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Vol. XVII. 


~ THE TRANSACTIONS 


pOURNAL OF JROCEEDINGS 


OF THE 


DUMFRIESSHIRE AND GALLOWAY 


Natural History and Antiquarian Society 


FOUNDED NOVEMBER, 1862. 


SESSIONS 1900-190! TO 1904-1905. 


PRINTED AT THE STANDARI) OFFICE, DUMFRIES. 
1906. 


IN DEX TOCVOLUME XVIT. 


Page. 
Annual Meetings. mt ans a ri so hE ay eeliks  Bloy/ 
Exchanges and Donations... fe ae as yi 443 445 
Field Meetings ... a oe 109, 113, 223, 229, 365, 438 
Parish of Luce (Heddon) eons ge Irving ... 5 
Vertebrates of Solway, a Century’s GhansesFobk Chay M. B. 0. U. U1, 15 
Meteorological Observations—Rev. W. Andson ... 33, 156, 265, 353, 378 


Notes on above with Reference to Health—Dr J. Maxwell Ross 
271, 355, 384 
Variation of Plants—S. Arnott, F.R.H.S. ... fe 41 
Dr Archibald’s ‘‘ Account of the Curiosities of Dumfri ies’ fond fe meccunit 
about Galloway ”—The late Dr James Macdonald, ¥.S.A. (Scot. ) 50 


Bird Notes from Eskdale —Richard Bell... SoA é we , 64 
Forts and Connecting Trenches in ebgetenmar = eiahar d Bell eG 
Concerning the Market Cross—James Barbour, F.S.A. (Scot. )... Be.) et 
Scottish Burghal Life in 16th and 17th Centuries, illustrated by 
Extracts from Kirkcudbright Records — William Dickie... + oO 
Etymology of Word ‘“‘ Ruthwell”—Z. J. Chinnock, LL.D. _... a LOS 
Botanical Notes for 1899—James M‘ Andrew Be 106 
Mosses, Hepatic and Lichens of District, Addenda on Suen 
of—James M‘ Andrew eh ae ais ae «x, 12) 
Phenological Observations—J. Ruherford . a elo. eG 
Lochrutton Crannog—James Barbour, FS. A. (sere ye ase oe 7 28 
Pre-historic Forts near Dunscore, a Contrast in—Rev. R. Simpson, B.D. 136 
Birds of Glencairn—-Dr J. W. Martin ae re .. 140 
Phenological Observations at Moniaive in 1901—John Co EOS as wee LOS 
Fauna of Glencairn—Dr J. W. Martin ae ay. a2) 166: 
Edward I. at Sweetheart Abbey—Z. J. Cheah bin D. eh noo | 17s 
Irvings of Hoddom, The—George Irving... a ae ae wD 
Lag’s Elegy and other Chap Books—Frank Miller 2 ; ... 203 
Geology of Dumfries Basin—James Watt .... “A oh sae ... 216 
Cinerary Urn found at Holywood—Dr J. W. Martin ie 238 
Nith and its Estuary, a Year’s Observations of the Temperature of 
the—Rev. W. Andson ... a a 200 
Lake Dwelling and Earthworks at Taaob fire iene Gain i€ on meee BAD 
Toxic Effects of Colchicums on Bees—S. Arnott, F.R.H.S.  ... wee LAG 
Lochrutton Crannog, Further Excavations at—James Barbour, F.S. A. 
(Scot. ) ae Bes . 246 


Greyfriars’ Monastery, eee ee SESE « on the Site Ei ee 
James Lennox, F.S.A. (Scot.) ... Eo ee be ie s. ©6254 


lv. INDEX. 


Evolution, The Ideas of—Professor Scott-Elliot : as 

Comyn, The Assassination of the Red, from Paniempare Reco 
#. J. Chinnock, LL.D. ... ae ie «. 268: 

The Sparrow Hawk—Robert Service, M. B. 0. U. 

Scottish Life in the 17th Century—W. Dickie 

Burial Mound at Bogrie—Robert Service, M.B.O.U. Bis 

Arrow Heads and Stone Whorls 2 om Townhead of CleseGuen— tage 
Service, M.B.0.U. ... 

Pre-historic Red Deer of Roles ay— Robert ae vice, M. B. 0. U. 

Merkland Cross and the Rere Cross—(Ceorge Irving 

Trees—Professor Scott-Elliot - 

Edward I. at Sweetheart Abbey—-Z. J. Chemaoae. baa D. : 

How the Royal Burgh of Annan built a Bridge—James ‘Boer 
F.S.A. (Scot. ) 

Diurnal and Nocturnal Fapional Birds ae the delwen ‘Alga Ropes 
Service, M.B.O.U. : 

The Snowdrop—S. Arnott, F. R. ‘H. s 

Laws of Fines for the Presbytery of Denier R. W. Wen 

Scottish Words found in Old English Writers-—JZ. J. Chinnock, LL.D. 

Geological Notes—James Watt =a ne 9 

Vestiges of the Castle of Dumfries—James ‘Bay ae HSA. (Sion) ae 

Chile— Professor Scott-Elliot 

Forests : Wild and Cultivated—A: ean en Y, ae 4 F. L. S., ec... 

Biblical Money, and Coins of the Holy Land—Rev. H. A. Whitelaw ... 

Burial Urns found in Maxwelltown Park : a oe 

Japanese Larch and Larch Fungus—W. Murray 

Birds observed on Solway—R. M‘Call ; 

Annan, Extracts from Burgh Records aes Bates F. S. be 
(Scot. ) ee 3 3 Hes ete sah 

Sedum Telephium— IV. Me Gatetiaen, B. Se, 

An Antiquary’s Notes—-George Neilson, i, D. ce 

Some Local and other Popular Plant Names—S. tenet, F. R. H. S. 

Declaration of Loyalty by Inhabitants of Closeburn - 

Letter from Francis Carlyle, grand-uncle of Thomas Carlyle 

The Weavers’ Incorporation of Dumfries— IV. Dickie 

Kinnelhead, Notes on the Ruins at—J. 7. Johnstone 

Rarer Birds of the Solway Area—obert Service, M.B.O.U. 

Experiments with Cutting the Leaves of Plants— Mrs Atkinson 


257 


298 
273 
279 
309 


309 
309 
310 
314 
318 


320 


327 
339 
358 
358 
359 
362 
368 
375 
376 
377 
386 
388 


390 
394 
395 
404 
410 
411 
411 
42] 
423 
436 


. wf, see tiat: Habre : 
Price 3s. 
| Vol. XVII., Parts 1 and 2. | 


THE TRANSACTIONS 


AND 


POURNAL OF J ROCEEDINGS 


yor Mugs 


DUMFRIESSHIRE AND GALLOWAY 


‘ — Natural History and Antiquarian Society 


FOUNDED NOVEMBER, 1862. 


SESSIONS 1!1900-/90I, 1901-1902. 


PRINTED AT THE STANDARD OFFICE, DUMFRIES. 
1905. 


pate 
Sige py. 


ae 


Hees 
a 
; ts » 

‘ 


Ae 


Vol. XVII., Parts 1 and 2. 


THE TRANSACTIONS 


pOURNAL OF J ROCEEDINGS 


OF THE 


DUMFRIESSHIRE AND GALLOWAY 


Natural History and Antiquarian Soctety 


FOUNDED NOVEMBER, 1862. 


SESSIONS 1900-I90I, 1901-1902. 


PRINTED AT THE STANDARD OFFICE, DUMFRIES. 
1905. 


Note as to the Publication of the Transactions. 


The Council of the Society desire to intimate that to facilitate 
the binding of the Annual Transactions it has been resolved that 
a Volume shall consist of Five Annual Publications. The Volume 
now published for the years 1900-1, 1901-2 is therefore numbered 
Volume XVII., Parts 1 and 2, and the next issue for the years 
1902-3, 1903-4 will be numbered Volume XVII., Parts 3 and 4, 
the succeeding issue being Part 5, which will contain the Transac- 
tions for the year 1904-5, and will complete Volume XVII. The 
pages of the parts forming each volume will be numbered con- 


secutively throughout. Each volume will have a complete Index. 


Dumfries, March, 1905. 


Addendum to List of Honorary Members. 


James M‘Andrew, 21 Gillespie Crescent, Edinburgh. 


Council for Session 1904-5. 


President. 


GEORGE F, SCOTT-ELLIOT, of Newton, Dumfries, M.A., B.Sc., F.L.S., 
F.RG.S. 


Vice=Presidents. 
ROBERT MURRAY, George Street, Dumfries. 
ROBERT SERVICE, Seedsman, Maxwelltown. 
JAMES BARBOUR, F.S.A.(Scot.), Architect, Dumfries. 


JAMES MAXWELL ROSS, M.D., Medical Officer of Dumfriesshire, 
Duntrune, Maxwelltown. 


Secretary and Treasurer. 
eA MOODIE, Solicitor, Bank of Scotland, Dumfries. 


DLibrarians and Curators of Museum, 


Rey. WM. ANDSON, Ivy Bank, Dumfries, and JAMES LENNOX, 
F.S.A.(Scot.), Edenbank, Maxwelltown. 


Curators of therbarium. 
The PRESIDENT anp Miss HANNAY. 


Otber mMsembers. 
Rey. JOHN CAIRNS, M.A., Ivy Lodge, Albany, Dumfries. 
J. W. MARTIN, M.D., Holywood. 
WILLIAM M‘CUTCHEON, B.S8c., the Academy. 
JAMES DAVIDSON, F.I.C., Summerville, Maxwelltown. 
WILLIAM SEMPLE, M.A., B.Sc., Ph.D., the Academy. 
SAMUEL ARNOTT, F.R.H.S8., Carsethorn, by Dumfries 
WILLIAM DICKIE, Merlewood, Maxwelltown. 
JOHN TOCHER, Chemist, Dumfries. 
Miss HANNAY, Langlands, Dumfries. 
Miss CRESSWELL, Nunholm, Dumfries. 


G@ AS5h Se a CES 


SESSION 1900-1. 


Page 
Secretary’s Report 2 
Treasurer’s Report aa ad Bee PPM we 
The Parish of Luce (Héddam)— Mr Cotas a ving . : ae note 
Vertebrates of Solway, a Century’s Changes—Mr Robert Ser vice re 
Meteorology of 1900—Rev. Wm. Andson ... 33 
Some Observations on the Variation of Plants aides Cultiv tion ag 
Samuel Arnott ag 41 


Dr Archibald’s ‘‘ Account of the Gar iGaitien of Damir ies’ and é Acoma 
anent Galloway ”—The late Dr James Macdonald, F.S.A. (Scot.)... 50 
Some Bird Notes from Eskdale—Mr Richard Bell AS 64 
Forts and their Connecting Trenches in Eskdalemuir—Mr Pecken d Bell 76 
Concerning the Market Cross—Mr James Barbour, F'.S.A. (Scot.) ass, Op 
Scottish Burghal Life in the 16th and 17th Centuries, illustrated by 


Extracts from Kirkcudbright Records—Mr Wiiliam Dickie ont soe 
Etymology of the word ‘‘ Ruthwell””—Dr Chinnock = $: ... 103 
Botanical Notes for 1899--Mr James M‘Andrew ... ae Sh =. el OG 
Field Meetings ... te ind Rae age a re oF ... 109 


SESSION 1901-2. 


Secretary’s Report se x3 es er ey r is Us 
Treasurer’s Report sae eo . 120 
Addenda and Corrigenda of Taste of Meee Heppnee! aa Lichens of 

the District—Mr James M‘Andrew ... pal 
Phenological Observations taken at Jardington pats 1900—Mr J. 

Rutherford ... re # . 125 
First Account of the Excay ions af ‘eckedtan Geiucs ir James 

Barbour, F.S.A.(Scot.) —... : -. 128 
A Contrast in Prehistoric Forts near Tesisetens teas Retiaed Siunaae 

B.D., Dunscore “gc ¢ “a as ... 136 
List of Bir ds of Glencairn—Dr afar. Helyns ae ee oes ... 140 
Meteorological Report for 1901—Rev. Wm. Andson doc — ... 156 
Phenological and Weather Observations taken at Jardington for 1901— 

Mr J. Rutherford ... sc . 161 
Phenological Observations taken ae Moninive bee 1901—Mr Tala 

Corrie, Moniaive ... 3a ae RO ... 164 
The Fauna of Glencairn—Dr Mien “Holinboba rs Bee roe ... 166 
Edward First at Sweetheart Abbey—Dr Chinnock a ae 2. LZ 
The Irvings of Hoddom—Mr George Irving : ee Es Bee (715) 
Lag’s Elegy, and other Chap Books—Mr Frank Miller _ et ... 203 
Geology of the Dumfries Basin—Mr Jame; Watt . ses fos ... 216 


Field Meetings .. Bs a ay Be ee = 4: ... 223 


PROCEEDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS 


OF THE 


DUMFRIESSHIRE AND GALLOWAY 


NATURAL HISTORY & ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY. 


Da SLOmM:: £OO0-L. 


26th October, 1900. 


ANNUAL MEETING. 
Mr JAMES BARBOUR, F.S.A., Architect, in the chair. 


Lew Members.—Mr R. Y. Pickering of Conheath ; Mr Robert 
G. Mann, Cairnsmore, Dumfries; Mr W. H. Veitch, Hoddom 
Estate Office ; Mr Charles Watson, Solicitor, Annan; Mr James 
Ballantyne, Editor, Courier and Herald ; and Mr Bertram M‘Gowan, 
Solicitor, Dumfries. 


Donations and Exchanges.—Memoirs of Peabody Museum I., 
1,2, 3,4. New York Academy of Sciences, the Devonian Lam- 
prey. Transactions of Canadian Institute, semi-Centennial Memorial 
Volume; Bulletin of the Geological Institution of the University 
of Upsala; Communicaciones del Museo Nacional de Buenos 
Ayres, Tomo I., 6; Year-book of the Department of Agriculture, 
U.S.A., 1899 ; Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scot- 
land, 1898-99 ; Proceedings and Transactions of the Nova Scotian 
Institute of Science, X., 1; U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Legislation for Protection of Birds, Revision of American Voles 


2 ANNUAL MEETING. 


of the genus Microtus ; Proceedings of the Canadian Institute 
II., 3; Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 
Philadelphia, Pt. III., 1899. U.S. Department of Agriculture— 
Food of Bobolinks, Blackbirds, and Grackles, by F. E. Beal; 
North American Fauna, No. 18; Revision of Pocket Mice of the 
genus Ferognathus, by Wilfrid H. Osgood. Proceedings of the 
Natural Science Association of Staten Island, Vol. vii., 15, 16, 17, 
18; Transactions of Glasgow Natural History and Antiquarian 
Society ; Publications of the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburg, 6, 7 ; 
Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol. 
vii., 1897-99; Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Science, 
Vol. iii. ; Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 
Philadelphia, 1890, Pt. 1, Jan. and Feb. ; Indian Metecrological 
Memoirs, X., 1, 2, 3, 4. 


The Rev. Mr Andson, Librarian, reported that Dr Chinnock 
had presented to the Society a portrait of the late Joseph Thom- 
son, the Afr:can traveller, which was accepted with thanks. 


Mr James Barbour presented to the society his “ Excava- 
tions of the Camps and Earthworks of Birrenswark,” for which 
he was thanked. 


SECRETARY'S REPORT. 


The Secretary (Dr J. Maxwell Ross) then read his annual 
report as follows :— 


During the session there had been four deaths and nine resig- 
nations among members. Nine new names had been added to the 
roll, which now contained 15 honorary, 14 life, and 184 ordinary 
members. ‘The number of ordinary members had been reduced 
by the death of Dr Macdonald, the distinguished authority on 
Roman Remains in Scotland. Dr Macdonald was a well-known 
classical scholar, a great educationalist, and a painstaking arche- 
ologist. Some of their members were his pupils at Ayr, others 
assisted him in Kelvingrove, and they had as a society benefited 
by his work at Birrens and elsewhere. Six monthly and two field 
meetings were held during the year. At the former ten papers 
were submitted and several exhibits shown. The field meetings 
were to Balmaghie and Glenlochar to view the supposed site of an 
ancient Abbey, and to the Lochrutton waterworks and crannog. 


ANNUAL MEETING. 3 


In the latter excursion the members had the advantage of the 
presence of Dr Munro, who gave it as his opinion that the crannog 
was well worthy of investigation, and that excavations should be 
made in it. Mr Murray, one of their vice-presidents, bad con- 
sented to collect subscriptions to defray the expenses of these 
excavations. 


TREASURER’S REPORT. 


The Treasurer (Mr J. A. Moodie) read his annual report from 
1st October, 1899, to 30th September, 1900 :— 


CHARGE. 
Subscriptions from 139 Members at 5s each : ae <1 pot 1p) 10 
Do. Ap 9 * 2s 6d each 126 
£35 17 6 
Entrance Fees from 9 New Nembers : bes sc oe e276 
Arrears of Subscriptions paid 2-5-0 
Subscription paid in advance ne 
Copies of Transactions sold ... ie ee 23 ic Ay 0.12 6 
Interest on Bank Account 0 3 0 
Balance due to Treasurer... ne as is foeel Ii 
Less Balance in Savings Bank ane age ae 015 6 
—— 26) 5 
£42 11 11 
DISCHARGE. 
Balance due Treasurer at close of last Account ... oe: = £8 19 11 
Less Balance in Savings Bank a oe ae - rr 0:12 6 
£8 7 5 
Paid Salary of Keeper of Rooms and additional Allowance for 
Heating Rooms during Winter Months 215 6 
Paid for Stationery, Printing, &c. ‘ Pe e- ss FABIO, 
Paid for Periodicals and Books _... ay "3 ae ae 3 5 8 
Paid for Coals and Gas on ; Ot: (6 
Paid Fire Insurance Premium, ane bonus De = A One 2 
Paid for Repairs : ae sy ae a OR iano 
Paid Expenses of ene Meciinas = -- 
Post Cards... ee os Mee & £4715) 0 
Addressing same... os st ae Ione 
Printing same a Sf sa eas 018 0 


Carry forward... site in me) elb: ASE 


4 ANNUAL MEETING. 


Brought forward ... 200 eed «3 SLSRIS ee 
Paid Expenses of publishing Transactions for last year as 
follows :— 
‘* Dumfries Standard” for Printing... £15 12 0 
Postage of Transactions ... = es 1-28) 36 
Delivery of Do. aa ae aed 0 3 6 


7 
Paid Secretary’s Postages and Outlays see eas 0 
Paid Treasurer’s Do. Do. ee a sae see On 
Miscellaneous Payments a es ze 0 


£42 11 11 


Statement as to the cost of publication of ‘“ Birrens and its 
Antiquities ” for year ending 29th September, 1900. 


Balance due to the Treasurer as at 30th September, 1899 ... £11 0 10 
Less 2 Copies sold at 3s each, 63. sas re sas ai O66 
Balance due Treasurer .. aes 3 se oF £10 14 10 


ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEARERS. 


Hon. President—Right Hon. Sir HERBERT MAXWELL, Bart., M.P. 

Vice-Presidents—Rey. JoHN Catgxs, Mr Ropert Murray, Mr Jamzs Bar- 
zbour, and Provost GLOVER. 

Joint Hon. Secretaries—J. MAxwE.Lu Ross and Bertram M‘Gowan. 

Treasurer—J. A. Moopie. , 

Curators of Library and Museum—Messrs ANDSON and LENNOX. 

Curators of Herbarium — Professor Scort-Exiiot, Misses Hannay and 
Miss CRESSWELL. 

Council—Messrs JAMES CLARK; JAMES Davipson Maxwetu, Terregles 
Bank ; Starke, Troqueer Holm; W. Murray of Murraythwaite ; Dr 
Crark, Miss Hannay, and Miss CRESSWELL. 


Mr Robert Murray reported that he had collected a sum of 
£26 for the purpose of carrying on excavations at the Crannog at 
Lochrutton and for other smaller work. 


16th November, 1900. 
Mr JAMES BARBOUR in the chair. 


New Member.—Mr John S. Stobie, Upholsterer, Dumfries. 


THE PARISH OF LUCE. 5 

Donations and Exchanges.—Transactions and Proceedings of 

the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, Vol. xxi., Pt. iv.; Annals of 
the Andersonian Naturalists’ Society, Vol. ii. 


COMMUNICATIONS. 


1._—TZhe Parish of Luce (Hoddom). By Mr GEORGE IRVING, 
Corbridge-on-Tyne. 


There is very little now to be seen of Luce except a few 
iragments. It was formerly a parish, aud a church was founded 
here by St. Kentigern in the sixth century. The ancient parish 
of Luce, now part of Hoddom, seems to have been bounded by 
Annan Water on the west, by Mein Water on the north-west, 
until it joined Pennersax, opposite Newbiggen, then it struck 
south to the Brownmuir through the wood by the existing march 
fence until it meets the Bonshaw estate, then following the boun- 
dary of the Bonshaw estate down Butcherbeck Burn to Annan 
Water, near Cleughheads. The area of the parish was about 1200 
acres. Little is now known about its ecclesiastical history. In 
Laing’s Charters, under date 16th December, 1559, it is mentioned 
that Andrew Layng, rector of Hoddom, and Johannes Layng, 
rector de Luss, were witnesses to the confirmation of a charter 
by Gavin Hamilton, commendator of Kilinning, to Adam Mont- 
gumry. 

The vale of Hoddom as seen from Luce old churchyard, 
about 120 feet above sea level, is rich and beautiful. Nature 
seems to have been in a lavish moed when it was made. No 
wonder St. Kentigern pitched his little Mission Church here. 
Looking northwards you see Annan Water debouching through 
the gorge opposite Hallyards and flowing past the site of the old 
parish church, and rolling its dark waters past the base of Repent- 
ance Hill and Woodcockair, and absorbing Mein Water as it 
rolls on its way round the rocky point at Luce and on past Bride- 
kirk on its way to the Solway Firth. Two miles away is Hoddom 
Castle with its turrets, and on the left the near horizon stretches 
over the gentle elevation called Barrhill, well known to lovers of 
the leish. The Caledonian Railway creeps serpent-like round its 
base, separating from Barrhill the ridge over Cowdews, Hare- 
gills, Douglas Hall, and Birrenswark. 

On the north-east is seen Ecclefechan nestling between 


6 THE PARISH OF LUCE. 


the Clint Hill and the Trumpet Knowes on the south-east. 
The Brownmuir closes in the fertile vale, which is sheltered 
from “a’ the airts the wind can blaw.” The three churches 
as seen from Luce form the points of a triangle. Ecclefechan 
old church is 2400 yards from Luce, Luce 2220 yards from 
old Tfoddom, and old Hoddom from Keclefechan 8500 yards. 
Immediately in front, a mile and a half distant, stands Knockhill, 
on a gentle elevation overlooking the vale of Hoddom and away 
down the course of the Annan to the Solway. The greater part 
of the old churchyard, including the site of the old church, has 
been ploughed for fifty or sixty years. ‘There is a small corner 
fenced off (round the Irving tomb) into which a number of old 
tombstones have been dragged and thrown about in a very dis- 
orderly fashion. The foundations of the old church as traced by 
Mr Kennedy, farmer in Luce Mains, when ploughing the field, 
shews the church to have been about 30 feet long, by 15 feet 
wide, and the west end about 50 feet from the east end of the 
Irving tomb. The site is indicated by a X on the 6 inch ordnance 
survey. After the Reformation the parish of Luce, Hoddom, and 
Ecclefechan were united into the present parish of Hoddom in 
1609. The parish manse stands on the glebe. In the valuation 
of 1667 Luce is described as 

MKS. S. D. 


The fourtie shilling land of Newpark ee vee ORO 
The six merkland of Luce... «oc EON TOO 
The lands of Luce pertaining to Falta Invi vine -.= 120° iw 
Kelheads rent received from Adam Carlile ... seca se AO, A ae 
The rest of Kelheads lands in Luce ... lat i S225 e 


In the early part of the sixteenth century the lands of Luce 
belonged to Lord Carlyle, and was sold to Jeffray Irving, who 
purchased the Three Merkland of Luce from Lord Carlyle, anno 

and a charter of the lands was granted by Michael Lord 
Giavien in 1542. These lands were part of the lands now belong- 
ing to Alexander Pearson, Esq. The Carlyles have left no 
records behind them except a few tombstones in the old church- 
yard to the memory of some of their descendants in the 18th 
century. In 1823 there was a John Carlyle who was the owner 
of one-eighth of Dornocktown, who appears to have been a de- 
scendant of the Carlyles of Luce. ‘Un 13th July, 1612, charter 


THE PARISH OF LUCE. 7 


“by Dame Elizabeth Lady of Carlile granting to James Johnstone 
“of Wastraw the Five Merk Lands of Stank, in the parish of 
* Dornock, Stewartry of Annandale, and Shire of Dumfries. To 


Grave Yard 


p ‘Sy 4\) ~ 
Ay Up q 


no 

z 

< 

Se = 
12) 

a 

— 


“ be held feu farm for 13s 4d yearly. Witnesses—James John- 
“stone of Beirholme and William Irvine of Kirkconnell, Gavin 
“ Blair, writer in Edinburgh, and others. Signed ‘ Elizabeth, Lady 
“Cairlel.’” There is one large tombstone known as the Carlyle 


8 THE PARISH OF LUCE. 


tombstone lying flat on the ground, with an inscription in large 
capital letters about 24 inches long in relief. 
Here lyes Ane Honest Gentleman called Adam Carlel of Milnflat, 


who died May 18, 1681. His age was 96. The youngest may die, but the 
aged must sooner or later. Dust returns to Dust.” 


IN MEMENTO MORI. 


“ Milnflat”’ is the adjoining farm now known as Meinbank. 
The above Adam Carlel was in 1667 paying Douglas of Dornock 
40 merks per annum as rent of land in Luce. One of the tomb- 
stones records that 

Here lyes James Carlyle in Dornock, who died 31 day of March, 
1732, aged 86 years, and Jean Carlyle, daughter to Robert Carlyle in 
Foulsyke, who died ye 5 of May, 1746, aged 22 years. Here lyes Robert 
Carlyle in Dornock, who died April 10, 1768, aged 78 years; also Jannet 
Bell, his spouse, who died Feb. 4, 1779, aged 77 years. 

Another stone records that 

Here lyes Jannet Little, spouse of James Carlyle in Dornock, who 
died 25 Jan., 1729, aged 69 years, and John Carlyle, son of the sd James 
Carlyle, who died 20 Feb., 1763, aged 65 years, and James Carlyle, son 
to the said James Carlyle, who died 4 June, 1706, aged 20 years, and 
Janet Carlyle, daughter to the said James Carlyle, who died 24 Oct., 
1713, and Nicholas Carlyle, another daughter, who died 26 Noy., 1752. 

(Here there is a shield in the form of a heart.) The initials 
on the shield are those of James Carlyle and Jannet Little. Then 
follows: 

Here lyes Bridget Bell, spouse to the above John Carlyle, who died 
16 July, 1784, aged 76 years. 

The Carlyles of Luce and Bridekirk were ancestors of Thomas 
Carlyle. The Irving succeeded the Carlyles as owners of Luce 
early in the 16th century. There is an aisle or tomb standing in 
the churchyard with a door in the west end. The east end is 
semicircular. Over the doorway is a shield and scroll, with the 
motto “ HAUD ULLIS LABENTIA VENTIS” surmounting a shield 
with three holly leaves, with the date 1700. In the scroll on the 
left-hand corner is the letter Z, and at the opposite end of the 
scroll is the letter U. Inside there is an ancient grave cover to 
the memory of Jeffra Irwing. It is 5 ft. 9 in. long, 18 in. at the 
head, and 15 in. broad at the foot. It has a plain surface, and 
round the bevelled edge is the following inscription in large 
capital letters, in relief, date 1649 : 


THE PARISH OF LUUE. i) 


Here lyes Ane Honest Gentleman, called Jefra Irwing, of Luce, who 
died 18 March, 1649, aged 60. 


Jeffray Irving’s Tomb. 


The above is to the memory of the grandson of the first Jefra 
of Luce. There is built into the semi-circular gable in the inside 
a tablet about 3 feet square, bearing the following inscription :— 


To the memory of Jeffray Irving, who purchased the Three Merkland 
of Luce from Lord Carlyle, anno . . . And John Irving, his son, and 
Jaffray Irving, his grandson, who obtained a Charter of the sd lands from 
Michael Lord Carlyle, anno 1542. As also John Irving, his son, and 
Jaffray Irving, his son, who died 18 March, 1649, ag’d 60 years. And 


10 THE PARISH OF LUCE. 


William Irving, his son, who died 9 Feb., 1719, aged 96 years, and John 
Irving, his son, who died 21 April, 1734, aged 65 years. 


TRANSIT GLORIA MUNDI, 


Jaffray Irving in 1547 was returned as able to bring 93 men 
into the field. See Bishop Nicholson’s Legis Marchiarum List of 
‘Clans who submitted and gave pledges to Lord Wharton that they 
would serve the King of England 1567, but this number might 
include Woodhouse. There is another tombstone which records 
that 


Here lyes John Irving, who lived in Broachhead 72 years, and died 
there the i2 of Febry, 1619, aged 104 years, lawful son of David Irving was 
lawful son to the Laird of Wisbie, and John Irving, his grandchild, who: 
died 16 March, 1695, aged 32, son of William Irving in Broachhead 
(Broachhead now forms part of Luce Mains). 


In 1611, in the Register of the Privy Council in Edinburgh, 
among other border records “ David Irving, callit of Wisbie, was 
* described as man to Jock of Luce.” It is also recorded in 1625 
that Jaffray Irving becomes cautioner in 500 merks for David 
Irving in Middleshaw. Another stone 


In memory of Gavin Irving, son of William Irving, in Broachhead, 


who died at Blackitlees March 21, aged 70 years, and Jean Ferguson, his 
spouse, who died at Warmanbie, June 12, 1782, aged 82 years. 


Blacketlees is a farm on the west side of the River Annan, 
was owned by Irving of Cove in 1711, and feued to George Irving 
in life rent and William Irving, his son. Mr Irving, minister of 
Newabbey, was proprietor of Blacketlees about 1752. In 1770 
‘Blacketlees was the property of Dr Wm. Irving, evidently the 
Wm. Irving above referred to. 


The Irvings of Luce seem to have shared the bad luck of 
many of their clan, and were obliged to part with their estate 
early in the 18th century to Douglas of Dornock. In the old 
valuation of 1667 Douglas of Kelhead received 40 merks per 
annum as rent from Adam Carlile, and had other lands in Luce 
valued at 82 merks. James Douglas the elder and Archibald 
Douglas the younger of Dornock, in the early part of the 18th 
century, were very large landowners in Dornock, Hoddom, and 
St. Mango. In 1718 Douglas ac juire] several farms in Hoddom 
from Wm. Irving of Kirkconnell, in addition to what he had in 


THE PARISH OF LUCK. ll 


Luce. In 1768 Archibald Douglas sold his Hoddom and other 
estates by roup, viz. :— 
Lots First and Second. Bodesbeck, Castlemilk, 
Castlemilkhill, Castlemilktown, Shawhead, and 
Broatshaw, Middleshaw, Brocklerigg, Blackford, 


Kettleholm, Greatwath, Cleughaide, Hskdalrig, 
Breckonhillhass, Kirkbank, Douglashall, Park 


at Douglashall, and Brettonwalls, for ... »-£5599 16 1025 


Thirdly. Feu duties of Gibsonstown, Cowestone, 

Sorrysyke, Howcleugh, Bankside, Northcroft, 

Kttrickholme, Highlaw, Strands, Mellantachead, 

Holmfoot, and Skellyholm ae 2079 16 0 
Fourthly. Woolcoats, Relief, and eee lene 

treewell, Burnswarkhill, Westgill Miln and Park 

at Burnswark, with the Pertinents er eeelgoo) 45 4 
Fifthly. The Feu Duties of Upper Cleughbrae ... 432 0 
Sixthly. One eighth-part of the Town of Dornock 


i=) 


remaining unfenced, Foulsyke, Butterdales, for 1073 18 5 
Seventhly. The Feu Duties of seven eighth-parts of 

Dornock at mai Susiee 6 
Lastly. The Fishings on fie ela Firth meine 

ing to the estate of Dornock _... Gas eae 40) OO) 


Conditions attached. “That the purchaser of the Fishings 
shall satisfy himself with the Title already produced in the sale, 
and in case of eviction shall have no recourse against the said 
Archibald Douglas the common debtor or the creditors who re- 
ceive the price.” The word “creditors” in the above conditions 
reveal the cause of the sale. Luce was not offered for sale at the 
Roup. In 1768 Archibald Douglas of Dornuck was stented for 
repairing the Manse at Hoddom £17 16s 3d. Luce passed from 
Douglas to General Dirom in or about the year 1795. 


In the garden in front of the Farm House at Luce Mains 
there is a stone with the Douglas arms carved ia bold relief repre- 
senting the flying heart surmounted by a coronet, with the motto 
“ FORWARD” in Roman capitals—date 1778. The stone is 2 ft. 
4 in. high, 10 in. broad at the foot, and 164 in. at the top, with a 
margin of 3in.all round. It has evidently been made for the 
keystone of anarch. ‘Tradition says it was cut by “Old Mortality.” 
This may be, as Robert Paterson was related to the then tenant of 


12 THE PARISH OF LUCE. 


Luce Mains. It used to be fixed in the gable of the old barn, and 
when the barn was pulled down it was removed into the garden 
for safety. These interesting relics are all I could find relating 
to the Douglas. 


Douglas Arms, Luce. 


At the farm of New Orchard there is a stone tablet buiit into 
the garden wall about 4 feet high by 3 feet broad. At the top 
cut in a scroll is the date 1772 and the word “ sicker” in capital 
Roman letters, each about 14 in. long. There is an inscription at 
the foot of the tablet as under: “ Archibald Douglas, Esquire of 
Morton, erected this stone 1784.” On the door lintel entering the 
garden there is an older stone with the following initials and 
date: “I I E1672.” The length of the stone is 3 ft. 9 in., 6 in. 
deep, and 13 in. broad. It has evidently been part of some older 


THE PARISH OF LUGE, 13 


buildings. In the centre is a small shield about 84 feet broad at 
the top. On the left half of the shield are three holly leaves cut 
in relief, and on the right half two diagonal cross bars in relief, 


a Sa 
Photo by J. B. Irving, Esq. 
Douglas Tablet at New Orchard. 


On the sides of the shield is the date 16 on the left and 72 on the 
right. Near the end of the stone on the left, in a small panel, are 
two letters “I 1,” and in a corresponding panel on the right is 
the letter “ E.” The letters “ I I” and the three holly leaves on 
the shield indicate that it records some of the Irvings who were 
owners of New Orchard in 1672, but I cannot make out what the 
letter “_E” means. In the Valuation Roll of 1823 Archibald 
Douglas, advocate, is returned of part of Kirkconnel, called New 
Orchard, of the annual value of 40 merks. 

The Laird of Luce was great grandson of Archibald Douglas 


14 THE PARISH OF LUCE. 


of Dornock, second son of the first Earl of Queensberry, and son 
of the last Laird of Dornock by a daughter of Sir James Johnstone 
of Westerhall. His father sold the estates of Dornock to the 
Duke of Queensberry, but bought Castlemilk, which he sold in 
1768. He was a madman, and dangerous in his cups. Displeased 
with a ploughman, he immediately whipt off one of his ears with 
a gullie which he happened to hold in his hand. Another account 
is contained in a letter to Matthew Sharpe, Esquire of Hoddom, 
at Edinburgh :— 

“ Dr Sir,—I take the opportunity of the bearer Mr Scot to 
‘let you know from good authority the most deliberate action I 
“‘eyer heard in our country. Young Dornock last Thursday’s 
“night in his lady’s room and presence ordered his servant George 
“to sit down on his knees and be sure to pray well, for he was to 
“be a dead man in a very few minutes, and his lady begged him 
“not to shoot the innocent lad but rather shout her than anybody 
“else. He fired a loadin pistol on the lad, missed him, and for 
‘all that they could do fired a second, which he had in his pocket, 
‘shot the lad beneath the left arm, run to Pennershaughs, but 
“could not get John Carlyle’s beast to run away on, and told him 
“he had shot George. .A despatch was sent to Doc Maxwell, who 
“told them he was not a surgeon, another to Doc , who told 
‘them George was a dead man, a third to William Cranston, 
“‘ Dumfries, who dressed his wounds, and is in hopes of his re- 
“covery. Iam, sir, your most humble servant, William Irving.” 

They say the cause was jealousy, and George passed for dead 
all Friday. His son is described as a “ truculent faced squinting 
‘fellow who was perpetually drunk and armed with pistols, which 
“he made very little ceremony of discharging. His cousin Sir 
“ William Maxwell never dared to pass the door of his house. He 
“ actually shot one Little, a farmer of his own, and was tried for 
“the murder at Dumfries; but by the help of money and abund- 
“ance of perjury he was brought in insane and confined at Dum- 
‘ fries till his death. When drunk he was certainly mad, but not 
‘otherwise. Ile died during the first decade of this century.” 
So wrote C. K. Sharpe to Walter Scott, Esq., in 1812. 

Little’s tombstone is in Hoddom churchyard, and has the 
following inscription :— 

In memory of Archibald Little in Park, victim to the malice of Wm. 
Douglas, late proprietor of Luce, who, having threatened to murder him, 


- 


. 


THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. 15 


actually perpetrated the same at Luce without any provocation by shoot- 
ing him with a pistol on the morning of Friday, the 24 July, 1795. He 
was aged 35 years 3 months and 11 days. His corporeal remains were 
deposited here on the 27th of the above month. 


So ends the tragic connection of the last Douglas of Dornock 
with Luce. 


Il.—The Vertebrates of Solway—A Century's Changes. 
By Mr ROBERT SERVICE. 


Looking over the records of the century that has just passed 
away, the naturalist will find that the changes that have taken 
place amongst the members of our indigenous fauna are numerous 
and interesting. Some species have gone altogether, and we 
shall know them no more as local inhabitants. Many have sadly 
diminished from former abundance. Others, again, have risen 
enormously in numbers, and a few, quite unknown here when the 
century began, have arrived in our district and assumed a fore- 
most place in the attention of the student of these important inter- 
faunal relations. 

The great agricultural progress made during the century las 
had much effect on our native species. With the extensive drain- 
age that has taken place, and reclamation of bog and moss, the 
wild fowl have been dispossessed of their chosen haunts. The 
numbers of several species of wading birds have become more and 
more restricted. 

The re-afforesting that took place to such a wide extent in 
the earlier years of the century provided homes and shelter for 
such species as the Roedeer and the Squirrel. The hedge en- 
closures, with rows, belts, and clumps of ornamental or ‘“ wind 
breaking” trees, have greatly encouraged the propagation of . 
small passerine birds. 

Arable land has gone out of fashion in a marked degree, and 
pastoral cultivation is taking its place, to the advantage of such 
species as the Starling. On the rougher and hill portions of the 
country, Black Cattle have long since been replaced by sheep. 

One consequence is that heather is slowly dying out. No heather 
patches ever extend now, and plenty of it has disappeared 
altogether. 

Many members of our fauna have suffered severely from 
game preserving. Since early in the 20’s the passion for this form 


16 THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. 


of sport has gone on increasing. A more discriminating method 
of keeping down the enemies of game is now in the ascendant,. 
under which Buzzards, Kestrels, Owls, and others ought to re- 
ceive the total exemption from ruthless slaughter to which they 
are entitled. From the naturalist’s point of view there was a 
compensating advantage in even the merciless old system of game 
preserving. It resulted in a maximum stock of small birds, which 
in their haunts on the mosses, woods, and coverts enjoyed almost 
complete immunity from raptorial birds, and an undisturbed quiet 
during the nesting season. 

Iam bound to note the agreeable fact that public opinion 
favours the preservation of all the members of our fauna, and 
does not regard the Acts passed in recent years for the protection 
of birds, their eggs, and young, as in any way irksome. The 
healthy opinion prevails that the enactment in question to main- 
tain the feathered tribes is one to be respected not only by all 
lovers of wild life, but by the community as a whole. 

“Introductions ” have not been without considerable mark. 
The Rabbit, the Varying Hare, the Pheasant, and the Grayling are 
introduced species, and it is perhaps quite unnecessary to observe 
that all of them are here to stay. 

Probably some of the changes noted, such as the lessening 
numbers of the Martin and the Barn Owl, the arrival of the Pied 
Flycatcher and the Stock Dove, as well as the change involved 
in the abundance in which the Tufted Duck now remains in 
summer, may be attributed to some slow and obscure alteration 
in climate. No evidence, however, can be adduced from meteor- 
ological records that any such change is in progress. 

I ought to mention the changes that have taken place in 
regard to the principal vertebrate of all—man himself. A wonder- 
ful change has taken place in Solway and elsewhere within the 
century. Go where you will you will see roofless and ruined 
cottages dotted over the country. In some villages half the 
houses are roofless and ruined; and the groups of Ashtrees or a 
few Rowans—perhaps the free growth of a bed of nettles, or the 
greener verdure of a grass mound—sufficiently attest to the 
observer the sites of homesteads that have otherwise completely 
disappeared. Some may look on such a change as merely one of 
social economy. Whatever may be the deeper reason, the one 
on the surface is easily seen. The people have left and are 


THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. iW) 


leaving the land to reside in towns merely because employment, 
and therefore food, are more easily obtained there. In this 
respect man is almost on the same level as the beasts of the field 
and the fowls of the air. 

By the term “ vertebrates ” it is, perhaps, quite unnecessary 
to explain that the back-boned animals are meant. These, of 
course, comprise the mammalia, the birds, the reptiles, and the 
fishes. ‘Solway ” is one of the faunal districts into which the 
jate Dr Buchanan White divided Scotland. These divisions are 
in all cases based on the watershed (so far as the mainland is con- 
cerned), and in practice are very convenient, and they are accepted 
and used by all working Scottish zoologists. I have said that Dr 
Buchanan White, in arranging these faunal areas, “ divided 
Scotland,” but, as a matter of fact, he was compelled by watershed 
considerations as he went along the Borders to appropriate rather 
considerable slices from Cumberland and Northumberland. In 
doing so, Dr Buchanan White shewed conclusively that nature 
had not erred. The mistake of supposing that Cumberland and 
Northumberland lay altogether in England has arisen simply 
through political exigencies. It will serve our present purpose 
best to consider “Solway” roughly as all the country that lies 
betwixt the Esk and Lochryan. The large bit of Cumberland and 
the little bit of Ayrshire that properly belong to ‘ Solway” may 
at this time be left out of consideration in discussing our subject. 


MAMMALIA. 
THE WILD CaT (fe/ts catus, Linn.). 


This fine creature has long been extinct here. In Dumfries- 
shire few of them survived when the century began. The last 
record I can find for the county is that of a wild cat shot on the 
heights of Middlebie, betwixt Wastwater and Cruive, in January, 
1813. It must have been an extraordinary large-sized animal, for 
it is said to have measured 3 feet 9 inches in total length. In the 
Stewartry wild cats lived only a little longer, one having been 
killed by a Mr Beck, then farmer in Balmangan, about 1820. Mr 
John M‘Kie, of Anchorlee, Kirkcudbright, told me in a letter 
written in September, 1880, “ that it was related to him when a 
boy by a native of Borgue, named James M‘Taggart, that he saw 
two foxhounds belonging to Alexander, the county huntsman, so 
torn by one or more wild cats near the cliffs at Senwick glebe 


18 THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. 


that they had to be destroyed, and that ever afterwards Alexander 
avoided the place when hunting.” There is a widespread belief 
amongst British zoologists that there is now no real wild cat left 
in Great Britain. It has been absorbed by the ‘‘ predominant 
partner” the domestic feline. Certainly wild cats with all the 
typical characters of the species have become of great rarity, even 
in places such as the deer forests, where these cats are not 
specially destroyed. 


THE WEASEL (Mustela vulgaris, Virxl.). 


Has become comparatively scarce nowadays. Formerly found 
in great plenty everywhere. 


THE ERMINE (JZustela erminea, I..). 


This species has become greatly less common within the 
memory of most persons. During the prevalence of the Vole 
plague of the years 1888 to 1892, both the Ermine and the Weasel 
had a considerable amount of tolerance extended to them. The 
idea was widely expressed by those dependant on pastoral farm- 
ing that the Vole plague would not have assumed its vast dimen- 
sions had there been a natural stock of the two animals under 
notice. Neither of them is the unmitigated vermin they are so 
often asserted to be, and it is regrettable that they should-be 
destroyed in the undiscriminating way now in fashion. 


THE FOUMARY (Mustela putorius, L.). 


The Foumart was very common during the first half of the 
century. It then quite abruptly decreased to great scarcity. 
Although perhaps not quite extinct yet, the odd stragglers that 
now and again are reported at intervals of several years may be 
immigrants from outside our area. More probably they are only 
very dark-coloured Ferrets that have escaped from their owners. 
Rabbit-trapping is accountable for the disappearance of the 
Foumart. At the old fur markets that used to be held in Dum- 
fries during the Candlemas Fair the skins of these animals brought 
good prices. In 1857 it was as high as 45s per dozen, As many 
as 600 skins were exposed, as happened at the fair of i831. 


THE BADGER (JZe/les taxus, L.). 


This is another animal whose status has gone down to the 


THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. 19 


verge of extinction. While never really common, it was well 
known and of general distribution. For the last half century its 
existence has been precarious. There have been several introduc- 
tions on well-known estates, and this has helped to maintain the 
Badger as a local animal. Although the general opinion is that 
the last of the native Badgers met their fate about 1860, there is 
a reasonable belief that all along the old indigenous breed has had 
a survivor here and there. ‘‘ Dumfries Badgers,” which, however, 
were nearly all procured in the Stewartry, were at one time in 
great demand by our southern neighbours, and were reckoned the 
gamest that could be obtained anywhere. 


THE COMMON SEAL (Phoca vitulina, Linn.). 


There is every reason to believe that the Common Seal does 
not visit our waters with the regularity that was formerly the 
case. Up till the last ten or twelve years a few stragglers of the 
herd that annually migrates in late autumn along the western 
shores of Scotland reached the Galloway coast, and from the 
middle, or end, of October till March, Seals used to be observed, 
and occasionally captured, almost every season. For a good 
many years past Seals have become much more infrequent. 


THE RED DEER (Cervus e/aphas, Linn.). 


‘**The range of the Red Deer, formerly extending over all 
our province and much farther south, is now far to the north- 
ward.” So said Sir William Jardine in an address delivered here 
in 1860. According to the writer of the ‘Statistical Account” 
of Moffat parish, ‘ the last hart was killed there in 1754, having 
been long single.” The range betwixt Dumfriesshire and Lanark- 
shire was, as may easily be supposed, a famous place for deer. 
In the ballad of “ John of Breadislee” we read that the redoubt- 
able borderer 

has gone to Durisdeer 
To hunt the dun deer down. 
A stag was killed at Eaglesfield, in Dumfriesshire, on 25th October, 
1815, a Mr Clark, of Broughton, having been gored and killed by 
it. It had been hunted from Dalemain, near Penrith, through 
‘Carlisle and Cockermouth and far across the borders. In Symson’s 
“ Galloway ” (1684) there are some references to the presence of 
‘very large red deer” about the ‘remote parts of that great 


20 THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. 


mountain” (Merrick). I bought at a book sale one day a work in 
two vols., entitled ‘‘ The Natural History of Quadrupeds and Ceta- 
ceous Animals,” published at Bungay, in Suffolk, in 1811. The 
work is profusely illustrated with coloured plates, but is a mere 
compilation, and its only value is its extreme scarcity. I find an 
allusion therein (vol. ii., p. 209) to the Galloway deer, which is of 
interest. ‘So late as in the beginning of the last century (1700) 
there were Red Deer scattered over the hills of Galloway. But 
by the eagerness with which the peasants pursued them they have 
been long since exterminated from that district.” A remnant 
must have been left, for, according to the ‘ New Statistical 
Account,” Kells parish, February, 1844, ‘‘ deer were occasionally 
seen in the remembrance of some old people.” 


THE FALLOW DEER (Cervus dama, Linn.). 


The ‘“ New Statistical Account” records in the notes to the 
parish of Johnstone that in 1780 James, Earl of Hopetoun, brought 
a dozen of Fallow Deer to Raehills, where they were placed in an 
enclosure, but subsequently broke out and were never confined 
again. They gave rise to a numerous herd that roamed at large 
in Upper Annandale, and in 1844 it was computed that they num- 
bered upwards of 200. Orders to destroy them were issued, and 
although more than 50 were killed within a week their utter de- 
struction was not accomplished before the orders were recalled. 
It is believed that possibly a few descendants are still at large, 
but as these may be confused with individuals recently escaped 
from the parks, there can be no certainty, 


THE ROE DEER (Capreolus Caprea, Gray.). 


I have been unable to ascertain with any certainty the date 
when this species became extinct in Solway. Probably it was not 
found here at any time during the 18th century. In the early 
part of the present century, when the great increase in plantations 
took place, suitable haunts for this woodland deer were offered, of 
which it took advantage when sufficient advance in their growth 
had taken place. 

The return of the Roe to Annandale was put down by Sir 
William Jardine as shortly after 1854, but there is every proba- 
bility that it was a few years earlier, for the writer of the account 
of the parish of Johnstone, in the N.S.A., states that “ within 


THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. PH 


these last three years a few Roe Deer have been discovered.” An 
introduction on the Drumlanrig estates about 1860 helped to stock 
Nithsdale, and within a few years thereafter the Roe was quite 
common. By 1870 it had spread widely over Galloway, and is 
now everywhere numerous in suitable haunts. 


WILD WHITE CATTLE (Bos faurus, L.). 


The Drumlanrig herd were disposed of about 1780. A small 
herd were kept in Cally deer park. I have not been able to glean 
any precise information of the number of cattle that formed this 
herd. It appears that they were originally procured from the old 
historic herd belonging to the Duke of Hamilton, kept in Cadzow 
parks. They were all sold in 1846, after the death of Alexander 
Murray of Broughton. 


THE SQUIRREL (Scéurus vulgaris, Linn.). 


So generally distributed, and so common is this lively and 
pretty creature, that it is of special interest to find that the 
Squirrel is a very recent immigrant into Solway. When they 
became extinct here in olden days we have no precise knowledge. 
They reappeared in Dumfriesshire (Upper Eskdale) in 1837, or 
perhaps a year or two earlier, but it would be fully ten years later 
before they became quite common and began to spread westwards. 
They crossed the Nith about 1860, and soon became generally 
dispersed, reaching the Cree about 1873. That river appears to 
have been an obstacle not easily negotiated, as some seven or 
eight years elapsed before the Squirrels got across. Early in the 
*80’s, however, they became general in Wigtown, and at the 
present day abound in many localities in that county. 


THE BLACK RAT (Mus rattus, L.). 


Has in all probability now become quite extinct as a local 
species. I have not seen or heard of it for a dozen years past. 
From time to time ‘‘ Black” Rats are reported, but these invari- 
ably prove to be the fine black variety of the Water Vole, or, 
more seldom, the melanic variation of the species that comes next 
on my list. 

THE BROWN Rat (Mus decumanus, Pall.). 


Vastly more common everywhere than it has ever been 
before. I have a strong impression, induced by a long series of 


22 THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. 


notes and facts of observation, that the Brown Rat now betakes 
itself to the fields and open country, away from dwelling-places, 
far more readily than was formerly the case. Along the shore 
line, too, there are large and increasing numbers to be found 
where at one time few, or none, were to be seen, On quiet 
evenings one has only to remain in hiding for a few minutes to see 
the Rats come out from under the rocks to feed upon mollusks 
and the rejectamenta of the tide. 


THE CoMMON HARE (Lepus Europeus, Pallas.). 


In these days the Common Hare only manages to hold its 
own on estates sufficiently large to allow of efficient protection. 
How abundant the hares were before the passing of the Ground 
Game Act isa matter of common knowledge. At the Dumfries 
fur markets before alluded to hare skins were the staple com- 
modity. Seldom less than 10,000 skins were sold, and in the later 
years during which the market existed 65,000 to 70,000 were 
sometimes disposed of. It is stated that so recently as 1874 no 
fewer than 180,000 hare skins passed through the hands of the 
Dumfries dealers. 


THE MOUNTAIN ILARE (Lepus timidus, Linn.). 


