Kale Water

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Kale Water, a stream of NE Roxburghshire, rising, as Long Burn, on Leap Hill, one of the central Cheviots, near the English Border, at an altitude of 1230 feet above sea-level. Thence it runs 14³/₈ miles north-by-eastward, through Oxnam, Hounam, and Morebattle parishes, to a point 7 furlongs ENE of Morebattle village; proceeds thence 5⁷/₈ miles west-north-westward, chiefly on the boundary between Morebattle and Linton parishes, and through Eckford parish; and, after a total descent of 1135 feet, falls into the Teviot at Kalemouth, 4³/₈ miles S by W of Kelso. Its upper basin consists of beautiful, verdant, upland pastures, long noted for their excellence, and famous for an esteemed variety of the Cheviot sheep, called Kale Water sheep; its middle and lower reaches lie through charming dells, across 'ferny knowes,' along a lovely vale, and athwart rich fields of ' silvery wheat and golden oats; 'and its lowest reach runs partly down a deep ravine, in bygone days a retreat and meeting-place of Covenanters. Miss Baillie, supplementing a fragment of a fine old Scottish song beginning 'O the ewe-bughting 's bonny, baith e'ening and morn,' sings-

'O the sheep-herding's lightsome amang the green braes,
Where Kale wimples clear 'neath the white-blossomed slaes-
where the wild thyme and meadow-queen scent the saft gale,
And the cushat croods leesomeiy doon in the dale!
There the lintwhite and mavis sing. sweet frae the thorn,
And blithe lilts the laverock aboon the green corn;
And a' things rejoice in the simmer's glad prime-
But my heart's wi' my love in the far foreign clime.'

The Kale still yields capital sport, its trout ranging between ¼ and 3 lbs.; though no longer may two rods expect to kill over 400 fish in a single day, as fifty years since, in the youth of the late Mr Stoddart.—Ord. Sur., shs. 17, 18, 26, 25, 1863.64.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer