that fome were furprized with it even in their beds : thefe paffi ; l
horrible night, remaining totally ignorant.of their fate, and the caufe!
o f the calamity, till the-morning, when their neighbors, with diffiJ
cu lty , got them out through the roof. A b o u t three hundred acresi
o f mofs were thus difcharged, and above four hundred o f land co.l
vered : the houfes either overthrown or filled to their roofs ; and thel
hedges-overwhelmed; but providentially n o t a human life loft:I
feveral cattle were fuffoc-ated ; and thofe which were houfed had al
very fmall chance o f efcaping. T h e cafe o f a cow is fo Angular as'l
to deferve mention. She was the only one out o f eight, in the fame!
cow-houfe, that was faved, after having flood fixty hours-up to the!
neck in mud and water : when ihe was relieved, ihedid not refufe Mil
eat, b u t would not- tafte water : nor could even look. at. it without!
Ihewing manifeft figns o f horrort
T h e eruption burft from the place o f its difcharge, like* a catarad
o f th ick in k ; and continued in a ftream o f the fame appearance, intermixed
with great fragments, o f peat, with.their heathy furfacej
then flowed like a tide charged with pieces o f wreck, filling the:
whole valley, running, up evety little opening, and on its retreat,
leaving upon the Ihore tremendous heaps: o f tu rf, memorials o f the-
height this dark torrent arrived at. T h e farther it -flowed, the more:
room i t had to expand, lefiening in depth, till i t mixed its ftream
with that-of the EJk.
T h e , furface o f the mofs received a confiderable change : . what
was before a plain, now funk in the form o f a vaft bafon, and the lofs-
o f the contents fo lowered the furface as to give to Netherby anew:
view o f land and trees unfeen before.
Near this mofs. was the. ihameful reddition in 1542, .of the Scotch
army,,
I n J under the command o f Oliver Sinclair, minion o f James V . (to
Sir ■ Wharton, warden o f the marches). T h e nobihty, defpe-
rate with rage and pride, when they heard that favorite proclamed
general, preferred an immediate flirrender to a handful o f enemies,
¡kther than fight for a K in g who treated them with fuch contempt..
T h e Englißo commander obtained a blöodlefs v ifto ry . t e w o e
Scotch army was taken, or difperfed, and a few fugitives per.ihed m
this very mofs : as a confirmation it is faid, that a few years ago
fome peat-diggers difcovered in i t the Ikeletons-of a-trooper and hu»
horfe in complete armour.
I In my return v ifit the antient border-houfe at Kirk-andrews, o p p o -
fite to Netherby: it confifts o f only a fquare tower, with a ground;
floor, and two apartments above, one over the o th e r : in the firft
floor'it was ufual to keep the cattle •, in the two laft was lodged the-
fSmily. In thofe very unhappy times, every one was obliged to keep
» u a r d a g a i n f t perhaps fiis neighbor ; and fometimes to fhut themfelves
up- for days together, without any opportunity o f tailing the
frelh air, but from the battlemented top o f their caftelet. T h e ir
windows were very fm a ll; their door o f iron. I f 'th e robbers attem
p ted to break-it open, they were annoyed from above by. the;
flinging o f great ftones, or by deldges o f fcalding water *.
I As late as the reign o f our yam« I- watches were kept along the B or DER WATCHES* •
'.'whole border, and at every ford by day and by n ig h t : fetters,
watchers, fearchers o f the watchers, and overfeers o f the watchers
were appointed. Befides thefe cautions, the inhabitants o f the *
marches were obliged to keep fuch a number o f jlough dogs, or.
* Life of Lord Keeper Guildford, p. 138.
whati