The White Hare now frequents all our hills of 1000 feet and 
upwards, and very many of those of lower altitude, and a speci- 
men has been shot so low down as the hill above Dalscairth. It 
was unknown in Dumfriesshire previous to so comparatively recent 
a date as the winter of 1863, when it was first noticed on the 
Moffat, Evan Water, Leadhills, and other ranges leading into 
Peebles and Selkirkshire. It was understood at the time that 
these Hares were the produce of some that had been turned down 
at Glenbuck by a Mr Hunter about 1861. But in a deeply 
interesting work, entitled “The Mammalia of the Edinburgh 
District,” published in 1892, my friend Mr William Evans, the 
author of the book cited, shews that there were at least two other 
introductions to which, together with those set loose at Glenbuck, 
we are indebted for the present stock of Mountain Hares which 
are so widely and abundantly distributed over the southern 
uplands. Mr Clason of Hallyards procured a number of Blue 
Hares from the north, and set them free on the top of the highest 
hills in the parish of Manor, in Peebleshire, in 1845 or 1846. 


THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. 23 


There was also another introduction on the Silverburn hills, the 
highest of the Pentlands, somewher2 about the beginning of the 
60's. 

Spreading rapidly from the district around Queensberry, 
through the head of the Annandale watershed, the Varying Hare 
arrived in Eskdale in some numbers by 1868. It was about’ 1872 
before it made its appearance westwards on the Galloway uplands. 
It is now widely distributed on all the hills of Solway. 


THE RABBIT (Lepus cuntculus, Linn.). 


When the century was young Rabbits were scarce enough, 
In the Rev. Samuel Smith’s “ Report on the Agriculture of 
Galloway,” of date 1810 (a book that is now very scarce, and for 
a sight of which I am indebted to Mr Thomas Fraser, Dalbeattie), 
it is stated (p. 298) that “there are a few rabbits in one or two 
places in the Stewartry. . . . There is an extensive Rabbit 
warren in the sandy district near Glenluce.” When Dr Singer 
wrote his ‘“‘ Agricultural Survey of Dumfriesshire” in 1812 he 
remarked (p, 384) that “a few Rabbits are to be found, but hardly 
worth mentioning. There is no regular warren.” I have it from 
a trustworthy source that John James Hope Johnstone, M.P., 
brought one pair of Wild Rabbits from the South of England and 
set them at large some time about 1815, and that the descendants 
of this pair were popularly supposed to have populated the most 
of Annandale. Some time subsequent to 1825 the fox-hunting 
interest introduced Rabbits largely throughout both Dumfriesshire 
and the Stewartry (there were foxhounds kept in the Stewartry 
then), and ever since that time they have been plentiful enough. 
There is no mention of the number of Rabbit skins in our fur 
market reports until 1828, when 18,000 were exposed, and fetched 
4s 6d per dozen. In 1816 they were sold here for 8s to 9s per 
dozen—a very direct evidence of scarcity. 


AVES. 
THE MISSEL THRUSH (Zurdus viscivorus, L.). 
Some fifty years ago was very uncommon. Now it is one of our 
familiar species. 
THE CoaL Tir (Parus britannicus, Sharpe and Dresser). 


‘“‘ This little species we think to be the most abundant, or one 


24 THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. 


which, in winter at least, is seen in greater profusion in the South 
of Scotland than any of the rest of the tribe. Ten or twelve 
years since (say 1834 or 1832) it was by no means common, and 
its frequency now may be accounted for by the increasing age of 
the plantations and by the immense quantity of wood which has 
been lately planted and which is now advancing to maturity.” So 
wrote Sir William Jardine when he issued his ‘“ History of British 
Birds” in 1844. Nowadays, and for many years past, Coal Tits, 
though common enough, cannot be considered ‘“ the most abundant 
of the tribe,” they being exceeded in this respect by both the 
Blue Tit and the Great Tit. 


THE MARSH TIT (Parus palustris, L.). 


Was considered by Sir William Jardine to be not uncommon in 
Dumfriesshire about 1840. The reverse is the case now ; indeed, 
until 1888 I had never seen the Marsh Tit near Dumfries. The 
species seems to be slowly becoming more abundant since the 
date mentioned, and a pair or two may be noted occasionally. In 
other parts of Solway it has never been, during my experience, 
more than very scarce and local. 


THE WHITE WAGTAILL (MMotacilla alba, L.). 


Of late years this species has put in a tolerably regular ap- 
pearance during the vernal migration. It seems to have been first 
noted here about 1880. 


THE PIED FLYCATCHER (Muscicapa atricapilla, L.). 


Now breeds regularly in several places in both Annandale and 
Nithsdale. There is a strong presumption that it is also resident 
in summer on the Stewartry side of the Nith. The Pied Flycatcher 
is an addition to our breeding birds, as it was found nesting in 
Solway for the first time in 1882. Previous to that date there 
was only one record for the species in Solway, so far as I know. 


THE MARTIN (Chelidon urbica, L.). 


The House Martin has shown a lamentable diminution of num- 
bers within the last twenty years. Scores of farmhouses where 
it used to breed have now not a single pair attached to them, It 
has been alleged that great numbers of this homely little bird are 
killed on passage through France and Italy. While that is un- 


THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. 25 


doubtedly the case, I am rather inclined to think that its increasing 
scarcity here is caused by some obscure climatic change. 


THE GOLDFINCH (Carduelis elegans, Steph.). 


Owing to bird-catching, and the great improvements in agri- 
culture, whereby fields and wastes covered with thistles and other 
weeds have been done away with, the Goldfinch has decreased 
almost to vanishing point. It can never regain its former num- 
bers, but a small remnant may exist if the Wild Birds’ Preservation 
Acts are well enforced. 


THE STARLING (Sturnus vulgaris, L.). 


Within the memory of many persons still living, the Starling 
was either unknown or very rare. In the earliest years of the 
century the Starling was disappearing in Solway, and 40 or 50 
years elapsed during which it seems to have been only a transient 
visitant. Then with the next score of years it very rapidly in- 
creased till it reached its present abundance everywhere. Details 
of its interesting history as a local bird need not be given. I have 
already published many such notes in the ‘“‘ Annals of Scottish 
Natural History ” for 1895. 


THE CHOUGH (Pyrrhocorax graculus, L.). 


With the exception of a pair or two in the west of Wigtown- 
shire, there are no Choughs now in Galloway. Once common, 
they became very scarce in Kirkcudbrightshire by 1865, and soon 
thereafter quite disappeared, with the exception of an occasional 
straggler from the Isle of Man, or Rathlin. Jackdaws have been 
freely blamed for frightening them away, but there is no evidence 
that they ever did so. 


THE MAGPIE (Pica rustica, Scop.). 


The Magpie still survives as a local species, and of late years 
seems actually to be slightly increased in numbers. Formerly very 
abundant, its decrease is attributable to game-preserving. 


THE ROOK (Zrypanocorax frugilegus, L.). 


The Rook is entitled to particular attention in connection with 
my subject. While greatly diminished from its numbers of half 
a generation ago, the most interesting thing about the local and 


26 THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. 


general Rook population is in the remarkable change of habits 
that happened towards the end of the’70’s. Previous to that time 
they attacked the farmer’s growing and harvested crops at the 
same time that they were destroying untold quantities of grubs and 
noxious insects, Then came a great change. Eggs of all kinds, 
young birds, small rodents, young rabbits, chickens, and ducklings 
were devoured as greedily as ever the Carrion Crow did the same 
thing. At the same time came a curious structural alteration. 
The feathers round the base of the bill, which always used to fall 
off during the young Rook’s first summer and winter, were in 
many cases retained for years. There is no doubt this retention 
of these feathers was the direct result of the assumption of Carrion 
Crow habits by the Rooks. So, of course, the gamekeepers were 
everywhere up in arms against the Rooks, with the usual result, 
I am not blaming them, for Rooks, with their present propensities, 
must be bad neighbours to a Pheasant preserve. The cause of 
such a sudden change to what may be considered ancestral habits, 
after a most lengthened period during which no charges of that 
particular kind were ever laid against them, is rather obscure, 
The best explanation is that of my friend Mr John Harvie Brown 
—the foremost of Scottish naturalists. He traces it to two causes. 
The first one is the immense increase of the Starling, depriving 
the Rooks of their grub and insect food. The other is the practice 
all over the country of spreading on the fields near the larger 
towns of so-called scavengers’ manure or refuse. Egg shells and 
garbage of all kinds are amongst the stuff, and the Rooks, com- 
pelled to forage amongst it, soon learned a bad lesson, The 
whole matter is well worth fuller investigation than has yet been 
given it. 
THE BARN OWL (Sérix flammea, L.). 


This is another bird that seems dying out from some unex- 
plained cause. ‘There are very few left now. 


THE HEN HARRIER (Circus cyaneus, L.). 


The Ilen Harrier is a bird that probably very few local 
naturalists have ever seen alive. And yet half-a-century or more 
ago it existed in hundreds all over the mosses and moors of our 
area. Game-preserving has sealed its doom, and so also has it 
that of the 


Tur VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. 2. 


CoMMON BUZZARD (Buteo vulgaris, Leach), 


of which a few pairs only are now left on suitable tracts of 
country. 


THE GOLDEN EAGLE (Aguila Chrysetos, L.). 


This Eagle nested in Dumfriesshire up till 1833, and till well 
after 1850 on some of the Galloway hills. 


THE SEA EAGLE (Aalietus albicilla, .). 


The Sea Eagle has been much scarcer everywhere in Britain 
than the Golden Eagle, not receiving, like its congener, the protec- 
tion of the deer forests. There were eyries of this species on the 
Burrow Head and Mull of Galloway at the beginning of the 
century, and it is said to have been White-tailed Eagles that bred 
on Loch Skene. I doubt this, and am of opinion that the White- 
tailed Eagle ceased to nest in Solway considerably earlier than the 
Golden Eagle did. 


THE OSPREY (Pandion halietus, L.). 


The Fishing Eagle, bred in Galloway at, at least, two places, 
Loch Skerrow and the Glenhead Lochs, till about 1860. 


THE TUFTED Duck (Fuligula cristata, Leach). 


This bird comes on my list now as a relief from the dis- 
agreeable task of recording so many extinct or disappearing species 
Always well-known as a winter visitant, the Tufted Duck was 
first discovered breeding within our area by myself in 1887. Since 
then it has spread amazingly, and there is scarcely a loch in the 
three counties bat has a pair of them upon its surface in summer. 


THE STOCK DOVE (Columba enas, L.). 


This species is another very welcome addition to our resident 
breeding birds that has arrived here quite recently. In 1876 it 
was found breeding in Southwick, Since then it has spread, not 
only over Solway, but over the most of Scotland. 


THE PHEASANT (Phasianus colchicus L.). 


According to a statement in the “Old Statistical Account,” 
the Pheasant was introduced to the woods of Eskdale about 1790 
by the Duke of Buccleuch. There was an introduction at Jardine- 


28 THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. 


hall in 1822. John M‘Diarmid states in the old “Courier” of date 
August 9, 1825, that “pheasants are spreading fast over the whole 
of Galloway, very little to the comfort of the farmers, who com- 
plain that a colony of them are as ill to keep as a hirsel of sheep.” 


THE PTARMIGAN (Lagopus mutus, Leach). 


The Ptarmigan was still on our hilltops when the century 
came in. It survived till about 1822. In the “Zoologist” for 
1887 I have gone pretty fully into the history of the last survivors, 
and all particulars may be obtained therein. 


THE WOODCOCK (Scolopax rusticola, .). 


Nowadays the Woodcock remains, and breeds here, in no 
scanty numbers. It is the general belief that it did not do so 
during the first two-thirds of the century. At the same time, 
some are of opinion that, from insufficient observation, the fact of 
the Woodcock remaining to breed was overlooked. I have seen 
an egg of the Woodcock that was taken in Newabbey parish so 
long ago as 1828. 


THe LITTLE GREBE (Podiceps fluviatilis, Tunstall). 


This is another addition to our breeding residents. It was 
first noted nesting at Falbae Loch, in Parton, in 1876, and since 
then it has been noticed in several other localities. When Robert 
Gray wrote his “Birds of the West of Scotland,” he remarked 
on the curious fact that the Little Grebe had not been known up 
to that time to breed here. 


REPTILIA. 
THE ADDER (Pelias berus, L.). 


Although far from being at all scarce yet, there is no doubt 
that the Adder has greatly decreased from its former abundance. 
Drainage and reclamation have destroyed many of its haunts. The 
late Mr Thomas Wilkin informed me that, when a large portion of 
his farm of Tinwald Downs was reclaimed from Lochar Moss, a 
note of the Adders killed during the progress of the work was 
regularly kept. The average was 40 per acre. 


PISCES. 
THE CoMMON CoD (Gadus morrhua, L.). 


Does not now come up the Solway Firth in the great quan- 


THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. 29 


tities and huge size that once arrived there in the winter months. 
Up to 1855 and 1856 their visits were annual, but after that they 
gradually dwindled away. Now, as a rule, only codlings are 
caught, and the large, mature fish very seldom indeed. 


THE ROACH (Leuctscus ruttilus, L.). 


Within the last half-dozen of years, Roach have been found 
plentifully in the Cargen water. Probably they originated from 
an introduction to the Terregles ponds. The species is at best 
very local in its distribution, and any extension is of considerable 


note. 
THE MINNOW (Leuciscus phoximus, L.). 


The Minnow was introduced into Glasserton parish, in Wig- 
townshire, according to a note by Sir Herbert Maxwell in the 
Annals of Scot. Nat. Hist., “some years previous” to 1892. It 
does not exist anywhere else in Galloway west of the Cree. 


THE SALMON (Sa/mo salar, L.). 


Salmon are enormously less in the Solway rivers than 
formerly. Both in the rivers and in the estuaries, the early, or 
spring, fish (should these not rather be termed the “latest” fish 
of the previous year’s run?) are almost of rare occurrence now 
when compared with a period of half a century ago. I believe 
firmly that as much salmon reaches the public as ever, but whereas 
the captures in the rivers have decreased greatly, the salt water 
catches have gone up correspondingly. The Solway rivers are 
naturally late waters, and their tendency has been for many years 
past to become later as time goes on. ‘The process is a slow one. 
Whether the change is climatic, or is caused by the constant 
annual taking of the earlier runs, can hardly be said to be decided. 
Like many other observers, | am of opinion that it is to be 
attributed to the latter cause. 


THE SMELT (Osmerus eperlanus, L.). 


Tlardly known as fresh water fish nowadays in at least the 
Esk, Annan, Nith, and Urr. They have greatly decreased, also, 
in the estuaries. I have been favoured by Mr Hugh Kerr, Dal- 
heattie, with the loan of an old account book kept by his grand- 
father, when tenant of the Munches fishings in the River Urr. 
In 1840 no less than 1800 Ibs. of “Spirlings” were taken from 


30 THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. 

these waters. A little practical combination might easily reinstate 
the Smelt in its former abundance, as witness what has been done 
in the Cree within a remarkably short period. 


THE GRAYLING (Zhymadllus vulgaris, Nilss). 


Shaw, of Drumlanrig, put 2000 Grayling ova into a stream 
in the Drumlanrig policies, leading into the Nith, in the spring of 
1857. The following year breeding fish were introduced into the 
same river by Lord John Scott. Now the species swarms in all 
suitable localities. A few have been taken in the upper reaches of 
the Annan, but none in the lower waters. I am unaware when, 
or by whom, they were introduced there. 


THE ANCHOVY (Zugraulis encrasicholus, L.). 


The Anchovy came into the Solway waters in 1889, appear- 
ing first in Fleet Bay; the following spring they were captured 
near Annan, and it was soon ascertained that the whole firth was 
full of them. Since then their continued presence has been noted. 
It will be interesting to watch whether the Anchovy remains per- 
manently off our coasts. 


THE HERRING (Clupea harengus, L.). 


Probably never a summer passes during which Herring do 
not visit our firth. In the early half of the century they were 
here in such immense shoals as we never hear of now. The 
public memory is proverbially short, and it has been almost for- 
gotten that so comparatively recently as 1848 the Herring shoal 
touched the Dumfriesshire shore, and most of the inhabitants of 
that part of the coast left their usual occupations and engaged in 
catching and curing, while those fish that had got stranded on the 
hanks were carted away by the farmers for manure. This was 
more particularly the case in Caerlaverock parish, but at the Brow 
and Priestside the people were equally busy, and this state of 
matters lasted from the beginning of September till Hallowe'en. 
The English trawlers plied their vocation off the Borron Point, and 
some of them used to sell their catch daily at the Dockfoot. In the 
several years that succeeded Herrings were nearly as abundant 
in the firth. 630,000 were taken in a single night in October, 
1850, off Maryport, and the fishing culminated in 1852 with the 
greatest catch of the century. In October and November of that 


THE VERTEBRATES OF SOLWAY. 31 


year the shoal lay in the channel from the Blackshaw to the 
Lightship on the Cumberland side, and nearly 100 boats were 
engaged in the fishing. It is a matter of interest that the 
Herrings are recorded to have spawned that season in local 
waters. ‘he Maryport boats alone realised upwards of £10,000 
from the season’s work. ‘The time may again come round when 
Herring will visit the firth in their old numbers, but they are not 
likely to do so until the banks and channels get back to the con- 
dition they were in half a century ago. That may never happen 
again, if my idea turns out to be correct, that the Solway firth is 
silting up at a comparatively rapid rate. 

Three more species of fish ought to be mentioned. These 
are the American Charr, the Black Bass, and the Rainbow Trout. 
They have been introduced for more than a decade now, and 
seem to have thriven. Individuals of each of them have been 
taken at considerable distances from where they were originally 
put into our waters. 


21st December, 1900. 
The Rev. WM. ANDSON in the chair, 
New Member.—Mr Pearson of Luce, near Annan. 


Donations and Exchanges.—North American Fauna, No. UIE 
Results of a Biological Renaissance of the Yukon River Region ; 
Coleoptera of Reigate, Part ITI., Staphylinidex, by John Linnell. 


The Secretary submitted certain papers received from a 
gentleman in Dunscore Parish :—(1) A notice addressed to James 
Grierson, Esq., Ialgonar, intimating that on account of the 
cholera in Dumfries (1832) business for the Michaelmas Head 
Court would be postponed. The notice was covered wiih MSS. 
jottings regarding wonders, freaks, &c., and among others was a 
note of the prolificity of a Russian peasant, from the Scots Maga- 
zine, 1755, which corresponded with a similar account of Russian 
prolificity published in the “ Lancet” in 1857, and in Gould and 
Pyle’s Anomalies of Medicine 3 (2) A letter regarding the second 


EXHIBITS. 32 


incoffining in 1817 of Lady Betty, daughter of Hugh, Earl of 
Lowden (? Loudoun), her death having occurred in 1771; (3) Two 
old hotel bills from Carlisle and Ramsey ; (4) Lines said to be by 
Burns on the death of Paine; (5) Newspaper notice of death of 
Mrs Mary Ann Lowden (aet. 83) at Stank of Bankend, endorsed 
‘‘last surviving sister of Paul Jones;” (6) A ticket for Leith 
stage coach, 


Communication.—The Secretary read a paper by Dr Chinnock, 
London, on Ptolemy’s Ireland, for which Dr Chinnock was. 
accorded a hearty vote of thanks. 


Mr Service, seconded by Mr Thomson, moved “ That the 
“Society consider the advisability, in conjunction with other 
‘kindred societies, of asking the Government to issue a Commis- 
‘‘sion to prepare and publish a third Statistical Account of all 
‘‘the Scottish Parishes.” This was, after discussion, unanimously 
agreed to, and a Committee, consisting of Messrs Service, Thom- 
son, Barbour, Ballantyne, Moodie, Dr Ross, and Mr B. M‘Gowan, 
was appointed to take any steps that might be considered 
necessary. 


1Sth January, 1901. 
Mr Robert Murray, V.P., in the chair. 


New Members.—Colonel Beaufin Irving of Bonshaw; Mr 
Andrew C. Penman, Coachbuilder, Dumfries. 


Donations and Exchanges.—Proceedings Berwickshire Natur- 
alists’ Club, XVII., Part I.; the Session Book of Bunkle and 
Preston, 1665-1690 ; Transactions of the New York Academy of 
Sciences, Vol. XIJ., Parts II. and III. 


Exhibits—Mr Arnott, Carsethorn, exhibited four Edward I. 
Pennies and a Groat of Edward III.; the Rev. W. Andsom 
exhibited a pamphlet, dated October, 1792, on the opening up of 
a Cairn in the Parish of Urr, in which was a curious account of 
what the writer believed to be an ancient mode of sepulture 


THE METEOROLOGY OF 1900. 


iss Cresswell showed seven photographs of snow effects taken 
COMMUNICATION. 


in the neighbourhood of Dumfries. 


By the Rev. WILLIAM ANDSON. 


The Meteorology of rgoo. 


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34 THE METEOROLOGY OF 1900 


BAROMETER.—The highest reading of the barometer during 
the past year occurred on the 13th March, when it rose to 30-687 
in.; the lowest was recorded on the 19th February, when it fell 
to 28:300 in. The annual range was thus 2°387 in. The mean 
pressure (reduced to 32 deg. and sea level) was 29°863 in., which 
is very near the average. The months in which the highest mean 
pressures occurred were March, July, and September, in all of 
which the mean was above 30 in. The lowest were in February, 
November, and December, which had pressures ranging from 
29°528 in. in February to 29-701 in. in November. The reading 
of 28-300 in. in February was abnormally low, and it is worthy of 
note that there were no less than six days in that month—from 
the 15th to the 20th—during which the barometer readings were 
all under 29 in. Some days previously there had been a heavy 
fall of snow, which lay upon the ground to the depth of 10 or 11 
in., and the frost at the same time had been so severe that the 
river was frozen over and bearing. In connection with this 
storm there was an extensive breakdown of telegraph and tele- 
phone wires, and much damage done both by sea and land. The 
only other month in which barometer readings under 29 in. were 
recorded was December, in which they occurred twice, first on 
the 20th with a reading of 28-720 in., and again on the 28th with 
a reading of 28°615 in. On both of these dates there was a severe 
south-westerly storm, by which no small amount of damage was 
done. That of the 20th seems to have been the worst in this part 
of the country and in the northern parts of Britain generally; but 
in the south and west of England and Wales that of the 28th 
appears to have wrought still greater havoc in shipwrecks and 
loss of life. December was, on the whole, the stormiest month 
of the year. After the first week there was a series of cyclones, 
accompanied by strong gales from the south and west and by fre- 
quent and heavy rainfalls, which made it the wettest December 
in the fourteen years to which my observations extend. But 
some of the other months also had more than their usual share 
both of wind and rain. 


TEMPERATURE IN SHADE, FOUR FEET ABOVE THE GRASS.— 
The absolute maximum or highest single day temperature of the 
year was 81 deg. on the 12th of August; the lowest or absolute 
minimum was 6°5 deg. on the 12th of February, showing an 


THE METEOROLOGY OF 1900. 3d 


annual range of 74°8 deg. A maximum temperature of 81 deg. 
was also recorded on the 15th August, but these were the only 
instances in which a maximum of 80 deg. and above was reached. 
In July the highest was 76 deg., and in June 77°5 deg. There 
was thus a smaller number than usual of very warm days. There 
were 9 days in June and 14 in July with temperatures of 70 deg. 
and above in the shade, but only 5 in August in addition to the 
2 at 81 deg. The warmest month was July, which had a mean 
temperature of 61:6 deg., June was next with 58°9 deg., and then 
August with 57°6 deg. July was a degree and a half above ave- 
rage, June about average, and August nearly one degree below. 
The coldest month of the year was February, which had a mean 
temperature of only 34 deg., being fully four deg. below the 
mean for that month, February was in fact a month of unusual 
wintry severity. Not only was the lowest temperature of the 
year recorded in it, but there were 18 nights of more or less 
severe frost, with an aggregate of no less than 149 deg. below 
the freezing point, and a severe snow storm, as previously noted, 
with a strong easterly and south-easterly gale, which did much 
damage. The other winter months were comparatively mild. 
January, with a mean temperature of 39:6 deg.,had several nights 
of frost, but none of them severe. March was cold, with some 
sharp frosts after the middle of the month, and a mean temperature 
of 39 deg., nearly 2 deg. below the mean. But November and 
December were both exceedingly mild, the former having a tem- 
perature of 4 deg. and the latter of 6 deg. above the average. 
There were six months in which the temperature was above the 
mean, viz., January, July, September, October, November, and 
December, the excesses in these months amounting to 14:5 deg. 
The deficiencies in the other months amounted to 8-9 deg. The 
mean annual temperature comes out at 48 deg., which is about 
half a degree above the average of 13 years. I may mention that 
48 deg, is given as the mean annual temperature of Dumfries in 
the isothermal maps which give the lines of equal temperature. 
If any one has a good atlas, such as Bartholomew’s Pocket Atlas 
of Scotland, and will look at the isothermal map which it contains. 
he will se2 that the line of 48 deg. starts from somewhere about 
Newcastle, then passes in a north-westerly direction to Dumfries, 
then west from Dumfries through Wigtown, then in a northerly 
direction towards Arran and the Isle of Bute, then easterly 


36 THE MrTEOROLOGY OF 1900. 


towards Glasgow and Falkirk to Stirling, and from Stirling west 
again towards the Atlantic. The mean annual temperature has 
been as high as 49:5 deg., and as low as 46 deg. I make the 
average to be about 47:5 deg., but possibly a longer period of 
observation might give a higher mean, We cannot fail to observe, 
however, that the mean annual temperature of 48 deg. in the past 
year, which is fully up to the average or a little above it, is not 
due so much to a warm summer as to the unusual mildness of 
several of the winter months. 


RAINFALL.—The most outstanding feature of the meteorology 
of Dumfries during the past year was the excessive rainfall by 
which it was characterised. The total amount which fell from 
January to December was no less than 47-08 inches. The average 
of twelve years was 36:20 inches, so that the record for the year 
was in excess of the mean by nearly 11 inches. This is the 
heaviest annual rainfall recorded at this station since observations 
were begun in 1886. The only approaches to it were 42°81 in, in 
1897 and 42°92 in. in 1891, both of which are more than 4 inches 
less. ‘The year as a whole was remarkable for its frequent and 
heavy rainfalls, almost the only exception among the months 
being the weather of March, which was abnormally dry, showing 
a fall of no more than a quarter of an inch, with 6 days on which 
it fell. The wettest month was December, which had nearly 
double the average, 7°07 in., as compared with about 4 in., and 27 
days on which it fell. It is worthy of note that this was the 
wettest December of the 14 years to which the observations 
extend. The next wettest December was in 1891, which had a 
record of 6°24 in., and twice it had 5 in. August was also an 
extremely wet month, having a record of 6°30 in., and 20 days on 
which it fell. But in fact all the months except March, which 
was exceptionally dry, and July and November, which had about 
the normal quantities, showed an excess above the mean. The 
number of days on which precipitation of rain or snow took place 
to the amount of not less than one hundredth of an inch was 218 
(rain, 208; snow, 10, chiefly in February), which is considerably 
above the average. As the result of such frequent and heavy 
rainfalls the river Nith was frequently in flood. In August and 
December it was more or less flooded during the whole of these 
months, the gauge at the New Bridge showing not unfrequently 


THE METEOROLOGY OF 1900. eal 


depths of from 6 to 8 and even 9 feet. And after the melting of 
the snow in February, with a heavy rainfall of more than an inch, 
it must have been 10 feet. Even in April, May, and June there 
was a good deal of flooding. I need hardly add that the result of 
such a wet year, along with the excess of 4 inches in 1899, will 
be to raise the average rainfall of Dumfries to a somewhat 
higher figure than that at which it previously stood. The mean 
of 12 years was 36:20 in. When the amounts for the past two 
years are added it will come out at 37°43 in. as the average of 14 
years. 


HyGROMETER.—The observations of the dry and wet bulb 
thermometers were taken twice every day, at 9 A.M. and 9 P.M., 
and under the same conditions as those of the maximum and mini- 
mum thermometers--that is to say, in the Stevenson screen and 
four feet above the grass. The mean of all the dry bulb readings 
for the year was 47:7 deg., very nearly the same temperature, it 
will be observed, as that of the year, which was 48 deg. The 
mean of 48 deg. was obtained by adding the daily maximum and 
minimum readings and dividing by the number of observations— 
the hygrometer mean by adding the daily morning and evening 
observations and dividing as before—and the result is that there 
is only a difference of three-tenths of a degree between the means 
obtained by these two methods. This is a practical confirmation 
of what is often stated in meteorological treatises, that the mean 
temperature of day, week, month, or year may be ascertained by 
either of those methods with almost equal accuracy. The mean 
of all the wet bulb readings for the year was 45-4 deg., showing a 
difference of 2:3 deg. This brings out the temperature of the dew 
point for the year at 42:8 deg., and the relative humidity 
(saturation being equal to 100) at 83. The greatest humidity was 
in January and November, when it was 90, and the next greatest 
in February, October, and December, when it was 88. The 
months in which the least humidity was recorded were May and 
June, which were represented by 73 and 76. 


THUNDERSTORMS, &C.—Thunderstorms were not frequent 
during the year, but I have noted five occasions on which there 
was thunder and lightning, viz., three in June, on the 11th, 22nd, 
and 23rd; one in August, on the 21st; and another on December 


38 THE METEOROLOGY OF 1900. 


2nd. Of these that of the 21st August was the most severe, and 
lasted from 7.15 to 8 pm. I have also noted thunder without 
lightning twice, once in July and again in December. There 
might have been more than these, but they did not come under 
my observation. Lunar halos were not unfrequent. I noted two 
in January, two in February, three in March, one in April, four in 
September, two in October, two in November, and one in 
December—17 in all; also hail showers twice in April, once in 
June, and once in December. ‘ 


With regard to the wind observations, the table shows that, 
as usually happens, the south-westerly was by far the most pre- 
valent. It blew on 804 days. The next was the westerly, which 
blew on 644 days, and if we add to these the southerly, which 
had 314 days, and the south-easterly 31, we have a sum of 2074 
days, considerably more than half the year, on which the direction 
was south-easterly to westerly ; while the northerly and easterly, 
including the north-westerly, had only 147 days, 11 being calm or 
variable. The prevalence of these southerly and westerly winds 
during the winter months of January and December supplies the 
explanation of the extreme mildness of these months, which has 
been exemplified during the past year as often before. In January 
last, for example, there were 21 days on which the wind blew 
between south and west, and in December there were 23. These 
are the winds, however, which at the same time bring clouds and 
rain in the greatest degree. Hence in January we have a record 
of rainfall above average, and 26 days on which it fell, and in 
December a record of over 7 in. and 27 days on which it fell; 
while January had only five nights on which the protected ther- 
mometer fell to and slightly below the freezing point, and 
December only 3, with exceedingly slight frosts. 


Mr James Watt moved a vote of thanks to Mr Andson for 
his paper, remarking that it was to the honour of Dumfries that 
they had in Mr Andson one of the most accurate observers for the 
Meteorological Society. 


THE EFFECTS OF WEATHER ON HEALTH. 


Dr Ross supplemented Mr Andson’s paper with some in- 
teresting observations. With regard to the rainfall, he pointed 


THE METEOROLOGY OF 1900. 39 


out that Messrs Bartholomew, whom Mr Andson had referred to, 
had published in their atlas a rainfall chart, and in the case of 
Dumfries there was a distinct line that came up from the east side 
of Criffel, up by Carsethorn, across again by Dumfries, and then 
down the other side of the Solway and across the county, showing 
that the rainfall was much less on the Solway shore than in parts 
of the country north of the line. He had obtained a record of the 
rainfall during the past year at Dumfries, Maxwelton, Glencrosh, 
Burnfoot, Ewes, Drumlanrig, and Ericstane, and he made out the 
average of these seven stations to be 55:4 inches—a very high 
record. The highest record of all came from Ewes, 445 feet 
abdve sea level, where the rainfall was no less than 67 inches. 
Glencrosh came next with 62 inches, and Ericstane had 58-88 
inches. Drumlanrig had had it wetter than for some time past— 
53 inches, whereas there was a time when the rainfall was very 
light, approaching to about 30 inches one year. Of course the 
returns brought out December to be the wettest month at all the 
places, March appearing to have been the driest in the year. The 
record for Dumfries for that month was about a quarter of an 
inch, and in all the other places the rainfall amounted to less than 
one inch, with the exception of Ewes, where it was 2:2 inches. It 
was interesting to observe the mortality statistics with regard to 
the meteorology. The death rate for the year throughout the 
county, including the burghs, with the exception of Dumfries, was 
something like 17-443 per thousand per annum, the monthly death 
rates ranging from 28°97 in February, a cold and inclement month, 
to 12520 in October, which, though a wet month, was fairly mild. 
February, which showed the highest total death rate, showed also 
the highest from tubercular diseases and from nervous and 
circulatory diseases. January, he supposed as the result of the 
wet in the previous December and because of the influenza so 
common then, showed the highest death rate from respiratory 
diseases—4'858—that in January being 4:859. <A rather in- 
teresting question was discussed at some length in the Scotsman 
the other day by a writer in the science notes as to whether mild 
winters were necessarily unhealthy winters. The mild winter, 
such as this one had been, got some support from statistics. He 
was working out what he might call the expected deaths for 
certain months of the year, and when working it out for the last 
quarter, based upon the statistics for the county and its burghs, 


40 THE METEOROLOGY OF 1900. 


excluding Dumfries, he found that the expected deaths during 
December, based upon the previous five years’ statistics, would be 
79, whereas the actual number of deaths was 90. So that, though 
December was a warm month, yet there were 11 deaths more 
than would have been expected from the records of the previous 
five years. These figures, however, were too small to argue 
from, and when they took larger figures they found that as a 
general rule where they had mild winters, even though they were 
very stormy, they had a decrease in the death rate and also in the 
death rate from-respiratory diseases, and to a certain extent in the 
deaths from nervous and circulatory diseases. He thought the 
mild winter did seem to have an influence upon the death rate to 
such an extent that they might say that a mild winter was not 
necessarily an unhealthy one, the reason being that it did not 
press so hardly upon people who were naturally weak. Another 
curious point that the figures brought out was that the death rate 
from consumption or phthisis was the lowest in December, which 
would tend to support the doctrine that phthisis was not altogether 
a question of climate, and it was not altogether necessary to send 
away our consumptives to a milder climate if they were put under 
suitable conditions at home. 

On the motion of Mr Thomson, Dr Ross also was accorded a 
vote of thanks. 


15th February, 1901. 
Mr RoBertT Murray, V.P., in the Chair. 


New Member.—Mr Robert Carruthers, F.I.C., Kirkbank, 
Dumfries. 


Donations and Exchanges—Proceedings of the Academy of 
Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1900, Part II., March-April. 
U.S. Department of Agriculture—Laws regulating the transpor- 
tation and sale of Game. Proceedings of the Canadian Institute 
for January, 1901. Stirling Natural History and Archeological 
Society—Transactions, 1899-1900. 


Exhibits.—Mr §. Arnott, Carsethorn, showed plants mounted 
by a new method, which preserved the colours, from Herbarium 


VARIATION OF PLANTS UNDER CULTIVATION. 41 


Analyticum (Buysman); Tropzolum majus ; Lespedeza bicolor ; 
Olearia ramulosa ; Torenia Fournieri. 


The Rev. W. Andson referred in suitable terms to the death 
of the Rev. T. H. Thomson, Hightae, who had contributed valu- 
able papers to the Society while a member. He had an extensive 
knowledge of ecclesiastical antiquities, and especially of Cove- 
nanting times. Mr Andson moved that an expression of the 
sense of the Society’s loss should be entered in the minutes. 
This was duly seconded and agreed to. 


COMMUNICATIONS. 


I.—* Some Observations on the Vartation of Plants under Cultiva- 
tion.” By Mr 8. ARNOTT, Carsethorn, Kirkbean. 


SUMMARY OF INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 


In the introductory remarks the writer referred to the 
importance and interest of the subject as bearing upon the evolu- 
tion of plants in the past. It was pointed out that, while the 
variations of plants could be studied from those growing im a 
wild state, cultivation afforded a better means of doing so, inas- 
much as the plants were more under regular observation, while 
the greater facilities for natural and artificial fertilization and 
cross-breeding afforded opportunities for the appearance or arti- 
ficial production of variations which could not exist in a wild 
state, where fewer allied plants grew together. 

Attention was also drawn to the variations in form, colour, 
and size of flowers which could be observed among our native 
plants when these were numerous in any habitat. It was also 
stated that the writer had endeavoured, as far as possible, to give 
the results of his own observation and knowledge in preference 
to drawing upon the published work of those who had written 
upon the subject. It may be mentioned that the Mendelian 
theory, so far as it affects the subject, has not been overlooked, 
but that the author is not at present prepared to consider it as 
beyond grave doubt. 


COLOUR VARIATION. 


I shall begin with colour variation, as being among the most 
noticeable of the changes we find among flowers. 


42 VARIATION OF PLANTS UNDER CULTIVATION. 


If we accept, as I suppose we are bound to do, the theory 
that the flower is merely the modification of the leaf of the plant, 
we are almost irresistibly forced to come to the conclusion that 
every colour to be found among flowering plants can be pro- 
duced in any other genus or species. Daring as this conclusion 
may seem when we consider the colour limitations which exist at 
present in some plants, I think we can hardly escape from this 
conviction, distant as may appear its realisation in the case of 
some genera. 

Let us take, for example, the Galanthus, or Snowdrop, as a 
familiar plant, whose blossoms are known to all. Its general 
colours are white and green. There is a form which may either 
be a reversion to the primitive flower or some survival which has 
not been subject to precisely the same influences. This has its 
flowers almost entirely green. There are other Snowdrops, again, 
which have only the inner segments almost entirely green, and 
which might possibly be looked upon as representing another 
stage in the progress of change in colouring. The normal Snow- 
drop, as it is known in this country, has white flowers, with a few 
green interior markings only, and with a green ovary. But there 
are others still, which are almost free from these green markings, 
and are really all pure white, with the exception of the ovary. 
There is said to have been a Pink Snowdrop, though the tales 
about it seem rather apocryphal. Yet it would be rash to assert 
that such a flower was never in existence, and it would be unsafe 
to say that such a thing is incredible for the future. We have, 
however, in the Snowdrop with yellow markings and a yellow 
ovary, a witness to the chances of further variations. It is true 
that we have not yet fixed this colouring in the seedlings, but that 
it can be done is almost a certainty, and there is really little 
reason to doubt the possibility of extending the yellow of the 
markings and ovary to the flower asa whole. That this is not im- 
possible even with these flowers, which are, as it were, not so high 
in the evolutionary scale as others, may be seen from the Narcissus. 
Whether the Narcissus was yellow or white when it made its first 
break from the presumedly original green we can only conjec- 
ture, but we know that it is now giving us a wide range of 
colouring, and that a Scarlet Narcissus is within measurable 
distance. The narrow saffron margin round the cup of some 
flowers has deepened into scarlet; the cup itself has been induced 


VARIATION OF PLANTS UNDER CULTIVATION. 43 


to share this colour; and in lately produced flowers the outer 
segments are now tinged with a deep hue, which leads to the goal 
which some <lesire. 

One has selected these examples as being seasonable, and as 
offering you an opportunity of thinking of them when viewing 
the flowers at home. In a further observation or two upon 
another phase of the subject of colour-variation I shall take as 
illustrations the common Scilla of our woods—the Scottish 
* Craw-tae ” and the English “ Blue Bell ”—Hcilla nutans, and the 
popular Hyacinth, so generally grown in glasses or pots—Hya- 
cinthus orientalis. I do this to show what I take to be the case, 
that flowers which are generally blue in a wild state have as a 
rule a greater tendency to produce colour variations than those 
which are white. The Scilla referred to may often be found 
giving not only white, but also pink, flowers in its native haunts, 
although, let it be noted, these sports do not seem to occur so 
freely on some soils than others. In cultivation one finds that 
many more shades can be produced. From a pink form of Scilla 
campanulata, a Spanish Squill closely related to our native Scilla, 
I have self-sown seedlings which give me many shades of blue, 
lilac, white, and pink. The original of our cultivated Hyacinthus 
orientalis is blue, but cultivation and selection of seedlings have 
given us reds and yellows of more or less brightness. We have, 
us yet, no yellow form of Scilla nutans, though one sees no reason 
why it should not be produced. Scilla sibirica, another little garden 
plant, was only known for years as a blue flower, but a few years 
ago a white variety appeared. A friend of mine, who has been 
working on bulbous plants with much success, from the seed of 
one solitary bloom of pinkish colour which appeared on a spike of 
which all the other blooms were blue, hopes to raise a pink 
variety. 

While, as a rule, it seems more common to raise white forms 
of coloured flowers, there are many instances of white-flowered 
plants yielding seedlings with coloured blooms. Thus the com- 
mon wood Anemone gives in some places plants which have blue 
flowers ; and purple and rosy coloured forms are not at all rare. 

In some families of plants the desired variations of colour 
have been practically secured, though progress has often been 
slow. A blue Primrose is now an accomplished fact; though a 
true blue Rose has yet to come. In trying to secure this an 


44 VARIATION OF PLANTS UNDER CULTIVATION. 


eminent raiser produced one with true magenta coloured petals. 
One could go on with such illustrations of what is, perhaps, the 
aspect of my subject which will appeal to more than any other. 
Not less worthy cf notice, however, is that connected with the 


DOUBLING OF FLOWERS. 


I suppose that, according to strict rule, a double flower ought 
to be looked upon as a monstrosity, just as one might be expected 
to look upon some of the prodigies in Barnum and Bailey’s show. 
If we assume the sole object of the flower’s creation is to ensure 
the continuation of the species, we must adopt this view, but if 
we apply the same doctrine to other animated things than to those 
belonging to the vegetable world then we find ourselves on a 
precarious footing indeed. In nature there are many checks to 
over-production of life, and if these take a form which is of a 
pleasing kind, why set it down as a monstrosity? It is singular, 
however, that we have a much greater proportion of double 
flowers and those which depart from the normal form among the 
seedlings which are slow of germinating and are weakly at birth. 
If, for instance, any one will sow seeds of double Carnations, it 
will be found that the plants which are the first to appear, and 
which grow most vigorously, are largely composed of single or 
inferior flowers. By the way, some plants which give double 
flowers’ have a curious way of securing that they should not 
become extinct. The double form of the common Lady’s Smock 
produces little plantlets on some of its leaves, while the single 
one does not. 

Of course we are largely at sea as to the causes which bring 
about the production of double flowers on plants. One would 
naturally think that the more vigorous the plant the more likely 
it would be to give double blooms; while the contrary is usually 
the case. It has been observed, however, that anything which 
tends to create a disturbing element in the natural course of the 
life of a plant is a powerful factor in making a change in its 
character or, more particularly, in its progeny. Various plans 
are adopted to secure such changes as we speak of. A very 
experienced gardener, who has been very successful in raising 
new plants, told me that when he was saving seeds of Stocks he 
always saved them from the side spikes, the central one being 
pinched out early. He said that the seeds saved from the central 


VARIATION OF PLANTS UNDER CULTIVATION. 45 


spike, always stronger than the side branches, gave a much larger 
proportion of single than double blooms. Some of the old-time 
florists had peculiar ideas; but in connection with this matter 
their practices may not have been far wrong, though they were 
often apparently absurd. Thus, an old Dutch florist who 
flourished about the end of the fifteenth century recommended, 
in order that Anemones with double flowers might be raised from 
seed, that the following should be the practice :—The tubers 
selected as the seed-bearers were to be kept for a year without 
re-planting, and the seeds they produced were to be soaked in 
wine, and dried before they were sown. His further directions, 
which had reference to the direction of the wind when the seeds 
were saved and the stage of the moon when further operations 
were completed, are too trivial for consideration, but it is possible 
that the disturbing element introduced into the plant by its 
remaining unplanted for a year, or the soaking or drying, may 
have had something to do with the production of double flowers. 
Anything which will affect the germ is likely to have the effect 
of introducing that element which is at the root of the many 
variations which are produced. 

One cannot quit this branch of one’s topic without referring 
to the curious fact that in some allied flowers the tendency to give 
double flowers is less pronounced than it is in the case of others 
belonging to the same natural order. Among the Irids, for 
instance, we have but few examples of double flowers. There 
are, it is true, in an Iris known as Iris Kempferi, instances of 
flowers with a few additional petals, but these are produced in 
plants whose parents have probably been long under a course of 
cultivation by the Japanese. The Gladiolus has produced a 
double variety, so has the Montbretia; but, so far as I can recol- 
lect, these are the only flowers of that natural order which have 
given these double blooms which are in existence. Why, we 
may ask, does not the Crocus give us examples with double 
blooms, seeing that it seeds so freely? There is recorded an 
example of a double Yellow Crocus, but no one alive seems to 
have seen such a flower, though it is figured in an old sixteenth 
century album in the British Museum. A good many other 
bulbous plants give us double blooms, and the Natural Order 
Liliaceze gives us double Colchicums, as well as some two or three 
partially double Lilies. One may mention the double form of the 


46 VARIATION OF PLANTS UNDER CULTIVA'TION. 


old Tiger Lily, and a form of the Madonna Lily, which has some 
additional segments in the flower. Then, among the Amaryllis 
family, we have double flowers in the Snowdrop, the Narcissus, 
the Leucojum, and hardly any others. The process of producing 
a double flower from seed can, it is believed, be begun by fertil- 
ising a bloom which shows one or more additional petals with its 
own pollen only. From the resulting seeds the chances are that 
some plants will be produced which have more than the normal 
number of petals. The repetition of this will gradually increase 
the doubling until the flowers become unfertile or nearly so, One 
has only to think of some of our most popular flowers to see how 
these variations have been turned to account. Thus the Chrysan- 
themum of to-day, with its great double flowers of the most 
varied colours, is the descendant of a plant whose small white 
blooms with yellow discs are about the size of those of our com- 
mon Daisy. 

The influences of soil in doubling flowers, or in causing them 
to revert to the original single form, are in dispute, but one cannot 
but incline to the opinion that soil may cause changes of both 
characters. 

In size of flower there is, of course, much variation both in 
nature and under cultivation. This is frequently the result of 
the soil and other conditions, climatic mainly. It may seem a bold 
thing to say, but it seems really difficult to place any limit within 
which size of flower must remain. Fortunately, considerations of 
good taste come into play to restrict the production of mammoth 
blooms. Then all sorts of odd forms in the shape and character of 
flowers may be produced—given a starting point. Petals may 
become deeply laciniated or the production of quilled florets may 
alter the whole character of the flower. If we think of what are 
known as ‘florists’ flowers,” we can form some idea only of the 
possibilities of variation existing in almost all flowers. Then those 
who are well acquainted with ferns are amazed at the possibilities 
of, and the actual results which have come from, variation. 


BUD VARIATION. 


‘hus far I have referred mainly to the effects of variation 
from seeds, even without some of the operations and results of 
hybridising, which will be referred to briefly later. I desire now 
to touch upon what is known as bud variation, This is produced 


ell 


VARIATION OF PLANTS UNDER CULTIVATION. 47 


by a branch or shoot-producing bud giving a shoot or branch 
which differs from the rest of the plant in colour of flowers, colour 
of leaves, form of leaves, or by having a different habit of growth, 
such as by drooping its branches, being more erect or by some 
other departure from the normal. This is known as dimorphism, 
and is the cause of a great number of variations under cultivation. 
In nature many of these are lost from want of propagation. In 
cultivation they can be propagated and thus perpetuated. The 
precise cause of these bud variations seems even more obscure 
than those which are raised from seeds. 

There is in connection with this bud variation or dimorphism 
a singular fact. This is, that the same “ sport,” as we call it 
colloquially, may be produced at the same time in gardens 
hundreds of miles apart. This is very noticeable in the case of 
Chrysanthemums. These, like Roses, when they sport, have 
generally the habit of the plant from which they have sprung, 
but have the flowers of a different colour. In the Rose, however, 
sometimes the flowers are the same as the parent, but the sport is 
of a climbing habit, while the original is dwarf and non-climbing. 
Many of our variegated and golden or white-leaved shrubs and 
ornamental trees are produced in the same way. 

This naturally leads one to remark briefly upon the varia- 
tions effected by means of grafting one plant upon another. I 
confess that this is a branch of my subject upon which I know 
very little from my own experience, as the plants operated upon 
in this way have nearly all been shrubs or trees. It is well-known, 
of course, that fruit trees grown upor certain stocks are better 
adapted for growing on some soils than other stocks, and that 
certain varieties of fruits bear better upon some stocks than 
otuers. So, also, some Roses bloom well and produce better 
blooms upon the Briar stock than on the Manetti, and others, 
which are useless on either, will do on their own roots. How 
far they are affected one can hardly tell, but the quality of many 
fruits must be influenced also by their stock. Why the Apple 
grafted on the Crab does not become a Crab as well is not easily 
explained, nor is it easy to say that the Crab stock does not affect 
the flavour of the Apple. We know that Cytisus Adami, which 
bears both purple and yellow flowers on the same tree, was 


produced by grafting the purple Cytisus purpureus upon a yellow 
Laburnum. 


48 VARIATION OF PLANTS UNDER CULTIVATION. 


One must also refer to the variation of habit in plants. In 
many garden plants there has been a great effort made to reduce 
the height of flowers so as to make them more suitable for garden 
purposes. This has been greatly adopted with annuals, so that 
there are few popular species in cultivation of which it is not 
possible to obtain dwarf, compact strains of seed. Now that so 
many perennial plants are being raised from seed the process is 
at work with them also. Given time and unremitting care, it is 
difficult to say to what length these changes might not be carried. 
Cultivated vegetables show their effects, and they have not 
reached finality any more than the flowers, which I have mainly 
dealt with to draw your attention to the subject, as well as because 
they are more familiar to myself. 


HYBRIDISING. 


Before turning to a few final observations, you will, perhaps, 
think for a few minutes upon the great question of hybridising 
and cross-fertilising flowers. Many as have been the changes 
effected in plants by their aids, oue feels confident that these are 
but the preludes to immeasurably greater results in the time to 
come. If we look at the Begonia as we know it; the Clematis ; 
the Fuchsia; the Gloxinia; the Pansy; the Viola; and the many 
other flowers which have been taken up by the plant hybridiser, 
we are amazed at the changes which have taken place within 
comparatively few years. Artificial hybridisation is the most 
powerful weapon which has been put into the hand of the 
gardener to effect variations in his plants, and, as yet, we have 
only crossed the threshold of the changes it is destined to make. 
It has its limits, doubtless, but when we see what it has done, 
and think of the hundreds, nay thousands of genera which man 
has never touched, we cannot but foresee that a vast prairie of 
work, and not a field alone, lies before us. What its limitations 
are we cannot yet tell. I had, last summer, a curious illustration 
of these in seeing through the garden of a skilled hybridiser who 
has for a few years been working on some plants he had taken in 
hand. Among them were some Liliums, among which we have 
a few good hybrids. One species was pointed out to me which 
had been fertilised about three years before with the pollen 
from another. Not only did the Lilies not produce seeds, but 
they are only gradually recovering from the disturbance caused 


VARIATION OF PLANTS UNDER CULTIVATION. 49 


to their system by the application of this pollen. Even last 
summer, the blooms were imperfect. 

We have passed the stage when the hybridiser was deemed 
a sacrilegious man, who had dared to run counter to the decrees 
of nature. We have discovered that Nature herself is a great 
hybridiser, and that many of the plants we have long been familiar 
with are true natural hybrids. Those who are engaged on the 
work now are but carrying on what has for ages been done with 
less certainty and fewer opportunities by the insects of the air, 
and by the winds of heaven. 

The subject thus imperfectly brought before you is full of 
interest to any careful observer, and also full of value to the 
pleasure and profit of the human race. It is complicated by many 
things we can never fully fathom. We cannot tell what effect the 
soil in which they grow; the air they receive; the water they 
absorb, may have upon these plants. We know that the higher 
the plants grow up the mountains the more brightly coloured are 
they than their fellows which are natives of the more lowland hills. 
We know that the colours of some flowers can be changed by some 
ingredient in the soil in which they grow, or by a solution of 
some chemicals in the water applied to their roots. But we can- 
not understand why some others are unaffected under similar 
conditions. Nor can we understand why the florist’s Tulip 
remains for so long a self, or almost self, coloured flower before 
it assumes the markings which delight the fancier, and which 
made it the subject of one of the maddest manias of history. 
Why do not the bulbs of the same age assume their new garment 
at the same time? \Why do some individuals * break” in a few 
years while others remain “breeders” for many? Problems 
such as these await the inquirer at every turn in the search into 
the mysteries of the laws which control these variations. Many 
of them are subject to our control, but many others seem as the 
* wind that bloweth where it listeth,” and teach us the old lesson 
of our ignorance. We are still gathering pebbies by the great 
sea of knowledge which stretches out to infinity. Yet among 
them we shall find some which are precious, and which show us 
that many things await the observer and experimenter in such 
branches as this. 


30 Dr ARCHIBALD’S “ CURIOSITIES OF DUMFRIES.” 


II.—Mr JAMES 8. THOMSON, Dumfries, read a paper on ‘‘ Water 
Power in relation to Electric Generation.” Mr Thomson was 
cordially thanked for his interesting contribution. 


Sth March, 1901. 
The Rey. JOHN CAIRNS in the Chair. 


Donations and Exchanges.—Report of the British Association 
for the Advancement of Science, 1900. Annals of the New York 
Academy of Sciences, XIII., 1. U.S. Department of Agriculture: 
North American Fauna, No. 16—Results of a Biological Survey 
of Mount Shaster, California, by C. Hart Merriman. 


Correspondence.—A letter from Mr Moreey was read asking 
names of parties in this district willing to undertake phrenological 
observations. It was resolved to submit the name of Miss 
Cresswell, Nunholm, and to communicate through the Rev. W. 
Andson with Mr Gorrie, Sorbie, and Mr Wallace, Auchenbrack, 
whether they would also undertake to make these observations. 


COMMUNICATION. 


tesumé prepared by the late Dr JAMES MACDONALD, F'.8.A. Scot., 
of Dr Archibald’s “Account of the Curiosities of Dumfries,” and 
* Account anent Galloway,’ from the Sibbald MSS. in the 
Advocates’ Library, read by Mr J.C. R. MACDONALD, W.5 , 
Iumfries. 


NOTES CONCERNING THE WRITER. 


So far as I can ascertain, this “‘ Account” has never yet been 
published; and, though its value is certainly not great, it derives 
some interest from the fact that it was written at least 200 years 
ago, and that its author was one of the leading medical prac- 
titioners of his day in the town of Dumfries. 

It is but fair to remember that at the end of the seventeenth 
century Scottish Archeology was only in its infancy. Sir Robert 
Sibbald, for whose use the ‘‘ Account” was drawn up, may be said 
to have been its father, and though his numerous works on the 


PR Tee ee re (oer ae 


Jue 


DR ARCHIBALD’S “ CURIOSITIES OF DUMFRIES.” 51 


antiquities and natural history of Scotland have long been out of 
date, and are now little known, he deserves to be remembered for 
the untiring zeal with which he prosecuted his inquiries, 

In collecting information, Sibbald sought the assistance of 
men of education in the different districts of the country. Nichol- 
son in his Scottish Historical Library has given us the names of 
the most prominent of them. From this source we learn that from 
Dumfries he enlisted the services of Dr Archibald, from Galloway 
those of the Rev. Andrew Symson. At Sibbald’s death the great 
part of his MSS. collections was purchased for the Advocates’ 
Library, where they are preserved. Among them are copies, and 
in some cases perhaps the originals, of most of the district reports 
on natural history and antiquities. Archibald’s as well as Symson’s 
are contained with several others iu a small quarto volume, in 
which they have been very neatly engrossed by the same hand, 
apparently about the close of the seventeenth century. 

Dr George Archibald, who, as just explained, was Sibbald’s 
correspondent in Dumfries, was the son of the Rev. Robert 
Archibald, minister of Dunscore from 1651 to 1662, and one cf the 
four hundred uncompromising Presbyterians who, on the re-estab- 
lishment of Episcopacy by Charles II., gave up their livings in the 
Church of Scotland rather than do violence to their convictions. 
Mr Archibald died in Edinburgh in 1688. About that time his son 
settled in Dumfries as a medical practitioner, and dying there in 
1715, was buried in St. Michael’s Churchyard. “ Resting on the 
east side of the sacred edifice, near the north-east corner,” writes 
Mr M‘Dowall (“ Memorials of St. Michael’s,” p. 371), “* we discover 
a large loose slab, which commemorates George Archibald. Neigh- 
bouring stones press upon the relic so closely as almost to veil it 
from cursory observation; but, neglected though it now is, it must 
when entire have presented an imposing appearance with its carved 
escutcheon and richly-chased border. It might with great pro- 
priety be removed from its obscure position, and placed near the 
kindred memorials of his mother and his second wife, where room 
for it could easily be found; below the middle window of the 
church on the south side. This ‘ Docter of Medicine,’ as he is 
termed in the inscription, was one of many distinguished medical 
men produced by the burgh both in ancient and modern times. 

Crossing the stone in oblong fashion is the following 
brief epitaph: Clarus in arte fuit medica, pius equus amator 


52 Dr ARCHIBALD’S ‘ CURIOSITIES OF DUMFRIES.” 


doctrine et morum, lepidus, cunctis-que benignus; which may be 
thus translated: He was distinguished in the medical profession, 
pious, upright, a lover of learning and morals, amiable, and kind 
to all.” Mr M‘Dowall’s suggestion that the stone should be 
removed from “its obscure position” has not yet been followed 
up. It still remains as he saw it. 

So far as can be gathered from the memoranda available, it was 
Dr Macdonald’s intention to give the Society not exactly a mere 
transcription of Dr Archibald’s ‘* Account,” but to eliminate such 
of the “curiosities” as are only calculated nowadays to excite a 
smile, and to present the remainder in the precise words of the 
text, with expository notes of a character such as might have 
made the paper one of real value to all interested in the anti- 
quities of the district. The notes, however, are so fragmentary, 
‘and my own scholarship is so sadly at fault, that I have found it 
quite beyond my ability to carry out the original plan. | must, 
therefore, beg the Society te be satisfied with the ‘‘ipsissima verba” 
of the “ Account,” and I have only to add that in order to ensnre 
accuracy, I have myself verified Dr Macdonald’s transcription by 
carefully comparing it with the manuscript in the Sibbald collec- 
tion. It might be well that I should make two further remarks 
of a prefatory nature. The first is that the ‘‘ Account” is appa- 
rently addressed to a mutual friend of Sibbald’s and the writer, 
who had been employed by the former as a medium of communi- 
cation, and that it was drawn up and transmitted in two sections. 
The second is that although the “curiosities” described are said to 
be “at Drumfriess,” Dr Archibald tells us very little about the 
town, but makes frequent and erratic excursions into the 
surrounding country. 


DR ARCHIBALD’S PAPER. 


In answer, says the manuscript, to the Doctor (7.e., Dr, after- 
wards Sir Robert, Sibbald) his advertisement and your desire, I 
must say—* Messis est vobiscum parca, sed palleas colligamus” 
[the harvest is scanty, but let us collect the straws]. 

As for the nature of this country, yourself can sufficiently 
inform the Doctor, and also as to the product, which you know to 
be wool and cows; fish and tallow for Bordeaux exchanged there 
with pruns, wine and brandy; skins and hides for Holland. Our 
trading is with France, Holland, and Dantzich. 


_— 


Sadie 


DR ARCHIBALD’S ** CURIOSITIES OF DUMFRIES.” 53 


I have not observed anything worthy his notice cast up from 
our narrow sea. 

Near this, or within ten miles in the Stewartry of Galloway, 
are silkworms, bastard amethysts, limestone, pearls, and (as is 
thought but not yet found) lead and coal. 

In Nidesdale are ancient houses such as yourself can inform; 
for nothing is here which is not ancient enough, and few things 
new. You'll inform concerning the ancient houses and lochs, 
such as Closeburn, &c.; woods, such as Tinwald, Mouswald, 
Carlaverock, Dardarroch, &c. 

As for Drumfriess, you also sufficiently know it; it is so called 
from the Freez-well beside it. It’s ruled by one Provost, three 
Bailies. Its revenue is reckoned betwixt five and six thousand 
merks. You'll inform of the old Grayfrier Church, where the 
Cumin was killed; of the Castle, bridge, church, new exchange, 
our large granary house, which though old is still new work; our 
stately cross, large street, and pleasant situation by and alongst 
the River Nith. 

Just beside this town, upon the side of the river, hard by the 
Castle of Cumin, in the place called Castle dikes, once well forti- 
fied with mounts and ditches, but now ruinous, springs a fountain 
most strongly all summer, harvest, and spring, though never so 
hot and dry, which precisely about Hallow mass (as is generally 
reported) dries up (though the winter were never so rainy) until 
the spring. 

Within four miles I remember to have seen a spring, which 
at that time was dried up, wherein may be digged abundance of 
an earthy substance, like litharge of gold, unctuous and greasy, 
which, when the people mix it with water, casts up a splendent, 
golden, oyly-like colour, wherewith they colour their doors and 
windows. 

Within ten miles is a well whence the neighbouring people 
digs an earth which they call Bleck. It’s black and thick (as 1 
remember), zzstar Limi Argilasi (like the clay of potter’s earth]. 
Herewith they colour much of that cloth they call Galloway 
erays. 

I did here see a boy five or six years old (living within three 
miles of this place) out of whose joynts, shoulders, buttocks, 
fingers, and toes did grow little horns, like the typhi or young 
horns of a goat, black and hard; which, when they came to the 


54 DR ARCHIBALD’S “ CURIOSITIES OF DUMFRIES.” 


length of two inches, did sorely trouble him and fall off, others 
succeeding thus every half-year. 

In a moss which lies upon the east side of this town, seven 
miles long and one mile broad, did I have the leg of a child cut 
off (as appears) by the patella. It’s of a stickish like substance, 
the tibia and fibula inhosened in a casement like the black bark of 
a tree, which is in place of the muscles tibiaeus, peronaeus, &c., 
all the interossean muscles of the foot, toes, ancles, nails, and all 
other parts exactly well proportioned as anything Nature can 
efform. ‘‘ Num fuerat lutum instructum animal principio integrum, 
vel deficiens animal procedens: an foetus humo commissus, et 
a bituminoso calore conservatus et processu temporis quasi 
transmutatus dignus est D. D. Sibbaldo nodus, ad cujus augusta 
subsellia hoc ipsum reclino.” [Had the formed clay been an 
animal originally entire or an immature animal in process of 
development ? Was it a foetus buried in the ground, preserved 
by the bituminous heat and in process of time transformed as it 
were? This is a problem worthy of D. D. Sibbald, on whose 
august judgment seat I leave the thing itself. | 

As for Annandale, the supreme governour, steward, and lord 
thereof is the Earl of Annandale, an ancient Family and Wardens 
of the Border. Wherefore their arms are supported with a 
saddléd horse and a crowned lion carrying upon the crest a flying 
spur. The motto is “ nunquam non paratus” [never unprepared ]. 

In this country are the wells of Moffat, encircled with a wall 
by the foresaid Family. 

His houses are Lockwood and Newbie; the one desirable for 
strength, the other for pleasure; that for pasture, moss, or fire 
and wood, this for fish and plenty of coneys. 

Here is the King’s Castle of Lochmaben, famous for defend- 
ing the country in the old English inrodes, strengthened by a 
Loch surrounding it, where the fishes called venaces and 
gevenaces are talked of in nowhere else in our country. They 
are pleasant white fishes. 

Contiguous to this loch are seven large lochs, all of which 
have the same fishes, a clear and stony bottom, with a tossing 
surge and noise before a storm blow. The fishes resemble 
whitings in colour, taste, and figure, being only a little more dry. 

Besides this castle is a moss which giveth peits [peats] for 
fire, most white, yielding a bright shining fire and flame. 


Dr ARCHIBALD’S “ CURIOSITIES OF DUMFRIES.” 55 


Here is also in this county St. Ruth’s Church, called 
Ruthwell, where lies a monument broken in two pieces, which 
was a pillar quadrangle of stone reaching from the bottom of the 
church unto the roof, and in it cut the portraiture of Our Saviour 
with beams encircling His head, and beneath His feet, ‘ Supra 
serpentem et draconem conculcabo” [I will trample the serpent 
and dragon under foot], and underneath is the effigie of Peter 
and Paul, beneath whom is “ Petrus et Paulus fregerunt panem 
in deserto” [Peter and Paul broke bread in the wilderness]. 
Many other draughts and letters, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, 
have been there, but time and ill-using hath abrased them. 

At this place the people have a way of making salt from the 
sea sand, which they gather up in summer and prepare in winter. 
If the Doctor desires to know the way they prepare it I shall give 
him an account. 

Upon the top of a great height is a Tower called the House 
of Repentance, some eight miles from the King’s Castle and fifteen 
from the English border, where beacons being placed the Castle 
had immediately an alarm. This was seen by most of the whole 
country and much of Nidesdale and some of Galloway, putting 
them to their sudden posture of defence. ; 

As for wells, the three shires abound with many unto which 
people resort, more famous from Fable than Fates ; yet several of 
them resemble Moffat wells in colour, taste, and smell. 

As for the nature of the soil and the houses, with woods and 
lochs, yourself knows and hath seen them. 

As to Galloway, I have remitted it (conform to your last) 
unto Mr William Ewart, the Provost of Kirkcudbright, who will 
give account of what is observable and memorable, where are the 
most ancient monuments of this country, and many old abbaceis, 
as New Abbey, Dundrennan, Whithorn, Glenluce, Tungland, all 
very considerable ; and with us are only Holywood and the 
church of the College whereof yourself can as well inform as I. 


FISHES. 


In that Castle Loch of Lochmaben are various fishes 
besides those two formerly mentioned —pikes, greenbacks, 
breams, vetches, pearches, with some others. 

I will give you an account of our sea fishes with the 
next, being now hastened. 


56 Dr ARCHIBALD’S “ CURIOSITIES OF DUMFRIES.” 


In the months of June and July they take an harrow 
and go over the dry sands (which I have observed spangling 
as with shining nitre), and having raised it they rake it into 
small ranges or areolas, and next day (if they fear rains) they 
take a sled with a broad board fixed to the hinder part thereof 
the edge downward upon the ground, which they call the happ, 
and with this drawn by an horse they gather the ranges together 
into an heap, Thereafter, within some few days, they carry it 
away upon wagons drawn by eight oxen unto the coast, and 
there they heap it up into the bigness of a country house, which 
they then call the salt stalks. Thus it stands till winter, and 
then they form an even piece of ground upon a little ascent, 
either naturally or artificially so, after the form of a bed, which 
they oblute with clay, raising the edges high, and near the end 
of this bed (which they call the coach) they pierce through an 
hole into an hollow place digged below into the earth, called the 
pit, and this hole they stop. Then they carry a sufficient quantity 
of the salt stack and spread it over the whole coach, laying it 
three foot thick equally. Then they lay down upon the middle 
of the sand a broad turf, and upon this they pour down a sufficient 
quantity of sea water, which they take up from the little hollow 
ponds they dig within the flood mark, being there left in the 
ebbing, and, after eight hours’ standing with the sand (which 
they call ‘ blanking ”), they pull out the stopple below, which is 
made up of oak or alder tree bark, and the water stills down into 
the pit, wherewith they then fill their pans, which are placed 
near the coach, and made of lead sitting upon a furnace. The 
pan is usually an ell and a half long and near an ell broad. 
The fire is of peits (peats), wherewith they exhale the water till 
the salt only remains, watching most vigilantly, otherwise their 
pans melt and they lose their pains. With this those peopie help 
themselves, and serve the country al out them. 

It is made at that place called Ruthae Vallum or Ruthwall, 
where that monument of stone is of which I did give account in 
my first, which is said to have been erected by the Saxons, having 
progressed no further into this country than that place, and that 
thereafter by Christians inscribed with sculptures and characters. 

The salt is somewhat amaricant, which I suspect to be from 
the nitre. 

On these lands, as I remember, I have seen Kali grow thick, 


LE PLIST 


—— 


ae 


Dk ARCHIBALD’S “CURIOSITIES OF DUMFRIES.” 57 


and on the banks Brassica marina; upon the opposite coast, on 
high rocks, crithmum, called Pespire. 

Fishes in this coast might be more observable if we had 
fishing. I give the names as here called: Salmon, crowner, 
keiling, sturgeon, whiting, cockle, mussel proans (which they call 
garnets in Holland, or garen), cleurks, which I did never see 
elsewhere—they are like these prans in figure, and above all 
things resemble the smallest and roughest of horse corn ; they 
are clear and transparent, with a forked tail and two long cornua 
stretching from their head straightforward. The manner of 
catching them is this: In the entrance of the River Nith into 
the sea the poor people goes, when the sea is ebbing, into the 
water middle deep, two by two, carrying betwixt them a long 
sheet or blanket, and with one hand they hold deep beneath the 
water the one edge of the sheet or blanket, and carry the other 
upon the surface of the water ; thus walking against the stream 
they catch pockfuls of these vermin-like fishes, and the country 
people hold them most wholesome and appetising, being boiled 
with leeks and sprinkled with salt and eaten with bread. Oysters, 
sole-flouks, turbot-flouk, eels sometimes three ells long or more 
(I have the head of one more than a large fwot in length), skate 
or flounder, etterpyles like a small burn trout, with a large head 
and broad shoulders, carrying three stings on the back and one at 
the corner of each side of the mouth. It is a pleasant fish for 
eating, but its stings are so tormeuting that the pricked person is 
scarce able to stir, but must be carried home, and after a while’s 
pain, as three days, it ceaseth and the swelling falleth. They 
flat these pricks down upon their backs, and raise them at 
pleasure or when irritated. Skeddan, a fish so called, but 
esteemed an anchove. These two are found in the Annand 
water and Solway sands into the sea, or close by the east of 
Annandale’s House, Newbie, where he dwells. Haddock’s 
herring, not very much desired because they banish these 
other fishes a long time. Sea-adder, thornback, lamprey with 
a beck (beak) stretching like a whaap’s, hirlings, seaneedle, 
which has a long beck three inches in length; its body is the 


length of a burn trout and much like a whiting with a forked 


tail, each fork an inch long, with fins and scales. Rush-fish, 
called so from their smell and colour, being sea-green coloured 
and smelling like a bundle of green rushes. There seem 


58 Dr ARCHIRALD’S “ CURIOSITIES OF DUMFRIES.” 
sparlings, white-flook, whereof some are a little blueish, with 
golden-like spots over all the skin; skatelnad, which is a little 
small fish an inch and a half long, shining clear as silver, which 
the people eat (boyled) with their bones, head, and tail. They can 
only endure one boyle or two. Lumps or Limps, Partons. 


FOWLS. 


Biltour, making a great sound in the summer evenings and 
mornings by thrusting her beak into the ground when she cries. 

Blackecock, whereof Sir Robert Daljell hath one hanging in 
his hall, which is white almost all over his body. 

Green plover, returning every spring in abundance and 
staying all summer. 

Jay, called Lipper-jayes, taught to speak as exactly as any 
parrot. 

Myresnipes (which like a Feldefare), called heatherbleet. 
In pleasant summer evenings they soar high in the air with a 
quivering voice, and are excellent meat. 

I mention none else, as being ordinary, save woodpeckers. 


QUADRUPEDS. 


In the wood of Glenae, belonging to Sir Robert Daljell, are 
perfect squirrels, but never exceeding the bigness of a little 
rat; badgers in Galloway, which the country people catch and 
boil, removing their fat for aches and bruises: hedgehog, hart, 
and hind running wild on Galloway mountains ; others in several 
places. 

INSECTS. 

The kind of grylle, focarii or pistrinarii, are here abundantly, 
very like cantharides. 

This aranea which I have sent with its silk beside it, whereof 
none are to be found in our country but in this one place, which 
is a cove upon the seashore, environed therewith (very near) at 
each full tide. The persons I employed to search for them tell 
me that with lighted candles they crept into the little entrance, 
and then came into a large dark arched room, upon which here 
and there hang those little balls full of young, and the lady one 
spinning amongst or about them ; nothing else to be found there 
within the vault. 


Dr ARCHIBALD’S *“ CURIOSITIES OF DUMFRIES.” a9 


FOSSILS. 


The earth called Bleck digged out of a pit an ell and a half 
long and near as broad and the depth of a pike. The country 
people boil alder or oak tree bark in water, making a strong 
ligive, and therein they boyl this also together with their cloth, 
which thence receives a black colour. Traditionally they report 
here a ship laden with iron to have sunk. The lake smells exactly 
as Moffat well, the sea sometimes overflowing it. The earth 
when taken from the place quickly spoyls and losing its black 
colour turneth into a clay colour unless the vessel be covered 
with iron or iron put into it. 

I have not yet gotten that lithargick-like earth, neither the 
white peit (peat), but shall send them as soon as possible. 

I have sent the Tibia efformata fossilis, which I desire you 
be pleased to send me back again as soon as you may. 

I could send you that stone, which is like the Bristol stone, 
and another which is cornu servi fossile with signatures. I hope 
you will send them back again to me. 

WELLS. 

Here are many superstitiously used, but physical I know none 
save Moffat Wells in Annandale. <A well in Closeburn Parish, in 
a moss belonging to the Laird of Closeburn ; another at Torthor- 
wald, belonging to the Duke of Queensberry ; a third at Kirkbean 
in Galloway within a mile of the black lake in a meadow. These 
are used after the same manner, have the same colour, taste, and 
smell, but the ill-luck of a lesser fame. 

Many run superstitiously to other wells, and obtain (as they 
imagine) health or advantage. But I know of no physical influ- 
ence. Only from the deceits of that muszotechnes they are de- 
ceived, and there they offer bread and cheese or money by 
throwing them into the well. 

And lately being called four miles hence to a gentleman’s 
first child troubled with vomitings and faintings, I told him that 
I suspected the smallpocks and desired him not to fear. Then he 
told me regrettingly that some of his servants had given the child 
a draught of a well within a mile of his house which the sick 
parties’ friends fetch there to the sick, and having given them of 
it to drink they reckon that they shall live if they do not vomit 
it, but if they vomit they must dy. 


60 Dr ARCHIBALD’S ‘‘ CURIOSITIES OF DUMFRIES.” 


I went and viewed that well at Castledykes within a mile of 
this town, and saw it yet running. But it’s confirmed by all who 
know it, and particularly one to be believed who dwelt there 
long, told for confirmation that he knew it these 40 years and 
never knew it run or spring in the winter, though never so rainy, 
and in the summer never dry up in the greatest drought. It is a 
pleasant and plentiful spring in summer, as I have observed. 

And within half a mile (or less) of it upon the other side of a 
little height is another well which dryes up for three or four 
mouths in the latter end of winter. But I am not so certain of 
this last. 

SERPENTS. 

Here I was told that the slow worm was found at Closeburn 
House, near the gate, and at the castle meadow at Cockpool. 

Near this and within 20 miles was a young gentleman who 
in a hot summer’s day did readily slip into a moss and catch an 
adder, which he presently thrust into his bosom, and kept it there 
for a while without any hurt and then dismissed it, 

I saw a country woman here out of whose inferior propen- 
dant ear lob did spring such a flow of blood that she was almost 
gone, and thereafter when I saw her I could not perceive the 
least vestige of any aperture. 

I have some pieces of a growing stone which I carried from 
the bulk of a fragment (but not found here). I was persuaded of 
the growing of it by many worthy persons and eye witnesses, 
and handled and saw it myself. 

I saw and felt those horns (whereof I did give account in my 
first) issuing out of all a boy’s extremities, and resembling young 
goat’s horns till they acquire a due bigness and then fall off and 
others succeed. 

Within 24 miles at a place within a mile and a half of the sea 
did fall a shower of herrings which covered near an half acre of 
ground. They were alive and eaten by gentlemen who told me 
when I came there (which was a little thereafter) concerning 
them. They soon dyed and quickly spoyled. 


DISCUSSION. 
Mr Barbour, architect, said he rose not to make any remarks 


about the paper but to thank Mr Macdonald for bringing it before 
the society. It was, he thought, the last work his father proposed 


Dr ARCHIBALD’S “ CURIOSITIES OF DUMFRIES.” 61 


to carry out for the society, and in that respect it was very 
interesting, and he thought it would of itself be an interesting 
feature in their publications. It showed not only many wonderful 
things, some of them probably quite correct, but it gave a good 
idea of how matters were regarded at the time by even an 
educated man such as Dr Archibald was. With reference to the 
date mentioned, it struck him that perhaps part of it must have 
been written at a later date. It mentioned, for instance, the cross 
of Dumfries. The expression was “our stately cross.” He had 
no doubt that that referred to the Midsteeple, which was built in 
1707, during Dr Archibald’s day. Before that time there was a 
standing cross, but the Midsteeple itself had since been called the 
Cross of Dumfries. One of the wells referred to was the Brow 
Well. The Castledykes Well he did not know, unless that there 
was a stream from a spring there still. Of course he could not 
identify it with the one that was described there. He proposed 
a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Macdonald. 

Dr Maxwell Ross, in seconding, said he understood Ruthwell 
was derived from Rudvald, meaning a stream from the wood, but 
one found over and over again that certain parties had got an 
idea it was derived from St. Ruth, and he recollected very well 
some years ago being taken by a person living there to see the 
original St. Ruth’s Well, which he said he had just discovered two 
or three days before. He happened to be doing some work in 
the district, and this young man asked him to go and see the spring 
in a fieid down below the village, which he believed to be the 
original St. Ruth’s Well. That derivation had been given on 
more than one occasion to him, although he did not suggest that 
it was correct. His experience with reference to wells was, that 
in moving along the coast of the Solway, and particularly about 
Priestside, he had come upon wells of a sulphurous character, and 
also wells of a very strong chalybeate character. There were 
two wells which certainly had the very marked odour of sulphurous 
hydrogen, and he was informed that there was once a doctor 
resident in Annan who used to go there regularly for his glass of 
sulphurated water. It had as strong an odour as that of the 
Moffat sulphurated water. The wells containing iron were so 
atrongly impregnated with it down there that if an attempt was 
made to make tea the result was the production of a kind of ink, 
so that it could not be used for domestic purposes. With regard 


62 Dr ARCHIBALD’S ‘“ CURIOSITIES OF DUMFRIES.” 


to the making of salt, one still saw the holes in the shore down 
there such as must have been used for that purpose. 

Rev. Mr Andson said a curious fact was brought out, that 
there were a number of the wells which were not merely con- 
sidered to be medicinal, but holy wells. One not referred to was 
that of Cargen, in which offerings were cast, coins not unfre- 
quently; and it was mentioned in the paper that bread, cheese, 
and such things were sacred offerings. 

Mr J. 8. Thomson, referring to Castledykes, said on going 
over it the other day it was pointed out to him that there were 
the remains there of the old moat that used to encircle the house. 
He looked down and saw a deep excavation. Whether it was 
part of the old moat he did not know, but certainly there was 
such a thing as would have corresponded to it. Mr Barbour 
seemed to think that the ‘‘ stately cross of Dumfries” referred to 
what would be the new Midsteeple at that time. But he was 
under the impression that there was a cross independent of the 
Midsteeple. Its site had been pointed out to him as having been 
several yards south of the step of Mr Miller, the engraver’s shop, 
towards Bank Street, where a few transverse stones were laid in 
the pavement. Other people had told him that that was the site 
of the old fish cross, as if there had been at one time two crosses 
in the town. 

Mr Barbour said he would suggest that Mr Macdonald might 
be kind enough to work up a little paper upon the life of Dr 
Archibald. His father was minister of Dunscore, and a very emi- 
nent man. There was a story told of him in the Presbytery 
books. At that time the Presbytery dined, and every member 
was required to be present, and if he was not present and could 
not give a proper reason, he was fined. (Laughter.) Mr Archi- 
bald of Dunscore one day came to the Presbytery meeting late, 
and was asked why. His reply was that his pony could not be 
““oruppit.” (Laughter.) There were two or three appreciative 
notices of Dr Archibald himself in the minutes of the Kirk-Session. 
If the society wished it, he would give a short paper in regard to 
the question of the Cross. (Applause. ) 

The Rev. John Cairns, who presided, said they would all 
have liked if the original author, Dr Macdonald, had been able to 
give the paper, but he thought Mr Macdonald had done exceed- 
ingly well in the circumstances, and had given them not only a 


Dk ARGHIBALD’S “ CURIOSITIES OF DUMFRIES.” 63 


very consecutive but a very interesting paper. Dr Archibald 
appeared to belong to that old school of physicians who were 
good classical scholars. There were incidental references in the 
paper which struck him that he probably got his classics and 
medicine in Holland, where a great many of our medical men and 
ministers were educated in those days, and it would be interesting 
to inquire whether it was at the University of Leyden or one of 
the other Dutch universities that had such a great reputation last 
century. About some of the topographical details it was interest- 
ing to note that part of Greyfriars’ Church was still standing, but 
there was a reference to Comyn’s Castle, and also to the Castle of 
Dumfries, which seemed to bear upon a very able discussion by 
Mr Dickie (in “ Dumfries and Round About”) as to the original 
Castle of Dumfries. He thought Mr Dickie’s theory was that 
Comyn’s Castle was the original Castle of Dumfries, and they 
found Dr Archibald speaking of Comyn’s Castle and the Castle of 
Dumfries. As to the derivation of Ruthwell, it was new to him, 
but it seemed to sin against a fundamental law of derivation— 
that is, if you had two derivations, reject the most obvious one. 
It looked to be too obvious. He thought the derivation that Dr 
Ross had indicated would be much more like the thing. 

Mr Barbour: Why not take Sir Herbert Maxwell’s sugges- 
tion, “ Rudewell?” “D” in Welsh is “th,” and if we take it in 
the same light as in the case of Ruthwell Cross, that would be 
Rudewell. 

Dr Ross: But if you take the common pronunciation of the 
parish amongst the inhabitants, I think it supports the other 
derivation. The common pronunciation is Rivvel. They never 
speak of it as Ruthwell. 

Mr Cairns said he thought the Norse settlements in Dumfries- 
shire, such as Tinwald, Torthorwald, Mouswald, would afford 
material for an interesting paper. He had much pleasure in con- 
veying the thanks of the meeting to Mr Macdonald. 

Mr Macdonald, in replying, said he accepted the vote, but he 
did so with the assurance that he himself deserved no credit what- 
ever for putting the paper together. He was only sorry that the 
paper as he had presented it was so different from what he knew 
it was intended to be. He thought possibly one of the lessons 
that would have been enforced would have been what Mr Barbour 
suggested—the degree of credulity that obtained in those days 


64 BIRD NOTES FROM ESKDALE, 


amongst well-educated men regarding matters that had been 
reported to them, such as the shower of herring, and things of 
that kind. He appreciated their kindness very much in receiving 
the paper such as it was. There was a third account sent by Dr 
Archibald to Sir Robert Sibbald which had also been transcribed, 
but which he thought it unnecessary to put before the society, 
because it was printed along with Symson’s communications as 
part of the appendix to a book which Symson subsequently 
published, entitled ‘‘ A Large Description of Galloway.” 


Vtth April, 1901. 
Mr ROBERT Murray, V.P., in the Chair. 


Donations and Exchanges.—Vhe Secretary read a letter from 
Mr W. J. H. Maxwell, M.P., forwarding ten coins of the reigns 
of Alexander III. and Edward I. and II., which he had been able 
to obtain for the Society out of the Treasure found in Closeburn 
Parish last winter. Mr Maxwell was thanked for his services. 
The following exchanges were intimated :—Bureau of Ethnology, 
U.S.A. Part Il. of the 17th Annual Report. Journal of the 
Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society, 17th year. Geological Insti- 
tute of Mexico, 14th number. 


COMMUNICATIUNS. 


I — Some Bird Notes from Eskdale.” By Mr RICHARD BELL 
of Castle O’er, Eskdalemuir. 


In the parish of Eskdalemuir a student of ornithology will 
find his observations limited to the more common species of small 
birds, and to owls, the smaller hawks, and the corvde. 

Rare visitants are rare indeed, and these, for reasons best 
known to themselves, seem generally to give the parish a wide 
berth. I think this paucity of species is owing, in great measure, 
to the natural features of the parish, which lacks the bosky brakes, 
the hedgerows, and young plantations so congenial to the wants 
of our feathered friends, and who find plenty of their favourite 
haunts in the lower and more cultivated parts of the country. 


3InD NovTes FROM ESKDALE. 65 


The surroundings are almost entirely pastoral, consisting of hills 
and moorland; while the woods, which are generally of spruce 
fir, mixed with a few hardwoods, are nearly all full grown, and 
lie, for the most part, in the valley along the course of the river. 
These trees, with their large coarse branches, are not suitable 
nesting places for the smaller birds; they prefer those from six to 
ten feet high, with closer and greener foliage, which afford them 
better shelter from their numerous enemies. 

Owing to these circumstances I will confine my remarks 
to-night, with one or two exceptions, to some of the rarer visi- 
tants to the district, which have been observed by myself or 
friends. Several of them are common enough in more favoured 
districts, and I will only refer to them as being rare in Eskdale. 
One or two, which I have seen further from home, are rare any- 
where, and being objects of general interest, I will take the 
liberty of ailuding to them also. 


THE GOLDEN LAGLE. 


I have only heard of one specimen being seen in the district. 
It was shot on the farm of Cote many years ago. 


HONEY BUZZARD. 


A specimen was shot in the year 1850 by my brother, and 
was stated by the late Sir William Jardine to have been the 
second Scottish example then recorded. 


ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. 


I myself shot one in the parish of Westerkirk in the year 
1867. I saw it fly from a steep bank of thorn and hazel and 
disappear behind a large tree which screened it from my view for 
a second or two, but so soon as it passed the tree I, on the impulse 
of the moment, fired, and unfortunately my aim in this instance 
was too sure—lI say unfortunately, as I deprecate the destruction 
of every rare visitor ; but I was young then and anxious to secure 
anything rare. I confess myself culpable, and the fact of my 
being ignorant as to what the bird was till I picked it up is no 
excuse, as I was sure it was a rare one of some kind. 1 regret 
the barbarous act, and would not now destroy a rare bird. This 
one had indulged so heartily in a feast of partridge meat that its 
crop burst when it fell to the ground. Seven specimens were 


66 BIRD NovTES FROM HSKDALE. 


seen at one time during the Vole plague of 1876, and some years 
ago one frequented the parish for a considerable time. I will 
again refer to these birds when speaking of plagues. 


MERLIN HAWKS. 


These birds sometimes, but rarely, breed in the district, and 
I never saw one till I came on a brood of young birds in a wild, 
outlying part of the country, on the watershed between Dumfries- 
‘shire and Roxburghshire. I was walking over the heights when 
my attention was arrested by a hawk rising close to me and 
settling a few yards further on. On looking about me I saw 
other four on the ground, and the parent birds having come on the 
scene, I discovered they were merlins. The chance of procuring 
a live specimen of such a rare bird was too good to lose. I 
thought, as they apparently had very lately left the nest, that I 
would have no difficulty in securing one; but I was foiled in my 
attempt, and in a very irritating way. Whenever I got close to 
one of them and imagined I had only to put out my hand to seize 
it, it rose up and flew about twenty yards only, carrying out the 
same tactics over and over again. In my eagerness I com- 
menced running, in the hope of tiring one of them out, but it 
was they who tired me out, and I frequently fell down exhausted 
in the act of stretching out my hand. After spending an hour 
in this fruitless work, and considering that I had a rough walk of 
twenty miles before me, I gave it up in despair, and my collection 
remained minus a native specimen of a merlin hawk. 


KINGFISHERS. 


Within my remembrance a kingfisher was unknown on the 
river, but now scarcely a season passes without one or two being 
seen, though no nest has ever been discovered. 


NIGHT JAR. 


I have known of four specimens only in the neighbourhood ; 
one was killed by a shooting tenant on the open moor at the head 
of the parish. My brother saw one on the lawn at Castle O’er, 
hawking in the dusk, round a cherry tree. I myself saw one at 
Castle O’er, sitting along the trunk of a fallen-down tree. These 
birds sit lengthways on a branch or log, not across it—and one 


Bird NovES FROM ESKDALE. 67 


was shot at Westerhall, in the parish of Westerkirk, some time in 
the sixties. 
SAND GROUSE. 

During the invasion of these birds into Britain in 1887,’ 
several were seen on Castle O’er ground, as well as at other places 
in the parish, but as I was residing in England at the time I did 
not see any myself. They did not remain to breed. 


QUAILS. 


One was shot many years ago on Castle O’er by my brother- 
in-law, Mr Wilson, Billholm. It was stuffed and kept as a 
curiosity, until a cat ate its head off. Some years later another 
was shot on the same part of the ground, and I was presented 
with an egg taken from a nest in Roxburghshire. 


WATER RAILS, 


The only specimen I have known was brought to me by one 
of my shepherds, who caught it far out on the hill ground. I 
tried to keep it alive, but it died from want of its natural food. 

REDSHANKS. 

Two or three pairs of these birds, which were unknown in 
the district till three or four years ago, come annually now, 
apparently to breed, into the parishes of Eskdalemuir and Wester- 
kirk. No nests or young birds have yet been discovered, but 
as they have been seen during all the breeding season, and were 
uttering the peculiar cry of such birds when anyone approaches a 
nest or young, Mr Beattie of Davington tells me that he has no 
doubt whatever that they do breed every year on the farm of 
Dumfedling, of which he is tenant. 


DUNLIN. 


Again I have to thank Mr Beattie for letting me hear of the 
nesting of a very rare bird in the parish, namely, the dunlin. In 
fact it is the first specimen ever recorded. Last year one of his 
shepherds found on Dumfedling a nest containing three eggs, but 
the single bird, which he ever saw near the nest, was unfamiliar 
to him, and he never saw a male. Mr Beattie, after allowing 
more than the usual time for incubation to yass, lifted the eggs 
and discovered they were infertile. As he had never seen 


68 Brrp NovTEs FROM ESKDALE. 


similar eggs before, and never saw the bird who laid them, he 
took them to Edinburgh and showed them to Mr Small, bird- 
stuffer, George Street, who, without hesitation, pronounced them 
to be those of a dunlin, at the same time producing one from his 
own collection exactly similar to Mr Beattie’s specimens. <A 
short time after finding the nest the same shepherd saw a pair of 
these birds on another part of the ground, but could not find any 
nest. The bird who laid the eggs must either have arrived on 
the ground, unaccompanied by a mate, or had lost him some time 


before nesting. 
SKUAS. 

I had presented to me a very fine stuffed specimen of a very 
rare bird in Britain, namely, a parasitic skua. It was shot at the 
head of the river Kirtle in the autumn of 1867. A pair were 
seen together, but only one was secured. This bird is a native 
of the Arctic regions, and is a very rare, occasional, visitant to 
our shores. I sent it on loan to the late Dr John Alexander 
Swith, Edinburgh, for exhibition at a meeting of the Royal 
Physical Society, held on 22nd January, 1868. Up till then very 
few instances of its occurrence in Scotland had been recorded. 
In acknowledging receipt Dr Smith wrote me as follows :—‘ It is 
a fine specimen of a rare bird, although several young birds have 
been got in England. It is the Lestris parasitica of Temminck, 
the Lestris Buffonii, Buffons Skua, of Yarrells British birds.” A 
bird in a very weak state was seen in the parish on the river Esk 
a few years ago which, from the description given to me, was no 
doubt a skua, but as it was not secured the species was not 
determined, 

CROSSBILLS. 


Three or four years ago a small flock of these birds 
frequented the avenue for some time. My attention was drawn 
to them when passing under a spruce fir—first, by hearing a 
grating sound overhead, and then seeing many fir cones falling 
to the ground one after another. On looking up I saw that there 
was a flock of these birds, and that the same thing was going on 
on several trees. The grating sound was produced by the birds 
extracting the seeds from the cones. They remained for several 
days, and were so little shy that they allowed me to get quite | 
close to them and examine them with a field-glass. When the 


Birp Novres rom EsKDALE. 69 


flock left, one pair remained all summer; but, if they stayed for 
breeding purposes, I never could discover their nest. Crossbills 
were reported as being particularly numerous throughout 
Scotland and England that season. 

SOLAN GEESE. 

When living at Billholm a message was sent to me asking 
if I would come to a cottage about a mile away and see a curious 
bird which had been found in an exhausted condition on the 
hill by a shepherd. Being interested in everything curious, I 
promptly answered the call. I was taken to an outhouse, where 
I saw on the floor a solan goose. Beside it were both oats and 
some trout, evidently put there to see which it liked best. I 
did not offer it any corn, but picked up a trout by the tail and 
dropped it into the gaping mouth of the bird, and with one 
gulp it disappeared down its throat. As the poor creature was 
apparently starving, I held another trout in my fingers, meaning 
to drop it where I did the first, but this time the goose 
anticipated my intention, and springing up in the air it seized 
both the trout and my thumb. The result to me was 
excruciating agony. The first joint of my thumb was “cut 
to the bone” by its formidable and razor-edged beak. Cutting 
to the bone on such a part of the human body does not mean 
a very ghastly wound, but the pain I suffered for several days 
was very great. This visitor was an involuntary one, as it had 
evidently been carried inland the night before by a great storm 
of wind blowing from the direction of the Solway Firth, which. 
is, as the crow flies, about 24 miles distant. 

Solan geese, after being salted and dried, are used as an 
article of food in Orkney, and I remember the late Professor 
Ayton, when Sheriff of that county, sending us one as a present. 
which tasted very much like ham. Many years ago these dried 
geese found their way to the lowlands of Scotland, and were 
used as an ‘“appetiser.” A small portion when eaten before 
meals was supposed to tickle the appetite. 


GUILEMOTS. 


Another involuntary visitor was a guilemot, which was 
brought under exactly similar circumstances as the goose. I 
myself found it flopping along the public road, which runs 


70 Brrp Norms FROM ESKDALE, 

along the hill side, just at the gate of the back entrance to the 
house. As it also was in a very exhausted condition, I brought 
it home and put it in one of the court-yards of my aviary. But 
after considermg the difficulty of procuring a constant supply of 
its proper food, I opened the door, after the bird had rested 
awhile, and the moment I did so it rushed out, still unable to fly, 
and fluttered away straight towards the river. How did the 
bird know the river lay in the direction it took? I am quite 
satisfied (from the place where it was when I picked it up) that 
it had never been near or seen the river. It had evidently just 
come off the hill on to the road. When it left the aviary it 
could not see the river owing to the presence of a thick hedge, 
beyond which was a wide, flat field, and the river itself was 
bounded by steep banks. Still, the bird made for it as if it had 
been familiar with it all its life. Was this instinct? or did it 
hear the sound of the water running during the time it was in the 
aviary 4 

TEAL. 

These birds are very rarely seen in Eskdalemuir. I have 
only once seen a covey during all my sporting experience, and 
out of it I shot one bird only. They breed annually over the 
watershed in the parish of Ettrick. 

WILD GEESE. 

Thirty or forty years ago very many wild geese might have 
been seen annually flying to and from their breeding grounds, 
both in spring and autumn. Now, such a sight is not at all 
common ; and whether these birds have become less numerous, 
or whether they have changed their line of flight, it is hard to 
say. I remember some years ago, when conversing with my 
groom on the subject of wild geese in front of the stable on a 
pitch dark night, that I remarked how seldom wild geese were 
seen now, when at that very moment we heard a flock cackling 
overhead. The coincidence was rather a startling one. I know 
of one only being shot in the district. A flock having landed in 
a friend’s field, he secured a specimen by stalking the birds. 


WOOD SANDPIPER. 


I cannot include this bird in a list of rare visitors to Eskdale- 
muir; but as I succeeded in securing the first specimen” then 


Brrp NoTES FROM ESKDALE. 71 


recorded as having been shot in Scotland, I will take the liberty 
of alluding to it. I shot it on the 14th August, 1857, a little to 
the west of the village of Heriot, among the Muirfoot Hills, 
in Midlothian. I sent this specimen also to Dr Smith, who 
exhibited it at a meeting of the Royal Physical Society the 
same year. In the course of Dr Smith’s remarks at the meeting 
he said :— As I could find no notice of the wood sandpiper 
having previously been observed in Scotland, I sent the specimen 
to Sir William Jardine, and from the answer he was kind enough 
to send me, I quote the following passage :— There is no doubt 
of the bird being the sofanus glareola, Temm., aS you suppose. 
But it is an interesting specimen, as I am not aware of any other 
being recorded as killed in Scotland, although it has been got ir 
Northumberland and the borders. Your bird, I think, is in its 
first year’s plumage, indicated by the brown markings, and the 
thickening of the tarsal joints. The season in which it was 
obtained also is just that of their leaving the breeding places.’” 


WATER HENS. 


The parish is devoid of suitable places for these birds 
breeding in any number, there being an absence of ponds, and 
‘the river is a rapid one, without a single back-water with 
protecting reeds. One may pass up and down the banks for a 
month without ever seeing one. Still, a few pairs have of late 
years taken up their abode permanently on the river and breed; 
though their numbers do not visibly increase. The only places 
where they can find shelter at all for their nests are at one or 
two spots where willow bushes hang over the water. Some 
years ago a water hen entered the cottage of one of my 
shepherds in the autumn, and took up its abode there all winter. 
It fixed upon a certain corner of the kitchen, and though it went 
and came during the day, it always returned to its favourite 
roosting place for the night. It was perfectly tame, aud mixed 
with the household and dogs in the common sitting-room. It 
was fed chiefly on bread and potatoes—rather a strange diet for 
an aquatic bird, though, [ daresay, it procured a sufficient supply 
of its natural food from the river, close to the side of which the 
cottage stood. 

Since I began farming 37 years ago I, as well as others 
carrying on the same calling, have suffered in our “ flocks and 


72 Bind Noves PROM WSKDALE. 


herds” from as many “ plagues” as did the Egyptians of old. I 
do not mean to enter here into a description of all these plagues, 
but I merely mention them so as to bring under your notice that 
two of them—the vole and caterpillar plagues—brought in their 
train, not what I would call other plagues, but “ invasions” of 
birds, and which proved to be beneficial instead of hurtful. 

During the Vole Plague of 1876 rough-legged buzzards 
same to it, from whence no one could explain, though Norway 
was suggested as the country of their advent. My shepherd, as 
I said, counted seven of these birds in one company, hawking 
about the hill-sides, and he had ocular proof that they preyed on 
voles. A single bird of this species is a rare sight, as previously 
mentioned, and if many came from a foreign country how were they 
attracted from such a distance? As I do not keep a permanent 
gamekeeper a great many owls, of both the brown and long- 
eared species, as well as kestrels, breed in my woods annually. 
The kestrels, in the absence of more congenial nesting places, 
build on the spruce fir trees. of which the plantations principally 
consist. When the plague broke out, which it did on the higher 
hills at the head of the valley, these birds forsook my woods and 
went to the ** moused” ground ; not an owl or a kestrel was to 
be seen for some months. 


SHORT-EARED OWLS. 


When the army of voles, on their march southwards, arrived 
at Castle O’er i was pleased to welcome back my “ vermin,” 
accompanied by a great number of short-eared owls, which had 
been attracted to the plague. My friend Mr Beattie told me he 
had seen fourteen owls under an overhanging bank of the river, 
and that the sight of so many sitting in a row blinking in the 
daylight was a comical one. He also counted 42 of the short- 
eared species on the wing at one time. ‘This large increase of 
short-eared owls was a strange feature of the plague. Letters 
appeared in the public prints noticing it, and several writers said 
that up till then these owls were merely winter visitants, and that 
they had never been kuown to have previously nested in this 
country ; but my experience is entirely opposed to this belief. I 
have known of these birds nesting on the neighbouring hills so 
far back as 1864. There was never a season up to 1879, when I 
had more occasion to travel over moorland than now, that I did 


Brrp NOTES FROM ESKDALE. 73 


not either see their nests, or a pair or two diving at my dog's in 
such an aggressive way as to leave no doubt that a nest was in 
close proximity. I knew two cases of serious attacks by these 
birds, one on a man and another on a young lad, the latter 
having the back of his head much cut with their claws. 

During the plague the short-eared owls bred on most of the 
farms ravaged by the voles. (ne evening when driving along a 
road stretching for some miles over moorland I counted fifteen 
parties of these birds, each consisting of from four to eight, and 
I have no doubt they were separate families, as they kept 
together hawking after voles, and at long distances from each 
other. They began to breed very early in the season, as one of 
my shepherds saw a nest so early as 29th February, 1892—leap 
year. The female was sitting on twelve eggs, with only her 
head visible above the snow, which covered the ground to some 
depth. Round the nest were 17 dead voles, evidently brought 
there by the male bird. 


STARLINGS. 


The very same farms which suffered from the voles were 
ravaged by two other plagues, caused by the caterpillar of the 
antler moth, of which the first outbreak occurred in June, 1885. 
My attention was drawn to it by seeing immense flocks of star- 
lings passing the house during two hours each evening. They 
flew in continuous streams, the time chosen being invariably 
between the hours of 6 and 8 p.m. Each flock consisted of from 
one to several hundreds, and their combined numbers must have 
amounted to very many thousands. They followed each other 
in close succession, and generally kept well overhead, but one 
flock in particular flew a few feet only above the bed of the river. 
It consisted of so many birds that the stream stretched for a 
length of above a quarter of a mile, with a breadth of ten or 
twelve yards. When looking from the window I could easily fix 
the length of this flock, because when its head was at a certain 
pool in the river, its tail was at another. I could not understand 
the reason for such a migration of starlings so early in the season 
—the month of June. The number was so great that I could 
scarcely think so many were bred in the whole of Scotland, and 
the track chosen was one which I had never seen used before. 
After this supposed migration had gone on for several days I was 


74 BIRD No'rES FROM ESKDALE, 


informed that there was quite a plague of caterpillars on the hills 
at the head of the parish. I at once associated the presence of 
the birds with the caterpillars, but still could not think why these 
flocks were nightly leaving the plague behind, to be succeeded 
next day by other flocks equally numerous, nor where the latter 
could all come from. The explanation of this was given to me 
by my shepherds, who told me that the birds which were seen 
passing every evening returned again in the early morning. 
Notwithstanding that so many thousands left the ground every 
evening, a friend who lived on the infected ground told me as 
many apparently remained behind roosting on the trees and the 
shrubbery around Cassock House, as well as on the ground in the 
neighbouring meadows; and if anyone approached them in the 
early morning the noise made by their chattering, and that made 
by their wings when rising, was almost deafening. I never 
could discover where the migrants went to roost; they flew due 
south, and must have travelled a long way. I would have 
learned where their roosting place was if it had been within a 
distance of many miles. If I were asked if there were sufficient 
numbers of caterpillars to serve as food for so many starlings, I 
would answer in the affirmative. They marched in armies, 
straight ahead, and the consequence was that when they encoun- 
tered open sheep-drains they tumbled into them in such numbers 
that their dead bodies dammed up the water, and they might have 
been shovelled out in barrow-loads. The wheels of vehicles, 
when an army was encountered crossing the road, became quite 
wet and filthy through crushing them to death. One curious 
thing was the state of the roads during the plague. When 
driving in the infected district of the parish, I could not think 
what the surfacemen had been up to. It seemed as if, instead of 
putting down metal in the usual way, he had taken it out of his 
barrow in spadesful and scattered it thinly all over the road. On 
inquiry I was informed this was the work of the starlings, who 
had dug up the stones, probably on the search for grit small 
enough to swallow. The starlings were attracted to this plague 
in the same mysterious way as the buzzards and short-eared owls 
were to the plague of voles, and who can tell what agency was 
at work? It can scarcely be attributed to eyesight or scent, 
which we are told are the two senses which lead vultures from 
long distances to a dead carcass in hot climates. Starlings breed 


Te hor 


Birp Nores from EskpDALE. 7d 


in very restricted numbers in the outlying districts which were 
infested with caterpillars. Very few, indeed, breed within a 
radius of very many miles from it, and therefore it is wonderful 
where the countless thousands came from. 

In the absence of old ruins, cliffs, or suitable rocks, they 
require to satisfy themselves, as breeding places, with a very few 
isolated hollow trees; or the thatched roofs of cottages, of which 
I do not think there are two left in the parish of Eskdalemuir. 
As an example of the avidity with which these birds will seize 
upon the first suitable breeding place offered to them, I may state 
that, in order tu encourage them to breed near my house, I made 
twenty-five boxes and hung them up on the surrounding trees. 
Within a week every box was occupied by its pair. One box, 
which was blown down by the wind, I fastened against the wall 
of the house, and on the evening of the same day a pair had 
taken possession of it. Unfortunately I had made the entrance 
holes of these boxes a little larger than was necessary, and I 
regret that this oversight on my part was taken advantage of by 
a brown owl which had a nest of young ones close to the house. 
Many a time I have seen it land upon the perch of a box, insert 
its foot, and pulling out a young starling, carry it off to her nest. 
My mind was divided between destroying the owl, and by so 
doing risk another plague of voles, or allow it to kill the star- 
lings at the risk of another plague of caterpillars. As the 
starlings were the more numerous, I decided in favour of the 
owl, and allowed her to follow out the bent of her instinct. 
Apropos of this owl’s nest, I may say that when the young had 
flown, but before they had gone far from the precincts of their 
cradle, a family party from the house invaded the thicket where 
they were. We were accompanied by the household cat. The 
moment the old birds perceived pussy, one of them made a dive 
on to its back and flew off with both its “hands” full of fur. 
With a yell the cat started at full speed towards the house, and 
prudently gave a wide berth to that thicket for many a day. 
Proud of their achievement, both the old birds became very 
aggressive to us. They made so many swoops close to our 
faces that we had to put our arms up in front of them to preserve 
our eyes from their repeated attacks. We became so alarmed 
for the safety of the younger children that we considered 


76 Forts IN ESKDALEMUIR. 


‘discretion the batter part of valour,” and, following the cat’s 
example, retreated to the house. 


