HISTORY THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM 12 NOV 2001 PURCHASED GENERAL UBRARY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB INSTITUTED SEPTEMBER 22, 1831 MARE ET TELLUS, ET, QUOD TEGIT OMNIA, CC^LUM' VOL. 48 PART 2, 2000 Natural History Museum Library 300020987 OFFICE BEARERS 1999-2000 President KENNETH CANDLISH, Esq., B.L., J.R, D.L. The Elms, Duns, Berwickshire TD11 3BB (Tel. 01361 883298) Field Secretary Co-ordinator Mrs FELICITY COOKLIN 13 Quay Walls, Berwick upon Tweed TD15 1HB (Tel. 01289 330364) Librarian DrG. A. C. BINNIE Ladykirk, Norham, Berwick upon Tweed TD15 1XL (Tel. 01289 382201) Corresponding Secretary Mrs KATHLEEN TANSLEY Sandyknowe, Hutton, Berwick upon Tweed TD15 ITS Treasurer THOMAS T. HODGSON, Esq., F.C.A. Tillmouth House, Nr Cornhill-on-Tweed TD12 4UT (Tel. 01890 882463) Editing Secretary Dr J. W. BLENCH, M.A., Ph.D.(Cantab.) 1 Countess of Buchan Way, Berwick upon Tweed TD15 1PH (Tel. 01289 307549) cu CD S ,o K U § <3 -s; o o o rq s- C/^ -TS K CN HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CONTENTS OF VOL. 48 Part 2, 2000 1 . Anniversary Address - 1000 Years of Border Justice 95 2. The Baron's Folly 103 3. Abigail and William Renwick 135 4. The Wicked Colonel 152 5. Anglo-Saxon Carved Stones in Norham Church 161 6. The Duel of Harperdean 171 7. The -hAbbae+ Stone found at Whitby Abbey 175 8. Togo Bridge 179 9. Masons' Marks in Ladykirk Church Tower 182 10. Field Notes and Records 184 11. Archaeological Notes 198 12. Field Secretaries' Report 203 13. Librarian's Report 212 14. Treasurer's Financial Statement 214 15. Rules and Regulations 215 16. Advice to Contributors IBC The Editing Secretary requests that all copy for the History should be submitted by the 30th April in each year. iii HtSTORY 640SEUM 12 riO¥ 2001 PURCHASED GENERAL UBRARY ILLUSTRATIONS The Baron's Folly The Baron's Folly on Down Law 104 Major John Rutherford, the Royal American Regiment 112 Portrait of Robert Rutherford possibly by Benjamin West ... 115 The Princess Tarakanova 123 Admiral Samuel Greig 125 Abigail and William Renwick The frontispiece from The Unfortunate Lovers 146 Anglo-Saxon Carved Stones in Norham Church Copy plate of lost inscribed stone 163 Schematic diagram of west and south faces of Norham pillar 165 Schematic diagram of east and west faces of Norham pillar 166 Cross head recently found in Norham 169 The + AbbaeT Stone found at Whitby Abbey The inscription at present on the +Abbae+ stone at Whitby 175 Waimie Carr viewed from the north-west at low water 177 Fogo Bridge The bridge over the Blackadder at Fogo 179 Inscribed panel above the crown of the arch 180 IV HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB 1,000 YEARS OF BORDERS JUSTICE being the Anniversary Address delivered by Kenneth H. Candlish, Esq., B.L., J.P., D.L., President of the Club, on 12th October 2000. This being the Millennium, I would like to look at justice over the last 1,000 years or so and, despite the title, will not confine myself to the Borders alone but will take 'Justice' in a very broad sense to include fair dealing between and among people. I will deal with the various organs of justice, which will include looking at some administrative matters. In the Borders, the word 'justice' is apt to bring to mind 'Jeddart Justice' which was quite simple - hang them first and ask questions afterwards! Things did improve but the 18th century judge Lord Braxfield is on record as saying to a man who had defended himself 'You're a very clever chiel mon but you would be nane the waur o' a hanging'. The concept of justice can be difficult to define. We often hear the cri de coeur 'I just want justice' or do they mean 'I want revenge'? In 'The Republic' Plato said 'everywhere there is one principle of justice, that is the interest of the stronger'. One hopes that that is no longer true. Classical mythology says that Athene sprang fully armed from the brow of Zeus but the various organisations we now have took a long time to evolve, with trial and error. The earliest set of laws which has come down to us is the Decalogue (Exodus 20). The first attempt to put the administration of justice on a formal footing was the appointment by the king of Sheriffs (Shire Reeve). This office goes back to the time of Malcolm Canmore (11th century) and was successor to the post of Brehon (Judge) of the Celtic period. By the time of David I in the next century, the country was being divided into Shires or Sheriffdoms on the lines adopted by 95 96 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB the Norman kings of England. From the outset. Sheriffs had many functions - military, administrative and financial as well as criminal and civil jurisdiction. The office became hereditary at an early date, despite an Act of 1455 prohibiting hereditary offices - which seems to have been ignored by all! Official records disclose that the majority of Sheriffs were negligent in their duties - failing to collect royal dues or to account for those they had collected; given to exacting exorbitant fees from the lieges; accepting bribes and giving unjust awards. A right parcel o' rogues! In 1610 Justices of the Peace were introduced, partly as a check on the conduct of the Sheriffs, on which they were to report to the king. In time this was reversed and the Sheriffs became the supervisors of the JPs. The Sheriffs had Deputes who eventually took over the business of the Sheriff and evolved into the Sheriff Principal which we have today. In the same way the Depute's Assistant, or Substitute, became today's 'Sheriff' - the 'Substitute' having been dropped some years ago. The criminal jurisdiction of the Sheriff included aU crimes except (a) the four pleas of the Crown - murder, robbery, fire raising and rape, and (b) generally crimes the sentence for which was transportation. After 1735 the Sheriff could deal with murder when the murderer had been caught 'red hand' but this no longer applies. WARDENS OF THE MARCHES Another early appointment was of Warden of the Marches which was quite distinct from the Sheriff. They were also royal appointments and were probably first made in the early 14th century. They were originally military officers but also had other functions such as dealing with Border offences and their punishment. There were three Marches - East, Middle and West, with a Warden on each side of the Border. Sometimes two Marches might be combined and from time to time Liddesdale - being the most troublesome area - had a Warden of its own. The office of Warden was not strictly heritable but families often regarded it as 'theirs' - something de la Bastie found out to his cost! Wardens could be removed at will. Following a Judicial Raid in 1,000 YEARS OF BORDERS JUSTICE 97 1538, the Wardens of both the East and Middle Marches lost their offices. Home of the East March was replaced by two Deputy Wardens - George Hume of Ayton and John Swinton of that ilk. The Warden represented the king in his March and disbobedience of the Warden was considered contempt of royal authority. In days of truce he carried out negotiations with his English counterparts for the redress of wrongs - not always successfully. The wrongs were usually caused by cross border raids and were dealt with in accordance with the Law and Customs of the Borders, which had been built up over the years by custom and treaties. Redress as often attempted by an immediate counter-raid, known as the 'hot trod' and was a recognised custom. There was a Warden's Court, which was separate from the Justiciar's Court but the Warden and Justiciar might be the same man. After 1587 Wardens received no salary and were no longer a burden on the Exchequer. BURGHS Burghs (OE burh) date from the time of David I, in whose time much of our settled administration and laws had their beginnings. As burghs had criminal jurisdiction, it is appropriate to consider their setting up and administration. The first four burghs in Scotland were Roxburgh, Berwick, Stirling and Edinburgh - but it depends on which record you consult. They were originally set up as fortified towns but later they acquired rights - exclusive right to trade within the burgh and surrounding 'liberty' (which could be extensive); the right to have a specified number of fairs and markets; the right to elect magistrates (bailies) and Town Council, although the Council did not appear until the late 14th century, and the right to make laws for local matters such as regulation of trade. Trade was the main source of income for the burgh. No man could be a trader or shopkeeper unless he were a burgess and the proof of being a burgess was possession of a burgess ticket. This could be withdrawn and thus deprive a man of his livelihood. Such happened to one David Anderson in Lanark who was accused of insulting Bailie Matthew Gemmel. This was a cardinal error as Gemmel was also the judge in court and quickly found him guilty. 98 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB One almost gets the impression that insulting bailies was something of a national pastime as there were a number of ordinances against that practice. Or, perhaps, the bailies were very thin skinned! There is, of course, the modern crime of 'murmuring the judges'. A slight digression perhaps but let us have a quick look at some burgh functions. Many burghs had a clock-keeper and bellman, sometimes combined. In Elgin in 1703 the Council appointed James RusseU as Bellman with the proviso that 'he shall keep the town's clock so right in her going that she shall not go half an hour wrong backward or forward in 24 hours time' (so much for accuracy!), also, Russell was to ring the beU at 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. daily - as a sort of public alarm clock service. Every burgh had a piper and drummer. In many burghs Council regulations were advertised round the town 'by tuck of drum'. Many matters were regulated by the Councils, such as building controls and street sweeping. Building regulation offences were very common, there being regular references to burgesses being required to pull down unauthorised extensions and outside stairs - so there is nothing new in that today. Middens were a common cause of complaint. Eventually street sweeping was introduced, Aberdeen appointed 'ane scaffinger' in 1675. In the 15th century three types of burgh emerged - Royal Burghs, Burghs of Regality and Burghs of Barony (the oldest type). The differences were largely in trading rights and jurisdiction. Royal Burghs (and the first recorded was Rothesay in 1401) were the only ones allowed to trade abroad and to sell imported goods. Among them they had to pay the Crown a land tax or 'cess' amounting to about one-sixth of the royal exchequer's needs. The share payable by each burgh was determined by the Convention of Royal Burghs, a body which continued in existence (but without that function) until 1975. A Burgh of Regality had exclusive criminal jurisdiction within its territory (except for treason). A Lord of Regality was not subject to the Sheriff or the Justiciar. Feudal Barons (and originally a Baron was a man who held his lands directly from the Crown) had extensive jurisdiction in the barony, and Clan Chiefs had similar jurisdiction. Depending on 1,000 YEARS OF BORDERS JUSTICE 99 the terms of his Charter, he had the power of 'pit and gallows'. His criminal jurisdiction normally covered all crimes except treason and the four pleas of the Crown (as above). The Baron's Court was often presided over by the Baron's Bailie (a Baron's Bailie Court at one time sat in 18 Castle Street, Duns). The records of that court show that on 31st October 1788 it was decided that 'the dung or rakings of the public streets be let by public roup yearly and the fund arising from that let be applied for lighting the streets'. Also on 6th February 1789 it was recorded that 'The Friday on which the court sat being a post day . . . those concerned with the business of the court having frequent occasion to answer letters by return of post (and thus leave the court) the court sittings were altered to Saturdays at noon'. HIGHER COURTS From the appointment of the earliest Justiciar (King's judge) on record - David Olifard in 1166 - to the present court system was a long process. Steps on the way were the appointment of a Lord Justice General in 1514; the institution of the Court of Session (Civil Court) in 1532 and the establishment of the High Court of Justiciary (Criminal Court) in 1671. The Court of Criminal Appeal did not appear until the 1920s. HERITABLE JURISDICTION All heritable jurisdictions were abolished by the Heritable Jurisdiction (Scotland) Act 1747, which took effect in 1748. This included the jurisdiction of Clan Chiefs - and probably was the main reason for the Act. The Baron and Regality Courts were also abolished with the rather odd retention of Baron Court jurisdiction limited to assaults and lesser crimes for which the punishment was only a fine not exceeding 20 shillings or setting in the stocks for not more than three hours. Also retained were civil actions for debt or damage not exceeding 40 shillings. This has never been abolished but has long been obsolete. PUNISHMENTS The earliest punishment code is probably the Lex Talionis - an eye for an eye, etc. - in Exodus 21. Burgh courts could impose a number of punishments - rather 100 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB more than District Courts today! Prison sentences were apt to be short as the burgh had to bear the cost of providing a jailor, food and perhaps fuel for the prisoner. On the other hand fines were often imposed - the Town Council got the money! Executions were rare, other than for witches, who were burned at the stake. The last such execution was at Dingwall in 1727. Other executions were usually by public hanging but sometimes by beheading - either by axe or by a form of guillotine known as 'The Maiden and introduced in the late 16th century. Most people were apt to suffer a spell in the jougs (an example is at Kirkcudbright Town Hall) or in the stocks where they were subject to public ridicule - or worse. Another punishment was banish- ment from the town. In the 16th and 17th centuries punishments included a thief in Fortrose publicly scourged by the executioner and immediately banished from the town; at Banff John Henderson was taken to an upper room in the Tolbooth and whipped by two officers - for insulting a bailie; in Edinburgh, for murdering a farmer, Robert Weir was broken on the wheel. At Stirling John Fisher was convicted of stealing clothes and sentenced to be nailed by an ear to the wooden post of the Tron, to have the other ear cut off, to be branded on the cheek, to be whipped through the town and then banished Jrom the shire under threat of death if he returned. One wonders if he had been a persistent offender to merit such brutality. Women who spread malicious gossip could have a branks (scolds bridle) fitted over their heads. There were different forms of this implement, one of which fitted over the tongue making it impossible for her to speak. The Kirk was involved with justice and punishment. It mercilessly persecuted witches and took a strong stand on morals. Those who offended could be brought before the Kirk Session and forced to sit on the stool of penitence in the face of the congregation. We read in Greenlaw Church Records that for breaches of the Seventh Commandment (adultery), offenders had to appear in the public place of repentance on successive sabbaths. On 29th April 1649 a Samuel Dempster underwent this ordeal. Samuel had undergone four public appearances. There is also an entry on 15th April of the same year of one Marion Macdowal, 1,000 YEARS OF BORDERS JUSTICE 101 who had paid a fine on her relapse, 'and was this day removed from the public place of repentance, she having sitten on said place for ane year compleat, conform to the order of the Presbyterie, and that in sackcloth'. Sabbath breaking was an offence and, in the 18th century. Elders patrolled the streets on Sundays to ensure everyone was in Kirk. Burns has much to say on such matters in 'Holy WiUie's Prayer'. On the other hand, of course, the Kirk was strong in the encouragement of education and in aid to the poor. There is a record of a woman in Coldstream who gave birth to an illegitimate child which she 'exposed' on the turnpike (presumably because she could not look after it). The Kirk took no action against her but went after the father to make sure he contributed to the bringing up of the child as they did not wish the family to be a charge on the town or parish. Perhaps an early form of the Child Support Agency? The other side of that coin is a case in a 16th century Justiciar's Court in Jedburgh when three Johnstones were accused (by Maxwells) of raping the daughter of a Maxwell and abandoning her naked at the side of the road. They also stole her horse, which was not recovered. All three were found guilty of stealing the horse and hanged. The horse was obviously the important part of the case, not the girl. At the same court six Coldstream men were accused of taking salmon from the Tweed for sale at Berwick market. All were found guilty of repeated theft and forbidden traffic with the English and were hanged. And so from the days of individually dispensed justice by the powerful and strongest, we have progressed in the last 1,000 years to the development of the protection of the weakest; the setting up of structural institutions to ensure this; and now in our present year 2000 we also have a body outwith our own country producing laws which have had an effect on our lives. One of the most far-reaching of these is the European Convention on Human Rights, which is having a considerable impact on the administration of justice - only time will prove whether it is for good or ill. However, history shows that justice is a tender and delicate plant and we must aU play our parts in nourishing it. It might be fitting to close with a saying attributed to Edmund Burke (it has various forms): 'It is necessary only for the good man to do nothing for evil to triumph'. 102 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB SOURCES Chambers Dictionary, 1993 edition. Lynch, M. Scotland A New History (London, Century Ltd, 1991). Mail, C. Mercat Cross and Tolbooth (Edinburgh, John Donaldson Publishers Ltd, 1988). Encyclopaedia of Scots Law, Volumes 2 and 13 (W. Green & Son Ltd, Edinburgh, 1927). The Stair Society - An Introduction to Scottish Legal History, Volume 20 (Edinburgh, 1958). Rae, Thomas I. The Administration of the Scottish Border 1513-1603 (Edinburgh University Press, 1966). Record of the Acts and Decreets of the Bailie of the Burgh of Barony of Duns 1785-1790. In Duns Museum. Tranter, N. Warden of the Queen's March (Hodder & Stoughton, Paperback, 1989). Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, 4th Edition, 1992. Gibson, Robert. An Old Berwickshire Town (Edinburgh, Oliver & Boyd, 1905). THE BARON'S FOLLY John D. Wood Woodside, The Croft, St Boswells TD6 OAE The Baron's Folly caps Down Law, a two hundred metre high outcrop a mile to the north-west of Peniel Heugh in Roxburghshire. The National Trust Guide to Follies describes it as 'a little Gothic pavilion', and goes on rather disparagingly to comment that 'the most romantic thing about it is its name'.^ Certainly in architectural terms the octagonal rubble-coursed structure, measuring a mere 16.5 metres in diameter and 7 metres in height, quite clearly belongs to the modest end of the 'folly' spectrum. Behind its construction, however, lies the story of an 18th century life of no little romance, lived under a Mediterranean sun in the mainstream of European affairs. The 'baron' responsible for the folly was Robert Rutherford of Fairnington, the fifth son of Sir John Rutherford of Edgerston (1687-1764). Born in 1719, Robert spent the bulk of his career as a partner in the banking firm of Jackson and Rutherford in Leghorn (Livorno) in Tuscany. During the Russo-Turkish war of 1769-74 he acted as agent and consul for the Russian Mediterranean fleet commanded by Count Alexis Orlov. For his services he was created a Baron of the Russian Empire and presented with a gold bejewelled snuff box by Catherine the Great.^ In 1779 Rutherford returned to Scotland and purchased the estate of Fairnington in Roxburgh parish. Here he established a reputation as a liberal landlord and agricultural improver. Indeed the normally factual Statistical Account deemed his character 'universally and justly esteemed' and even footnoted the 'worthy' nobleman's death as 'most sincerely regretted'.^ Later commen- tators were not so kind. Rutherford's practice of naming fields after Russian noblemen and other acquaintances from his Leghorn days was regarded as eccentric. His look-out 'folly' on Down Law was seen locally as 'Quixotic and an unnecessary waste of money', and, perhaps reflecting a peculiarly Scottish dislike of pretension, referred to scoffingly as 'the Tsar's Doocot'.'^ 103 104 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB The Baron's Folly on Down Law. PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN D. WOOD THE BARON'S FOLLY 105 Robert Rutherford's fate in life, which he seems to have accepted with good grace, was typical of the younger sons of the landed gentry. The expensive transformation of Edgerston in the 1720s from a tower house to a seven-bay classical mansion, and Sir John Rutherford's remarkable fecundity (he sired 21 children), made the pursuit of a lucrative career even more imperative for the Rutherford offspring.^ Thus while his older brother Thomas became a physician in Barbados and a younger brother James a merchant in Jamaica, Robert was sent at the age of 15 for business training in London and dispatched three years later to the firm of Jackson and Co. in Leghorn.^ Although part of the Austrian Hapsburg Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Livorno, since the time of the Medicis, had operated as an international free port run largely by a cosmopolitan group of merchants including Huguenots, Flemings, fugitive Moors from Spain and one of Italy's most energetic Jewish populations. Relations with the Tuscan Court were handled through the Deputation - a committee of Livornese merchants formed by the Grand Duke in 1717. Custom duties were deliberately kept low to encourage trade and by a Treaty in 1735, Livorno's neutral status was officially confirmed by the Great Powers. Under Cosimo I and his successors a range of docks, canals, grain warehouses and lazaretto facilities had been constructed which had enabled Livorno to thrive in a Mediterranean world beset by pestilence, famine and war.^ The town itself soon outgrew the old five-sided Medici town plan and by the beginning of the 17th century could with the colonnaded Via Grande boast one of the biggest streets in Europe. Within this thriving mercantile community in Livorno was a substantial British 'factory' with its own rights to levy taxes on shipping and with its own Scottish contingent in the form of the banking firm of John and WiUiam Aikman. Some measure of the permanence of this expatriate community can be seen in the creation of a British Protestant cemetery in 1746.* Two decades later on the occasion of Grand Duke Peter Leopold's first state visit to Livorno the British merchants were sufficiently affluent to host a calcio or football gala in the Great Square 'at the cost of above a thousand pounds'.^ Some of this wealth was derived from the fact that Livorno served as an entrepot and banking base for the 106 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLL^ increasing flow of British aristocratic Grand Tourists to Italy. While the gentry found little of cultural worth to detain them in Livorno the literati including the novelist Tobias SmoUett and later the poet Shelley seemed to find the bustle of the port attractive. Looking after the interests of this complex trading community on Rutherford's arrival there was the British Consul, the somewhat impecunious Barrington Goldsworthy, and the urbane Horace Mann, British Resident at the Tuscan Court in Florence.^” Although clearly a British concern, the firm of Jackson, Diharce and Hart, which the 18-year-old Rutherford joined reflected the cosmopolitan nature of Livorno. George Jackson the senior partner in particular seems to have been weU connected both in his native and adopted countries. Perhaps through the patronage of Lord John Hervey, an early Grand Tourist, Jackson found occasional employment in the British diplomatic service where he assisted Horace Mann in tracking the manoeuvres of the exiled Jacobite Court. Although a Protestant, Jackson obtained a special dispensation from Cardinal Lambertini to marry an Italian Catholic lady. Lambertini subsequently acted as godfather to Jackson's oldest son Prosper, and later as Pope Benedict XIV remained an influential family contact. Jackson was also a renowned bibliophile boasting a library of some 3,000 books and 215 manuscripts. Peter Diharce, a Catholic, seems to have specialised in the specifically mercantile aspects of the firm's activities, becoming Captain of the Port of Leghorn in 1744 and Sea Consul at Pisa in 1757. The third partner. Hart, appears to have been the son of Moses Hart, a leading Jewish merchant in London." Between December 1737 and 1741 Jackson, while maintaining his commercial interests in Leghorn, served as British Consul in Genoa. Sometime during that period Rutherford joined him and so it is from this branch office in a correspondence with Sir Hew Dalrymple, a family friend recently returned from Italy, that the first glimpse of Rutherford's new lifestyle emerges. In common with most grand tourists Sir Hew had purchased souvenirs of his time in Rome - in this case four marble tables and an unspecified number of pictures - and instructed Jackson and Co. to ship them back to Britain. Rutherford reports that the tables had arrived in Leghorn 'broken across' and 'not worth the bother in the condition they are in', a result apparently of being poorly packed and THE BARON'S FOLLY 107 transported overland from Rome. Displaying newly acquired knowledge of the antiques trade he chides Sir Hew for trusting 'that scoundrel Parker with the care of sending them' and suggests that it would have been safer to deal with his own firm's correspondent in Rome.^^ On a more personal note Rutherford goes on to express reservations about his own position in life. He clearly shared the prejudice against the Genoese held not only by British travellers but by the Italians themselves. 'Of aU the Italians where I have been/ he wrote, 'the noble Genoese are the most abominable race.' The absence of suitable 'diversions' he blames on the superstitious and bigoted approach the Genoese had to religion. This meant 'they hate strangers of a different opinion whom they take for granted are all damn'd in the other world and not contented with that they would damn them in this world also if they could'. Amorous adventures had this to be conducted 'very privately' and carried 'a great risk of being murdered by a jealous husband or gallant'. After five years in Italy Rutherford's career prospects, in the absence of what he termed 'a good stack', seemed a little bleak. He was forced to 'content myself the best I can and work chiefly for others' and to contemplate a 'very long' stay in Italy. He appealed to Sir Hew, newly elected to Parliament, 'to get me the promise of the first vacant consulship here at Leghorn or Naples or some other good employment that would render me 3 or 400 pounds a year'. Such a job he claimed 'would set me very clearly at my ease and make me either live abroad with hopes of being able to return soon home with some substance, or to come home directly on a tolerable footing . . As if to assert his eligibility for a consulship Rutherford pads out his letter with reports of Spanish troop movements in Italy and the eastern Mediterranean. On hearing that the Earl of Stair, Sir Hew's grand-uncle, had been made ambassador to Holland, Rutherford redoubled his efforts on this front, reporting on the incognito movements of the Spanish Commander Don Philip and the fact that 'since their coming in to Italy' the Spaniards 'had lost near 7,000 men' through desertion.^® In the absence of such a diplomatic post Rutherford's fortune presumably fluctuated in line with that of Livorno in the middle of the century. The earthquake of 1742 must have constituted a 108 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB setback of considerable proportions. As families fled to the comparative safety of Pisa and Lucca, the population of the port was literally decimated from 40 to 4,000. The British community sought refuge on board ships in the Mole "and . . . conveyed thither their books and cash'. In all, Horace Mann wrote, 'Leghorn has received a blow of which it will not recover for a very considerable time'.^^ This was followed during the War of the Austrian Succession and the subsequent Seven Years War by two decades of naval brawling which placed a considerable strain on commerce in the Mediterranean. Despite Tuscany's neutrality in both these struggles the French consuls in Leghorn did what they could in connivance with the Tuscan Governor of the Port to hamper British trade. Thus French crimps had been 'endeavouring to debauch our seamen into their service' and provoking bad blood by flying a 'Pirate's Ensign' alongside the Union Jackin the main streets of the port. While French privateers lurked outside Leghorn 'as hungry sharks lie in wait for further prey' the Tuscan Regency successfully clipped the wings of a British privateer, the splendidly named Captain Fortunatus Wright, by confining his ship the St George to harbour guarded by 'two armed barks' on the trumped up charge that he had 'failed against the rules of the Port'. Labouring under such restrictions the Custom House, 'which commonly produces 900,000 scudi per annum' was reduced to less than 400,000. The final straw came in 1756 with the fall of Minorca and the French landing in Corsica to relieve the Genoese in their struggles with nationalist rebels. Since then, Horace Mann wrote home, 'our Merchant Ships are taken in sight of Leghorn'. Salvation, however, came from the sea in the shape of the British Mediterranean Fleet of Admiral Osborn. Skillful pleading of neutrality laws at the Tuscan Court in Florence had enabled Mann to establish the right of the British fleet to anchor at Leghorn, to be received with full diplomatic honours and to procure all necessary supplies. The prizes which came in after the departure of the fleet 'rejoiced the hearts of the Livornians' and convinced the Grand Duke that the prosperity of his people depended to a considerable degree on British trade. Despite the times, Rutherford managed by 1749 to establish himself as a partner in Jackson & Co. Almost a decade later he could contemplate a return to Britain though he still feared the expense THE BARON'S FOLLY 109 of life there. He could take some consolation no doubt in belonging to what the novelist John Galt described in 1760 as 'a house of the first consequence in the Mediterranean trade'. By 1767 when 'slowly winding up my business affairs with a view to going to Scotland' he had made 'a small fortune that satisfied his very moderate ambition'. Perhaps more importantly he had learned to love his adopted country, relish the friendships he had made in Leghorn and by virtue of his pivotal role as a banker had met a surprising number of the leading figures of the age. One of the most important of these was the American artist Benjamin West. Although deemed more of historical than artistic importance today, West, the son of a Quaker innkeeper from Pennsylvania, was the first American artist to achieve an inter- national reputation. He visited Italy in the early 1760s to expand his artistic horizons and mixed freely with painters Anton Mengs and Gavin Hamilton and other arbiters of taste in Rome such as the blind Cardinal Alboni. In 1763, he travelled to England and despite his support for the American rebel cause won the admiration and patronage of George III. This enabled West to concentrate on neo- classical and historical figure painting, the best know examples of which were his Pylades and Orestes (1766) and The Death of Wolfe (1771). West was influential in the founding of the Royal Academy in 1768, succeeding Joshua Reynolds as its President in 1792. Quaker principles led him to decline a knighthood but West remains a key figure in American art due to the encouragement and advice he gave the next generation of expatriate American painters.