TERRACE FORMATION SCOTLANN I S ENGLANDD DAN 7 10 .

II. ON CERTAIN TERRACE FORMATIONS IN THE SOUTH OF E ENGLISTH AN N DE O BORDERH . ECK TH R SID F Y -B O E . FOR H.MF DO . GEOLOGICAL, SURVEY.

The groups of ancient terraces sometimes called " daisses " that occur Peeblesshirn i adjoinind an e g counties make prominent featuree th n i s

Fig. 1. Terraces at Romanno Bridge.

landscapes of the districts in which they are found. They appeal to f eve o e most e th n ey casuae th l observer. Their mod f origieo d nan e purposth e they served hav t varioua e s times called forth discussion. Some have asserted they are the work of natural agents; but the majority have contended that they are the work of man. Dr Pennicuik, one of the earlier historians of Peeblesshire,1 makes an allusion to the group south of Romanno Bridge (fig. 1). He suggests that havthey yma e been defensive works Romans e madth y eb , probably to ward off attacks by the Pictish cavalry. The old native fort on Whiteside Hill, overlookin e terracesgth ,r Pennicuik'mayD n i , s day, have been classifie s Romana d , henc s curiouehi s suggestion. Geographical1A Historicald an Description e oth f of ,. 16 . p 108 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, JANUARY 9, 1928. Dr Gordon, commentin Romanne th n o g o terraces, says that they

can be followe1 d for a mile and a half. It is impossible, however, to trace connectioy an n betwee large nth e group near Newlands Churche th d an , smalo tw Moae l th groups tn i Woo e norton ,e milda th Newlandf o heo t s Church, the other about a mile further down the Lyne Water. Professor Innes mentions the Romanno terraces, comparing them

wit parallee hth l roads whicwore th provee 2 f nature,ke o har b t o dt bu

later, in a communication 3 to the Rev. Dr Williamson, then a minister in the county, he expressed another, opinion in favour of their being wore th man.f ko 4 Robert Chambers,5 a native of , who is well known as an authority on various subjects, appears to have been the first to make a scientific study of these hillside terraces. His early views were that they represented ancient lake margins t aftebu ; r closer examination of thos n Arthur'o e s Seat t Romanna , d Dunsyreoan e e camth h , o t e conclusion that they had been designed for raising crops; also suggesting that some of the smaller groups may have been made for ornamental pur- poses, probably in mediaeval or later times. If they were constructed for crop-growing, then they may denote some of the areas cultivated by the ancient Caledonian tribe inhabiteo swh hile dth l fort thesn si e regions. Chambers adds that on Arthur's Seat there were indications of some of the terraces having stone-built fronts to hold up the soil. The late Peac. Br N .D h claime havo dt e seen similar evidenc thin eo s hill. J. Watson refers to an article that appeared in the Scotsman in the year 1900 where the writer says that the Romanno terraces are a fine example of the Run-rig system of cultivation practised in olden times in certain parts of the country. I have not read this article, but,

according to Watson, this writer0 states that the run-rig method was to cultivate the slopes or steps of the terraces while the flats marked boundare th y line served an s s pathwaysda . This, however, seeme b o st a wrong interpretation of the run-rig system of cultivation. Seebohm7 correlates this syste f mcultivatioo n wit he linche thath f lynchetr o ts o s Englandn i showe H . s that wher e open-fieleth d syste f cultivatiomo n occurre slopa n do e they ploughed acros hille sth , leaving strip f lanso d untouched between each holding. They always ploughed over-hill, and as none of the soil could pass from one holding to another owing to the

1 Itinerarium Septentrionale, p. 114. Gordon considered that the terraces had been thrown Romane th uy p b "s sa Itinerar y Encampments." Origines Parochiales, . vol196p . .i . Professor Innes appear minn i havo parallese t d dth eha l road Glef so n Roy. A. Williamson, Glimpses of Peeblesshire, part iii., Newlands. Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. i. pp. 127-38. Peeblesshire and its Outland Borders, p. 81. 7 English Village Community, pp. 3-6. TERRACE FORMATION SCOTLANN I S ENGLANDD DAN 9 10 . dividing stri f landpo coursn i , timf eo hillsidee eth s develope dterracea d structure. These uncultivated portions left between the terraces were know balkse th s na . A. Hadrian Allcroft instructivs hi n i , e book, devotes some spaco et

discussing the lynchets. He mention1 s the Romanno terraces in con- nection with them seemse H . , however comdefinito o ,t n o et e conclusion about their origin t believebu , s that many were use r cultivatiodfo n purposes. He suggests that some of them may have been made for defensive purposes, while others may have been constructed to get level e encampmentgrounth r fo de dweller th f o sn thesi s e regionse H . thinks thagreao n tf tmano agee b f theviey,a o y mwma also expressed by Gomme. besThe t2 defined grou Englandpin , says Allcroft thais , t occurring below Battlesbury Camp, Warminster. The aim of the present paper is to try and state the case for the artificial origin of those terrace formations, namely, that they are the work of man. Professor J. W. Gregory, on the other hand, maintains in a recent publication that they are the work of nature, due to a form

of slipping or creep in a s soil of a particular type and of a particular depth. This slipping was caused during the closing period of the Great Ice Age by alternate thawings and freezings. In consulting various works, chiefly American, which deal with the effects of solifluxion, nothing is recorded to suggest any comparison with

these terrace group Soute th f Scotlandf sho o 4 . ordinare Toth y passer-by, these terraces conve imprese yth f man'so s handiwork. Their spacing, their alignment, their continuity are hardly what one would expect if nature alone had fashioned them. Professor Gregory says that these terraces occur at too high an altitude, and are too much exposed to have been used for crop-growing, but this remark can only apply to those at Dunsyre. At a height of

950 to 1000 feet one can see large areas that have been5 cultivated up to recent times d evecrop-growinw an , no n n Peeblesshiri g s practiseei d at 900 feet and over, and on the authority of Dr Ogg, Bast of Scotland Agricultural College, there are traces of cultivation above the 1000-foot level at Boghall in the Pentlands. e terracAlth l e group I shav e examined face either wes r southo t , a point that favours their having been used for raising crops.

1 Earthworks of England, p. 38. ' Origin of Village Communities, chap. iv. ' Letter from Professor J. W. Gregory to Professor T. H. Bryce. History of Peeblesshire, vol. L, Appendix. This may be defined as the process of soil movement on a slope when it becomes over- saturate4 d with water. Dunsyre terraces extend fro 940-fooe mth t level risin1150-fooe th o gt t contour. Just wesf o t lowee th r6 terrace trace furrowf so s runnin hile th l slopp gu e show beed thaha n t i tcultivated . 0 11 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , JANUAR , 1928.Y9 , s onli t yI within recent times tha cultivatioe th t f steeno p hillsides t higa h altitude gons sha e dow Scotlandn ni . Professo . HumP r e Brown in his bookl says, " It was because of the numerous mosses and waters of flae th t country tha slopee hille th th t sf so wer generallo es y cultivated by the Scots, a custom which the Southern visitor regarded as one of the peculiarities of our remarkable country. Long after the time of Mary, an Englishman thus refers to the custom: ' 'Tis almost incredible how much of the mountain they plough where the declensions—I had almost said precipices—are such that to our thinking it puts them to greater difficult chargd an y carro t e t theiyou r work than they need be at in draining the valleys.'" In addition to questioning the suitability of the terraces for cultiva- tion purposes owing to their altitude, Professor Gregory raises a number of other points, some of which are arguments against their artificial origin. He says they are short and irregular, and occur at various levels; that they are dependent on the slope of the ground; that they are horizontat no thad lan t theioppositn i e rb slopy e ema direction e on n i s group of terraces; also that the stones in the terraces lie at all angles, som thef eo m being vertical. To the first objection the reply is that the striking feature of the terraces when seen fro mdistanca s theiei r regularity. Mos f theo t m f theio ca tracee d rnb en boundar do t frod men y lines. Onl vera t yya few places have small slips taken place. A fair average in length for groupe th s measured roughl yards0 25 ys i . e seconTh d objection surely canno e examinet on hol f i d s closely e groupth t Dunsyra s r Romannoo e e DunsyrTh . e terraces sweep from steep ground on to a gentle slope; while the slope on which the Romanno terraces occur continue e souta goowity th r wa dho fo t s an apparent similar gradient, and as revealed by digging, shows a similar depth and type of soil, yet there is no trace of a terrace. The terraces end against a butte or furrow which runs up the slope. Tha e terracet exactlth tno e yar s horizontal doe t negativsno e eth idea that they were use r cultivatiodfo n purposes opinioy m n t I ni . rather supports it. We must credit these early people with knowing something about cultivation and its methods. Experience would teach them that perfectly level terraces would hol watep u d r with accom- panying souring of -the soil. That stones are found lying vertically in the soil is an argument against the terraces being due to the agency of water, but not against their huma o beint e gdu n workmanship. 1 Scotland Timee th n i o f Queen . Mary,13 . p TERRACE FORMATIONS IN SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. Ill

PEEBLESSHIRE AND TERRACES. Many of the ancient forts, believed to be of the Iron Age, probably 150 o 2000t 0 years ago, stand approximatel 900-fooo t y0 roun80 te th d contour. These forts or camps represent some of the townships of that time, indicating a common level or plane of occupation. Lines of communication would, where possible, kee o thipt s level d soman , e of our old hill roads may be survivals of this zone of habitation. The valleys would be swampy and many of them impassable; dense brushwood would cove e lowe th lesd r an sr steep slopes. With such condition s thessa e prevailing around those anciene se tn tribesca e on , a reason for the terracing of the steeper slopes to raise produce. Such conditions would also ten mako dt e valleyeth s more e humidth d an , climate more amenabl cultivatior efo t highena r levels. A point also worth notin s tha i gl thes al t e terrace groupn i e ar s close proximity to an old fort or fortalice. At most of the forts in Peeblesshir traceo n e f terracino founds gi terraceo t thern ye e ; ear s withou forta ancienr o t t tower suggestior o , proximitys sucf nit o n hi . Ther somethins ei suggestioe th sai e r b dfo o g t f Roberno t Chambers that some of them may have been constructed for ornamental purposes. e infeW r from this that they were use s terraca d e gardens. There is a record of those that occur below Neidpath Castle as having been made in the sixteenth century. If any of the other groups have been made for such a purpose then they are of no great age. One would expect estatthad ol t e esom th record f eo s would contain some mention of them if they had been made by any of the ancient owners of the lands on which they occur. William Chambers, in his History of Peebles- shire, pp. 39-43, makes some interesting remarks about the terraces that are found in different parts of the county, besides having drawings of those at Purves Hill and Romanno. He apparently considers that e earl e th wor th f ythe o ke people ar y n thesi s e parts e citeH .s Chalmers' opinion, Caledonia, p. 468, where he says these terraces " were undoubtedly intende variour dfo s sports." The terraces of Romanno, Purves Hill and Venlaw, from their occurrence near old buildings, are the likeliest to have been made as terrace gardens, if the idea can be entertained that such was their origin t RomannoA . buildind ol , ruinn a gf o soverlookin terracee gth s were still extant whe r PennicuinD k wrot s Historyhi e f Tweeddale.o Abov e Purveth e s Hill grou t Walkerburpa fortalicd ol n n ruina ef o s can stil e seenb l traditiod . ol Thern a ns i e relatin o thigt s grouf po terraces that the owner of the castle had a large family of daughters who quarrelled continually amongst themselves, wit resule hth t thae h t 2 11 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , JANUAR , 1928Y9 . had a number of terraces made to serve as garden walks, one for each daughter.1 Overlookin e Venlath g w terrace t Peeblea s olden i s n times stood Smithfield Tower, much frequente e nobilitth y b df thos yo e days. The higd exposehan d positio e Dunsyrth f no e terraces forbide th s suggestion that they have been mad r ornamentafo e l purposese On . can picture the lower ground around Dunsyre as being very swampy in early times. Woods with dense undergrowth would probably extend ove e loweth r r slopes site eTh .thos e ancients selecte r cultivatiodfo n was probabl mose yth t suitabl t thaea dry s s tsoie timewa th ,wa l t I . good probabld an , e steepeyth r hillside required little clearancee Th . Dunsyre grou f terracepo thuy ma s represen time on e t t a wha s wa t e communath l holding ancienn a f o s t settlement nea t handa r . Some- thing similae systeth o t mstils ri vogu n i l t Lauderea , whic coms hha e down from olden times. There, however, the burgess acres are not in e for th f terracesmo . Durin e procesgth f road-widenino s diggine th d foundationr ggan fo s housew e loweoth ne f n i rs terrac t Venlawa e , Peebles, good sections •were exposed uppee Th . r portio e terracth f no e consiste f frodo o t m3 3| feet of free loamy material, containing no large stones. Occurring l througal t hweri elarga e numbe f charcoao r l fragments. Thers ewa a distinct difference in colour and texture between this upper 3 feet of bouldee th soid lan r cla whicn yo t restedhi lattee Th .r contained quite numbea f largro e stones, mostly greywacke littlA . e beyond where eth terrace ends on the south side, a section had been cut to widen the road; here the surface material was seen to be boulder clay, no charcoal- bearing soil being visible. There can be little doubt regarding the artificial origin of this terrace. At Romanno,2 an excavation was made into one of the terraces to a depth of 5 feet, and into the slope to a width of 4 feet. Here the soil was d loamfre an d easile yan y dug t I containe. a dfai r amounf o t angular stones apparentl f locayo l origin; occasional small, loose blocks of rock were encountered, but none showing ice markings. Beyond a depth of 2 feet the soil seemed to get more sandy, and more like the material at the surface of the unterraced ground further to the south : but none of the tough, tenacious boulder clay was met with. Here the terraces appear to have been made in material known as surface wash. Probably it was the loose free nature of this soil that determined the choice of this site for terrace-building. In the wood that comes nearly half-way down the slope on the south side of the terraces occurs rock in situ.

Proceedings Berwickshiree oth f Naturalists' Clvlb, . 480-81 pp vol . ix . 1 The terraces rise from the 700-foot level to a little over the 800-foot contour. 2 TERRACE FORMATIONS IN SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. 113 Similar excavations were made at Dunsyre Hill. On the steeper part e hillsidoth f feee 3 f fre .2o o tt |e loamy founs soiwa l d simila thao t r t of Komanno t containeI . dfaia r amoun f smalo t l angular stones with here and there a larger block. Below this was rubbly material apparently on the solid rock. On a terrace situated on a gentler slope the excavation went through 3| fee f freo t e loamy thed soian ln reached what looked like the typical boulder clay of the district. All the rock fragments found seemed e nativlocalityth o t e . Immediately above wher terracee eth s ended on the steep face of Dunsyre Hill, natural exposures revealed only rubble lying on the solid rock. One or two of the terraces were seen to end where they reache steepee dth hille r parth ,f suggestino t lace gth k of soil to carry them farther up the slope. The absence of soil on the steepe e hilr th facl f alseo o suggests tha terracee th t s which occur there may have been made up from soil carried from the lower part of the hill where there was a good depth of boulder clay. e followinTh g note n Dunsyro s e terrace ) hav3 s ed (figsbeean 2 .n kindly supplied by Mr J. Phemister, M.A., B.Sc.: " Direction of terraces , curvinE. f o 25. g N °slightl y nort t easha t end. The e paralleyar d an l cut across contours. On the steep slope the height of the terrace steps varies from 3 to 8 feet and there is a gently sloping shelf of 18 feet. The shelf is fairly constant in width even though the height of the step varies t appeari d actuaf i ,an s sa l horizontal measurement beed sha n mad tha o verticae s tth l step must vary wit positioe hhillsidee th th n no . Sometimes the width of the shelf is 36 feet, then it is always found that there is a very low step in the centre which may rise at the hill end to 3 or 4 feet. Material of terraces is red earth not sandy. It contains many fragment f sandstono s d tuff.ean " e Dunsyrth d Ha e terrace so slippint beee e wouldu non g d have expected them—roughly at least—to follow the contours of the hill instead of crossing them. This group of terraces, at least thirty-three in number, is the highest we are dealing with. The Purves Hill group at the west end of are large, well-defined terraces, some measurin yard0 g25 n length i s treeh As s. grow on the slopes, but the flats are bare. Chambers mentions twelve terraces occurring here in his time. The main road appears to run along one, while another below the road is barely recognisable. Build- ing and quarrying on the eastern margin have more or less erased their marking distinca othee tha n d o sth tt en ra side tt linbu , e marks their endings firse Th t . three terraces abov e maieth n road exten yard0 d2 s farthe wese th to t rtha n those occurrin loweso g tw above e t terraceTh . s e abouar fee0 widthn 2 ti t e stepth , s being stee averagind pan g about VOL. LXII. 8 114 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, JANUARY 9, 1928. 8 feet in height. The third terrace is quite 100 feet wide near its eastern limit, but narrows westwards to 20 feet where it ends. This

Fig . Terrace2 . Dunsyrn so e Hill. terrace, and most of those above, slope slightly to the west and vary greatly in width, but narrow as they approach their western limit. On

Fig . Terrace.3 Dunsyrn so e Hill. the east side a quarry is cut into what appears to be a terrace flat, but onl ya foo f rubblo t y materia s seei l n lying abov e solith e d rock, indicating rathe excavatioe rth terraca f no e tha buildine nth onef go . Not far from the western margin of the terraces a small burn comes TERRACE FORMATIONS IN SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. 115 over and exposes the interior of one or two. Here was found 3| feet approximately of loamy soil, with a good number of small, angular stones. Interspersed rather sparsel thiyn i s material were found small fragment f charcoalo s . Underlying this materiae stifth f s bouldewa l r clay typicae districtth f o l . Other small exposure e loweth n ri s half terracee oth f s showed trace charcoalf so . The charcoal may have been derived from the burning of brushwood when the site was being cleared, and incorporated in the soil when the terraces were made addevalusoilr s e ,o it th r . o edt fo During 191 9pipe-traca mads kwa e alon eastere gth n margi f thesno e terraces Jamer M . s Fox, Librarian, , state eviw s -thasa e h t dence in the drain that some of the terraces had large stones in front. A point worth referring to connected with these groups of terraces is that their widt numbed han definita n i r e are s dependenai e th n o t gradien slope th whic n f eo to h they occur slope Th t Romanne. a steeos i p and there the terraces are narrow, 6 to 8 feet in width. At Purves Hill the slope is more gentle and there the terraces are wide, varying from feeoverd 0 t Dunsyran tA 10 .2 o 0t elarga eterrace parth f o t e slops ei intermediate in gradient between Romanno and Purves Hill, and there the terraces average about 20 feet in width.1 Other small group f terraceo s s occu t Kilbucha r ford o ol neat e th r of Mitchelhill, and above the road on the slope below Tor Hill fort, 2 miles S.E. of Peebles. The latter group appear as if they were the result of ploughing across the slope, as they are poorly developed terraces. O nsteea p slope facing west wher Cultee eth r Water leave s hillsit - track south of the village of Culter, in Lanarkshire, distinct traces of terracing can be seen, but this series so far has not been examined closely. TERRACE ARTHUR'N SO S SEAT, . The series of terrace-groups on the south and south-eastern slopes of the Lion's Haunch, Arthur's Seat (fig. 4), stand out very distinctly. Wherever the ground was found suitable on these slopes, terraces were made. They occur between 150-500-foo te unbroke levelsth n O . n south-eastern slope a group of at least thirteen terraces forms quite a stairwa steee th pn yo hillside . Fro e lowesmth t terraces furrown ru s vertically down the slope to the Queen's Drive, suggesting that the plough has erased any terrace structure that may have occurred here, littla s a e farther eas a grout f eigho p t terrace se sam occuth en o r level, overlooking Dunsapie Loch. e distanc1Th bottoeo e t Romann froth p f mto o o grou s roughlpi fee0 ty25 containing thirteen terraces. Within a similar distance of slope at Purves Hill we find only four terraces. 116 PROCEEDING S E SOCIETYOTH F , JANUAR , 1928Y9 . Pronounced terrace e n alshill-fac th e ca seeso b n o n ea littl e east of the summit of the Lion's Haunch, and on the southern slope of Dunsapie Hill. Another imposing series e occurslopth en o sbetwee n e Queen'th s Driv d Duddingstoan e n Loch. This group faces south. A large are f thiao s facs beeha e n terraced stretching fro e Longmth - wale crai th t Duddingston a l o gt e stee rockd ,th an p y parts beine gth only parts left untouched. These terrace e comparablar s n siz i ef ste d shelo e an p f wite hth group f Peeblesshireo s . Likewise the e associateyar d wit ancienn ha t camp or fort which here occurs on the summit of Dunsapie Hill.

Fig . Terrace4 . Arthur'n so s Seat. s alsha o t beeI n stated that there were once indication ancienn a f o s t lake-dwellin Duddingston go n Loch. Up to comparatively recent times the low grounds around Arthurs Seat must have been largely covered with bog swampsd san , with their attendant forestsmidse th f thin o tI s. morass stood Arthur's Seat like islann a easild d an offerin yy defendedr a g d situatio r earlnfo y settlers. They saw that terracing was the only means of utilising this steep hillside for the raising of their crops. The terrace flats ensured the retentio f sufficieno n t e e cropssame rainfalneedth th th t f er a o s, fo l time improvin qualite e soilg th t alsth I .f yoo serve economiso dt e eth scanty subsoil of the steep hillsides by concentrating it on the shelves. Th ethesd questiodi e asked b ey y earlwh , nma y tribes choose th e steep hillside r raisinfo s g produce, entailing suc ha vas t expenditure TERRACE FORMATION SCOTLANN I S ENGLANDD DAN 7 11 . of labou terrace-makingn ri , whe nclearina lowee th n gro ground would seem a more reasonable proposition? Even had they drained and cleared an area on a lesser slope, however, the probability is it would stil surroundee b l woodlany db d which would retar e maturindth d gan dryin f theio g r produce. These early settlers wer a ehil l peopld ean for safety preferred their fields beside thei saie b rd y campsthama tt I . a large facto r e developmenirth i f agriculturo t bees emovemens ha nit t from the hills to the valleys. . MearF M. A r s discusse e Dunsapie-Duddingstoth s n settlement, with s cultivatioit n terraces articln a n ,i e entitled " Primitive Edinburgh n "i the Scottish Geographical Magazine, vol. xxxv. 1919. e monkAth s f Holyrooo s d owne lande dth f Romannso ancienn i o t times, Professor W. J. Watson suggests in The History of the Celtic Place-names f Scotland,o . 154p , tha e cultivatioth t n terrace f Arthur'o s s SeaRomannd an t havy oma e been mad themy eb .

THE CHEVIOT TERRACE-GROUPS. e OEnglisth n he Borde th sid f eo r good example f terraceo s s occur near Hethpoo e Collegth n i le Water t Ingrastoa , e Breamishth n o n , n Lordseao d an t Hill near Alwinto Uppen i n r Coquetdale e locaTh l. historie guide-bood an s k refe theo t r anciens ma t terrace cultivationf so . Their similarit orientationn yi spacinn i , lengthd gan , suggest that they should be placed in the same category as the groups of Dunsyre, Arthur's Seat Romannod ,an . e Chevioth n I t region alse terraceth o e usuallar s y associated with ancient camp r fortso s . Aroun e adjoinindth Hethpoon o gd an l Yeavering Bell many relic f ancieno s t habitations have been noted. e vicinitth n I f Ingrastono y , wher a egrou f terracepo s occur, traces of at least fourteen old camps are located. In this area many of the neighbouring slopes are furrowed both vertically and obliquely. These may, of course, be of a much later date than the terraces. Near to Alwinton, where fine examples of terracing are recorded, a number of sites are marked as containing relics of old forts. f intereso s i o nott t I t e thae foothilth t l region along whice th h camps and terraces occur was for a time a frontier line of the ancient Cymry of Strathclyde. The terraces at Hethpool cover a large area of the hillside. As the groune slopt uniforth no l partsf e o s al dterrace i e trene t ma th th , f do s varies in certain places. Within the terraced area occurs a patch of soft boggy groun n eitheo d r sid f whico e e terraceth h s terminate, suggesting that the terrace-makers avoided it. The bog may, of course, 8 11 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F SO , JANUAR , Y19289 . be due to subsequent drainage from the terraces. This group of terraces t Hethpooa e larges s kin th it e write s weli s df th li s o seen t d lha r an , wort e inspectiohth f thosno tako interesn wh eea thin i t s brancf ho antiquarian research. CONCLUSIONS. e Alevidencth l e found supports strongl e argumenth ye th r fo t artificial origi f thesno e terraces writee Th . r make claio n s havmo t e solved the problem as to what they were used for. There may be observers who, judging from the fresh, clean-cut appearance of the terraces, conside centuriew fe r a the t s mbu old . Ther e otherar e s who consider that the terraces go back to the early centuries of our era, and with these the writer is in agreement. One canno e t formlimit th featurese d t an o st s s natur s capabli e e of producing. We know that water in the form of rivers and lakes can produce splendid example f terracing o shavy ma e t beeI . n that ides terracf hi a o t go earl en formatioyma n from rive lakd an re terraces. That nature does also produce suc a hserie f structureo s s through soil-slipping is in my opinion not proven. Wherever I have seen or heard of cases of soil-slipping or land-sliding there is never the parallelism e exacth , t spacing, comparable wit e typth h e of terrace with e dealingwhicar e hw . Soil-creep invariably show irregulan a s r structure. parallelisme Th 1 e orientationth , e spacinth , f thesgo e hill- side terraces show that they were made for a purpose. If we entertain the idea that these terraces have originated by soil- slipping, it seems a remarkable coincidence that we should have sufficient depth of soil at only a few widely separated localities; that the situations should either face west or south; that the slipping should have extended for approximately equal distances at each of the localities; and that the width of the terraces should be related to the gradien f slopeo t f thesI . slippingo et terracee du e , thear s n froe mth numbe f suitablo r e e slopecountth n i sy simila o thost r n whico e h thesy thewh e wely y k terrac occuras ma l e eon , featuret morno ee ar s common. As has already been stated, the terracing of slopes has been practised from time immemorial e methoTh . s recordei d d fro e Andemth o t s Himalayase th . Ther large ear e areas under terrace cultivatioe th n ni Canary Islands, and many have seen, and most of us have heard of, the terraced slopes along the Rhine valley -where they are used to a large extent for vine growing. On the eastern slope of the Black Mount, lj mile south-west of , good examples of soil-slip1 seene b n . sca They foroccue th irregulaf m o n ri r hummocky masses. TERRACE FORMATIONS IN SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. 