Mr Service moved a very hearty vote of thanks to Mr Beli 
for his very exhaustive paper. 


Il.—‘ Forts and their Connecting Trenches in Eskdalemuir.” By 
Mr RICHARD BELL of Castle O’er, Eskdalemuir. 


The Parish of Eskdalemuir is rich in Antiquarian remains, 
and «although the forts themselves have already been referred to 
by the Rey. Mr Dick, parish minister, in a paper on the “ Antiqui- 
ties of Eskdalemuir,” read at a meeting of this Society in 
November, 1896, perhaps I may be permitted to give some further 
details, especially regarding their connecting trenches, which 
have hitherto been unrecorded in our Transactions. 

Dr Christison in his work, ‘“ Early Fortifications in Scotland,” 
states that there are 41 forts in the Eskdale district; of these, 
there are 20 in the parish of Eskdalemuir alone. This number 
may not appear great when we consider the extent of the parish, 
which is just about 12 miles in extreme length, and 10 miles in 
extreme width, with an area cf 43,518 acres ; but when we know 
that every one of them dominates the valleys only, and that none 
are more than a few hundred yards from the river Esk, or its 
tributaries, we must allow that they are comparatively thickly 
planted. 

It is scarcely necessary for me to describe the appearance, 
or give particulars, of each of them; they are all of the same 
type, round or oval in shape and defended by one or two lines 
of deep trenches, the soil from which has been thrown up, either 
on one or both sides, so as to form mounds or ramparts, and so 
add to the difficulty of attack from the outside. These ramparts 
were probably still further strengthened by stockades, and all 
combined would offer a strong defence against an enemy armed 
with the primitive weapons in use at the time these forts were 
occupied. 

The principal one in the parish is that of Castle O’er, which 
is of great size and of great strength, and, judging from the vast 
amount of labour expended upon its fortifications—all the prin- 
cipal trenches being excavated for some feet deep through solid 


Forts IN ESKDALEMUIR. 77 


rock—it is evident that such a work was not in the nature of a 
temporary encampment; everything indicates that it must have 
served as a stronghold by its inhabitants for a very long period, 
possibly for hundreds of years. I am strengthened in this opinion 
when I consider not only the extent of defensive works in the 
immediate vicinity of the fort itself, but of the immense net-work 
of connecting trenches formed all over the Castle O’er property. 
But before proceeding further in this direction, allow me to make 
a few remarks regarding the name of this fort. 

The name ‘Castle O’er” is, comparatively speaking, a modern 
one; its ancient name was “ Overbie ”—‘bie” signifying, | 
understand, a castle, fort, or other stronghold—and it is: sup- 
posed to be the farthest north of the three principal forts, 
Overbie, Middlebie, and Netherbie; or, the over, the middle, and 
nether forts, or castles. 

It must be admitted, I think, that these ancient British works 
existed long prior to the Roman Invasion, and I think that the 
names above mentioned—which are not Latin names—refer to 
British forts and not to Roman camps. 

I am not sure if the earth-work at Netherbie has ever been 
proved to be a Roman Station ; if it has not, then I suggest it is 
British; also that Birrenswark and not Birrens was the Middlebie 
of old; and further, that Castle O’er, or ‘‘ Over Castle,” is the 
modernized name of “Overbie.”. When my father acquired the 
lands of Castle O’er, they as well as the dwelling-house were 
known under the name of Yetbyre. Not liking this name— 
associating it, I have no doubt, in his own mind as having some 
connection with a gate and a cow-house—he re-christened both 
lands and house Castle O’er, from the fort of that name. If I 
expressed an opinion at all on this change of name, I would say 
it was scarcely a good one, as I am told that “ Yetbyre ” signifies 
the “Chief's Stronghold,” and I consider this designation a more 
archaic and interesting one than the modern name, Castle O’er. 

The first place I find it so called is in Timothy Pont’s atlas, 
dated 1661, though he spells it in his usual quaint orthography, 
* Castleouyrn,” then Sir Walter Scott, in the ‘ Lay of the Last 


Minstrel,” speaks of it as Castle-Gwer : 


** Wide lay his lands round Oakwood Tower, 
And wide round haunted Castle-Ower.” 


78 Forts in ESKDALEMUIR. 


I have heard it suggested that the rectilinear camp at Rae- 
burnfoot was the true Overbie, and feeling rather piqued in my 
vanity that an attempt might some day be made to deprive me of 
the name of my pre-historic fort, I spoke to the late lamented 
Dr Macdonald, F.S.A., on the subject, and his reply to me was— 
“They may cart your camp away, but they cannot cart away its 
name; it has been known as Overbie from time immemorial.” 

This opinion, expressed by such an emineut Archeologist, 
was a great consolation to me, and, as recent explorations at 
Raeburnfoot have failed to prove that it was occupied by either 
British or Romans for any length of time, I am glad to think that 
the name of Overbie, as appiied to Castle O’er, still “holds the 
fort.” 

Shortly after the rebellion of 1745, General Roy was in- 
structed by the Society of Antiquaries of London to survey and 
make plans of some of the principal forts and Roman camps in 
Scotland ; this he did, and the result was the publishing of his 
great and well-known work on these Remains, ‘ Military Anti- 
quities of the Romans in Britain.” Among those figured in his 
work is Castle O’er, and he describes it 'as the supposed Uxellum 
of the Romans; this is mere surmise, and I myself prefer to look 
at the fort as a more ancient landmark in the country where it is 
situated than any of the remains of camps left by the Romans. 

The General’s description of the Fort is as follows :—* In 
Eskdale moor, on a high point of land, formed by the junction of 
the Black and White Esks, Castle Over is situated. The nature 
of the fortifications of this ancient place will be best conceived 
from the plan and sections of them which accompany this work. 
But besides these principal vestiges, which are all that are here 
referred to, there are traces of extensive lines that have reached 
towards the south, but chiefly towards the east, as far as the 
bank of the Esk, seemingly with the intention of keeping up the 
communication with the river. From the concurrence there of so 
many circumstances, remarkable vestiges, lofty situation, affinity 
of name, vicinity to Mons Uxella, and position westward from 
Trimontium, there surely seems sufficient reason to conclude that 
Castle Over is the Uxellum mentioned by Ptolemy and Richard 
as belonging to the Selgove, and which appears to have stood not 
far from the eastern frontier ; the summit of Mons Uxella_ prob- 


Forvs IN ESKDALEMUIR. 79 
ably forming the boundary between them and the Gadeni. That 
part of the works of this place were originally British there seems 
to be little doubt ; though the Romans, after they got possession 
of it, might add to or alter them according as they saw reason for 
so doing.” 

As I before stated, the fort is of considerable size, and is 
situated on the top of a hill, 884 feet above sea level, and 296 
feet above the dwelling-house, and so near it as to be reached by 
an easy climb of a quarter of an hour. The fort is composed of 
what I will call an inner stronghold, defended by deep trenches, 
on the inner side of which have been strong stone walls, now, 
alas! entirely destroyed. The outer sides of the ditches are 
mounds or ramparts, formed, as usual, with the excavated soil. 
This stronghold occupies the whole top of the hill, and measures, 
roughly speaking, 510 feet long and 350 feet wide, whilst the size 
of the whole fort, with its immediate surrounding trenches, is just 
about 900 feet long and 570 feet wide; these measurements 
being, I understand, of unusual dimensions for a fort of this type. 

As no excavations had ever been made with a view to dis- 
cover any relics left by the original occupants of the fort, or 
signs of a subsequent occupation by the Romans, as suggested by 
General Roy, I employed men for some time, digging at every 
point where I thought anything might be found, but entirely 
without result, excepting one coin and a beam of charred wood 
about seven feet long. I caused sections to be cut through the 
trenches, to ascertain their original depth and conformation ; 
some of this work was done under the supervision of Mr Barbour 
and Dr Christison, F.S.A. We found that the trenches, as they 
exist now, are nearly eight feet deep and 35 feet wide between 
the tops of the two ramparts ; on removing the soil which had, in 
the course of ages, been washed down from the sides and summits 

_ of these ramparts, we found it was nearly four feet deep, and that 
the trench was cut to a corresponding depth through the solid 
_ rock, two feet wide at the bottom, just wide enough for a man to 
walk along it comfortably. Allowing for this “‘ wash down,” the 
trenches must have been originally about 13 or 14 feet deep. 
The find of the coin above referred to was rather a curious 
one; it was turned up at the first place where we commenced 
excavating, viz., at the principal entrance gate, and I thought we 


80 FORTS IN ESKDALEMUIR. 


had merely “ to dig to find,” but this proved to be the only relic. 

I submitted it to Dr Anderson, Antiquarian Museum. Edin- 
burgh, for his opinion. He said it was so defaced he could 
scarcely express an opinion, but from its size and general appear- 
ance he thought it might be of a period between the reigns of 
Charles I. and William and Mary. It would be interesting to 
know how that coin came there. 

What surprises me in regard to this important fort is the 
absence of a rubbish-heap, or “kitchen midden.” I have searched 
in vain for it, both by excavation, and by probing with an iron 
rod every eminence within such a radius, outside its principal 
trenches, as one might expect to find such a deposit, but invari- 
ably the pick or rod encountered solid rock. I cannot conceive 
that the place was inhabited, for the many long years indicated 
by the great labour bestowed upon its formation, without the 
inhabitants having chosen some spot to deposit their rubbish. 
Having failed to discover a “ heap,” I thought, as the ground at 
one side of the fort is very steep down to a burn, this place might 
have been used as a “ shoot,” but trenches cut at different points 
across the steep hill revealed nothing. 

The ground being generally of a rocky nature, the soil is 
very shallow, and the bones of animals used as food would not be 
covered deep enough to preserve them from the destructive 
effects of the weather ; the fort dwellers would, possibly, not be 
rich in pottery, and took good care not to break much of what 
they did possess; their fuel would consist, probably, entirely of 
wood and peat, and the ashes of such material would long ago be 
incorporated with the soil, and hence the absence at the present 
day of any vestiges of human occupation—of a domestic nature 
at least. 

About half a mile to the north of Castle O’er house is another 
work of the same formation as the minor forts; it is marked in 
the Ordnance Survey maps as a fort, though, from its position, it 
is badly adapted for defensive purposes. Differing in position 
from the others, it hes in a hollow on a piece of flat ground, close 
to the river bank, so close that the river has reduced it from its 
original round form to a semi-circle, and it is commanded on its 
west side by a semi-circle of very steep ground, which must have 
rendered it subject to easy attack from that direction, Mr 


Forts IN ESKDALEMUIR. sl 


Francis Lynn, F.S.A., Galashiels, who has devoted many years of 
his life to the exploration of forts and trenches in the South of 
Scotland, and North of England, tells me that it is unique in his 
experience both as to its undefended position and to this peculi- 
arity, that its floor is raised higher than the ground outside the 
inner trench. He suggests that it may have been used as an 
arena for athletic sports, the spectators looking on from the sur- 
rounding slopes. 1 was more inclined to accept the opinion, 
expressed to me by our friend Mr Barbour, that it might have 
been the Cemetery of the main fort, especially as a trench or 
hollow way leads directly from one to the other. On making 
excavations we found that the subsoil of the work is blue clay ; 
upon this clay logs of wood have evidently been laid to form a 
floor ; the logs themselves have decayed away, but the bark 
remains, and I scarcely think that layers of bark alone had been 
used, as it would have been too thin and yielding for such a 
purpese. On the top of this wooden tloor is a superior one, 
formed with rough stones, laid with their flat side down, and at 
the present day about 18 inches of peat moss has accumulated 
above these floors. Ona space quite 40 feet in diameter, in the 
centre of the work, we came upon a collection of rough stones, 18 
inches thick, and below this, resting upon a layer of charred 
wood, mixed up with the clay, was a great quantity of minute 
fragments of bones, none of them being more than one inch in 
length, and these, undoubtedly, had been subjected to the action 
of fire. If these bones were human, I hoped that Mr Barbour’s 
suggestion that this was the Cemetery, or ‘‘ Crematorium,” of the 
main fort might be corroborated, though it was not quite obvious 
why a Cemetery, or an arena for athletic games, should require 
strong earthworks for their protection. However, on submitting 
the bones to Professor Struthers, Royal College of Surgeons, 
Edinburgh, for his opinion, he said that without being able to 
declare positively that they were ot human, he inclined to think 
they were those of some of the lower animals. I fear, therefore, 
in the face of such an opinion, the Crematorium theory must be 
abandoned, and the question still remains—what was it ? 

Besides the trenches immediately surrounding the main fort, 
and which are palpabiy for defensive purposes, there are others 
starting from them, and radiating over the greater part of the 
lands of Castle O’er, the use of which is not so obvious, unless 


82 Forts IN ESKDALEMUIR. 


they were used solely as a means of communication between the 
forts. I have all my life noticed parts of these trenches, here 
and there, when out on the hills with my gun, but paid little heed 
to them, further than that they had evidently something to do with 
the forts, and that they made splendid shelter when stalking an 
old blackcock. 

The few trenches I had before traced out encouraged me to 
go on, and becoming enthusiastic over my discovery, I set to 
work with a will all through the summer of 1896, and I was very 
much astonished at the result. Owing to my intimate acquaint- 
ance with the ground, I was able to lay down on the Ordnance 
Maps, in red ink, the result of each day’s work as accurately as 
possible, without an actual survey. On running a wheelometer 
over the lines as laid down, I found they extended to the 
astonishing length of about 13 miles, and that considerably within 
an area of 2700 acres. Of the 20 forts in Eskdalemuir, eight are 
situated on my own lands of Castle O’er and Crurie. Two of 
these are rather outlying from the others, and I have failed to 
connect them with the remaining six, whose connection with each 
other is complete. At whatever part of the ground one enters a 
trench and walks along it, either to the right or left, he will find 
his way into one of the five minor, or into the main fort, as he 
chooses. They are all of the same type as the earthworks defend- 
ing the forts, but are not so deep, and in many places, e.g., when 
running through peat mosses or bog-ground, they are entirely 
filled up. These breaks are one of the difficulties in tracing 
them, but during the course of my work I noticed that where 
the trench had run, the vegetation along its line was of a different 
kind, or at least appeared of a different colour, from the other 
parts of the moss or bog. In bog-ground a growth of rushes 
very frequently reveals the line of the trench. In such places a 
sheep’s footpath is almost invariably a good guide, as a searcher 
will discover that the sheep have found out, and have chosen for 
their road the hard top of one or other of the mounds. By fol- 
lowing these indications across the soft ground, the trench will 
again be found at the other side, stretching away along the 
harder ground beyond. Another difficulty in tracing them is 
where they run along the steep side of a lea brae, or where loose 
stones abound; the continual spurring of sheep’s feet on the upper 
side of the trench has rumbled down earth and stones into it, and 


Forts IN ESKDALEMUIR. 83 


has gradually filled it up. ‘These breaks, in the continuity of the 
trenches, added to my labour, and I am sure, in trying to find 
them, and then tracing them out, I walked three times 15 miles. 

One trench on the ground deserves special mention. It is 
widely known as the ‘“Deil’s Jingle,” probably ‘“ Dingle,” a 
hollow between two hills or mounds. It is supposed to run 
across country all the way from the Solway Firth to the North 
Sea, and I quite conceive there may be some truth in this sup- 
position; it runs through Castle O’er ground for close on five 
miles, and one of my men, in whom J have full reliance, traced it 
two miles further north from Castle O’er march fence. It runs 
almost due north and south for over a mile, when it inclines to 
the north-east, then, with a sharp bend, it runs straight north © 
towards the Parish of Ettrick, in Selkirkshire. 

I am strongly of opinion that it would be found to join that 
well-known work the “ Catrail,” which passes through Ettrick, 
close to Tushielaw. 

There is much difference of opinion as to what these long 
trenches were used for, but as this is a controversial matter, I 
cannot enter into it at present. My own opinion is, that the 
Castle O’er group at least were used as hollow ways along which 
the fort dwellers could move to and fro the different forts without 
being seen by their enemies. But it is difficult to understand 
why, if used as roads, two of them are formed up and down 
exceedingly steep scaurs, which entails severe physical exertion on 
any one ascending, or even descending them, whereas, by a 
detour of a few hundred yards, an easier way could have been 
found. 

Besides these forts and trenches in the Parish, there is the 
rectilinear camp at Raeburnfoot, which has been explored and 
fully described at a meeting of this Society ; and another of the 
same form, still unexplored, within which is situated the grave- 
yard of Watcarrrick Chapel. 

Then, there are the two important important stone circles 
on the Farm of Cote, known under the names of the “ Girdle 
Stanes,” and the “ Loupin’ Stanes,” both laid down in the Ordnance 
Maps as “Druidical Circles.” In passing, I may say that I 
understand the word “ Druidical” is now withdrawn from these 
maps, as there is no evidence that the Druids had ever anything 
to do with them; they are now recorded as “ Stone Circles,” 


84 Forts IN ESKDALEMUIR. 


Those I refer to are well-known, and have been already 
alluded to by Mr Dick. But there is one on the farm of Whit- 
castles, in the Parish of Hutton and Corrie, which, I believe, has 
never yet been recorded, and [| think it is well that I should 
bring it to the notice of this Meeting. 

I heard of it incidentally from one of the Sappers engaged 
in revising the old O.S. Maps; and I went at once to inspect it, 
and found it was a good example of such remains. _ It is situated 
close to the side of a path leading from Whitcastles to Cowburn, 
and is, I should say, about two or three hundred yards east from 
a stream called Boath’s Burn. It consists to-day of nine large 
stones only, all prostrate, but from the irregular and at parts 
wide spacing, I think there may have been others removed; one 
certainly has been, as evidenced by the hollow in the ground 
where it had lain. 

I made minute measurements of the circle and individual 
stones, the result of which is as follows :— 

The two largest stones lie opposite to each other in a line 
due north and south, the one to the north is the larger, and 
measures 7 ft. 9 ins. by 5 ft. 5 ins. by 3 ft. 2 ins, the one to the 
south is 7 ft. 3 ins. by 3 ft. 5 ins. by 2 ft. 4 ins. The diameter of 
the circle from, north to south is 141 ft. 6 ins., and from east to 
west 180 ft. 

The dimensions of the other stones are :— 

5 ft. 5 ins. by 3 ft. 6 ins. by 1 ft. 3 ins. 
5 ft. 9 ins. by 3 ft. 0 ins. by 1 ft. 9 ins. 
5 ft. 0 ins. by 3 ft. 0 ins. by 1 ft. 11 ins. 
7 ft. 4 ins. by 2 ft. 6 ins. by 2 ft. 0 ins. 
A ft. 6 ins. by 3 ft. 2 ins. by 1 ft. 9 ins. 
6 ft. 9 ins. by 6 ft. 3 ins. by 2 ft. 0 ins. 
5 ft. O ins. by 4 ft. 0 ins. by 2 ft. 3 ins. 

I produce a sample of the kind of stone used for the circle, 
and I need scarcely say it was chipped, not from one of the circle 
stones, but from a boulder of the same geological formation 
lying close by. It is extremely hard, and as these boulders have 
smooth surfaces, I had great difficulty in securing a specimen, 
with the only tool I had with me, viz., an ordinary carpenter’s 
driving hammer. 

Mr J. G. Goodchild, Curator of the Geological Survey Col- 
lections in the Museum of Science and Art, Edinburgh, tells me 


FORTS IN ESKDALEMUIR. 85 


that “the specimen agrees well with many of the masses 
connecte.| with the granites of Galloway (see the Geological 
Survey Maps of the district). It might be called a fine grained 
diorite-granite.” 


On the motion of Mr Barbour, Mr Bell was awarded a very 
hearty vote of thanks for his paper. 


10th May, 1901. 
Rev. WM. ANDSON in the Chair. 


Donations and Exchanges.—Transactions of the Edinburgh 
Geological Society. Transactions of the Cardiff Naturalists’ 
Society. 

A letter was read from Dr Maxwell Ross, one of the Joint 
Secretaries, resigning office on account of his being so much 
engrossed with official work. It was agreed to minute an 
expression of regret, and the Secretary (Mr Bertram M‘Gowan) 
was instructed to convey the thanks of the Society to Dr Ross 
for his services in the past. ; 


COMMUNICATIONS. 


I.—“ Concerning the Market Cross.” By Mr JAMES Barzour, 
; F.S.A.,. Scot. 


Notices relative to the proclamation, on 26th January last, 
of the accession of King Edward the Seventh, at Dumfries, bore 
that the proclamation would be made at the Market Cross of the 
burgh. No pillar in such form remains to mark the place, and 
open proclamation, formerly common, is now so infrequent that 
few of the inhabitants probably would recolleét the scene of any 
former event of the kind. The centre of the town and market 
place, however, is so well impressed and marked with the 
outstanding and characteristic Midsteeple as to leave little doubt 
Telative to the intended place of assembly. The ceremony, which 
Was accompanied with desirable solemnity and hearty loyalty 
and respect, presented with the background of the Steeple, the 


86 CONCERNING THE MARKET CROSS. 


beautiful hand-wrought iron “ravel” showing to advantage, a 
scene impressive and picturesque such as probably few persons 
living have had the privilege of witnessing ,in the town. The 
proceedings on this occasion had the effect of rousing curiosity 
regarding the situation and form of the ancient Market Cross of 
the burgh; and the purpose of this paper is to submit such in- 
formation on the subject as is readily available, and to stimulate 
further inquiry. 
THE FISH CROSS. 


Frequent reference is made in titles of property and other 
papers to the Cross of Dumfries ; also the Fish Cross, in regard 
to which a word or two in passing may not be out of place. 
There is some reason for supposing that the Fish Cross stood 
at one time opposite the end of English Street, where the 
Fountain is now. <A property in the Southergate is described in 
the titles, dated 1802, as being situated a little below the “Old 
Fish Cross,” implying that the Cross was near the Southergate, 
and that a new Cross had by this time been erected at another 
place. Laterly, its site was a few yards south of the Midsteeple, 
at or near a well called ‘“ The Fish Cross Well,” still existing 
under the street, and marked by a cross formed in the pavement. 
The Fish Cross is said to have beer built about 1640. In 1662 
the Council enacted that all red fish that come to the towne sall 
be presented to the Fish Croce wholly undivided, under the pain 
of confiscation for the poor’s use. On 9th October, 1738, a 
committee of the Town Council was appointed to visit and 
consider the condition of the Fish Croce, cause repair or rebuild 
the same in the shape it is now in, or in such other form as they 
shall think proper, and to cause erect a post yrin. for fixing a 
lamp. Its latest form is said to have been a large round stone 
table on which the fish were laid out and exposed for sale. It 
was finally removed in 1831. I am indebted to Miss Richardson, 
Shakespeare Street, for permission to exhibit a drawing of High 
Street, belonging to her. It shows a pillar over a table base, at 
the place where the Fish Cross stood. Although evidently the 
work of an amateur, the drawing, so far as the street and build- 
ings are concerned, is fairly correct, but in regard to the Cross, 
the base appears hardly adapted to support the pillar or for the 
purpose of receiving the fish. 


Tr 


io’) 
=~I 


CONCERNING THE MARKET Cross. 
THE MARKET GROSS. 


Returning to the main subject, the Market Cross of the 
burgh is alluded to generally, with those of other head burghs, in 
the old Scots Acts of Parliament in connection with royal and 
other proclamations. Frequently, also, it receives specific men- 
tion as the Market Cross of Dumfries ; and locally, in the Town 
Council minutes and other papers, it is often referred to in con- 
nection with a variety of functions incidental to civic life in the 
burgh ; but, although an outstanding and important institution in 
this way, the situation of it and the form do not appear from such 
references, but remain to be gathered elsewhere. 

In old rental books of the Town Council are the following 
entries : 

William Copland of Colleston—For his part of ye booths under 
ye Croce 0 - 13 - 4. For 2 foot of ground on the north end 
of the Croce allowed anno 1690 for enlarging the shops and 
for ane entry backward to the back of the shops, 0-2-0. 

Alexander M‘Gowan of Meikleknox—For his mid shop under the 
Cross, sometime his Mr John M‘Gowan’s, 0-13-4. 

Alexander M‘Gowan of Smithstown—For his part of the booth 
under the Cross 0-13-4. For 2 foot of ground on the south 
-end of the Cross allowed anno 1690 for enlarging the shops 
and for an entry to the back shop, 0-2-0. 

These entries refer to the block of flat-roofed buildings in 
the centre of High Street immediately north of the Midsteeple. 
A vacant space about 8 feet in width remained between this block 
and the Midsteeple, which was filled up some years ago by the 
Town Council erecting a small shop there. 

The following is the description of the Cross contained in 
Edear’s MS. History of Dumfries, a copy of which is in the 
Society's library. Edgar was a writer in Dumfries, and likely to 
have seen the titles of the premises, and as he would be nearly 
twenty years of age when their rebuilding took place, in 1690, it 
may be presumed he had personal knowledge of the earlier form 
of the subjects described: “* As to the Cross,” he says, “it was 
before 1690 or 1691 an house about thirty feet in length, having 
to the front three shops, the floors a foot or two sunk under the 
street, and above the middle shop an arch of stone, and then on 
the back part a shop which entered in upon this stone floor, and 


8 CONCERNING THE MARKET CROSS. 


io) 


the roof to the extent of eight or ten feet above this back shop, 
had appended on both sides spars of timber and slated to nigh 
four feet of the causeway or street.” Whether the roof was of 
simple saddleback form or one more ornate, such as the top of the 
Midsteeple, is perhaps not very certain ; but otherwise the descrip- 
tion is sufficiently clear, accords with the town’s rental book, and 
leaves no doubt that this centre shop, arched with stone and 
having a second storey entering on the stone floor above, was at 
least the basement of the ancient Market Cross of Dumfries. 

About the way in which the place came to the parties in 
possession Edgar makes the following statement: ‘‘ There were,” 
he says, ‘“ three sons of —. M‘Gowan, minister of Mouswald, in the 
old Presbyterian time before 1660, whose father or themselves, for 
some trifle of money or small consideration, being probably in the 
Council, bought or wadsett the four shops. Their names were 
Thomas, Alexander, and Mr John. Thomas had the south shop, 
Alexander the north, and Mr John the mid shop and the back 
shop above the arch. Thomas being tutor or guardian for Margt,, 
the daughter of Alexander and doer for Mr John, and himself 
being a wordley man, thought if he built up the Cross on both 
sides there would be two new shops on the back thereof, To that 
end petitioned the Admrs. that he might build up the Cross in a 
square building and cover the wings with lead above the north 
and south high shops, provided the town would grant him two 
feet of ground on each side to extend the building, which he 
obtained and performed,” &c. This appears a somewhat extra- 
ordinary way of putting the matter, but it is little more than a 
reflex of the terms of the Council’s minute relating to the grant 
of additional ground in the year 1690. 

With permission of Mr Grierson, Town Clerk, I made search 
in the Council books of that year, and with difficulty discovered 
the minute, which is closely written in a small and peculiar hand 
not easily decipherable. It is conclusive of the situation of the 
Cross, affords substantial and reliable information regarding the 
curious position of parties’ claims thereto, and is besides commend- 
able as guarding with great care the town’s interest. I conclude 
by giving the minute, which speaks for itself, in full : 

“Convened within the Tolbuith of Drumfries Friday the 

twenty two day of Augt 1690 years William Craik 
provost” &c, 


CONCERNING THE MARKET CROSS. 89 


“The qlk day anent the suplication given in to the said 
Magistrates Common Counsall and Heritors Be Thomas M‘Gowan, 
Merchant in Irving, makand mentione that qhairas the petitioner 
intends to cause cast down the walls on the north and southmost 
sides of the Mercat Cross of Drumfries not only for enlargement 
of the two shops under the same if (?) they would allow two foot 
of ground more on either syde yairof for yt effect But also that 
he may have ane shop above either of the said two laigh shops 
And is resolved to build the south syde betwixt and Michaelmas 
next and the north syde betwixt and the first of September yrafter, 
and to build the walls (?) with other work with a battlement on 
the top which he shall defend against wind and weather And to 
cover the roof with lead which will much more tend to the adorn- 
ment of the place than to the petitioners advantage And shall be 
done and performed to the satisfaction and to the advyce and con- 
sent of the sd Magistrates and Counsall And therefoir for his 
encouragement craving the allowance of two foot of ground on 
either syde yrof the north and south sides of the said Cross for 
enlargement of the two laigh shops and for building a high shop 
above either of them And also the libertie to build a stair to enter 
up to the two high shops at the west end of the fabric And to 
grant him an Charter thereof upon his own reasonable expense 
And is content to give such ane additional feu dutie therefore as 
they should be pleasit to impose T.Q. which being be the said 
Magistrates Counsall and Heritors considered they unanimously 
with and under the express provisions and reservations aftermen- 
tioned allow to the petitioner two foot of ground on either syde 
of the north and south sides of the Mercat Cross for enlarging the 
shops yrof reserving always the towns right and priority (?) to 
the said Cross and providing always that the fabric and decorment 
on either syde and Battlement on the top yrof be done and per- 
formed to the satisfaction of the Magistrates and Counsall And 
that the north and south sydes and Battlement yron be perfected 
betwixt and the two several tymes above mentioned And that 
the petitioner uphhold the roof and maintains the battlement 
against wind and weather in the terms of the petitioner And 
reserving always power to the said Magistrates and Counsall to 
impose such a few dutie for the same in augmenting of the towns 
rentall as they shall think fit And further providing always that 
their prests. be noe homologatione of the M‘Gowans nor of yr 


90 ScorrisH BURGHAL LIFE. 


predecessors and authors right to the said shops But that it 
shall be leesum to the town to quarrell impun reduce and impre- 
cate the right and priorities yrof and that it shall be leesum to 
the petitioner and to Mr John M‘Gowan his brother and Maret. 
M‘Gowan his niece to defend the same as accords of the law and 
the entry to the high shops are to be made on the west end of 
the fabric. With and under which provisions and reservations 
their prests. are granted be the sd Magistrates Counsall and 
Heritors and accepted be ye sd petitioner and noe oyrways And 
appoint thir prests. to be recorded in the Counsalls books the 
provost and bailies for ymselves and in name of the Counsall and 
the petitioner for himself and his said brother and niece to sign 
these prests. And ordains extracts yrof to be given be the Clerk. 
THOS. M‘GOWNE, Wm. CRAIK. 
JOHN IRVINE, bailie.” 


Il.—* Scottish Burghal Life ia the 16th and 17th Centuries, illus- 
trated by Extracts from Kirkcudbright Records.” By Mr W. 
DICKIE, Merlewood, Maxwelltown, 


I propose to place before you extracts from the earliest 
extant records of the Town Council of the royal burgh of Kirk- 
cudbright. These are selected from a manuscript volume of 
minutes of proceedings covering the period from 1576 to 1682. 

First I shall deal with the Constitution and Functions of the 
Council itself. 


CONSTITUTION OF THE TOWN COUNCIL. 


Even at a much more remote date than that with which we 
here start there had been a wonderful development of representa- 
tive institutions in the towns of Scotland. ‘The earliest existing 
charters to royal burghs, belonging to the eleventh and twelfth 
centuries, confer the right of electing counciilors and magistrates 
upon the “ haill communitie.” To this phrase Mr Cosmo Innes 
has attached the restricted interpretation—‘ the whole body of 
qualified burgesses ;” but the popular franchise, whether it were 
as broad-based as the language of the charters indicates or 
narrowed to the circle of burgesses, was superseded in the 
fifteenth century by a system of nomination known as that of 
the close corporations. The change was brought about by Act 


SCOTTISH BURGHAL LIFE. 91 


of Parliament; and the particular mode of appointment in use 
during the period with which we are concerned was regulated by 
an Act of the Convention of Burghs passed in the year 1552. 
That Act directs that the “auld Council” shall choose the new on 
the Wednesday before the feast of Michaelmas (29th September) ; 
that the two bodies shall meet jointly on the next Friday to 
choose leets of candidates for the various offices of Provost, 
Bailies, Treasurer, and Dean of Guild; and that on the Tuesday 
following Michaelmas, the old Council and its child, the new, 
shall again convene, having this time associated with them the 
Deacons of Crafts, to make the final election from the leets thus 
drawn up. In the case of Kirkcudbright, however, there were no 
Deacons of Crafts until 1681, when the trades were first incor- 
porated. 

The first of the Kirkcudbright minutes is of date 3d October, 
1576, and is a record of ** the chesing of the office men.” This is 
the first: “‘ The qlk day Robert M‘Clellane is chosin dene for ane 
yeir, and sworne.” Entries in identical terms follow with refer- 
ence to other appointments in the order given, viz. :— 

Herbert Gledstanis and Jon Meckill, bailies. 

Thomas Andersoun, clerk. 

Johnne Crauford and three other ‘ officiaris.” 

Thomas M‘Clellane of Bomby, Provost. 

Johnne Gledstaines, thessaurar. 

Thomas Cant, kirkmaster. 

Then comes a list of the Council, which consists of the Provost, 
the two Bailies, and ten councillors. It will be observed that 
neither the Dean nor the Treasurer is of the Council. This first, 
“Thomas M‘Lellen ”—to use the spelling of the name adopted by 
himself—was afterwards knighted, and was the father of the first 
Lord Kirkcudbright. The castle which he built still stands in the 
town over which he ruled. Of the Bailies, Herbert Gledstanis 
sat in the Scottish Parliament as the burgh’s representative. It 
would appear that the hon. member’s education did not include 
the art of writing, for he was one of four members of the Con- 
vention of Burghs in 1582 who subscribed the Acts then passed 
*‘ with our hands at the pen, led by Johnn Guthrie, notar, at oure 
command.” The deficiency was one which he shared with the 
commissioner from the city of Glasgow. 


92 ScoTTISH BURGHAL LIFE. 


OFFICIALS OF THE TOWN. 


The Council seems to have possessed an ample establishment. 
In addition to the officials mentioned in the minute I have quoted, 
and the executioner, to be afterwards referred to, we have a 
record, first in 1600, of the appointment of a drummer and a 
piper. The former was to get £10 of fee “and his meit through 
the town,” feeding apparently at the tables of the burgesses turn 
about. Whether he was expected to provide music for the feast 
with his drum does not appear. ‘Those who had not houses were 
to pay him 3s 4d per day for his food; and any who refused were 
to be poinded for double that sum. The piper was a functionary 
of older standing. In 1581 his remuneration was fixed at £5 per 
annum, but it seems to have increased. In 1600 it was stipulated 
that he was to receive “his dewtie usit and wont,” and the 
drummer and he were to “ pairt (or divide) the yule wages betwix 
them,” this no doubt being some perquisite at the Christmas season. 
The “ Kirkmaster ” corresponded to some extent to our modern 
beadle. The ‘ tounship” in 1578 ratified an act of the minister 
and elders directing that he was to be paid ijs for ilk marriage 
and xijd. for the baptisme of Uk substantious mann’s bairn, vjd. 
for the simpl (simple, #.e., common) folk; the kirkmaster fylland 
ane forme and buik to the brydgrum and bryd, and [certifying 7] 
thairin to the solemnizatioun, and haifand ane besein and towell 
to the baptisme.” Ata later appointment it is minuted that the 
kirkmaster is to ring the church bell, and also to “ring the 
burriall bell throw the toun when nytboris [that is inhabitants] 
deceisses, and to mak the graiffes, for the qlk he sall haiff of ilk 
deceisset honest man vjs vijd.” The Council also appointed a 
“ knok-keeper,” or keeper of the clock, and to one holder of the 
office of kirkmaster, who would seem to have been in the building 
trade, payments were made, under the title of ‘ wardane,” ‘‘ for 
the mending and uphalding of the kirk and for the tolbuith 
mending.” Then in 1598 the court was equipped with an official 
corresponding to our procurator-fiscal. In that year Robert Bell 
was elected “ pr. for the common weill, and he to expone, delait 
[ prosecute |, and reassoun upoun all effairis tuching the weill of 
this burgh and commounis of the same.” 


THK COUNCIL'S RELATION TO CHURCH AND EDUCATION. 


The Council had even more intimate relations with the 


ScoTTiIsH BURGHAL LIFE. 93 


Church than those implied by the appointment of the beadle and 
the upholding of the fabric. In the year 1580, at the Michael- 
mas election, they appointed six “eldaris to the Kirk,” to hold 
office for one year ; but this appears to be a solitary entry of the 
kind. If they did not appoint the minister they regulated his 
income; in 1602 they stipulated to pay the Rev. Robert Glendin- 
ning £100 a year. And they did their best, according to their 
light, to secure him a congregation. An Act of the Council 
passed in 1596 imposed a penalty of forty pence on all persons 
who should “ ban, sweir, curs, raill, or speik any evill or profane 
speichess contempteuselie, or flyte on the gait” (brawl on the 
street). It further directed that all the inhabitants should attend 
the Church services twice every Sabbath, “ befoir and efter none,” 
and should also “convene to the examinationis ilk day being 
advertissit,” under a like penalty of forty pence for every 
absence. The “examinations” would be special diets fixed for 
the catechising of the flock by the minister ; but there were regu- 
larly, in addition to the Sabbath services, two preachings on week 
days, Wednesdays and Fridays. 

The Council also appointed the schoolmaster, and sometimes 
they conferred the office on the parish minister. Mr James Dodds 
was one of these reverend pluralists ; and the Council and com- 
munity, in whose name the appointment runs, undertook to pay 
him as schoolmaster a salary of twenty merks, with £3 additional 
for *‘ chalmer maill,” that is house rent, and he was to receive a 
_ quarterly fee of 12d “of ilk toun bairn that he leiris” (learns). 
A minute of slightly later date, and relating to the incumbency of 
a successor, shews that the recovery of the fees was sometimes a 
matter of difficulty. ‘‘ And the toun bairnis to pay thair quarter 
feis afvir the terme, and gif they pey nocht within ten days efter 
the terme, the said James to expell thame furth of the scule.” A 
successor in the ministry, Mr David Blythe, was also the school- 
master, and it was stipulated that he should have under him “ ane 
sufficient learnit doctor” as assistant. But the Council did not 
find the dual appointment satisfactory, and after a trial of sixteen 
_ months they discharged him ‘* as schuill Mr, in respect they haid 
fund him insufficient to wait thairon, because of his office of 
ministrie and uthir effairis.” 


. 


94 SCOTTISH BURGHAL LIFE. 


PAYMUNT OF THE BAILIES—CUSTOMS OF WINE AND SALT. 


The work of criminal jurisdiction appears to have been left 
to the bailies. The dispenser of justice was considered not un- 
worthy of his hire, and that hire took a very curious form. The 
Provost, Bailies, Council, and ‘“ haill communitie,’ assembled on 
the 18th of April, 1594, did statute and ordain “ that ilk bailie 
and the common clerk of the town shall have, now and in all 
tymes cuming, at ilk meltat, [7e., meal], viz., at dennar and 
supper, ane quart of wyne of ilk schip that cummis within this 
port with wyne, so lang as the schip is in leiffing thairof, conforme 
to auld use and wont.” Following upon this we have orders of 
the court upon protesting shippers to deliver over to each Bailie 
and the town clerk two quarts of wine for each of four days 
occupied in discharging the cargo, and decisions that burgesses 
of the town as well as strangers are liable for the impost. ‘The 
magistrates and burgh officers were also entitled by old custom 
to a duty in kind on imported salt and on victuals generally. 
This is incidentally disclosed in a minute of 5th October, 1597: 

“The quhilk day the Provost, Bailies, Counsall, and com- 
munitie of the said burgh, understanding that the bailzeis of the 
said burgh and officiaris of the same are diminishit of ane pairt of 
the old custome salt, has thairfoir statute and ordaint that the 
balyeis present and to cum, ilk ane of thame, sal haif for thair 
fyall [salary] yeirlie the soum of v. lib. [£5]; and appointis and 
ordains the officiaris to haif eqly [equally] amangis them, of ilk 
persoun that beis chargit in the tolbuithe, iijs, iiijd. [8s 4d] for 
trubil or uther occasioun, for thair fyall. But [without] prejudice 
awayis [always] to the peck of victuall appoint for thame for ilk 
boit [boat] that cummis in with victuall.” 

This arrangement had not, however, been satisfactory, and a 
year later an attempt was made to put things on a better footing 
by making the hard-worked bailies a present of the fines— un- 
laws” they are called—which were recovered, and in considera- 
tion of this they were to give up their £5 salary. The minute 
bears that they were to receive “the unlaws of all bluids, bluid- 
wytes [terms descriptive of assault to the effusion of blood], 
unlaws of straikis [common assaults, I suppose], deforcements, 
disobedience of magistraitis or officiaris in thair office, or injurious 
speichis to bailies or sik lik.” This is a curious and comprehen- 


ScorrisH BURGHAL LIFE. 95 


sive catalogue; but it does not appear to cover all cases for which 
fines might be imposed; for example, it does not at least in set 
terms extend to the class of offences of which we have just read 
—cursing, railing, and ‘“flyting on the gait.” At an earlier 
period (in 1584) the fines had been farmed out to William M‘Ghie 
and Thomas Hall for £28. 

Civil suits were disposed of in’ the burgh courts, frequently 
before an assize or jury. In one case, for example, concerning a 
charge of forestalling the burgh in purchasing a cargo of wine, it 
is recorded that “the Provost and Balyeis selectit the said former 
assysis, being unsuspect burgesses of the said burgh, to tak cog- 
nitioun and tryall thairanent.” The proceedings were conducted 
with considerable formality, there being references to written 
pleadings. One Hercules Hay, an innkeeper, figures as pursuer 
in several actions. (One of them was decided in the manner which 
still obtains in regard to prescribed accounts. It was referred to 
the defender’s oath, “quha, being rypelie advysit thairwith,” 
made oath that she owed him nothing, “ boit that it was all payit 
qlk sche ressavit; quhairfoir the judges absolvis hir simplicitir 
thairof.” Hercules was a man of substance and laird of Castle- 
dykes, which he had let on lease to a brother. He sued that 
brother’s widow for past due “ maill,’ or rent, of the land, and 
also for delivery of certain personal property of his deceased 
brother, which he claimed as “‘airschip”’ It is curious to read in 
the inventory of the articles, along with a “pleuch, pleuch graith,” 
and measures and implements of various kinds, such an entry as 
this: ‘‘ Item, ane cuntar burde carvit, with tabill and ches, pryce 
ten merks.” ‘ Tabillis” is an ancient term for the game of 
draughts, and we have in the carved centre board, the “ tabill,” 
and the chess the necessary provision for still popular forms of 
fireside recreation. 

The magistrates felt themselves burdened with the number 
of suits brought before them, and as a check to frivolous litigation 
it was enacted (February, 1580) that every pursuer who lost ar 
action (“tynis” is the expression used) should pay a penalty of 
eight shillings. They were, nevertheless, jealous lest their 
tribunal should be deserted in favour of a rival jurisdiction, and 
another of the Burgh Acts provided ‘that na persoun indwellar 
within this burgh mak ony complent to ony out toun maister 
[magistrate ?] for ony caus or occasioun, or move them to seik 


96 SCOTTISH BURGHAL LIFE. 


relief of the stranger [4%]: but that they meine [ze., complain] 
thameselffis to the saidis Provost and Pailzies, the ordinar judges, 
ffor decisioun, and put order to qtsumever actioun, quarrell, or 
controversie thair fallis out betwix nychtbor and nychtbor; and 
duha deis in the contrair sall-pay xl. lib. money of unlaw, tyne 
thair fredome, and be banishit the toun for evir.” 


BARBAROUS PUNISHMENTS. 


Banishment from the town was a common form of punish- 
ment, and it was frequently accompanied by personal chastise- 
ment of a severe nature. ‘Thus, on 17th February, 1588, John 
M‘Come was sentenced to be “scurgit throw the toun and brunt 
on the schouder, and thairefter banishit the toun for evir,” for 
‘“‘sundrie crymes and innormeteis,” which are not particularly 
specified. At the same sitting of the court four women—Jonet 
M‘Burnie, Kate M‘Morrane, May Forsythe, and J onet M‘Lene— 
for “sundrie abhominabill crymes and evill deidis, qlkis wer 
notour and sufficientlie provin,’ were ordered to remove them- 
selves out of the town ‘the morne, in the morning, with bag and 
baggage; and gif they failzie thairin, the saidis judges ordains 
thame, and ilk ane of thame, to be apprehendit and tane, and 
thaireftir the said day to be scurgit and brunt on thair schoul- 
deris. as was practeisit on Johnne M‘Come, but partialitie.” In 
the same month another person was sentenced to be banished 
from the town “ in respect of diverss his evill doings, leiding ane 
ill lyfe and conversatioun.” In March, 1600, the Council enacted 
that breakers of the seventh commandment who were not able to 
pay the penalties imposed for their trespass were to have their 
heads “ torkit” at the market cross on a market day, and were 
thereafter to be banished the town. ‘Torking was a species of 
torture of the nature of pinching or puncturing. 


TRADE IN WINE--INTERCOURSE WITH FRANCE. 


In glancing at the trade of the burgh, one is surprised at the 
extent to which wine figures init. This, of course, is due to the 
fact that Kirkcudbright was a port, and there was a good deal of 
intercourse with France and other parts of the continent. The 


frequency of this intercourse is illustrated by an agreement em- . 


bodied in a record of the burgh court of the year 1581. John 
M‘Cuffie, burgess of Kirkcudbright, and Thomas Masonn, burgess 


{ 


SCOTTISH BURGHAL LIFE. 97 


of Ayr, “ Scottismen,” thereby acknowledged to have received a 
certain quantity of wine from Anthony Sympsoun, merchant in 
Dieppe, who is termed a “ Frenchman,” but whose name suggests 
recent naturalisation, and they oblige themselves or their heirs to 
pay the price to him at Rochelle or Bordeaux, or in any other part 
of France where they might happen to meet him or any person 
having power to act on his behalf, before the Fastern’s Eve next 
ensuing. This same Masonn and another burgess of Kirkcud- 
bright consent to decree passing against them in the burgh court 
for a sum of about £2900 as the value of a cargo of wine and salt 
brought in a Dundee ship. We have references to trade with 
“the Isles,” or Hebrides, from which salt was brought, and to the 
arrival of a ship “‘ of Pittenweme” laden part with wine and part 
with iron. 
A ‘“ FORESTALLER.” 

It was one of the privileges of the corporation of a burgh 
that it had a right of pre-emption on all goods brought to the 
market. To infringe this right was to forestall the town, and 
forestallers were sharply dealt with, as one Robert. Edgar, a 
burgess of Dumfries, found to his cost. A cargo of wine had 
been brought to the port by Henry Osborne, a burgess of Ayr, 
and he offered it to the magistrates on behalf of the town at £90 
per tun. It was refused at that figure, and the bargain seems to 
have hung fire. The vendor had apparently considered it “ off” 
altogether, for he sold the wine to Edgar. Thereupon the magis- 
trates proceeded against the purchaser as a forestaller. They 
offered to let him off easily by paying him whatever figure he had 
promised to buy at. But Edgar would not forego his bargain. 
He had reason to repent his.obstinacy, for the charge against him 
was brought to trial before the magistrates and an assize of 
“unsuspect burgesses,” who found him guilty; and the court 
declared the wine to be *‘ confiscat and escheatit to our soverane 
lord’s behove and thairis;” in what proportion is not stated, but it 
may be presumed that the town retained at least the lion’s share 
of the prize. 


FIXING THE PRICE OF WINE, BREAD, CANDLES, 
AND ALE—PERIODS OF SCARCITY. 


In harmony with the spirit which animated the national 
legislature of the period, the Magistrates and Council inter- 


98 Scorrisu BURGHAL LIFE. 


meddled in many matters which are now recognised as falling 
properly within the sphere of private enterprise and individual 
judgment. To fix the price of commodities was regarded as one 
of their ordinary duties. In 1582, for example, they directed 
that no Bordeaux wine was to be sold dearer than 3s 6d the pint, 
under pain of confiscation of the hogshead. ‘The assize of 
bread” was a regular institution in burghs; and in various 
minutes we find the price of an article variously styled “the 
caik” and “the quarter caik” fixed at eightpence. Occasional 
reference is made also to “the candill,” which in two years is 
to be sold at 2s 8d per pound. The figures, of course, refer to 
the Scotch coinage. 

But the most regular entry of this nature has reference to 
the ‘“‘assize of ale.” It was the custom in the month of October, 
when it had been ascertained what the nature of the harvest was, 
to fix the figure at which the ale, brewed from the oats growr in 
the district, should be sold during the succeeding twelve months. 
I quote in full a quaint minute on this subject. It relates to the 
year 1578. 

“The qlk day the Provost, Bailzeis, Counsall, and commounitie, 
haiffand considderit the fertilitie of the ground this instant cropt 
and the cornis being weill collectit and gadderit, be ressoun of the 
gude harvist (thanks unto the Lord), haiffand also herd be report of 
utheris that nocht onlie this countrie but all the countries within 
this realme, and utheris without the same, also adjacent thereto, 
hes in lykeways prosperitie and welth of the saidis cornis; quhair- 
by it apperis to thame na derth is like to be this instant yeir, and 
also herand tell that the aill is sauld in Dumfreiss for four penneis 
the pynt: Ffynds thairfoir that the aill may be sauld for iijd. 
[fourpence] the pynt within this burgh, gude and_ sufficient: 
Thairfoir statutes and ordains that no oistlair within this burgh 
sell aill derar nor the said pryce for ane yeir, under the pane of 
xxs. [20s] for the first falt, and the nixt falt doubland, and the 
third falt tripland, and taking out also of the rest of the aill to 
the mercat croce, and to be delt thair to the pure [poor]: Pro- 
vyding that it sal be lesum [lawful] to the saidis oistlaris to tak 
vd [fivepence] for ilk pynt qll [till] Setturday at evin nixt is: 
and ordains the Deane to pas with diligence to the countrie and 
put siklyke ordeir to the oistlaris therein.” 

The thankfulness expressed for the abundant harvest and the 


ScorrisH BURGHAL LIFE. 99 


safe in-gathering may in this connection raise a smile, But we 
must bear in mind that the state of the corn crops was at that 
period a matter of the most vital concern to the whole community. 
Deficiency meant not simply the possible inconvenience of a slight 
rise in price; but, if the shortcoming were serious, it involved 
literal famine. There was no potato crop on which to fall back ; 
foreign countries could not redress the balance by sending of 
their surplus ; and the means of internal communication were so 
limited and slow that a supply would be obtained with difficulty 
even from other parts of our own country which might have been 
less affected by an adverse season. In these circumstances 
periods of scarcity, more or less general, were of frequent 
occurrence in both Scotland and England. No wonder, then, if 
the community were devoutly thankful that for one year at least 
they were free from fear of dearth. 

This was the last of a series of fat years. In 1579 the lean 
cycle began with a rise to sixpence. By 1595 the price had 
trebled, the pint then selling at twelvepence. Scarcity and high 
prices, operating on human cupidity, had the usual effect of 
leading those who had supplies to hold them back in the hope of 
reaping still larger profit from the greater extremity of the 
community. Penalty clauses were inserted in the annual Ale Act 
to check this practice. The minute of 1559, for example, directs 
that “na oistlar reteine aill in their huss abone ane galloun, but 
sell the same to all nychtboris, gude and sufficient, under the same 
pane [£5], deiling of the aill at the croce [giving it away, that 
is, to the populace], and discharging [that is, forbidding them] of 
forther brewing.” Those years of distress synchronise with a 
similar experience throughout the country. The year 1597 in 
particular is emphatically characterised by Professor Thorold 
Rogers, in his valuable book on ‘“ Work and Wages,” as one of 
“fearful famine” throughout England ; and the following year 
was remarkable in Scotland for the general blighting of the 
crops. 


FREQUENT OCCURRENCE OF ‘THE PEST.” 


