Middleton, and North Middleton

   MIDDLETON, and NORTH MIDDLETON, villages, in the parish of Borthwick, county of Edinburgh, the one 12½, the other 12, miles (S. E. by S.) from Edinburgh; containing respectively 148 and 68 inhabitants. The first of these places was of some importance, and once the chief village in the parish, and one of the prebends which belonged to the collegiate church of Crichton. The great road to the south formerly passed through it; and it had a stirring population, many of whom were of the gipsy tribe, who made it one of their principal places of abode. It has, however, become remarkably quiet and retired, the inhabitants being occupied in agriculture and such handicraft trades as are necessary to small communities: there are two farm-houses in the vicinity. North Middleton is on the road side, and consists of a line of cottages, most of which have been built within the last twenty years. Two streams, called the North and South Middleton burns, unite at the termination of a neck of land on which the castle of Borthwick stands, when they assume the name of the Gore. Middleton House, built in 1710, is surrounded by an extensive wood of tall beech-trees, and has an air of genteel seclusion: the gardens attached to it are exceedingly admired.