119 With the art of terrace-making so old and of such wide application, one fail seeo st , therefore e terrace-groupth y wh , f Peeblesshirso e should have originated in a different manner. If the charcoal-bearing soil is strong evidence that two of the groups at least have been built, then we feel justified, from their similarit othen yi r features n claimini , g thae otheth t r groups have originate e samth en di way. If some of the terraces on Arthur's Seat, where there is only a thin coverin f soilgo e know ar , havo nt e built fronts neey accoune wh dw , t for a similar group at Dunsyre as being the result of soil-creep ? Some observer suggesy sma t that eve thesf ni e terrace naturaa d sha l origin, those ancient tribes might utilise them for crop-growing or other purposes. The evidence in our opinion is conclusive that they were intentionally made to serve such purposes. An interesting and instructive article entitled " Pre-historic Agri- culture " appeared in Antiquity for September 1927, written by E. Cecil Curwen. The writer tells us how recent workers in this field of archaeo- logical researc e downlandth n i h f Englano s d have been enabley db e assistancth f aeriao e l photograph decipheo yt t leasa systemro tw t s of lynchet cultivation earliee Th . r metho f terracindo traces gi e th o dt Bronze- and Iron-Age periods. These were made by the Celtic tribes. A later phase of lynchet cultivation was brought in by the Saxon invaders e lyncheth , r terraco t e correspondin e Roma aren th gi o t an acre measurin fee6 lengt n feegi t6 66 breadth 6 n i t y hb . a recen n I t book entitled Downland . MassinghamJ . Man,H y b a , chapte s devote i re discussio th o t d f ancieno n t terraces e quoteH . s examples from many e worldpartth gived f so an , finsa e descriptiof no the terraced hillsides surmounted by forts that occur in the gold-bearing region Rhodesiaf so . This book show numerouw sho e terrace-groupsth s are in England, only a few of them being recorded on the Ordnance Maps. The author takes it for granted that they were made for cultiva- tion purposes, e terracemanth f yo s having fronts built with flintsn I . this book the terraces in Scotland are grouped with those in England. As aerial photography has given a decided impetus to the study of ancient earthwork d trackwayan s n Southeri s n England e futureth , , let us hope, will see its extension to Scotland, when fresh light may be throw similan no r archaeological features. We gratefully acknowledge the valuable assistance rendered by Dr Richard Turner, O.B.E., Hydropathic, Peebles. Thanks are also due . ReadH . f . MacgregoH.Mo H , M r r .D GeologicaM d o t an r l Survey, o havwh e examine de terrace-groupth most f o d givean s n helpful advice. Also to Mr D. Tait for some of the photographs. 120 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, JANUARY 9, 1928. The followin e terraceth lisa f s o ti gwhic o st hI hav e referred dan also of several others which have been brought to my notice:— LANABKSHIRE. (O.S. 1" Map No. 23.) Dunsyre Hill.—On southern slope. Gutter.—On slop righn eo t ban f Culteko r Water, £ mile soutf ho Culter Village. PEEBLESSHIRE . 24.No ) . p (O.SMa " 1 . Kilbucho.—Below ford f Mitchelhillol o t . Purves Hill.—West end of Walkerburn. Romanno.—Near Newlands Church. Moat Wood.—Near Romanno Village. Venlaw.—On western slope, within burgh of Peebles. . (O.S. 1" Map No. 32.) Arthurs Seat, Edinburgh.—On south and south-eastern slopes of the Lion's Haunch and Dunsapie Hill. . (O.S. 1" Map No. 18.) Calroust.—On righ Calrouste banth f ko t Burn, \ mile abovs eit confluence with Bowmont Water, near a hill fort is a group of terraces about \ mile in length. History Benvickshire Naturalists' Club, vol. xvi. (1896-98) . 185p , . Hounam Law.—On righ te Kale banth f ,ko betwee n Morebattle and Hounam. . J Hewaindebtem (a r I M t o t dCraw , F.S.A.Scot. r thifo ,s information.) . (O.S. 1" Map No. 34.) Hutton.—On left ban f Whitadderko , between Hutton Mild an l Hutton Castle. Mr Craw informs me that there are fourteen terraces varying fee5 fro 3 widthn feei 5 tm 1 o t t , being narrower where the ground is steeper. The extreme length is over £ mile, but some of the terraces are shorter. Primrose Hill.—A group of four terraces on the slope below Staneshiel Fort near Duns. Ancient Monuments Commission (Scot- land) Inventory of Benvickshire No. 117. NORTHUMBERLAND. Hethpool.—On slope in lower part of Elsdonburn, 1J mile up the College Water from Kirknewton. Lordseat Hill.—Overlooking the Coquet north of Alwinton. Heddon.—On left ban f o Breamishk f ,mil e north-easf o t Ingraston.