A terrible accompaniment of recurring famines was “ the 
pest,” or plague. There was in the burgh an hospital known as 
“the Pest-house.” We find the Council on the alert to prevent 
the introduction of the malady from other places. On 22nd 


100 ScorvTisH BuRGHAL LIFE. 


January, 1577—or, according to our present calendar, January, 
1578, for the legal year was then reckoned from 25th March— 
order is made that “nane within the burgh travell nor trafik in 
Ingland, nor on the bordouris thairof, for the pestis causs [because 
of the pest], qlk is in the saidis bordouris, under the pane of tinsall 
of thair fredome; and that nane ruset ony travellaris out of 
Ingland, nor bordouris thairof, without ane sufficient testimoniall, 
under the pane of ten punds.” 

In 1585 Kirkcudbright itself had been visited, On the 9th 
of March, 1586 (1585 according to the reckoning of the period), 
the Council made arrangements for payment of fees due to “the 
clengeris,” these being persons employed to use means for the 
recovery of those afflicted with the plague. The town lands of 
the Borelands and Millflat were then let out to the burgesses in 
“skairs” or small plots; and in order to raise the necessary 
money the Council directed that each holder of these lands was 
to pay two years’ rent in advance. They were more peremptory 
in their demand than a modern Chancellor of the Exchequer, for 
they enacted that the money should be paid over to the collector 
‘- betwixt and the morne at evin,” under pain of their skairs being 
declared ‘vacant and in the toun’s hands.” In October of the 
same year the Council voted an honorarium of five merks to 
“ Jonet Mertene,” for ‘certane plesirrs and guid service done” 
by her “the tyme of the pest, and for hir help.” 

Some years later the Council were in dread of a return of 
the pestilence, which had broken out in a neighbouring town. 
They cut off all intercourse with the afflicted place, and turned the 
whole householders into a body of watchmen to see that the 
cordon was not broken. These precautionary measures are set 
forth in these terms, under the date 20th April, 1599 : 

“Understanding the pest being now ill in Drumfreis, and 
willing na resorting or traffik be betwix the said tounis for feir 
thairof, statutis and ordains that the haill inhabitants within this 
burgh that reasis reik thairin [a graphic expression designating a 
householder—the possessor of a hearth] wache in thair awin 
persoun, or ellis ane als [as] sufficient in thair steid, at the sicht of 
the Bailleis, under the pane of xls. ilk fault and ¢ynsall of their 
fredome ; and that nane hant or gang to Drumfreis, or benethe 
the watter of Ur, or resset ony benethe said water, under the said 
pane, without consent of the Bailleis.” 


ScoTrTisH BURGHAL LIFE. 101 


“WATCH AND WARD ”—A FEAR OF INVASION. 


In another minute dealing with the duty of ‘ watch and ward” 
we seem to hear an echo of the fears of Spanish invasion which 
haunted the country even after the days of the Armada, while 
Scotland was distracted by the intrigues of noble factions. It is 
of date the day before Christmas, 1595, and it made order that 
watch was to be kept nightly by six armed persons to be chosen 
for that purpose by the bailies. Negligent watchmen were to be 
punished “in the stokis or gorgattis;” and their “ puttar furthe” 
(the person, we presume, who had sent a negligent substitute) 
was to pay a fine of forty shillings. And “ in case of ony tumoult 
or uproar in the toun, ilk persoun to be in reddiness, at ane schout 
or clink of the comoun bell, to ryss and cum to the gait boidint 
with wapponis, under the pane of tynsall of thair fredome and 
banischement of the town for evir, and also under the pane of ten 
pund of unlaw.” 

AMUSEMENTS. 

We have already seen that the worthy burgesses of the six- 
teenth century relaxed themselves indoors with draughts or chess. 
Of the fondness of the young men for athletics we have incidental 
evidence in several of the minutes. In 1597 the grass of the 
Friars’ Kirkyard—that is the burial ground of the old church that 
stood where the castle now is—was let to Thomas Hall on a 
nineteen years’ lease, subject to these conditions, among others : 
that he was to build and maintain a dyke around it, but was to 
leave a style and door, which should be “ patent” all day, but 
locked at night, “and it sal be lesum to the toun and young men 
thairof, to big buttis thairin and use archerie, and to repair and 
gang thairintill, as they haif occasioun : secludane [excluding] all 
players of futeball, cache-kyllis, and uthir games out of it, bot 
allanerlie [only] the buttis.” ‘“ Cache-kyllis ” may be a local term 
for a primitive form of lawn tennis, which in eld Scotch was 
termed cache-pole or catch-pule. Archery butts or targets seem 
to have been provided elsewhere ; for in February, 1579, a disposi- 
tion was granted to Robert Hall, burgess, of certain common land 
“beneth the toun and at the buttis.” The churchyard seems to 
have been a popular resort for purposes of recreation. In an 
earlier minute (of 1580) we nnd a prohibition against the playing 
of “keich-ball upon the Freir Kirk, for demolishing the sklait 
thairof.” 


102 SCOTTISH BURGHAL LIFE. 


EARLY CLOSING OF ALE-HOUSES. 


The civic rulers of those early days were alive to the impor- 
tance of regulating the business of the ale-house keeper in other 
ways than fixing the price of his goods. It was an offence to be 
drinking in such a house “ after ten horis at evin,” and the penalty 
fell not on the keeper of the house but on his customers. 


FORBIDDING USE OF BUTCHER-MEAT., 


A curious enactment of a sumptuary character appears, with 
variations, in minutes of 1580, 1589, and 1595. Its purport is to 
forbid the eating of butcher-meat either on Friday or Saturday. 
“«Qistlars,” as the innkeepers are termed, are forbidden to “ roist 
or seith” flesh on either of these days, and the owner of a house 
in which any is used is to be fined five merks. One of the minutes 
bears that the purpose of the prohibition is for the “ down-putting 
of dearthe.” An Act of the Scottish Parliament of earlier date 
(1567) had forbidden the eating of flesh on three of the days of 
the week, for the vaguely expressed reason that ‘it is great hurt 
te the common weill of this realm, the indifferent and dayly eating 
of fleshe within the same.” 


THE BURNING OF A WITCH. 


A superstitious belief in witchcraft possessed all classes of the 
people during the period over which this period extends. I have 
found no trace in the minute book of the cruel persecutions to 
which it gave rise. But there is extant an account of the Burgh 
Treasurer of Kirkcudbright for the year ended at Michaelmas, 
1698, which throws a lurid light on this dark page of history. It 
contains a long list of items referring to the execution of a poor 
woman, Elspeth M‘Ewen, belonging to Dalry, against whom the 
Kirk-Session of that parish instituted a prosecution on the accusa- 
tion that she possessed and exercised the power of the evil eye. 
A special commission was issued to the Steward-Depute and 
various lay commissioners to try her, with a jury, at Kirkeud- 
bright ; and on their sentence, confirmed by the Privy Council, 
she was given to the flames. We seem to hear them crackling 
and to see the tortured flesh shrinking as we read such callous 
entries as these : 


Item for peits to burn Elspeth wt. j 
Item for twa pecks of colls ... son Abe nok nak at 01 


ETYMOLOGY OF THE Worp RUTHWELL. 103 


Item for towes [ropes to tie the poor creature to the stakes], 


small and great sae aa ane Shs Ae Eck OF 40 
Item for ane tar barle to Andrew Aitken : sae ec qe he 0) 
Item to Hugh Anderson for carrying of the peits and colls_ ... CG e 
Item to William Kirk [the executioner] qn she was burning, 

ane pint of aill ... “iss : ee 0 2 0 


Item payed to Robert Creighton, conform to precept, viz. :— 
eight shillings Scots for beatting the drum at Elspet 
M‘Queen’s funerall, and to James Carson, his wife, 
threeteen shillings drunken by Elspet’s executioner, at 
seall times ane ae a: aa ber . 7B j jo 
The executioner was on the regular staff of burgh officials, 

and in receipt of a weekly allowance; but in his old age he had 
eked it out with the seeking of alms, and the tragedy just 
recorded by attaching increased odium to his office seems to have 
cut off supplies. In a pitiful petition to the Council he repre- 
sented that when he went to the country the people bade him go 
home to the town “and cast stanes at me,” and to relieve his 
indigent condition the Council made him a special grant of six 
shillings Scots. 


ILI.—* The LElymology of the Word Ruthwell.” By H.. J. 
CHINNOCK, LL D., London. 


I was deeply interested in reading the paper on Dr George 
Archibald’s sketch of Dumfries in the seventeenth century by my 
lamented friend, the late Dr James Macdonald, in whose death Scot- 
land lost one of her best antiquarian scholars. The old Dumfries 
physician in his “ Account” gives two derivations of the name 
Ruthwell, upon which a discussion arose among the members of 
the Society present at the meeting at which it was read. I hope 
it will not be thought presumptuous on my part if I continue this 
discussion, with the desire of throwing some light upon the subject. 
There are six derivations assigned to the word, as far as I can 
gather, two of which are manifestly absurd, and therefore ought 
to be at once discarded. Let us take them in order :—I. The first 
is that which the worthy Archibald assigns, and which I have 
never before seen—Juthae vallum, “Ruth’s wall” He says that 
the Saxons erected it as a rampart, and that they never advanced 
further than this point in Scotland. This derivation and statement 
is so childish in its simplicity and ignorance that it isnot worthy 


104 ETYMOLOGY OF THE WorD RUVTHWELL. 


of a minute’s notice. Who was Ruth? Evidently a female, from 
the declension of the name, and doubtless the apocryphal person 
called also St. Ruth. History evidently was not Dr Archibald’s 
forte, or he would have known that the sixth kingdom of the 
Saxon Heptarchy, called Northumbria, extended as far north as 
Fife including Dumfriesshire and a part of Galloway, and that 
Edinburgh was founded by the greatest of the Northumbrian 
kings, Edwin, to be the northern capital of his kingdom, as York 
was the southern. Lowland Scotch is simply the old 
Northumbrian dialect of the English language, as modern English 
is derived from the Mercian or Midland English. II. The second 
derivation, dear to those ignorant of philology, is St. Ruth’s Well. 
It is always stated that this explanation of the words is duc to 
Bishop Gibson, of London, in his edition of Camden’s Britannia, 
published in 1695. He speaks of the church of Ruthwell, calling 
it St. Rutl’s church. The worthy bishop was evidently only 
giving the local derivation, for we find Dr Archibald, in his 
‘“‘ Account,” speaking of “St. Ruth’s Church, called Ruthwall.” 
Archibald, it seems, knew nothing of Ruthwel/. We may con- 
clude, I think, from this that in his time it was called Ruthwald 
and not Ruthwel/. So far as I can learn there is absolutely 
nothing to connect Ruthwell with St. Ruth, except that Ruth is 
the first syllable of Ruthwell. Men of the critical acumen of 
Messrs Barbour and Cairns may well express doubt of these two 
origins of the name. III. The third derivation is that assigned by 
our learned president, Sir Herbert Maxwell—the Mood-well. 
There is at Ruthwell a celebrated Cross, and there is the well- 
known Weill in the parish. The obvious inference, then, is that 
the name of the parish is derived from the cross and the well. If 
nothing better can be found this ingenious explanation must be 
accepted. But the practised philologist puts it aside as too simple 
and evidently a concoction. The settlement of the question 
requires research into the old English, Gaelic, and Norse languages 
from which our place-names are derived. IV. Chalmers in his 
“Caledonia” gives the derivation ruth, a rivulet, and well a 
corruption of wald, which is our modern wea/d or wold, a wood. 
He says there is a rvth or rivulet in the parish. I know not 
whether this is so or not. But I am certain that so very common 
a thing as a rivulet in a parish would not give its name to that 
parish. I think, however, he was right in his statement that wed/ 


ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD RUTHWELL. 105 


is a corruption of wald. The four foregoing derivations of the 
name, I think, must be pronounced fallacious and futile. I believe 
the real origin of the word will be found in one of the succeeding 
conjectures, my preference being given to the last, which I 
believe to be my own, founded on the labours of others. V. The 
name Ruthwell first appears in a charter of date 1605. In the 
17th and 18th centuries the name varied between Ruthwald, 
Ruthwall, Ruthwell. I was informed by my friend, Mr A. L. 
Davidson, last year that a native has, even at the present time, 
his cart labelled Ruthwald. Itis pronounced locally, as Dr Ross 
pointed out, Rivvell. Indeed, in the early charters of the Murray 
family, to whom the Parish belonged, I believe, the name of the 
Parish appears as Ryval, Rivel, or Revel, evidently the local pro- 
nunciation of the name. As I am ignorant of Gaelic, I applied to 
my friend, Dr H. C. Gillies of Hampstead, the author of a Gaelic 
grammar, and one of the leading members of the Gaelic Society 
of London, to see if he could throw any light upon the subject. 
He wrote :—‘“‘I find that there is a spa some little distance from 
the village, and this would prejudice in favour of a well. Why 
Ruthwell? There is room for a Gaelic suspicion, if it is a chaly- 
beate or iron well. This would make it the red, ruddy from ruadh 
(Gaelic) rhudd (Welsh), pronounced ryth or rith. The Welsh form 
would explain Ryval, its old name. But this old name throws 
doubt upon the well idea, and rather tends towards the vald or 
wald form, which appears in Mouswald and Torthorwald in the 
same dale. In fact the form Ruthwald appears to have been up 
till lately in use. There is distinct proof of the Norsemen in 
Annandale, and the older forms have a suspiciously Norse look 
about them. In fact the Tinwald, Torthorwald, Mouswald almost 
push us on toa Ruthwald. In that case the origin must be sought 
in Norse.” The fifth derivation then is Ruth-well, the Redwell. 
I believe, however, that Chalmers and Dr Gillies are right, and 
that the second syllable well is only a corruption of wald. VI. 
I beg to submit to the judgment of the Society my own con- 
clusion, which is that the words means the Redwold. The corrup- 
tion of wald to well through wal/ (see Archibald’s “ Account” and 
consider the form Ryval) is a very natural and easy one. The 
other corruption of well into wald is unnatural and difficult, and 
would be rejected by all philologists. The word may be derived 
from the Norse, as Messrs Cairns and Gillies suggest, or from the 


106 BovTANICAL NOTES FOR 1899. 


Anglo-Saxon. We know that the Norsemen did settle in Dum- 
friesshire, and on the banks of the Solway, and there are several 
traces of them still existing in local names and customs. uth is 
allied to the Gaelic rvadi, Welsh ruddh, Anglo-Saxon read (red) 
and rudu (redness), German roth, Dutch rood, Danish and Swedish 
(derived from the Norse) rod. Wald is a good old Anglo-Saxon 
and Norse word meaning a wood, The German still has wadd, and 
the English has wold and weald. How could the district have 
obtained the name of the Red-wood or Ruth-wald? In those 
early times pine woods prevailed throughout that part of the 
county. The Scotch fir or red pine predominated. I think we 
may discover the origin of the name from this fact. The place 
was known as the Red-pine Wood. I submit this conjecture to 
the judgment of philologists for what it is worth. 


Botanical Notes for 1899. By JAMES M‘ANDREW, Assoc. of 
Edin. Bot. Soc., New-Galloway. 


I much regret that my botanical notes for 1899 are even 
more meagre than those for 1898. This year my new records 
are almost 7. In last July I spent a fortnight in Kirkcolm 
parish, north of Stranraer, in the expectation of perhaps finding a 
few Ayrshire plants likely to be carried across the entrance of 
Loch Ryan, but in this I was disappointed. In fact, except along 
the shore on both sides of Corsewall Lighthouse, the parish of 
Kirkcolm is not productive of wild plants, being too agricultural 
for a botanist’s purpose. The only new record I have to give 
for Wigtownshire this year is Scirpus Tabernemontani, Gul., 
which I found in two lagoons on the shore opposite Kirkcolm 
village. For the sake, however, of future reference and guidance, 
I shall mention some of the rarer Wigtownshire plants I saw in 
Kirkcolm and Leswalt. Round Kirkcolm village and the neigh- 
bouring shore I saw Bromus sterilis, Linn., Rumex alpinus, Linn. 
(Monk’s rhubarb), Carduus tenuiflorus, Curt., Ranunculus sceler- 
atus, Linn., and Bu/éosus, Linn., Ballota nigra, Linn. (an outcast), 
Hyoxcyamus niger, \inn. (henbane), ELguisetum maximum, Lam., 
Ruppia rostellata, Koch (in lagoons on the shore), and Catabrosa 
aguatica, Beauv. (in ditches near the shore). The only rare plant 


BOTANICAL NOTES FOR 1899. 107 


I noticed in Corsewall grounds was the grass Calamagrostis 
epigeios, Roth, which grows at the north end of the wood in 
plenty. I have already recorded it from two stations near Port- 
patrick. The lichen Zxdocarpon mintatum was very plentiful on 
the rocks along the edge of the wood. From Corsewall Light- 
house eastwards are found the common littoral plants, Zigus- 
ticum scoticum, Linn., was in plenty, but the rarest plant I saw 
on that shore was Sedum roseum, Scop. (roseroot), found in two 
places. The only other station I know in Wigtownshire for this 
hill plant is at the mouth of the Craigoch Burn, Portpatrick. The 
Hepatic, Aiccia glaucescens, Carr, was seen here in abundance. 
Orchis latifolia, Linn., Sagina nodosa, Fenzl., Avena pubescens, 
Huds., Radiola linoides, Roth, Pulicaria dysenterica, Gertn., &c., 
were other uncommon plants along this shore. In Dally Bay, on 
the west shore, the two best plants seen were Ca/abrosa aquatica, 
Beauv., in abundance, and Geranium pratense, Linn., in fair 
quantity. With the exception of some plants of this Geranium in 
Galloway House grounds, found by the Rev. James Gorrie, Sorbie, 
the only other station I know for it in Wigtownshire, and there 
only as a single plant, is at High Drummore. It may be inciden- 
tally mentioned that Geranium sylvaticum, Linn., has not yet 
been recorded for Wigtownshire. About Moffat, for example, 
both species are very common. In Aldouran Glen and about 
Lochnaw I saw abundance of Ste//arta nemorum, Linn., recorded 
by Mr G. C. Druce, as also Medica uniflora, Retz., and Phegopteris 
polypodioides, Fée (beech fern). These I did not notice on a 
former visit to Lochnaw. I may mention that the other Melic 
erass, AZelica nutans, Linn., has not yet been recorded for Wig- 
townshire. Gadium mod/ugo, Linn., grows in several places near 
Leswalt. 


KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE. 


I found Lusula albida, as an escape or an outcast in the 
woods of Corsock House. The moss Zhurdium delicatulum, Mitt., 
I found this summer in Glenlee Glen and other places, and very 
probably it is quite common. Now that attention has been 
directed to this moss, it has turned up in many districts of 
England and Scotland. 

In conclusion, I may refer to the excellent discovery last 
summer of the Northern Holy Grass, Wierochloe borealis, R. & 5., 


108 BoTANICAL NOTES FOR 1899. 


on the Rerrick shore, by Miss Mittelbach, Orroland, determined 
by the Rev. G. M‘Conachie, Rerrick Manse, and confirmed by 
Professor Balfour, Edinburgh University. Mr Arthur Bennett, 
Croydon, has a note on this grass in the October “ Annals of 
Scottish Natural History.” 


109 


PED MEE TINGS, 


12th June, 1901.—Glencairn. 


The first field meeting for the season of the Society took 
place on Saturday, June 12, 1901, and proved to be one of the 
pleasantest and most interesting in its recent annals. The excursion 
was to the lower end of the parish of Glencairn, where the party 
inspected the British camp at Snade, and were during the after- 
noon the guests of Mrs Martin of Dardarroch and her family ; 
and the return drive was made by way of Lag Glen, with passing 
calls at Brockhillstone and the ruined tower of Lag. Brilliant 
sunshine favoured the outing. Passing the Druidical circle in 
Holywood, it was compared with the drawing given by Grose, 
of date 1789, and the absence was remarked of the twelfth stone 
shewn in the picture. At Dunscore Dr Martin, of Holywood, 
who had arranged the programme of the day, took up the role of 
guide. Quitting the high road and crossing the Cairn by the foot- 
bridge, near a marshy spot where the curlews seem to nest, the 
company proceeded first to the site of the old castle or baronial 
residence near the farm-house of Snade, which is indicated by 
some foundation remains and more tangibly by a grove of ancient 
yew trees, a couple of which were measured and found to be ten 
feet in girth at a height of three feet from the ground. The 
yews have pretty well encircled the house, except on the northern 
side, and part of them are planted in a double row, so as to form 
an avenue by which the main entrance would be approached. In 
the year 1668, or at a slightly earlier date, the barony of Snade 
was divided, half of it going to swell the possessions of John 
Laurie of Maxwelton. The other half, on which the baronial 
residence had stood, would seem to have been acquired by Walter 
Riddel of Minto, a member of an old Roxburghshire family, who 
impressed upon the property his own name by styling it Glen- 
riddel. The son of this John Laurie was Sir Robert, the first 
baronet of the Maxwelton line, who figures in history as one of 


110 i FIELD MEETINGS. 


the persecuting group of Dumfriesshire lairds, but of whom a 
more fragrant memory survives as the father of Annie Laurie of 
the song. Her mother was a Riddel—daughter of this Walter of 
Minto ane Glenriddel. A later memorable conjunction of the 
families occurred when Captain Robert Riddel, at his house of 
Friars’ Carse, engaged in a bacchanalian contest for the “ Whistle ” 
with his relatives, Sir Robert Laurie and Fergusson of Craig- 
darroch. In the interval two members of the family had figured 
on opposing sides in the Jacobite rising. The Rev. Simon Riddel, 
minister of Tynron, led a party of his parishioners in the Royalist 
army at Sheriffmuir. His relative and family chief, Riddel of 
Glenriddel, supported the luckless Stewart cause, and was one of 
the fourteen hundred prisoners taken at Preston. The Captain 
Riddel of the Burns period and of the whistle contest was the last 
of the family who owned Glenriddel. It was sold in 1792, two 
years before his death; and Friars’ Carse, where he had lived, 
was put in the market by his testamentary trustees. His younger 
brother, Walter Riddel of Woodley Park (Goldielea), an equally 
intimate friend of the poet’s, is represented in the government of 
the country at the present day by a great-grandson, Mr G. D. A. 
Fleetwood Wilson, C.B., assistant under-secretary of the War 
Department. 

On the farm of Snade, and lying nearer to the river, between 
the farmhouse and that of Boreland, is one of the most perfect 
examples of a British camp to be found in the district. The double 
earthen rampart and two ditches are wonderfully entire, and 
enclose a large circular space upwards of a hundred feet in 
diameter, forming a saucer-like depression within these lines of 
defence. The total area extends to 1,608 acres. Seedling oaks 
grow profusely in the neighbourhood, and the camp is covered by 
young wood of that species and birch and hazel, which has no 
doubt contributed to its preservation. 

Dardarroch was reached shortly before two o’clock, Here 
a most hospitable welcome awaited the party. They were 
received by Mrs Martin, with whom were her daughter, Miss 
Martin ; her sons, Mr Robert Martin, Mr Samuel Martin, W.s . 
Mr Henry Martin (lately returned from service in South Africa 
with Lord Strathcona’s Horse), and Dr Martin—and Miss Hair of 
Fleuchlarg. Luncheon was dispensed on the lawn, under the 
shade of a fine copper beech and other trees. Then an adjourn- 


FIELD MEETINGS. 111 


ment was made to the house, where a wealth of interesting 
objects claimed attention. There is a very complete and finely- 
mounted collection of native birds, with a few rarer visitants— 
including the Pied Fly-Catcher and the American White-Winged 
Cross-bill; among many other specimens, the Night-Jar; the 
King Fisher ; the Water Rail, Tufted Duck, the Goosander, which 
frequents the valley in large numbers; and a few birds shot 
further afield, one being a fine Capercailzie. from Perthshire, which 
weighed 11 lbs. The family possess an extensive tract of cattle 
ranching and timber land in Manitoba, and in the rigorous north 
of Canada they have had good opportunities for indulging at once 
a sportsmanlike instinct and a taste for natural history. Quite 
recently Mr Henry had undertaken a long canoe expedition up the 
Great Slave Lake, to the remote stations of the Hudson Bay 
Company, in connection with reported discoveries of gold, which, 
however, turned out to be disappointing. Among the trophies of 
the chase which adorn the walls are two magnificent heads of the 
Moose, with its great flat horns; masks of the large and fierce 
Timber Wolf from Alberta and of the smaller fox-like Prairie 
Wolf ; such notable birds of the colony as the Snowy Owl, the 
Eagle Owl, the Goshawk; and hoof of the Carriboo. There is also 
in the collection a fossilised tine of the antler of the Wapiti Deer, 
from the Rocky Mountains. Collections of butterflies and moths, 
both British and Canadian, and samples of West African avifauna 
further enhance the intere.t of the museum; and there are in it 
not a few objects of antiquarian interest. One of these is a piece 
of oak carved with the date 1689 and the initials “D M” “I K,” 
being those of David Martin of Braco and his wife, Jeane Kar. 
David was a stout old Covenanter, who fought at Bothwell Brig, 
and, having the good fortune to escape unhurt, remained in hiding 
in the moors and mountains until the Revolution. He had 
possessed some skill of handicraft, and himself carved this heirloom. 
Uf more recent interest were one of the 1-1b. shells of the Vickers- 
Maxim, the “ Pom-Pom” of the Boer campaign, which has had 
such a disturbing effect on the troops, and a set of the last coinage 
of the Transvaal, both gold and silver, with the image and super 

scription of Paul Kruger. Into the outer wall of Dardarroch 


House are built several carved stones that have come from an 


older building. One of these bears the arms of the Cunninghams, 
Earls of Glencairn, the Y-shaped shakefork. and the initials “« I G.” 


112 FIELD MEETINGS. 


From.the fields above the house a very fine prospect was obtained, 
along the valley of the Cairn and the encircling Stewartry hills, 
and down the Lagg Glen, and there was noted a great stone cairn, 
partly demolished, which is nnderstood to mark an ancient place 
of burial. In one of the lower fields is a giant oak embedded in 
the earth, where it had fallen ages ago. 

A short business meeting was held at Dardarroch, when Mr 
John Houston of Brownrigg, Dr Semple, science master of Dum- 
fries Academy, and Mr Waddell, headmaster of Loreburn Street 
School, were admitted as members of the society. Tea was then 
handed round on the lawn, and Mr Barbour, architect, vice- 
president of the society, expressed to Mrs Martin and the members 
of her family the great indebtedness of the members for their 
kind invitation and generous hospitality and for the opportunity 
afforded them of seeing the varied and extremely interesting 
collections. 

On the return drive a halt was made at Brockhillstone in 
order to examine a large boulder from which the farm presumably 
takes its name. It is of coarse porphyry, and was computed to 
weigh fifteen tons. The most natural hypothesis is that it was 
dropped from an iceberg which helped to furrow the valley in the 
glacial age. The origin of the name is more puzzling. The 
locally accepted explanation is that the little hill on the side of 
which it rests was a generation or more ago infested by badgers, 
or “ brocks,” and came to be known as the brocks’ hill. In a 
cottage garden on the farm is a wonderful little fernery, compris- 
ing a number of rare varieties, all of healthy growth, and adorned 
with numerous querns and a quaint sun-dial face, dated 1680, and 
having on it the initials “I W,” “MF.” Both the ferns and the 
antiquities represent the gathering of the late Mr Andrew Laurie, 
builder, a man of cultivated taste. 

A brief inspection was made of the scanty remains of Lag 
Tower, of which the persecuting Sir Robert Grierson was, it is 
believed, the last occupant, and who also, there is reason to believe, 
was born within its walls. It has been a square keep, roughly 
built of unhewn stone, and with enclosing wall and arched 
entrance. The grim baronet had left it long before his death, 
first for Rockhall, afterwards for a house in Dumfries. The latest 
minutes of the “ court of the barony,” at which the baron bailie 


wis 


FIELD MEETINGS. 113 


dispensed justice, shew that it was held in 1731 at Gateside of 
Allanton. The ruin has received a good deal of attention in the 
way of facing the corners with dressed stone and pointing for 
purposes of preservation. The Wall-Rue grows freely in the 
crevices of the mouldering masonry.—Dum/iies Standard. 


21st September, 1901.—Lochrutton. 


A party of the members visited Lochrutton on Saturday 
afternoon, 21st Sept., 1901, to examine the progress of the 
excavation of the crannog at Lochrutton undertaken by the 
Society, under the supervision of Mr James Barbour, architect, 
who accompanied the party. They had also the advantage 
of the company of Dr Munro, of Edinburgh, the leading 
authority on the subject of lake dwellings, and author, among 
other works, of “The Crannogs of Scotland,” ‘The Lake 
Dwellings of Europe,” “ Prehistoric Scotland.” They were joined 
also by Mr Grierson, farmer in Moat of Lochrutton, whose anti- 
quarian tastes have led him to take an intelligent practical 
interest in the work, and who placed his boat at the service of 
the visitors. The boat of the Water Commissioners was also 
impressed into their service. 

The loch, from which Dumfries and Maxwelltown derive 
their water supply, is about 250 acres in extent. The crannog 
island is almost exactly in the centre. It is a rounded hummock 
of stones and earth overgrown with young trees, and is a pretty 
object on the surface of the water. Around its edges there have 
long been exposed upright wooden piles and some tree trunks 
lying horizontally. Two trenches have been cut through the 
island at right angles to each other and intersecting at the centre, 
right down to the water level of the loch as it was found on 
Saturday. This level was considerably higher than it had been 
for some time, for the digging was begun when the loch was 
shrunk by the long drought, and the heavy rains had raised it by 
two feet on the previous day. And the winter level will be 
several feet higher. Just above the surface of the water as it 
was on Saturday there has been disclosed a floor composed of 


114 FIELD MEETINGS. 


undressed tree trunks laid closely together, different sections 
running in directions transverse to each other. The oak tree has 
been extensively used ; also the birch and the alder. One birch 
trunk was noted still covered with bark wonderfully fresh in 
appearance. A hole cut in it and a prepared beam indicate that 
the structure has been pinned together by the mortise-and-tenon 
device. An outer ring of piles has formed a stockade for the 
protection of the artificial island. It has thus been made clear 
that the crannog is of the kind most common in this country, and 
the construction of which is succinctly described by Dr Munro in 
his most recent work, ‘: Prehistoric Scotland.” 

Gradual subsidence is to be expected in the case of a struc- 
ture founded upon a more or less unstable bottom and compacted 
of more or less compressible and perishable materials. Traces of 
as many as half-a-dozen hearths, one above the other, have been 
found in various crannog’s, indicating that the original floor has 
been overlaid by a succession of others. In the Lochrutton case ~ 
there has obviously been a considerable sinking. The floor which 
has been exposed is several feet below the present winter level of 
the loch, although the loch has shrunk to some extent within 
living memory, and the probability is that older floors may exist 
beneath it. Little heaps of charcoal and several small fragments 
of brown pottery are the only domestic relics which have been 
unearthed. Formerly, we understand, when the island was a 
barren resort of gulls, fragments of bone could be picked up in 
wonderful profusion. These have been incorporated into the 
substance of the trees which now luxuriate upon it. 

Lake dwellings have existed over a wide area of continental 
Europe as well as in the British Isles. In recent years remark- 
able discoveries have been made of submerged villages in Swiss 
lakes, the existence of which is attested by forests of piles, which 
had supported the huts, in a manner still perpetuated in various 
parts of the world, including South America and the East Indies, 
In Britain the common form was that of the crannog or artificial 
island, constructed usually in the manner above described, but 
sometimes in large measure of stones, and often probably having 
as a nucleus a small natural island or submerged rock. They 
abound in Dumfriesshire and Galloway. The Antiquarian Society 
has in past periods of its history investigated to some extent 
crannogs in the Castle Loch of Lochmaben, at Sanquhar, at Clon- 


———————— Eee 


FIELD MEETINGS. 115 


yard in Colvend. ‘There is probably not a loch of any size in the 
district that has not one or more. A friend who has devoted 
some time and pains to inquiry on the subject informs us that 
Lochaber is the only one near at hand where he has failed (as yet) 
to find them. There is a beautiful one in Loch Kindar ; a large 
and most interesting one in Loch Arthur; others in Milton, 
Auchenreoch, Loch Urr, &c. In Colvend at least three of the 
lochs have crannogs. The drained Cloak Loch has a rather 
unique structure which may be classed with them. It is placed 
on the solid natural rock. In the case of Lochrutton some circum- 
stances suggest that the crannog now under consideration (and of 
which the area has not yet been determined) was one of a group 
which dotted the loch, at a time possibly when its area was more 
extensive than it is now. ‘The promontory on the Lochside shore, 
opposite the crannog, has obviously been a place of strength or 
residence. A trench has been dug upon the landward side, which 
would convert it into an island in a high state of the water; and 
it is protected on that side by a bank thrown up from the cutting, 
and on the water side by a facing of large stones. Bones and 
teeth of cattle have been got on the promontory plentifully in 
dry years. Similar finds have been made on the “ Wee Island,” 
towards the west side of the loch. Within the last ten or twelve 
years that island has become covered with brushwood, &c. Pre- 
viously it only became exposed in dry seasons. <A small group of 
stones has in quite recent years appeared in dry seasons nearer 
to the outlet of the loch than the crannog, and has received the 
name of “the Laird’s Isle.” These, there is good reason to 
believe, are the remains of the top of a crannog, which has been 
washed away and probably destroyed by wind and waves. The 
* Moat of Lochrutton,” a very extensive earthwork north of the 
village of Lochfoot, gives name to the neighbouring farm. Upon 
it “*hearths” and other remains are constantly found during 
ploughing. At the south-east base of the Moat were found some 
years ago upright and cross oaken piles mortised together, which 
are now in Mr Grierson’s possession. These probably formed 
scme prehistoric structure. Part of a prehistoric canoe, dug out 
of a field on the neighbouring farm of Armannoch, did duty some 
years since as the cover of a well on that farm, and is possibly 
there yet. 

For what purpose were these mysterious dwellings raised, 


116 FIELD MEETINGS. 


with the great labour they must have entailed? For purposes of 
protection, is the ready answer. They would afford a protection 
when beset by hostile tribes. But we must remember that it was 
not only from human enemies that the early Briton needed pro- 
tection. It is not certain that the bear survived in Scotland 
beyond the sixth century of the Christian era; but individual 
survivals of the wolf were met with until within a few years of 
the Revolution that put William of Orange on the throne, and in 
earlier centuries they would roam the forests in ferocious packs. 
An Act of the Scottish Parliament of 1580 required that the 
Sheriff and Bailie ‘‘ hunt the wolf thrice in the year, betwixt St. 
Mark’s Day and Lambes, and that the country rise with them for 
that end.” Families left on an island habitation would be safe 
from their attacks while the men of the tribe were following the 
chase at a distance or out on the warpath. The crannog in all 
probability was a place of ordinary residence, not merely of occa- 
sional resort. It is understood that it was usually wooden huts 
which were erected upon them; but indications of rude stone 
buildings have been found on some of them; among others, in 
one at Ravenstone, in Wigtownshire. And the numbers of com- 
paratively large stones overlying the Lochrutton crannog cannot 
well be accounted for on any other theory than that they had 
been used in the construction either of a dwelling or an encom- 
passing wall. 

That the crannogs belong to a remote past there can be no 
doubt; but data are awanting to fix their age with any precision. 
Dr Munro has formed the opinion that they are all more recent 
than the Roman occupation of Scotland, and that many have been 
occupied until a comparatively recent period. Considerations of 
convenience and conservatism of habit would no doubt prevent 
them from being deserted until long after the original necessity 
for them had passed away. Hence articles which may be found 
in them are not necessarily an index of the period in which they 
were constructed. 

The ordinary means of communication with the mainland 
would, of course, be by canoe; but in many instances a sub- 
merged road has been traced, to which the term causeway has 
been applied. The gentleman to whom we have already alluded 
and a friend satisfied themselves, twenty-four years ago, that 
there were distinct traces of such an approach from the promon- 


FIELD MEETINGS. 117 


tory to the crannog in Lochrutton. It was a very winding road, 
and would be intentionally made so in order to bar its use to any 
uninstructed and presumably unfriendly visitor ; and the person 
walking on it would probably be breast-high in the water. The 
present depth of the loch around the crannog is from twelve to 
fifteen feet.— Dumfries Standard. 


SHSS LOW 1901-2: 


18th OCTOBER, 1901. 


ANNUAL MEETING. 
The Rev. JOHN CAIRNS, M.A., in the Chair. 


New Members.—Mr William M‘Cutcheon, B.Sc., Assistant 
Science Master, The Academy; Mr Laidlaw, Plasterer, Lockerbie. 


Donations and Exchanges——Anunual Report of the Barrow 
Naturalists’ Field Club for 1899. Communications of the National 
Museum of Buenos Ayres, 1901, Vol. 1. Proceedings of the Nova 
Scotia Institute of Science, X., Part 2. The Session Book of 
Bunkle and Preston, 1665-1690, printed for the Berwickshire 
Naturalists’ Club. Annual Reports of the Smithsonian Institute 
for 1897 and 1899. 


Exhibits—Dr Martin, Holywood, showed (1) specimen of a 
Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), caught on the rocks at Hast 
Cluden this summer, 22 inches in length, and evidently a female ; 
(2) male and female purple saw fly (Sirex purpureus), taken at 
East Cluden in August of this year; (5) white variety of Knap- 
weed (Centaurea nigra), found in a field at Upper Cluden; and (4) 
Phallus or Stinkhorn in fluid, with section to show the bursting of 
the young phallus and its relation to the older plant. 

Mr Moodie, on behalf of Mr James Barbour, exhibited the 
following articles, discovered at the bottom of the fosse of 
Comlongon Castle which had been recently excavated, (1) a 


ANNUAL MEETING. 119 


dagger, (2) an axe head, and (3) shoe of a pony, with enormous 
nails. 

Mr Moodie proposed a vote of thanks to Lord Mansfield and 
Mr Johnstone-Douglas, through whose kindness Mr Barbour had 
obtained the articles for exhibition. 


A letter was read from Mr James M‘Andrew, Assoc. Bot. 
Soc. Edinr., New Galloway, intimating his resignation as a 
member of the Society. The Rev. Mr Andson expressed the 
great regret of the Society at the loss of Mr M‘Andrew’s services, 
and their high appreciation of the help he had given the Society 
by his numerous contributions to the Transactions in the Depart- 
ment of Botany. He moved that they enter in their Minutes 
an expression of their sincere regret at his removal from the 
district, and their high appreciation of his valuable and important 
services rendered to the Society ; and further, that in token of 
that appreciation*they appoint him an honorary member. Dr 
Maxwell Ross seconded the motion, which was unanimously 
carried, and an excerpt of the minute was directed to be sent 
to Mr M‘Andrew. 


SECRETARY’S REPORT. 


The Secretary (Mr Bertram M‘Gowan) in his Annual Report 
stated :— 

During the session just closed there had been five deaths and 
seven resignations among members, and sixteen new members 
had been added to the roll, which now contained sixteen honorary 
members, fourteen life members, and 175 ordinary members. 
The deaths included the Rev. Mr Thomson, of Hightae, who had 
done much good work for the Society, and the resignations that 
of Mr James M:Andrew, New-Galloway, who had contributed so 
much to their knowledge of the botany of the Solway district. 
The Society had also sustained a great loss through the resigna- 
tion of the Secretaryship by Dr Maxwell Ross, owing to his being 
so much engrossed with other work. 


TREASURER’S REPORT. 


The Treasurer (Mr J. A. Moodie) read his Annual Report 
from Ist October, 1900, to 30th September, 1901, as follows :-— 


120 ANNUAL MEETING. 


CHARGE. 
Subscriptions from 150 Members at 5s each a re 1 od BOO 
Do. Fe 8 ‘e 2s 6deach ... ee ms 10 0 
£38 10 0 
Entrance Fees from 14 New Members aoe sa we oe 115 0 
Arrears of Subscription paid ... sis xe ee s ass 05 0 
Copies of Transactions sold 015 8 
Interest on Bank Account 03 4 
£41 9 O 
Amount of Subscriptions received, per Mr Robert Murray, 
towards Excavation of Crannog at Lochrutton, and other P 
similar work _... : : ee se eas ws, 26 10) 20 
£67 19 0 
DISCHARGE. 
Balance due Treasurer at close of last Account ... See vo) eo 
Less Balance in Savings Bank he eae ae aia Sic 015 6 
£2 6 5 
Paid Salary of Keeper of Rooms and additional Allowance for 
Heating Rooms during Winter... 32-0 
Paid for Periodicals and Books ae Sos zi Sy 2559) 40 
Paid for Stationery, Printing, &c. ... & oo ee ae 013 6 
Paid for Gas and Coals ae 0 13 10 
Paid Fire Insurance Premium ae 0 4 6 
Paid Expenses of calling Meetings— 
Post Cards and Addressing same ... ve eo) DE ales 
Printing same ... : a = 120 
——— 611 4 
Postages, &e. ... ee ie ioe ase aes ae sia 018 7 
Miscellaneous Payments Lge o 
£17 18 44 
Excavation Fund— 
Lodged on Deposit Receipt ... “pn = ee e256" 10.10 
Paid for Hire to Lochrutton... i ce fe 0 6 
——— 26 6 0 
Balance due by Treasurer— 
Cash on hand ... ee wes oes gee orev IIa) SHES 
Balance in Savings Banks ... ane pc ely Lol 
— 23.14 74 
£67 19 O 


Account in connection with the publication of “ Birrens and 
its Antiquities.” 
CHARGE. 
By Balance due to Treasurer at 30th September, 1901... .. £10 14 10 


DISCHARGE. 
To Balance due to Treasurer at 30th September, 1900... £10 14 10 


Lists oF Mossss, &c. 121 


ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEARERS. 


Hon. President—Right Hon. Sir Herperr MAxweEtu, Bart., M.P. 


Vice-Presidents—Rev. Jouw Cairns, M.A.; Mr Roperr Morray, George 
Street ; Mr Ropert Service, Seedsman, Maxwelltown; and Mr James 
Davipson, Summerville. 


Secretary—Mr Bertram M‘Gowan. 

Treasurer—Mr J. A. Moopte. 

Lnbrarians and Curators of Musewm—Rev. Witt1am ANpDsON and Mr JAmEs 
LENNOX. 

Curators of the Herbarium—Professor G. F. Scorr-Extiiot, Misses Hannay, 
Langlands ; Miss CresswELL, Nunholm. 


Council—Mr Jamexs Cuark, Rector of the Academy ; Dr JAmEs MaxwELL 
Ross, County Medical Officer ; Mr W. J. MaxweEtu, Terregles Banks; 
Mr J. G. H. Starke, Troqueer Holm; Dr Cuarxe, Dumfries; Dr 
Martin, Holywood ; and Mr Jamss S. THomson, Jeweller. 


COMMUNICATIONS. 


The Treasurer read the following “ Addenda and Corri- 
genda” to Mr M‘ANDREW’S Lists of Mosses, Hepatice, and 
Lichens of the district :-— 


Since the publication of my lists of Mosses, Hepatice, and 
Lichens in ‘‘The Transactions of the Dumfries and Galloway 
Natural History and Antiquarian Society ”"—the Mosses and 
Hepatice on page 89 of No. 6 for 1887-90; the Lichens on page 
28, No. 7 for 1890-91 ; and the cryptogamic botany of the Moffat 
district on page 30 of No. 8 for 1891-2—I have from time to time 
in my botanical notes added a few more species of these crypto- 
gams. I have written in the hope that the collection of this 
scattered information into a Supplementary List may be useful 
and convenient. I consider that the species given on the autho- 
rity of Dr W. Nichoi and Mr John Sadler from the Moffat district 
require re-discovery and re-confirmation. As for the other species 
from the district I think I have specimens of them all. I have 
not added new localities for species already named. I have also 
added a few of the rarer species I have gathered in Wigtown- 
shire. It gives me pleasure to note that my corrections in species 
cited as occurring in the three south-western counties are very 
few. While this is so, I consider that there is ample room for 


122 Lists oF Mosszss, &o. 


adding considerably to my lists by any one who possesses leisure 
and interest. 


MOSSES—ADDENDA. 
N.G. is for New Galloway. 


Sphagnum medium, Limp., Moss Raploch, N.G. 
22. Andrea falcata, Schpr., Grennan Bank, Dalry, N.G. 
33. Gymnostomum microstomum, Hedw., Isle of Whithorn, W. 
42a. Rhabdowetssia crenulatus, Jameson, Criffel, Black Craig, 
N.G., &c. 
53. Dicranella varia, var. callistoma, Schpr., west side of Loch 
Ryan, W. 
66. Dicranum longifolium, Hedw,, Maidenbower Crags, Dumfries 
(Kew Herb.) Dr. Br. ‘‘ Moss Flora.” 
74. Dicranum spurium, Hedw., Well Hill, Moffat. 
114. Pottia cavifolia, Ehrh. Moffat (J. Sadler, Esq.) 
129. Didymodon luridus, Hornsch., west side of Loch Ryan, W. 
184. Eucladium verticillatum, L., Portpatrick, W. 
137. Ditrichum flexicaule, Schweeg., Grey Mare’s Tail (Dr W. 


Nichol). 
159. Barbula fallax, var. brevifolia, Wils., Kenmure dykes, N.G. 
165. 5,  vineatts, Brid., do. 


166. 5  Hornschuchiana, Schultz., Dyke at The Holme, N.G. 

222b. Rhacomitrium aciculare, var. denticulatum. Wils., side of 
Loch Ken, N.G. 

223. Rhacomitrium protensum, A. Braun ; common on rocks on the 
hills, N.G. 

233. Zygodon Stirtoni, Schpr., The Forest, Sorbie, W. 

253. Orthotrichum affine, var. rivale, Wils., Kenmure Holms, N.G. 

302. Philonotts fontana, var. capillaris, Lindb., Black Craig, N.G. 

304. - calcarea, B. & S,, Portpatrick, W. 

320. Bryum pendulum, Hornsch,, Cluden Mills, Dumfries (James 
Murray). ; 

329. Bryum intermedium, W. & M., Kenmure dykes, N.G. 

335. »  murale, Wils., Moffat (G. F. Scott-Elliot). 

397. Fissidens exilis, Hedw., about Drumlanrig (James Murray). 

399. 35 viridulus, Wils., Beld Craig, Moffat (J. B. Duncan, 
Bewdley). 

415d. Hedwigia ciliata, var. striata, Wils., Grennan Bank, Dalry, 
&c., N.G. 


ee, ee 


Lists oF Mossgs, &c. 123 


416. Hedwigia imberbe, Sm., Loch Trool (James Murray). 
442. Heterocladium heteropterum, var. fallax, milde, Glenlee Glen, 
&c.}.N.G. 

445. Thuidium recognitum, Lindb., frequent about N.G., Screel 

Burn, &c. 
Thuidium delicatulum, Mitt., Glenlee Glen, &c., N.G. 

455. Lsothecium intricatum, Hartm., Holme Glen, N.G. 

458. Camptothecium lutescens, Huds., Southerness. 

495. Rhynchostegium murale, Uedw., Irongray (James Murray). 

514. Amblystegium aduncum, Hedw., side of Loch Ken, &c., N.G. 
(James Murray). 

517. Hypnum intermedium, Lindb., west side of Cairn Edward, 


&c., N.G. 
528. Hypnum rugosum, Ehrh., about Grey Mare’s Tail (J. Sadler), 
mol. : hamulosum, B. & 8., do. (Dr W. Nichol). 


582. Rs; callichroum, Brid., Black Craig, Blackwater Burn, 
Dalry, &c., N.G. 

543b. Hypnum eugyrium, var. Mackatt, Schpr., River Ken, Holme 
Glen, Garroch Glen, &c., N.G. 

551. Aypnum polygamum, B. & S., Portpatrick, W. 


MOSSES—CORRIGENDA. 


Erase 16b. Sphagnum cymbifolium, 6. congestum, Schpr., as it is 
Sphagnum medium, Limp. 
» 415c. Hedwigia ciliata, var. veridis, as it is var. d. striata. 
539. Aypnum crista-castrensis, lL. for Kirkcudbrightshire, 
as itis Hypnum callichorum. 


92 


HEPATICH—ADDENDA. 


6. Lanularia vulgaris, Mich., Kenmure, Glenlee, &c., N.G. 

ll. Riccia glaucescens, Carr., Burnfoot Hill, N.G., and Port- 
patrick, W. 

20. Frullania fragilifolia, Tayl., about Portpatrick, W. 

29. Lejeunea minutissina, Dum.—Le. ulicina, Tayl., Kenmure 
Woods, N.G. 

32a. Lejeunea serpyllifolia, var. planiuscula, Lindb., Holme Glen, 
&c., N.G. 

32b. Lejunea serpyliifolia, var, cavifolia, Ehrh., Moffat and N.G. 

3B4, es Java, Sev., near it if not quite typical, Holme 
Glen, N.G, 


124 LISTS OF MOSSES, &C. 


Lejunea flava, var. pallida, Spr., Holme Glen. 
35. »  Mackaii (Hook), Dunskey Glen, Portpatrick, W. 
37. Radula aquilegia, Tayl., Kenmure Backwood, N.G. 
40. ,  Lindenbergii, Gott., Knocknarling Burn, N.G. 
47. Lepidozia Pearsont, Spr., Black Craig, N.G. 
59. Cephalozia laxifolia, Hook., Lowran Burn, &c., N.G. 
68. » . multiflora (Huds.) Spr., Black Craig, &c., N.G. 
77. Harpanthus Flotowii, Nees., Glenlee Glen, N.G. 
90. Scapania subalpina, Dum., Garpel Burn, N.G. 
96. 53 resupinata, var. minor, Dunveoch Glen, N.G. 
OI. = s, umbrosa, Schrad., Moffat, Glenhowl, Dalry, N.G. 
L06b. Plagiochila asplenioides, var. Dillenii, Tayl., Dunveoch Glen, 
&c., N.G. 
121. Aplozia spherocarpa, Wook., Garpel Burn, &c., N.G. 
128. ,,  orcadensis, Hook., Knocksheen Glen, N.G. 
135. Lophozia porphyroleuca, Nees., Bowwood, Garroch, &c., N.G. 
138. Fe capitata, Hook., Bennan Hill, Garroch Wood, N.G. 
140. ie alpestris, Schleich., Moffat, s. of Loch Dungeon, N.G. 
151. Mardia emarginata, var. densifolia, Black Craig, Shaw Hill, 
N.G. 
159. Mardia compressa, Gray, east side of Cairn Edward, N.G. 
183. Aneura latifrons, Lindb., Bennan Hill, N.G. 
188b. Metzgeria hamata, Lindb., Ballingear Glen, N.G. 
191. Anthocerus punctatus, L., near Portpatrick, W. 


HEPATICHZ—CORRIGENDA. 


Erase 13. Riccia bifurca, as it is Riccia glancescens. 
133. Lophozia lycopodioides, Wallr., as it is Lophozia Lyont. 


39 
LICHENS—ADDENDA. 


Sirosiphon pulvinatus, Bennan Hill, N.G. 

Collema pulposum, Portpatrick, W. 

Bemyces rufus, var. sguamulosus, Ny\., Knocknarling Burn, N.G. 
Cladonia cariosa, Ach., Airie Hill, N.G. 

Stereocaulon corailoides, f. congestus, near N.G. 

Evernia prunastri, var. soreditfera, N.G. 

Peltigera spuria, Moffat. 

Parmelia ambigua, Wamphray Glen, Barmurrie, Balmaclellan. 
Physcia stellaris, Rerrick Shore. 

Pannularia perfurfurea, Nyl., 0. sp., Burnfoot Hill, N.G. 


PHENVULOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 125 


Placodium elegans (Link.), Viewfield, N.G. 
Lecanora orosthea (Ach.), near N.G. 
Fr subfusca, f. atrynea, Ach., N.G. 
Lecidea umbralis, Nyl. n. sp., Knocknarling Burn, N.G. 
»,  neglectella, Nyl. n. sp., Trochie’s Braes, N.G. 
Opegrapha atra, Pers.. N.G. 
Verrucaria oxyspora, Nyl., N.G. 
x biformis, Borr., N.G. 
Graphis sophistica, N.G. 


Il.—Phenological Observations taken at Jardington during 1900. 
By Mr J. RUTHERFORD. 


JANUARY.—Rainfall, 3°72 inches. Comparatively little frost 
during the month, the hardest being 7 deg. on the 11th. No 
severe weather. Barometer varied from 29-3 to 30°35 inches. 
Song of thrush heard on the 22nd. Dumfries rainfall, 3-89 in. 


