Watch Water

Watch Water is a river in the Scottish Borders that begins in the Lammermuir Hills, about eight kilometres west of Longformacus. It flows eastward for roughly seven hundred metres before joining the Dye Water, which itself becomes part of the Whiteadder Water and then the River Tweed. The river is small but forms the setting for a larger man-made feature. Watch Water Reservoir covers forty-nine hectares and is held back by an earthen dam halfway along the river’s course. The Southern Upland Way passes along the northern edge of the reservoir, while the Sir Walter Scott Way runs nearby. On the same shore stands Old Scarlaw Cottage, where the remains of a peel tower can still be seen. John Dippie’s Well lies close to where the Southern Upland Way crosses the river. A carved stone from 1869 marks the spring and carries an inscription praising the water’s sweetness. Nearby are the ruins of an 18th-century farmstead once kept by the well’s attendant, who was said to flavour the water with whisky for shooting parties.