^ In an era when artistic taste and classical themes were synonymous. West's apprenticeship in Italy underpinned his subsequent career. The success of that visit was due in no small measure to the efforts of the firm of Jackson and Rutherford. Indeed the chain of events that propelled West to international fame began with the failure of the Italian harvest in 1759. Fearing a possible famine, Messrs Jackson and Rutherford ordered a cargo of wheat and flour from WiUiam Allen of Philadelphia. Allen, wishing that his son John and nephew Joseph Shippen should experience something of the world before settling to business careers, arranged for them to travel with the grain consignment to Leghorn. Provost Smith of the College of Philadelphia, West's old 110 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB classics tutor, contacted Allen and won for his pupil a free passage to Italy. West was duly recalled from a humdrum career as a portrait painter in New York and with modest sponsorship from admirers in the mercantile community set out on the Betty Sally across the Atlantic to seek his fortune.^^ On learning the object of West's voyage Robert Rutherford seems to have assumed the role of the young artist's guardian. No doubt utilising Jackson's Catholic connections, Rutherford furnished West with letters of introduction 'to Cardinal Alboni, and several of the most distinguished characters for erudition and taste in Rome', and of more immediate use given West's lack of foreign languages he 'recommended him to the care of a French Courier, who had occasion to pass that way'. After barely six weeks in Rome West contracted a rheumatic fever and on his doctor's advice he returned to Leghorn to be cared for by Rutherford and John Dick, the British Consul, who obtained for West the use of the Imperial baths. 'His mind being thus relieved from the restless ecstasy which he had suffered in Rome,' West's biographer reports in his somewhat prolix style, 'and the intensity of interest being diminished by the circumscribed nature of the society of Leghorn, together with the bracing effects of sea-bathing, he was soon again in a condition to resume his study in the capital.'^^ A recurrence of 'rheumatic pains' and a limb threatening infection in the ankle brought West back to Rutherford's house for four months the following year. This time through the good agencies of Horace Mann Rutherford arranged for West to be examined by the specialist Dr Nannoni in Florence who some months later affected a complete cure. Rutherford's concern for his charge, moreover, went beyond his physical well-being. For West's tour of Northern Italy as suggested by Anton Mengs, Rutherford provided a guide or cicerone in the shape of Jackson & Co's commercial manager James Matthews, a classical scholar and a 'practical' antiquary in his own right.^ Rutherford was careful also to report back to his Philadelphia contacts on the critical acclaim West's work had received both in Venice and Rome with the happy result that William Allen and his brother-in-law Governor James Hamilton of Pennsylvania, underwrote the rest of West's studies with 'whatever money he may require . . .' Thus as Galt put it, 'the munificence of the Medici THE BARON'S FOLLY 111 was excelled by that of the magistracy of Philadelphia'. It is perhaps hardly surprising then that just prior to his departure for Britain West made the pilgrimage once again to Leghorn to thank Rutherford and his acquaintances for 'the advantages he had derived from their constant and extraordinary kindness'.^ Rutherford, the reluctant banker and would-be diplomat, had evolved into a patron of the arts. One constant pre- occupation throughout Rutherford's time in Italy, and indeed the over-riding force in his life, remained the Rutherford family connection. Despite a forty-year exile, during which he had no direct contact with his family, he kept up a voluminous correspondence particularly with his brothers John (1712-1758) and Walter (1723-1804). The depth of his feelings for John, the heir to the Edgerston 'fortune' can be seen clearly as Robert chides Sir Hew, who was acting as a postal go-between, for his tardiness in relaying a letter from John: 'I must say I should more easily have excused you had it been from any other person than John and upon a less important subject than that which regards his welfare a thing which also touches me very nearly both on account of Brotherly affection and the particular esteem of friendship which I have for him apart from it.'“ Due to the 'smallness of his estate which made it impossible for him to support the expense of attending the Parliament', John had resigned as an MP before the 1742 election. Sensitive perhaps to Jacobite and Tory jibes that John, a member of the Squadrone, the Whig faction led by the Duke of Roxburgh, had been as a result of his 'low fortune' a mere 'tool and dependent', Robert was keen to defend his record claiming that 'after seven years attendance he has never voted otherways than as his reason dictated to him'. When John was forced to pursue a military career as a Captain in the Independent Regiment at New York, Robert confided with feeling to Sir Hew, 'It grieves me much that he should have been under this cursed necessity of acting so contrary to his inclination'. “ John's subsequent death at the clearly avoidable ambush at Ticonderoga in 1758, left Robert 'stunned'. Writing to 'My dear and now only Brother' Walter, who was also involved in the North American campaign against the French, Robert wrote: 112 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLL^ Major John Rutherford, the Royal American Regiment THE TRUSTEES OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND THE BARON'S FOLLY 113 'Had he been killed in doing his duty in a regular way, I believe I could more easily have taken some comfort, for what deaths are more to be envied than those in the service of our country? But that he with so many other brave men should have been sacrificed to caprice and bad judgement, is a thing that wounds my very soul/^^ The death of Sir John Rutherford in 1764 'at a good Age' was obviously less unexpected but the fact that the exiled Robert had been unable to see his father again 'before he closed his eyes forever' was a disappointment 'most bitter and afflicting'.^® It is perhaps from the more mundane events in Rutherford's family correspondence that something of his general character can be gleaned. While applauding Wattie's (Walter's) attempts to woo a wealthy young widow Robert confided to John that 'in general I would advise very few people to marry'. Whether he arrived at this rather modern stance through cynical observation of Leghorn society or by more abstract channels Rutherford fails to clarify. He does admit, rather remarkably for a thirty-nine year old to having had 'no temptations of this kind yet', and with the wistfulness of the terminally romantic added - 'I do not say it will never happen, because I believe nobody can be sure of himself in that respect'. Even more ominously twenty-first century were Rutherford's remarks on becoming an uncle to a 'strong and healthy' boy of Wattie's - 'the breed is good on both sides and that being a thing much observed in regard to other animals, such as Horses and Doggs, why should we not depend on its producing the same effect on the Human race'. Equally pragmatic was the consolation he offered on hearing of the death of 'my Sister's mother' (Wattie's mother-in-law) - 'but unless we die at a certain age ourselves we must submit to the displeasure of seeing our parents go off before us'. What emerges from all this is a picture of Rutherford as both a practical and sensitive man, touched too by a certain fashionable enlightened stoicism. There is indeed a sense of detachment - the feeling of living life at a spiritual as well as geographic distance, of being an observer rather than a participant in events. Despite this Rutherford went to extraordinary lengths to keep in touch with Wattie, whom he had last known as a child of ten. The brothers exchanged produce, 'a Parmesan cheese, some olive oil 114 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB and some anchovies' in return for excessive quantities of colonial rum, which prompted a plea from Robert 'to send us no more rum, for the Italians are a sober people and only use it for sore legs and broken heads'. In 1766, a Mr Cutler, an agent for Jackson and Rutherford, was sent to America with the prime purpose of buying yet another consignment of wheat, but charged also with taking 'due notice' of the New Jersey Rutherfords 'in order that on his return he may give me an exact account of you, your Lady and children'. Resigned to perhaps never meeting in the flesh Robert sent Wattie a portrait of himself drawn around 1761 for 'an intimate friend of mine here, who took it into his head to insist on having it and by his being no more it is returned to me'. In all likelihood the portrait is by Benjamin West and shows a typical 18th century gentleman in morning dress engaged, not as one might expect of a banker in ledger work, but in intellectual reflection. The painting on the waU to the right of the subject depicts a rural scene, reflecting perhaps Rutherford's landed background or aspirations. Despite the stylized pose and the exaggerated almond shaped eyes, a hallmark of early 18th century portraiture, 'it was thought', Rutherford declared, 'to be very like at first', adding 'but I am become fatter and somewhat redder coloured, of course, within these last two years'. At forty-five Rutherford was no doubt coming to terms with the 18th century equivalent of the middle-aged spread. The arrival in November 1754 of John Dick to take up the vacant consulship of Leghorn, while probably regarded somewhat askance by both Jackson and Rutherford who aspired to the post, became something of a turning point in Rutherford's career. In the coxcomb Dick, 'esteemed by aU', according to the architect Robert Adam, 'for his hospitality genteel spirits and sweet behaviour', Rutherford found a lifelong friend.^’ Indeed it was to Dick some forty years later that the 'Baron' was to bequeath in 'affectionate remembrance' his most prized possession, 'my golden enamelled box set with diamonds and with a portrait of Her Imperial Majesty the Empress of Russia'. Beyond friendship, Dick, as an unashamedly 'commercial' consul, would bring connections and ultimately the opportunity Rutherford's way which made his fortune. A descendant of Sir WiUiam Dick, a 17th century Provost of THE BARON'S FOLLY 115 Portrait of Robert Rutherford, possibly by Benjamin West THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY Edinburgh, John Dick was brought up and trained as a merchant in Newcastle. On the strength of 'several Secret Commissions of Importance' carried out for the Newcastle administration in Holland, he was rewarded by George II with the consulship of Leghorn.^^ There he made himself instantly agreeable to whichever well-connected grand tourist who happened his way. Indeed so impressed by Dick were Charles Hope, the Earl of Hopetoun's brother, and his travelling companion Robert Adam, that the pair stayed voluntarily in the unfashionable Leghorn for the opera season. Dick was quick also to utilise the skills of Benjamin West during the latter's enforced stay in Leghorn by commissioning portraits of the young naval officers Charles Pierrepont Medows, son and heir of the second Duke of Kingston, and Samuel Hood, 116 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB later to become Lord Hood after his victory over the French at the Battle of the Saints.^^ Arguably his greatest coup came in 1771 with the arrival of a sickly Duke of Gloucester who was nursed back to health in the consul's own house and given a masked ball and supper by Dick in Pisa as a farewell. The object of this hectic social lobbying appears to have been a sinecure at either of the Boards of Customs or Excise back home. Petitioning the King directly for such a job in 1775, Dick was to argue that the consulship at Leghorn valued at £1,000 per annum had never in any one year produced 'above one half of the above mentioned sum', and that he had used a great deal of his own money 'to support the Dignity of his Employment' besides which, he concluded with a last throw of the dice, he longed 'to quit a place where he never enjoys good health'.'^ One fellow spirit, as far as the patronage game was concerned, that Dick cultivated in Leghorn was the young James BosweU. More energetic than the average grand tourist, Boswell craved to do 'something more than just the common course of what is called the tour of Europe, and Corsica occurred to me as a place where nobody else had been'.^^ Boswell too had a penchant for people as opposed to places. He had already succeeded in winning audiences with both Voltaire and Rousseau - two of the greatest of Europe's living landmarks - and the latter had recommended a visit to a more practical exponent of Liberalism, the Corsican patriot General Pasquale Paoli.^^ Boswell duly arrived in Leghorn in the autumn of 1765, obtained a passport from the Commodore of the British naval squadron and, leaving in his wake something of a political storm based on the fact that many in the Italian states suspected him of being a British envoy to the rebels, sailed off to Corsica. Risking encounters both with Barbary Corsairs and Corsican Banditti, Boswell achieved his goal of an extended and cordial audience with PaoH, an event which became central to his best-selling Account of Corsica and helped also to establish him as 'Corsica Boswell' - the foremost advocate of Corsican liberation in Britain.^^ Dick made a significant contribution to the success of Boswell's Corsican venture. On the practical level he provided Boswell on his arrival in Leghorn with 'good lodgings' and a 'good servant' in the shape of one of Anthony Mudford 'a Somersetshire lad who had THE BARON'S FOLLY 117 served his time to a hairdresser'.^® More importantly Dick acted as a go-between, providing Boswsell with up to date information on the Corsican revolt and suppl3dng him with much of the manuscript and printed material used as background in the Account of Corsica. Indeed Boswell's research project drew on the energies of a whole range of expatriates in Leghorn including the vice-consul Richard Evans and the Rev. Andrew Burnaby, the British chaplain.®^ When Dick obtained leave of absence to return to Britain in 1767 for seventeen months it was Rutherford himself who filled the information breach reporting on the movements of French troops on the island and on the prospects of 'our Heroe' PaoH.“ Boswell became one of the few grand tourists to repay Dick's efforts on his behalf. On his return to Britain he recommended Dick to WiUiam Pitt the Earl of Chatham as 'a man of worth and spirit who is warmly attached to the brave Corsicans'. Despite Dick's initial reservations about the scheme, Boswell, helped by Sir Alexander Dick, also secured for him in a crusading legal action, the dormant Baronetcy of Braid.'^^ Indeed the relationship developed into a lifelong friendship. On bumping into Dick in 1768, in the Roman, a haunt of ex-grand tourists, the pair 'embraced and in a few words renewed our covenant of cordiality'.'*^ To Boswell, the master of the condensed character sketch, Dick was 'a Genteel good man' and accompanied by Baron Rutherford they were 'fine independent fellows'.'*® The complex sequence of events which led to the Russo-Turkish war of 1769-74 and which transformed Rutherford's 'modest' into a considerable fortune began in central Europe. Catherine the Great's interference in Polish affairs had exhausted the patience of the Turks who in response locked up the Russian envoy to Constantinople in the Castle of the Seven Towers and thus provoked a war between the two eastern European powers. This provided an opportunity for Gregory Orlov, Catherine's current favourite and the architect of the palace coup which had brought her to power in 1762, to put his Slavophil schemes for eastern expansion into play. Thus while Russian land forces would push south towards the Black Sea and the Balkans a Russian naval expedition from Kronstadt would endeavour to raise the standard of revolt amongst the Orthodox Christians of the Southern Balkans 118 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB with the ultimate aim of expelling the Turks from Europe altogether."^ In preparation for this possible showdown with Turkey, Catherine had attempted to strengthen her somewhat lacklustre navy with the importation of over thirty British naval officers including the Scots John Elphinston and the Inverkeithing born Samuel Greig."^^ Rather lamely citing health reasons, but quite clearly to further his naval strategy in the Mediterranean, Count Gregory Orlov accompanied by his brother Count Alexis, General Schouvalow and a host of high ranking Russian naval and diplomatic officers, descended on Pisa where they lived, Horace Mann noted, 'at a very extraordinary expense'."^ To supply the fleet when it arrived in the Mediterranean the Orlov 'court' had a merchantman fitted out in Leghorn under British colours. The Tuscan Governor of Leghorn, reflecting perhaps the Grand Duke's reluctance to compromise Austria's friendship with Turkey, demanded assurance of the recently elevated Sir John Dick that any change of flag would take place only after the merchantman had visited another port. Thus frustrated in his preparations and slighted by the lack of 'any personal attentions' shown to him by the Grand Duke, Orlov resolved to base his fleet at the Papal port of Ancona sending to Leghorn 'at most a couple of frigates'. Horace Mann, acutely aware of the potential trading benefits of having the 'number one man in Europe' on Leghorn's doorstep persuaded the Tuscan court to release the offending merchantman, arguing that such a move conformed to the Grand Duchy's long-term commitment to free trade while at the same time stayed well within the 'strict Rules of Neutrality'. Within months the Grand Duchess was trimming her ball gowns with Russian sable and gifting diamond rings to Gregory Orlov who, honour satisfied, had dropped all plans for Ancona."^ The opportunities the arrival of the Orlov 'Court' offered were certainly not lost on Sir John Dick. Although instructed by Viscount Weymouth of the Foreign Office on the 15th September 1769, to 'discourage in every proper manner any of his Majesty's Subjects from entering into any engagement of any kind, which may look like taking a part in the present unhappy war between Russia and the Porte', Dick was to write back rather disingenuously in early October asking for permission to accept the offer from Alexis Orlov THE BARON'S FOLLY 119 to become Russian consul at Leghorn citing in justification the fact that 'the late French consul at this place was also consul for Sweeden and the present French consul here is also consul for Malta which is in a constant state of war with the Turks'/^ To win the offer of the Russian consulship in face of competition from a favoured German merchant, Dick had shamelessly played on the 'fastidious and vain character' of Alexis Orlov by doing up a large house for him 'in the most elegant English style' Weymouth was not to be so easily persuaded, informing Dick in late October in no uncertain terms of 'the impropriety of your acting in a publick character at Leghorn for Her Imperial Majesty, lest Expectations which you may have raised on that head, should occasion a disappointment'. Assuring Weymouth rather deviously that he had 'never sought after' the Russian consulship, Dick reluctantly passed the position on to his friend Rutherford.^^ Thus it was that on the 15th November 1769 Robert Rutherford was commissioned by Count Alexis Orlov to act as Agent and Consul for the Russian Fleet in the Mediterranean.^ It began for the unassuming Scotsman the period he was to cherish as 'the happiest of my life'.^^ In practical terms Rutherford became the paymaster for the Russian fleet. He drew on banks in London, Amsterdam and Venice to transfer funds in specie to the Russian Captains to enable them in turn to pay sailors' wages and to repair and maintain their ships. As the Russian fleet went into action he had to take charge of any Turkish prizes and sell their goods at public auction as weU as handle the grievances of neutral traders such as the Tunisians and Ragusans who became caught up in the conflict. In Leghorn he had to acquire lodgings for officers on shore leave and establish a hospital some miles out of town for sick and wounded sailors. On the social side it was Rutherford who 'gave a great ball in the publick rooms of the town on the occasion of the anniversary of Catherine's coronation' As a loyal British subject and the agent of a Russian fleet operating out of a neutral, business-hungry Tuscan free port, Rutherford was functioning in an exceedingly complicated domestic climate. This is well illustrated by the saga of the British merchantmen and the Mediterranean passes. To help supply his fleet, Rear-Admiral Elphinston had acquired from England three British merchantmen. When the fleet stopped to provision at 120 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Mahon in British held Minorca, Governor Johnston noted that these ships had under false pretences acquired passes which not only identified them as British vessels but opened to them a whole range of shipping and diplomatic privileges throughout the Mediterranean. When Johnston reported the matter to Viscount Weymouth the alarm bells started ringing. Horace Mann, the first to be contacted, agreed to 'embrace the very first opportunity of writing to the Admiral (Elphinston) on this subject by means of the Gentleman (Rutherford) who is agent for the Russian fleet' On enlisting Dick's help in recovering the passes Weymouth made his fears explicit - that as a result of 'alterations and repairs' made to one of the ships she was 'intended for the Russian service to act as a Privateer'. Clearly a captured privateer in possession of a British Mediterranean pass would occasion a major diplomatic incident with Turkey. Dick was urged to make 'the strictest enquiry on this head' and if he suspected any British ship of privateering for the Russians he was to 'take every step in your power to get possession of the Mediterranean Pass' and to inform the Russian Admiral (Orlov) 'that she must no longer sail under English Colours'. In this business Weymouth urged Dick to call on the help of Rutherford who was deemed to be 'so well inclined to prevent any disagreeable attempts of this kind'.^^ Anxious perhaps to allay suspicions that he was being too friendly with the Russians, Dick carried out his instructions to the full, carefully monitoring the activities of one ship, the Tartar, which left Leghorn with 'not the least appearance of a ship of Force' and with the 'ready concurrence' of Rutherford confiscating the pass from another, the St Paul, which 'had a warlike appearance'. It was up to the Royal Navy, however, to pursue the original three merchantmen and H.M.S. Winchelsea was dispatched from Minorca to the Levant to recover the passes. When the Winchelsea caught up with the Russian fleet. Count Orlov readily agreed to discharge two of the ships, recently renamed the Count de Panin and Count Orlov, from his service. The third ship, the Count Czernislow, had been sent to Mahon where Governor Johnston would have the opportunity to recover the last pass. Then demonstrating a peculiarly 18th century distinction between 'the strict rules of neutrality' and 'those marks of Friendship due to all belligerant THE BARON'S FOLLY 121 powers', H.M.S. Winchelsea transported Major General Prince George Dolgoroukoff with dispatches for St Petersburg and sundry other high ranking Russians back to Leghorn. When the Czernislow, minus the all important pass, finally reached Leghorn it was to return merchandise stolen from merchants of that port by some 'villainous Greeks', and deliver a gift of 'a fine Turkish Horse' to the Grand Duke and two fine Turkish slave girls for the Duchess. Relations between the British, Russians and Tuscans thus became so cordial that Dick had to restrain Alexis Orlov from sending Russian troops and ships to Minorca to strengthen the British defences there against the French.^^ Rutherford's overall contribution to the Russian war effort would be difficult to assess. Certainly Horace Mann was not impressed by the advanced units of the Russian fleet straggling into Leghorn in February 1770 commenting that 'by their total want of experience in any of the Russian officers and for want of pilots they may be exposed to great inconvenience'. As if to prove himself right he reported a few weeks later on one of the Russian frigates driven ashore in a gale. Even Alexis Orlov, the commander of the expedition, on reviewing his force at Leghorn admitted to the Empress 'that his hair stood on end and his heart bled'.^^ Whether as a result of Rutherford's good offices or not this same fleet gained a decisive victory over the Turks a mere four months later at Chesme in the Easter Aegean. Catherine II was overjoyed. Despite being no seaman Alexis was hailed as a national hero, allowed to add the honorific epithet 'Chesmensky ' to his name and given the privilege of quartering the imperial arms in his shield. Greig as Commodore of Orlov's flagship the Trz lerarkha, and as the mastermind behind the fire-ship attack which destroyed the remnants of the Turkish fleet in Chesme harbour, was made Rear- Admiral, a promotion somewhat resented by Admiral Spiritoff, the fleet's only Russian squadron commander.^ Despite a number of successful skirmishes over the next four years the Russian fleet was unable to force the Dardanelles, nor to prevent the eventual slaughter of the Greek insurgents by Turkish Dulcinots. Neverthe- less by the Treaty of Kutchuk-Kainardgi in the summer of 1774 which brought the war to an end Catherine was able to force considerable concessions from the Turks. One small incident at the end of the war concerning the so- 122 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB called Princess Tarakanova casts some light on the downside of Rutherford's Russian connections. The Orlov inspired palace revolution which had deposed Tsar Peter III and brought his wife Catherine to the throne had not been universally welcomed within the Russian nobility. One faction linked to the Polish Prince Radziwill tried to use the Princess Tarakanova, reputed to be the daughter of Empress Elizabeth by Count Razumouski, as a focus for opposition and as a pretender to the Russian throne. Thus, as legend has it, Tarakanova was spirited away to the relative safety of Italy, where, claiming also to be the half sister of the Russian rebel Pugachef, she was prepared by Radziwill as an emissary to the Porte. With the capture of Pugachef and the conclusion of peace between Russia and Turkey the scheme lost aU validity and Tarakanova was virtually abandoned in the Sicilian port of Ragusa by her main backers. From there she crossed to Naples where she obtained a passport from the British ambassador, the Scottish vulcanologist Sir William Hamilton, and then, suffering aU the time from consumption, established herself in Rome in an attempt to interest Cardinal Alboni in her claims by pledging to win back the Russian masses from Orthodoxy to Catholicism. Here, in the aftermath of Chesme, she was sought out and wooed by Alexis Orlov, who feigned opposition to Catherine II now that she had shifted her affections from his brother Gregory to Alexander Vasilchikov. Although suspicious at first of these overtures, Tarakanova eventually succumbed to the promises of Orlov's emissaries, an officer Khristenek by name and Jenkins, an EngUsh banker, and travelled to Pisa where she was feted by the Russian 'court' and promised Orlov's hand in marriage. While reviewing Orlov's fleet off Leghorn, however, Tarakanova and her Polish followers were arrested, placed in irons and spirited away to Russia in Admiral Greig's flagship. Tarakanova spent the last two years of her life in the Petropavlosky fortress in St Petersburg, drowning, according to legend, when the River Neva burst its banks in 1777.^^ Although the athletic playboy Orlov, 'a man of the most inhuman character and brutal propensities', is clearly seen as the villain of the piece, few of the British expatriates involved emerge untainted from this sorry episode.^ Indeed Sir John Dick, perhaps reliving his early cloak and dagger days in Holland, played a leading role in Tarakanova's capture. Thus it was Dick who, on THE BARON'S FOLLY 123 The Princess Tarakanova, from a painting by Flavitsky THE TRUSTEES OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND receiving word from Sir William Hamilton of Tarakanova's whereabouts, informed Orlov, and then, through the somewhat disreputable Thomas Jenkins, helped to lure her away from the relative safety of Rome.^^ Dick and his wife Anne entertained the young pretender at Leghorn and no doubt helped to allay any suspicions she had, and in a final cruelty Dick provided a 'pale and excited' Orlov with books for the Princess to read on her journey 'home'. As far as Admiral Greig's involvement was concerned it was, in the words of a modern biographer, 'the one incident which 124 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB cast a shadow on his otherwise unblemished career'.^ The novelist Danilevski makes clear Greig's discomfort, characterising him as 'quite out of sorts and very gloomy' during the kidnap incident.