FEBRUARY.—Rainfall, 5-42 in. On the 9th 10 in. of snow 
fell, on the 10th 2 in. more, when the ground had a covering of 
fully 12 in.; no drifting. The weather, on the whole, was mild 
during the month. Dumfries rainfall, 4°07 in. 


Marcu.—Rainfall, 0°2 in. There was little frost during the 
month, the night of the 18th being an exception, when the 
thermometer marked 16 deg. Cold E. wind near the end. Corn 
sowing on 27th. Hazel flowered on 10th. Dumfries rainfall, 
0-25 in. 

APRIL.—Rainfall, 2:3 inches. There was not much frost; 
the latter half of the month was warm and genial, and grass grew 
nicely. Swallows came on the 20th; ‘“ Coltsfoot” flowered on 
the 38rd; Anemone on the 12th; Blackthorn on the 25th ; Cuckoo 
first heard, 24th. Dumfries rainfall, 2:77 in. 


MaAy.— Rainfall, 3°38 inches. No frost at night during the 
month. Oats and grass made guod progress. Turnips sown on 
the 3rd were eaten by the green linnet and sparrows, and had to 
be resown on the 18th. Small white butterfly appeared on the 
5th ; the wasp on the 15th ; horse-chestnut bloomed on the 23rd ; 
the hawthorn on the 30th. First heard the corncrake on the 7th. 
Dumfries rainfall, 3-21 in. 


126 PHENOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 


JuNE.—Rainfall, 3-82 inches. With the exception of turnips, 
all other crops grew very rapidly, there being warm growing 
moist weather during the whole of the month. Ryegrass a heavy 
crop; cut on the 26th. Dog rose bloomed on the 15th. Dumfries 
rainfall, 4°22 in. 


JULY.—Rainfall, 2°55 inches. Warm growing month. 
Pasture very abundant. Cutting meadow hay, 14th. Blue-bell 
came into bloom on the 9th; knapweed on the 21st. Meadow- 
brown butterfly first seen on the 11th. Butterflies are getting 
scarcer in this locality ; orange tip was fairly plentiful here at 
one time. I have not seen it now for a number of years. 
Dumfries rainfall, 3:28 in. 


AuGusT.—Rainfall, 5°65 inches. Harvesting began on the 
9th, being a very heavy crop ; a great quantity of it is lymg flat, 
and will make poor fodder and light grain. Wasps scarce. 
Dumfries rainfall, 6°30 in. 


SEPTEMBER.—Rainfall, 3°35 inches. There being so much 
wet and moist weather in August the disease commenced on the 
potatoes very early, and by the first of the month the shaws were 
black. Dumfries rainfall, 3°11 in. 


OcTOBER.—Rainfall, 4:72 inches. There was frost on four 
nights during the month ; as a whole, the temperature was warm. 
Potato digging began on the 3rd; the crop small and poor quality, 
with a lot of disease. Dumfries rainfall, 4°82 in. 


NovVEMBER.—Rainfall, 4:4 inches. Turnip crop in a great 
many cases very poor. Dumfries rainfall, 4-69 in. 


DECEMBER.—Rainfall, 8-2 inches; exceptionally heavy for 
this month. The rainfall for the year has been 47°71 in., about 
8 in. above average of last seven years. Little frost; but a good 
deal of stormy, wet weather. Dumfries rainfall, 7-07 in. 


ale 2h 


PHENOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. WA 


RAINFALL AT JARDINGTON FOR SEVEN YEARS IN INCHES. 


1894, 1895. 1896. 1897, 1898. 1899. 1900. 

January...... 5:25 20 2°32 iy 2°78 5'8 3°72 
February . 8°37 2°9 2°1 2°82 3°41 3°05 5°42 
March .....: 2°45 2°62 3°8 5:2 0:90 4:2 0-20 
PASTA sine «ne 1'8 1°8 1:45 2°5 2°9 29 2°30 
May? Fie ..cce- 30 0°62 05 17 2°32 3°53 3°38 
RUM) 55 5 20% 2°6 11 2°75 27 16 2°3 3 82 
Bully: Los. eesn. 2 2°25 5°6 4:5 1:2 0°5 2:0 2°55 
August ...... 3°1 6:1 118 56 412 1:92 5°65 
September 2°5 0°45 4°6 38 2°4 2°8 3°35 
October...... 2°8 31 31 2°5 3°25 2°72 4°72 
November...| 5°27 52 0°85 3°55 3°85 5:4 4:40 
December...) 4°1 3°6 4:5 ia 5°65 3°3 8:20 
43°49 | 35:09 | 31°65 | 40°97 | 33°68 | 39°92 | 47-71 

Dumfries...) 42°01 | 35°03 | 33°93 | 42°81 | 33°71 | 40°86 | 47°98 


Mean about 39 inches. 


Average annual rainfall at Jardington for last 7 yearsis ... 38°93 in. 
Do. _ do. Dumfries do, we ... 39°34 in, 
Do. do. do. for 14 years ... ... 37°48 in. 


22nd November, 1901, 


Mr RoBpeRT MuRRAY, V.P., in the chair. 


New Members.—Mr John M. Corrie, Post Office, Dumfries ; 
and Mr John J. Mitchell, Teacher, The Academy. 


A letter was read from the President of the Glasgow Natural 
History Society inviting the Society to appoint a representative 


128 EXCAVATIONS OF LOCHRUTTON CRANNOG. 


to attend the celebration of their Jubilee. Professor Scott-Elliot 
was unanimously appointed. 


The Treasurer stated that he had still £19 on hand for exca- 
vation work. 


COMMUNICATION. 


First Account of the Excavations of Lochrutton Crannog. By Mr 


JAMES BARBOUR, F.S.A., Scot., Architect. 


The transactions of this Society of 1863 and 1864 give 
prominence to the class of structures known as Lake Dwellings 
or Crannogs, and the addresses of the president, Sir William 
Jardine, contain much of interest regarding them. Several were 
visited, and in two instances exploratory operations also were 
instituted. The crannog at Corncockle was cleared by the presi- 
dent, when quantities of smashed bones, evidencing occupation, 
were found, and at the Black Loch of Sanquhar, the water having 
been run off, a section was cut through the crannog down to the 
bottom of the loch, fully disclosing the design. No relics, how- 
ever, of chronological import, or bearing on the civilisation of the 
occupation, were discovered in either case. Another like struc- 
ture, situated at Friars’ Carse, examined by Dr Munro, is 
described in his valuable work, ‘‘ Ancient Scottish Lake Dwellings 
or Crannogs.” These seem to be the only instances of systematic 
investigation overtaken in the district in connection with such 
structures. 

Tabulated in Dr. Munro’s book are the following crannogs in 
the counties of Dumfries and Kirkcudbright, viz. :— Lochmaben, 
Black Loch of Sanquhar, Friars’ Carse, Loch Orr, Lochwood, 
Closeburn, Corncockle, Morton, Lochrutton, Loch Kinder, Car- 
lingwark, Lotus Loch, Barean, Borgue, and Loch Fergus. 

Last year the Society resolved to institute exploratory opera- 
tions, selecting Lochrutton crannog for examination. Several 
circumstances lend themselves to mark it out as one of some 
importance. The loch is of large area and deep. A peninsula on 
its east margin is served from the mainland by an artificial ditch 
and rampart drawn across the neck; and so forms an island about 
an acre in extent; and about 300 yards distant from the north 


EXCAVATIONS OF LOCHRUTTON CRANNOG. 129 


end of the loch there is a large camp or moat from which the 
farm of Moat derives its name. 

The site of the ancient castle of Auchenfranco also lies at the 
south-west corner of the loch, and at a distance of little over 
half-a-mile to the south-east stands Hills Tower, tall and pictur- 
esque, and, thanks to the care of the proprietrix, well preserved. 

The crannog and a small natural island, named on the 
Ordnance Map Dutton’s Cairn, appear as wooded specks on the 
surface of the loch. The loch lies 305 feet above sea level, 
measures nearly a mile in length from north to south, and half-a- 
mile in width, and extends in area to 125 acres. The principal 
feeder is at the south end, the outfall being opposite, with a rock 
bed not liable to change. The crannog is 230 yards distant from 
the peninsula on the east shore the nearest point of the mainland ; 
190 yards of water separates it from the natural island, which 
again is 90 yards distant from the west shore of the loch. 

It is not a little remarkable that the crannog occupies a 
position as exactly as may be in the centre of the loch’s area, so 
that notwithstanding its diminutive size, being divided by the 
medium filum, the eastern half belongs to the proprietor of Hills, 
and the western to Auchenfranco. 

In regard to the depth of the loch, the soundings round 
the crannog show a nearly level bottom with 11 to 13 feet of 
water. Half way between the islands the depth increases to 35 
feet, and 140 yards to the south of the crannog, the deepest part 
of the loch, the sounding is 52 feet. 12 feet is the depth between 
the natural island and the west shore, and between the crannog 
and the east shore it is 114 feet. 

The examination of the crannog by pick and spade, although 
sanctioned last year, could not be carried out at that time owing 
to the high level of the loch. ‘lhe peninsula or outer island was, 
however, partly examined by sections through the artificial ram- 
part and a number of short trenches in the interior. In the 
beginning of September last the exploratery works were pro- 
ceeded with on the crannog, two workmen being employed, and 
operations continued during three weeks. Considerable progress 
had been made, when, unfortunately, following on rains, the level 
of the loch again rose, and ultimately reached a height which 
rendered postponement of the completion of the investigation 
imperative. 


130 EXCAVATIONS OF LOCHRUTTON CRANNOG. 


The crannog when approached presents the appearance of a 
low circular cairn of stones resting on a foundation composed of 
logs of wood, and rising from the water level with a slightly 
rounded section to a grass-covered plat in the centre. A row of 
alders, doubtless sown with seeds carried there on the water’s 
surface, encircles the plat, and marks the winter level of the loch. 
The crannog measures eighty feet in diameter, and the centre 
plat rises six feet above the log floor. 

The work overtaken consisted in carrying a wide section 
across the crannog in a direction approximately north and south, 
down through the superincumbent earth and stone to the wood 
floor of the structure. Another similar section followed, in a 
direction at right angles with the first, and the excavations were 
continued in the interior. After considerable advance had been 
made, the influx of water began to impede operations, and ulti- 
mately reached a height making further progress impossible. 
The ends of the sections were then closed with earth and a pitch- 
ing of large stones, and the works ceased for the season. 

These exploratory excavations have disclosed more fully the 
characteristics and structural arrangements of the island, and 
some vestiges, it is thought, of the superstructure or dwelling- 
house have been brought to light. Relics have also been re- 
covered bearing on the character and era of the occupation. 

The sections disclose the strata from the top of the centre 
plat downwards to the wood floor. There is first turf and free 
soil about eighteen inches thick, then comes another layer of soil 
of similar thickness, but more compact and changing to marl or 
clay at the bottom. Below the second bed a quantity of whin- 
stones, unshaped and disposed without order, the intertices being 
filled with marl coloured earth, lies on wood floor. The layer is 
three feet thick in the centre, but towards the margin it tapers 
down to the wood. 

The surface of the island supporting these strata exhibits a 
comparatively level floor, composed entirely of logs of wood dis- 
posed in groups of parallel pieces, lying in many different direc- 
tions and fitted closely together. The logs, measuring six inches 
to twelve across, are mostly round, and sometimes retain the 
bark, but a few are squared in whole or part. Oak, birch, and 
other woods obtain. 

Round the exterior of the island a rough banking of tumbled 


EXCAVATIONS OF LOCHRUTTON CRANNOG. 131 


stones slopes outwards into the water, and among the stones are 
numerous timbers lying without order, and apparently displaced 
from their original position, as if the outer fringe of the Crannog 
were broken down. 

It has been ascertained that to a depth of five feet from the 
floor the construction consists of layers of logs alternating with 
thin beds of stones, and this method probably continues down- 
wards to the bed of the loch, as was proved by Dr Munro to be 
the case at Lochlee Crannog. It seems, as the timbers would be 
self-carrying, the most appropriate in the present instance, con- 
sidering the distance of the Crannog from the mainland and the 
depth of the water to be crossed. The groups already described 
as forming the floor are very suggestive of rafts, which might 
have been put together on the shore and floated thence to the 
island and into position. 

Morticed beams such as are common in structures of the 
kind have not been observed in situ, but detached pieces of 
this description are found. 

The island was probably stockaded, like the Lochlee Crannog, 
but the morticed beams have disappeared by decay and the action 
of the waves as the structure began to sink. At a distance of 
about four feet from the exterior margin remains of a number of 
oak posts, three inches to six inches in diameter, project above 
the surface of the floor, and appear to have formed part of the 
stockading. The posts are pointed and driven into the floor 1} 
feet to 24 feet, and the points have evidently been shaped by 
means of asharpaxe. In the interior small oak branches similarly 
pointed are found driven between the logs, as if intended to 
secure them in position. 

The log floor now scarcely rises above the summer level of 
the loch, and the winter level, as it is indicated by the wash and 
the lime where vegetation begins, is considerably higher than the 
floor, shewing that sinking or shrinkage has taken place. The 
amount of the depression is probably as much as five or six feet, 
and as the bed of the loch consists of debris of rock not likely to 
yield much from the weight, the subsidence of the structure has, 
it may be conjectured, arisen mainly through the compression of 
the materials of which it is built. 

These are the general, and no ways exceptional, features of 
the structure. On it would doubtless be raised for the shelter of 


132 EXCAVATIONS OF LOCHRUTTON CRANNOG. 


the inmates some sort of dwelling-house. The superstructure, 
however, being particularly exposed to destruction through 
natural decay and in other ways, has. as might be expected, 
disappeared, leaving hardly a certain trace of its existence. 
Whether built mainly of stones or of wood cannot certainly be 
known. The large collection of stones heaped on the floor of the 
Crannog is possibly debris of a stone-built house. Of wood debris 
there was found embedded among the stones several pieces of 
oak, one morticed, one squared and holed for the reception of a 
stout pin. Another lay on the log floor apparently zn situ. It 
is squared, or nearly so, clean cut across the ends, and rebated as 
if intended tor the reception of uprights, one of the rebates being 
pierced with a pin-hole, and the upper face shews a long groove 
4 inches wide, 4 inches deep, and 264 inches in length. The piece 
measures 10} inches by 8 inches across, 4 feet 2 inches in length, 
and 3 feet 4 inches between the rebates. Evidently it belongs to 
the superstructure, and probably served as the threshold of the 
door. That the wood vestiges are meagre is not surprising, as 
whatever of this material the building contained was liable to be 
carried away. Judging from analogous structures elsewhere in 
Scotland, the probability is that the original house was con- 
structed of wood. 

The relics recovered during the excavation of the Crannog 
shew less variety of objects and a more limited range of occupa- 
tion than those from some of the other structures of the kind ; on 
the other hand, the character and period of the occupation are, 
perhaps, better defined than is usually the case. 

The loch has been and is resorted to by anglers, curlers, and 
others, who would doubtless often use the Crannog as a retreat 
and rest, and so it has happened that the upper stratum of earth 
yielded articles of recent date. On the top of the centre plat 
some stones formed a hearth, over which lay peat ash and a 
quantity of peats, and in the surface mould was found a small 
leaden bullet, two penny pieces of the reign of Queen Victoria 
bearing date 1861-66, fragments of glass bottles, pottery, and 
tobacco pipes. One of the “finds” consisted of the base of the 
bowl and shank of a curious example of the last-mentioned class 
of objects, which probably belongs, Dr Anderson suggests, to the 
17th century. 

The relics and evidences relating to the occupation were 


eT 


—————=—s ee 


EXCAVATIONS OF LOCHRUTTON CRANNOG. 133 


recovered from among the stones overlying the log floor, and at 
a depth of not less than three feet six inches below the turf of 
the centre plat. Food refuse is plentiful, such as bones of 
animals and birds, which, however, having been burnt, are, except 
a few, indistinguishable. Of the latter are teeth of the ox, a 
boar’s tusk, bone of a bird, and a fragment of deer’s horn. There 
is also a piece of the jaw of a rodent not much larger than a rat. 
Shells of hazel nuts are found. Charcoal is abundant, although 
no hearth has yet been discovered. 

Pottery is the predominant article of the relics. Over 170 
fragments were found, mostly very small, but showing variety of 
material, make, and form of vessel. It consists of blue, red, and 
black metal, almost all wheel made, and, with the exception of a 
few pieces, it is glazed chiefly with a greenish or yellowish green 
glaze. Brownish glaze and brownish green glaze are also found. 
Several pieces are roughened by pounded grit cemented on them 
by the glaze. Pieces belonging to several vessels are marked 
with herring-bone ornamentation, others with vertical projecting 
ribs and oblique parallel lines, and another form of ornamentation 
consists of a row of thumb marks round the exterior margin of 
the bottom of the vessel. 

There are fragments representing 13 handles of jars and 
other vessels, also several spouts, one being of tubular form. 

Some of the jars in addition to the large carrying handles at 
the back have been furnished with smaller supplementary handles 
in front of each side of the spout for the purpose of tilting the 
vessel to a convenient angle to drink from. 

A variety of other objects were obtained, such as a piece of 
red pigment, probably hematite, three small pieces of sheet lead, 
some nondescript iron, a large nail, part of the blade of a large 
knife curving inwards, much rusted, a leaden spindle whorl, a 
small ring or link of bronze or brass, two fragments of a circular 
vessel of red sandstone, widening upwards, the bottom flat. The 
side is 14 inch thick; the vessel is of fine workmanship, smooth 
inside and dressed with a sharp point outside. From below the 
log floor was recovered a small splinter of oak neatly wrapped 
about with a narrow ligament of skin, probably a fragment of a 
basket. 

The most impressive and almost unique relic, however, is a 
small and imperfect pendant cross of jet or a material resembling 


134 EXCAVATIONS OF LOCHRUTTON CRANNOG. 


jet It consists of a circular centre disc, with two arms. The 
other two arms are broken off and wanting. The disc, which 
measures ~ of an inch in diameter, is flat on the faces and rounded 
on the edge, and the arms tapering slightly have the corners 
rounded off, and terminate with flat pedimental canopies. When 
complete the cross would measure 1} inch between the points of 
the transverse arms. On the face of the cross the disc has been 
inlaid in the form of a floriated Greek cross, and with small 
globular circles between the arms; and a socket marks one of 
the arms under the canopy. The reverse is plain except the disc, 
which bears the letters JHC, with a mark of contraction over 
them. The letter H has an incurving downstroke, and the C is 
closed. Dr Anderson, to whom the relics were submitted and 
who kindly advised respecting their character, says, in reference 
to the cross: “ The cross of jet is a very remarkable thing. It 
must have been of the equal armed form (Greek). The lettering 
IHC, with the contraction above it, seems to mean that the three 
letters are to be read as Jesus, although they may also be 
expanded in the other sense given to them in the middle ages as 
Jesus Hominum Salvator. But the use of C for S rather favours 
the view that Jesus is intended.” He further says: ‘ It seems 
to me to be late. I do not find the incurving down stroke of the 
H before the 12th century. The closed C used here for 8 is not 
an early form either.” 

Only in one other instance has an article of this description 
been found in connection with a Scottish lake dwelling. An 
equal armed cross within a circle and decorated on the face was 
discovered by Dr Munro at Lochspouts. It is figured and de- 
scribed in his book. 

To supply as before a descriptive sketch of the Crannog and 
the excavations carried out by the Society, with the results, is the 
chief purpose of this paper, but it may be proper before closing to 
submit briefly a few suggestions regarding the significance of the 
details recorded. 

The situation of the Crannog in deep water and at the 
greatest distance from the shore the loch allows is an indication 
that its primary purpose was to afford security and protection to 
the occupiers. The existence of the outer intrenched island on 
the east shore of the loch, which there can hardly be any doubt 
was associated with the Crannog, is a circumstance not met with 


ar 


EXCAVATIONS OF LOCHRUTTON CRANNOG. 135 


elsewhere. The two evidently stand one to the other in the 
relation of the Base-court and the Citadel of a Mote. 

At this stage it may be noted that the peninsula or outer 
island yielded no relics in the interior, but teeth of animals are 
plentiful along the water’s edge, and in the substance of the 
artificial rampart already described were found fragments of 
bone, deer’s horn, glass slag, and nondescript iron or iron slag, 
Teeth of animals have also been observed on the natural island 
near the west shore of the loch. 

The Crannog itself is of a type which is common, and there 
is nothing exceptional in the structural details it exhibits. The 
work exhibits judgment in the selection of materials adapted to 
the circumstances, such as admitted of being grouped on the 
shore and transported over the water, self carrying being  pre- 
ferred ; and the disposition and method of securing the pieces in 
the structure is skilfully worked out. The carpentry shows some 
advance and the use of the more common tools of the craft. 

The use of sharp-edged carpenter’s tools of itself establishes 
the circumstance that the crannog does not date back to the 
stone or bronze ages, and the character of the relics found on it 
indicate an occupation comparatively modern. No evidence has 
been discovered bearing on the comparative age of the Crannog 
and of the occupation. So far as this partial exploration shows, 
the relics in this case differ from those of the more prolific lake 
dwellings examined, inasmuch as no stone (except only one disc) 
or bronze implements, or implements of bone have been re- 
covered, and ancient pottery is also absent. The pottery, how- 
ever, which is usually not plentiful, is here the most abundant 
and characteristic of the finds. Dr Anderson considers that the 
general aspect of the finds as a whole is medieval, and the 
pottery is almost all of the fabric accustomed to be classed as 
llth to 16th century. 

Occupation appears to have been continuous, and to have 
extended over a considerable space of time. The occupants con- 
sisted of a family, who, judging by the plentiful and varied food 
refuse and the abundant and, it may be said, elegant table service 
of pottery, deserve in all circumstances to be described as 
opulent ; and the cross recovered seems to show that they were 
of the Christian faith. This is the residence and stronghold of 


136 EXCAVATIONS OF LOCHRUTTON CRANNOG. 


the medizeval Baron, who had not yet built his embattled and 
moated stone tower. 

To those who expected evidences of the remote the outcome 
may be disappointing, but the discovery of conditions and modes 
of living, but dimly shadowed in history, is a result alike 
interesting and instructive. 

Thanks are due to a number of friends, in particular Mrs 
M‘Culloch Jameson and Mr Steel, the proprietors, for permission 
granted to examine the island; Dr Anderson, who, as before 
stated, examined and characterised the relics; and Dr Munro, 
who has taken special interest and afforded active help in connec- 
tion with the work. 

Mr Barbour exhibited all the relics mentioned as having 
been found in the course of the excavations. 


13th December, 1901. 
Mr RoBpertT MurRAy, V.P., in the chair. 


Donations and Exchanges.—Transactions of the Stirling 
Natural History Society, 1900-1; Journal of the Elisha Mitchell 
Scientific Society, 1901, part 2. 


COMMUNICATIONS. 


I.—A Contrast in Pre- Historic Forts near Dunscore. By the 
Rev. RICHARD Simpson, B.D., Dunscore. 


The fortified places of pre-historic times exhibit the greatest 
possible diversity in regard to size and structure, form and 
situation.. A marked contrast in these last two respects is pre- 
sented by two forts lying within a radius of a couple of miles 
from Dunscore. It is a neighbourhood rich in similar remains, 
and future examination may bring out other points of difference 
worthy of notice. This paper is concerned with the contrast in 
form and situation between the “Camp” on Springfield Hill and 
the Earthwork at Snade on the banks of the Cairn. 

Between five and six miles from Dumfries, on the Glasgow 


PrE-HISTORIC FORTS. 137 


Road, and near the ancient churchyard of Dunscore, where Lag 
lies buried with Robert Riddel of Glenriddel and Friars’ Carse as 
his nearest neighbour, a bye-road strikes over the hill to Dunscore 
Village. At its highest elevation it passes Springfield Hill farm- 
house, behind which rises an eminence encircled by well-defined 
lines of entrenchment. Although popularly attributed to the 
Romans, this “camp,” as it is ealled, possesses none of the 
characteristic features of the Roman castra, and no remains have 
been found to connect it with the occupation of Nithsdale by the 
legions. The level summit of the hill, which is between six and 
seven hundred feet above the sea, is defended on every side but 
one by the natural configuration of the ground. On the north 
and west there is a steep descent, which becomes almost perpen- 
dicular on the south, while on the east the slope is more gradual. 
Here, where nature is weakest, lines of artificial fortifications have 
been constructed. A wide trench of considerable depth has been 
cut, and within it a rampart has been formed, extending in 
crescent shape for a distance of 175 feet, and encircling the whole 
eastern side Immediately behind this rampart there is a second 
trench, backed by a second rampart, and these are carried round 
the northern and western sides. Sufficient defence was thereby 
provided on these sides On the south, however, no artificial 
fortification seems to have been considered necessary owing to the 
steepness of the slope. The east was the most liable to attack, 
and here still further efforts were expended. Within the second 
rampart a platform about 30 feet in width appears, and behind 
this outpost a third trench was dug, backed by a third rampart. 
This rampart is so elevated, partly by the nature of the ground, 
partly by artificial means, as to overlook and command all the 
works in front. The trenches must have been quite dry, for a 
supply of water sufficient to convert them into ditches or moats is 
not within reach. This fort is a good example of a position 
naturally strong made practically impregnable by the construction 
of fosse and rampart. 

Twelve or fifteen years ago, trench, platform, and rampart 
were all apparent to the most superficial observer. A wood 
which formerly crowned the height had been recently cut down, 
and everything was clearly exposed to view. Even those passing 
along the road, 300 yards away, could mark the outline of the 
works against the sky. But the place has been re-planted, and the 


138 PRE-HISTORIC FORTS. 


young larches and firs with their thick growth have quite con- 
cealed them again. It is difficult, indeed, to make one’s way 
among them, and quite impossible to realise thoroughly how well 
this lofty platform has been defended by nature and by the hand 
of man. But it is easy to see that if this hill-top was chosen as a 
post of observation or as a signalling station, no place better 
adapted for the purpose exists in all the country round. The 
whole of Lower Nithsdale lies beneath the eye. The Tinwald and 
Torthorwald Hills, with the square top of Birrenswark appearing 
above them; Glencairn and Glenesslin, and the mazes of mountain 
land beyond them on the border of Galloway; the Lowthers and 
Queensberry, Criffel, and, if it be clear, Skiddaw on the other side 
of the Solway, are all within sight. 

In striking contrast with the “camp” on Springfield Hill is 
the Earthwork at Snade, about as far from the village of Dunscore 
in the opposite direction. Instead of being planted on a hill-top it 
lies low in the valley of the Cairn. Here no natural points of 
strength have been seized and skilfully adapted for defence, but 
everything has been laboriously constructed by the hand of man. 
Though numerous steep places, which would readily lend them- 
selves to fortification, are to be found in the neighbourhood, a site 
has been chosen in the level holms beside the river. The 
entrenchment is not readily seen, for it is hidden in a grove of 
oaks like that which surrounds Dardarroch on the opposite bank 
of the Cairn. These trees would seem to be the descendants of 
the primeval forest which once filled all the valley and extended 
up through Glenesslin, giving its name to Holywood (Sacrum 
Nemus—Sacrobosco), and, like Sherwood Forest, sheltering 
outlaws and robbers. | The earthwork lies on the western bank of 
the Cairn, about 300 yards from the river, and a short distance 
above the ford which crosses from Cambuscairn to Snade. Two 
deep trenches surrounding a level platform are the most striking 
features, and, from the proximity of a stream which passes fifty 
yards away, it is probable that they were kept constantly filled 
with water. There are indications, indeed, that the course of this 
rivulet has been altered for agricultural reasons, and that at one 
time it flowed close past the outermost trench. 

I visited this earthwork several times during the past few 
months, the most recent occasion being on Saturday last, the 7th 
of December. I was accompanied then by Mr Aitken, school- 


PrE-HISTORIC FORTS. 139 


master, Glenesslin, and with his assistance, valuable on account of 
his skill with the surveyor’s chain, I took several measurements. 
We found the form of the fort to be elliptical, or perhaps it would 
be more correct to say it is an irregular circle. The longer 
diameter—259 feet over all —runs nearly north and south; and 
the shorter diameter —253 feet—nearly east and west. There is 
thus only a couple of yards’ difference between them, or a single 
yard in the radius. 

The outer trench is both wide and deep. It varies in width 
from 82 feet on the eastern side to 43 feet on the west—the 
narrowest part being nearest the river, and the widest where the 
ground rises slightly above and overlooks the entrenchment. 
Other measurements gave 38 and 39 feet, on the north and on the 
south. On these sides the depth does not exceed a couple of feet, 
but the ground was too soft to make sure. On the west we 
measured 10 feet 10 inches in depth, not at the deepest part. On 
the east it appears to be deeper still, but owing to water in the 
trench there we could not make any attempt at measurement. 

The rampart within this outer trench, with its curved upper 
surface, measures 16 feet across on the north, 15 feet on the 
west, 14 feet on the south, and 13 feet on the east. It varies 
considerably in height, being loftiest on the east and west. 

Within this rampart there is a second trench, varying in 
width from 20 feet on the south and east to 24 feet on the north, 
and 30 feet on the west. The depth of this ditch will be about 
5 feet, and less than that in some piaces. Within it there may 
have been another rampart, but the traces of it are not very 
distinct, and such as do exist may only indicate the line of a 
palisade. 

The level area so thoroughly defended is not of great extent. 
It measures 108 feet from north to south, and barely 100 feet 
from east to west. Many oak trees are growing upon it and all 
along the rampart, springing from the roots of trees that have 
long ago been cut down. The leaf mould of centuries lies de- 
posited on the surface and in the trenches, so that their actual 
depth and the original level of the ground could be revealed only 
by excavation. Excavation would also shew whether the founda- 
tion of the rampart was formed by stones, loosely piled together 
or regularly built, or whether it was formed simply with the earth 
thrown out of the trenches. From the number of stones of con- 


140 Prer-HIsTorRIC FORTS. 


siderable size lying about, especially on the sloping sides of the 
fosse, the presumption is that they were used as the basis of the 
wall, even if we make allowance for the fact that the deep outer 
trench has been used as a “free coup” for stones gathered by 
farmers from the fields adjoining. 

I could discover no trace of an entrance. Apparently the 
inhabitants came and went on a plank, which could be withdrawn 
at the slightest sign of an enemy’s approach. 

Notice must be taken of what appears to be an outpost on 
the southern side of the earthwork. This is a raised mound, the 
innermost part of which is almost obliterated. The outermost 
end is 68 feet from the edge of the trench. It measures 22 feet 
across at the widest part, and at its highest point is elevated four 
feet above the cultivated ground. A good view is to be obtained 
from this slight eminence both up and down the valley, though of 
course nothing to be compared with the wide prospect from the 
summit of Springfield Hill. 

At the foot of this mound may be seen a white wooden peg. 
one of the line marking the course of the Cairn Valley Light 
Railway. The ancient and the modern are thus brought into 
striking juxtaposition. It is devoutly to be hoped that the rail- 
way, operations on which have new been carried to within a mile 
of the earthwork, will make no encroachment upon this interest- 
ing and suggestive relic of the days of old. 


Il.—List of the Birds of Glencairn. By Dr Martin, Holywood. 


To every lover of nature the study of birds must be of surpass- 
ing interest, and that from a manifold point of view. Their purpose 
in the general economy of nature, their oneness of type and struc- 
ture, their beauty of form and plumage, with many engrossing 
peculiarities, such as song and nidification, give to the feathered 
tribe an attraction for study hardly equalled in the whole realm 
of things that possess life. It is our privilege to-night to devote 
a little attention to this great and important class of ‘‘aves,” and 
to deal with a given area, to see what of interest can be evolved 
for any scientific enlightenment that may commend itself to us as 
a Society. Might it be too much to forecast and hope that some 
day we may have a yaper on birds in their relation to the pre- 


BIRDS OF GLENGAIRN. 141 


historic period of our country? ‘The county of Dumfries is 
probably one of the best in the south of Scotland for the wide 
variety of its wild birds, and the little district of Glencairn (the 
lower portion at least), for a purely inland parish, can lay claim 
to a very great many, which the following list will show :— 


BUZZARD (Buteo vulgaris). 


Occasionally a single one is noticed in the higher districts of 
the parish during the early spring months and late in the autumn. 


MERLIN (falco artalon). 


Is rather rare, and only an occasional one is noticed. 


KESTREL (Falco tinnunculus). 


This is the commonest hawk we have, and during the great 
vole plague several years ago was very plentiful, and I know of 
several places in our highest hills where they nested in colonies. 
It is undoubtedly the most useful bird of prey we have, as mice, 
beetles, etc., form its chief food, although occasionally an 
unfortunate partridge does pay the penalty, but that fault is out- 
balanced by the great good done in killing pests. 


SPARROW HAWK (Accipiter nisus). 


It is by no means so plentiful now as formerly. In former 
years one pair, at least, mated each season in the woods in 
Dardarroch. 


SHORT-EARED OWL (Asvo accipitrinus). 


During the last vole plague it was quite plentiful, when I 
found several nests with eggs and young. Apparently the 
mother bird incubates on the first egg laid, as I have found in 
one nest eggs that were hatching and young from one day old to 
four or five days old. Asa rule, this owl is very scarce. 


LONG-EARED OWL (Asio ofus). 


Is very common, and during the vole plague some years ago 
was very plentiful. As a rule, it builds, or rather nests, in an old 
rook’s or corbie’s nest, although sometimes a tuft of rushes is 
chosen. I have seen as many as seven together in one little 
plantation. 


142 BIRDS OF GLENCAIRN. 


BROWN OR TAWNY OWL (Syraium aluco). 


Like the above-mentioned, is common, but is very conserva- 
tive about allowing any more of its species to intrude within its 
domain, and you seldom find more than one pair within a consider- 
able area of a large wood. The female during the nesting 
season is sometimes quite pugnacious to any intruders. This 
spring, while examining the trunk of a very old yew tree, I was 
butted and clawed on the back of the neck by one which had 
young in a cleft of the tree, of which at the time I was 
unaware. She came darting at me again several times, but did 
not come close enough to strike. 


BARN OWL (S/rix flammea). 


Many years ago a pair nested in the neighbourhood, but 
none have been noticed for many years. 


GREAT TIT (Parus major). 


Is found in considerable numbers in any wooded parts. In 
early spring it is much in evidence, when its sharp bell-like note 
is heard ringing through the woods. 


COLE Tit (farus ater). 


Is plentiful, but not being at all obtrusive, is not so much 
noticed as some of the other Tits. 


BLUE TIT (Parus coeruleus). 


This is the greatest favourite amongst titmice, on account of 
its love of nesting and spending the most of the year round 
gardens and houses. It is very often misnamed ‘“ Ox-eye.” 


LONG-TAILED TIT (Acredula caudata). 


It is by no means very plentiful, although flocks of twenty 
or thirty can often be seen feeding in company, streaming through 
the woods in their restless, tireless energy. The nest is very 
beautiful, made of green moss and lichens in shape like a wren’s, 
but with the neatness of a chaffinch. Indeed, it is very like a 
chaffinch nest domed over. It generally builds early in April. 
It is said to be proof against electric storms, and so protecting 
the eggs. 


AEE © 


BIRDS OF GLENCAIRN. 143 


PIED FLYCATCHER (Muscicapa atricapilla). 


I noticed one early in May, in the year 1897, in the woods 
of Dardarroch. It is the first specimen I have known to have 
visited the district. 


SPOTTED FLYCATCHER (.Wuscécapa grisola). 


This is one of our latest summer visitors in arriving, and 
seldom arrives before the third week of May. A fair number are 
usually to be found, 


KINGFISHER (COMMON) (Alcedo ispida ). 


An autumn ‘visitor to the river Cairn, and some years is 
numerous. 
CROW OR CORBIE (Corvus corone). 


This bird is looked upon as both a plague to shepherds and 
game preservers, and despite the persecution it gets, is plentiful 
for a bird of prey. 

RAVEN (Corvus corax). 

It does not nest in this parish, but does so in a neighbouring 
one, but occasionally an odd bird is seen in the higher hills of the 
district ; one authority says it does nest. 


HOODED CROW (Corvus cornix). 


Is seldom seen. I saw one a number of years ago during 
severe weather in the winter. 


Rook (Corvus fringilegus). 


Is still plentiful, in spite of the persecution it has undergone 
these past few years. This spring they seemed to be more keen 
in hunting for eggs than I have noticed before, which, I think, 
must have been owing to the great scarcity of grubs, worms, 
etc., through the long spell of dry weather. The young rooks 
do not cast the hair in the upper mandible till the second year, 
and do not begin to breed till their third spring, 1 believe. 


JACKDAW (Corvus monedula). 


Is very plentiful, and nests in great numbers amongst the 
rabbit burrows on some of the hillsides in the upper end of the 
parish. They make great pets, and their many tricks are very 
amusing. 


144 BIRDS OF GLENCAIRN. 


MAGPIE (fica rustica). 


Is practically extinct now in this district. Twenty years ago 
they nested in the woods in Dardarroch every year. Like the 
above, they also make very nice pets. 


COMMON CREEPER (Certhia familiaris). 


Is by no means numerous, but a fair number can always be 
seen in the woods all the year round. 


CUCKOO (Cuculus canorus). 


Very plentiful in the hilly districts every spring. A cuckoo’s 
egg was found in a tree pipit’s nest in the woods on Dardarroch a 
few years since. It is strange how few young ones are seen, 
although the old birds are so plentiful every nesting season. 

NIGHT JAR OR GOATSUCKER (Caprimulous europoeus). 


A pair of these birds nest every summer in the neighbour- 
hood, and occasionally one has been seen hovering, during the 


long summer evenings, around the woods on Dardarroch, hawking 
for moths and flies. 


SWIFT (Cypselus apus). 


Is by no means plentiful, but a few can be seen every 
summer. 


COMMON SWALLOW (Airunda rustica). 


I do not suppose there is a farm steading in the county 
where a pair of these swallows do not nest every summer. <A 
pair were seen as late as the 14th October, this year. 


Hovust MARTIN (Chelidon urbica). 


It seems to be getting much scarcer, and doubtless the 
sparrow has a good deal to do with that, as they rob them of their 
nests. 


SAND MARTIN (Chelidon riparia). 


Nests in many places along the banks of the river Cairn, and 
also in several sand pits in the neighbourhood. 


PIED WAGTAIL (Motacilla yarrelit). 


Is plentiful during the nesting season and autumn. Nests in 


BIRDS OF GLENCAIRN. 145 


dykes, cairns, and sand banks. A few are generally to be found 
through the wintor. 


GREY WAGTAIL (Aotacilla sulphurea). 


It is not nearly so plentiful as the last-mentioned bird. 
Prefers secluded water courses and ponds. A few remain through 
the winter. 


Meapow LARK OR MOSS CHEEPER (Azthus pratensis). 


Found almost everywhere, but especially on the hills and 
moors, where it is best known by name of Moss Cheeper. 1 saw 
one of a canary yellow colour in August this year. A few 
remain all winter, but the bulk of them leave for the coast 
districts. 

TREE PIPIT (Anthus arboreus). 


This is a quiet bird, and not much noticed, except in spring, 
when every dell is enlivened by its sweet song. It is generally 
first heard about the middle of April. The eggs are curious, two 
nests seldom having eggs alike in colour. 


Sky LARK OR LAVEROCK (Adauda arvensis). 


Is plentiful both summer and winter. 


‘* See the lark is mounting up, 
With its song the air to fill.” 
—Song of Spring. 


SNOW BUNTING (Plectrophenax nivalis). 


I have noticed this bird during severe winters with flocks of 
other birds. 


COMMON BUNTING (Zméeriza miliaria). 


Numerous in spring and summer, but only a few can be 
noticed during the winter. Although so common, the nest is very 
seldom found, the old birds being so watchful of the approach of 
intruders. 


BLACKHEADED BUNTING (L£mberiza schoeniclus). 


Is found during the nesting season on the banks of the river 
Cairn, and beside ponds where reeds grow. Does not remain 
with us during the winter. 


146 BIRDS OF GLENCAIRN. 


YELLOW HAMMER (ZLmberiza citrinella). 


Is very plentiful both summer and winter. During the 
winter months they gather into flocks with many other birds, 
and congregate round stackyards. This bird is more correctly 
calied Yellow Ammer. 


CHAFFINCH (Fringilla coelebs), 


Abounds in all our wooded localities during the spring and 
summer. During the winter months they gather together in 
flocks, feeding in the fields and around farmyards with other 
birds. 


MOUNTAIN FINCH OR BRAMBLING (/ringilla montitringilla). 


This is purely a winter visitor, and that only during severe 
winters. I have seen them in large flocks during such winters. 
Beech trees is a favourite resort. 


HOusE SPARROW ( Lasser domestics). 


Like other districts we have our full supply of this familiar 
bird, and it is apparently increasing year by year. One black 
feature in its character is that of occupying the House Martins’ 
nests and driving them away, with the result that few are allowed 
to build where sparrows are in numbers. 


GREENFINCH (Ligurinus chloris). 


Remains with us the whole year in great numbers. Has two 
broods of young, and probably three occasionally. 


GOLDFINCH (Carduelis elegans). 


I have noticed a number of pairs this past summer, and have 
also seen some young ones. If bird snaring was put down they 
would doubtless be quite numerous in a few years. In the 
winter months they gather into flocks, and wander all over the 
country seeking for their favourite food, and thus lay themselves 
open to the birdcatcher. 


SISKIN (C. spinus). 


I noticed a number during the winter of 1888. They fed a 
great deal in the alder trees by the river Cairn. 


er ei i 


BIRDS OF GLENCAIRN. 147 


LINNET (Linota cannabina). 
Although called the common linnet, it is by no means very 
common in this locality, except in the winter months, although a 
few pairs do nest in the district each spring. 


RED POLE (Z. rufesceus). 


This little bird is much commoner than the above. Nests 
frequently in the hills around where juniper and strong brush are 
plentiful, and during the winter feeds a great deal on the birch. 


BULLFINCH (Pyrrhula Europea). 


This bird does not seem to increase much, although it seems 
generally to keep up to fair numbers; and as it is a true bird of 
solitude, dwelling where the spruce is thickest, with only an 
occasional tour of inspection to neighbouring gardens in the 
spring just to see that too much plum blossom is not left by the 
late frosts, is, therefore, not so widely known as many other 
birds. 

COMMON CRoOSSBILL (Pyrrhuda curvirostra). 

During the years 1887-1888 they were quite plentiful, but 
did not find any nest, nor did I see any young ones, although they 
remained in the woods on Dardarroch for a full year without 
intermission. They seem to have been pretty general those two 
years, as I saw them in other places in the county as well. 


AMERICAN WHITE-WINGED OR TWO-BARRED CROSSBILL 
(Pyrrhula bifusciata). 

I shot a pair (male and female) in Dardarroch woods in 
February, 1890. ‘Chere were three together at the time, but have 
seen no more since. 

STARLING (Sturnus vulgaris). 

There is no doubt about the increasing numbers of the 
starling, and the apparent increasing propensities of the rook to 
eggs is attributed by many to the starlings eating too much of 
the available supply of their natural food. During the winter 
months the most of them leave for better feeding grounds. 


DIPPER OR WATER OUSEL (Cinclus aguaticns). 


Is plentiful in all streams in the neighbourhood. Is probably 


- our earliest nester. 


148 BIRDS OF GLENCAIRN. 


MISSEL THRUSH (7urdus viscivorus). 


This bird is by many called the storm cock, although properly 
the Field Fare. It is the true harbinger by its arrival that winter 
is coming, and that speedily. A good many nest every spring 
throughout the whole district. 

FIELD FARE (Zurdus pilaris). 


Purely a winter visitor ; generally arrives here by the middle 
of October. I have seen them here still in large flocks as late as 
the end of May. At that time of the year I have seen them dis- 
porting and warbling in chorus apparently as if they fully intended 
staying to nest. 


REDWING (Zurdus iliacus). 


Arrives here at the beginning of October in considerable 
numbers, leaving again in April or May. 


Sona THRUSH (Zurdus musicus). 


Is very numerous. no doubt owing a great deal to the 
decrease of hawks and other natural enemies. 


BLACKBIRD (Zurdus merula). 
Is also very plentiful. 
RING OUSEL (TZurdus torquatus). 
Is plentiful in its favourite haunts amongst the hills. 
HEDGE SPARROW OR DUNNOCK (Accentor modularis). 


Is plentiful both summer and winter. Its pleasing song is 
very familiar. 


REDBREAST (Lrithacus rubicula). 


This bird is familiar to all, especially so during the winter, 
when the inside of a house comes as natural to him as if it was a 
matter of course. 


REDSTART (Ruticilla phoenicurus). 


Is one of our late arrivals, and is by no means plentiful, but 
is not easily noticed, as it is very shy. 


STONECHAT (Pratincola rubicola). 


Is seldom seen in this neizhbourhood. 


BIRDS OF GLENCAIRN. 149 


WHINCHAT (Pratincola rubetra). 


Unlike the above-mentioned, is very plentiful, and a pair may 
be seen in almost any patch of meadowland or furze during the 
nesting season. 


WHEATEAR ( Saxicola oenanthes). 


Is plentiful throughout the lower part of the parish, although 
a few do nest in our higher hills. 


SEDGE WARBLER (Acrocephalus phragmitis). 

A few may be either seen or heard along the banks of the 
Cairn any summer evening. An odd bird may sometimes be seen 
as late as the first week in September. 

REED WAKBLER (Acrocephalus streperus). 


There is no doubt that there is a good deal of confusion with 
this bird and the last-mentioned, especially as their habits are so 
similar, but a few are without doubt to be found in this locality. 

GARDEN WARBLER (Sy/ava hortensts). 


This is a very shy bird, and very little noticed unless by its 
rich song. It is by no means rare in this district. Arrives in 
May, usually about the end. 

WHITE THROAT (Sylvia cinerea). 

Is probably one of our best known and commonest visitants. 
Woop WARBLER OR YELLOW WILLOW WREN (Phylloscopus 
sibtiatrtx). 

Is plentiful during the summer, and is very fond of oak 
woods, where in the beginning of June it finds such a plentiful 
variety of caterpillars in the young oak leaves. 

WILLOW WARBLER OR WREN (PAylloscopus trochilus). 

‘ This bird much resembles the former, but is of a much darker 
_ olive green shade. Is also more plentiful, inhabiting the same 
kind of woods. Arrives early in April, 

WREN, KITTY WREN (TZvroglodytes parvulus). 


Is more distributed, and familiar to all. The richness of its 
note is seldom fully appreciated. 


150 BIRDS OF GLENCAIRN. 


GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN (Regulus cristuins). 


The Golden-Crested Wren has not been anything like as 
numerous, in this locality at least, since the great storm of wind 
in 1884, possibly attributable to the immense numbers of spruce 
trees that were blown down and destroyed. 


WoopD PIGEON OR CUSHA' (Columba palumébus). 


Very numerous, and apparently on the increase. At present 
they are in great numbers feeding on the acorns. During the 
month of May great flocks frequent the beech trees, apparently 
on their northern flight, as certainly none, or at least very few, 
of them breed here. During October the flocks consist to a great 
extent of young birds that have not got their adult plumage, and 
I have no doubt they are migrants from the northern breeding 
ground. 

STOCK DOVE (Columba aenas). 

Ten years ago this pigeon was unknown in this locality, but 
now may be seen in flocks of considerable numbers in the autumn. 
An odd pair may be seen during the nesting season, but have not 
heard of their nest having been found, although it is very probable 
a few do nest. 

PHEASANT (Phasianus colchicus). 

Of late years the pheasant has greatly increased, and appears 
to be taking more to the hilly districts than formerly, staying the 
whole year round on some of the highest and barest hills where 
there is no plantation near, roosting on the ground like black game 
and grouse. It is noticeable that broods brought out on the hills 
have more birds than those brought out wild in wooded districts. 


BLACK GROUSE (TZefrao fetrix). 
In the past few years black game have been plentiful, and 


are very liable to increase considerably if protected by those who 
have shootings leaving the hens free. 


RED GROUSE OR MOOR Cock (Lagopus Scoticus). 


Has been very plentiful during the past few years, this year 
probably marking a record. 


PARTRIDGE (Lerdix cinerea). 


Wherever there is cropping you may find partridges, and in 


a 


BIRDS OF GLENCAIRN. 151 


a good season like the present in coveys of very large numbers. 
It has been remarked by many that however many you may leave 
on a hill they do not seem to increase at all. They are also very 
wild on the hills, and very hard to follow up and get a shot at. 
I noticed a brood as early as the 10th of May on one of our 
highest and remotest hills. 


COMMON QUAIL (Coturnis communis). 


I believe one was noticed a number of years ago. 


GOLDEN PLOVER (Charadrius dominicus). 


A few pairs nest each spring on some of the remoter hills of 
the district. 


PEEWIT OR CRESTED LAPWING (Vanellus vulgaris). 


Plentiful, and seemingly on the increase, doubtless through 
the protective laws enacted these past years. If the winter is an 
open one flocks remain inland. During cold weather they remain 
by the sea. 


HERON (Ardea cinerea). 


The Heron formerly bred in Cairnhead, but through the trees 
being cut and the birds shot, have not done so for a great many 
years. During the early autumn a good number inhabit the river 
Cairn and where there are good feeding grounds. 


CURLEW (Mumenius arguatus). 


Considerable numbers nest each season throughout the dis- 
trict. They usually return from the coast about the middle of 
February if not severe frost, leaving in the autumn, by October. 


REDSHANK OR RED LEG (Zofanus calidris). 


Five years since this bird was but a rare visitor. Now a 
pair may be heard, if not seen, around any marshy land in the 
nesting season. It has rather a melancholy pipe, which it gives 
fully on the slightest sign of an intruder. 


COMMON SANDPIPER (TZofanus hypoleucus). 


Generally makes its appearance about the middle of April, 
when it distributes itself pretty well along the whole stretch of 
the river Cairn. Leaves for the coast not later than the end of 
August. 


152 BIRDS OF GLENCAIRN. 


WooDcock (.Scolopax rusticula). 


Each season every favourable haunt has its quota of wood- 
cocks, but never in any way numerous. A few remain as late as 
April, and probably a pair occasionally nest. 


COMMON SNIPE (Gallinago coelestis, Frenzel). 


Some seasons it is very plentiful, and others the reverse. It 
nests in many places throughout the district. 


JACK SNIPE (G. gad/inula). 


A few are usually shot or seen during the autumn and 
winter. It is seldom that more than two are found together. 


LAND RAIL OR CORN CRAKE (Crex pratensis, Bechstein). 
’ 


Arrives here about the middle of April as a rule, and is fairly 
plentiful. Very few are seen after August. An occasional one 
is found hiding in a turnip field during September that has not 
its wing feathers fully fledged. 


WATER RAIL (Radlus aguaticus, Linneus). 


Is only an occasional winter visitor. ‘lwo were shot on 
Dardarroch a few years ago. 


Mook IlEN, WATER HEN (Gallinula chloropus, Lin.). 


Is plentiful on the river Cairn, and mainly places that have 
willows and rough cover growing alongside. Severe winters tell 
very hardly on this bird, and many are frozen to death. One 
very remarkable feature in the Water Ilen is its ability to remain 
when pursued under water, sitting at the bottom as cosily as if it 
was on a bush without apparently the least exertion or incon- 
venience. 

Coot (Fudlica atra, Lin.). 


Formerly this bird was seldom seen in the district, but now 
an odd one or two may be found on some secluded pond, and 
occasionally on the river Cairn. 


GreY LAG GoosE (Anser cinereus, Meyer). 


As a rule, if seen at all, it is in flocks flying overhead, 
although some years since a few lighted on the river Cairn. 


, 
; 
q 
) 


BIRDS OF GLENCAIRN. 153 


MUTE OR TAME SWAN (Cyguus olor). 


A few pairs have been kept on private ponds. 


WiLp Duck oR MALLARD (4zas boschas). 


Fairly plentiful wherever suitable feeding grounds are to be 
found. 


TEAL (Querguedula crecca). 


Is probably the next commonest to the Mallard, although by 
no means plentiful, 


WIDGEON (Mareca penelope). 


An occasional winter visitor, especially so if the weather is 
severe. 


Scaup (fuligula martla, Lin.). 


Is, like the former, an occasional winter visitant. 


TUFTED DucK Fuligula cristata). 


This duck has been seen much oftener than the last two 
mentioned, and one year a pair remained on the Cairn for some 
time in May, 


GOLDEN EYE (Clangula glaucion, Lin.). 


A few are usually to be found on the Cairn every winter. 
Although the female and young male are found, it is seldom an 
old drake is seen. 


