caves. The
charm of Jedburgh consists in its old-world character and its
semi-Continental touches. Its fine situation early attracted the notice
of the Scottish Kings, though Bishop Ecfred of Lindisfarne is believed
to have been its true founder. He could not have chosen a more sweet or
appropriate nook for his little settlement. Nestling in the quiet
valley, and creeping up the ridge of the Dunion, the song of the river
ever in its ears, freshened by the scent of garden and orchard, and
surrounded by finely-wooded heights, Nature has been lavish in filling
with new adornments, as years sped by, a spot always bright and fair.

"O softly Jed! thy sylvan current lead
Round every hazel copse and smiling mead,
Where lines of firs the glowing landscape screen,
And crown the heights with tufts of deeper green."

The modern beauty of the place notwithstanding, Jedburgh's history has
been a singularly troubled one. As a frontier town and the first place
of importance north of the Cheviots, it was naturally a scene of strife
and bloodshed. Around it lay the famous Jed Forest, rivalling that of
Ettrick. The inhabitants were brave warriors, and noted for the skill
with which they wielded the Jeddart staff or Jedwood axe. Their presence
at the Reidswire decided that skirmish in favour of the Scottish
Borderers:

"Then rose the slogan wi' ane shout,
Fye, Tynedale, to it! Jeddart's here."

And at Flodden the men from the glens of the Jed were conspicuous for
their heroism. Jedburgh Abbey is the chief "lion" of the locality.
Completer than Kelso and Dryburgh, and simpler and more harmonious than
Melrose, it stands in the most delightful of situations, girt about with
well-kept gardens, overlooking the bosky banks of the Jed--a veritable
poem in Nature and Art. Queen Mary's House (restored) the scene of her
all but mortal illness in 1566 is still existing, and well worth a
visit. The literary associations of the burgh are more than local. James
Thomson was a pupil at its Grammar School. Burns was made a burgess
during his Border tour in 1787. Scott made his first appearance as a
criminal counsel at Jedburgh, pleading successfully for his poacher
client. The Wordsworths visited Jedburgh in 1803. Sir David Brewster and
Mary Somerville were natives, and here the "Scottish Probationer" lived
and died. Samuel Rutherford was born at Crailing, the next parish, where
also David Calderwood, the Kirk historian, was m