was 192,138, or more than three-fifths of the entire area. Of this, 63,526 acres were under corn crops, 34,155 under green crops, 56,940 under clover and grasses, and 36,858 permanent pasture, meadow, or grass not broken up in rotation (exclusive of heath or mountain land). The average extent of land occupied by each occupant was 194 acres. Wheat was grown on 6373 acres; barley or bere, on 21,469; oats, on 33,130; potatoes, on 2593; turnips and swedes, on 30,345. Of live stock there were 5356 horses, 16,979 cattle, 285,578 sheep, 4527 pigs. Though about the twentieth in size of the Scottish counties, Berwickshire stands fifth in the number of acres under corn crop.?, fifth also in green crops, and ninth in the number of sheep. The fann-buildiiigs are convenient and well built. These include cottages for the farm-labourers, or hinds, and their families, the ordinary staff consisting of a steward, a shepherd, and a number of ploughmen propor tionate to the size of the farm. The farm-labourers, who are physically well developed, are as a whole a frugal, industrious, intelligent race. They are somewhat migratory in their habits, being too ready to move from place to place year after year. This feature in their character, which they znay have by inheritance as Borderers, has admirably fitted them for colonial life, to which the lack of employment in mining or manufactures in the county has largely drawn
the surplus population.The minerals of Berwickshire are insignificant. Coal, copper ore, and ironstone exist in such small quantities that attempts to work them have been abandoned ; and the lime stone is at too great a distance from a coal district to warrant competition with the adjoining counties. The Tweed salmon fisheries are productive of an important trade, and are so subject to vicissitudes that much attention has been paid to them by means of legislative enactments. The lesser rivers of the Merse are held in high esteem by anglers. Besides Eyemouth there are three villages Burnmouth, Coldingham Shore, and Cove engaged in the sea-fisheries, which are of considerable and increasing value. Cod, haddock, herring, ling, lobsters, and crabs are the principal produce. Berwickshire cannot boast of many manufactures. Earlstoun sends out ginghams and woollen cloths. At Cumledge, also, on the WMteadder, there is a factory for heavy woollen cloths ; and four miles further down the river, at Chirnside Bridge, is one of the largest paper mills in Scotland. The other manufactures are all connected with agriculture, such aa distilleries, breweries, tanneries, <tc. The trade is also mainly agricultural. Fairs are held at Duuse, Lauder, Coldstream, Greenlaw, and Oldhamstocks ; but the sales of cattle and sheep are now mostly accomplished at the weekly or fortnightly auction marts at Reston, Dunse, and Earlstoun. The grain markets are held at Dunse and Earlstoun. Berwick, from which the county derives its name, is still its chief market-town. There is, however, no legal or fiscal connectionbetween the county and the borough.
The early history of Berwickshire is to a great extent bound up with that of the ancient frontier town ; from its position it also suffered much during the Border wars. The most noteworthy antiquities are Coldingham Priory in the E. and Dryburgh Abbey in the S. W. They were burnt in the same year, 1545, during the barbarous inroad of the English army under the earl of Hereford. About four miles N. from Coldingham are the ruins of Fast Castle ("The Wolfs Crag" of the Bride of Lammermoor), situated on a peninsular cliff, 120 feet by 60, and 70 feet above the sea. A little further north is the Pease or Peaths Bridge, built by Telford, in 1786, over the deep glen which forms the celebrated pass of old one of the strongest natural defences of Scotland. Near it is Cockburnspath Tower, once a strong fortress, now in ruins. In the west of Berwickshire, besides Dryburgh, there are, at Earlstoun, the remains of the ancient tower "The Rhymer s Castle," the traditional residence of Thomas Learmont, commonly called Thomas of Ercildounu or Thomas the Rhymer. About a mile from Earlstoun is Cowdenknowes, on a hill above which grew the " bonnie broom " of the old song. None of it now remains, it having been gradually encroached upon by the plough, and the last of it killed by the severe frost of 1861-62. Hume Castle, the ancient seat of the Home family, also towards the west, has a most commanding view, and is itself visible from nearly every part of the county. Traces of Roman occupa tion and of ancient British settlements exist in various parts of the Merse. Edin s or Etin s Hall, on Cockburn Law, about four miles north of Dunse, still goes under the name of the Pech s or Pict s House. There are many large mansions throughout the county, the principal being Thirlestane Castle (earl of Lauderdale), Mertoun House (Lord Polwarth), Mellerstain and Lennel House (earl of Haddington), Nesbit (Lord Sinclair), Dunse Castle (Hay), Wedderburn and Paxton (Milne Home), Lees (Sir John Marjoribanks), Ladykirk (Baroness Marjoribanks), Ayton Castle (Mitchell Innes), Hirsel (earl of Home). The chief towns are Greenlaw, the county town, with a population of 823; Dunse, 2618; Lauder, 1046, a royal burgh, which unites with the Haddington group of burghs in returning a member to parliament; Coldstream, 1724; and Eye- mouth, 2324, the only seaport of the county. There is one sheriff for the three border counties of Berwick, Rox burgh, and Selkirk, and a sheriff-substitute holds his court in Dunse. Justice of the Peace courts are held at Cold- stream and at Ayton, and a burgh court at Lauder. The county is divided into thirty-one parishes, and it returns one member to parliament. Population of Berwickshire, 36,486 males, 17,414; females, 19,072.
The fauna and flora of Berwickshire have been care fully described by the late Dr George Johnston, and further information may be obtained regarding these from the Transactions of the Berwickshire Naturalists Club. -
BERYL, a mineral species which includes, in addition to what are ordinarily known as beryls, the aquamarine or precious beryl and the emerald. The similarity between the beryl and the emerald was pointed out by Pliny, and the only points of distinction are the green colour of th emerald and the somewhat superior hardness of the beryl. The colour of the emerald is generally believed to be due to the presence of a minute portion of oxide of chromium, although M. Lewy asserts, from analysis of Muzo emeralds, that it is really owing to the presence of organic matter. Their composition is—
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Beryl. Emerald. Silica 67-00 68 50 Alumina 16 "50 15 75 Glucina 14-50 12 50 Chromium oxide O OO 30 Iron oxide TOO TOO Lime 50 25
sometimes termed beryllium. The beryl crystallizes in six- sided prisms with the crystals often deeply striated in a longitudinal direction ; its hardness in the mineralogical scale is from 7 "5 to 8, and its specific gravity from 2*67 to 2 732. Leaving out of account the emerald, the colours of the beryl range from blue through soft sea green to a pale honey yellow, and in some cases the stones are entirely colourless. The aquamarine is so named on account of its bluish green colour, " qui viriditatem puri marts imitan- tur" (Pliny, A". //., xxxvii. 20). The chrysoberylus, chry- soprasus, and chrysolithus of ancient jewellery appear to some extent at least to have been names applied to different shades of beryl. The beryl was highly prized for use in jewellery by the Romans, by whom it was cut into six-sided
prisms (cyllndri) and mounted as ear-drops. Some of the
