Description of Tweeddale (1715) with Copious Notes, Forming a Complete History of the County to the Present Time (1815)

The first (1715) edition of this work, which pre-dated Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account by some 80 years, seems to have been prompted by the work of the Scottish physician and antiquary Sir Robert Sibbald. Not surprisingly, this early record of the geography and history of the local area was in the Principal Library at Abbotsford. The 1815 edition, reprinted here, is considerably augmented by Notes based on Armstrong's survey of 1775, the Agricultural Survey of 1802, and the Statistical Account. This later assessment of the district, contemporary with Scott's presence there, provides an invaluable background to the writer's daily environment. Dr. Pennecuik's Poems are omitted from this reprint.