OR, SKETCHES OF PROMINENT MEN AND WOMEN OF THE BORDER. BY THE LATE WALTER RIDDELL CARRE, ESQ. OF CAVERS CARRE. EDITED BY JAMES TAIT, OF THE "KELSO CHRONICLE." X EDINBURGH: JAMES THIN, SOUTH BRIDGE. 1876. PREFACE. PREVIOUS to his decease in 1874, the late Mr Walter Riddell Carre had acquired a high reputation for his knowledge of Border men and women who had any claim to historical notice. During a succession of winters his lectures were heard with interest and appreciation in many Border towns and villages, as well as occasionally in Edinburgh. In the newspapers, instead of the brief paragraph usually accorded to popular lectures, the productions of Mr Riddell Carre were always reported more or less fully, and the reports were perused with pleasure by a wide circle of readers. speeches delivered at meetings of the Edinburgh Border Counties Association were always carefully prepared, and in them, as well as in communications to newspapers, he was often bringing to light some new information regarding Border celebrities of a past generation. His With him it was a labour of love to collect from scattered sources, and place in a compact form before a popular audience, whatever was most characteristic of old Border worthies; and in these pleasant avocations he was engaged when suddenly the strong frame was prostrated with disease, and death ensued after a very short and painful illness. |