^ Greig was no doubt further embarrassed when he was forced to quit Plymouth Roads early as a result of Tarakanova's attempts at suicide. The extent to which Rutherford can be implicated in the whole unsavoury event is unclear. It certainly doesn't appear to have dented his admiration for Dick, Greig or Orlov. It seems unimaginable as Russian consul, moreover, that he was not a part of the reviewing party which led to the kidnap. Indeed, Sarah Greig, the Admiral's wife, who with Lady Dick had reassuringly accompanied Tarakanova on board the Tri lerarkha, wsis at this time Rutherford's house guest. The only Scot then who emerges from the affair with honour intact was Admiral Elphinston who probably refused to take part in an earlier attempt to seize Tarakanova directly from Ragusa and as a result was dismissed by Catherine on his return to St Petersburg.^^ The Russian connection proved lucrative for Rutherford and his associates. Horace Mann described how Gregory Orlov, carrying 'loads of diamonds', descended on Leghorn to conclude the accounts 'of the many millions' which had passed through Dick and Rutherford's hands over the five years of the Russian presence. For his reward Dick became the only British member of the Order of St Anne of Holstein, the insignia of which he deferred putting on until he could 'quit the abject name of consul' Rutherford declined this honour but accepted instead the hereditary title of Baron of the Russian Empire, and to the motto on his family coat of arms, Nec sorte, necfato (neither by chance nor by fate), he allowed Catherine to add sed labore et ardore (but by effort and zeal). He was also gifted a gold snuff box from Count Orlov, in addition to the diamond and ruby one valued at 1,000 Louis d'ors, he received from the Empress. As if this were not enough he was offered the position of Superintendent of the Treasury at St Petersburg which he declined 'on account of his age'.^® With characteristic brass neck Sir John Dick used his triumph in 'the management of the Empress of Russia's money and other affairs relative to the war in the Archipellago' to open doors in London, and quit Leghorn in 1776 to take up the post of THE BARON'S FOLLY 125 Comptroller of Accounts in the War Office, leaving behind him 'una grossa somma di denaro' for distribution to the poor.^^ Rutherford used £11,000 of his new-found wealth in 1779 to purchase the 1,400 acre estate of Fairnington, two miles to the north-east of Ancrum village. In the short term, however, he indulged himself in his own Grand Tour of Italy, visiting Parma, Admiral Samuel Greig, from a painting by Ivan Petrovich Argunoff (1773) FIFE COUNCIL MUSEUMS WEST, DUNFERMLINE MUSEUM 126 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Milan and Naples for the carnival and returning via France to London by the middle of June 1777/° On his return to Russia Greig was knighted, promoted to Vice-Admiral, appointed Commandant of Kronstadt and set generally on the path to becoming 'the Father of the Russian Navy'. Indeed so favoured was Greig that when he expressed a desire to visit his native land again the Empress gave orders for a man-of-war to be fitted out to carry him to Scotland. At the appropriately named Fortune's Tavern in Edinburgh Greig gave a 'grand entertainment' in honour of the young student Prince Pavel Dashkov, and in return was presented with the freedom of the city. In Londoin Greig was introduced to the King and had a 'conference' with Lord George Germaine the Foreign Secretary.^^ No doubt this visit also provided an opportunity for the Leghorn triumvirate of Dick, Greig and Rutherford to foregather, and perhaps for Greig to invest Rutherford as 'baron' and return to him his amended certificate of Arms.^^ Rutherford entered into the role of agricultural improver with the enthusiasm of a much younger man, taking the estate of Fairnington completely 'into his own hands'. Fie viewed the task as a patriotic duty which rendered him 'the satisfaction of spending my money in my own country and of giving bread to a number of poor mortals who are glad to be employed'.^^ At the same time, as his considerable library of farming books suggest, Rutherford had a genuine interest in the science of agriculture. Part of the estate was still 'in a state of nature' although a plan of 1770 shows that improvements, particularly the extraction of marl from Fairnington Moss, had already begun under a previous proprietor, George Rutherford.^'^ Having stocked the farm with cattle and sheep and 'thirty stout oxen for the plough', Rutherford introduced the practice for which Fairnington became 'distinguished', namely the cultivation of potatoes as a field crop. Working a different twelve acres annually, he housed the resulting crops for better keeping in sunken stores covered with turf. This enabled him to seU at his convenience about half the potatoes at one shilling per firlot, use the rest for cattle fodder, and simultaneously bring in the marginal land in stages. Following the example of Lord Buchan he introduced the use of gypsum as top dressing for grass and adopted the general fashion for forestry, planting 200,000 trees in all. Perhaps more controversial was his importation of the thresh- THE BARON'S FOLLY 127 ing machine deemed by some to be less effective than the flail and likely to incapacitate the horses used to power them. Although there is no evidence that Rutherford tried to introduce non-agricultural employment as was in vogue at that time, Fairnington village had by the 1790s become a thriving centre of some '100 souls'. Both 'spiritual and temporal' interests of the estate workers were looked after by the Baron. He established a school, paid the teacher's salary, and granted an additional allowance for running a Sunday school where all were 'instructed in the principles of religion and morality Poverty was virtually outlawed and free medical aid including inoculation against smallpox was provided. Even after death the Baron's generosity to his tenants continued. In his will each was left 'one year's wages over and above what they will have a title to command at the time of my death'. Praised by the Statistical Account as the only resident landlord amongst the great heritors of the Parish, Rutherford nevertheless spent the winters of each year in London and increasingly in Edinburgh. Although clearly fascinated by society he sometimes felt the need to 'stave off the solicitations ... of friends who delight in Clubs, taverns and parties at cards in the evenings', all of which he disliked 'especially drinking which I cannot bear'. He blessed instead the memory of 'that artful Italian Spina' who invented glasses and enabled him to 'read as much as I please'. He continued, like a senior statesman, to monitor the fortunes of the Rutherford clan. Wattie, who had been imprisoned temporarily by the new United States Government, he cautioned against adopting a too rigid Loyalist line, there being 'no shame in submitting to necessity . . .'. The soundness of that advice was confirmed some years later when an 'extremely happy' Rutherford heard that Wattle's son John had been elected Senator for New Jersey. Nearer home Robert derived great satisfaction from his nephew John of Edgerston of whom he wrote to Wattie 'I think I can say nothing truer of him or more to his honour than that his character resembles exceedingly that of his father our late dear Brother'. Robert supported John's burgeoning political career, watched with pride as Edgerston House grew into 'one of the handsomest and most commodious of any in that county', and facilitated his marriage to the heiress Mary Anne Leslie by entailing the 128 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Fairnington estate to him and his heirs. The Baron's letters reveal a similar concern for the well-being of more distant members of the Rutherford family as does his will in which he made direct provision for no less than fourteen relatives.^ Although described as 'liberal-minded' Rutherford's politics mirrored the paternalism of the enlightened despots he so admired. Pride of place in his library was given to the 33 volumes of the Livorno edition of Diderot's Encyclopaede (1770), a publication protected from Papal censorship by the reforming Leopold II of Tuscany.^^ The Grand Duke's drive to reorganise taxation and justice, and more particularly his land reclamation schemes, would have impressed Rutherford as no doubt would Pasquale Paoli's educational and military reforms in Corsica. The personification of enlighten-ment for Rutherford understandably, however, was Catherine II worshipped by him as 'the greatest Princess in the Universe'. He was distressed by the Americans' drive for independence which he believed would not bring them happiness, and despaired of the 'corruption' and self-seeking in British politics and the absence of 'Virtue' or a sense of the 'Public good'. 'We shall never be a great nation here again,' he wrote to Wattie in 1778, 'tiU we have a Patriot King or a Patriot Minister who has the Authority of a Dictator to redress abuses and give new vigour to administration.' Although fourteen years later he was to write that 'this country was never so well and in so prosperous a situation as at present', he was quite clearly horrified by the activities of 'that wicked firebrand Paine' Fairnington estate we can assume then was run with a decidedly firm hand and perhaps the 'Tsar's Doocot' is not an entirely inappropriate name for the Baron's FoUy. Temperamentally Rutherford was clearly one of nature's gentlemen. 'He was,' according to one obituary, ' of so placid a countenance, and of a disposition so very mild, that he was never known to be out of humour in his Hfe.'^^ To Horace Mann, a shrewd judge of character, he was 'a most worthy and sensible man, for whom I have the greatest Regard and Esteem'. A quintessentially modest man, Rutherford, while flattered by the honours Catherine bestowed on him, declared in confidence to his brother that 'I am much better pleased in thinking I have deserved it than to have obtained it'. This strong sense of duty was fused with a philosophical approach to his lot in later life. Instead of railing THE BARON'S FOLLY 129 against the system of entail which helped seal his fate as a younger son, he supported it as ensuring the long-term survival of the Rutherford family as a whole. Indeed there was even a trace of the modern lifestyle guru in Rutherford who regarded his brother's re- awakening interest in dancing as a sign of overall well-being. When Rutherford's friends viewed his own interest in rural living as a 'kind of melancholy' he declared them mistaken 'for I can declare with Truth that I would not change my present position for any Honour or great Post that his majesty could confer upon me'. This acceptance of life contrasted markedly with James Boswell and John Dick, his friends from the Leghorn years, whose pursuit of patronage was lifelong. Thus encouraged by Dick's belief that 'Time and chance happen to aU men', Boswell as late as 1794, was attempting to cash in on his Corsican experience by applying in vain to Henry Dundas for a post of 'Minister or Commissioner' to that country.®^ Fairnington represented for Rutherford not so much a retreat as the opportunity, so long deferred, to make, in the words of the fashionable essayist, Joseph Addison, 'a pretty Landskip of his own possessions'. Thus he added a west wing to the late 17th century manor house and with Orloff 's Park, Greig's Park, Dick's Park and Walter's Park etc., made a sort of autobiographical patchwork of the surrounding land. Around 1785, he rounded it all off with the little 'observatory' or 'summer residence' on Down Law. Here, if a correspondent in the Kelso Mail is to be believed, 'he spent much of his time' gazing in quiet satisfaction at his land reclamation below or in fascination at the wider panorama of the Cheviots to the south, of Ruberslaw and the Eildons and, with a touch of wishful thinking perhaps of the Sea at Berwick to the east. The little shelter would have reminded Rutherford of his friend John Dick's tower in Livorno where they had often scanned the Ligurian Sea for privateers or prizes, or of the much more impressive Torre del Marzocco on the Mole with the names of the winds carved on each of its eight sides.*^ The tiled interior of the folly and its cobalt blue lintels would have served no doubt to fuel such Mediterranean illusions. In a more profound way, however, the observation tower was symbolic of Rutherford's approach to life. Writing to his brother from London early in his retirement, Rutherford commented, 'I know of no spot that can afford it (liberty) in equal 130 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB degree to this Town and by leading the life of a Spectator 1 have a constant fund of entertainment and variety not to be met with elsewhere'. Rutherford, the exile, the banker and the bachelor, was above all the Great Spectator, involving himself in others affairs at one step removed. His look-out folly is a fitting memorial. SOURCES AND NOTES 1. Headley, G., Meulenkamp, W. (1986). Follies: A National Trust Guide, London, 466. 2. Rutherford, L. (1894). Family Records and Events, New York, 268-269. Chapter Five of this work 'Letters of Baron Rutherford' contains correspondence between the Baron and his brothers John and Walter in America. The work is unavailable through inter-library loans and had to be obtained by photocopy from the New York Public Library. 3. The Statistical Account of Roxburgh, XIX, 624-625. 4. 'O.H.', 'Henry Rutherford, esq., JP of Fairnington', The Border Magazine, XXI, 266. 5. RCAHMS, Roxburghshire II, 443. 6. David, K. R. (1987). The Rutherfords in Britain, Gloucester Sutton, 43. 7. LoRomer, D. G. (1987). Mercants and Reform in Livorno 1814-1868, Berkeley, 22; Keates, J. (1988) Tuscany, London, 77. 8. Ingamells, J. (1997). A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy 1701-1800, Yale, 11. The records of the Factory in Livorno were lost when the British community fled in the face of Napoleon's invasion of Italy in 1796. The Factory has been defined by one historian, however, as 'a group of merchants or agents organised to work together in harmony to further their mutual interests, and if necessary, to confound other foreign merchants operating in the same area'. An Act of Parliament in 1734 allowed 'the Factors of Leghorn' to tax 'one lire per ton' on all goods transported on British vessels. This revenue was remitted to the 'Consul's Purse' and used to support shipwrecked sailors and destitute members of the British expatriate community. The heyday of the Livorno Factory came after the Annus Mirabilis of 1759, when up to fifty British mercantile concerns accounted for between one-third and half of all tonnage passing through the Free Port. See Hayward, H. A. (1980) 'The British Factory in Livorno', in Atti Del Convegno 'Gli Inglesi a Livorno e All'Isola D'Elba', Livorno, 261-267. 9. Hamilton, O. (1982). The Divine Country: The British in Tuscany, London, 74. 10. Ingamells, op cit., 406; Hamilton, op cit., 62-63. 11. Ingamells, op cit., 547. Rutherford perhaps derived his love of books from Jackson's example. 12. SRO Hamilton/Dalrymple Mss., GDllO/934/1. 13. For contemporary opinions of the Genoese see Hibbert, C. (1969), The Grand Tour, London, 113. 14. SRO, GDI 10/934/2. THE BARON'S FOLLY 131 15. Ibid.,GD110/934/3. 16. Doran, J., ed. (1876). 'Mann' and Manners at the Court of Florence, 1740-1786, London, 41-42. 17. Ibid., 171, 173-177, 418. 18. Galt, J. (1816). The Life and Studies of Benjamin West, London, 84. The arrival in 1856 of Everard Hutcheson, the son of Lt-Col Alexander Hutcheson of Jedburgh, as Chaplain to the British Factory in Leghorn would have helped also perhaps to ease the pain of exile. See Ingamells, op cit., 540. 19. Rutherford, op cit., 277. 20. Turner, J., ed. (1996). The Dictionary of Art, London, 33, 90-94. See also Evans, G. (1959), Benjamin West and the Taste of his Times, Carbondale. West's 'The Death of the Stag' is in the National Gallery of Scotland on The Mound, Edinburgh. 21 . Galt, op cit., 84-90; Ingamells, op cit., 990-992. 22. Galt, op cit, 123. 23. Ingamells, op cit., 649. 24. Galt op cit, 144. 25. SROGDllO/934/2. 26. SRO GDllO/934/4. For the Squadrone see Sedgewick, R. (1970), History of Parliament, London, 34. 27. Rutherford, op cit., 271 . 28. Ibid., 274. 29. The following two paragraphs are drawn largely from Rutherford, op cit., 272- 277. The expatriates in Leghorn enjoyed their fair share of marital scandals most notably the liaison between 'la Belle Consulesse', Mrs Goldsworthy, and General Wachtendonck, commander of the Grand Duke's troops in the port. See Ingamells, op cit., 406. 30. Hamilton, op cit, 114. 31. SRO Register of Deeds, vol. 262. 32. PRO Consular Correspondence SP98.80. 33. Von Erffa, H., Staley, A. (1986). The Paintings of Benjamin West, New Haven and London, 519. 34. PRO SP98/80. While Dick gave health reasons for his desire to quit as consul in Leghorn, Tobias Smollett, the Dunbartonshire born novelist through the good agencies of the historian David Hume, had cited similar reasons in an effort to obtain that very post. Perhaps because he refused to 'spaniel' ministers Smollett was unsuccessful in his bid for office but did eventually take up residence two miles south of Leghorn on the seaward slopes of Monte Nero. Here he wrote arguably his finest book, Humphry Clinker, before succumbing to asthma and consumption in September, 1771. His wife in straightened circumstances was supported by 'the merchants of Leghorn'. See Melville, L. (1927), The Life and letters of Tobias Smollett 1721-1771, New York, 225-268. 35. Leask, W. K. (1897). James Boswell, Edinburgh, 41. 36. Martin, P (1999). A Life of James Boswell, London, 184. For Paoli see Coppa, J. E, ed. 132 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSTHRE NATURALISTS' CLUB (1985), Dictionary of Modern Italian History, London, 312-313. 37. Martin, op cit., 220. 38. Brady, E, Pottle, E, eds (1957). Boswell in Search of a Wife 1 766-1 769, Yale, 150. 39. Ibid., 13. The Rev. Andrew Burnaby was a well-to-do clergyman who eventually succeeded to extensive estates near Leicester. When BosweU passed through Livorno Burnaby was probably working on his Travels through the Middle Settlements of North America 1759-60 (1775) which became a classic of North American travel literature. Burnaby later visited Corsica himself and was perhaps one source of inspiration for 'The Account of Corsica'. See Bowie, J. (1974), The Imperial Achievement, England, 131. 40. Cole, R. C., ed. (1997). Introduction to the General Correspondence of James Boswell 1766-1769, Yale, 6. 41. Ibid.,XXXVL 42. Brady, Pottle, op cit., 150. 43. Weis, C., Pottle, E (1971). Boswell in Extremes 1 776-1 778, Yale, 348. 44. Florinsky, M. (1959). Russia: a History and an Interpretation, New York, 508. 45. Cross, A. G. (1987). The Caledonian Phalanx, Edinburgh, 25-27. 46. PRO Consular Correspondence SP98/74 Sir Horace Mann to Viscount Wey- mouth, September 2, 1769. 47. Ibid., Mann to Weymouth, December 1, 1770. 48. Ibid., Mann to Weymouth, March 24, 1770. 49. Ibid., Weymouth to Dick, September 15, 1769; Dick to Weymouth, October 6, 1769. 50. Ingamells, op cit., 298. 51 . PRO SP98/74 Dick to Weymouth, November 20, 1769. 52. National Library of Scotland (NLS) Acc 76/76/A/XXXVIIL 53. Ibid., Rutherford to Count Osterman (Russian Vice-Chancellor) July 1, 1777. 54. The Rutherford papers in the NLS contain an account sheet from July 1775 to August 1776 of money disbursed by Rutherford to Russian Captains for the repair and supply of their ships. See also PRO SP98.76 Mann to Earl of Rockford, May 4, 1771. 55. PRO SP98/75 Mann to Weymouth, June 11, 1770. 56. Ibid., Weymouth to Dick, June 29, 1770. 57. Ibid., Dick to Weymouth, July 30, 1770. 58. Ibid., Dick to Weymouth, September 3, 1770. 59. Florins!^, op cit., 521. 60. 'Memoir of Sir Samuel Greig', Dublin University Magazine, 1854, 158-159; Cross, op cit., 27. 61. Cross, op cit., 27; Danilevski, G. P (1891), The Princess Tarakanova, London, XII- XV; Ralston, W. R. S., 'The Legend of the Princess Tarakanof', Macmillan's Magazine, 20, 311-320. 62. Alexis was the third, most able and most ruthless of the five Orlov brothers. It THE BARON'S FOLLY 133 was he, with two accomplices, who murdered the deposed Tsar Peter III at Ropscha. A man of action and great strength he was apparently capable of stunning a bull with his fist. Nicknamed 'the Scarface' as a result of a sword slash received in a tavern brawl, he was also responsible for knocking out Gregory Potemkin's eye over a game of billiards. See Troyat, H. (1979), Catherine the Great, London, 142-147. 63. Ralston, op cit., 316. 64. Cross, op cit., 27. 65. Danilevski, op cit, 99. 66. Memoir of Greig, op cit., 160. Catherine was quite clearly the prime mover in the Tarakanova affair. It was she who wrote to Orlov on the 12th November 1774, urging him, apparently without a trace of irony, to seize 'this creature who has so insolently assumed a name and a lineage to which she has no right'. Troyat op cit., 222-223. 67. Mann, op cit, 293. 68. Ibid., 356; Rutherfurd, op cit., 268-269. 69. PRO SP98/80; IngameUs, op cit., 299. 70. Rutherfurd, op cit., 281 ; NLS Acc 76/76/A XXXVIII. 71. Cross, op cit., 28; The Scots Magazine (1777), 39, 561-562. Greig died from a 'violent fever' while engaging the Swedish fleet of Revel in 1788. According to the Rev. Thomas Somerville of Jedburgh, a distant relative, it was suspected 'that he had fallen a victim by poison to the j ealousy of the Russian commanders' . Interesting perhaps in this respect is the fact that Admiral Spiritoff who succeeded in command of the Russian fleet had been one of Greig's rivals at the time of Chesme. See Somerville, T. (1861), Life and Times, Edinburgh, 224-225. Somerville's niece and future daughter-in-law, Mary Somerville (the mathematician and physicist), was married for some years to Admiral Greig's second son Samuel, who served as a Russian Consul in London before his premature death in 1807. See Patterson, E. C. (1979), Mary Somerville 1780-1872, Oxford, 11. 72. NLS Acc 701761 k XXXVIII, Rutherford to Prince Alexander Wiesemskoy, June 24, 1777. Rutherford might also have used his Russian connections to further the career of Adam Armstrong (1761-1818) of Hobkirk just south of Edgerston. Educated for the ministry, Armstrong went to Russia in the early 1780s as tutor to the Greig family. He served under Greig as a Captain in the Russian Navy and later succeeded Charles Gascoigne the Carron iron-founder as director of the Olonets factories in 1807, rising to be a Marshal of the Olonets nobility. His son Robert (1791-1865) after a period of study at Edinburgh University, rose to be director of the Imperial mint in St Petersburg. 73. Rutherfurd, op cit., 282. 74. West Register House, RHP 4192, Fairnington Moss, 1770. 75. Jeffrey, A. (1864), History and Antiquities of Roxburghshire, III, 173-174. 76. SRO Register of Deeds, vol. 262. 77. Rutherfurd, op cit., 280-287. 78. Encyclopaedia Britannica, IX, 377. Rutherford could claim more direct contact 134 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB with the 'philosophes', his elder brother Thomas (1715-1749) having corresponded with Voltaire. See Davis, op dt., 43. 79. NLS, Rutherford to Osterman, July 1, 1777. 80. Rutherfurd, op dt., 280,288. 81 . The Gentleman 's Magazine, LXIV, 276. 82. Danziger, M., Brady, E (1989). Boswell: The Great Biographer 1789-1795, Yale, 43; Martin, op cit., 540. Even John Dick had expressed some disillusionment with the art of social climbing when he wrote on his return to England in 1777 to John Strange, British resident in Venice, that his former guests 'do not deign to recollect me' and warned Strange that 'all the expences you make on this head (entertaining), is the same as thrown into the canal'. Ingamells, op dt., 299. 83. Towers are a feature of the Tuscan Coast. In Rutherford's time Leghorn sported three - the Torre del Marzocco, the Torre della Vegliaia and further out to sea, the Torre della Meloria. / should like to thank Katie Rolls and Sheena Johnson of the Modern Languages Department of Jedburgh Grammar School for their help with translations from French and Italian respectively. ABIGAIL AND WILLIAM RENWICK Portrait of an eighteenth century marriage David Brenchley Strathlea, Thornton, Berwick upon Tweed TD15 2LP William Renwick and his future wife, Abigail Hindmarch, were baptised in Berwick within a few months of each other in 1740. The fathers of both were burgesses who had served apprenticeships within the town and formed part of the close-knit community of resident freemen who governed the town. Andrew Renwick was originally a tailor but in 1747 he was granted permission to change his trade to that of a baker; there is no evidence of him enjoying much success in either capacity. He had married in 1736 and William was the eldest of four children baptised at the parish church. Arthur Hindmarch, a cooper and merchant, was enjoying some success in his work at the time of Abigail's birth and achieved the position of bailiff for the Guild. Later, his business declined and William wrote (just after his marriage in 1765) of his parents-in-law being in Tow circumstances . . . occasioned by the decay of those who lived too splendidly to support the continuance of their grandeur'. William's education will have begun at the free reading school that was available for the children of burgesses and then, at the age of about eight years, William evidently proceeded to the town's grammar school, also free, where he gained a knowledge of Latin and, probably, a little Greek. He was regarded as a very promising lad whose future might lie in the ministry: 'Naturally active . . . and possessed of qualifications that were likely to command respect, they (his friends) predicted the fortune (I) was not fated to obtain'. Unfortunately, about 1753, his father died, having spent his money, according to William, on 'drinking and music'. His mother remarried soon thereafter but her new husband could not provide for WilHam's continued education. Instead he was apprenticed to a leading apothecary-surgeon in Berwick, Henry Hodgson, 'a profession less suited to his inclination' than the ministry. Hodgson was a leading politician in Berwick and several times mayor, a 135 136 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLL^ circumstance that promised to be important for William's future. He enjoyed a good relationship with William who left a favourable portrait of a man of modest means and tastes, with a practice 'generally among the middling and poorer class of people'. There were some 300 resident burgesses in Berwick in the middle of the eighteenth century and, no doubt, William and Abigail will have known each other, at least by sight, from an early age. Indeed, it is probable that they were classmates at the reading school but it was at Hodgson's house that William fell in love with Abigail. She was described as a 'maid of all work' by a hostile observer, and as superintendent of the children by William himself. Hodgson kept no man-servant, which may suggest that Abigail had wider duties than those of a nurse-maid or nanny, but since she was the daughter of a well-respected burgess of the town it seems unlikely that she held a position as lowly as that of sole maid within the house. Their relationship remained ostensibly that of good friends until the time when their daily contact ended with William's departure. For a young man with no certain income thoughts of marriage were premature. An opening occurred through Hodgson's connection as a leading supporter in Berwick of General Craufurd, one of the two MPs for Berwick at the time. In September 1760 William was appointed surgeon's mate to the regiment commanded by Craufurd and this necessitated his departure a few months later for Canada where the Seven Years' War was in progress. Quebec had fallen to General Wolfe in 1758 but the army was still attacking the last outposts of the French in the area. Renwick joined his regiment at the siege of BeUe Isle, just north of Newfoundland. There are no clues to the exact nature of the problems he there encountered (the duties of an army surgeon in the field, the social pressures of being a 'poor relation' amongst his fellow officers, or simple homesickness at the age of 20?) but he soon suffered the first of a series of attacks of depression linked, in this case, to temporary blindness, and had to be invalided home in 1762. During his absence an exchange of letters had revealed his love for Abigail but their reunion was not an immediate success. He wrote that 'on her retiring (I) relapsed into a languor which it was not in the aid of medicine to alleviate'. He was uncertain for some ABIGAIL AND WILLIAM RENWICK 137 time whether his affection was returned but, by the time his sight was restored and he left to rejoin his regiment, these doubts were dispelled, although they had agreed not to meet again until marriage was possible. Until William's career was better established there was no way that he could support a wife and family. For two ardent lovers in their early twenties (William describing their relationship as Violent friendship') it was difficult either to refrain from physical contact entirely, or to accept it without the temptation to proceed further and further towards full intimacy. Pre-marital sex was almost unknown for young people of their standing in Berwick at the time and separation must have seemed the only reliable way of ensuring their continued chastity. It is entirely consistent with both William's suffering from manic- depression (as seems probable) and his high and often over- optimistic view of the future that, recovering from depression, he saw himself returning as a hero to claim Abigail's hand. His first step was to return to his regiment, now in England, but this solution was short-lived. The Peace of Paris in 1763 meant that Renwick, along with many other soldiers, was demobilised. He sought (and received) the continued patronage of General Craufurd in London (spending what little money he had recently inherited from his mother in the process) but Craufurd was sent to be Governor of Minorca and died there in the next year. He then found employment as a journeyman apothecary in London but this was not enough to secure his future with Abigail, with whom his contact had to be limited to the exchange of letters. He may already have begun to frequent the fringes of the literary world since he was known to John Cleland, the novelist and political pamphleteer, by the time of the Berwick by-election that took place in January 1765 to fill Craufurd's place. This seemed to offer an opportunity for advancement. One of the candidates. Sir John Delaval, had received the support of Hodgson in Berwick. In London Renwick was approached by Delaval's agent in London, George Douglas, with a promise of assistance in return for his support, whilst Sir John's elder brother. Sir Francis, supplied ten pounds to defray the costs of his journey. As happens at the time of elections the promises made were alluring if imprecise. Back in Berwick, buoyed by the assurances of patronage that he had been given, he persuaded Mr and Mrs 138 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLL^ Hindmarch to allow him to marry Abigail. He stayed three months and then returned to London to receive his reward, leaving Abigail pregnant. After the election, which Delaval won without his opponent going to the poll, Renwick saw Delaval who said that he would provide for him on his return to London if it lay in his power; Douglas, in London, assured him that Delaval had 'all the inclination possible' to do something for him. Sir Francis wrote encouragingly: 'my brother will always be ready to acknowledge the protection you have given to his cause'. His claim was reinforced by a batch of recommendations from the leading men of Berwick. He wrote what was clearly intended as a helpful letter: 'I would not desire to go into the army, as this is a service only fit for single people. A place in the Stamp Office or a Surgeon to some Garrison-town in Great Britain, or America, would be very acceptable, or what would be still more agreeable could it be easily procured, a Lieutenant's half-pay (which General Craufurd once desired me to accept of) as a certainty of forty or fifty pounds a year is all I would wish for, where I could be able to pursue my business at the same time.' Unfortunately Renwick's requests fell on deaf ears. Delaval had more pressing priorities than the supplications of a young surgeon. Finally, in 1766, Renwick was given an interview at which he was told without equivocation that 'he must not have the smallest expectation' of Delaval doing anything and should not call again. This disappointment caused a second breakdown and attack of blindness. William left London and began to recover whilst working again as a journeyman at Wokingham in Berkshire. Although he and Abigail had corresponded regularly until the breakdown took place there was, at this time, a gap of about 18 months in their exchange of letters. Abigail, in spite of the long periods of separation and the, at times, uncertain temperament and behaviour of her husband, seems only once to have come close to despairing of their marriage. Initially her feelings were clear. She hoped that William was destined for worldly success and that any separation would be short-lived. She wrote in 1765 'I have been accounted ambitious. It is true that I have some sparks of the flame in my breast; but they are only such as you inspire. The greatest ambition I have is to enjoy. ABIGAIL AND WILLIAM RENWICK 139 and be esteemed deserving of your love/ Even without the success she could be happy; the next year she wrote: 'I am happy to find that I have not lost my lover in my husband; and would circumstances enable us to live together, I should not envy others the most exalted situation/ 'I can never cease to love one so much superior in every respect to myself . . . you could not have given your hand where you would have been more ardently esteemed/ Her moment of despair occurred in 1768, shortly after their correspondence was resumed after the break of eighteen months and there was no sign of William's return. As I would not chuse to do anything precipitately, or entertain a thought which you might not commend, I have thought it my duty to acquaint you that, unless you cold suggest some other expedient to which I could have recourse, for the support of myself and the child, I am come to a resolution, with your sanction, of quitting Berwick, and taking a place, finding myself unable any longer to contend with increasing difficulties of my present situation, and utterly incapacitant to maintain the child.' She explained that, after a hard winter aU the efforts of her mother and herself to make ends meet by needlework were failing to cope with their debts. If she went into service the child would have to be put out to board. By 1768, however, Renwick's plans were taking shape along fresh lines. At some point over the previous few years he had begun to contribute occasional articles and verse to the London periodicals and the ambition to make his name as a writer took hold of him. His occasional pieces were usually on politics and current social issues, often under the pen-name 'Moralist'. Indeed his first printed piece on his troubled history had already appeared in print in The London Chronicle in September 1766, although without any reference to his army service or identification of the individuals involved apart from his own initials of ' W.R.' as the author. He now planned to develop this short account of his love, marriage, separation, and betrayal by Delaval, using the letters exchanged between himself and Abigail, pointed up by the insertion of verse appropriate to the development of the story, and reinforced with other material such as his letters to Delaval pleading his case. WiUiam was not yet ready to return to Berwick. Probably he wished both to use such meagre savings as he could pout aside to be used for the costs of publication and to see whether he could earn a 140 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB living by his pen. He said he was unable to send any money although he authorised Abigail to sell the box of books that he had sent to Berwick. Abigail did her best to dissuade him from publication. 'The letters we have written to each other are perhaps too tender and passionate to be relished by any but those who have experienced the same sensations and disasters, I also fear for the resentment that might prove too powerful for one in your situation to contend with.' Renwick was prepared to abandon his plans, if Delaval could finally be persuaded to honour his commitment, as William saw it. In the Delaval Mss there is a bundle of letters from Renwick, including his initial written request for patronage but mainly dating from 1768. The latter were wrapped separately by Delaval and on the cover he wrote 'Extraordinary letters from Renwick'. Most of the 'extraordinary letters' were written as an attempt to shame Delaval for his lack of generosity and failure to honour his promises. They were a double-edged sword, in part a form of blackmail, but also preparing the ground for the book. Included in the bundle is a copy of the letter from Abigail that described her desperate condition. As he told Delaval he had kept no copies of his own letters and these were not used in his later books. His first book. The Unfortunate Lovers, was published in 1771 at Bath where Renwick had gone and, apparently, briefly thought of setting up as a printer. Few copies have survived since most were bought up in quantity and destroyed by Delaval. The story was told in the third person with the lovers given the names of Damon and Celia. The correspondence from George Douglas to Delaval covers events at the time of the application and publication of the book, together with the draft of a handbill he prepared to refute Renwick' s attacks on his employer. The general line of attack was to reduce Renwick's status by scorning his social position and that of Abigail, who was generally termed a maid-of-all-work. Douglas also alleged in his handbill that her letters were William's own work, although there can be no doubt that she could and did correspond with her husband. It would be interesting to know William's thoughts and feelings at this stage. In Wokingham he had given himself out as unmarried lest his employer should turn him away, he explained. In articles he published in the London press at this time he was discussing the ABIGAIL AND WILLIAM RENWICK 141 issue of marital fidelity: He was not prepared to condemn extra- marital affairs by women absolutely: 'It is the fate of too many amiable women to be deluded in the mental qualities of those to whose authority they are persuaded to resign themselves; and under the pressure of conjugal tyranny, alienation of affection is a natural consequence'. Many Presbyterians had traditionally stressed that the authority of the husband in marriage brought with it the responsibility of treating the wife with care and affection and Renwick, here, seems to have been looking at the consequences of this belief in the context of the London society he observed. It must also be noted, however, that William had the ability to attract female fans throughout his life, although the only ones mentioned were literary ones. Whether or not, at this time, he was tempted by a flesh and blood female admirer remains unknown, but if so the temptation was only temporary. A return to Berwick and Abigail was inevitable as his alternative career as a writer failed. In 1772 he accepted this and returned to Berwick to try to make his living as an apothecary-surgeon. For the next five years he struggled on, challenged by the strength of the competition, and the costs of a growing family as William junior was joined by Henry, Thomas, Andrew and Arthur. Betsy, the Renwick' s only daughter, completed their family some years later, c. 1783, when Abigail was well over 40. By 1777 WilHam's affairs were again in crisis. Two remedies were to hand. The first was to try his hand again at authorship by bringing out a sequel to The Unfortunate Lovers. This was Misplaced Confidence, in three volumes, which both retraced the ground of the earlier book and ostensibly brought the story of Abigail and William up to date. However on this occasion he supplied a fictional happy ending, when the couple inherit an estate from a relative of Abigail's, who had been an MP, and retire to the country. The truth was less satisfactory. William escaped only j through the patronage of Delaval's main political rival in Berwick, I Lord Lisburne, whose brother John Vaughan was MP for the town ! from 1774 until his death in 1795. I Renwick had voted for Vaughan at the 1774 election, accepting j the £10 paid to those voters who committed their votes for money reward. For a proud and independent man it was a reflection on h is financial state that he was not among the hundred or more burgesses who declined such payment. Lisburne held a post in the 142 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLL^ Admiralty and obtained Renwick's appointment as a naval surgeon; in December he was writing from the River Humber on board ship. Although, for the next 18 years, service at sea was to supply the financial needs of his family, it was not a prospect that he initially greeted with any enthusiasm. He saw himself as denied 'the quiet for which he has occasion' and having to 'sustain the maratime sickness that will not be found to leave him'. Separation from his family remained a severe burden on his spirits, whether in reality or in prospect when he was able to return home. In 1786 he declined the prospect of a short visit home during three weeks leave on the basis that he could not bear parting again from his family so soon after his last visit. Separated again, Abigail and William resumed their correspondence, and this provided the basis for updating their history in a third book. The Solicitudes of Absence, in 1788. Although Abigail must surely have been disappointed by the troubles of a husband for whom so much had once been hoped, there was never any sign of her loyalty or devotion wavering. Her husband's authority was never questioned. When he was in need of support he received it; 'be as cheerful as possible' for everybody's sake, she urged him in 1786, and 'I will do my best'. She followed his instructions for the care of their children's health. When measles ran through the family 'I paid particular attention to your direction in giving them early physic', whilst Betsy recovered from the whooping cough with the aid of plenty of blackcurrant jelly. The boys did well under her direction: 'They pay close attention to their learning, and spend their evenings at home while other boys are rambling the streets. Tommy went to accompany Harry at the Grammar-school a few weeks ago . . .'. When the possibility arose of Abigail visiting William whilst he was in port the boys were 'willing I should go, provided I bring them some toys when I return'. William's naval career provided him with almost uninterrupted service aboard ship and experience of two wars. His voyages took him to Baltic, the Mediterranean, and to North America. His first naval engagement was the Battle of Texel in pursuit of John Paul Jones in 1779 on board the Countess of Scarborough and this was followed by two more in the Mediterranean. At the end of the ABIGAIL AND WILLIAM RENWICK 143 American War of Independence he was about to go to India before the voyage was cancelled because of the coming of peace. His services continued during peacetime although he had now lost the support of Lisburne who was out of office. This suggests that his work was weU regarded in the Navy; Renwick himself claimed that one of his leg amputations was much praised in a naval hospital ashore. He also took up his pen to campaign on a number of issues related to the service. His most sustained work was to improve the pay and status of naval surgeons and to support the parallel campaign of Captain Edward Thompson for pensions for their widows. Although army surgeons held commissioned rank those of the navy were only of warrant rank with related limitations of pay and comfort. He published three Addresses to Parliament and other letters, centred on the first subject, although their contents touched on a range of other topics as well. His campaign on behalf of the surgeons received a good deal of support from the press, although it was not until after Renwick had been retired that the main reforms for which he had fought took place. In this cause he also attempted to organise the surgeons for collective protest. Renwick left the Navy c. 1796 after 18 years service on account of Various infirmities'; since these were not of a physical nature it may be that his depression had returned, possibly after the death of Abigail. She had apparently urged him before her death to re- marry but, although he was depressed by the advice that no man over 50 ought to marry, his later friendships with women were 'always highly respectable'. He ruefully noted that it was shortly after he retired that the pay of a naval surgeon was raised from three to ten shillings a day. He was poor, living in a single room, until he inherited a bond for £36 p.a. from a son but still regarded himself as hard up until 'the providential reliance which gave it a favourable termination', probably the grant of an annuity from the Berwick Guild. Near the end of his life he published a collection of his poems with an introduction that provided a little light on his last years. Three of his sons followed him into the Royal Navy and also became burgesses in Berwick. His oldest son, William, had a commission at the date of his marriage to Jane Davidson in 1800. Jane was the daughter of a burgess, long deceased, and probably 144 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB therefore had no substantial dowry to her name. She appears to have stayed in Berwick, where several children were born over the next few years. Their eldest son, William Turnbull, became a burgess in 1826, when he was a lieutenant in the Royal Engineers. Thomas also became a commissioned officer, although he stiU held only the rank of lieutenant in 1847 when, at the age of 73, he must surely have retired. He was then living at Greenwich. Andrew was the third son to enter the Navy. Of William's other sons one was said by William to have pre- deceased him, shortly after having taken out a substantial annuity, but there is no evidence as to whether this was Arthur or Henry. Some degrees of worldly success would have preceded such an act and, in view of William's hopes that another of his sons would go in for the law it is possible that this was the route followed. Of Betsy's fate no evidence has been found. Renwick himself died, aged 75, in October 1814. His last years were spent on his own, probably on Marygate since that was where he died. Abigail had died earlier, at an uncertain date, probably in the 1790s and certainly before 1810 when he published a copy of his verse epitaph for her. WiUiam himself is buried in Berwick churchyard. As a writer Renwick's main interest as a writer is two-fold. First his work showed an element of technical innovation surprising in the work of a man whose position in the literary world was, at best, marginal. Secondly, from the content of his three main works, a picture that emerges of his relationship with, and marriage to, Abigail that throws valuable light on the values of his class at the time. The eighteenth century was, for the fiction-writer, one of exciting innovation. From mid-century the novel, developed in Britain from the occasional work of somebody like Defoe into a flood, following the publication of such works as Clarissa (1748) and Tom Jones (1749). Fuelled by the development of lending libraries the appetite of the reading public became almost insatiable. Abroad, Rousseau's La Nouvelle Heloise and Emile were to set a similar trend. In many of these works the line between reality and fiction was blurred for their readers. The literary device of development through an exchange of letters distanced the author from the reader, making this blurring all the easier. Renwick's step ABIGAIL AND WILLIAM RENWICK 145 of fitting autobiography into the fictional format was an unusual twist to this approach. A further innovation was derived, probably, from the experience of opera and the theatre in London, where the plot might be interrupted or, better, enriched by the use of a song or recitative. The Beggar's Opera springs to mind as an example that Renwick was very likely to have seen. Renwick wrote verse throughout his life that was directly derived from his experience and feelings at the time of composition, and, when he came to compile his books, chose to include many of those verses at appropriate points. Although The Unfortunate Lovers was published by subscription the rest of his books were sold through booksellers in the ordinary way, whilst the imprint of Longmans suggests that established publishers saw a market for his later works. If therefore, his work enjoyed some contemporary popularity it is worth considering why this should have been the case. The first reason would seem to be that Renwick was writing about common experiences: the dependence on and neglect by a powerful patron, a marriage in which the roles of husband and wife were described honestly, the stresses of separation, and the struggle of an individual to make a career, support a family, and fight for a better world. William Renwick was neither an exceptional writer nor an unusual man - except that he wrote books - and this made it possible for readers to identify with his story. A second reason may well have been his good fortune in having married Abigail. Not only was she a wife who stood by her man, and thus provided a good example to all, but she wrote more simply and directly than her husband, as can be judged from the extracts already quoted. In The Monthly Review, and elsewhere, Abigail's letters were singled out for especial praise and William himself said, in 1771, she deserved a full share of praise for her contribution. To the modern reader, her style contrasts favourably with that of her husband at this time. William's prose style was prone to hyper-inflation with a loss of impact through over- elaboration and the inability to call a spade anything so simple. Although such faults were widespread in the eighteenth century Renwick sometimes carried them to extreme lengths. A letter to Delaval in 1769 began: 146 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB The frontispiece to The Unfortunate Lovers. lililil'liTiil ABIGAIL AND WILLIAM RENWICK 147 As the ship- wreck'd Mariner, in the midst of the stormy ocean, toss' d, on every side, by the surrounding waves, endeavours, with extended arms, to reach the confines of the distant shore where, tho' every scene conspires to fill him with despair, and cheering hope no longer animates his heart; - so . . .' the sentence continues for another eight lines. Here he is writing to Abigail on the subject of a long break in correspondence: 'A few days ago, I addressed to you the contents of several sheets of paper, wherein you would have found the crime of my silence sufficiently palliated; - but having doubted whether so long an epistle would not prove tedious in the reading (especially as it contained nothing but verbal professions of constancy and affection) I determined to divide it into a number of shorter epistles and convey them to you, by each successive post one at a time;' and so he continues for a similar length without a full stop. When he deals with more abstract issues the effect on the modern reader is a major challenge to both patience and vocabulary. Only in The Solicitudes of Absence is there evidence of his being satisfied with a more direct and simple approach. Renwick was an autobiographer rather than a writer of fiction. On the one occasion when he indulged in manifest invention in his books, at the end of Misplaced Confidence, the passage is a brief and perfunctory happy ending to the book. Otherwise he may have suppressed or amended letters so as to present a coherent and sympathetic picture to his reader, or have supplied some linking commentary or moral reflections, but there is no hint that he invented any meeting, letter, or relevant event. His honesty in revealing his own frailties is notable and refreshing; this quality increased over time and in The Solicitudes of Absence he revealed details over his early army service and the breakdown associated with it, that were suppressed in The Unfortunate Lovers. Indeed, in the later books, his enthusiasm to include material was artless and unwise. In both the later books and particularly in The Solicitudes of Absence, William included so much material that the coherence of The Unfortunate Lovers was lost as letters to fellow surgeons, to MPs or candidates, and to the Admiralty about possible naval appointments, were interspersed with those from and to Abigail. There is little doubt that the portrait of the marriage that can be formed from the books is essentially accurate, and 148 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLU^ provides a valuable insight into attitudes at the time for a particular element in society. Both partners were drawn from the urban educated classes. William, certainly, and Abigail, almost certainly, had been brought up as members of one of the Presbyterian congregations in Berwick, although William later abandoned this allegiance and any belief in predestination. William, in person, was well acquainted with the ideas current in London society, whilst Abigail would have had opportunities to keep abreast of contemporary ideas and literature through the lending libraries in Berwick. Renwick also wrote a number of pamphlets. The first three of these were on the family, on gout, and on the interment of the dead, and were written before his entry into the navy and published in 1777. Renwick's concern for the family was to prevent national decline and a review stated that it dealt with the period 'from the time of their connubial union to that of the birth of their offspring, to which he annexes the most salutary advice on the management of children, particularly cautioning parents against administering medicines of any kind in the early period of infancy'; his aim for the parents was 'to restore the primitive natural conjugation of mankind'. He also criticised the Government for allowing the advertisement of patent medicines and related quackery 'for the cure of that unhappy disease incident to the votaries of Venus'; this was a theme to which he was to return, perhaps because the ill effects it could have were apparent in the sailors under his care. His work on the gout appears to have been brief and unconvincing but to have shown 'strong marks of genius'. The third pamphlet contained the exchange between Renwick and William Hawes, a doctor, over the best way of avoiding burying a still-living body. Hawes was concerned that the widespread use of opiates, especially in the case of Godfrey's Cordial for children, could lead to the interment of those still alive. He urged that burial should not take place until the first signs of putrefaction were apparent. Renwick objected that this practice would be dangerous to health and suggested that rigor mortis setting in was an almost infallible proof of death. He was to write once more on general medical matters in An Inquiry into the Nature and Cause of Sickness in Ships of War (1792). This last work was the most substantial of his medical tracts but, with ABIGAIL AND WILLLIAM RENWICK 149 hindsight, often medically wrong. He underrated the importance of fresh fruit and vegetables, allowing only that 'in sultry seasons and climates (these) are doubtless salutary' but believing that 'recovery in any ship in harbour, more immediately proceeds from their becoming stationary'. He attributed most sickness at sea to the movement of water in the bilges and the infections that resulted from its disturbance. He also believed that sea air was 'so much impregnated with saline particles that (it was) sensibly corrosive to those who have not been accustomed to maritime inspiration'. Not all his observations now appear so wrong-headed; he rightly questioned the drinking of salt water, attacked the quality of food supplied to seamen, and recommended the use of immersion of men rescued from the sea in a warm bath, as a counter to what would now be described as hypothermia. He also drew attention to the risk that the general recommendation of sea bathing might run the danger of being 'often injurious to weakly constitutions, in the sudden recession of the blood to the interior system'. His sovereign remedy, 'combining every virtue', was 'The infusion of TEA, sweetened with sugar'. His main efforts during the years in the Royal Navy was, however, to improve the position of the naval surgeons. He published two Addresses to Parliament on this theme in 1785 and 1786, and these followed earlier letters on the same subject. In his arguments he drew attention to the problems of recruitment and the quality of appointments, and urged the need for improved pay and status. These works were well received by the reviewers and supported by some influential figures within the Navy, like Captain Edward Thomson who was campaigning at this time for widows' pensions to be paid when surgeons died in the service. Even so Renwick's work suffered the weakness (noted at the time) that the author used 'very cogent arguments' but 'he has not the art of drawing them to a point by keeping clear of extraneous matter'. In 1785 the Address began with 15 pages of comments on the taxation system. He regretted that there was no taxation on the sale of contraceptives - the 'Cyprian preventatives' and 'mechanical merchandise of a well-known female shop-keeper' since their use has 'an equal tendency to encourage prostitution and to extend the consequences resulting from delusive security'. Much of what he wrote - the desirability of taxing the rich more heavily than the 150 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CELTS poor, the ill-effects of taxation on literature and the press, and the sense of strengthening the navy so that war might be prosecuted by an attack on the economy of Britain's enemies rather than on the battlefield - was worth saying, but it detracted from the main theme which occupied pages 16-43. His urge to expand then returned and he threw in some past reviews, criticisms of the use of tartar as an emetic, the bleeding of those who were overweight, and the use of fever powders, a suggestion that tea might replace rum as the free drink of the navy (the best bohea known as Souchong was the most wholesome), and his correspondence with Hawes. These took up the final 25 pages. In these later pamphlets Renwick's style is much more straightforward than in his first books. His arguments were generally well presented and constructive, if not always very practicable, as the thought of sailors being offered China tea in place of grog underlines. Renwick's final publication was The Sorrows of Love, printed in Alnwick in 1810 and sold through Longmans. After a typical preface, which offers a sketch of his life in very general terms, past letters (including Hawes, again) and reviews, the work offers selected poems 'so arranged as virtually to include a sketch of the Editor's life' (pp. 1-72), a further set of prose correspondence and an essay on seclusion, and finally some verse from an unpublished play. As a poet his work was, at the time, damned with faint praise. Two separate reviews of The Unfortunate Lovers described them as 'not destitute of merit' and 'far from being contemptible'. These stiU seem fair verdicts. At the worst they can be banal: O were I yonder playful lamb That sports around its fleecy dam, Td never from the valleys stray. Where Delia breathes perpetual May. Or difficult to follow: Her beauty when Flora displays How sweet in the vale is the reed Sweet then are the nightingale's lays But sweeter the nymph upon Tweed. In most cases, however, the level of competence is acceptable. ABIGAIL AND WILLIAM RENWICK 151 allowing for the conventions of the period. Here he wrote of his retirement: Now the arduous struggles over Mingle, queens, the nectar 'd bowl Every breeze that breathes in clover Bear the news from pole to pole. Maids and m atrons, grief disarming. Now the bard serene restore; Give, Minerva, all that's charming. Social hours - he seeks no more. The disciplines of verse reduce Renwick's tendency to become over-elaborate in syntax and vocabulary and the added directness of communication is helpful to the reader. His best piece may well be his epitaph for Abigail, not because he shows any great poetical art, but because the honesty of the emotion shines through. Her death, as had her life, touched him. Though in her cheek soft beauty's flower maintains Its loveliest bloom, when youth no longer reign'd Sweeter than beauty, or than youth, the art Which heal'd the wound, when sorrow rent the heart. That art, dear saint, thro' numerous years was thine; The balm now lost, a careless wound is mine. Renwick was one of three near contemporaries from Berwick who sought to make their way in the literary world. William Temple is still remembered for his correspondence with Boswell but Percival Stockwell, although a prolific author, has fallen into almost as deep an obscurity as Renwick. Both these men came from families of some position, received university educations, entered the ministry, and were able to live their lives cushioned by comfortable church livings. Renwick had to fight throughout his life for an income adequate for his own and his family's needs. It was a struggle that he combined for nearly 50 years with his fight for literary recognition. This article may, like the annuity from the Berwick Guild, offer some belated appreciation of his qualities. THE WICKED COLONEL an account of the life of Colonel Francis Charteris (1672-1732) D. W. Butler Aljoroan', Cow Road, Spittal, Berwick upon Tweed TD15 IRY Members of the Club who visited Gosford House last summer will have heard of Francis Wemyss/Charteris, Seventh Earl, who built much of it and accumulated a good deal of the art collection. They may not know so much about his grandfather and benefactor, Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Charteris, a man severely castigated, censured and satirised by, among others. Pope, Swift, Arbuthnot and Hogarth and whose alleged wickedness was legendary even by the standards of the 18th century. He was infamous as 'a. cardsharper, thief and scoundrel generally', 'a gambler and libertine of the most unblushing character' and 'a man of aU manner of vices'. Despite his owning much property there and dying at 'Stonyhills', his house near Musselburgh, the area is reluctant to be associated with him. E. B. Chancellor in Lives of the Rakes, notes: 'Fortunately East Lothian is not under the disagreeable necessity of having to own Charteris as one of her own sons.' That dubious honour falls to Dumfriesshire, a county more readily associated with Bruce, Wallace, John-Paul Jones, and Armstrong of Gilnockie. In the Third Epistle of his 'Moral Essays', Pope comments critically on the ethics of the age: Like doctors thus, when much dispute has passed. We find our tenets just the same as last. Both fairly owning riches, in effect. No grace of Heaven or token of the elect; Given to the fool, the mad, the vain, the evil. To Ward, to Waters, Charteris and The Devil He adds in a footnote 'his home was a perpetual bawdy-house'. 