Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland .. - National Library of Scotland

;LINTONstation, Broomlee or West Linton (5 furl. SSE), on tlieDolphinton branch of the North British railway, is24 miles SSW of Edinburgh and 144 ENE of Carstairs.The village is very irregularly built. Even in the mainthoroughfare the houses are built on no iixed plan, and,ia consequence, show great variety of style, age, andappearance. West Linton possesses 3 places of worship—the parish church, built in 1781 and repaired in 1871the United Presbyterian church, built in 1784 (atthat date occupied by a Kelief congregation) ; and theEpiscopal church of St Mungo. The parish churchcontains some beautiful wood-carving, the work of ladies.The carved work of the galleries and wiudows was doneby Miss Fergusson, eldest daughter of the late Sir WilliamFergusson, surgeon to the Queen ; that of the pulpit byMrs Woddrop, wife of the proprietor of Garvald.The Free church (erected in 1S45) is at Carlops.West Linton also possesses a public hall (built in 1881),a post office, with money order, savings' bank, andLINTONPenicuik, SE by Newlands, S by Kirkurd, SW and Wby Dolphinton and Dunsyre in Lanarkshire. Its utmostlength, from N by E to S by W, is 9| miles ; its utmostbreadth is 7§ miles ; and its area is 23, 420 J acres, ofwhich 57 are water. Ltne Water, rising at analtitude of 1260 feet above sea-level, winds TJ milessouth-south-eastward through the middle of the parish,then IJ mile south-by-westward along the Newlandsboundary. The North EsK, fed by Carlops Burn, flows5 miles south -south -eastward and east-by -northwardalong the Midlothian border, and Medwin Watek 4Jmiles along the W boundary.The drainage thus belongsmainly to the Tweed, but partly to the Clyde and partlyto the Firth of Forth. Many small streams flow throughthe parish, which also contains Slipperfield Loch (IJ x Jfurl.), 9 furlongs SSW of the village. As a rule"thesurface is hilly, with a northward ascent to the Pentlandrange, which lies on the northern border. In the SE,along Lyne Water, it declines to 700 feet above the sea;and chief elevations, from S to N, are Blyth Muir (1015),Mendick Hill (1480), King Seat (1521), ByrehopeMount (1752), Mount Maw (1753), and West Caien Hill(1844). The scenery is extremely pretty and atti'active,especially near Carlops and Haeeie's Ho^vve, which, intelegraph departments, a branch of the Bank of Scotland,two inns, gasworks, and a police station. On theRutherford estate, which belongs to Mr Philip, there isa mineral spring called Heaven Aqua Well,' the 'tasteof whose waters somewhat resemble that of the watersof the Tunbridge Spa. West Linton was once knowni as the summer time, are visited by picnic parties withoutLinton Roderick or Linton Rutherick. The double number. The greater part of the land is occupied by sheepname is foimd as early as the 12th century, and was farms (the parish being noted for a famous breed) ; but,probably derived from that of the chief man or family in near the rivers, the ground is under tillage, and yieldsthe district. There is another Linton in Haddingtonshire good crops. The soil is chiefly either clay on limestone—East Linton—from which that in Peeblesshire is distinguishedor sandy loam upon a gravelly bottom. White freestoneby the prefix West. According to Chambers has been largely quarried at Deepsykehead and Spittal-(in his History of Peeblesshire, 1864), West Linton haugh, and limestone calcined at Whitfield ; T\-hilstwas at one time a burgh of regality and centre of traffic. fuller's earth is found near the Lyne, blue marl atQuoting from Pennicuick, he says :—' In the Regent Carlops, and Scotch pebbles in the streams. Mansions,Morton's time West Linton was a pendicle of Dalkeith, noticed separately, are Garvald, Med^wyn, andbut was created a burgh of regality by John, the first SPITT.ALHAUGH ; and the property is divided among ten.Earl of Traquair, who derived from it his title of Lord This parish is in the presbytery of Peebles and synod ofLinton. . . . Linton is known to have had a resident Lothian and Tweeddale ; the living is worth £414. Thebailie of regality, who was assisted in keeping order by church of Linton