Crailing

   CRAILING, a parish, in the district of Jedburgh, county of Roxburgh; including the village of East and West Nisbet, and containing 667 inhabitants, of whom 74 are in the village of Crailing, 4 miles (N. N. E.) from Jedburgh. This place, of which the name is of uncertain derivation, comprehends the ancient parish of Nisbet, annexed to it by act of the presbytery prior to the year 1713. The present parish comprises 6000 acres, of which about 300 are woodland and plantations, and the remainder arable land in good cultivation. The surface is varied, in some parts rising to a considerable elevation; the highest point, called Piniel Heugh, is a hill covered with verdure, presenting a pleasing object in the landscape, and has been rendered more conspicuous and interesting by the erection on its summit of a monument to commemorate the victory at Waterloo. This monument is a circular column of whinstone, 150 feet in height, rising from a massive pedestal, on the face of which is the inscription, "To the Duke of Wellington and the British Army, William Ker, VIth Marquess of Lothian, and his tenantry, dedicate this monument, 30th of June, 1815." It has within the shaft a spiral staircase, leading to the summit, which commands an extensive and richly-varied prospect, embracing the windings of the Teviot to the west, the range of the Cheviot hills to the south, Tweed-dale to the north, and the whole of the Merse to the sea on the east. The Teviot flows through the parish, and, a little below the village, receives the Oxnam water.

   The soil is dry and fertile, and extremely favourable to the growth of all kinds of grain; and about the year 1800, very profitable crops of tobacco were raised on some of the lands, by way of experiment. The present crops are, oats, wheat, barley, potatoes, turnips, and peas; the system of agriculture is highly improved. The plantations are well managed, and in a flourishing state; and on the road passing through the village, are some stately rows of beech, ash, and elm. The principal substrata are whinstone and sandstone. The latter is found near the river, of a light colour, and of excellent quality for building; two quarries have been opened, and blocks of twelve feet in length have been raised. The rateable annual value of the parish is £7379. Monteviot House, the seat of the Marquess of Lothian, is situated at the western extremity of the Nisbet district. The ancient mansion is small and uninteresting in its architectural details, a spacious and elegant modern mansion in the castellated style was commenced by the late marquess, but has not yet been completed. Crailing House is a handsome mansion, on rising ground overlooking the winding stream of the Oxnam; the demesne is laid out with great taste, and embellished with rich plantations. The village of Crailing was formerly more extensive than at present; it has facility of intercourse with Jedburgh and Kelso by the great road from Carlisle to Berwick.

   The parish is in the presbytery of Jedburgh and synod of Merse and Teviotdale. The minister's stipend is £251. 10., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £32.10. per annum; patrons, the Crown and the Marquess of Lothian. The church, situated in the Crailing district of the parish, is a neat plain edifice, adapted for a congregation of 300 persons. Of the ancient church of Nisbet scarcely any remains exist, but the churchyard is still used. There is a place of worship for members of the Free Church. The parochial school at Crailing is well conducted; the master has a salary of £30, with £22 fees, a house and garden, and £3. 15., the interest of a bequest by one of the lords Cranstoun. A school at Nisbet, also, is supported by the marquess, who gives the master a salary of £20, with a house and garden rent free, in addition to the fees. The old mansion-house at Monteviot is said to be part of an ancient hospital dependent on the abbey of Ancrum. Near the site of the mansion are traces of the cemetery belonging to the establishment; a considerable number of tombstones have from time to time been dug up, and the inscriptions on some of them were tolerably legible, but none appear to have been of any importance.