'Verses on the Death of Doctor Swift' sees the acerbic Dean contemplating: Now Charteris at Sir Robert's levee Tells with a sneer the tidings heavy. 152 THE WICKED COLONEL 153 He calls him 'a vile scoundrel grown from a foot-boy or worse to a prodigious fortune' and observes 'he had a way of insinunating himself into all ministers under every change, either as pimp, flatterer or informer'. Upon Charteris' death Arbuthnot wrote a scathing mock- epitaph, which included the following assessment: He was the only person of his time Who could cheat without the maskofHONESTX Retain his primeval MEANNESS When possessed of TEN THOUSAND A YEAR And having duly deserved the gibbet for what he DID, Was at last condemned for what he could NOT It is, however, Hogarth who literally gives us the clearest illustration. In the first plate of The Whore's Progress we see Moll Hackabout, the innocent country girl, arriving in London to be unknowingly inveigled into a life of prostitution by the bawd, Mrs Needham. There, lurking lecherously in the background, his hand suspiciously deep in his pocket, is Colonel Charteris attended by his fawning servant. Jack Corley. Those who first viewed the work would have immediately recognised the suggestion therein contained. So who precisely was Francis Charteris and what exactly did he do? Burke's Landed Gentry records the date of his baptism as 1672, although some accounts have him born in 1675. He was the first son of John Charteris and his wife Janet (nee Kinloch). His paternal grandfather was Sir John Charteris of Amisfield, 12th of that title, and the family was the only gentry in Dumfriesshire of established Norman stock, their prestige going back to 1174. Significantly, both Sir John and his nephew Alexander had fought with Montrose for the Stuart cause, the latter being executed after Carbisdale. Thus it was Francis considered himself a 'gentleman'; whether or not he always behaved like one is a different matter. Perhaps an early set-back shaped his outlook. Despite the fact that his father was only Sir John's second son, and his Uncle Thomas now held the Amisfield title, and more importantly the estates, the last had no male heirs when he died in 1685. No immediate successor was appointed but John's death in 1691 must 154 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLU1B have made Francis feel he was now the natural inheritor. It was not to be; the next year the title passed to Thomas' daughter, Elizabeth, and her subsequent marriage to Thomas Hogg, gentleman trooper of Pollock's Dragoons, led to a new line. (When the son of this union succeeded to the title in 1717 he took his mother's surname, an action mirrored by Francis Wemyss/Charteris under the terms of his grandfather's wiU in order to inherit another 'Amisfield' in another part of Scotland.) Following his youthful thwarting Francis joined the army and pursued a scandalously colourful career. He was drummed out of his first regiment for cheating at cards (a lifelong habit) and then served in a Dutch regiment, from which he was expelled for stealing a side of beef from a butcher's shambles. He next purchased a commission in The Third Foot Guards but such was his reputation that his fellow officers refused to enrol him. By 1711 he was somehow commanding a company in The First Foot when his military life ended in an ignominious appearance before no less a body than the assembled House of Commons. By this time he was a husband with offspring. In 1702 he married Helen Swinton, daughter of Lord Mersington of The Court of Justice, and two years later his daughter Janet was born. Not that this deterred him from promiscuity - as well as a notorious gambler he became known as a seducer of women, especially young wives for whom he seems to have exchanged payment of gambling debts (theirs and their husband's) for sexual favours. One of his affairs was with Sarah Pridden, also known as Sally Salisbury, a celebrated courtesan of the period and possible model for Cleveland's Fanny Hill. In her 'memoirs' she recalls first meeting him at fashionable Bath in 1707. She was in her young teens and he 'surrounded by graces and fine women, an equipage of grandeur glittering about him. His air was lively and pleasant, his shape complete, tho' his face not handsome'. Certainly he was a 'lady- kiUer', it would seem, but there was a touch of arrogance in the way in which he could reject her for her reputation, yet be so wilfully oblivious of his own. Later she returned to him and was kept by him 'a considerable time'. However it appears she tried too hard: 'So wandering was his mind, so accustomed to change, that with all my insinuations I could not fix him.' He once fought a duel for her, permanently THE WICKED COLONEL 155 crippling his opponent's arm (he is said only to have fought duels he knew he could win) and kept her in a 'house of pleasure' where he had 'very frequently satisfaction of me'. Eventually he grew tired of her and passed her on and it befits his character to suspect him of using people and things to his own ends. By the advent of the Hanoverians he was very prosperous, although there was an occasion, the first of two in his life, when he dangerously over-reached himself and was lucky to escape as lightly as he did. This led to the afore-mentioned termination of his army career. On May 20th 1711 he was summoned before a committee of The House of Commons and found guilty of receiving bribes from tradesmen to 'enlist' them into his company in order to save them from debts. This was a highly lucrative but extremely risky scam as it could in those days be interpreted as Treason, and thus incur the death penalty as its punishment. Fortunately for Charteris he was only given a severe reprimand, albeit on his knees to The Speaker at The Bar of The House. He was once more expelled from his regiment, but retained his rank in public life. He now began to rely even more on his capacities as a gambler and by a combination of skiU, trickery and sheer effrontery managed to acquire vast amounts of money, property and land from those he had selected to be his victims. The cash he obtained was then lent out at exorbitant interest to spendthrifts of his acquaintance and by remorseless distraining he added to his fortune. A significant purchase in 1713 was the site of New Mills, a failed cloth manufactory in Haddington and a property second only in interest to The Darien Scheme. Here he created his own 'Amisfield Estate', although it was his daughter and son-in-law who built the house, eventually pulled down in 1914. Quite clearly he was compensating for the disappointments of his youth. On the 1715 Berwickshire Roll of Heritors he is listed as holding Blackerston. Another celebrated acquisition, again in 1713, was Hornby Castle in Lancashire, where he kept a private seraglio with an elderly matron to administer it - by now a rich degenerate par excellence, he did not deign to find his delights in the public stews when he could afford more secluded pleasures. Indeed he could even make money as 'Whoremaster of England'. As eager in his lustful appetites as he was in his avarice, he could afford to be 156 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLU1B utterly heedless of his reputation and he made powerful friends. 1720 saw the marriage of Janet to James, Fifth Earl of Wernyss, within months of the groom's succession to the title. This was a distinguished family owning land both north and south of the Firth of Forth and the Fourth Earl had been Lord High Admiral of Scotland, sworn of The Privy Council, Commissioner for the Treaty of Union and Representative Peer - very much one of the 'parcel o' rogues'. On the other hand, James was also a clandestine Jacobite who came under suspicion in 1721 but it was his eldest son who was to fight that cause, and lose his earldom as a consequence; the second son was to acquire a grandfather's name and a brother's inheritance. Meanwhile Colonel Charteris' infamy grew with his wealth and he prospered in 'The South Sea Bubble', selling his shares before the market collapsed. An inveterate 'chancer', he knew exactly when to load the dice, avoid his duels, bear his false-witnesses, dump his women, deny his bastard children and pass on his dangerous stock. Then in 1729 he again over-reached - and this time the charge was Rape. Charteris had by now a particular voracity for 'strong, lusty country wenches', of which there were many coming to London to seek glamour and employment. As Hogarth's picture illustrates, he would employ the well-known bawd Mrs Needham to procure them into his household as servants, where he would bribe, bully or blackmail them to his libidinous intent. Then when he grew tired of them - or they became pregnant - he would pass them on or throw them out. The victims would have little redress as no one would take their word against that of a 'gentleman', even one as dubious as him, and even if they could afford to go to Law the spirit of the Law tended to favour those with property. So what happened was quite remarkable, and clearly demonstrates the depth of feeling against him. He had previously been forewarned when his attempts on the virtue of his servant Sarah Seleno had been thwarted by her sister rescuing her; the neighbours had been called out and his house stoned by a morally indignant mob. Now his nemesis was to come in the form of a Lancashire girl named Ann Bond. She arrived in the capital in the late autumn of that year and was unbeknowingly touted by Needham into Charteris' household in THE WICKED COLONEL 157 fashionable George Street, near Hanover Square. It wasn't long before he was making advances to her, offering her Holland for sheets and a snuffbox, which he later claimed was merely a loan and for which she would be charged five pounds were she to lose it. Although she was somewhat naive she was virtuous and resisted his overtures, until one morning in November, following her refusal to warm him by getting into bed with him the previous night, he locked her in the kitchen alone with himself and, allegedly, raped her. When she afterwards protested, he horsewhipped her and threw her out. His daughter Janet was later to comment wryly: 'If a man must do wrong, then surely he could aim a little higher'. Without sufficient money to take legal action Ann would have normally been powerless, but it seems that her attacker was so universally despised that he was readily arrested and charged. Rape was a capital offence and many people would have rejoiced to see him hanged. This appeared to be the course of things following his trial in February 1730. His defence that she had in fact stolen £20 from him and absconded, and had totally fabricated her accusation, was rejected by a jury who needed only fifteen minutes to find him guilty. One possible irony comes in Arbuthnot's implication that Charteris had become impotent and so couldn't possibly have completed the deed. Be that as it may, he was duly sentenced and conveyed to Newgate to await execution. Such an event would have surpassed even the trial as the event of the year, but in a society where Money and Influence spoke louder than Just Retribution it was not to be. After a comparatively comfortable stay in the Gaoler's house he was granted a Royal Pardon in April; friends in high places had undoubtedly saved him from the gallows, albeit at high financial cost. Significantly, when Mrs Needham was arrested and piUoried a year later she was dead within three days of her ordeal. Charteris was rich and survived; Needham was poor and died. However, his public life in London was finished. No sooner was he released than he was set upon by the mob and his house once more attacked. With her costs Ann Bond married a drawer and became landlady of an inn, which she named 'The Colonel Charteris'. By August Francis was on his way north. Just as Samuel Johnson 158 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB later observed: The noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees is the high road that leads him to England' so Charteris might have thought The easiest prospect a disgraced Scotchman sees is the lower road that takes him back to Scotland'. He returned to his estate at Stonyhills. This is not to say he had forsaken some of his old habits. In Anecdotes of Characters of The Times Alexander Carlyle of Inveresk tells us how he cheated Morrison of Prestonpans at cards so that when the estate went under sequestration for payment of debts he was able to buy it for himself. A little boy at the time, Carlyle recalls seeing him in church actually socialising with his victim and 'being fully impressed with the popular opinion that he was a wizard, I never once took my eyes off him during the whole service, believing I should be dead if I did' . On a stormy night in February 1732 Charteris' wicked life finally caught up with him and he died of venereal disease. Upon his deathbed, it is recorded in a letter by John Crawford of Gourock, he vowed to give up swearing and pay his 'just debts'. 'He was also exceedingly anxious to know if there were any such thing as Hell and said were he assured there was no such thing, being easy as to Heaven, he would give thirty thousand pounds; so that we see the vanity of all worldly enjoyments at a dying hour.' He was attended by the local minister and asked Janet, also dutifully present, what he should give him for his services. On being told by his 'somewhat narrow' daughter that it was unusual to give anything on such occasions, 'Well then' says Charteris 'let us have another flourish from him, so calling his prayers.' It seems he was a gambler and a miser to the moment he died. The local populace, being good superstitious country folk, ascribed the furious weather that night to the demons of Hell coming to take him off and on the day of his funeral they showed they could match any London mob by jeering his cortege, throwing dead animals and offal into his grave and attempting to tear his body out of the coffin. Truly his death matched his reputation and his burial his unpopularity. Nevertheless, his will was quite interesting. The bulk of his fortune, at ten thousand pounds sterling per annum, went to Francis Wemyss who also gained the entitlement to be called 'of Amisfield' - the new 'Amisfield'. All this was on condition he changed his THE WICKED COLONEL 159 name to Charteris and did not inherit the title 'Earl of Wemyss' (in 1787 this was broken when the younger Francis finally proclaimed himself the Seventh Earl). All the other three grandchildren received a straight five thousand pounds. The Earl and Countess of Wemyss were given jointly ten thousand pounds but in addition Janet was willed, outside and independent of her husband, another one thousand two hundred each year. Helen, his wife, now dying of breast cancer, received seven hundred pounds a year. Outside the family, his lawyer, Duncan Forbes (later to be Lord Advocate Forbes of Culloden) was rewarded with a thousand pounds and the life-rents of Stonyhills while his cousin Sir Francis Kinloch and his daughter were each bequeathed five hundred. The Duke of Argyll was given 'a pair of fine pistols' (the colonel's duelling pistols, perhaps?) while Sir Robert Walpole gained 'a stable of horses'. It is highly likely that it was Walpole who engineered the Royal Pardon - for a price - and so perhaps Charteris believed he'd had enough of his money! All the above seems to indicate his inclination to do what he pleased, regardless of the consequences, and provided his own pride wasn't damaged. It was reflected once more in his interpretation of 'repayment of just debts' where, for instance, creditors in Merchistoun were left to whistle for the fourteen thousand pounds owing them while Baron Dalrymple was to be paid ten thousand for winning a bet as to who would live the longer. A thousand pounds was to be donated to Edinburgh Infirmary. What are we then to make of Charteris? Certainly Arbuthnot is ruthlessly taunting: Oh indignant reader Think not his life useless to Mankind! PROVIDENCE connived at his execrable designs, To give to after-ages A conspicuous proof and example Of how small estimation is exorbitant wealth In the sight of God By bestowing it on the most unworthy of all mortals. However he has to admit that Charteris was no hypocrite. Crawford too composes a scathing 'elegy': 160 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Scotland's plague and lasting shame Born of honest worth and fame; Oft threats escaped, tho ' drahbed and banged Down to the gallows, yet not hanged; The greatest rogue that e'er wore head. Curst alive and damned when dead; Guess the compound of such evil; It must be Charteris - or The Devil But he gives a reply' comparing him to his neighbour, Lord Grange: All Charteris' crimes were open done. In face of men and skies; But Grange kidnapped h is wife by noon And whores with upcast eyes. Let Charteris then rest in his grave. He has received his doom; He has no place 'mongst hypocrites. That's kept till Lord Grange come. Carlyle of Inveresk sums things up best: 'He was indeed a great profligate, but there have been bad men and greater plunderers than he who have escaped with little public notice. He was one of the runners of Sir Robert Walpole and defended him in all places of resort, which drew the wrath of the Tories upon him, especially Pope and Arbuthnot. Had it not been for the witty epitaph of the last, Charteris might have escaped in the crowd of gamesters and debauchers, who are only railed at by their pigeons and soon fall into total oblivion.' Undoubtedly Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Charteris was a man whose life reflected a certain aspect of the era in which it took place; that it should read like something out of Defoe, Fielding or Smollett demonstrates how well they captured the spirit of that age. BIBLIOGRAPHY Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 1 (Oxford University Press, 1975). Dobree (Ed), Collected Poems of Alexander Pope (Everyman, 1965). Lucy Moore, Con men and Cutpurses (Allen Lane/Penguin Press, 2000). Burgo PaTtridge,AHistory of Orgies (Spring Books, 1958). Starkman (Ed), Gulliver's Travels and Other Writings (Bantam, 1962). Jenny Ungar, Hogarth (Faber & Faber, 1999). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Community Resources, Ewart Library, Dumfries (especially Mr R. Pickering). East Lothian Library, Haddington. ANGLO-SAXON CARVED STONES IN NORHAM CHURCH Muriel A. Woodward and G. A. C. Binnie“*‘ Norham has a well documented church dating from 1165. The eastern end of the chancel was refurbished in the Early English Style in 1340. There are notable wooden furnishings of the 17th century. These came in the early 19th century from Durham Cathedral, with which Norham has a long association. In the north- west corner beside the font stands a pillar made up of 18 carved stones. Most of these are carved in Anglo-Saxon style and clearly predate aU else, indicating that the site has an early history. Norham Monastery A grant of land to create a monastery in Norham is recorded as having been made as early as AD 655 by King Oswy, but no development is known until Ecfrid, Bishop of Lindisfarne, built a church in Norham between AD 830 and 845 and gave Norham and Shoreswood to the monks of Lindisfarne Monastery. The first Abbot is said to have exchanged a land holding for his appointment in the reign of Edward, AD 899-924. A monastery existed in Norham from at least AD 830 to AD 940, and Ecfrid's church was almost certainly part of the monastery complex. The Viking raids are thought to have precipitated monks from Lindisfarne moving to Norham either in AD 845 or as late as the 870s. The dates are conflicting. In their flight from Lindisfarne it has been suggested that the monks travelled by sea and up the Tweed to Norham. They brought the body and coffin of St Cuthbert and their wooden church to Norham. The wooden church from Holy Island was given to the monastic community, perhaps being that which was recorded as having been given by Ecfrid. They rested in Norham before continuing the journey which eventually ended at Durham. The monks also brought the bones of Ceolwulf from Holy Island and re-buried them in Norham, traditionally under the entrance into the church. Ceolwulf who became King of Northumbria in AD 729 appears to have been a studious and reluctant king. He * Address for correspondence: Dr G. A. C. Binnie, Ladykirk, Norham, Berwick upon Tweed TD15 IXL 161 162 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB resigned h is throne in AD 737 and became a monk on Holy Island. He is recorded as having endowed Lindisfarne Monastery with lands and riches. He died and was buried there in about AD 767. The Venerable Bede dedicated his famous Ecclesiastical History of the English People to him. The opening sentence reads Ho the most glorious King Ceolwulf, Bede, servant of Christ and priest . . .'. This dedication is perhaps Ceolwulf 's greatest claim to fame. The Excavations Robert Lambe was vicar of Norham from 1747 to 1795. In his incumbency he is said to have made some excavations near the east end of the church and found some 'curiously carved stones'. Described by Wallis in 1769 was a stone with some script on it which has not been interpreted satisfactorily. In 1778 Hutchinson recorded that 'towards the east of the present church the foundations of some buildings have lately been opened and therein discovered a stone with sculptures upon it and an inscription'. He added that the stone was found at the east end of the church in the foundations of another building. In 1859 Langlands wrote that the stone had been 'lost for some time' . Above the inscription were three effigies said to be those of St Peter, St Cuthbert and 'Ceowulph', the patrons of Norham Church. However, Raine disputed this attribution of the effigies, although he leaves his sources unclear. A copy of Hutchinson's original plate is reproduced opposite. William Gilly was vicar from 1831 to 1855 and in the winters of 1832 and 1833 workmen were employed to excavate the slightly raised area to the east of the chancel of the church which is now planted with a few yew trees. The excavations covered an area measuring about 22 by 12 metres, and this was probably the site of the 9th century monastery. The monastery church was standing until at least 1082 and may have been destroyed by David I of Scotland in 1138. Various 'carved stones' were found by Gilly and preserved by being built up into a stone pillar. Included were stones found by Gilly 's immediate predecessor, William Darnell. The Pillar The pillar was set up ion the churchyard in an area enclosed by iron railings. Also within the enclosed area was part of a fossil tree ANGLO-SAXON CARVED STONES 163 Copy of plate of lost inscribed stone found on the north bank of the Tweed during construction of the road from the first bridge in 1839. Langlands stated that there were 18 stones in the pillar and a plate of the carvings on the south and west faces was published by him as an illustration. The carvings seem to have been much less eroded then. A further plate showed eight isolated carved stones, two of which may have been 17th century symbolic gravestones. The present whereabouts of these single stones is not now known. In 1870 Wilson said that the railed enclosure stood to the east of the church in the area where the stones had been found, but by 1891 Hodgkin wrote that the pillar of stones was inside the church free standing in the area below the tower. In about 1982 it was removed 164 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB to its present situation in the north-west corner of the nave close to the font. There it was cemented to the floor for safety reasons, and the joints in the pillar were pointed. The monastery which was once present on this site seems to have been the source of these stones. Such finds are not unique to Norham. Similar discoveries were made throughout the Midlands and the North of England on sites which had a history of pre- Norman monastic use. Many such finds were made during the great church rebuilding programmes of the 19th century. Most of the stones in the Norham pillar are the broken fragments of crosses. Entire crosses have been found elsewhere, for example at Bewcastle. Typically they are between one and six metres in height, are carved on all four faces and have a stone cross head. Some are thought to have been preaching crosses and the focus of worship, others seem to have been grave markers. The craftsmen who created these crosses were exceedingly skilful. Some of the designs are similar to those found in illuminated manuscripts. Much of the work was beautifully done and some of the Norham carvings are rated very highly. The Carvings Professor Rosemary Cramp has made a special study of such carvings, including those at Norham. The various carving patterns found throughout England fall into seven phases ranging from AD 670 to AD 954. Cramp allocates the Norham stones to the last three phases commencing in AD 820 which concurs weU with the probable dating of the monastery. The designs contain both Anglo-Saxon and Celtic designs typified by fret and key pattern. Cramp suggests that Celtic art, suppressed during the centuries of Roman occupation resurfaced and combined with Anglo-Saxon in the late 7th century. This was reinforced in the north-east by the links with the Celtic church. Cramp believes that the Norham pillar includes the remnants of six crosses. The sketches opposite and overleaf indicate the location of the fragments on the pillar and correlate with the following descriptions. The letters indicate the orientation of the faces of the piUar, and the numbers differentiate the individual crosses as identified by Cramp. ANGLO-SAXON CARVED STONES 165 ACTUAL HEIGHT c. 2.1 m Schematic diagram of west and south faces ofNorham pillar. 166 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Schematic diagram of east and north faces ofNorham pillar. Crosses 1 to 4, Cramp's Phase X AD 820-865/75 Cross 1 N. This is a cross head of Very fine workmanship', a ten cord pattern with strands which has similarities with carving found on stones in Easby and Melonsby in Yorkshire. Cross 1 E is the adjacent face of 1 N and shows a plant with composite leafbuds. A similar design is found in the Lindisfarne Gospels and also as a carving in Masham in Yorkshire. ANGLO-SAXON CARVED STONES 167 Cross 1 S is probably part of a shaft fitting the cross head of IN and IE. The design is a vine scroll. Cross 1 W. On the adjacent face of the same stone is part of an Annunciation scene showing an angel with outstretched arm. The zigzags in the drapery have links with carvings at Jarrow and Rothbury. Cross 2 S is described by Cramp as part of a cross head with a design of 'prancing animal and plant knot'. A back turned head, extended tongue and tail extending into the interlace form the pattern and can be made out on careful examination. This interlace is said to show a likeness to a pattern in a manuscript now in St Petersburg. This is explained by the seizing of artefacts at the time of the Reformation which were traded among collectors. A 'Baeda Historia' made at Wearmouth or Jarrow in about AD 746 and now in the Schredin State Library was taken from Paris to St Petersburg by a Russian diplomat in the 18th century. The plant knot is a motif also found in metal work, as in a sword found at Wallingford and in a ring connected with Aethelwulf, a monk and poet in a community at Crayke, near York, which was an offshoot of the Lindisfarne community. Cross 2 N and 2 E is thought to be part or all of the shaft of the preceding cross head. It comprises a plant knot adjoining a figure with a halo shown in 2 E. This type of panel has been found at Heysham and on some Lindisfarne stones. Cross 3 E, 3 N and 3 S show three faces of one shaft. Cramp describes them as being in 'the Hexham tradition' with deeply cut plant scrolls showing three buds. Similar designs have been found at Jarrow and Rothbury. Cross 3a E and 3a N show a design on the head of the shaft described as a 'Tangled Trumpet Scroll'. Such designs also occur at Masham and Lastingham in North Yorkshire. A closed circuit interlace forms the underside of a cross arm in 3a N. This design was copied in later times. Cross 4 S and 4 E are part of a cross shaft showing key and interlace designs in the insular tradition in contrast to the curved organic forms more typical of Anglo-Saxon design. Similar designs occur on Lindisfarne but those at Norham are said to show greater confidence and competence. 