ABSTRACT
The territory in south-east Scotland in which The Hirsel estate was embedded is the Berwickshire Merse, a low-lying area from the base of the Lammermuir Hills to the foothills of the Cheviots (Figure 1.1). The underlying rocks are carboniferous sandstones and in places igneous masses protrude forming natural strong points such
as Hirsel Law (discussed below). The area physically is a prolongation of the Northumbrian plain with the Lammermuirs constituting the major physical barrier between England and Scotland, rather than the River Tweed, which despite its width and strong currents, is fordable at Norham and Coldstream.
