Although the Scottish Borders contain some of the most picturesque and unspoilt scenery in the British Isles, with the country houses along the Tweed putting up a fair show to rival the châteaux of the Loire, the region often tends to be overlooked, whether by English tourists heading for the Highlands or by ambitious Scots steadfastly coming south to rule over us.

Therefore this ninth volume in the admirable Buildings of Scotland series, founded by the late architectural historians Sir Nikolaus Pevsner and Colin McWilliam, is especially welcome. Indeed it should serve more than any other book since the heyday of Sir Walter Scott to open our eyes to the romance and beauty of the old counties of Berwickshire, Peeblesshire, Roxburghshire and Selkirk- shire.

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