Stow

"Stow (Old Eng. 'place'), a village of SE Edinburghshire, and a parish partly also of Selkirkshire. On all sides sheltered by hills, the village lies, 580 feet above sea-level, near the left bank of Gala Water, and ¼ mile E of Stow station on the Waverley route of the North British railway, across the stream, this being 6 ¾ miles NNW of Galashiels and 26 ¾ (by road 24) SSE of Edinburgh. A pretty little place, of high antiquity, it has a post office, with money order, savings bank, and telegraph departments, a hotel, gassworks, three woollen mills, an engineering work, a bowling club, and hiring fairs on the last Monday of February and the second Tuesday of March.

The parish, containing Fountainhall, Bowland and Clovenfords stations, is bounded N by Fala and Soutra, NE by Channelkirk, E by Channelkirk, Lauder and Melrose, SE by Galashiels, S by Selkirk and Yarrow, SW and W by Innerleithen, and NW by Heriot, so that, while itself lying in two counties, it is in contact with three others - Haddington, Roxburgh and Peebles shires."

(Extract from Groomes Ordnance Gazetteer