168 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Cross 4a S is a fragment of a cross arm which fits in the above shaft. Cross 5, Cramp's Phase VI, AD 865-896 Cross 5 W shows two adjacent fragments, which are described by Cramp as bold encircled knots showing the influence of 'the loss of wider contacts and swiftly changing styles'. These years were a troubled time of Viking raids and invasions. Cross 6, Cramp's Phase VII, AD 900-945 Cross 6 S and 6 E are two much eroded faces of a shaft which are difficult to make out. They show a simplified variant of interlace on the south face and 'ribbon animals' on the east face. The ribbon animals are said to show a Scandinavian influence. Other Carved Stones Three carved pieces in the pillar are not thought to be from the Anglo-Saxon period. Carving 7 is a cross face on the south side, thought to be a part of a liturgical station or dedication cross dating from the 11th century. The mouldings are somewhat unequal and appear to have been worked by eye rather than with instruments. Carving 8 is a large slab at the base of the west face and is a mid- 9th to 10th century grave cover, now badly eroded. Carving 9 is situated at the top of the west face. It is described as having an outer incised design of pelta (or buckler) form enclosing two lentoid shapes. Cramp says that there are no obvious parallels in Anglo-Saxon sculpture and it is possibly a fertility symbol of Romano-British or mediaeval origin. Cramp thought it was part of a stele or part of a large building stone. The central boss of a splendid cross head was found in the garden of 47 West Street about 200 metres from Norham Church in the 1980s. It is almost certainly from the same site in the churchyard. It is now in Fulling Mill Museum of the department of Archaeology in Durham University. It has been dated between AD 750 and 850. It is illustrated on the opposite page. The original siting of these preaching crosses or grave markers is unknown but the sandstone and carboniferous stone used in their making are of types which occur locally. It is tantalising to realise ANGLO SAXON CARVED STONES 169 Cross head recently found in Norham. Cross head recently found in Norham. 170 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB that some of the carved patterns are hidden in the interior of the pillar and the rights and wrongs of creating the pillar in the first place can only be the subject of speculation. However it seems likely that had the fragments been left as separate pieces some or aU would have been lost by now as have those described by Langlands. There may well be further fragments awaiting discovery in other Norham gardens. REFERENCES Cramp, R. (1984). Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Sculpture, vol. 1, parts 1 & 2. Oxford University press for the British Academy. Cramp, R. (1992). Studies in Anglo-Saxon Sculpture; Anglian Traditions in the Ninth Century, 224-232, London, Pindar Press. Gilly, W. S. (1846). 'Our Churches and Churchyards; Norham', History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, 2, 180-190. Hodgkin, J. (1891). 'The Vales of Tweed and Till', Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, vol. 5, no. 7, 49-52. Hutchinson, W (1778). A View of Northumberland, 2, 24-7. Newcastle, W. Charnley. Langlands, J. C. (1859). Annual Address, History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, 4, 121: Plates 2 & 3. Raine, J. (1852). North Durham, 259. London, Nichols. Wallis, J. (1769). The Natural History and Antiquities of Northumberland, 2, 447. London, WWStrahan. Wilson, F. R. (1870). An Architectural Survey of the Churches in the Archdeaconry of Lindisfarne, 31. Lambert, Newcastle. Acknowledgements and thanks are expressed to Professor Rosemary Cramp for helpful advice and information; and to Barry Woodward for creating the schematic diagrams which accompany this paper. THE DUEL OF HARPERDEAN Mrs ANNE COOK Traquair Cottage, Gavinton, Duns TDll 3QR A duel took place on the 29th August 1810 between Captain Hugh Blair Rutherford and Doctor Alexander Piele Cahill, the surgeon to the regiment: the 25th. In 1794^ an encampment had been formed at Westbarn Links near Dunbar. This was not considered sufficient protection for the district and in the autumn of 1803 barracks were erected at Haddington. The huts were built of wood and pitched over, and covered with red tiles. Each hut accommodated 24 men. The barracks were constructed to contain about 1,800 men and 500 horses - 326 cavalry, 301 artillery and 1,158 infantry. The infantry barracks were to the north-east of Haddington, lying eastward of the road leading to Harperdean, and bounded by Goatfield and the great north post road. Among the first regiments to occupy the barracks were the 25th, and they were stiU in Haddington when the duel was fought. Doctor CahiU was unwelE and removed a newspaper from the reading room to take to his own room. Captain Rutherford and Dr Cahill argued and a challenge was the result. The meeting took place in a small glen on the farm of Harperdean near the highway leading to East Garleton, sufficiently obscure for the purpose.^ Captain Rutherford who was only twenty-four years of age was mortally wounded. The Haddington Advertiser reported that great regret was shown at the death of this promising young officer, and yet the Berwick Advertiser reported that Captain Rutherford was known as the bully of the regiment. The Berwick newspaper also reported that after the affray Alexander CahiU made off and found lodgings at Butterdean, near Grantshouse, off the highway, where he met a Miss Mary Logan whom he ultimately married. He had to stand trial, but was honourably acquitted. The monthly returns of the 25th, document Alexander Cahill, a Scot, as first being commissioned on 20th August 1803. In 171 172 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUHB September 1810 he was recorded as absent without leave, him being 'supposed to have killed Captain Rutherford in a duel'. The October reports show him as being held as a civil prisoner in Haddington. Later he regularly appears in the monthly returns, for example, 10th June 1811, away from Dunbar to inspect the volunteer forces at Berwick. 6th August 1811, he was absent without leave to attend Court of the Forces, expected to return by 6th October 1811; a further month's absence was granted, and on 12th November 1811 he was seconded to the 1st Battalion in the West Indies. He appears to have stayed with the 1st Battalion until leaving the army in 1814. Doctor Cahill lived from that date at 10 The Parade, Berwick upon Tweed. He was at a meeting on 13th October 1815 of Berwick 'medical men' planning the formation of a Dispensary, and was the secretary from 1818 until 1829.^ He worked for the dispensary until his resignation on 14th November 1851, his own practice being held at a purpose-built surgery at the rear of 10 The Parade. This building still stands. He had three sons and four daughters. His eldest son, also Alexander Piele Cahill, enlisted with the 32nd (The Cornwall) Regiment of Foot on 3rd April 1846 and was Deputy Surgeon General when he retired in 1878. The second son, David Francis Sitwell Cahill, was an honorary consultant physician at Berwick Infirmary for 41 years. Doctor Cahill senior (the duellist) was made Mayor of Berwick in 1841, and was Sheriff in 1846, 1850 and 1862. He was buried in Berwick Burial Ground, and a memorial tablet is on the south wall of the Anglican Church of Holy Trinity, Berwick upon Tweed. A further article from the Haddington Advertiser of 21st April 1899 when writing about the duel, tells the following story: 'On the night of the funeral a few of Captain Rutherford's fellow officers were discussing in their quarters, the events of the day. All at once, one of their number. Lieutenant Gray, who evidently had been indulging over-freely in wine, offered to bet a large sum of money that at midnight he would go and plunge a dagger in to the grave of their comrade they had that day interred. The bet was considered a rash one, but was at once THE DUEL OF HARPERDEAN 173 accepted by Gray's companions, who were only too glad of some excitement to vary the monotony of barrack life. Gray had no sooner thrown down the challenge than he regretted his words. As twelve o'clock approached he assumed a devil may care look and a few minutes before midnight he left the barrack alone, wrapped in his huge military cloak, for the night was chilly. Gray's companions were divided in opinion as to whether he would carry out the bet to the letter, and a heated discussion followed his departure. So keen was the debate that no one noticed how the time had passed till, in a lull in the conversation, one of the officers casually remarked that Gray had had plenty of time to carry out his wager and return. However, he was allowed a few minutes of grace but when more than an hour had elapsed since his departure things began to look serious, and the party decided to go and search for Gray. They entered the graveyard with an eerie feeling and made their way to the grave of Captain Rutherford. With a shiver of horror they saw dimly a figure kneeling on the newly made grave. They cautiously drew near and one of the officers said in a low voice, "Is that you. Gray?" There was no response. They decided to go closer and to their horror they discovered that the kneeling figure was indeed Gray, but quite dead. On trying to lift the lifeless body they found that even by their united efforts they were unable to do so, and at first could not understand the mystery. Tugging at the corpse once more they heard the material of Gray's cloak give way, as if it were being ripped by a sharp instrument, and groping in the direction whence the sound came they solved the mystery. They discovered that the dagger had been driven by Gray up to the hilt into the ground right through his cloak, pinning himself to the grave. The supposition was that Gray having in his extreme agitation when kneeling on the grave. 174 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB plunged his dagger through the folds of his cloak, was in consequence prevented from rising, and his repeated efforts in this direction convinced him that, for his sacrilege, he was held down by some unseen power and the shock and terror had been so great that he died on the spot where he kneeled/ REFERENCES 1. Haddington Advertiser (1899) reprinted from RS, Weekly Scotsman. 2. Verbal information received from Julian Humphreys of the National Army Museum on 'Enquire Within' BBC Radio 4, 28th August 1991. 3. Haddington Advertiser, 21st April 1899. 4. Berwick Dispensary Minutes: Berwick upon Tweed Archives. The following notes are to be read in conjunction with Mr Weatherhead's article, 'Aebbe - her Life and Cult', History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, vol. 47, part 3, pp. 275-90. - Editor THE + ABBAE+ STONE FOUND AT WHITBY ABBEY IN THE ANGLO-SAXON LAYER Rennie Weatherhead 70C Countess Road, Dunbar EH42 IDZ The inscription at present on the -\-Abbae+ stone at Whitby. A case is made that the above stone very likely refers to Ebba of mbs Coludi. In the 1920s excavations took place on the site of a '9th century nunnery' adjacent to the ruin of Whitby Abbey. The report of the excavations was published in 1943. A great collection of various types of artefacts was recovered. Nearly everything showed signs of severe destruction. Included in the finds were a number of broken pieces of stone crosses. Of special interest to Ebba devotees is the above stone. It clearly had been a crosshead with the inscrip- tion -l-Abbae+ written in insular majuscule script symmetrically across the boss of the cross. This style of script was used in the Lindisfarne Gospels and other documents from that time. The excavators recognised that the writing referred to a woman of the name 'Abba' . From that time a few women with this name had been recorded including the most famous Abba of urbs Coludi. Connection between the stone and any of these Abbas was dismissed as none could be linked to Whitby. The English Heritage souvenir booklet, Whitby Abbey, 2nd 175 176 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB edition, 1985, as well as giving incidental information about Ebba also supplies good detail on Northumbrian times at Whitby. It is necessary to emphasise that Ebba of urbs Coludi was a 7th century Northumbrian royal princess. Her father was the first King of aU Northumbria, her mother was a daughter of a King of Deira, her uncle was King Edwin, two of her brothers were kings, Oswald and Oswy, and King Egfrith was her nephew. Her sister-in-law was the second abbess of Whitby and the abbess to succeed her there was Ebba's niece. It is known for certain that both these abbesses together with Edwin and Oswy were buried at Whitby Abbey which was the principal mausoleum of the Northumbrian royal line and its adherents. In addition it is stated that Edwin's shrine there was set among the burials of the royal ladies of his line. This should be sufficient to establish a connection between Ebba of urbs Coludi and the Anglo-Saxon Abbey at Whitby (657-867). Returning to the inscription +Abbae+ on this stone from Whitby, the two crosses must be considered. The excavators tell us that from at least as early as the 7th century the preceding cross was used on Irish slabs presumably to indicate that the person had been a Christian. The Irish origin of the Northumbrian church is well known. No interpretation of the succeeding cross was given. There is an ancient practice used to this day that persons of high rank in the church can place a cross immediately after their name. It appears that the -FAbbae-F stone from Whitby refers to an Abbae of high rank in the Northumbrian church and very likely a royal lady. If this is the case then one is driven to the conclusion that Whitby is the last resting place of Ebba of urbs Coludi. NOTES In documents and books there is no consistency in the spelling of the name Ebba and this short article is no exception. The stone is in the collection of the Yorkshire Museum, York, and was part of a display of Anglo-Saxon finds from Whitby Abbey. FURTHER REFERENCE Peers, Charles, Radford and C. A. Ralegh, 'The Saxon monastery of Whitby', Archaeologia, 89 (1943), pp. 27-88. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Stephen Bunyan for the interpretation of the succeeding cross. THE ^BBE STONE 177 /EBBE'S MONASTERY AND THE NAME COLUD It is speculated that in common with some other British headlands pre- Christian Britons recognised a reptilian shape among the rocks of St Abb's Head. This note concerns what is now called the 'Kirk Hill' on St Abb's Head and which was the site of Abbe's monastery. The names used by both Eddius and Bede in the 8th century for the location of Abbe's 7th century monastery translate as Colud's Fort. In the Life ofEbba, part attributed to Reginald, c. 1200, the name used by Bede is repeated. For the headland in general the earliest recorded appearance of a name equivalent to St Abb's Head is 1461. At a time previous to this, the name had been Coldeburcheshead meaning the headland at Colud's Fort. From the arrival of TEbbe, it appears that it took seven centuries to erase the name of Colud and have it replaced by TEbbe in the local geography. Waimie Carr viewed from the north-west at low water and highlighting its orangelgrey lichen covered splash zone. On the Ordnance Survey map a feature in the cliff below the site of the late 12th century oratory is named the DeiTs Elbow. On the map searching among the names at the Kirk Hill for any other reference to the devil then the rock Waimie Carr becomes a most likely reference. This rock emerges from the lower cliff and points out to sea like a long finger. Waimie Carr translates as 'Belly Rock'. Biblical knowledge gives a connection. It was the serpent that was cast out of the Garden of Eden and for ever made to walk on its belly. When looking at the rock from the north then its shape does suggest a serpent or snake. In medieval churches the stone and wood carvers made many a serpent. At the Kirk Hill it was nature which did the carving. Looking from the sea towards the Kirk Hill, 178 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB medieval man could see the devil and the oratory towering triumphantly above. Now to consider the name 'Colud'. Commentators have pointed out that Colud was not an Anglian personal name, so they claim it must be a British name. It seems however that no one has been able to find this name as such. Consulting a modern dictionary one finds 'Colubrid - any snake of the family Colubridae'. This must be more than coincidence. Some root or form of Colubrid could reduce to Colud, then reduce further to Cold so previously Waimie Carr had been called Colud because it looked like a serpent and Coldingham means the village of the descendants from the fortified settlement beside the rock that looks like a serpent. There is a dictum in anthropology that the gods of the old religion become the devils of the new religion. For Christians the name 'Waimie Carr' is disrespectful, and why so? Could it have been in the old religion that Waimie Carr had been the location for a spirit which controlled the states of the sea and the fogs at St Abb's Head? This can never be known now, but the find position for the two mid Bronze Age armlets by David Aitchison in the 1930s could support this view. Colud then joins the Worm and Lizard*^ of our ancient landscape. *Worm Head, Gower Peninsula, S. Wales; [O.E. wyrm dragon, snake]. Lizard Point, southern-most point of Cornwall. REFERENCES Please consult the references to the main article: ^bbe - her Life and Cult' in the History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, vol. 47, part3, 1998. ADDITIONAL REFERENCES J. & C. Bord, The Enchanted Land, 1995. The Chambers Dictionary, 1993. Philip Heselton, The elements of Earth Mysteries, 1993. James B. Johnston, Place-Names of Scotland, 1934. Ordnance Survey, 1/2500, Berwickshire sheets Y N.E. & VI. N. W. revised 1908. P.S.A.S., 1931, December 14, note. FOGO BRIDGE L. H. Cleat Redbrae, Gavinton, Duns TDll 3QT Some three miles south of Duns lies the small village of Fogo. Only a field's breadth away the road leading to the village crosses an old, single-arched stone bridge spanning the river Blackadder. The bridge was built in 1641 by Sir James Cockburn of Ryslaw and is one of the oldest bridges of its kind still in use in the Borders. The bridge over the Blackadder at Fogo. In 1887 Fogo School could boast of having 96 pupils on the roll between the ages of 5 and 14 years. The children, mainly from neighbouring farms, walked a distance of up to three miles to the school which was, and still is, one of the principal buildings in this hamlet although no longer a public school. Many happy days spent playing on the river banks in summer are recalled by a former pupil, Kate Duncan Thomas, whose father was headmaster. Mr Thomas had very strict rules: only the boys were allowed to wade and bathe (in the days before bathing trunks) in the river above the bridge; while the girls were confined to playing downstream. Although Kate enjoyed a happy childhood in Fogo she learned 179 180 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB about the history attached to the bridge only when she was much older. She eventually emigrated to America and now lives in Virginia. On the outer side of the north parapet, where it is hidden from the view of the passer-by and immediately above the crown of the arch, there is an inscribed panel. One way of viewing the inscription is by leaning precariously over the side of the bridge but this is not to be recommended. Carved in relief on the panel are the letters I.C.M.D. and the date 1641. Below, and side by side, are two shields beneath which is a Latin inscription now only faintly legible. A sketch of this panel is appended. The initials I.C. stand for James Cockburn of Choicelee, the builder's father and M.D. for Marion Douglas, his mother. The arms of Sir James Cockburn, their younger son and builder of the bridge, appear on the left-hand shield which contains three cocks of the Cockburns surrounding a heart to mark the descent from the Douglas family. The arms on the right-hand shield are those of the Edmonstones. Sir James's wife was Marie Edmonstone whose father owned Ryslaw prior to their marriage in 1625. There is a second panel on the outside of the angle of the north parapet. On it is inscribed the following: ^ of Ryslaw brother of Chous ^ lie did this bridge in 1641 FOGO BRIDGE 181 Sir James must have been very proud of his bridge, his connection with his family home and his brother William who became laird of ChousUe (Choicelee) on their father's death. However, there is a shameful incident on record concerning William Cockburn and his mother Marion. They seized the glebe land of Langton and ousted William Methven, who was minister of Langton and had also been minister of Togo at one time. Methven complained to the Privy Council. At the instigation of the Cockburns, and to silence him, Methven was waylaid and grievously attacked between Langton and Fogo. His attackers 'wounded him in divers parts to the effusion of his blude in grite quantitie!'^ The bridge was originally 10ft wide but was later widened to 17ft 6in. The repair is marked by a crumbling plaque on the outside of the south parapet and bears the date 1813. Inspection of the stonework on the underside of the arch reveals the extent of the widening. It is reassuring to learn that the Scottish Borders Council has recently decided to carry out further structural repairs to this ancient bridge. Although the Cockburn family of Ryslaw has long since parted with its lands, it is interesting that a record of occupancy still exists in the bridge over the Blackadder. REFERENCES 1. Cockburn, Sir Robert A., Cockburn, H. (1913). The Records of the Cockburn Family, Edinburgh, T. N. Foulis, 26-27 and 149-150. 2. RCAHMS (1915). Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the County of Berwick, Edinburgh, 87-88. 3. Thomas, K. R. D. (1973). 'Cast your Bread upon the Waters - Carry Me Back', Manuscript, Charlottesville, Virginia. MASONS' MARKS IN LADYKIRK CHURCH TOWER G. A. C. Binnie Ladykirk, Norham, Berwick upon Tweed TD15 IXL Ladykirk Church was built by James IV in 1500 to celebrate the year of Papal Jubilee. A campanile was added in 1743 and it is obvious that the original tower ended about midway between the wall head and the summit of the west gable. This is shown in Buck's 1728 print of Norham Castle. Apart from the campanile, the structure is unique in the churches of the Borders in that it is virtually as the builders left it on completion. It is also remarkable that although only about one kilometre from Norham Castle, it survived unscathed the widespread destruction caused by Henry VIQ's armies in the 1540s. This makes it seem unlikely that it was used as an observation post to watch the Castle as is sometimes suggested. The original church tower consisted of a basement room with two floors above it. The latter two rooms were obviously part of the priests' quarters in the mediaeval church. They are served by a spiral stair now leading from a door in the north-west corner of the church itself. The basement room has recently been cleared of an old accumulation of lumber and it can be seen that the stair from the tower once opened into that room only, and that there was a doorway from the same room into the church through the centre of the west wall of the church. The basement room must therefore have been one of three rooms for the priests and must have been used as such until after the Reformation in 1560. The two doorways were probably built up when the campanile was added in 1743 or possibly in 1861 when the parish school ceased to use the west end of the nave. The present doorway into the bottom of the stone stair was probably built at the same time. The other feature of the ground floor room which has become obvious, especially on the ceiling, is a collection of masons' marks numbering at least thirty. Only one was visible on the outside walls, probably because of weathering. Further inspection showed at least 25 masons' marks on the staircase up to the second floor room, especially on the newel. In all about 55 were counted, about 43 182 MASON'S MARKS IN LADYKIRK CHURCH TOWER 183 different marks. No masons' marks were noticed elsewhere in the church. It is interesting to speculate that the early part of the tower was perhaps part of the preceding parish church of Easter Upsettlington which was retained by James IV in his new church. Norham Castle is well known for its masons' marks, 24 different out of 26 having been recorded by Maple in the late 1940s. Nicholas Jackson was the master mason at Ladykirk who moved on to do further work for James IV In 1510 there was one master mason and 20 stone-masons. The actual stone-masons were probably not too concerned about crossing the Tweed to find work. Even although only two or three marks are common to both buildings, it is interesting to speculate how many masons helped to repair the damage inflicted on the Castle when it was the object of the attention of James IV in 1497, and who then moved across the Tweed to build Ladykirk Church in 1500. However, it has to be admitted that most of Norham Castle's collection of masons' marks appear to be on walls built in the 12th century. REFERENCES Hunter Blair, C. H. (1932). 'Buck's View of Norham Castle in 1728', History of the Berwickshire Naturalists ' Club, 28, 38, plate 2. Maples, W, (late 1940s). Masons' Marks in Co Durham and N'land, 30, Manuscript notebook in library of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I acknowledge the help given by Denis Peel, honorary librarian of the Society of Antiquaries in locating Maple's notebook and for supplying a photocopy of the page dealing with Norham Castle. This is now in the Club Library together with my rough notes of the findings in Ladykirk Church. FIELD NOTES AND RECORDS -2000 BOTANICAL RECORDS D. G. Long Spottiswoode House, Gordon, Berwickshire TD3 6NQ Bryophytes Records are included from the four Scottish Borders vice-counties, VC 78 Peebles, vc 79 Selkirk, vc 80 Roxburgh and vc 81 Berwick. All records were made during 2000. Botanical nomenclature follows Blockeel & Long, Check-list and Census Catalogue of British and Irish Bryophytes (1998); common names follow Edwards, English Names for British Bryophytes (1997). Mosses Andreaea alpina. ALPINE RoCK-MOSS. On rocks by waterfall in ravine, TaUa Linns, NT1420, 5 May, D. G. Long. First post-1950 record for vc78. Bryoeryuthrophyllum ferruginascens. RUFOUS Beard-MOSS. Calcareous boulder by burn. Black Burn below Long GiU, Newcastleton, NY4589, 24 June, D. G. Long, R. W. M. Corner & G. P Rothero. New to vc 80. Ctenidium molluscum var. condensatum. CHALK COMB-MOSS. Stony flush in ravine, Talla Linns, NT1320, 5 May, D. G. Long. First post-1950 record for vc 78. Drepanocladus revolvens. RUSTY HoOK-MOSS. Fen by burn, Dowlaw Moss, NT8468, 1 March, D. G. Long. Confirmation of only previous record in 1927; all other old records of this species from vc 81 refer to D. cossonii. Fissidens exilis. SLENDER PoCKET-MOSS. On ant-hill at edge of Crataegus thicket, Tibby Fowler's Glen, NT9354, 1 March, D. G. Long. Third recent record for vc 81. Fissidens incurvus. SHORT-LEAVED PoCKET-MOSS. On clay soil in Crataegus thicket, Tibby Fowler's Glen, NT9354, 1 March, D. G. Long. First record away from coast for vc 81 . 184 FIELD NOTES AND RECORDS - 2000 185 Grimmia curvata. SPREADiNG-LEAVED Grimmia. Rock crevice by waterfall in ravine, Talla Linns, NT1320, 5 May, D. G. Long. Only recent record for vc 78. Microbryum curvicolle. SWAN-NECKED Earth-MOSS. Soil on rocky slope, foot of Milldown Burn, NT9166, 5 March, D. G. Long. Fourth record for vc 81 . Microbryum davallianum. SMALLEST POTTIA. Soil ledges on rocky bank by sea, foot of Milldown Burn, NT9166, 10 March, D. G. Long. Second post-1950 record for vc 81 . Orthotrichum sprucei. SPRUCE'S Bristle-MOSS. On base of Salix and Alnus by river, near Southdean Church, Jed Water, NT6309, 23 June, D. G. Long & G. E Rothero. Confirmation of only record from vc 80 in 1961. Racomitrium ericoides. DENSE Fringe-MOSS. Mossy carpet on boulder by burn. Black Burn below Long Gill, Newcastleton, NY4589, 24 June, D. G. Long, R. W M. Corner & G. O. Rothero. First post- 1950 record for vc 80. Rhabdoweisia crenulata. GREATER Streak-MOSS. Rock crevice by waterfall in ravine, Talla Linns, NT1320, 5 May, D. G. Long. New to vc 78. Schstidium crassipilum. Thickpoint Grimmia. Limestone boulder by burn. Black Burn at foot of Rough GiU, Newcastleton, NY4589, 24 June, D. G. Long, R. W. M. Corner & G. R Rothero; on limy wall by water butt, Spottiswoode House, NT6049, 30 June, D. G. Long. New to vc 80 and vc 81. Sphagnum inundatum. LESSER Cow-HORN BOG-MOSS. Small valley flush, Wolfen Burn, Blythe Water, 29 May, D. G. Loing. Third record for vc81. Sphagnum quinquefarium. FiVE-RANKED BOG-MOSS. Amongst Calluna on bank, Killmade Burn, NT6662, 20 July, D. G. Long and BNC party. Fourth record for vc 81 . Sphagnum teres. RIGID BOG-MOSS. Flush, Boondreigh Burn above Gairmuir, NT5952, 29 May, D. G. Long. Fourth record for vc 81 . Tomentypnum nitens. WOOLLY Feather-MOSS. Calcareous flush, Boondreigh Burn above Gairmuir NT6052, 20 February, D. G. Long; calcareous grassy flush, Wolfen Burn, Blythe Water, NT5752, 29 May, D. G. Long. Third and fourth extant sites in vc 81 for this declining species. 