farms are tolerably extensive, the farm-buildings commodious, and the system of agriculture greatly improved. The fuel is coal, obtained at a moderate cost, and for the drawing of which facilities are afforded by the turnpike-road from Kelso to Edinburgh, passing through the eastern part of the parish. The rateable annual value of Makerstoun is £3729. On the north bank of the Tweed is the seat of Sir Thomas M. Brisbane, an ancient mansion, with additions of modern date, and beautifully situated in a richly-wooded demesne embellished with timber of venerable growth. Sir Thomas has here an extensive observatory, furnished with astronomical instruments of the first order. The parish is in the presbytery of Kelso and synod of Merse and Teviotdale, and in the patronage of the Duke of Roxburghe; the minister's stipend is £219. 14. 7., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £25 per annum. The church, built on a new site in 1807, is nearly in the centre of the parish, and affords accommodation to 200 persons. The parochial school is well attended, and affords a liberal education; the master has a salary of £34, with £28 fees, and a house and garden. A sum of £27 has been bequeathed for poor women above seventy years of age, the interest of which is annually distributed among them; and the interest of a legacy of £20 is also appropriated to the relief of the poor.