Venlaw, a mansion in Peebles parish, Peeblesshire, ½ mile N of the town. Built about 1782, it occupies the record as early as the middle of the 14th century, belonged successively to the Dikesones and the Hays. The present proprietor, Capt. Jas. Elphinstone Erskine, R.N. (b. 1838; suc. 1877), holds 950 acres in the shire, valued at £649 per annum-Ord. Sur., sh. 24, 1864.

(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)