GOOSANDER SAWBILL (Mergus Merganser, Lin.). 


During the early months of the year an occasional bird will 
be seen on the Cairn, and, as a rule, only the hen bird. I have 
only once seen a male. 


DABCHICK OR LITTLE GREBE (Podicipes Fluviatilis, Tunstall). 


Remains the whole year. I know of one little pond where 


it nests each year. During the winter it betakes itself to the 
river Cairn, 


THE SHAG OR GREEN CORMORANT (Phalacroccrax graculus.) 


‘One was noticed to haunt a pool in the river Cairn during the 
early spring a few years ago. 


154 BIRDS OF GLENCAIRN. 


BLACK-HEADED GULL (Larus ridibundus). 


Remains with us the whole year in considerable numbers. 
It was noticed that a great many died this spring during the 
nesting time, without doubt through lack of foed, caused by the 
prolonged drought, which sent worms well out of sight and 
reach. At Loch Urr, the nearest nesting place, fully sixty per 
cent. of the young birds must have died through starvation, and 
those that survived were very weak and thin. 


ComMoN GULL, BLUE-HEAD, OR SEA Mrw, BLUE-MAA (Larus 
canus). 
Although not so numerous as the black-headed, is fairly 
plentiful, and is especially noticeable in the autumn. Nests as a 
rule near the sea. 


LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL (ZL. fuscus). 

This gull may be generally noticed in April, frequenting the 
hill-sides in search of carrion, and even attacking lambs, especially 
weakly ones. In Dumfriesshire it principally breeds on the 
Solway Firth. 

HERRING GULL (ZL. argentatus, Gmelin). 

An occasional wanderer only. 


FEMALE BIRDS TAKING THE MALE PLUMAGE. 


A number of years ago I remember three grey hens being 
shot in one day, each of which had assimilated to a large extent 
the plumage of the blackcock. This season I watched a hen 
pheasant that was accustomed and had come for several years to 
be fed with bread crumbs at a certain house in the parish, which 
had a most complete imitation of the cock pheasant, a most 
perfect green neck, and white ring, but no comb nor spurs. The 
breast feathers lacked the rich black tips and sheen of the male, 
otherwise the imitation was most exact. 


Mr Service said he had listened with exceeding pleasure to 
Dr Martin’s paper. Considering that Glencairn was an inland 
parish far removed from the sea, and without large sheets of 
water, and sea birds consequently being rare, the list Dr Martin 
had given was a very good one. It also contained many notes 
of interest and value. He noticed with peculiar pleasure 


BIRDS OF GLENCAIRN. 155 


that Dr Martin referred to his observations on the Night Jar 
in his own vicinity. By -way of criticism, he would like to 
say that, while Dr Martin mentioned that the Crossbill did not 
breed in Britain, that was an error, because it had bred in the 
district within his own recollection, as far back as the time when 
he was a very small boy, in Dalswinton, where it was found for 
many years breeding. At present there was a pretty large flock 
in Hensol woods, where they bred. They also bred at Sham- 
bellie, in the large woods there. The Crossbill, however, bred so 
unusually early in the year that most people in looking for them 
breeding in February and March like other birds, only found the 
young fledglings of the Crossbill already out and in full flight. Dr 
Martin also said that he had seen numbers of the Reed Warbler. 
He could not quite understand to what particular bird he was 
referring, because, as a matter of fact, the Reed Warbler was one 
of the rarest stragglers in Scotland. Even in the southern part 
of Cumberland it was also rare. Dr Martin mentioned a theory 
that the elaborately constructed nests were made for the purpose 
of resisting electrical influences. He (Mr Service) was afraid that 
that theory was just a little fanciful. Another criticism he would 
like to make was, that Dr Martin had employed a rather ancient and 
antiquated classification. Matters of classification and nomenclature 
were rather beside the question, because, so long as they had the 
facts, these things were quite subsidiary. At the same time he 
thought the paper was of real value, and they could not have too 
many of the kind, the observation of birds being one of the most 
fascinating pursuits in the wide domain of natural history. The 
most charming of English classics was founded upon the observa- 
tion of birds, ze, ‘“‘ White’s Natural History of Selbourne.” If 
they had every parish in the three counties worked out in the 
same way as Glencairn had been, it would be possible then to 
have a complete history of the fauna of the Solway. 

The Chairman having conveyed the thanks of the meeting to 
the contributor, 

Dr Martin, in replying, said he was glad such an authority 
as Mr Service thought Glencairn had been properly worked. He 
was sorry that the classification was not quite up-to-date, but he 
thought Pennant’s classification was very good. However, it 
could be easily altered for publication. It was generally accepted 
that Crossbills did not nest in this country, and, not having found 


156 METEOROLOGY OF 1901. 


any, he had concluded that it was so. The Warblers were a 
fairly numerous family, and it might be that he had been slightly 
in error regarding them. 


17th January, 1902. 


Mr JAMES BARBOUR, F.S.A., Scot., Architect, in the chair. 
COMMUNICATIONS. 


I.—Meteorological Report for rgoz. By the Rev. WILLIAM 
ANDSON. 


THE WEATHER OF 1901. 


The only preliminary remark I have to make before submit- 
ting this annual report of meteorological observations at Dumfries 
for the past year is that the instruments used were inspected by 
Dr Buchan, the secretary of the Scottish Meteorological Society, 
on the 27th August last, and, on being compared with his standard 
instruments, were found to retain their former accuracy, the varia- 
tions in the case of the thermometer not being more than two- 
tenths of a degree, and in the case of the barometer of rather less 
than two-hundredths of an inch, which practically may be 
regarded as negligible quantities. 


BAROMETER.—Beginning with the barometrical pressure, 
the following are the leading facts:—Barometer—Highest on 
23rd May, 30°660 in. ; lowest on 25th December, 28600 in. ; 
annual range, 2:060 in. Mean pressure for the year (reduced to 
32 deg. and sea level), 29°925 in. This is slightly above the 
average of the last fifteen years, which was 29-904 in, There 
were six months in which the mean pressure exceeded 30 in., viz., 
February, May, June, July, August, and November. The lowest 
monthly mean occurred in December, amounting to no more than 
29-515 in., and this was the month in which the most changeable 
and unsettled weather was recorded. It had the absolute mini- 
mum of barometrical pressure for the year, viz., 28°600 in. on the 
25th, and the readings of the 23rd, 24th, and 26th were almost 


157 


METEOROLOGY OF 1901. 


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158 METEOROLOGY oF 1901. 


equally low, ranging from 28-630 in. to 28:956 in. On only other 
two months of the year did the readings fall below 29 in., once on 
27th January, and four times in March, on the Ist and 2nd, and 
again on the 30th and 31st, and in all these days the weather was 
more than usually stormy, with heavy snow and sleet on the first 
date, which caused flooding of the river to the depth of about 10 
feet, and snow, haii, and sleet on the last, which also resulted in 
heavy flooding. On the 12th and 13th November, with a fall of 
the barometer to 29-061 in., there was a severe north-easterly 
storm which caused much damage both on sea and land, and again 
about the same date in December there was a similar storm from 
the north-east, accompanied in England by heavy rains and in 
Scotland for the most part by snow, which caused great destruc- 
tion of the telegraph wires and serious interruption of the com- 
munication between the sguth and north; but the greatest fall 
was about Christmas, and was accompanied towards the end of 
the year by strong gales and heavy falls of snow, sleet, and rain, 
and in consequence of the melting of the snow on the higher 
grounds the greatest flooding of the year was recorded on the 
morning of the Ist January, when the river rose to the height 
of 11} feet, and the Sands were completely covered. 


TEMPERATURE IN SHADE (FOUR FEET ABOVE GRASS).—The 
highest reading of the protected thermometer during the year 
occurred on the 20th July. There was a thunderstorm on that 
day, and the thermometer rose to the unprecedented height of 91 
deg., which was not only the absolute maximum of the year, but 
the highest single day reading of the fifteen years to which the 
observations extend.. The lowest reading of the year was 18°73 
deg. on the 29th March, an unusual period for such extreme cold, 
giving an annual range of 72°7.. It may be remarked here that 
March was on the whole a cold and backward spring month, 
especially in the second half, with frost and snow at the very 
end, and the same thing was true of the first part of April, verify- 
ing in a remarkable degree the old saying, ‘“‘ March borrowed 
from April three days and they were wild.” And this led to the 
apprehension at that time of a late harvest. The year as a whole, 
however, was far from being unfavourable in point of tempera- 
ture. The only months which had means below the average were 
February, March, June, November, and December, the aggregate 


METEOROLOGY OF 1901. 159 


deficiencies amounting to 7-7 deg. The other months were either 
up to or above the average, the excess being 13-4 deg. The 
largest excesses were in May and July, the latter of which had a 
mean of 64-6 deg., being 5 deg. above the average, and the former 
more than 2 deg. May was an exceedingly favourable month, 
and July oppressively warm. It may give a more definite idea 
of the kind of weather in May and July if [ specify the number of 
days in each month which had maximum temperatures of 70 deg. 
and above in the shade. In May there were twelve, ranging 
from-70 deg. to 75 deg. In June there were only three. But 
again in July there were twenty-five, and of these seven were 
above 80 deg. and one 91 deg. In August there were thirteen, 
and one up to 80 deg. Thus the cold of the early spring menths, 
and even of June, were more than compensated by the unusual 
warmth of May and July, which was extended also into August, 
and the result was that the harvest, instead of being later than 
usual, as was at one time feared, was earlier and also excellent in 
quality. Hence we are prepared to find that the mean annual 
temperature of 1901 was somewhat above the average. The 
mean of 15 years is 47'8 deg. It has ranged from 46 deg. to 
49:5 deg. This last year it is 48°3 deg. The warmest years of 
the period were in 1893, when it was 49-4 deg., and in 1898, when 
it was 19°5, and the only other years on which it was in excess of 
that of 1901 were 1896 with a record of 48°5 deg., and 1899 with 
a record of 48-6 deg. Thus there have been only four years out 
of the fifteen with a higher mean temperature than 1901. The 
coldest month was December, with a mean of 37 deg.,as compared 
with an average of 39-2 deg. But February and March were 
also very cold months, and even June was about 3 deg. short of its 
average. If it had not been for these drawbacks, involving 74 
nights on which the protected thermometer fell to and below 32 
deg., with an aggregate of 302 deg. of frost, the year would 
probably have been as warm as either 1893 or 1898. 


RAINFALL.—There were 187 days in 1901 on which rain or 
snow fell (rain 169, snow 18). Mean of 15 years, 199. The 


heaviest fall in 24 hours was on the 22d June, when the amount 


registered was 1:08 in. There was only one other day on which 
the amount was up to 1 in, viz., the 2d April. The rainiest 
month was October with a record of 4°78 in., and the next was 


160 METEOROLOGY OF 1901. 


December with 4:43 in., which, however, was very little in excess 
of the average for that month. But the year as a whole was far 
from being a wet one, the total amount being only 34°48 in., as 
compared with an average of 37°44 in. The annual rainfalls for 
the last fifteen years have ranged from 30:99 in. in 1887, which 
was the driest, to 47:08 in. in 1900, which was the wettest, and 
ten of them have been heavier than that of 1901. The explana- 
tion of this, of course, is that most of the months had a record 
under the average, and only April, June, August, and October 
above. February and March were comparatively dry months, 
the former being the only one which registered less than an inch. 
The members of the society are aware that in many parts of the 
country, and escecially in England, the rainfall was so deficient 
last year as to cause serious inconvenience from scarcity of water. 
This has not been the case in our own district. Nevertheless 
there were occasional periods which might justly be called periods 
of drought. The first of these was in February, when from the 
1st to the 25th only 0-18 in. of rain fell. Again, in March, from 
the 8th to the 20th, with only three days of slight rainfall; in 
May, from the 10th to the 25th, of rainless days. But the most 
serious drought was from the 25th June to the 14th July, during 
which period not a drop of rain fell, the effect of which was 
aggravated by the heat which then prevailed. One thing that 
may be noted in connection with the past year is the number of 
days on which snow fell. Not unfrequently snow is conspicuous 
by its absence, but it has not been so in 1901. I have noted that 
in January there were three snowy days, in February four, in 
March one, in April three, and in December seven—18 in all. In 
December particularly we had something like an old-fashioned 
winter, with unmelted snow upon the ground for a considerable 
part of the time, and although I do not possess the means of 
régistering the amount of sunshine the general testimony is that 
in the summer months it was considerably above the average. 


HYGROMETER.—The mean temperature of the dry bulb ther- 
mometer for the year was 47°6 deg., of the wet bulb 44:8 deg., 
giving a difference of 2°8 deg. ; while the temperature of the dew 
point was 41:7 deg., and the relative humidity (saturation being 
equal to 100) 81. This is a somewhat lower humidity than the 


a at 


a 


METEOROLOGY OF 1901. 161 


average of the past fifteen years, which would be about 83, and 
corresponds with the smaller rainfall of the period. 


THUNDERSTORMS.—These have been more frequent than in 
former years. There was sheet lightning on the Ist January, 
and again thunder and lightning on the 27th in connection with 
the severe storm of that day. There were none in February, 
March, or April, as far as I observed. But there was one on the 
3d May, another on the 14th July, and a severe and protracted 
storm or the 20th of the same month. On 10th August there 
was thunder and lightning from 7.30 to 1.30 P.M., with very 
heavy rain. Again, on 2nd October, about midnight, and on the 
22nd, there was a recurrence of the same phenomenon, and once 
more on the 8th December. This makes a record of nine in the 
course of the year, which is, I think, decidedly in excess of 
previous years. , 


WIND.—With regard to the wind direction, these do not 
differ materially from those reported in former years. As usual 
the south-westerly blew on the greatest number of days, viz., 803, 
the westerly came next with 57, and the north-westerly with 50, 
the southerly had 283, making in all 216; while the northerly, 
north-easterly, easterly, and south-easterly amounted to 157 days, 
and 9 were calm or variable. 


The Rev. Mr Andson read the following paper by Mr JOHN 
RUTHERFORD, Jardington :— 


Phenological and Weather Observations, taken at Jardington for 
IQOL. 


JANUARY. 


Rainfall, 2-8 inches. Weather mild; lowest night tempera- 
ture, 20 deg., F.; highest, 44 deg. Nearly the whole of the 
month the temperature was above freezing at 9 A.M. The lowest 


_ barometrical reading was 29:1 on the 27th with a stormy night ; 


the highest on several days was 30-4 Heard the song thrush 
trying his voice on several fine mornings after the 18th, and when 
the sun was bright repeatedly heard the cheery warble of the 
water ousel. 


162 PHENOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 


FEBRUARY. 


Rainfall, 0:62. Barometer—lowest, 29°3 inches on the 27th ; 
highest, 30-6 on the 15th. The weather was mild during the 
month. There was avery hard frost on the night of the 12th, 
when the thermometer registered 20 deg. of frost. The hazel 
came into bloom on the 12th. 


MARCH. 


Rainfall, 2-15 inches. Barometer, lowest, 28-9; highest, 
30°5 inches. First half of the month was mild, showery weather. 
The later half was cold east wind, with four nights of very hard 
frost from the 26th to 29th. ‘There was 1} inch of snow on the 
30th which went away in a day. Coltsfoot flowered on the 23rd. 
Sowing oats began on the 25th. 


APRIL. 


Rainfall, 3°12 inches. Barometer, from 29°15 to 30:2 inches. 
There was a little frost on three or four nights during the month, 
while the day temperature was high. By the 7th the fields were 
looking nice and green, and lawns required cutting. Wood 
Anemone flowered on the 4th, blackthorn on the 23rd. Saw first 
Wasp on the 17th, and Swallow on the 21st, and heard Cuckoe 
on 29th. 

May. 

Rainfall, 1-85 inches. Barometer, from 292 to 30°6 inches. 
There was a trace of frost on two nights, but the month on the 
whole was warm and growing and May-like. I see on many of 
the days the temperature at 9 A.M. was between 60 and 70 deg. 
Small White Butterfly first seen on 1st, Corncrake heard on 18th, 
Horse Chestnut flowered on 11th; Hawthorn on 21st. Queen 
Wasps were very plentiful during the first half of the month. 


JUNE. 


Rainfall, 3°26 inches. Barometer, lowest, 29°5 ; highest, 
30°45. The weather during the month was very warm, with just 
sufficient rain to keep all kinds of crop growing healthy ; few of 
the turnips round here required to be re-sown, and I saw very 
little of that new disease on the shaws of the young plants which 
was prevalent for one or two years before. Ryegrass a fair good 


PHENOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 163 


crop, and ready for cutting about the 26th. Wild Rose flowered 
on 7th; Meadow Brown Butterfly seen on 29th. 


JULY. 


Rainfall, 1:5 inches. Barometer, lowest 29°8 to highest 30°35. 
Very warm during the month. The lowest night temperature 
was 40 deg.; the 9 A.M. temperature would have a mean of 
between 70 and 80 deg. There was a good deal of thunder. 
Grass and other crops made satisfactory progress, and except on 
gravelly soils there was not a great deal of harm done by the 
dry warm weather. The Harebell came into bloom on 7th; Black 
Knapweed on the 15th. 


AUGUST. 


Rainfall, 4:1 inches. Barometer varied from 29:45 to 30°6 
inches. This was a fine warm month, with high night and day 
temperature. Harvesting commenced on the 1st. Corn crops 
not so heavy as last year; but having got much more sun the 
straw and grain are of excellent quality, and most of the crop 
standing. 

SEPTEMBER. 

Rainfall, 2-8 inches. Barometer, lowest 29°5 to highest 30:3 
inches. I think I may say with confidence that this has been an 
ideal summer in every sense. Although Qeeen Wasps were very 
numerous in the beginning of May, scarcely a wasp was to be 
seen till well on to the end of the summer, when they became 
very plentiful and were very destructive to the fruit crop. 


OCTOBER. 


Rainfall, 4:6 inches. Barometer, lowest 29°15 to highest 30°5 
inches. There was a trace of frost on three nights, with a fairly 
high day temperature. Rain fell less or more on every day but 
the last, which hindered potato digging. The fine dry growing 
summer and autumn was favourable to the growth of this crop, 
the shaws remaining green till the beginning of September. 
The disease did not come on before the tubers were at maturity, 
and a large crop of fine quality is the result. 


NOVEMBER. 
Rainfall, 2°82 inches. Barometer, lowest 29-3 to highest 30°6 


164 PHENOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 


inches. On the nights of the 15th and 16th we had about 20 
deg. of frost, and some stormy weather followed. Conjunction of 
Jupiter and Saturn with Venus a little to the South on the 28th, 
at 6 A.M. The three planets were very conspicuous and interest- 
ing for some days. This will not occur again for 20 years. 


DECEMBER. 


Rainfall, 4:4 inches. Barometer, lowest 28-7 to highest 30°3 
inches. Although we have had during this month stormy weather, 
and a little snow during the last 10 days, we have had no continued 
severe frost; and even during the last week, when the roads were 
covered with ice, the hardest was on the night of the 28th, when 
there was 10 deg. of frost; thermometer at 9 A.M. was 31 deg. 
Saw a solitary Gray Wagtail on 15th; have not seen one since. 
Notes and observations in this paper apply to this locality only. 


Rainfall in 1901.—January, 2°8 inches; February, 0°62; 
March, 2°15; April, 3:12; May, 1°85; June, 3:25; July, 15; 
August, 4:1; September, 2°8; October, 4-6; November, 2°82 ; 
December, 4:4; total, 34:01 inches—between 4 and 5 inches 
under the average. Dumfries Rainfall, 34-48 ; Cargen do., 42°44 ; 
Drumpark do., 45°36; Drumlanrig do., 43°91. 


II1.—Phenological Observations taken at Moniatve during r90m. 
By Mr JoHN CoRRIE. 


The short spell of genial weather which prevailed during the 
earlier portion of March was followed towards the close of the 
month by a sudden fall in temperature. Snow fell on the 26th 
and on the 29th March, and low readings of the thermometer 
continued throughout the greater part of April. Fine weather, 
dry and warm throughout the day with only slight frost at night, 
prevailed from the last week of April until almost the close of 
May. Rain fell on the 26th May, and as dry knolls had com- 
menced to brown the change was a welcome one. The early 
portion of June was extremely variable. High temperatures 
ruled on the 7th and 8th, but from the 9th to the 13th a succession 
of cold gales, accompanied by rain, was experienced. The gale 
on the evening of the 10th was very destructive to tender vegeta- 
tion. Pear, Apple, and Plum tree foliage suffered severely ; also 


————— 


PHENOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 165 


the foliage on ornamental forest trees, such as the Horse Chestnut. 
TIail fell on the afternoon of the 12th June, and the temperature 
shortly afterwards became normal. The later portion of the 
month and the first three weeks of July were remarkable for 
warmth. On some days the thermometer registered 78 in the 
shade. Thunderstorms of a somewhat violent character visited 
the district on the 14th July, the 20th July, and the 10th August. 
By the 20th of July hay harvest was practically over. The crop, 
although deficient in bulk, was of first-rate quality, and must have 
been secured at a minimum of cost and trouble. Corn harvest 
commenced in the second week of August (an unusually early 
date), and by the end of the month the work was generally over. 
These few notes descriptive of weather conditions seem a fitting 
introduction to my phenological observations. The Coltsfoot, 
thanks to a genial March, was found in flower on the 10th of the 
month. The Hawthorn was first observed in blossom on the 31st 
May. The following are the flowering dates for the other plants 
scheduled by the society :—White Ox Eye, 1st June; Dog Rose, 
13th June; Harebell, 6th July; Greater Bindweed, ilth July; 
Black Knapweed, 19th July ; Ivy, 13th October. The Sand 
Martin was first seen on the 4th April. The House Martin was 
not observed until the 10th May. The Swallow arrived on the 
18th April, and the Cuckoo on the 26th April. The Swift, once 
common, seems to have deserted the district. The Willow Wren 
and the Spotted Flycatcher were found nesting on the 2nd June, 
both with their full complement of eggs. The small White Butter- 
fly was first seen on the 2nd May. The Marsh Ringlet was seen 
on the 30th June, and may have been present earlier. The 
Meadow Brown is recorded for 8rd July, A female Saw Fly was 
captured on the 19th July. Wasps were late in putting in an 
appearance, but became plentiful as the season advanced. A 
Nightjar was seen in the heart of the village at 8.35 p.m. on the 
15th August. A few Swallows remained until the 16th Sept. 
The House Martin was last seen on the 6th October. It will be 
understood that the date of my appointment as an observer was 
too late for me to record the flowering of the Hazeland the sing- 
ing of the Thrush. 


166 FAUNA OF GLENCAIRN. 


21st February, 1902. 
The Rev. WILLIAM ANDSON in the chair. 


Donations and Exchanges.—Proceedings of the Academy of 
Natural Science of Philadelphia, 1901; Birds of Western New 
York, by E. H. Easton; Annals of the New York Academy of 


Science. 


COMMUNICATIONS. 


I.—The Fauna of Glencairn. By Dr MARTIN, Holywood. 


Perhaps, after the birds, the most important group to take 
up is the fauna of a district. By fauna is meant the animals 
peculiar to a given district or county as distinguished from those 
that are imported, and, of course, have no relation to tame 
animals. The district of Glencairn affords examples of the 
common wild animals of the south of Scotland, and I do not know 
that there are any but will be more or less familiar to everyone. 
We have seen that birds play a great part in the economy of 
things, and I hope we shall leave this paper with the impression 
that our hairy and fur-coated friends are not wholly without their 
use, and not to be classed as vermin altogether—that is, as vora- 
cious ones that should be wantonly destroyed. Let us try to 
enter into the spirit of all things in taking up these little indi- 
viduals, and, besides noting their use, give them a place in the 
poetry and spirit of every-day existence. 

The fauna of the United Kingdom beyond a few very rare 
and remotely distributed species is fairly well distributed through- 
out the length and breadth of the land, and to mention those 
found in a single county or even parish includes fairly well the 
full list, as those that have been noticed in the district of Glen- 


cairn will show. 


COMMON SQUIRREL (Sciurus vulgaris). 


The squirrel is known to everyone probably as much from its 
amusing habits as from the pleasure and sport most boys brought 
up in the country have in chasing and pelting him with stones as 
he escapes from tree to tree, leaping from branch to branch. 
sometimes with such haste and daring across some yawning gulf 


FAUNA OF GLENUAIRN. 167 


between two stalwart monarchs of the woods, that it appeared as 
if stayed for a moment in mid-air to be dashed to the ground, 
only to be saved by clutching some waving twig that seemingly 
had stretched out its kindly tendrils in aid of its frolicsome friend. 
Since the severe wind storm of some ten years ago which blew 
down so many spruce trees, squirrels do not appear to have been 
quite so plentiful, whether from lack of food or warm shelter it is 
difficult to tell. They have young early in spring, usually in the 
beginning of April, having from three to five in a brood. I 
remember two young ones, still blind, taken from their nest and 
given to a cat to suckle. The cat was as proud and careful of its 
foster children as of its own kittens, and was friendly and kindly 
to the squirrels after they were full-grown. Strange to say this 
same cat was an immense poacher, even killing and bringing 
home squirrels from the woods, although its own foster children 
were still about it. 


WATER VOLE (Arvicola amphibius). 


On account of its very shy habits the Water Vole is probably 
less known than its numbers warrant. All such beasties xo under 
the name of rat, whether vole or grey rat of farmyard celebrity. 
Wherever there is a stretch of water, be it stream or pond, there 
you will find among other rats the water vole, especially so if the 
soil is soft and congenial to the growth of water plants that have 
succulent roots and stems. The usual colour is a rich brown, but 
black onas are far from uncommon. They are expert divers and 
swimmers under water, and it takes a good dog to again find one 
once it has slipped off from the water edge into a good-sized pool. 


FIELD VOLE (Arvicola agrestis). 


This species, about the size of an ordinary mouse of a greyish 
brown colour and short tail, is probably best known on account of 
its periodic ravages of our pastures. It is exceedingly prolific, 
breeding many times during the year, having frcm four to six in 
one litter. Its usual food is grass roots, but it is a torment to 
gardeners on account of its love of crocus roots. During the 
past century its ravages have been noted in the years 1813-14, 
1874-76, and in 1892, when Dumfriesshire fell a special victim. 
It is estimated to have extended at that time in this county as a 
scourge over from eighty thousand to ninety thousand acres of 


168 FAUNA OF GLENCAIRN. 


pasture land. It does not seek safety in holes as readily as is 
usually the case with such species, and is therefore very easily 
killed with a good dog. 


BANK VOLE (4. glariolus). 


This species may almost be said, from external appearance, 
to be a go-between ’twixt the field vole and the field mouse, 
which it greatly resembles in colour. Its tail is a third longer 
than that of the field-vole, and it has more prominent ears and 
eyes. Itis found round gardens and woodlands, but is never 
very plentiful. The Bank Vole devastated plantations in 1863, 
eating the bark of the trees. 


BROWN RAT (AZus decumanus). 


This is doubtless one of the most widely distributed and best 
known of rodents, and needs no description. It is omnivorous, 
and takes as kindly to a crust of bread or an ear of grain as to a 
good fat duckling. When it survives its many enemies and 
reaches full maturity it attains a: large size and makes a fierce 
fight with a dog. It is said to have first reached England from 
the East early in the 18th century. 


HOUSE MOUSE (M/us musculus), 


Is like the above, common, and known to all. When kept 
in confinement you may have white, black, and brown ones, the 
same as we have in tame rabbits. 


LONG-TAILED FIELD MOUSE (Mus sylvaticus). 


This species is much larger and of a rounder shape than the 
Field Vole, and its tail is fully as long as its body. It is of a 
bright reddish brown colour, with white breast and belly, with a 
little touch of greyish brown shading down the throat. Its ears 
are prominent, and it has large luminous black eyes. It is not 
much seen, but is not scarce. Occasionally it invades outhouses, 
especially if roots are there stored. 


COMMON SHREW (Sorex vulgaris). 


The Shrew may be found in any pasture field or wood that 
has a clothing of grass beneath. It is probably as plentiful in 
Glencairn as it usually is in other places. It feeds on insects, 


FAUNA OF GLENCAIRN. 169 


a and beetles. Itis often found lying dead without any 
trace to account for its death. 


WATER SHREW (Sorex fodieus). 


Is peculiarly adapted for water existence by reason of stiff 
cilia to the sides of toes and under surface of tail. It feeds on 
insects and fresh water crustaceans, and may be observed working 
amongst stones in shallow streams. It is a pretty object to see 
with its little broad body so hunting in deeper water. It cannot 
be said to be common in this district. 


LESSER SHREW (Sorex pygmaeus). 


It may be recognised by its diminutive size and a few minor 
points of difference of structure, as.compared with the common 
shrew. 

ComMON MOLE (TZa/fa europaea). 


This is another of our fauna that is known to all, more by 
the little mounds of earth it puts up than by the animal itself, 
unless that be a dead one, as it is not everyone who has seen a 
live Mole. When above ground it is about as much from home 
as a fish is out of water. Worms, slugs, beetles, and the larve 
of the last-mentioned comprise its diet, although it has been noticed 
to seize small birds feeding in its mounds. 


HEDGEHOG (L£vinaceus europaeus). 


Though a good deal persecuted this animal keeps up its 
numbers, and on a summer evening it may be seen hunting much 
more rapidly than most would suppose for slugs, insects, etc. 
They also eat eggs and kill snakes—according to popular belief 
by seizing the snake by the tail and rolling into a ball, allowing 
the snake to beat itself to death on its prickly spines. The young 
are a pinky white, and the soft spines gradually darken as they 
grow older and stiffer. 

The true explanation is the greater resistance of the blood of 
the Hedgehog against snake poison and other poisons. 


COMMON Bat ( Vesperugo pipistrella). 


This, the smallest and best-known British Bat, is fairly 
mmon. Asarule,ithawks aboutshady glades and edges of woods 
wards dusk, though occasionally one may be seen either in the 


170 FAUNA OF GLENCAIRN. 


early evening long before dusk or late in the morning flying about 
in quest of gnats, etc. Occasionally one may be noticed as early 
as March if the weather is mild, also as late as the end of October. 
Its colour is rich dark brown over the back, with a mousy grey 
over the belly. The ears are very small and mouse-like. I have 
secured a specimen already this year, which was shot flying about 
with another in this locality. 


DAUBENTON’S BAT (Vespertilio daubentonit). 


Not observed by writer but by others. 


LONG-EARED BAT (Plecotus auretus). 


Not so common as the short-eared. It prefers the tiled 
roofs of houses, which are non-existent in this district. 


CoMMON Fox (Canis vulpes) 


A few are killed each year in our upper districts. This not 
being a hunting locality, it is no crime to shoot reynard at sight, 
and is, therefore, not numerous enough to do a great deal of 
mischief. 


COMMON WEASEL (Mustela vulgaris). 


Although the weasel is universally looked upon as a dread 
to the safe upbringing of game, it has a worse name than it 
rightly deserves, and in reality does a great deal of good in hunt- 
ing down rats, mice, and various insects, although a young 
rabbit, pheasant, or partridge do not come amiss if in their path. 
In early autumn as many as seven or eight may be seen 
apparently hunting together, probably the members of a family. 


STOAT (Mustela erminea). 


Here we have a true destroyer of game, and woe betide the 
covey of young pheasants, grouse, or partridges that comes in his 
way. He is verily a true blood-sucker, and is a continuous 
scourge to game preserves. It is avery common occurrence to 
see a stoat running down a rabbit, though the rabbit is so 
paralysed by fear that it is unable to run either far or long. In 
winter it takes on a fine white coat, and is a beautifully soft fur. 
Although considerably trapped, there are still numbers well 
distributed throughout the district. 


FAUNA OF GLENCAIRN. 171 


OTTER (Lutra vulgaris). 


This is another of our wild animals that is better known in 
namethan in person. He isa true night roamer, and it is only the 
night fisher—a poacher maybe—that has a chance of seeing him as 
he is. To many he is probably better known by the marks of his 
ravages, by some choice trout lying half eaten by the edge of a 
favourite pool. Trout, salmon, and eels no doubt are his favourite 
food, but I have also watched one hunting for crustaceans under- 
neath the small stones by the river’s edge. Although a very shy 
animal by day, he is not so easily disturbed at night when feeding, 
and may be approached very close if no noise is made. A hole by 
the river’s edge is his favourite hiding place, although one is 
occasionally bolted from a rabbit burrow a long distance from 
water. Three young ones at a time must be a usual number, as I 
have many times seen that number together during an August 
flood when flooded out of their retreats. 


ROE DEER (Capreolus Caprea). 


Formerly they were fairly numerous, but they are now very 
scarce, owing to their destruction on account of their alleged 
habit of feeding on the shoots of young trees. 


RED HARE (Lepus europaeus). 


This fine animal is getting, alas! too scarce in many parts of 
the county, and it is only where the proprietor and tenant go hand 
in hand in protecting it from wanton destruction that its numbers 
are at all considerable. There is no finer game in this county, be 
it fur or feather, than the hare, and it seems a cruel shame to see 
the way some farmers persecute them for the sake of the few 
shillings they fetch in the market. It is not an animal that gives 
much sport to shoot, but is always a welcome addition to the bag 
from the table point of view. A number of years ago coursing by 
greyhounds was a popular sport, but has been out of vogue in this 
district for many years now. 


BLUE HARE OR MOUNTAIN HARE (Lepus timidus). 


On the higher hills of the district an occasional mountain hare 
is seen or shot, but this breed never has increased mnch beyond a 
few. It is not so large as the red hare, but is almost as good 
eating. During the winter it becomes white, with a few dark 


172 FAUNA OF GLENCAIRN. 


hairs standing out in the fur as if to lend a greater purity to its 
winter coat. The tip of the ears remains dark. 


RABBIT (Lepus cunicu/us). 


It seems hard to believe that about fifty years ago rabbits 
were almost, if not, non-existent in this district, where now you 
can scarcely traverse a field, hillside, or wooded patch without 
putting up one. When allowed to run riot it does a great deal of 
damage and harm, but when kept in proper subjection it is doubt- 
less a source of some profit and pleasure to the farmer. Like the 
brown rat, it is wonderously prolific, and the amount of progeny 
_ one pair can produce in a single breeding season is enormous. In 
this district it is numerous from the lowest valley to the highest 
hill. It is common to find one with malformed front teeth, one 
growing straight out from the jaw for as much as two inches, the 
other teeth curving inwards, where in time they would cause the 
death of the unfortunate animal. These malformations are no 
doubt caused through an accident to the teeth or jaw, usually a 
shot wound either in the teeth or in the jawbone. Black ones and 
white ones are common, although in their true wild state grey is 
the natural colour. 

BLACK RAv (A@us rattus). 


Extinct in the memory of the senior generation ; was smaller 
than the Brown Rat. 


FOUMART (Mustela putorius). 


Attacked poultry yards and game ; confined now to 
inaccessible retreats. 


Il.— Ledward /. at Sweetheart Abbey. By HE. J. CHINNOCK, LL.D. 


The historical field of Dumfriesshire and Galloway has been 
so well reaped and gleaned by our Society that it is very rarely 
that anything fresh can be brought forward, But I think that I 
have picked up one little stray stalk passed over by the cleaners, 
which I now proceed to hand into the garner of our ‘ Proceed- 
ings.” After crushing Wallace, Edward I. spent a considerable 
time in reducing various parts of Scotland to subjection. He 
met with vigorous resistance at Carlaverock, but after a long 
siege, took the castle about July 10, 1300. My old friend, the 


‘iii 


EDWARD [. AT SWEETHEART ABBEY. ies 


late Mr M‘Dowall, in his History of Dumfries, gives a full de- 
scription of the siege. Just as Edward was completing the sub- 
jugation of the country, the Pope Boniface VIII. laid claim to 
Scotland as a fief of Rome, and bade the King to cease molest- 
ing the Scots. Neither Pope nor King had the slightest claim 
to the country, but the latter determined to resist the Pope’s 
extraordinary assumption, which was made in a bull dated 
at Anagni, 27 June, 1299. The Pope sent the bull to Robert 
Winchelsea, Archbishop of Canterbury, with a letter in which 
he told him to deliver it to Edward with his own hand. The 
Archbishop, accompanied by a papal envoy, Lumbardus, did 
so at Carlaverock, 24 August, 1300, according to the histories. . 
So says Burton and so says M‘Dowall. This scene was an im- 
portant event in the history of Scotland and a still more important 
one in that of England. But in reading Bishop Stubbs’s Consti- 
tutional History I tind that the date of the interview is given 27 
August, 1300, and the scene Sweetheart Abbey. I find that 
Edward was not at Carlaverock in August, 1300. After taking 
the castle he marched through Galloway and advanced as far as 
Irvine. He did not leave Galloway till the end of October. Mr 
Hunt in his Life of Edward IJ., and Professor Tout in his Life of 
Winchelsea in the Dictionary of National Biography, agree with 
Bishop Stubbs in the place and the date. There is no doubt of 
the correctness of these facts, as they are derived from a letter 
from Winchelsea himself to the Pope, dated Otford, 8 October, 
1300, in which he relates in detail his long journey to Carlisle, the 
difficulty he had in reaching the King, his perils frcm the sea and 
the Scots, and lastly his interview with Edward at Sweetheart 
Abbey on 27 August, 1300. See Chronicles of Edward I. and 
Edward II. (Annales Londinenses, pages 104-108, Rolls Series). 
Sweetheart Abbey was quite new when this celebrated event 
occurred, having been founded only twenty-five years before by 
Devorgilla. The chronicler, Walsingham, tells us that Winchel- 
sea added an exhortation of his own to the Pope’s command; and 
spoke of the safety of the citizens of Jerusalem and how those 
who trusted in God were as Mount Zion (Psalm 125, 1). “ By 
God’s blood,” shouted the King, ‘“‘I will not hold my peace for 
Zion, nor keep silence for Jerusalem (Isaiah 62, 1), while breath 
is in my nostrils, but I will defend my right that is known to 
all the world with all my might.” In acknowledging the 


174 EDWARD I. AT SWEETHEART ABBEY. 


receipt of the bull, he told the Pope that ‘“ it is the custom of 
the realm of England that in matters touching the state of the 
same realm there should be asked the counsel of all whom the 
thing concerns.” This is a repetition of the statement already 
made by Edward when he summoned the model Parliament of 
1295, which established the representation of the Commons. 
‘That which touches all shall be approved by all; it is very 
evident that common dangers must be met by measures concerted 
in common.” 

The interview at Sweetheart Abbey between Edward, Win- 
chelsea, and Lumbardus is interesting to the student of English 
history, because it brought about the first statement from King 
and Parliament declaratory of the fact that England was free 
from the Pope’s dictation. This was the first step in the move- 
ment which ended in the Reformation under Henry VIII. The 
King summoned a Parliament which met at Lincoln in January, 
1301. A letter was drawn up by the Barons and sent to the 
Pope, affirming that the Kings of England never have answered 
or ought to have answered touching any of their temporal rights 
before any judge, ecclesiastical or secular, by the free pre- 
eminence of the state of their royal dignity and by custom irre- 
fragably preserved at all times. 

I have consulted the Chronicle of Matthew of Westminster, 
and find that he also states that the Archbishop of Canterbury in 
writing to the Pope said that he met the King at the New Abbey 
of Duzquer in Galloway. On consulting Dr Wilson, of New 
Abbey, I find that Duzquer is a corrupted form of Doux Ceeur, 
the Norman translation of Dulce Cor (Sweet Heart). The Nor- 
man form Douzquer was a frequent name for the Abbey in 
Plantagenet times. 


14th March, 1902. 
Mr JAMES BARBOUR, F.S.A. Scot., Architect, in the chair. 
Donations and Exchanges.—Annals of the New York Academy 


of Science, Vol. XIV., pt. 1; Annual Report of the Bureau of 
American Ethnology. 


a 


——————E—EEereer 


THE IRVINGS OF HODDOM. 175 


Exhibits —The Treasurer exhibited, on behalf of Mr James 
M‘Cargo, Kirkpatrick-Durham, a rubbing of a sculptured stone 
found at Kirkpatrick-Durham. 


COMMUNICATION. 


“ The Irvings of Hoddom.” By Mr GEORGE IRVING, Corbridge- 
on-Tyne. 


There is no accurate account of when the ancestors of the 
Irvings, called “The Dukes of Hoddom,” first settled there, but 
it was probably about the end of the twelfth or beginning of the 
thirteenth century. Whether they came from Ayrshire or Nor- 
mandy is not quite certain. The more generally recognised view 
is that they migrated from Cunningham in Ayrshire. When the 
Irvings were first induced to leave Ayrshire and settle on the 
Scots border to form a border guard, they planted themselves at 
Auchenrivock, on the banks of the Irving Burn, near Langholm, 
where they had a tower, a fragment of which still stands, forming 
part of the garden wall. They quickly spread from the Esk to 
Annandale and Nithsdale, where they could watch the fords from 
the Esk to the Nith. That part of the clan which settled in 
Hoddom is supposed to have had its first stronghold where the 
farm of Hallguards now stands. This was near the centre of the 
ancient village of Hoddom. The site of the Townhead is still 
known by some cottages of that name. It is believed that the 
village extended from the Townhead along the river side to 
below the old churchyard. Another cluster of small farms stood 
where a solitary cottage now stands, about three-quarters of a 
mile from Hoddom Bridge on the road to Ecclefechan. 

It is evident that the Irvings were firmly established in 
Lower Annandale when Robert de Brus fled from Edward Long- 
shanks, for he took shelter among them for some months. Bruce, 
as Lord of Annandale, subsequently built castles at Annan, 
Hoddom, Castlemilk, and Lochmaben, These strongholds show 
how much importance Bruce attached to Annandale as the direct 
route from England to Scotland. 

It is not known when the chief in Hoddom was first 
honoured as Duke of Hoddom. ‘The first mention of the title I 
have come across was in 1490 of the “ good Duke Ritchie of old,” 


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THE IRVINGS OF HopDomM. Ly Gf 


which indicates that the title had been in familiar use for a con- 
siderable time, and it was certainly used down to the middle of 
the 17th century, or over 200 years. The clan appears to have 
had all the land in the ancient parishes of Hoddom, Luce, Eccle- 
fechan, and Trailtrow, with a part of St. Mungo. In the various 
changes that took place in the following centuries the Dukes of 
Hoddom seem to have lost a large portion of their patrimony, but 
kept hold of Knockhill and Whitehill, which latter place they 
have held through all the stress and strife of five or six centuries. 
Tradition says that the name of Knockhill was given to the place 
by the first Irving who settled there in remembrance of the old 
home in Cunningham. Be this as it may, there have been 
Irvings in Hoddom for centuries, and they were known as Dukes 
of Hoddom from the early part of the 15th century to the middle 
of the 17th. 

From the Solway to Milk Water they were often called 
upon to defend their lands and heritage, and took an active part 
in all the wars. There were Irvings at Knockhill, Irvings at 
Trailtrow, Irvings at Kirkconnel, Luce, Turnschaw, Cleughheads, 
Warmanbie, Blacketlees, Hurkildail, Annan, and Stapleton, with- 
out taking into account the range of towers that extended on 
both sides of the Kirtle from the Lochmaben Staines at the mouth 
of Kirtle Water to Birrenswark. 

The Irvings at Trailtrow kept up the bonfires on Trailtrow 
before the Tower of Repentance was built, and had a farm 
adjoining, called Ward Park, for doing so. In 1541 Habby of 
Trailtrow had two sons, John and Dick. That was before the 
Tower was built. 

The Laird of Knockhill was recegnised as the head of the 
clans in Hoddom, and was known as the Duc. This meant 
leader, or “chieftain,” as we find in a marginal note of the revised 
version of the Bible as the explanation of the title ‘“ Ducs of 
Edom.” 

In a charter by Robert de Brus of fishings at Blaaswatwood 
(in Gretna) Robert de Hodelm was a witness, circa 1190, but it 
does not say whether he was a Knight or a Priest. On Bleau’s 
map, 1660, “ The Duke of Hoddom” is indicated as including a 
considerable stretch of land from the river up to Barr Hill and 
Knockhill. He is also called ‘“ Duke of Hoddom” on Moll’s 
map, 1725. In “ Acta Dominorum Concilii, 6th November, 1490,” 


178 THE IRVINGS OF HODDOM. 


we have reference to “ John Irvin callit the Duc,” and to Thomas 
Rae. 

‘“« Afternoon Sederunt, the Bishops of Glasgow and Aberdeen, 
Chancellor Earl of Buchan, Lords Gray, Olephant, Drummond, 
Secretary Mr Richard Lawsoun.” | 

“The Lordis of Consale decrettis and delinerie that Johne 
Lindesay of Wauchop and William Graham of Moskeswray 
(Shaw) sall content and pay to Robert Costrale, Walkare in Lin- 
lithgow, a tauny wob conteuand XX elnis of walkit claith, price 
XXLI., quhilk was delinerit to the said Robert be Elspeth, the 
spouse of umquhile John Butlare, for the quhilkis the saidis Johne 
Lindesay and William Graham becom souerte for Johne Irwin, 
callit the Duc, and Thomas Rae, quhilkis Johne and Thomas tuk 
thaim to our souerane Lordis remissionu therefor in the Justice Are 
of Drumfrese, and the saidis Johne Lindesay and William Betoun 
souerte for satisfactioun of party ; as was preffit be the copy of 
the Adinruale subscripsit with the hand of Maister Richard 
Lawsoun, Justice clerk, schewin and producit before the Lordis. 
And ordinis our souerane Lordis letteris be direct to distreuse 
the said personis thair landis and gudis herfore, and that were 
summond to this accioun oft-tymes callit and nocht comperit.”* 

It will be observed that the John Irwin, callit the Duc, and 
Thomas Rae were jointly concerned. The great centre of the 
Raes was at Trailtrow, where many of their descendants still live. 
Indeed the old churchyard at Repentance has a great many tomb- 
stones bearing the name. Their shields bear three roe deer, 
whilst those of the Irvings bear three holly leaves. We do not 
know what was the result of the above “ decretti.” It indicates 
that the then Duc was a prominent man, and evidently had been 
established at Hoddom for a long time. 

Bruce built castles at Hoddom, Castlemilk, and Lochmaben, 
and the Duc’s Tower was halfway between Hoddom and Castle- 
milk, 

John Irving of Staikheugh was wrongly imprisoned in 
Carlisle Castle for half a year, and Maxwell, the warden, com- 
plained of this to the King in May, 1592. 


*Sir M. Lindesay owned Wauchopdale 1333. He was at one time 
Governor of Perth. 


n 
Eo 


Tur IRVINGS oF Hoppom. 179 


In 1545 we find ‘‘ Duke Richard ” of Hoddom mentioned as 
having 142 followers. (Callendar of State Papers, 1547-1565.) 

In 1552 among the Scotchmen sworn to serve the Kynges 
Majisty were the following :— 

““Rychie Irwin called ‘ Dukes Rychie’ and those 
“under him 127 (Hoddom).” 

“ Ceristie Irwin called Matthews Crestie 74 
“(these would be of Pennersax).” 

“Wat Yerwin 22. Turnschaw.” 

When William, Lord Herries, died in 1547, Hoddom, of 
which Knockhill then formed part, was left to his three daughters, 
Lady Agnes, who married John, Master of Maxwell, Lady 
Katherine, who married Stewart, son and heir to Alexander 
Stewart of Garlies, and the youngest daughter, Lady Janet, who 
married James Cockburn of Skirling, Knight. Lady Janet had a 
tocher of 2300 merks. 

In 1581 Barbara Stewart, daughter of Alexander Stewart 
and Dame Katherine Herries, one of the three co-heiresses of 
Hoddom, married John Kirkpatrick, heir apparent to Thomas 
Kirkpatrick of Allisland, so that the Sharpes of Hoddom were 
lineal descendants of Katherine Herries of Hoddom. Lady Agnes 
in February, 1549, got a crown charter of the third part of the 
£20 land of Hoddom, her sisters getting the other two-thirds. 
On the 20th May following (1549) Lady Agnes made over this 
charter to Richard Irving, which ran as follows :— 

“To all and Sundry &c. Agnes Herries, eldest daughter 
and one of the three heirs of that noble and potent Lord William 
Herries and spouse to John Master of Maxwell (Afterwards 
Lord Warden) with the express consent and assent of my beloved 
husband, for the good and faithful services done to him and me 
by our well beloved Richard Irving (called of old Duke Richie) 
and to be done in time to come, and we being willing and most 
earnestly desiring thankfully to reward the said Richard &c. 
Not only to have given and disponed and by this our present 
charter confirmed but also by these present gives grants and by 
this present charter confirms to the said Richard his heirs and 
assigns All and haill That third part of all and haill my twenty 
pound land of old extent of Hoddom extending to one ten merk 
land of old extent with its pertinents lying within the Parish of 
Hoddom and Stewartry of Annandale &c. to the said Richard 


180 THE IRVINGS OF HODDOM. 


Irving (otherwise called Duke Richie) his heirs and assigns of me 
and my heirs and assignees in feu and heritage for ever. In its 
haill meaths and marches both old and divided as they lie in 
length and breadth in valleys plains muirs mosses ways paths 
waters stanks rivers meadows pastures and pasturages mills 
millheads with their sequels hawking hunting fishing turfs peats 
coals cunnings cunningards dewes dewcots smith-smidies broms 
whins woods frogs bushes timber-trees quarries freestone and 
whinstone with courts with their appertenants, bloodwitts and 
the Marchel Mulievum &c. &c. beneath the earth and above the 
earth far and near belonging or any ways known to appurtain and 
belong to the said third part of the foresaid twenty pound land 
&c. Therefore yearly the said Richard Irving his heirs and 
assigns for-said to me my heirs and assigns waived and relief of 
the foresaid lands with their pertinents with the marriage of the 
heir when it shall happen &c. I the above named Agnes Herries 
with consent and assent of my said husband binds and charges us 
our heirs and assignees to acquit and for ever to defend All and 
haill the forsaid third part of the Twenty pound land &c. to the 
said Richard Irving his heirs and assignees foresaid to be free safe 
and sure at all hands and against all deadly.” 

‘‘ In Witness thereof I have subscribed this my Charter and 
appended my seal together with the seal and manual subtz of the 
said John Master of Maxwell my said husband. In token of his 
consent and assent to the premises at Dumfries the twenty day of 
May and year of God One thousand five hundred and forty nine 
before these witnesses, John Haypaith, David Maxwell, John 
Maxwell, Cuthbert Irving of Rogill (Robgill), and Mr John.” 

“ David Neaper notar public sic subtz Agnes Herries led on 
the pen by David Neaper notar sic subtz David Neaper notar sic 
subtz John Maxwell.” 

The twenty pound land was the whole of what belonged to 
the Lord William Herries in Hoddom, except the ten pound land 
of Ecclefechan. His daughter Agnes got one-third, and that is 
what is represented by the ten merkland of Knockhill, Whitehill, 
and Duke’s Close, which became the property of Richard Irving. 
Tho old Valuation Roll (1667) gives the Ten Merk land of 
Hoddom as Knockhill, Whitehill so far as lies in Hoddom, and 
Duke’s Close. About a quarter of a mile down the river from 
Hallguards there is the ‘“Duke’s Pool.” There is also the 


THE IRVINGS OF HoDDOM. 181 


“Duke’s Mill” close to, and the ‘‘ Duke’s Meadow” betweeu 
Knockhill and Hallguards. Though there is no direct evidence 
as to the earliest residence of the Dukes of Hoddom in the early 
times except Knockhill, Bleau’s and Moll’s maps rather suggest 
the probability that the first Richard Irving lived at Hallguards. 

It is not known what valuable services Duke Richard 
rendered to Lord and Lady Herries, but it is probably in connec- 
tion with the driving of Lords Wharton and Lennox back over 
the border in 1548. No doubt the Duke of Hoddom would suffer 
severely along with his neighbours during Wharton’s ruthless 
invasion, more especially as Hoddom was on the direct route of 
Wharton’s march when he marched from Carlisle to Castlemilk 
and from Castlemilk to Annan in 1547. 

