RIDDELLS OF ROXBURGHSHIRE, SCOTLAND.
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for the burghs of Selkirk and Lanark, and died in the prime of life, and
in the midst of incomplete plans, April, 1819, aged 51 years, leaving issue
four sons and five daughters, of whom hereafter. He was succeeded by
his eldest son the present baronet, the tenth in succession. Sir John was
one of the most devoted agriculturalists the country ever knew; but in
carrying forward his improvements on an extensive scale, he seems to
have been lavish in his outlay, and became so involved, that after his
death the estate of "Riddell-Whittun," which had so long been in the
possesssion of the old family, was sold. Many of the beautiful trees on
the lawn and about the grounds were planted by Sir John, and many
changes and improvements remain to prove his interest in, and passionate
love for, agricultural pursuits.
He was a man of commanding person, and elegant though stiff manners,
and as the representative of an old and long line of ancestry, he was
doubly respected. His business habits were good, but his affairs became
confused, and the property upon which he bestowed so much money was
lost to his descendants. High farming and extensive improvements con-
tributed to his troubles; but in pushing his gigantic schemes, he was a
great benefactor of the working classes, to whom he gave extensive
employment, and the present proprietor is reaping the rich benefits of Sir
John's immense expenditure. As this article will close our immediate
connection with the old estate so long held, it will be proper to give some
description of Lilliesleaf at the time it passed out of the hands of the Rid-
dell family. Lilliesleaf is a parish in the northwest division of Roxburgh-
shire, bounded on the northwest by a part of Selkirkshire parish; on the
north by Bowden; on the east by Ancrum; on the south by Minto, and a
detached part of Selkirkshire; and on the west by Ashkirk. Its extreme
length from east to west is five miles; its mean breadth is about two miles
and a furlong; and its area is upwards of seven thousand acres. A small
stream called Alewater, remarkable for the fine quality of its trout, forms
for half a mile the southern boundary; flows three miles northeasterly
through the interior, runs three miles debouchingly along the northern
and eastern boundaries, and passes away eastward into Ancrum creek.
Several broad, low ridges, and waving alternations of slope and valley,
diversify the surface of the parish; and though all is capable of cultiva-
tion, and at one time subject to the plough, it is now distributed into
nearly equal proportions of arable lands and pasture. About six hundred
acres are planted, and about fifty are mossy and waste. The soil is partly
light sand, partly clay, and partly a rich loam. Two marl-pits have given
up much treasure to the arable land. At the death of Sir John Riddell,
in 1819, his extensive lands, which had been nearly all disposed in arable
farms, were laid out in grass. This is the place commemorated by Sir
Walter Scott; in the lines:
"Ancient Riddells' fair domain,
Where Ale, from mountains freed,
Down from the lakes did raving come;
Each wave was crested with tawny foam,
Like the mane of a chestnut steed."
Although the family possessed the estate long enough to entitle the
great poet to call it "ancient Riddell," their title did not sustain the
highly complimentary note connection with the first line of the above
verse. The Riddell family held possession from about 1120 to 1823, in all
six hundred and seventy years. Scott endeavors to establish the family
