Gordon, a village and a parish in the W of Merse district, SW Berwickshire. The village, West Gordon, stands 500 feet above sea-level, 8 miles NW by N of Kelso; whilst its station, on the Berwickshire loopline of the North British, is 10½ miles NNE of St Boswells, 6 ENE of Earlston, 4 WSW of Greenlaw, and 11½ WSW of Duns. It consists of along street, containing some good shops and dwelling-houses; is surrounded with small enclosures belonging to the inhabitants; and has a post office. Pop. (1871) 336, (1881) 302.
The parish anciently comprehended Dirrington Laws district, now annexed to Longformacus, and another district now forming part of Westruther. It is bounded NE and E by Greenlaw, SE by Hume, S by Earlston, W by Legerwood, and NW by Legerwood and Westruther. Its utmost length, from E by N to W by S, is 63/8. miles; its utmost breadth, from N to S, is 43/8. miles; and its area is 9739 acres, of which 25¾ are water. Eden Water winds 2¾ miles east-north-eastward along the north-western border, then 4 ¼ miles south-by-eastward across the interior; whilst Blackadder Water traces 1 ¼ mile of the boundary with Greenlaw. The surface, gently undulating, but higher for the most part than any district in the eastern division of the Merse, declines to 450 feet above sea-level; along the Eden, thence rising to 666 feet near East Gordon, 782 near Rumbleton Law, 731 near Hexpath, 619 near Fallside, 891 at an ancient camp near the NW border, and 788 near Huntlywood. The rocks are partly Devonian, chiefly Silurian; and much of the land has, since the opening of the present century, been reclaimed from moss or moor to a state of high cultivation. Some two-thirds of the entire area now are arable; 500 acres are under wood; and the rest is pastoral or waste. From the 12th till early in the 14th century this parish was the original seat of the Gordons, ancestors of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon and of the Marquis of Huntly; and a farm in its western division retains to this day the name of Huntlywood. Greenknowe Tower, now a fragmentary ruin, was the residence of Walter Pringle, a zealous Covenanter. Six proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 4 of from £50 to £100, and 7 of from £20 to £50. Gordon is in the presbytery of Earlston and synod of Merse and Teviotdale; the living is worth £241. The ancient church, St Michael's, was, in 1171, transferred by the monks of Coldingham to those of Kelso in exchange for the church of Earlston. The present parish church, built in 1763, contains 450 sittings; a Free church contains 250; and a public school, with accommodation for 130 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 105, and a grant of £78, 10s. Valuation (1865) £8347, 9s. 11d; (1882) £10,063, 6s. 9d. Pop. (1801) 800, (1831) 882, (1861) 931, (1871) 876, (1881) 832.—Ord. Sur., sh. 25, 1865.
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