PEEELESSIIIRE, a co. in the s. of Scotland, also called Tweeddale, from consisting mainly of the upper valley of the Tweed. a river which originates in the county. Peeb lesshire is bounded by Dumfries and Selkirk shires on the s., Lanarkshire on the w., Mid-Lothian on the n., and Selkirkshire on the cast. The county is small, containing only 356 sq.m., or 227,869 statute acres. Its lowest point above the mean level of the sea is about 450'ft. from which to 1200 ft. is the region of cultivation; but the county being a group of hills, is mostly pastoral, with the arable lands chiefly in the valleys. The highest hill his Broad Law, which reaches an elevation of 2,761 feet. Within the county, the Tweed has for tributaries the small rivers Eddleston, Leithen, Qnair, Manor, and Lyne, besides many mountain rivulets. Peeblesshire comprehends 16 parishes, but several being ecclesiastically united, the number of parish churches, each with a settled minister, is 14; the number of parish schools is 15. The only town in the county is Peebles, an ancient royal burgh, pleasantly situated on a peninsula formed at the conflu ence of the Eddleston with the Tweed. The principal villages are Innerleithen, Walker Burn, West Linton, and Carlops. In 1871 the population of the county was 12,339, of whom 3,172 belonged to Peebles, which, distant 22 m. from Edinburgh, is the seat of a sheriff and county administration. It is also the seat of a presbytery. Besides the parish
church, the town has several dissenting places of worship, including an Episcopal and a Roman Catholic chapel. It likewise possesses some good schools, has three branch banks, and a number of inns. As a means of literary and social improvement, Mr. W. Chambers, in 1859, made a free gift to'this his native town of a spacious suite of build ings, comprising a reading-room, a public library consisting of 15,000 volumes, a museum, gallery of art, and a hall for lectures and concerts—the whole being designated the Chambers' Institution. Long secluded from general traffic, Peeblesshire has been lately opened up by railways; and the woolen manufacture has made considerable progress in the parish of Innerleithen. In 1877-78, the valued rental of the county, town included, exclusive of railway property, was £125,820; the valuation of railway property being £31,099. Peehlesshire abounds in the remains of British hill-forts, border towers, and other antiquities, and possesses numerous modern mansions of a handsome kind. For merly, the only account of the shire was a Description of Tweeddale, by Dr. Alexander Pennicuik, 1715; reissued with notes, 1815; but in 1864 there was written a History of Peeblesshire, by W. Chambers, 1 vol. 8vo, illustrated with maps and wood-engravings.