186 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Trichostomum tenuirostre. Narrow-FRUITED Crisp-MOSS. On stones in small tributary of ravine, Talla Linns, NT1320, 5 May, D. G. Long. New to vc 78. Liverworts Bazzania tricrenata. LESSER WHIPWORT. On open bank of ravine, Talla Linns, NT1320, 5 May, D. G. Long. First post-1950 record for vc 78. Bazzania trilohata. GREATER WHIPWORT. On mossy boulder under Sorbus on steep scree slope, Eilbank Crag, NT4035, 5 May, D. G. Long. Confirmation of only site in vc 79, last recorded in 1973. Blepharostoma trichophyllum. Hairy Threadwort. Shady rock face in wooded ravine, Frampath Burn, NT7461, 28 July, D. G. Long. Third record for vc 81 and first since 1973. Calypogeia arguta. NOTCHED POUCHWORT. On bank of small side gully of ravine, Talla Linns, NT1320, 5 May, D. G. Long. First post-1950 record for vc 78. Leiocolea bantriensis. Bantry Notchwort. Calcareous flush, Boondreigh Burn above Gairmuir, NT6052, 29 May, D. G. Long. Third locality for vc 81 . Lejeunea patens. PEARL POUNCEWORT. On shady rocks in ravine, TaUa Linns, NT1320, 5 May, D. G. Long. An oceanic species very rare in Borders; only recent record for vc 78. Scapania gracilis. WESTERN Earwort. On boulder in clearing in conifers on steep slope, Elibank Crag, NT4036, 5 May, D. G. Long. Second recent record for vc 79. Trichocolea tomentella. HANDSOME WOOLLYWORT. Steep flushed slope, KiUmade Burn at foot of Rough Cleugh, NT6662, 20 July, D. G. Long and BNC party. Second recent record for vc 81. Vascular Plants Nomenclature follows Kent, List of Vascular Plants of the British Isles (1992) except where indicated. All are field records made during 2000; refers to an introduction. The status of introductions is classified as Established, Surviving, Casual or Planted. Arrhenatherum elatius var. bulbosus. Onion Couch. Arable headland, Grizzlefield, NT5939, NT5940, 30 September, M. E. Braithwaite. Plentiful; second record for vc 81. FIELD NOTES AND RECORDS - 2000 187 Asplenium marinum. Sea Spleenwort. Rock cleft, Lumsdaine Shore, NT8770, 9 September, M. E. Braithwaite; cliff. Midden Craig, NT8370, 14 October, M. E. Braithwaite. Distribution imperfectly known due to inaccessibility. *Coronopus didymus. LESSER SwiNECRESS. New industrial area, Gunsgreen, NT9464, 23 September, M. E. Braithwaite. Second record for vc 81. Good colony, as yet casual, but perhaps from the seed bank of an established colony. Coronopus squamatus. SwiNECRESS. Garden and pavement, Northburn Road, Eyemouth, NT9364, 23 September, M. E. Braithwaite. Only known in vc 81 about Eyemouth. Dactylorhiza incarnata ssp. pulchella. Early Marsh-ORCHID. Flushed grassland, Fangrist Burn, NT6948, 17 June, M. E. Braithwaite, det. R. M. Bateman. Three plants. First record for vc 81 of this striking subspecies. Elytrigia repens x E. juncea {=Elytrigia x laxa). COMMON X Sand Couch. Sand dune fragment. Pease Bay, NT7970, 9 September, M. E. & E F. Braithwaite, det. T. A. Cope. With E. juncea; first record for vc81. "^Erysimum cheiranthoides. TREACLE MUSTARD. Pheasant cover, Huntshaw Hill, Earlston, NT5640, 3 August. L. Gaskell. Further evidence of this recently established species. Euphrasia micrantha. Eyebright. Heather bank, Boondreigh Burn, NT6052, 6 August, M. E. Braithwaite. A colony with striking deep purple flowers. Fumaria densiflora. Dense-flowered Fumitory. Setaside, West Morriston, NT5939, 20 June, L. Gaskell; disturbed ground, Cockburnspath, NT7771, 14 October, M. E. Braithwaite. Welcome evidence of a species very scarce in the Scottish Borders. Fumaria purpurea. PURPLE Ramping-FUMITORY. Oil-seed rape and hedgebank, near Eyemouth, NT9462, NT9562 and NT9364, 6 May, M. E. Braithwaite; setaside, Addiston, NT5253, 16 July, L. Gaskell & K. Velander; garden, Cockburnspath, NT7771, 14 October, M. E. Braithwaite. Further evidence of a nationally scarce endemic species. Genista anglica. PETTY Whin. Heather moor, near Wheelburn Law, NT5751, 27 May, D. G. Long. Several plants. A species now 188 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB threatened in the Scottish Borders. Gymnadenia conopsea ssp. borealis. FRAGRANT ORCHID. Damp grassland, Cromwells, NT5950, 30 June, D. G. Long. A colony of 13 flowering spikes. This subspecies is believed to be that to which most Berwickshire records should be referred. Gymnocarpion dryopteris. Oak Fern. Steep wooded bank, EUerburn Wood, NT7660, 30 September, M. E. Braithwaite; steep wooded bank, Langtonlees Cleugh, NT7452, 9 October, M. E. Braithwaite. Good colonies at both sites. *Helianthus annuus. SUNFLOWER. Edge of beach, Eyemouth, NT9464, 23 September, M. E. Braithwaite, det. L. Springate. One small plant in fruit. Casual. Juniperus communis. Juniper. Scree slope, Borrowston Rig, NT5552, 26 February, M. E. Braithwaite. About 50 bushes. Cliff top, Lamberton, NT9659, 9 June, M. E. & E F. Braithwaite. Two small bushes; only extant coastal record. Lathraea squamaria. Toothwort. On poplar, Mertoun Bridge, NT6132, 11 April, F. Evans. One spike. Phegopteris connectilis. Beech Fern. Steep woodland bank, EUerburn Wood, NT7660, 30 September, M. E. Braithwaite. Good colony. Platanthera bifolia. LESSER BUTTERFLY- ORCHID. Flush, Greenlaw Moor, NT7148, 26 June, C. O. Badenoch. Two spikes. Populus tremula. ASPEN. Cliff ledge, Lamberton, NT9658, 9 June, M. E. & E F. Braithwaite. Small grove. ^Scutellaria altissima. SOMERSET SKULLCAP. Garden, BUnkbonnie, Earlston, 27 July, K. Brownlie, det. D. R. McKean. Two colonies, not knowingly introduced. Trichophorum cespitosum ssp. cespitosum. SCARCE Deer-GRASS. Flush at edge of raised bog, Dogden Moss, NT6949, 25 June, M. E. Braithwaite, det. G. A. Swan. SmaU colony. Transition from raised bog, Longmuir Moss, NT4750, 1 July, M. E. Braithwaite, det. G. A. Swan. SmaU Colony; present in both vc 81 and 83. First and second records for vc 81 of this distinctive taxon which may merit specific status. A further record from Dogden Moss, NT6749, 1 July, M. E. Braithwaite, is considered to relate to the backcross between ssp. cespitosum and nothosp. foersteri. It is represented by a single very large clump. FIELD NOTES AND RECORDS - 2000 189 Trichophorum cespitosum nothosp. foersteri. SWAN'S Deer-GRASS. Raised bog, Dogden Moss, NT6949, 25 June, M. E. Braithwaite. Raised bog, Longmuir Moss, NT4750, 1 July, M. E. Braithwaite. Plentiful at both mosses. Vida saliva ssp. saliva. COMMON Vetch. Forestry track, Spottis- woode Loch, NT6049, 1 July, D. G. Long, det. M. E. Braithwaite. Casual. Viola canina. Heath Dog-VIOLET. Grassy knowe, St Abb's Head, NT9169, 27 May, M. E. & R E Braithwaite. Two plants. Cleft in south-facing rocks, Hareheugh Craigs, NT6839, 3 June, M. E. Braithwaite & R. W. M. Corner. One plant. Viola canina x V riviniana {—Viola x inlermedia). Heath x Common DoG-VIOLET. North-facing slopes, Hareheugh Craigs, NT6839 and NT6840, 3 June, M. E. Braithwaite & R. W. M. Corner. Two patches. New to vc 81 . Birds at St Abbs Head in 2000 K. J. Rideout All records refer to the National Nature Reserve unless otherwise stated Red Throated Diver, Gavia slellala. Occasional Aug-Oct, max. 20S on 23/9. Black Throated Diver, Gavia arclica. In Sep, singles on 23rd and 25th. Little Grebe, Tachybaplus ruficollis. Single on several dates Jan-Mar; 1 pair nested but no young seen; 1-2 on several dates Aug-Dec. MiUars Moss - 2 on 23/4. Red Necked Grebe, Podiceps grisegena. 1 in Pettico Wick Bay on 23/9. Black Necked Grebe, Podiceps nigricollis. In Dec, 1 at MiUars Moss on 16th and 26th. Fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis. Population count = 274 apparently occupied sites. Breeding success was 0.2 young fledged per active site, about average for Fulmars here. Sooty Shearwater, Puffinus griseus. In Sep, IS on 1st, 2N on 12th, IS on 20th, IS on 24th. 190 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Manx Shearwater, Puffinus puffinus. 14/4 1 N; Jun - 25N between 14th and 26th; Jul - 38N between 1st and 25th; Aug - 3S on 18th, 3N on 19th. Storm Petrel, Hydrobates pelagicus. 22/7 2 tape lured and ringed; 5/8 3 tape lured and ringed. Gannet, Morus bassana. Seen frequently in most months with especially large feeding groups off the Head in early to mid July. Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo. Seen most months, flying past in small numbers. On Mire Loch, singles occasionally recorded in Apr. Shag, Phalacrocorax aristotelis. A total of 233 apparently occupied nests with mean productivity of 1.6 young fledged per active nest. Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea. Seen most months with up to 4 at Mire Loch in Aug and Sep. Mute Swan, Cygnus olor. Pair at Mire Loch from beginning of Jan (NCA and 182) hatched 6 young on 14/5, of which only 2 survived to the end of the year. At Millars Moss, the family of 4 from 1999 (adults - KPZ and BTO ring only; juveniles 082 and 080) remained through Jan/Feb but one of the juveniles died in March. The adults nested, hatching 7 cygnets around 30/5 but only 5 survived to the end of the year. Whooper Swan, Cygnus cygnus. 23/3 17N; Oct - 4S on 10th, 7S on 15th. Pink Footed Goose, Anser brachyrhynchus. Feb - 80N on 7th, 60N on 26th; Sep - 25S on 20th, 85S on 29th; Oct - 130S on 15th, 80S on 17th. Greylag Goose, Anser anser. 22/10 25S. Barnacle Goose, Branta leucopsis. 11/3 60N; 30/9 17S; Oct - 18S on 1st, 33S on 17th. WiGEON, Anas penelope. Mire Loch - peak counts were 9 on 15/1; 2 on 13/2; 5 on 17/9; 4 on 21/10; 2 on 18/11; 10 on 30/12. Millars Moss - 2 on 16/12 was the only record. Teal, Anas crecca. Mire Loch - 20 on 9/9 and 30 on 20/9 were the only significant counts. Millars Moss - peak counts were 15 on 22/1; 7 on 18/4; 17 on 26/8; 9 on 16/12. Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos. Mire Loch - No breeding. Peak FIELD NOTES AND RECORDS - 2000 191 counts were 20 on 2/1 and 15/1; 7 on 13/2; 5 on 13/3; 6 on 23/8; 6 on 17/9; 18 on 21/10; 16 on 18/11; 20 on 16/12. MiUars Moss - one brood seen. Peal counts were 28 on 17/1; 7 on 13/2; 6 on 3/4; 15 on 29/7; 9 on 17/9; 12 on 21/10; 8 on 18/11; 10 on 16/12. Pintail, Anfls acuta. Single at Millars Moss on 15/1, 22/1 and 13/2. Shoveler, Anas clypeata. In Aug, single at Millars Moss 25th-28th. Red Crested Pochard, Netta rufina. A female, probably feral, at Northfield on 29/4. Pochard, Aythyaferina. Single at Mire Loch on 1/1; Millars Moss - 1 on 17/1; 6 on 13/3; 1 on 27/9. Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula. Mire Loch - peak counts were 16 on 15/1; 14 on 13/2; 23 on 24/3; 21 on 5/4; 12 on 23/8; 14 on 17/9; 13 on 3/10; 3 on 18/11; 12 on 18/12. Millars Moss - peak counts were 5 on 13/3; 23 on 22/4; 15 on 29/5; 12 on 17/9; 7 on 21/10; 1 1 on 18/1 1; 5 on 16/12. Eider, Somateria mollissima. 30/1 599 off the Head. Nest with 2 eggs on Nunnery Point on 29/5 was deserted by 5/6. Common Scoter, Melanitta nigra. 21/6 30N; Jul - 38N on 1st, 25N on 9th, 280N (11.00-12.30) on 22nd, 25N on 23rd, 30N on 24th; Aug - ION on 5th, 95N on 27th; Sep - 22N on 12th, 20N on 15th, 15N on 16th, 20N on 20th. Velvet Scoter, Melanitta fusca. Jul - 5N on 22nd, 2N on 23rd, 2N on 25th; 20/9 2N. Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula. Mire Loch - up to 3 Jan-Mar, singles in Oct and Dec. Millars Moss - peak counts were 4 on 17/1; 5 on 13/2, 6 on 13/3; 8 on 3/4; 1 on 16/12. Red Breasted Merganser, Mergus serrator. 17/1 1 Mire Loch; At sea, 4N on 10/7, 3N on 1217, 6N on 12/9. Goosander, Mergus merganser. Mire Loch - 2 on 1/1 then a regular single between 15/1 and 5/4. Honey Buzzard, Pernis apivorus. 1 reported flying over on 20/9. Sparrow Hawk, Accipiter nisus. Singles recorded in most months, especially frequent in Aug/Sep. Pair probably bred at Northfield. Buzzard, Buteo buteo. Singles at Northfield on 3/3, 4/9, 20/9 and 21/9. Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus. Singles recorded regularly between 1/8 and 15/10. Ion 30/11. 192 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Merlin, Falco columbarius. Singles on 20/9 and 10/10. Hobby, Falco subbuteo. 1 reported on 9/9. Peregrine, Falco peregrinus. Regular sigKtings Mar-Sep. Pair nested in an old crow's nest, fledging 1 chick around 29/6. Grey Partridge, Perdix perdix. 2 on 10/4 and \2/7. At Northfield, 3 on 3/4, 2 on 18/5, 2 on 14/6. Quail, Coturnix coturnix. At Northfield, single on 14/6. Water Rail, Rallus aquaticus. Singles in Mar, Apr, Sep, Oct, Dec. Moorhen, Gallinula chloropus. Mire Loch - up to 3 Jan-Mar and 4 in Apr but no breeding. 1 on 23/8. Up to 3 in Sep, 6 in Oct, 3 in Nov, 6 in Dec. Millars Moss - at least one pair nested. Coot, Fulica Atra. Mire Loch - 2 pairs nested raising 1 young. Peak counts were 2 in Jan, 1 in Feb, 4 in Mar, 4 in Apr, 8 in Aug, 7 in Sep and Oct, 8 ion Nov, 6 in Dec. Millars Moss - at least 2 pairs nested. Peak counts were 14 in Jan, 22 in Feb, 17 in Mar and Apr, 9 in May, 10 in Sep, 5 in Oct, 7 in Nov, 6 in Dec. Oystercatcher, Haematopus ostralegus. Recorded in most months, usually 1-3 birds, max 5 on 29/4. Pair nested at Millars Moss. Golden Plover, Pluvialis apricaria. 1-3 flying over on 5 dates between 24/8 and 27/9. 12 on 30/12. Grey Plover, Pluvialis squatarola. 2S on 23/9. Lapwing, Vanellus vanellus. 20 on 30/12. Purple Sandpiper, Calidris maritima. 1 on 7/11. Snipe, Gallinago gallinago. Singles on 18/4 and 25/9. Woodcock, Scolopax rusticola. Singles on 24/3 and 24/4, 2 on 23/10 and 18/12, 3 on 30/12. Bar-tailed Godwit, Limosa lapponica. 3S on 1/9 and 17S on 4/9. Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus. 1/5 1; 30/6 1; Jul - 11 on 24th, 1 on 25th; Sep - 2 on 1 St, 1 on 4th, 2 on 1 6th. Curlew, Numenius arquata. Recorded in most months, mostly Northfield, usually 1-12 birds. Redshank, Tringa totanus. Singles most months but 7 on 30/7. Greenshank, Tringa nebularia. Aug - single at Millars Moss on 25th and at Mire Loch on 26th. Common Sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos. Singles on 23/4 and 15/5; Aug - 1 on 24th, 2 on 26th, 1 on 30th. FIELD NOTES AND RECORDS - 2000 193 Turnstone, Arenaria interpres. No records from NNR in 2000 but 4 at St Abbs harbour on 27/4. POMARINE Skua, Stercorarius pomarinus. Jul - IS on 23rd, IN on 22nd, 7N on 25th; Aug-4N on 3rd, IS on 27th. Arctic Skua, Stercorarius parasiticus. Jun - 2N on 26th, IN on 29th; Jul - IN on 7th, 2N on 10th, 2N on 22nd, 6N 2S on 23rd, IN IS on 24th, 2N on 25th; Aug - 1 on 4th, IN on 18th, 4S on 27th, IN on 30th; Sep - 3N on 9th, lOS (11.15-12.15) on 12th, singles on 15th, 24thand25th; 31/10 IN. Great Skua, Stercorarius skua. 2616 3N; Jul - IN on 4th, 3N on 10th, IN on 11th, 4N on 23rd; Aug - IN on 17th, 2 on 29th; Sep - IS on 1st, 6N on 12th, 1 on 15th, 4 on 20th; single on 12/10. Lesser Black Backed Gull, Larusfuscus. No nests located. 2 on 2^4 was the only record. Herring Gull, Larus argentatus. 307 apparently occupied nests. Great Black Backed Gull, Larus marinus. Pair nested on Wuddy Rocks for the second year but unsuccessful. Kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla. First birds on ledges on 13/3. 11,077 apparently occupied nests with mean productivity of 0.8 young per AON. First egg on 20/5, chick on 9/6, fledgling on 18/7. Sandwich Tern, Sterna sandvicensis. First 3 on 10/4. SmaU numbers May-Sep with best counts 62N on 25/7 and 80S on 27/8. Guillemot, Uria aalge. Birds occasionally on ledges from mid Mar. Numbers on monitoring lots increased by 37% compared to 1999, producing the highest counts on record. First known egg on 1/5, chick on 3/6. Razorbill, Aka tor da. Some birds on ledges on 13/3, Numbers on monitoring plots increased by 25% compared to 1999, producing some of the highest counts on record. Puffin, Fratercula arctica. First birds on cliffs on 18/4. Peak June count was 58 ashore on 22nd. WOODPIGEON, Columba palumbus. 6 breeding territories. Collared Dove, Streptopelia decaocto. 1-3 on 3 dates in June. Present around Northfield in most months. Tawny Owl, Strix aluco. 2AJS 1; Regularly heard at Ranger's Cottage. 194 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLL1B Swift, Apus apus. First record on 17/5 but no significant counts. Last record was 1 on 28/9. Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis. Singles on 13/9, 19/9 and 10/10. Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dendrocopos major. Single at Mire Loch on 28/3, 21/4, 28/7, 1/9 and 22/10. Frequent single at Northfield. Skylark, Alauda arvensis. Two breeding territories overlapped neighbouring farmland. No other significant counts. Sand Martin, Riparia riparia. First 1 on 10/4 but no significant counts. Last record was 20/9. Swallow, Hirundo rustica. First seen on 7/4 but no significant counts. One pair bred at boathouse. House Martin, Delichon urbica. First 1 on 23/4. Peak counts were 50 on 30/7 and 70 on 23/8. c. 400 by Ranger's Cottage on 4/9. Richards Fifit, Anthus novaeseelandiae. 1 on 9/11 (D. Graham). Tree Pipit, Anthus trivialis. Singles on 29/4 and 9/5. Sep - singles on 13th, 23rd and 25 th, 2 on 27th. Meadow Pipit, Anthus pratensis. One breeding territory plus another that overlapped NNR boundary. Peak count was 50 on 24/3. Rock Pipit, Anthus petrosus. Ten breeding territories plus 2 over- lapping Reserve boundary. Yellow Wagtail, Motacillaflava. Singles on 24/4 and 7/5. Grey Wagtail, Motacilla cinerea. 31/8 2; 9/9 1. Occasional at Northfield. Pied Wagtail, Motacilla alba. Four breeding territories. Wren, Troglodytes troglodytes. Eight breeding territories. Dunnock, Prunella modularis. Eight breeding territories. Robin, Erithacus rubecula. Two breeding territories. Peak counts were in Sep with 20-40 daily 20th-28th dropping to 10 by 3/10. 22/11 15; 18/127. Black Redstart, Phoenicurus ochruros. Dec - single on 18th and 26th. Redstart, Phoenicurus phoenicurus. Apr - single on 19th, 20th and 25th; 30/8 2; Sep - 5 on 12th-13th, 3 on 14th, 2 on 16th, 1 20th- 22nd, 8 on 25th, 5 on 27 th, 2 on 30th; 3/10 1. FIELD NOTES AND RECORDS - 2000 195 Whinchat, Saxicola rubetra. Apr - 4 on 27th, 2 on 28th; 25/5 1; 4/6 1; Aug - 3 on 5th, singles on 7th, 23rd and 27th; Sep - singles on 3rd and 9 th, 1-3 daily 12th-27th. Stonechat, saxicola torquata. Jun - single on 14th and 19th then 2 from 21st; Jul - 2 daily; Aug - 2 to 19th then 3 from 20th; Sep - 2-3 daily; Oct-Dec 2 daily. Wheatear, Oenanthe oenanthe. Mar - First one on 18th then singles on several dates; Apr - up to 6 daily but 30 on 25th; 3/10 4. Ring Ouzel, Turdus torquatus. Apr - single on 13th, 15th and 18th; Sep - single on 14th and 25th. Blackbird, Turdus merula. Four breeding territories. Peak counts in Nov with 50 on 7th and 22nd. Fieldfare, Turdus pilaris. Recorded Apr-May and Sep- Oct but low numbers and no significant counts. Song Thrush, Turdus philomelos. Two breeding territories. Peak count was 20 on 26/9. Redwing, Turdus iliacus. Single on 26/4. Low numbers in Autumn with peak counts of 25 on 23/10 and 100 on 7/1 1 . Mistle Thrush, Turdus viscivorus. One breeding territory. No other significant counts. Grasshopper Warbler, Locustella naevia. Singles at Northfield on 23/4 and 1/7. Sedge Warbler, Acroccp/z^/ws schoenobaenus. First 1 on 23/4. Thirteen breeding territories. Last record on 8/9. Reed Warbler, Acrocephalus scirpaceus. 20/8 1; Sep - singles on 1st and 4th, 2 on 20th, singles on 22nd, 25th and 28th, 6 on 30th; 22/101. ICTERINE Warbler, Hippolais icterina. 26/8 1; Sep - singles on 2nd, 4th, 5th, 20 th and 21st. Lesser Whhethroat, Sylvia curruca. 26/8 1; Sep - singles on 8 dates; Oct - singles on 2nd and 5th. WHITETHROAT, Sylvia communis. One breeding territory. First one on 19/4; May - 1-2 on 6 dates; Jul - 1 juv on 1st, 2 on 22nd, singles on 22nd and 23rd; Sep - 1-2 13th-21st then 7 on 22nd, 3 25th- 28th, Ion 30th; 127101. Garden Warbler, Sylvia borin. 25/4 1; Sep - 1-3 on 10 dates but 5 on 20th and 4 on 26th; 15/101. 196 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla. One breeding territory. Apr - first one on 10th then 1-2 18th-27th and 4 on 28th; May - 1-3 on 4 dates; 22/7 1; Sep - 1-2 lst-12th, 3-4 13th-23rd, 6 on 25th, 12 on 26th, 10 on 27th, 3 on 28th; Oct -1-2 on 5 dates; 22/11 1. Yellow-browed Warbler, Phylloscopus inornatus. Sep - 1 on 24th (ringed), 1 on 25th (unringed), singles on 26th and 27th; Oct - 1 on 10th (ringed), singles on 13th and 14th, 1 on 15th (unringed). Radde'S Warbler, Phylloscopus schwarzi. 1 from 13th to 15th October. Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita. One breeding territory. Mar - singles on 18th, 28th and 29th; Apr - 1-3 on 7 dates but 10 on 18th; May - singles on 14th and 17th, 2 on 19th; Sep - 1-2 on 7 dates from 13th; Oct - singles on 2nd and 10th, 2 on 15th; 29/11 1 Northfield. Willow Warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus. Six breeding territories. Apr -2 on 18th, 4 on 19th, 20 on 20th and 27 th, 10 on 28 th; Aug -4 on 24th, 2 on 27th; Sep - 1-3 lst-12th, 30 on 13th, 10 on 21st, 30 daily 23rd-27th but only 2 on 28th; 3/101. Goldcrest, Regulus regulus. 10 on 24/3 and 7/4; 24/8 20; Sep - c. 50 on 5th, 10th, 13th and 20th, 60 on 23rd, 20 on 27th; Oct - 20 on 3rd, 30 on 10th, 25 on 23rd. Firecrest, Regulus ignicapillus. 1 on 24/9 (J. Burns). Spotted Flycatcher, Muscicapa striata. May - 1-2 daily 14th-25th; Jun - 2 on 1 St, 1 on 20th; Jul - 2 on 1 1 th, 1 on 20th; Sep - 1 -2 almost daily but 3 on 21 st and 27th; 3/101. Pied Flycatcher, Ficedula hypoleuca. 23/5 1; Aug - 1 on 26th, 4 on 27th; Sep - 2 on 3rd, 3 on 12th and 13th, then 1-2 on 7 dates to 30th. Long Tailed Tit, Aegithalos caudatus. 21/9 15; Oct - 7 on 3rd, 4 on 15th. Coal Tit, Parus ater. Present Aug/Sep but no significant counts. Blue Tit, Parus caeruleus. One pair bred in nest box. Great Tit, Parus major. One breeding territory. TREECREEPER, Certhia familiaris. Northfield only - singles on 24/4 and 25/7. Golden Oriole, Oriolus oriolus. 22/5 a male sang briefly at Ranger's Cottage (KJR). FIELD NOTES AND RECORDS - 2000 197 Magpie, Pica pica. Singles on 27/9, 14/10 and 15/10, 4 on 10/11. Now frequent at Northfield. Jackdaw, Corvus monedula. Breeds on cliffs but no test counts. 18/12 80. Carrion Crow, Corvus cor one. Nine nesting pairs. Raven, Corvus corax. 4/4 1; 2V7 2; Sep - 1-2 flying over on 5 dates; 22/11 2; 18/12 2. Present at Earns Heugh, Lumsdaine but nest site not located though breeding probably did occur. Starling, Sturnus vulgaris. 200 on 17/1 was the only significant count. Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs. Seven breeding territories. No other significant counts. Brambling, Fringilla montifringilla. Apr - 1 on 26th, 2 on 29th; Sep - 1 on 21st, 20 on 25 th, 4 on 26th, 2 on 27th. Greenfinch, Carduelis chloris. Singles on 15/4, 18/4, 19/5 and 17/7. Goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis. One breeding territory. 30 on 1/1, 28 on 19/9, 2 on 18/12. Siskin, Carduelis spinus. Apr - singles on 7th and 21st; Sep - singles on 20th and 21st, 30 on 24th, 130 on 26th, 50 on 27th. Linnet, Carduelis cannabina. Nine breeding territories. 50 on 24/3, 150 on 24/7. Redpoll, Carduelis flammea. Singles on 1/5 and 9/6. Common Rosefinch, Carpodacus erythrinus. 1 on 8/6 (Fran Evans), 3 onl2/9(KJR). Snow Bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis. 31/3 1; Nov - 21 on 10th, 5 on 22nd. Yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella. Two breeding territories plus one other overlapping Reserve boundary. 12 at Northfield on 3/4 was the only other significant count (only 10 years ago there were 10 breeding territories and counts of 20-40 fairly common). Reed Bunting, Emberiza schoeniclus. Three breeding territories. 3 on 23/10. ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES - 2000 NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND Elizabeth Williams Sites & Monuments Records Officer, County Hall, Morpeth, Northumberland NE61 2EF BERWICK UPON TWEED, 104-106 MARYGATE (NT 998529). A small parcel of land to the rear of Marygate was evaluated by Archaeological Services, University of Durham for Robson Design. A single trench, excavated to an average depth of 0.65 m, revealed three pits of probable medieval date filled with rubbish deposits containing animal bone and shell. The largest pit was waterlogged and measured 2.3 m wide and was excavated to a depth of 0.86 m. The pits lay just below the modern ground surface, truncated by building work from the 18th century onwards, and were not excavated to their full depth as this went beyond the level of disturbance proposed by the development. BERWICK UPON TWEED, BERWICK RAILWAY STATION (NT 994534) . A watching brief was kept by Tyne and Wear Museums for Rail track during works for the insertion of two lift shafts. Two 10 m core samples were taken prior to the excavation of the lift shafts; they revealed strong evidence for the presence of substantial undisturbed archaeological deposits associated with the medieval castle. One sample taken on the putative line of the E. curtain of the castle met with nearly 3 m of sandstone and mortar. The second sample was taken within the castle precinct and encountered 3 m of stratified organic deposits. BERWICK UPON TWEED, BERWICK POLICE STATION (NT 999529). Deposits of 16th century domestic refuse were revealed during a watching brief kept by Tyne and Wear Museums for Northumbria Police Authority. Among the refuse was the first sherd of Cistercian Ware found in Berwick. 198 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES - 2000 199 HOLY ISLAND, THE PALACE', MARYGATE (NU 148429). Excavation on the probable site of a Tudor military supply base was carried out by Channel 4's Time Team and Northern Archaeological Associates for Mr Parkin. The site had previously been proposed as the location of a medieval house and subsequent Tudor supply base by P Ryder. A plan of 1548 shows the site comprised several buildings arranged around a courtyard with the N. range containing two circular features thought to be brewing vats or ovens. In addition, a building called 'the Pallace' is referred to in a survey carried out for Elizabeth I in 1559/60 as 'a new brewehouse and bakehouse, and other offices in the same for the said storehouse'. Excavation of the N. building revealed a stone platform with side walls which enclosed two large semicircular features. Their resemblance to the circular features depicted on the 1548 plan suggests they are the remains of brewing vats. An adjacent building contained evidence of a third vat, possibly a large copper boiler, sitting on a mortar floor. Immediately to the S. of this building lay a large cellar. The remains of the vats contained evidence of stoking holes and waste soot. The building to the W. of the vats revealed evidence of a structure with suspended floors and was interpreted as a granary/malting house. The E. range of the courtyard revealed a series of phases which involved the importation of large quantities of material to raise ground levels. The buildings appear to be medieval in origin and had been reused and rebuilt. On the 1548 plan the line of a watercourse called the Shadwater is shown alongside the E. side of the site and it is thought that some of the dumped deposits were used to reclaim part of its foreshore. The Shadwater drained into the harbour, which extended further inland at this time, and it seems the E. range of the buildings were located at the water's edge. Excavation on the W. side of the site revealed a series of gullies and ditches (not yet dated) which were prehistoric in character. A late Neolithic carved rock was found in this area as well as several large medieval rubbish pits. 200 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB HOLY ISLAND, THE WINERY (NU 125419). Documentary research, ground penetrating radar survey and trial trenching were carried out by Northern Archaeological Associates as part of the development of a design brief for the site. The radar survey revealed possible structural features to the N. of the Winery building, but Little was evident elsewhere. Seven trial trenches were dug, one of which verified the radar survey results by revealing stone foundations for two sides of a medieval timber building. A sequence of floor surfaces, sealed by a layer of charcoal, lay beneath the stone foundations and may be the burnt remains of an earlier timber building. Midden pits were also identified in this area and would have been associated with buildings aligned on the street front to Fiddlers Green. Two trenches excavated in the Winery car park revealed a substantial metalled surface incorporating a stone-lined drain, evidence of two timber buildings, one of which appeared to be a round house, and a stone capped drain. These features were sealed beneath a substantial build up of soil formed from medieval midden material suggesting that the metalled surfaces may be of Anglian date. A third trench at the S. end of the car park revealed a line of stake holes, a medieval pit and an intermittent stone surface. A fifth trench dug outside the village toilets uncovered two medieval pits cut into a crude layer of stone metalling. The final two trenches were dug NE. of the Village Hall, one of which revealed a medieval stone wall on a different alignment to the present street pattern. The investigation identified the existence of possible prehistoric/Anglo-Saxon, medieval and post-medieval deposits within the site. A range of features were encountered cut into the subsoil including gullies, drains and ditches, which are likely to be of prehistoric or Anglo-Saxon date. These were overlain by evidence of medieval occupation in the form of buildings and rubbish pits of 13th to 15th century date. Thereafter, these features were sealed by a substantial dump of midden soil which accumulated between the late medieval period and the 19th century. EWART, CHEVIOT QUARRY (NT 947323). A watching brief was carried out by MAP Archaeological Consultancy Ltd for Tarmac on ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES - 2000 201 the first phase of topsoil stripping. Over 140 archaeological features were recorded and a small number were excavated. The features included a massive enclosure ditch, a small horseshoe-shaped enclosure and prehistoric pits. The pits may be associated with remains of a settlement and evidence of buildings found in an evaluation in 1992 is now being reexamined. A large amount of prehistoric pottery was recovered, the majority dating to the Early Bronze Age, but in addition to this several sherds of Early Neolithic pottery were also found. SCOTTISH BORDERS Dr J. S. Dent Principal Officer (Archaeology and Countryside) Scottish Borders Council BOWDEN, KIPPILAW MAINS (NT 547 291). AOC Archaeology Group carried out excavations in advance of a new power line across the site of a known crop mark and the Scheduled Ancient Monument known as Rowchester fort. No features of significance were observed and the single find was a possible whetstone. CASTLETON, KIRNDEAN FARM (NY 523 913). A pre-forestry survey was carried out on this farm by Martin Brann to provide the necessary information to ensure that tree planting would not prejudice archaeological remains. The survey recorded 31 sites, including two earthwork enclosures, three settlements and associated field systems. COCKBURNSPATH, WATER MAIN (NT 7572 7077). In January 1999 CFA Archaeology Ltd carried out a watching brief on a water main close to a site where long and short cists had been discovered in 1919-1925. A further short cist was located and contained a crouched adult inhumation. In a hollow nearby were found sherds from a plain pottery vessel and charred remains of a number of wayside plants. Bone from the cist provided a range of radiocarbon dates in the early 2nd millennium BC. 202 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLL^ COCKBURNSPATH, KINEGAR QUARRY (NT 770 706). A watching brief by Headland Archaeology Ltd followed soil stripping and recorded a group of cut features in the same field where cist burials had been discovered in 1963 and 1982. There were no associated finds. COLDINGHAM, ABBEY YARDS FIELD (NT 9042 6604). Headland Archaeology Ltd carried out excavations in an area intended for future use as a burial ground. The area is presumed to have lain within the precinct of the Benedictine Priory and three distinct phases of activity were recognised: 1. An early cemetery of at least twelve inhumations did not share the alignment of the priory church and was dated to c.lOth/llth century by pottery and a bone comb; 2. A series of cut features was dated by pottery to 13th/14th centuries and interpreted as evidence of a fish pond and tannery; 3. A cemetery of at least eleven inhumations is presumed to have belonged to the latest stages of the Priory's use. INNERLEITHEN, BOWBEAT (NT 29 46). CPA Archaeology Ltd undertook an archaeological field evaluation of this upland site in preparation for the construction of a wind farm. No archaeological features were recognised. LILLIESLEAF, MAIN STREET (NT 534 240). An excavation by CFA Archaeology Ltd examined the sites of two cottages and a stable recorded by the Ordnance Survey in 1859. The cottage walls survived to a height of 0.30m. The earlier cottage still retained a central open hearth and produced a Charles I Turner of 1642-1650 from a soakaway pit. The later cottage with its hearth and chimney abutted the gable of the first. REDPATH, WEST END FARM (NT 581 356). Headland Archaeology Ltd conducted a trial excavation on this site ahead of housing development. Although a tower had existed at the west end of the village in the 16th century, no archaeological features of any significance were located. FIELD SECRETARIES' REPORT - 2000 The field meetings were arranged by a sub-committee consisting of the President (Mr Kenneth FI. Candlish), the Vice-President (Miss Sheila G. Stoddart), Mrs Bridget R. Darling, Mr Peter Johnson, Lt. Col. Simon J. Furness, Mr J. Logan McDougal, with Mrs Felicity Cooklin as Convenor, who arranged coach transport. Through oversights, no acknowledgement was made of the work done in arranging the 1999 seasons' meetings and writing the press reports. Those involved were the President, Mrs Bridget R. Darling, the Vice-President, Mr K. M. Candlish, the Rev. A. C. D. Cartwright, Colonel Simon Furness and Mr P J. Johnson. Major General Sir John Swinton resigned after three years on the sub- committee, and at the end of the season Mr Cartwright, a member for five years, and Mr Johnson, a member for three years. The gratitude of the Club has to be recorded for the work of these members. Our thanks are also due to Mr Ben Tindall who most efficiently arranged and conducted an Extra Meeting to his property of Cove Harbour. Particular thanks are due to Dr G. A. C. Binnie who resigned after ten years distinguished work. The work of Miss R. I. Curry in organising the bus parties for meetings must also be acknowledged with thanks, and also with regret that she felt it necessary to resign at the end of the season. Thursday, 25th May. EAST LOTHIAN The Millennium Season had a good start on 25th May with a visit to East Lothian. In the morning 92 members met at Whitekirk Church, where we were addressed by the Minister, the Rev. Kenneth Walker, M.A., B.D., and the Session Clerk, Mr John Richards, C.B.E. Mr Walker spoke of the 1500 year history of the Christian church on the site, since the missionary activities of St Baldred in the late 6th century, and of the centre of pilgrimage which surrounded the buildings from the 12th century onward. 