Tweed

Tweed, a river in the south of Scotland. It rises in the south-west corner of Peeblesshire, not far from the Devil's Beef Tub (in Dumfriesshire) in the hill country in which the Clyde and Annan also rise. The stream flowing from Tweed's Wall, about 1500 ft. above the sea, is generally regarded as its source, though its origin has been traced to other streams at a still higher elevation. For the first 36 m. of its course the stream intersects the shire of Peebles in a north-easterly direction, and, shortly before the county town is reached, receives Lyne Water on the left and Manor Water on the right. The valley now widens, and the river, bending towards the south-east, passes Innerleithen, where it receives the Leithen (left) and the Quair (right). It then crosses Selkirkshire and, having received the Ettrick (reinforced by the Yarrow) on the right, flows northward past Abbotsford, forming for about 2 m. the boundary between the counties of Selkirk and Roxburgh. After receiving the Gala on the left, the Tweed crosses the north-western corner of Roxburghshire past Melrose and, after being joined by the Leader on the left, winds past Dryburgh Abbey round the south-western corner of Berwickshire. The remainder of its course is in a north-easterly direction through Roxburghshire past Kelso, where it receives the Teviot on the right, and then between the counties of Berwick and Northumberland, past Coldstream, to the town of Berwick, where it enters the North Sea. On the left it receives Eden Water at Edenmouth and Leet Water at Coldstream, and the Till from Northumberland between Coldstream and Norham Castle. The last 2 m. of its course before reaching Berwick are in England. The Tweed is 97 m. long and drains an area of 1870 sq. m. Its bed is pebbly and sandy, and notwithstanding discolorations from manufactures, the stream, owing to its clear and sparkling appearance, still merits the epithet of the "silver Tweed." The river, however, has no estuary, and traffic is chiefly confined to Berwick, though for a short distance above the town some navigation is carried on by barges. The Tweed is one of the best salmon streams in Scotland. From the time of Kenneth the Grim (d. 1005) to that of James VI. (1600) the Tweed uplands were the favourite hunting ground of the Scots monarchs, and, at a later date, the Covenanters found refuge in the recesses of the hills and on the banks of Talla Water, an early right-hand affluent. Close to Stobo Castle is Stobo Kirk, the mother-church of the district, founded by St Kentigern and probably the oldest ecclesiastical building in Tweeddale, a mixture of Saxon, Norman and modern Gothic.

See Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Scottish Rivers (1874); Professor John Veitch, The River Tweed (1884); Rev. W. S. Crockett, The Scott Country (1892).