Roderick was a vicarage under thea council, composed of portioners or small proprietors, monks of Kelso from the reign of David I. to theknown as the " Lairds of Linton.'" Sheep markets Reformation. In the 13th century a chaplaincy of thewere once held at West Linton four times a year, but Virgin Mary existed at Ingliston, and a chapel,their size and importance gradually dwindled until they attached to a hospital, at Chapel on Lyne Water.ceased altogether. Now the business done in the village Four schoolsis almost entirely local, its chief frequenters being commercial— public (1874), Episcopalian, female, andSommervail endowed (1852)—with respective accommo-travellers, anglers, and a few summer visitors. dation for 72, 68, 58, and 96 children, had (1882) anAn interesting relic of antiquity is to be found in the average attendance of 58, 19, 24, and 60, and grants ofstatue of a woman, placed on the top of the vOlage £53, 3s., £18, 8s. 6d., £17, 15s., and £0, the last beingpump. It represents the wife of James Gifl'ord, usually not under Government inspection, but managed by aknown as Laird GifFord, who flourished as a mason and committee of the U.P. presbytery of Edinburgh. Valuationstone carver in 1666. Another curiosity, according to(1860) £9263, (1884) £12,161. Pop. of parish(1801) 1064, (1831) 1577, (1861) 1534, (1871) 1387,Chambers, consisted ' in a marble tombstone in theparish churchyard, over the grave of James Oswald of (1881) 1117.— Ord Sur., shs. 24, 32, 1864-57."Spital" or Spittals.' During his lifetime it had Linton, a Border parish of NE Roxburghshire, whoseserved in some way at the social gatherings of 'which church, within 3 furlongs of the southern boundary,Oswald was fond, and at his death (1726) it was placed stands \^ mile N of Morebattle, 4 miles WSW of Yetholm,and 6i miles SSE of the post-town, Kelso. Itover his grave by his widow. It bore the follomng inscriptionin Latin "To James Oswald of Spittal, her is bounded NW by Sprouston, NE by Northumberland,deserving husband, this monument was erected by E by Yetholm and Morebattle, S by Morebattle, and WGrizzel Russell, his sorrowing wife. This 'marble table, by Eokford. Its utmost length, from NNE to SSW, issitting at which I have often cultivated good living {lit. 6| miles ; its breadth varies between 9J furlongs and 4propitiated my tutelar genius), I have desired to be miles ; and its area is 6428 acres, of which 34j are water.placed over me when dead. Stop, traveller, whoever Kale Water flows If mile westward along the southernthou art ; here thou mayest recline, and, if the means boundary ; and one burn, running southward to it,are at hand, mayest enjoy this table as I formerly did. traces all the boundary with Eckford ; whilst another,If thou doest so in the right and proper way, thou wilt issuing from pretty Hoselaw Loch (3 x IJ furl. ; 640neither desecrate the monument nor offend my manes. feet) in the north-eastern exti'emity of the parish, is aFarewell.' This reUc was carried off about forty-six feeder of Bowmont Water. A second lake, Linton Loch,years ago, and sold for the value of the marble. The which lay to the SE of the parish church, and coveredcarving of gravestones was once largely engaged in at some 50 acres, has been drained. Along the southernWest Linton, suitable stone being found in the Deepsykeheadand the western boundary the surface declines to lessquarries. Handlooni weaving of cotton than 300 feet above sea-level, and thence it rises to 926fabrics was also carried on by the villagers. Pop. of feet at Linton Hill on the eastern border, 750 at theWest Linton (1832) 395, (1861) 512, (1871) 514, (1881) Kip and near Old Graden, and 715 at Hoselaw. The434, of whom 202 were males. Houses (1881) inhabited, SW corner, a fertile level of about 300 acres, rises only112 ; uninhabited, 11 ;building, 1.a few inches above the level of Kale Water, and henceThe parish, containing also Caklops village, is is subject to inundations. The rest of the parish is abounded NW and NE by the Edinburghshire parishes mixture of hollows and rising-grounds, valleys andof West Calder, Midcalder, Kirkliston (detached), and hills, and presents an appearance alike diversifiedS27