Nenthorn, a parish of SW Berwickshire, whose church stands 4 miles NW of the post-town, Kelso. With an irregular outline, rudely resembling an hour-glass, it is bounded W by Earlston, N by Hume, and on all other sides by Roxburghshire, viz., NE by Stitchel, SE by Kelso, and S by Kelso and Smailholm. Its utmost length, from WNW to ESE, is 4¼ miles; its breadth varies between 2½ furlongs and 21/8 miles; and its area is 3478½ acres, of which 24¼ are water. Eden Water winds 23/8 miles south-south-westward along all the Earlston boundary, then 57/8 miles east-by-southward- for 3 furlongs, near Burnbrae, across the neck of the hour-glass, and elsewhere along or near to the Smailholm and Stitchel boundaries. It thus has a total course here of 8½ miles, though the point where it first touches and that where it quits the parish are but 43/8 miles distant as the crow flies. At Mellerstain it broadens to a lake; and near Newton-Don forms a fine waterfall, 40 feet high, Stitchel Linn. In the extreme E the surface declines to 165 feet above sea-level; and thence it rises with gentle undulations, till it reaches a maximum height of 665 feet at Blinkbonny. Trap rocks, incumbent on coarse red sandstone, include some basaltic columns, like Samson's Ribs at Edinburgh; and marl, both shell and clay, has been found in considerable quantity. The soil at the W end is improved vegetable mould on cold till; and everywhere else is a rich and fertile clayey loam. Upwards of 300 acres are under wood; and all the rest of the area is enclosed and cultivated. The parish appears to have been established during the 13th century, and was formed of the manors of Naithansthirn and Newton, lying respectively W and E of the line where the Eden passes from the southern to the northern boundary. The chapel of Naithansthirn became the parish church, whilst that of Newton continued a chapel. Both, previous to the parochial erection, were subordinate to the church of Ednam; and both were given in 1316-17 by the Bishop of St Andrews to the Abbot of Kelso, in exchange for the church of Cranston in Midlothian. The manors belonged in the 12th century to the Morvilles, the hereditary constables of Scotland, and followed the fortunes of their other possessions till the downfall and forfeiture of John Baliol. Nenthorn House, near the left bank of the Eden, 4½ miles NW of Kelso, is the seat of Frederick Lewis Roy, sq. (b. 1836; suc. 1868), who holds 1826 acres in Berwick and Roxburgh shires, valued at £3035 per annum. Newton-Don, near the Eden's right bank, 3 miles NNW of Kelso, is a fine mansion of 1816, with grounds of singular loveliness, and a wide and beautiful view. It was originally the property of the Dons, who held a baronetcy from l667 till 1862, and are now represented by Sir John Don-Wauchope, Bart. of Edmonstone; but in 1847 it was purchased for £80,000 by the late Charles Balfour, Esq. of Balgonie, whose son, Charles Barrington Balfour, Esq. (b. 1862; suc. 1872), owns 907 acres in Berwickshire, 318 in Roxburghshire, and 2500 in Fife, valued at £5500 per annum. Lesser proprietors are the Duke of Roxburghe and the Earl of Haddington. Nenthorn is in the presbytery of Kelso and the synod of Merse and Teviotdale; the living is worth £246. The parish church, built in 1802, contains 200 sittings. A Free church, dating from Disruption times, contains 300 sittings; and a public school, with accommodation for 106 children, had (1883) an average attendance of 53, and a grant of £49, 15s. 6d. Valuation (1865) £5641, 3s. 10d., (1884) £5620, 5s. Pop. (1801) 395, (1831) 380, (1861) 461, (1871) 434, (1881) 454.—Ord. Sur., sh. 25, 1865.
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