Something must, in passing, be said of the Teviot, so full of history, of legend, of folk-song, and of romance, and endowed with such various and abundant beauty. Its most romantic association is with Branxholm Hall, cradle of the House of Buccleuch--the "Branksome Hall" where the "nine-and-twenty knights of fame" hung their shields; now a comely family residence, with the ancient tower for nucleus, standing on a steep bank north of the stream, about three miles from Hawick, the town where Sir Alexander Ramsay was captured by the Knight of Liddesdale, to be cruelly starved to death in the dungeon of Hermitage Castle. Denholm, birthplace of Leyden, with Ruberslaw, and many another spot, must be passed over. But at Ancrum Moor we must give ourselves pause for a little, for here in 1545 the Scots "took amends" on the most ruthless and destructive raiders who ever crossed the Tweed. In 1544 Sir Ralph Evers, Governor of Berwick, with Sir Brian Latoun, had made an incursion in the course of which, according to Evers' own inventory, the "towns, towers, barnekynes, parysche churches, bastill houses" which they "burned and destroyed" amounted to 192; while of cattle they had "lifted" 10,386, of "shepe" 12,492, and of nags and geldings 1,296--and these are only some of the details. For these achievements a grateful monarch made Evers a lord of Parliament, and he was celebrated in song as one who, having "burned the Merse and Teviotdale," still was ready "to prick the Scot." The praise was well deserved, for the next year he and Sir Brian made another raid, and beat their record. Returning towards Jedburgh, laden with booty, they were followed by Angus and by Norman Leslie, and while they were halting on Ancrum Moor, Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch came up with a body of retainers. He had a long account to settle. The outworks of his Castle of Branxholm had been burned; all his lands in West Teviotdale and on Kale Water had been harried; and the Moss Tower, near the junction of Kale with Teviot, had been made "to smoke sore." By his counsel Angus took up a position on the piece of low ground called Peniel Heugh, and having drawn the invaders into ambush, an easy victory was won. Evers and Latoun both fell, and a thousand prisoners were made. The scene of the battle is also known as Lilliard's Edge, from the "fair maiden Lillyard," who took part in the fight, and "when her legs were cutted off" by the English louns, "fought upon her stumps." The column on the hill, visible for miles along the valley of the Tweed, as well as in Teviotdale, has nothing to do with this lady's heroism, or with the Scottish victory, but, as the peasantry are surprised to be told, commemorates the Battle of Waterloo. [Illustration: RUINS OF ROXBURGHE CASTLE.]