Coldstream

   COLDSTREAM, a burgh of barony, market-town, and parish, in the county of Berwick, 14 miles (S. W.) from Berwick; containing 2857 inhabitants, of whom 1913 are in the town, and 150 in the village of New Coldstream. This parish, which is of considerable antiquity, was originally called Leinhal, or Lennel, a name of Saxon etymology, signifying "a great hall," and supposed to have been derived from the foundation of a Cistercian monastery by Cospatrick, Earl of March, in the early part of the twelfth century. The small village of Lennel, which soon afterwards arose round the priory, being exposed, from its situation, to hostile incursions during the wars of the Border, suffered continual depredations, and was ultimately destroyed by the English; not a vestige of it is left, nor can even the site be distinctly pointed out. The monastery, however, flourished till the Dissolution, when its revenues amounted to £201 in money, three chalders, eleven bolls, two firlots, three and a half pecks of wheat, the same quantity of bear, and also of meal; it was beautifully situated near the confluence of the river Leet with the Tweed, and was of considerable importance, but only one solitary vault is now remaining. During the usurpation of Cromwell, General Monk, who had fixed his head-quarters at this place, raised a regiment of infantry here, which accompanied him on his return to England, for the restoration of the exiled monarch, and which is still distinguished as the Coldstream regiment of guards. After the decay of the village of Lennel, a new church was erected, in 1716, at Coldstream, in the more populous district of the parish; and to this circumstance may be attributed the increase of the town.

   The town is pleasantly situated on the river Tweed, over which is a handsome stone bridge of five arches, which connects it with the county of Northumberland; and affording an approach on the west, is a neat bridge of one arch, over the river Leet. It is neatly built; the streets are lighted and cleansed, and the inhabitants are supplied with water, under the regulations of the Police act. A public library is supported by subscription, which contains a good collection of works on general literature; and there are two other subscription libraries, for the use of mechanics and the working classes. No manufactures are carried on in the town: the principal trade of the place consists in furnishing coal and various other articles for the neighbourhood. The market, which is well supplied with grain, is on Thursday; and there is also a monthly market, for the sale of cattle and sheep, which is numerously attended. The salmonfishery on the Tweed was formerly extensive; but the fish have, within the last few years, been very much diminished, and the whole rental at present is scarcely £100 per annum. The town is governed by a baronbailie, appointed by the superiors of the two baronies of Coldstream and Hirsel, in which it is situated, and whose jurisdiction extends to civil and criminal cases, for the determination of which he holds courts at stated periods. The average annual number of civil causes determined is about thirty, and of criminal cases, about six; but the latter are chiefly offences against the police of the town, to which the bailie confines himself, referring all more important matters to the procurator-fiscal for the county. There is a small prison for the confinement of persons previously to their committal.

   The parish, which is situated nearly at an equal distance between the Cheviot and Lammermoor hills, is from seven to eight miles in length, and rather more than four in average breadth. The surface is generally level, diversified only by some gentle elevations; the scenery is pleasingly varied, and richly embellished with thick woods and plantations. The only streams which have their source here, are the Gradenburn and Shiellsburn, which, after traversing the parish, fall into the river Tweed, its southern boundary; the only lake is one of artificial construction, in the pleasure-grounds of Hirsel. The soil is mostly rich, especially near the rivers, in proportion to the distance from which is its tendency to clay. The number of acres in tillage is 8000; the chief crops are, grain of all kinds, for which the soil is well adapted, potatoes, and turnips, which last are extensively cultivated. The system of agriculture is in a highly advanced state; bone-dust is applied as manure, and all the more recent improvements in husbandry are in use. Great attention is paid to live stock; the cattle, with the exception of a few of the Highland breed, are all the Teeswater or short-horned, and the sheep are of the Cheviot and Leicestershire breeds. The rateable annual value of the parish is £15,317. The woods are of oak, birch, beech, ash, and elm; and the plantations, Scotch and spruce firs, intermixed with the usual forest trees. The larch is not found to thrive in the soil, and consequently very few trees of that sort are planted; but all the other kinds seem well adapted to the land, and are in a prosperous state.

   The substrata are, white sandstone, clay-marl, reddish sandstone, limestone, and gypsum; the white sandstone or freestone is of very excellent quality for building, and is extensively quarried in several parts of the parish. The red sandstone is also quarried, but not to any great extent; the limestone is of inferior quality, and, though quarried in some places for the roads, is not burnt into lime. The gypsum is found chiefly on the banks of the Leet, where it occurs in nodules of a reddish hue, and at Milne-Graden, where, in boring for coal some years since, it was discovered in thin veins of a whitish colour. Among the minerals are, crystals of quartz, calcareous spar, phrenite, and sulphate of lime, with numerous petrifactions of organic and fossil remains. Of the seats in the parish are, Lennel House, the property of the Earl of Haddington, lord of the barony of Coldstream, a handsome mansion of modern character; and Hirsel, the seat of the Earl of Home, lord of the barony of Hirsel, an elegant mansion of white stone, erected with materials from a quarry in the parish. In the grounds of the latter is a lake of considerable dimensions; and at the base of an acclivity rising from the bank of the Leet, and richly wooded, a monument was erected by a late lord, to the memory of his eldest son, who died in America, of his wounds in the battle of Camden; the design is a reduced imitation of the obelisk of Mattheus at Rome. The seats of the Lees, Milne-Graden, and Castlelaw are also mansions of white freestone, and within the limits of the parish.

   The Ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Chirnside and synod of Merse and Teviotdale; patron, the Earl of Haddington. The stipend of the incumbent is £233; the manse is a comfortable residence, erected in 1830, and the glebe comprises 11 acres of land, valued at £40 per annum. The church, erected in the year 1795, is a plain substantial edifice, and is adapted for a congregation of 1100 persons. There are places of worship for members of the United Associate and Relief Synods. The parochial school affords instruction to about 120 children; the master has a salary of £34, with a house and garden, and the fees average £75 per annum. The late John Bell, Esq., bequeathed £500 for the instruction of children of the town, and also £300 for supplying them with clothing on their leaving school. Stone coffins have been found, and quantities of human bones, in the grounds of Hirsel, and near the junction of the Leet and Tweed, where the ancient abbey was situated. These are supposed to be the remains of warriors slain in the battle of Flodden-Field, of whom the most illustrious were conveyed to Coldstream, by order of the abbess, and interred in the abbey cemetery. Several ancient coins also, of the reign of the Jameses, have been discovered in the grounds of Milne-Graden. Patrick Brydone, Esq., author of a Tour in Sicily and Malta, and for many years resident in the old mansion of Lennel House, was buried in the ancient church of Lennel, of which there are still some vestiges.