203 204 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Thousands of pilgrims came to Whitekirk, even including a Papal Nuncio who later became Pope Pius IT History was repeated just a week before our visit, when the present Papal Nuncio had participated in worship in the church. Mr Richards spoke of the architecture of the building and the nearby tithe barn which had once been at the centre of the pilgrimage activity as a lodging for those coming to the holy well. He made special reference to the glass, and to the restoration of the building by Sir Robert Lorimer following a disastrous fire in 1914. The Club moved to Gosford House, Aberlady, for the traditional picnic lunch, and were greeted by the Countess of Wemyss and March, who took us round both the presently occupied portions of the building and the parts which had been badly damaged by fire and storms, showing the ongoing restoration work and telling the colourful history of both the house and its contents. Some members were able to also see the extensive restoration being carried out in the grounds and to the water-features, with the geese which gave Gosford its name, and other flora and fauna, before leaving to have tea. Once again we were fortunate with weather - a simply glorious day, but a thunderstorm on the homeward journey. Peter Johnson Wednesday, 14th June. KIRKLEY HALL GARDENS and BELSAY HALL. For the second meeting of the 2000 season, about 55 members of Berwickshire Naturalists' Club braved what appeared to be a rather damp and overclouded day to meet at Kirkley HaU, near Ponteland, the agricultural and horticultural college now run by Northumber- land College. After a refreshing cup of coffee, the promised guides not being forthcoming. Colonel Furness gave a short history of Kirkley HaU and its gardens. The members set forth to view the extensive grounds and gardens, pausing in the walled garden to hear about the history of waUed gardens and their present sorry state. They were able to view one of the waUs of the garden, containing a flue, which was open to view due to recent damage and to admire the work being done by the students. A short cross-country route took members to Belsay Castle, FIELD SECRETARIES' REPORT - 2000 205 owned by English Heritage, where a pleasant picnic lunch was taken in the, by then, bright sunshine. After a short introduction by Mr Robert Cowper on the history of the Middleton family, and Belsay Castle, members set off to view the present house, the glorious garden and the old castle. The rhododendron garden across the valley from the house was quite at its best and much admired by those members unable to venture further. For those who did, the quarry garden was quite magnificent. Having had a request for a guided tour refused, it was a little galling to see another party being shown round by the head gardener. As the oldest field society in the country the club might have hoped for greater attention. However, the off-handedness of the staff was more than compensated for by the magnificent gardens and grounds in what was a thoroughly enjoyable visit. Simon Furness Thursday, 13th July: FERNIEHURST CASTLE AND JEDBURGH The third meeting of the Club met at the Edinburgh Woollen Mill's car park in Jedburgh. The 80-90 members present divided into two groups, the coach and a few cars going to Ferniehurst Castle and the remainder to Jedburgh Abbey. At Ferniehurst the history of the castle was described. It went from a wood and stone fort to a stone castle by the 15th century, then destroyed during the 'Rough Wooing' in the 1540s and was finally rebuilt in the 1590s. Excellent guides in taking us around the castle, showed how an old building could be made into a comfortable home for the Lothian family. The Abbey party joined up at Ferniehurst for lunch, before the groups changed over. At Jedburgh Abbey the guide enthusiastically outlined its history from a possible chapel in the 9th century, through the founding of the Abbey in about 1130 by David I to its destruction in the 'Rough Wooing' and at the Reformation. It is possibly one of our best restored and preserved Abbeys and is well worth another visit. We also saw the Abbey's Herbal Garden with a wonderful array of medicinal plants, well-kept and displayed. The Club is grateful to the staff at both the Abbey and Ferniehurst Castle and to the Lothian family for their hospitality. 206 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Tea was taken at the Edinburgh Woollen Mill's cafe in Jedburgh before dispersal. J. L. McDougal Wednesday, 16th August: ARNISTON HOUSE AND SOUTRA AISLE On Wednesday, 16th August some 86 members divided into two groups to visit Soutra Aisle and Arniston House. The Club does not normally revisit a site within 10 years, but there had been many requests for an update at Soutra Aisle, where Dr Brian Moffat, Director, described in enthusiastic terms the recent and ongoing excavations revealing archeo-botanical data. Research is continuing into the archeo-medical evidence from clumps of seeds recovered from drains. Black Henbane, Opium Poppy and Hemlock linked into medieval recipes made chilling pictures of medical practice for amputations and care of diseases for patients in the large hospice. Anthrax spores discovered in a drain blocked since c. AD 1300- 20 meant utilisation of very strict non-contaminant procedures. Forensic evidence on a heelbone was fascinating in that the 'owner' had a club foot, and the burnt pitch present led to deduction that he might have been unfit for military service, and employed on the signalling station on Soutra, where the number of torches lit sent messages over many miles by smoke or flame. He had obviously met with an accident leading to either amputation or death, as the bone was found in a drain used for depositing 'waste' . Being a clear day, the spectacular views were appreciated, and comments (mainly positive) made on the recently opened Dun Law wind farm, where many of the turbines were turning. Arniston House, Gorebridge, the home of the Dundas-Bekker family was built by William and John Adam between 1726 and the 1750s. Family portraits, many by Raeburn, enabled members to follow the history of a family that was a leading part of the legal fraternity of Scotland for over 200 years. Dry rot had ravaged the dining and drawing rooms, but recent skilful restoration work was admired. The panoramas, trees - especially the limes - and well- maintained grounds were appreciated, as was an excellent tea in FIELD SECRETARIES' REPORT - 2000 207 the refurbished coach house. The bus party enjoyed tea at Carfraemill Hotel. Bridget R. Darling Thursday, 14th September. GRANTON WATERFRONT AND CRAIGMILLAR CASTLE. The final outing of the year took place on 14th September. It was overshadowed by the national petrol shortage, which had an effect on numbers. Nevertheless 29 members and friends gathered in the Commodore Hotel, near Granton, where Mr Alan Couper, Operations Manager, Waterfront Edinburgh Ltd, gave a most interesting and informative presentation on the Granton Waterfront scheme. This project will, over some 15 years, revitalise a largely run-down area of 435 acr^s. Thereafter we went to Granton Harbour and viewed a large part of the area to be developed. The party then moved to Craigmillar Castle, where we had the only rain of the day - a light shower for about three minutes. We were welcomed and given a tour of the castle by Mrs Anne Edgcumbe, Site Manager. She told us that she wanted to make the castle 'come alive' and to help us to understand what it would have been like to live in it. She was successful in this and it was a most enjoyable visit. Kenneth H. Candlish Extra Meetings Thursday, 8th June: ST ABB'S HEAD 25 members much enjoyed a visit in good weather to St Abb's Head. After giving a brief talk Mr Kevin Rideout, the Ranger, led a walk during which he indicated points of interest amongst the bird- life and wild flowers. Afterwards some members visited the Headstart Cafe for tea. Editor Thursday, 20th July: THE BELL AND KILLMADE BURN, CRANSHAWS 24 members made the most of a glorious afternoon in a quiet corner of the Lammermuirs, courtesy of Cranshaws Estates. 208 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLU^ Crossing the Whiteadder water below the Whiteadder Reservoir the two main parties led by Michael Braithwaite and Luke Gaskell explored the Killmade Burn, while a third party led by Paddy Braithwaite enjoyed a more leisurely walk by the Whiteadder. Cranshaws Hill is managed by Muirburn over a much longer cycle than most of the Lammermuirs to the great benefit of its wildlife. Furthermore, the burnsides are spared and there is a pleasant woodland feel amongst the birch, willow, rowan and occasional hazel. These conditions favour butterflies and not only were ringlet and green- veined white to be seen but the group also had the rare privilege to see at least six dark-green fritillaries. Ferns, including lemon-scented fern, were a feature of the burnside, as was New Zealand willowherb, and a variety of sedges were examined in the flushes, while David Long examined the bryophytes. A colony of hairy stonecrop was soon found at the burnside, in full flower. This is a speciality of the hill burns of the Borders that is rare elsewhere in Britain. Eventually two fine flushes were reached at the foot of Rough Cleuch where broad- leaved cottongrass, grass of Parnassus and lesser clubmoss were present in quantity. David Long noted the scarce moss Sphagnum teres here and the liverwort Trichocolea tomentella in the adjacent flush, a second extant site for VC 81 . Magnificent views were enjoyed on returning over the hill and there was much splashing in the Whiteadder before returning past The Bell, a fine native birch wood with banks rich with rockrose. These roads are salted in winter and two seaside plants, lesser sea- spurrey and sea pearlwort were noted at the roadside. Four plants of stagshorn clubmoss, one with fertile fronds, had been enjoyed above the quarry at the outset of the walk. Michael Braithwaite Thursday, 12th October at the BERWICK BOROUGH MUSEUM Brief History of Berwick Borough Museum The first ideas for a town museum came in 1841 from Dr George Johnston, founder of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, at the time of the show organised in Berwick by the Flighland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. Dr Johnston gathered support for a display of FIELD SECRETARIES' REPORT - 2000 209 works of art and science, but it is not clear whether this display was actually staged at the show. There was though sufficient interest for the idea to outlive the good doctor when he died in 1855. Eventually in 1867 some of his natural history collections formed the basis for a museum that found a home in a hired room in the Corn Exchange. As befitted its origins in the research interests of the BNC, the collection was almost exclusively devoted to natural history, but over the years miscellaneous items of human culture were added in the manner typical of a small Victorian town museum. By 1882 sufficient money had been collected for the collections to be re-housed in a specially purchased edifice in the High Street. The displays were laid out in the manner typical of the Victorian period, rows of specimens precisely labelled but little else in the way of interpretation. But a series of lectures and classes ensured that there was a lively interaction with the users. One of the key figures in the late Victorian period was Commander Francis Norman, who had retired to Berwick after a successful career in the Navy. He was President of BNC and chairman of the museum trustees. He presented several items to the museum including Japanese armour and casts of a Chinese woman's feet, the toes twisted by the traditional practice of binding, along with the tiny shoes made to fit. Both were collected during the Opium Wars of the 1860s which he described in an autobiography under the pen-name 'MarteUo Tower'. Norman was one of the first to take practical steps to preserve Berwick's historic ramparts, gave the Jubilee Fountain to the town in 1897 and was the main instigator of the Flodden memorial. After the First World War the museum became an increasing financial burden on the trustees and eventually the Council were persuaded to assume responsibility for it. The town library replaced the museum's reading room and the librarian acted as honorary curator. A significant collection of mosses was acquired during these years. During the 1930s a number of temporary art exhibitions were held and then in about 1935 shipping magnate Sir William Burrell approached the council offering the town selected items from his vast collection. He lived just over the Border at Hutton Castle and Berwick Museum was his nearest local collection. After a delay caused by the Second World War, Sir William donated 42 paintings to the town to create an art 210 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLL"B gallery in 1949. These, together with three hundred other items of decorative art, were a microcosm of Sir William's interest. He delighted in Chinese porcelain, especially blue-and-white works from the Ching period, and in Gothic art, which is weU represented in the collection. The assemblage reflects contemporary collecting taste at the turn of the 20th century. There are many works by the Dutch painters of the Hague School, scenes of honest toil by worthy peasants. It was a style that influenced many Scottish artists and Berwick's James Wallace. Works by Boudin, Daubingy and Degas give the collection particular importance. Indeed the presentation of Degas' Russian Dancers to Berwick caused a falling out between Burrell and Gerald Honeyman, his scholarly adviser, who did not want it to be separated from other Degas in the collection. Glasgow's loss was Berwick's gain. Sir William personally super- vised the hanging of the pictures, in the High Street museum. For the next thirty years the museum was increasingly neglected and few visitors thought it worth asking for the key and climb up to the damp and cold attic to view the decaying relics. By the 1970s the stuffed birds and animals were infested with mites and went on a bonfire, and local government re-organisation in 1974 put the library under County supervision while leaving the museum with the town council. Soon after restoration and reopening of the Barracks as an historic site began, and the Borough Museum relocated there as well, under its first professional curator, Richard Doughty. Local history items and the Burrell collection were displayed in modern conditions and the long task of documenting and properly researching the items was begun. C . G . W. Green (Curator) Thursday, 9th November. AUTUMN LECTURE Approximately 33 members gathered at the Community Centre in Berwick upon Tweed to listen to an afternoon lecture by Mrs Sarah Rushton of Northumberland County Council who gave a lecture on the archaeology of the area with particular reference to the environs of Berwick upon Tweed. Mrs Rushton is herself and archaeologist and she made the talk most interesting and informative. Many of the members were surprised to note how important Berwick upon Tweed is nationally for archaeology finds in that most finds are in such excellent condition mainly because FIELD SECRETARIES' REPORT - 2000 211 the walled town existed for so many centuries, which confined the archaeological remains to a reasonably small area. We were given information about the latest finds in Castle Terrace which date back to the 12th century and which proved to be a large burial ground together with the remains of a small church. The site of the former bus station has also been excavated but the results of that excavation are not yet finalised. All in all a fascinating afternoon and one wonders why, given the history of the town, more explorations have not been carried out, but it is understood that funds are not now readily available for such excavations. Sheila G. Stoddart LIBRARIAN'S REPORT - 2000 The Library continues to be consulted by various individuals. Library tickets were again issued to aU members in February. The reverse was used to give notice of the meetings for the year 2000, and of the need for members to pay their subscriptions. Tickets give access to the Clock Block in the Berwick Barracks complex. Access to other parts of the Barracks is by payment of the appropriate charge. Tickets are not transferable to other persons. Because of continuing reductions in staffing and opening times, members who wish to use the Library are advised to telephone the Museum curator to confirm access. The Museum telephone number is Berwick (01289) 330933. Suggestions for new titles or for the purchase of second-hand books are always welcome. The following volumes have been added to the Library: Mrs Felicity CookHn gave a copy of TindaU, F, 1998, Memoirs and Confessions of a County Planning Officer. The author's son conducted a Club visit to Cove Harbour in 1999. The authors gave copies of Gordon,]., 1997, Newstead 1916-1996. Haj ducki, A. M., and Simpson, A., 1995, The Lauder Light Railway. Given by the publisher, the Tuckwell Press, was Lomas, R., 1999, A Power in the Land: The Percy s. Purchases have continued to be made, including the following Year 2000 associated local history publications: Coulter, K., 2000, 2000 AD Tweedmouth. Crosbie, J., 1999, Grantshouse. Denoon, C., 2000, Maxton 2000. Hall, J. (Ed.), 1999, Kalewater, a Miscellany. Smith, S., 1999, Cockburnspath. Other purchases include: Borders Family History Society, 1999, The Monumental Inscriptions of Gordon, Nenthorn and Westruther. 212 LIBRARIAN'S REPORT - 2000 213 Borders Family History Society, 2000, The Monumental Inscriptions of Ancrum and Longnezvton. Good, J., 1806 (facs 1999), Berwick Directory. Lowe, C., 1999, Angels, Fools and Tyrants. Robson, ]., nd. The Searchers are Coming, or Kelso Kirk Session Records, 1622-1700. Rowley, J. M., 1992, A History of the Church of Our Lady and St Cuthbert, Berwick upon Tweed. Scottish Borders Council, 1997, Early Settlers in the Borders. Scottish Borders Council, 1998, Christian Heritage in the Borders. Stone, R. M. R., 1998, Tweedmouth Parish Church. This year's unusual acquisition was a copy of a coloured photograph of a group of wood sorrel by Laurie Campbell. This has been the Club's emblem since 1926. The photograph is now framed and on the wall of the Library room in the Museum. LIBRARIAN'S FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 30th SEPTEMBER, 2000 INCOME £ EXPENDITURE £ Opening balance 2330.53 Invoices & Membership Interest (gross) 86.59 List 40.75 Sales of Histories 139.00 Bookbinder 75.60 Postage 12.60 Books 137.33 Closing Balance 2304.70 2566.12 2566.12 G. A. C. Binnie FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30th JUNE, 2000 GENERAL CLUB FUND RECEIPTS Members' Subscriptions Annual (including arrears) Entrance Fees Tax Rebate on Covenants £3455.00 54.00 168.48 £3677.48 Club Meetings Guest Fees 48.00 £48.00 Other Receipts Sale of Badges, Ties, Paperweights .. 95.50 Bank Interest (Gross) 79.98 Grant: Historic Scotland Donations Bus Fares (Profit) 375.00 £550.48 Total Receipts 4275.96 Overspent in Year 568.34 £4844.30 PAYMENTS Members' Services Printing: 'History' £2681 .60 Club Rules : Prograiiune/Library Cards 200.58 Insurance: Books 209.82 Posts, etc 193.82 £3285.82 Club Meetings Notices/Circulars 648.41 Insurance: Public Liability 189.00 FlireofHall 48.00 Expenses: Arranging visits 133.75 Gifts to Hosts: Paperweights 254.00 £1273.16 Other Payments Printing, Stationery, etc 140.56 Treasurer's Expenses 6.80 Secretary's Expenses 30.00 Subscriptions Repaid 37.00 Print of Wood Sorrel & Framing 70.96 £285.32 Total Payments 4844.30 Underspent in Year ^44.30 STATEMENT OF FUNDS WITH ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND General Club Fund Cash held at 30th June, 1999 Less: Overspent in Year £5272.54 568.34 Natural History Publication Fund Cash held at 30th June, 1999 Add: Bank Interest (Gross) . £3412.79 71.67 Cash held at 30th J une, 2000 £4704.20 Cash held at 30th June, 2000 . £3484.46 Library Account Cash held at 1st October, 1999 Add: Bank Interest Receipts -Sales . £2432.67 . 101.45 . 144.00 Less: Payments - Books, etc Cash held at 30th June, 2000 £2678.12 . 287.85 . £2390.27 T. T. Hodgson, Hon. Treasurer Accounts examined by Greaves West & Ayre, Chartered Accountants. 214 BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB (Founded 22 September 1831) RULES AND REGULATIONS (amended up to October 2000) BADGE: Wood Sorrel. MOTTO: Mare et TeUus, et, quod tegit omnia, Coelum. 1. The name of the Club is 'The Berwickshire Naturalists' Club'. 2. The object of the Club is to investigate the natural history and antiquities of Berwickshire and its vicinage. 3. AU interested in this object are eligible for membership. 4. The Club consists of (a) Ordinary Members, (b) Contributing Libraries and Societies, (c) Corresponding Members (eminent persons of science whom the Club desires to honour), (d) Associate Members (non-paying members who work along with the Club) and (e) a limited number of Honorary Life Members. 5. New members shall be proposed by a Club member on the form obtainable from the Corresponding Secretary. The proposal shall be considered by the next General, Council or Field meeting held at least seven days after receipt of the completed form, and candidates wiU be admitted following a unanimous vote of the members present. New members wiU then be entitled to the privileges of membership after payment of entrance and membership fees notified to them on election by the Treasurer. The names of any new members who have not taken up their membership within six months of election will, after a reminder, be removed from the list. A copy of the Club rules will be sent on election. 6. The entrance fee and the annual subscription shall be fixed by the Council and intimated to the Annual General Meeting of the Club. These sums will b e notified to new members on election, and no fees should be sent until requested by the Treasurer. 7. Subsequent subscriptions are due after the Annual General Meeting, and entitle members to attend the meetings and to receive 215 216 HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLL^ a copy of the Club's History for the ensuing year. The History is issued only to those members who have paid their subscription. Joint membership is available for those resident at the same address and who wish such membership in which cases only one copy of the History will be issued. Names of members who are in arrears of subscriptions after 30th June in any year will be removed from the roll. 8. The number of ordinary members is limited to 400. The names of candidates are brought forward in priority of application, power being reserved to the President to nominate independently in special cases irrespective of the numbers on the roll. 9. The office-bearers of the Club are: a President, who is appointed annually by the retiring President; a Vice-President, who is nominated by the retiring President, Corresponding and Field Secretaries; an Editing Secretary; a Treasurer; and a Librarian, all of whom are elected at the Annual General Meeting. 10. The office-bearers form the Council of the Club, along with the immediate past-president (for one year only) and six members elected for three years, of whom two retire annually and are not eligible for re-election until the lapse of one year. All nominations for membership of the Council shall be submitted in writing at least 14 days before the Annual General Meeting of the Club. The Council has power to co-opt not more than two further members for special purposes, for not more than one year at a time. The Council may co-opt to fill any vacancy in their number arising during a year, and the member so added shall serve for the remainder of the term of the member replaced. A quorum of the Council shall be five. 11. Expenses incurred by the Office-bearers are refunded, and expenses incurred in organising the meetings, and those of Extra Meetings, may be defrayed at a rate to be fixed by the Club Council at its first meeting of the year, out of the Club's funds. 12. Five monthly meetings are held, from May to September. The Annual General Meeting is held in October. Extra Meetings for special purposes maybe arranged. RULES AND REGULATIONS 217 13. Notices of meetings are issued to members at least ten days in advance. 14. Members may bring guests to meetings, but guests may only attend when accompanied by members. When guests are brought, the host is required to hand to the Treasurer (or his deputy) at the meeting in question, a fee in respect of each guest. Children may be brought as guests to field meetings without charge, but their host is responsible for their conduct at all times. 15. At field meetings no litter may be left on the ground, and all gates must be closed. Dogs must be kept under strict control. 16. Members omitting to book seats for meals or drives beforehand must wait until those who have done so are accommodated. 17. Contributors of papers to the History receive two extra copies. The Editing Secretary may provide reasonable numbers of additional copies at his discretion on request in advance of printing. ■ ■’; :li|cied •,■••, .: jis '- • • -: jbv^.^nybe . ''J'’bir:^ ’i*T3/ ' * cV'hjniifr. /d h'-k";. nr rVs/;-, / j:>n jjjs m"' '/Itri'^' fp/i'jjv ft^q^Vl hf ^ ' '^Ijp i i/^ii-^/n ';Vl juorlJr^ ^§mrs<-;v: blDii :/I^ur.7', V '■' r, • - ?(n:!ir^r *: itiri J ;^.,/'^Tgkfief?Gtirtrt' r m) JBi ,af .if ,irn: •?; r-. ;' ’. ■. , ■, ■ ('I idiihi '0^: b6 iWof??^/. ^ v-nth the tn^wdmte p.-isi |w>iivK" ^K'oyv^ vrf*.^r-^>»;iy) c.r,g -=f ‘' '^r.?:ni-ert """ ■J^^t'-' #-3av.i> " : •v.- r ort^riv;^:..r^ 'C^u2i^ii^,.;c-*:i^'’- ^ktinlbiii .v .-Lsin^/ i •: tbr > ; £.'’^ ■cru^^rujoA '’■ *t^- Cr(\xni ilf -% r. ,„:,.i|’- f-r.pt-.xi? '^^>",-^»^..a^!e 'ittftmi^ '■’ '/^i «->t^'S sj?if-||?5?^^HiRi|JS, i'.rkU tho^^- txlrti . -■? VC be ;if&v i 8« > J. .'. dliriCI^.'-<^ - . •: ; !U- iJ JU W.:'‘ h>jL si‘>6i!CiisTp4irp<;';.i^T^^ _ ^ ADVICE TO CONTRIBUTORS Following upon discussion at Council, the Editing Secretary has prepared the following revised advice to contributors. The History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club has now run continuously for over a century and a half. It has recorded a very large amount of information about every aspect of life in the Borders: archaeology, genealogy, history, sociology, topography, and all branches of natural history. It is an invaluable repository for such primary information. Manuscripts are best typed, double-spaced, and two copies sent; but even handwritten contributions, if clearly legible, can be considered. References in scientific articles within the text or in notes at the end: Books: author name(s); date of publication in brackets; title in italics; place of publication; publisher; page numbers if desired, e.g. Baxter, E. V., Rintoul, L. J. (1953). The Birds of Scotland, Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 30-41. Papers in journals: author name(s); date of publication in brackets; title of article in roman type within single inverted commas; title of journal in italics; volume number; page numbers, e.g. Taylor, G. (1937). 'List of fungi observed in the neighbourhood of Cockburnspath', History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, 29, 303- 313. References in arts articles (history, literature, architecture, topography, antiquarianism, fine art): Books: author name(s); title in italics; in brackets place of publication, publisher, date of publication; page numbers if desired, e.g. Patricia Clements, Baudelaire and the English Tradition (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985) pp. 50-61. Papers in Journals: author(s); title of article in roman type within single inverted commas; title of journal in italics; volume number; date in brackets; page numbers, e.g. Edna Kenton, 'Henry James to the Ruminant Reader: The Turn of the Screw', The Arts 6 (1924), pp. 245-255. When other publications have been consulted but are not specifically cited, it may still be useful to guide readers following up the subject, to give a bibliography, citing the publications in the same way as for references above. Illustrations should be numbered consecutively and provided with short descriptive captions. Contributions are best sent directly to the Editing Secretary, but may be handed to any Council Member. Copyright. The copyright of papers published in the History will normally be understood to pass to The Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, as a permanently accessible institution, but authors may reserve copyright to themselves if they so wish, by a written request to the Editing Secretary. HISTORY OF THE BERWICKSHIRE NATURALISTS' CLUB Additional copies available The Centenary Volume, published 1933, provides an index to the History from Volumes 1 to 27, (1831-1931) Price £20.00 The Sesquicentenary Volume, published 1987, provides an index to the History from Volumes 28 to 41, (1932-1980) Price £15.00 For purchase apply to: The Librarian, Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, Borough Museum, The Barracks, Berwick upon Tweed TD15 IDQ, U.K. The Club Library is held in its own room in Berwick Borough Museum. Access for members is available at no cost on presentation of a Club Library ticket at the entrance to the Barracks. Tickets are available from the Librarian, and visits should be made by appointment with the museum curator, telephone 01289 330933. PRINTED FOR THE CLUB BY HOW & BLACKHALL, 77 MARYGATE, BERWICK UPON TWEED. 2001