The Duke of Hoddom was a supporter of Queen Mary, and 
fought at the battle of Langside in 1568. His neighbour, Lord 
Herries, was in command of the horse, consisting entirely of 
Borderers, mostly of his own adherents. Mary was defeated and 
fled, and I need not further refer to that disastrous part of her 
history. The adherents of the unfortunate Mary were after- 
wards treated very severely, and no doubt when James VI. and 
Regent Murray, on their march, in October, 1569, from Hawick 
to Dumfries, via Langholm and Hoddom, when they lay in camp 
at Castlemilk for two days, visited the Queen’s sympathisers in 
the district with no gentle hands. On the 28th October, 1469, 
when James VI. with Murray encamped on the Water of Milk, 

_ “ Sir James Douglas oblissit him to enter Edward Irving of Bon- 
shaw in Dumfries on Sunday as Pledge for the haill Irvings of 
Bonshaw, their bairns, tenants, and servants.” The same day 
“ Adam Carlisle of Bryde Kirk and John Irving younger son of 
the Duke oblissit them to enter the Duke John Irving aldar (ce., 
senior) in Dumfries on Sunday to ly as Pledge for sic nowmer of 
the Irvings of Hoddom as salbe declarit that day under the pane 
of 2000 merks.” “The whilk day Alexander Stewart of Garleiss 
oblissit him that Habbie Irving of Turnschaw, John Irving and 
Wat Irving his son shall appear in Dumfries. Also for John 
Irving of Trailtrow that he and his bairns salbe obedient to the 
lawis. Also Sir James Douglas of Drumlanrig oblissit him for 
Habby Irving and Jauffray Irvings sonnis to Habby Irving of 

; Trailtrow that they shall be obedient to the laws 2000 merks.” 

I think the present representative of the Irvings of Trailtrow 


; 


182 THE IRVINGS OF HoODDOM. 


now resides at Dalton. mi pe years ago there was a Habbey 
Irving in Dalton. 

In 1570 Lord Brae made a raid into Dumfriesshire by 
order of Queen Elizabeth, to punish the inhabitants for the sup- 
port they had given to Queen Mary. On 21st April, 1570, Lord 
Scrope reported that he had entered Scotland and encamped at 
‘“‘ Heclefeaghan.” He states that le had “burned the town of 
Hoddame, Maynes, Troltrow, Revel, Calpoole, Blackshaw, Sher- 
rington, Bankend, Lowgher, Lowgherwood, and Hecklefeaghan,” 
They burned Dumfries to the ‘‘ Blackness of Ashes” and “ took 
and cast down the Castles of Carlanock, Hoddom, Dumfries.” In 
1578 there was a complaint of Alexander Carlisle on the occasion 
of some controversy between him and Jonne Irving called 
““Windie Duke ;” they had both been put in prison in Dumfries, 
Carlisle being kept there twenty-two months, Irving being let out 
on bail. 

Caution of Jonne Johnstone of that ilk for the entry before 
the King of Wm. Johnstone of Kirkhill, Joeth Johnstone of 
Brunnell, and Ritchie Irving of Wormanbie when wanted under 
pane of £1000. 

“Complaint of John Johnstone of that ilk, warden, that 
James Douglas of Drumlanrig, along with also the Carlisles and 
Trvings of Milflats and Turnshaw, Scottish outlaws, also the 
Grahams of Esk, Englishmen, together with the brother of Rose- 
treis Hucheon, the Grahams son, who married an Irving of 
Hoddom, with divers other broken men, went to the House of 
Boneshaw, and there by force and way of weir enterit therein 
and maisterfully set at liberty and take with them certain persons 
of the name of Bellis and Irvings to the number of 18, notorious 
robbers, which were warded by the said warden in the Tower of 
Boneshaw.” 

This rather looks as if the Laird of Boneshaw had not been 
at home, perhaps on purpose. Robert Grame, son of Hutcheon 
Grame of Netherby, married au Irving of Bonshaw and was slain, 
leaving a son called George, probably George of Renpatrick. 
Richard Grame, another son of Hutcheon, married an Irving of 
Hoddom. A sister of the above Richard married William 
Armstrong, alias Kynmont Willie, whom Buccleugh rescued from 
Carlisle Castle, and a son named Hutchin married a daughter of 
John Armstrong of the Hollas. These relationships account for 


THE IRVINGS OF HopDDoM. 183 


the active assistance rendered to Buccleugh by the Johnstones 
and Irvings, and the friendly neutrality of the Grahams, who 
were not to be seen in the Debateable Land that memorable 
night, 13th April, 1595. The Johnstones lay at Stanwix and 
formed a rearguard for Buccleugh, and the Irvings were stationed 
further back to give all needful assistance if Scrope and his men 
ventured across the Eden. 

In the year 1581 we find offers by Edward Irving of 
Bonshaw, George Grahame of Renpatrick, and John Irving of 
Knockhill, made to the Laird of Johnstone “and to the wyif and 
bayrnies”’ of the late William Johnstone in Hayhill, their kin, &c., 
for the offerers, their kin, &., ‘for being on the field at the 
unhappe slauchtter of the said unqihile Williame,” which they 
“ sayrlie repent.” 

first. They offer full repentance in their hearts, ‘“ beseiking 
God of his infintle gudenes that we be newar on the feyld quhare 
ewar siclyike offensis be committit, and ernistle cravis forgevness 
for Godis sake.” 

Secondly. They offer “ to try our innocens and to acquite ws 
and all ouris that nane of ws schot that unhappie schot quhareby 
the said William was slayne; not bare the said William no 
rankour in our harttis, and that be sic sufficient men as the 
Layrd of Johnstonn will appoint that we ar able to get or will do 
for us.” 

Thirdly. They offer George Irving, son to Edward, and 
“‘ Christe the Grahame,” son to George Graham, “to be enterit 
in the hous of the Lochwode to the Layrd of Johnstonn and 
thaire to byide sic tryale as the layrd will appoint that nane schot 
the sayde schot,” and if either of these be found guilty of shoot- 
ing the said William the offerers consent to their punishment 
without any prejudice to this offer. 

Fourthly. They offer to attend at any place appointed by the 
Laird and “ his wyise freynds ” and there in their linen clothes to 
knee] and ask forgiveness, and in token of homage and repent- 
ance take their naked swords by the points in their hands and 
offer them to the Laird, bairns and friends of the said William 
“in maner of sufferage”’ as may please them. 

Fifthly. They offer “‘to be bound as husband and father to 
the saidis wyif and bairnes” in all their affairs, and to take part 
with them against all who would do them wrong, except the 


184 THE IRVINGS OF Hoppom. 


King, their landlords, ‘‘ and sic otheris as we haif committit the 
lyike offence against.” 

Sixthly. They offer the sum of 500 merks to the family of 
deceased ; and 

Seventhly. Will increase their offers if the above are not 
accepted, the Laird and his friends to be judges. And finally 
they humbly crave forgiveness for the love of God. Dated 
February, 1581-82, the parties signing by Thomas Scot, notary, 
in presence of John Johnstone of that ilk, and Andrew Johnston 
of the Kirktown. 

The John Irving of Knockhill mentioned in the above appears 
to have had two sons, Richard and John. Richard succeeded to 
Knockhill, and John to Whitehill and Duke’s Close. This John, 
commonly called ‘ Jock o’ Milk,” the subject of the old Border 
ballad Duke of Milk, was celebrated as a rider and raider. 

Richard Lowther, the English Warden, refers to him in the 
following letter to Lord Burghley, dated Carlisle, 10th March, 
1593 :— 

‘““My son and servants, while on the watch for Scottish 
thieves, took four, one named John Irvine, of whom I had before 
been written to both by Lord Hamilton and Carmichael (Scottish 
Warden) and of whom the Lord Herries complained while at 
London. Ihave sent Irvine to Lord Hamilton and Carmichael, 
whom I wish to ‘ pleasure’ rather than to Herries, and hope you 
will approve.” 

He formed the subject of a conversation between James VI. 
and George Heriot, in the Fortunes of Nigel :— 

“D’ye mind, for thou wert in maist of our complots, how we 
were fain to send sax of the Blue-banders to harry the Lady of 
Logenhouse’s dewcot and poultry-yard, and what an awfer plaint 
the poor dame made against Jock o’ Milch and the theivis of 
Annandale, wha were as sackless of the deed as I am of the sin 
of murder ?” 

“It was the better for Jock,” said Heriot, “for if I remem- 
ber well it saved him from a strapping at Dumfries, which he had 
well deserved for other misdeeds.” 

“‘ Ay, man, mind ye that?” said the King, ‘“‘ but he had other 
virtues, for he was a tight huntsman, moreover, that Jock of 
Milch, and could halloa to a hound till all the woods rang again. 


a> 


TuE IRVINGS OF HopDDoM. 185 


But he came to an Annandale end at the last, for Lord Torthor- 
wald ran his lance out through him.” 

I have previously stated that Richard Irving succeeded to 
Knockhill, and that John (Jock o’ Milk) got Whitehill. Richard, 
who was in most of the troubles of the time, died about 1620, 
and was succeeded by his son Richard, known as the Young 
Duke. This Richard left three daughters, Margaret, Barbara, 
and Janet. Meanwhile Jock o’ Milk’s son, John Irving the Lang 
Laird, married a Johnstone, and their son, John Irving of White- 
hill, married Margaret Irving of Knockhill. Barbara married 
William Johnstone of Myrhead (Lockerbie), and Janet married 
George Irving of Braes. John Irving of Whitehill, son of the 
above John Irving and Margaret Irving, married Mary Bell, and 
on behalf of his mother and two aunts signed a disposition of the 
lands of Knockhill to George Johnstone, son of Andrew Johnstone 
of Lockerbie, in 1665. 

After the Union of the two Thrones of England and Scot- 
land, the Borderers for a good many years were in a transition 
state. Many complications as to ownership of lands and for loans 
had arisen, which led to a great deal of litigation, into which 
there entered a good many border tactics. The records of the 
Law Courts contain many examples of acts of violence, in which 
the Dukes of Hoddom and their followers figured. 

In 1657 Parliament passed “ An Act for the better suppres- 
sing of Theft upon the Borders of England and Scotland, and for 
Discovery of Highwaymen and other Felons.” 

In the Book of Caerlaverock, Vol. II., page 498, the following 
appears about the Irvings’ Respite by James VI. to Sir James 
Johnstone and 8 score others for the slaughter of John Lord 
Maxwell, warden, Dec. 1593, including John Irving of Lus,- 
Habbie Irving of Turnschaw, Richie Irving in Staikcleuch, and 
Ekkie Irving, his brother, William Irving called Kange, Edward 
Irving of Bonshaw, and his sons. 

Turnschaw is on the opposite side of the River Annan, close 
to Woodcockair, and nearly opposite Meinfoot. In the old maps 
it is represented as a place of importance, but is now known as 
Upper Bridekirk and a farm-house called Turnschaw Head. 

** John Irving of Turnschaw haying been transferred from 
Edinburgh Castle to James Chene of Streloch and escaped from 
him, forfeited 3000 merks.” 


186 THE IRVINGS OF HODDOM. 


“ Richard Irving of Robgill, William Irving of Skallis, and 


50 others, destroyed goods belonging to Maxwell of Nether 
Redik.” 

‘Complaint of Herbert Maxwell of Cavens against Ritchie 
Irving in Hartildill and James Irving in Trailtrow outlawed.” 

“Decree for Bessie Miller and others against Jock Armstrong 
and Jock Irving in Stanheuch on a charge of Spuilzie and 
slaughter.” 

“Suspension of horning (outlawry) obtained against Lady 
Newbie and Richard Irving of Hoddom by the laird of John- 
stone.” 

“John Maxwell of Conhaith and Robert Herries of Hillilour 
for Elizabeth Stewart Ladie Newbie 1000 merks, and for Richard 
Irving Duke of Hoddom 500 merks, to answer before the 
Council on the 24th the complaint against them by Sir James 
Johnstone of Dunskellie.” 

‘Complaint against them by Sir James Johnston of Duns- 
kellie for intromitting with the corns growing on the lands of 
Newbie.” 

“Mr J. Johnston, advocate for Abraham Johnston, brother 
of Robert Johnston on Brighome, to pay to the treasury 10 merks 
for his escheat through being denounced rebel at the instance of 
Elizabeth Stewart, relict of John Johnston of Newbie, for his not 
desisting from intromitting with the maills of the living of 
Newbie.” 

Richard Irving of Knockhill is a witness (in a trial). 

“ Minute Book of Progress Suspension of Lawbarrowis, 
Richard Irving against the Lord Herries.” 

John Irving, called the Lang Laird of Hoddom, and his son, 
the Young Laird of Hoddom, were tried for Raiding, the elder 
was acquitted, the younger was banished the land. 

On the 21st June, 1621, we have the complaint of Robert 
Maxwell of Dinwoodie how the laird of Wamfrau and others, 
and Richard Irving, called ‘the young Duke of Hoddom,” came 
and destroyed his peats and chased his cattle with the buttends 
of their lances, so that some were left dead on the ground and 
others broke their legs. Had to find security. 

In 1622, caution by Richard Irving of Knockhill that Andrew 
Murray of Moryquat shall not molest John Gibson in Kirkwood, 
bound in 390 merks. 


—— - = wee. 


THE IRVINGS oF Hoppom. 187 


“Jn 1622 James Irving of Cleucheld (now Mountannan) 
acted himself as cautioner and souertie for Edward Irving, son to 
Jaffray of Robgill.” 

“Court held in Dumfries, Feb. 12th, 1623, Wat Bell in 
Middleshaw becomes cautioner in 500 merks for Jok Bell.” 

“ Jaffray Irving becomes cautioner in 500 merks for David 
Irving in Middleshaw.” Middleshaw was a third of Castlemilk. 

“Hob Irving in Todhoilles becomes cautioner in 500 merks 
for John Irving in Woodheld in Stapletown.” 

“ John Bell in Albie cautioner in 500 merks for Christie 
Irving called of Rogill.” 

* Willie Bell, called Reidcloak, becomes cautioner in 1000 
merks that Robeine Bell and Jok Bell in Carruthers will appear 
in next court.” 

“Court held in Dumfries 1623. 

*« Pannell consists amongst others of Richart Irving called 
Gawines Richie.” 

“Geo. Colthart charged with resetting and maintaining 
Richie Irving in Wodhouse and Jaffray Irving of Robgill, fugi- 
tives and outlaws. (Acquitted.)” 

“On April 23rd, 1623, Court held in Dumfries. On hair 
John Irving, called Lang Laird of Hoddom; James Irving, his 
brother ; and Jean Johnstone, his spouse, ar accusit for airt and 
pairt of the thifteous steilling of seven gaitt furth of the lands of 
Brockshaw at several times pertening to Elizabeth Hardie and 
for the cruel burning of ane barn of corne beir quheit and ry 
purtaining to William Bell in Holmhead. Acquitted.” 

* At a court held at Jetborough, August 28th, 1622, John 
Irving, young Laird of Hoddom, was accused of steilling twa ky 
out of the lands of Gimmenbie and tuk them to a sheep house in 
Hoddom. (Acquitted).” 

*« At the same court held at Jetborough, August 28th, 1622, 
23 persons declared fugitives and outlawed for no appearance, 
amongst others John Irving called Ritchies Jokkie in Bankhead.” 

* At a court, held at Jetborough, 19th April, 1623, John 
Elliott, that came from Carleill, and Edward Irving, son to Lang 
Will of Hoddom, acted themselves to depart presently from Scot- 
land and never to return without the licence of the Lords of 
Council under pane of death.” 

George Johnstone, to whom Knockhill was disponed, married 


188 THE IRVINGS OF HODDOM. 


Isabel Weir of Edinburgh in 1670, but died in 1672, leaving an 


only son Andrew. This boy’s mother married again in 1675 John 
Stark of Killearmount in Ayrshire. 

In 1702 John Irving, son of John Irving and Mary Bell, 
married Isabel Stark, daughter of John Stark and Isabel Weir 
Johnstone or Stark, so that Andrew Johnstone and John Irving’s 
wife were half-brother and sister. This John Irving seems to 
have been a good business man, and was concerned with the 
management of James Douglas of Dornock’s extensive estates as 
long as he lived. In 1743 he gave most detailed evidence as to 
the rentals and boundaries before the Commission for enclosing 
Hoddom Common. Dornock was the second son of the Earl of 
Queensbury, and was brother to Kelhead. He married a daughter 
of Sir James Johnstone of Westerhall, and his son Archibald 
Douglas, who married a daughter of Sir Patrick Maxwell of 
Springkell, sold the Dornock estate and bought that of Castlemilk. 

John Irving and Isabel Stark left a son, John, who died 
unmarried in 1777, and left a will, dated 12th June, 1773, by 
which he ‘ bequeathed in favours Agnes, Mary, and Philadelphia 
Irvings, my sisters germain, in liferent for their liferent use 
allenarly, during their joint lives and the life of the longest 
liver, except the share of the said Mary Irving as aftermen- 
tioned, exclusive always of the jus marite of their respective 
husbands (Mary Irving married Thomas Bell), and to William 
Bell, writer in Edinburgh, my nephew and the heirs of his body 
failing to John Carruthers of Braes also my nepkew and the 
heirs of his body whom failing to John Carruthers of Denbie 
also my nephew son to Mary Carruthers sister to the said John 
Carruthers of Braes and my niece and the heirs of his body, 
whom failing to my heirs and assignees whatsomever heritably 
and irredeemably All and whole my Lands of Whitehill and 
Dukes Close lying in the Parish of Hoddom, and shire of Dum- 
fries As also all and whole my lands of Holmfoots of, Whitehill 
lying in the Parish of Saint Mungo.” . . ? He 
also granted power to Infeft by *‘ Staff and Badge as use is’ 

The successors were to ‘‘take and bear the sirname and 
designation of Irving of Whitehill and make Whitehill their 
place of residence and those succeeding to them in the said 
lands in virtue hereof shall do the like.” He also bequeathed 
all debts due to him, and “ particularly” a ‘‘ debt due to me out 


eee 


Tok IRVINGS oF Hoppom. 189 


of the Estate of Dornock, another debt due out of the lands of 
Cocket Hill being part of the Estate of Rummerscales, another 
due to me out of the Estate of Knockhill, another due to me out 
of the Estate of Castlebank ; as also a debt due to me by John 
Carruthers of Holmains, another due to me by Bonshaw, and 
another due to me by Janet Knox of Kirkconnell.” 

His heirs were also “to erect a handsome monument upon 
“the graves of John Irving and Isobell Stark, my father and 
mother.” 

*‘After the death of Thomas Bell his son, William Bell, 
assumed the name of Irving, and ever since the family name has 
been Bell-Irving.” 

The Bells, known as the Bells of Milk, were for generations 
settled on the Water of Milk, and Will Bell, the son of Thomas 
Bell and Mary Irving, who assumed the name of Bell-Irving, was 
the grandson of George Bell of Stronds (now Milkbank), Skelly- 
holme (now Glenholm), and Bankside. Agnes Irving married 
John Carruthers of Braes, her daughter married John Carruthers 
of Denbie, and their sen, Colonel Carruthers, afterwards succeeded 
to their property. 

The close relationship between the Johnstones and I[rvings 
led to a long law suit between the lairds of Knockhill and White- 
hill as to the division of the property, Whitehill having a claim of 
over £4000 on Knockhill. The matter was not finally arranged 
until 1794. 

About the beginning of the 19th century Knockhill was 
occupied by a Captain William Ogle, son of Henry Ogle of Causey 
Park, a scion of the ancient noble family of the Ogles of Ogle in 
Northumberland. The then John Beil-Irving, father of the 
present laird, married Miss Margaretta Ogle, hence the introduc- 
tion of the name Ogle into the Whitehill family. 

The following Genealogical Tree will illustrate the previous 
notes :— 


oC 


THE IRVINGS OF HopDoM. 


190 


(‘parery quosead ayy) 


: ‘ourpave Arey 
‘SULAIT-]]9g uyor ‘u0g 
| 
‘9180 VIQOIVSIL 
“Sulary-[Joq uyor ‘u0g 
| 
roqgsdureyy qorvcre yy 
‘Buraay Teg wer ‘moyden 
| 
‘TToq SvuoY Ty, *poriaeuun 
ae Arve ‘SuUIAIT uyor ‘u0g 
| | 


‘euUOySUYyOr MOIPUY 03 
Joqstsdoqs ‘y1V4g [oq RST 
‘SUIAIT UyOr ‘UOg 
| 
‘od Arey 
“BUTAIT UYOL “UOg 
| 
‘T[Lyyoouyy Jo ‘Surary qoarvsavpy 
THEYOIY MA JO Sutaay uyor,‘uog 
| 
‘uojsugor uvar 
‘pare'y Suey oy, poy[vo ‘ouraay ugor 
| 
“IMA JO JOOP payeo Soutaay uyor 
| 


‘006T OL GET ‘NOdaOR 


‘youve “ereqieg “qorvsiepy ‘egg 
| | | 
] 
‘od ‘SUTAI] prvyory “TZ9T 
| 
‘WOppoH JO 94xNCT por[vo “Buraay paeyory “GOT 
| 


| 
‘mOppoy fo 9yxncy parvo ATuourutoo ‘Suraay uyor “egGT 


| 
“paeyory eyn(y parvo Ajuoumoos “Sutaay pavyony “EFST 


TO SONTANT 


EE 


THE IRVINGS OF. HoppDom. 191 
JOHNSTONES OF KNOCKHILL—1665-1799. 


In 1665 the estate of Knockhill was sold by John Irving of 
Whitehill to George Johnstone, a writer in Edinburgh, after 
having been in the possession of the Irvings for 116 years. 
George Johnstone was described as son to Andrew Johnstone of 
Lockerbie, and said to be a descendant of the Johnstone, probably 
a grandson, who fought so bravely at Dryfe Sands (6th Dec., 
1593), whose wife was said to have killed Lord Maxwell. George 
Johnstone, before he acquired Knockhill, appears to have been 
the owner of Gimenbie. In Dryfesdale old churchyard there lies, 
or did lie, a flat antique gravestone on which may or might be 
deciphered the name ‘“‘ Johnstone of Gimenbie,” dated about 1680, 
and adjoining the old aisle belonging to the Johnstones of 
Lockerbie. This William Johnstone acted as second to his chief, 
Sir James Johnstone of Lochwood, on the occasion of a hostile 
meeting between him and Lord Maxwell on the summit of Croch- 
mede, a ridge between Annandale and Nithsdale, in 1608, when 
Sir James fell by the hand of Lord Maxwell, who is said to have 
shot Sir James in the back with a pistol while the preliminaries of 
the duel were being arranged. Lord Maxwell fled from justice, 
and was tracked by William Johnstone through Holland, Den- 
_ mark, and Norway, and back to the North of Scotland, where he 
was taken and subsequently tried and executed in the Grass 
Market of Edinburgh for the crime. 

The stone containing much of the above was there in 1775, 
but has long since disappeared. In some documents it is said the 
Lord Maxwell who was killed at the battle of Dryfe Sands fell in 
combat with this same William Johnstone, but this is not certain. 
This same family of Johnstone subsequently lost Gimenbie and 
Millantae, which they also had, and acquired Knockhill. 

George Johnstone was described in the disposition as a son 
of Andrew Johnstone of Lockerbie. He married Isabel Weir, 
daughter of Archibald Weir of Edinburgh and Elizabeth Hamilton, 
in 1670. Issue of said marriage, Andrew Johnstone. 

George Johnstone died two years after his son was born, and 
his widow Isabel Weir married John Stark of Killearmont. 
Isabell Stark, a daughter of this second marriage, married John 
Irving of White Hill. Afdrew Johnstone was therefore her half 
brother. 


192 THe Invinas oF Hoppom. 


The dispositior*of the lands had already been settled, but a 
claim in connection with the marriage settlement of Isabell Stark, 
due by Knockhil! to White Hill, began in 1672, and was only 
finally settled between Andrew Johnstone and William Bell- 
Irving in 1794, a nice gangin plea that kept its legs for 122 
years. 

“George Johnstone was succeeded by his son Andrew 
Johnstone. On 25th October, 1694, John Sharp of Hoddom as 
superior granted a precept of Clare Constat in favour of Andrew 
Johnstone as heir to his father (deceased) George Johnstone, 
writer, Edinburgh, of the third part of the £20 land old extent of 
Hoddom, extending to ten merkland of the same extent, with 
houses, buildings, gardens, tofts, crofts, onsets, insets, privileges, 
parts, pendicles, and pertinents of the same whatsomever, which 
lands above written at one time belonged heritably to the late 
Richard Irving, known as ‘Duke’s Richie, lying within the 
parish of Hoddom, &c., &c.” 

On 23rd May, 1710, Andrew Johnstone granted a bond for 
£1800 Scots upon the lands of Knockhill to George Sharp of ~ 
Hoddom, of which he was also superior, upon which infeftment 
followed. At Whitsunday, 1713, upon the death of Andrew 
Johnstone, Knockhill fell into the hands of John Sharp of Hoddom 
by virtue of the ward, and continued with him and his son George 
till Whitsunday, 1721, when James Johnstone, son of Andrew, 
obtained possession of the same. The above James Johnstone, 
though very young, joined the Rebellion of Mar in 1715, and 
fought at Sheriffmuir and Falkirk, and was afterwards banished 
to the West Indies, from which he returned in 1722. 

In 1736 a bond was granted on Knockhill by James John- 
stone in favour of John Irving of Whitehill and his spouse Isabel 
Stark, but Johnstone vever fulfilled his part of the contract, and 
matters drifted on till 1745, when Andrew Johnstone, the last 
laird, son of James, ‘‘enlisted into Prince Charles’ army behind 
Pate Irving’s peat stack in Ecclefechan,” and James himself being 
suspected of giving aid to the rebels had to fly the country. 
Andrew was taken prisoner, tried, and condemned to be executed 
at Carlisle, but was afterwards pardoned and deported to the 
West Indies. ‘ 

When under sentence of death he wrote the following letter 
to Whitehill :— 


SSS hee e”-—C— 


ee 


SESE. 


THE IRVINGS oF HopDOM. 193 


1746—* Dear Sir, I am informed that you have done all that 
lay in your power to assist me in my present situation, but 
according to the advice of my lawyer I pled guilty, hoping to be 
recommended to mercy,, but I am afraid that little will be shewn 
to any but such as can make interest at Court either for pardon 
or transportation. May God Almighty prosper you in all your 
undertakings for shewing as much humanity as you have done to 
him who did not deserve it at your hand.” 

In a subsequent letter, after he had got a transportation 
pardon, he wrote again in the following terms :— 

“TI am daily expecting to leave this place for Liverpool in 
order to embark for transportation, and God knows I am ill pro- 


‘vided for it.” He then goes on to mention having applied to 


numerous friends in vain, and makes a request of Whitehill to 
make an advance to him, with which he very readily complied. 

John Irving subsequently entered into possession of the 
lands of Knockhill, but commiserating the unfortunate position of 
James Johnstone and his son Andrew, he allowed the tenants to 
make payments to them from time to time, and soon himself 
assisted them with money, as appears from their letters, whilst 
Johnstone’s daughters and a younger son James continued to live 
at the Mains of Hoddom. 

John Irving was also in sympathy with the Jacobite rising 
of 1745, but no doubt his age, sixty-three, kept him at home. 
The following names of “ rebels” are included in the list returned 
by the supervisors of Excise on May 7th, 1746 :—“ John Irving 
of Whitehill was active in pressing horses for the service of the 


‘rebels, and threatening the constables who would not assist.” 


James Leslie Johnstone of Knockhill and Andrew Johnstone, 
his son, carried arms with the rebels from the time they left 
Edinburgh till they dispersed. William Johnstone of Lockerbie, 
Edward Irving of Wyseby, William Irving of Gribton, and James 
Irving, his son, were also implicated. After the Act of Indem- 
nity passed in 1749, James Johnstone again entered on the 
management of Knockhill. 

In the Session Records appear the following entry :—‘ June 
24th, 1753, John Brown the Frenchman (otherwise John Brutlie) 
and Margaret Johnstone, daughter to James Johnstone of Knock- 
hill, compeared before the congregation and was rebukt for their 
irregular marriage, and absolved from the scandel yrefe.” 


194 THE IRVINGS OF HoDDOoOM. 


John Irving of Whitehill, son of the one mentioned as assist- 
ing the rebels with horses, never took any action against him 
with regard to the deed until 1765, when Andrew Johnstone 
returned from the West Indies, where he had prospered. He 
then brought an action for payment before the Court of Session, 
but Johnstone having soon thereafter returned to the West 
Indies, nothing was done in the submission of the case. 

Andrew Johnstone again returned from the West Indies to 
Knockhill, and in 1787 William Bell-Irving had the whole law 
business up again before the Court of Session. This was finally 
arranged in 1794. 

The following is a copy of the “Inventory of Writs de- 
livered to Mr Alexander Orr, Writer to the Signet, when Knock- 
hill debt to Hoddom was paid.” 

1. ‘Charter of all and haill the third part of all and haill the 
twenty pound land of Hoddom of old extent, extending to a ten 
merk land of old extent lying within the parish of Hoddom and ° 
Stewartry of Annandale, granted by James, Harl of Southesk, to 
and in favour of George Johnston, writer in Edinburgh, dated 
15th August, 1666.” 

2. “ Instrument of Sasine proceeding upon a Charter of 
apprysing by the said James, Earl of Southesk, of the said lands 
in favour of Sir Charles Erskine, Baronet, dated 29th August, 
1666, and registrate in the general Register of Sasines at Edin- 
burgh, 11th September, said year.” 

3. ‘‘ Instrument of Sasine proceeding upon an heritable Bond 
of Corroboration granted by Andrew Johnstone of Knockhill to 
John Sharp of Hoddom, dated the 9th of May, 1696, and regis- 
trate in the general Register, 27th day of said month and year.” 

4. “Charter of Adjudication granted by John Sharp of 
Hoddom to and in favour of Isobell Stark, spouse to John Irving 
of Whitehill, of the said ten merkland of Knockhill, dated 6th 
July, 1714.” 

5. “Instrument of Sasine following thereon in favour of 
the said Isobell Stark, dated 28th October, 1714, and registrate 
at Dumfries 19th November said year.” 

“ Edinburgh, 23rd March, 1767.—Received up by me, Clerk 
to Alexander Orr, Writer to the Signet, the writs in the above 
Inventory from George Muir, Writer to the Signet.” 

(Signed) WILLIAM DEWAR. 


THE IRVINGS OF HoDDOM, 193 


At the enquiry into the various common rights in the parish 
in 1743 there was a dispute between Sharpe and the adjoining 
owners as to a place called Greenwoodshaw, now part of Mein- 
foot Farm, which Sharpe of Hoddom stated he had acquired from 
Johnstone of Knockhill in 1694 in satisfaction or part satisfaction 
of the debt incurred in 1710 to George Sharpe, and in support of 
his contention produced the following documents :— 

** Deed of Spuilzie before the Lords of Session at the instance 
of Wm. Armstrong in Bogside and John Irving of New Orchard 
against John Sharpe of Hoddom and others dated 16th February 
ape 

“ Charter by the Earle of Southesq in proceeding upon an 
apprising at yd instance of Mr John Alexander against Rob 
Irving of Knockhill and an oyr apprising in favour of Sir Charles 
Areskin of Cambo against Mr James Alexander son and heir of 
the said Mr John Alexander wh. Charter is dated 18th August 
1666.” 

“Instrument of Resignation by Andrew Johnstone of Knock- 
hill in favours of the said John Sharpe of Hoddom of Green- 
woodshaw extending to four acres or yrby possest by George 
Corrie in Hoddom, dated 28th December, 1694, regt. Drumfries 
the 3rd of Jany. yrafter.” 

“ Obligation by John Irving of Whitehill in favours of the 
said John Sharpe whereby the obligant as adjudgee of the ten 
merkland of Knockhill is bound to ratify the said John Sharpe his 
right of those parts yrof called Greenwoodshaw, Huttonsbog, and 
Bushyards when required for that effect, dated 7th July, 1714.” 

“As also there was produced by James Lesly Johnstone of 
Knockhill cited at the instance of the psr as a havor of writis for 
proveing the payment aforementioned Translation by the said 
John Sharpe of Hoddom in Implement of an Agreement yrin 
mend dated the......... dary; OF 29522. orton 1694.” 

His son, Andrew Johnstone, the last laird, went out in 1745 
and fought at Prestonpans and Culloden, was captured, tried, and 
condemned to death at Carlisle. After lying in Carlisle prison for 
some time he and others were transported to the West Indies. 
He returned to Knockhill and built the present house. It is 
supposed he pulled down the old tower which, as far as I have 
been able to make out, stood a few yards in front of the present 
house, where some large trees are growing. He lived to a great 


196 THE IRVINGS OF HODDOM. 


age, and died about 1798 or 1799. The late Charles Stewart of 
Hillside, writing in 1862, ‘said he had a shadowy remembrance 
of the tall bent figure of the old cavalier, who was regarded with 
a sort of romantic respect by our country people, among whom 
passed many a story of these lairds of Knockhill. Said he had 
heard especially from old Colonel Carruthers of Denbie, who 
personally knew the last laird, their extraordinary feats of per- 
sonal bravery in battle, and also of the remarkable coolness and 
even jocular hilarity of the last laird when under sentence of 
death. His good and ladylike widow, who survived him a few 
years and lived at Bankside, excited the talk of our more bigoted 
Presbyterians at the scandal of having the burial service of the 
Episcopal Church (to which she was strongly attached) read by a 
most worthy Scotch clergyman at her burial in Hoddom Church- 
yard. The only remnant of this old family that I know of is the 
proprietrix of Catlinns in Dryfesdale, who is a descendant of the 
Knockhill of 1715. The family were distinguished for their fidelity 
and devotion to the cause they thought right, and for the courage, 
gallantry, and determination of characters of these Jobnstones of 
Gimmenbie and Knockhill.” 

In 1794 Andrew Johnstone was entered in the list of 39 
Volunteers from Hoddom. Charles Sharpe, D.L., signed the 
declaration first and Johnstone second. The list was also signed 
by Wm. Bell-Irving of Whitehill. Andrew Johnstone died in 
1798 or 1799, and was interred in Hoddom Churchyard. I regret 
I have not been able to find his tombstone. There is a very old 
aisle called Knockhill aisle on the south side of the church, which 
appears to have been built against the wall of the old church 
pulled down in 1816, and shewn upon the photograph which 
accompanies this paper. The Johnstones may have been interred 
there, but there is no inscription of the name. The Scott family 
is buried there. The masonry of the aisle indicates a much older 
date than the beginning of the 19th century. It is probable that 
the Johnstones’ stones have been covered up. 

I have not been able to trace the history of John Brown (the 
Frenchman) and Margaret Johnstone. There may be some of 
their descendants living. 

After the death of Andrew Johnstone, Knockhill was sold to 
Mr Lascelles, a member of a Yorkshire family, who appears to 
have got possession at Martinmas, 1801. He does not appear to 


THE IRVINGS OF HoDDOM. 197 


have been very well provided with money, for Sharpe of Hoddom 
had a good deal of difficulty, according to a letter from Andrew 
Maewhinnie, his law agent, in getting paid the “ Compositi 
agreed upon for your charter of the Estate of Knockhill to Mr 
Lascelles, Being £300 and 2 years feu duty of that Estate to 
Martinmas last, £2 6s 6d, in all £302 6s 6d. This was paid on 
6th July, 1804, Lascelles had granted a Bill upon a Brother in 
England for the Needful, but his legal agent, Mr Young, delayed 
advancing the money until he got advice that the Bill was paid.” 
Very prudent. 

Andrew Macwhinnie, Hoddom’s law agent, in advising the 
above, said “the matter was now settled and I think much to 
your advantage, as I believe they were entitled to have deducted 
a fifth part of the Gross Rental for Teind, in place of £19 19s 6d, 
the valued Teind.” 

Lascelles was not on friendly terms at The Castle. Mr C. 
K. Sharpe, writing to his sister, hoped he would never be allowed 
to enter Hoddom Castle again, and described him as one of the 
leading wasps in the hornet’s nest of Dumfriesshire. It looks as 
if there had been some love affair at the bottom of C. K. Sharpe’s 
dislike. 

After holding Knockhill for a few years, Lascelles sold it to 
Alexander John Scott, who held it until he died on 26th April, 
1834, aged 68 years. He was married to a Miss Helen Curll, 
and left a son, Alexander, who died in New South Wales, 16th 
February, 1850, aged 35. Another son, Gideon Andrew Scott, 
was drowned on his passage home from New South Wales, 8th 
January, 1863, aged 41. I am informed that there is a daughter 
of Alexander John Scott still living. The Scotts came from the 
neighbourhood of Langholm. I am indebted to a correspondent 
for the following interesting communication :— 

“‘ About the latter end of the 18th century there were some 
families of the name of Scott in Eskdale, dry ‘stone dykers. A 
son of one of these Scotts emigrated to the West Indies and was 
not heard of for many years. In the course of time a letter 
came from him to all his relations, saying that he was very much 
in want of money at that time, and that he would be much 
obliged if they would lend him as much as they could. Only 
one, Alexander Scott, stone dyker, responded to his appeal by 
sending him £30, all the money he had. Some years after the 


Built into inside wall Knockhill Summer House. 


THE IRVINGS OF HoDDOM. 199 


West Indian planter died and left all his fortune to the stone 
dyker, somewhere about £80,000. The man married and after- 
wards bought Knockhill, for which he paid about £30,000. He 
had a family, who after his death sold it to General Matthew 
Sharpe about 25 years after, for about half that price. The 
daughters married, but the sons emigrated to Australia, where 
they died.” 

I am informed that General Sharpe bought Knockhill in 
1841,:and that the price was £15,000. 

During the time that Mr Scott owned Knockhill it was the 
scene of a tragedy. A young man named Bell from the neigh- 
bourhood, who had been to see his sweetheart, was heard by the 
butler, who shot him when escaping through a basement window. 
The butler was tried and acquitted. It is needless to say that 
Knockhill was haunted by a ghost for some time after. The 
ghost made so much noise that they could not get the servants to 
stay. At last the owner got the Reverend W. Wallace Duncan, 
then helper to Mr Yorstoun, the Parish Minister, to go and sleep 
in the house. Whether it was the good man’s saintly presence or 
his bodily powers that were disagreeable to the ghost no one 
knew, but the ghost saw fit to change its quarters and was no 
more heard of at Knockhill. A Colonel Little, a native of the 
neighbourhood of Langholm, who had been in the East India 
Company’s service, was an occupant for a few years. He 
removed to York and died there. He was succeeded by Sir 
Patrick Heron Maxwell, Baronet, of Springkell, who was killed 
by a fall from his horse on 27th August, 1844. A few years 
after the death of Sir Patrick, Mr William Sharpe occupied it 
until his death on December 18th, 1875, in his 83rd year. After 
Mr William Sharpe’s death it was sold to Edward Brook, Esq. 

If anyone could write a history of the late William Sharpe 
and the doings at Knockhill in his day, it would make a most 
interesting volume. He was the most genial and hospitable of 
lairds, and Knockhill was perhaps the most unique and popular 
_ establishment in the south of Scotland. There all sorts and con- 
ditions of men were welcome if they were of the right sort, and 
_ Many were the convivial evenings spent within its walls. Among 

the objects of interest at Knockhill were the string of racehorses, 
_ the greyhounds (among them “ Hughie Graham,” winner of the 
Waterloo Cup); then there were pets of all sorts—dogss, cats, 


iy 


— 


THE IRVINGS OF HoppDom. 201 


peacocks (some of them white), pigeons, and piebald sheep with 
bells in front of the house. 

Major Campbell Bedford, a nephew of the late William 
Sharpe, next occupied it until a few years ago, and was succeeded 
by the present occupier, Mr David Bell-Irving, Master of the 
Dumfriesshire Otter Hounds, a son of the present venerable Laird 
of Whitehill, and a descendant of good Duke Richard. 

I enclose some sketches of a number of interesting inscribed 
and sculptured stones in a little summer-house in Knockhill 
grounds. Amongst them are two Roman inscriptions (Corpus 
Inser. Lat., Vol. VII.), fragments of cross shafts of pre-conquest 
date much disfigured, and one or two medieval stones. On one 
of the pre-conquest stones, a portion of a cross shaft, are the 
lower part of the two figures, the feet of each resting on two discs 
not unlike roller skates. Mr Romilly Allen writes that ‘“‘ They 
are a very interesting lot, and it is greatly to be regretted that 
they have been so knocked about. The style of the sculpture is 
Northumbrian, and apparently of the best period. The figures on 
wheels must, I think, be intended for the cherubims described in 
Ezekiel x. 8-22, who are the only creatures mentioned in the 
Bible as having anticipated the modern invention of roller skates.” 

There are also two stones, one inscribed “ A Lor Burn” and 
the other the names of certain ‘ Baillies” connected with Dum- 
fries, but which were described by Mr James Barbour in the 
Society’s transactions, Vol. XII., p. 99. It is rather a pity that 
these two stones are not in Dumfries. It is to be hoped that 
they will be well taken care of in the future. 


TVN CELER LIBERTYS 


Built info Summer House Walls at Knockhill. WN’ Ecclefechan 


(See Vol. XII. of Society’s Transactions, p. 117, with reference to Roman Inscriptio 


ee ee ee a 


LAG’S ELEGY AND OTHER CHAP BOOKS. 203 


: 25th April, 1902. 
The Rev. WILLIAM ANDSON in the chair. 


Donations and Exchanges.—Boletin del Instituto Geologico de 
Mexico, Num. 14, 2nd part. 


The Chairman referred to the recent death of Mr Arthur 
Bennett, F.L.S., Croydon, a distinguished botanist, who was an 
honorary member of the Society, and he moved that an expression 
of the Society’s regret at his loss be recorded in the minutes, 
which was unanimously agreed to. 


COMMUNICATION. 


“ Tag’s Elegy and other Chap Books.” By Mr FRANK MILLER, 
Annan. 


Mr Frank Miller, Annan, read a lengthy and valuable paper 
on Scottish Chap-Books, giving special prominence to the question 
of the authorship of “* Lag’s Elegy,” and bringing under notice a 
number of other tiny volumes issued from the press of Dumfries 
and Galloway at a time when the population depended largely for 
its literature on the stores of the pedlar or “chapman.” A most 
interesting series of the chap-books was shown, most of the copies 
being lent by Mr William Macmath, F.S.A., President of Edin- 
burgh Bibliographical Society, who possesses an extensive and 
unique collection. Mr Macmath contributed the following note 
of stall songs and ballads from the Dumfries press seen by him: 

Title-page of an 8-page pamphlet : “ Garland of New Songs: 
Star of the East, Banks of Doon, Beautiful Hill of Dromore, Come 
sit down my Cronies, Anna. (Symbols of the sun, moon, and 
stars.) Printed for John Sinclair, Dumfries.” 

Title-page of another 8-page pamphlet: ‘ The Bride’s Burial, 
or The Affectionate Lovers, a True Love Story. Printed by C. 
M‘Lachlan, for John Sinclair, bookseller, Dumfries.” 

Title-page of a third 8-page pamphlet: “The Duke of 
Gordon’s Daughters. Printed for John Sinclair, Dumfries.” 
“ Duke of Gordon’s Daughters” (page 2nd). (On 8th page—end) 
* Finis. Printed at the St. Michael Press, by C. M‘Lachlan, 


204 Laq’s ELEGY AND OTHER CHAP BOOKS. 


Dumfries.” (Cuthbert M‘Lachlan was printing in Dumfries at 
least as early as 1794). 
Title-page of 12-mo. volume, 62 pages: ‘The Surprizing 
Adventures of John Roach, Mariner, of Whitehaven, containing a 
genuine account of his cruel treatment during a long captivity 
among'st the savage Indians and imprisonment by the Spaniards 
in South America; with his miraculous preservation and deliver- 
ance by Divine Providence, and happy return to the place of his 
nativity, after being thirteen years amongst his inhuman enemies. 
Dumfries: Printed by Robert Jackson, 1788. Price sixpence.” 
At end: ‘* John Roach, Whitehaven.” On a copy belonging to 
Mr S. R. Crockett is this note, at the end of the ‘ Contents”: 
‘‘ Mr M‘lod, the Bookseller, minded seeing John Roach in 1788 
going about selling this Pamplet of his advs, and he was 
semenly much worn, aparently above fourty, near Whitehaven.” 

As an early example of the work of the Dumfries press Mr 
Macmath sent a copy of ‘ Sober-mindedness press’d upon Young 
People in a Discourse on Titus IT. vi.,” by Matthew Henry (1715). 
From the terms of the advertisement at the end (he wrote) it 
seemed probable that this was one of the first things Robert Rae 
threw off after he commenced business in the town. The adver- 
tisement was in these terms: “ These are to give notice that any 
who have occasion to publish books, pamphlets, or print burial- 
letters, etc., may have them printed at Drumfries: And that book- 
sellers, chapmen, and others may be furnished with several sorts 
of books, catechisms, and pamphlets, at reasonable rates, by 
Robert Rae, at his Printing-house in the Kirk-gate: and at his 
shop on the east side of the street, a little below the Fish Cross : 
where they may also have books sufficiently bound very reason- 
ably.” 

After an introductory reference to the literary advantages of 
to-day, Mr Miller said: “In the seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries there was no plentiful supply of literature at once good 
and cheap: consequently the masses were obliged to be content 
with the indifferent mental pabulum provided by the chapmen. 
In the days of the Stuarts these hawkers generally carried ballads 
or other broadsides which they recommended to possible pur- 


chasers in language like that used by Autolycus in describing his 


wares to the blushing Mopsa. The chapbook proper, which is 
a stitched tract of small size printed for sale by ‘ flying stationers,’ 


a ee 


ee 


LAG’s ELEGY AND OTHER CHAP BOOKS. 205 


was almost unknown in England previous to the eighteenth cen- 
tury. Next to London, Newcastle-on-Tyne was the English 
town in which chap-books were most largely printed. Two of 
the Cumberland towns—Penrith and Whitehaven—had a good 
share of the trade in cheap books, as no one who has examined 
the collection of tracts in the Bibliotheca Jacksoniana in Tullie 
House, Carlisle, can doubt. Probably owing to the fact that the 
agricultural labourers of the North of England had more curiosity 
than their brethren in the South, the literary wares of the chap- 
men were most readily disposed of in the Northern counties. 

“The chap literature of England consisted mainly of religious 
discourses, new versions of old romances, lives of criminals, tales 
of the supernatural, and humorous stories. The attractiveness of 
the booklets was much enhanced in the eyes of rustics by their 
illustrations. These were generally printed from wood blocks, 
which had been used again and again, sometimes with a ludicrous 
disregard of appropriateness. Most chap-book illustrations are 
very poor, but occasionally the collector sees a good cut. It 
must not be forgotten that Thomas Bewick, at the commence- 
ment of his career, did some work for a Newcastle publisher of 
popular books. 

“Though the chap-book or ‘ penny history’ scarcely existed 
in England at an earlier date than the beginning of the eighteenth 
century, it seems to have been well known north of the Tweed in 
the last decade of the seventeenth century. A glance at Halli- 
well’s ‘Glasgow Merriments,’ an account of a unique collection of 
‘penny merriments and histories,’ printed by Robert Sanders at 
Glasgow, 1695-8, will shew how varied in character and excellent 
in quality was the cheap literature sold in the west of Scotland in 
the time of William III. (1). 

“The chap-books of Scotland belong chiefly to two classes— 
the religious, including biographical sketches of eminent Cove- 
nanters and similar works, and the humorous. Tales of the 
supernatural and lives of noted criminals form a highly interesting 
if comparatively small part of Scottish chap literature. 

“ Prominent among the Scottish tracts of the religious class 
are the writings of Patrick Walker, commonly styled ‘The 
Cameronian Pedlar, though, as Mr Hay Fleming has shewn, it 


1, Halliwell’s tract is dated 1854. Only 25 copies were printed. 


206 LAG’s ELEGY AND OTHER CHAP BOOKS. 


is doubtful whether he ever carried a pack. (2) Walker was 
born in or about 1666, but the place of his nativity is unknown. 
Boldly declaring himself a follower of Cargill and Cameron, he 
was arrested when a mere boy and flung into the ‘ thieves’ hole’ 
of Linlithgow. Taken to Edinburgh he was examined by the 
Privy Council and sentenced to banishment for life. It afterwards 
leaked out that Patrick had been present at the death of a trooper 
who had been slain by some Covenanters in self-defence. He 
was therefore brought before the Council again, and this time the 
thumbscrews and the boot were applied to him. Finding that 
torture could not extract a word from the biave youth his judges 
sent him back to prison, where he lay for many months. Trans- 
ferred from one place of confinement to another he at length 
managed to escape from the clutches of his foes. Walker's first 
book, ‘The Life and Prophecies of Mr Alexander Peden,’ pub- 
lished in 1724, at once secured the favour of the intelligent and 
religious cottars of Southern and Western Scotland. His later 
works—‘ Semple Welwood and Cameron,’ 1727, and ‘ Cargill and 
Smith,” 1732—though well received, did not make so deep an 
impression on the popular mind. ‘The stalwart Cameronian sur- 
vived till 1745, witnessing daily against ‘the foul mismanage- 
ments of backslidden, upsitten, lukewarm ministers, elders, and 
professors.” (3). 

“ More popular in Southern Scotland than even Walker’s 
‘Peden’ was a coarse and vigorous pasquil entitled ‘ Lag’s Elegy.’ 
As this work is of local interest, and as I have made a special 
study of it for a book on Dumfriesshire Poetry, ancient and 
modern, on which I am engaged, you will perhaps allow me to 
devote to it a large portion of my space. The plan of the poem 
is well indicated by its full title: ‘An Elegy in Memory of 
that Valiant Champion, Sik ROBERT GRIERSON of Lag, or the 
Prince of Darkness, his Lamentation for, and Commendation of 
his trusty and well-beloved Friend, the Laird of Lag, who died 
Dec. 23rd, 1733. Wherein the Prince of Darkness sets forth the 
commendation of many of his best Friends, who were chief Pro- 
moters of his Interest, and Upholders of his Kingdom in the time 
of the Persecution. Very useful and necessary to be read by all 


2. Six Saints of the Covenant (1902). Vol. L., p. 37. 
3. Peden’s Life: Author's Preface. 


“err 


LAG’s ELEGY AND OTHER CHAP BOOKS. 207 


who desire to be well-informed concerning the chief Managers 
and Management of the late Persecuting Period.’ (4). 

** Among the numerous champions of evil who are passed in 
review is Claverhouse, who receives the devil’s thanks for his 
services, but is somewhat cruelly reminded of his flight from the 
field of Drumclog. Due honour is accorded to another famous 
soldier, the blood-thirsty Dalyell, and also to several eminent 
lawyers and statesmen, including Mackenzie, Rothes, and Lauder- 
dale. Nor is Satan slow to acknowledge his indebtedness to the 
last two Stuart Kings for their strenuous efforts to root out 
Presbyterianism and advance the cause of Rome. But his warmest 
praise is reserved for Sir Robert Grierson, the laird of Lag, of 
whom he can say : 

‘ Through all the large track of his time, 
He never did my ways decline.’ 

“ Instances are given of the services which had been rendered 
by Sir Robert in killing defenceless peasants; and, of course, the 
Wigtown affair is referred to. Having surveyed the private life, 
as well as the public career, of his favourite with profound satis- 
faction, the Prince of Evil remarks significantly : 

‘ Now Lag lives hot and bien with me!’ 


“Sir Robert Grierson seems to have been a man of courage 
and capacity ; but it may well be doubted whether even Dalyell 
pursued the infamous work of hunting down and shooting recu- 
sants with more manifest zest. It is not surprising, therefore, 
that a poem attacking his memory with peculiar force and malig- 
nancy was heartily welcomed by the peasantry of southern 
Scotland. The popularity of the ‘ Elegy,’ which was published in 
Glasgow in the form of a chap-book of 24 pages, did not soon 
decline. Forty years after Sir Robert’s death the tenth edition 
was reached, and four years later the eleventh appeared. Even 
in the first quarter of the nineteenth century the poem was 
reprinted and found many appreciative readers in rural parts. 

“The interest with which we peruse ‘Lag’s Elegy’ is en- 
hanced by our knowledge that the piece jwas familiar to two 
Scottish writers of the first rank. Sir Walter Scott possessed a 
copy of the chap-book (5), which may have supplied him with 


4. Sixth edition, Glasgow, 1757. 
5. See ‘‘ Letters from and to Chas. Kirkpatrick Sharpe Vol. I., 147. 


208 La@’s ELEGY AND OTHER CHAP BOOKS. 


one or two hints for ‘ Wandering Willie’s Tale’—the gem of 
‘ Redgauntlet,’ and one of the finest efforts of his genius. Prob- 
ably one of the most effective touches in his description of Sir 
Robert Redgauntlet was suggested by this line in the ‘ Elegy ” : 


‘ He bore my image on his brow.’ 


And it is not unlikely that he had a vivid recollection of the 
rhymster’s picture of Lag sitting ‘in the great chair’ in hell 
when he represented the cavalier as pre-eminent among lost souls. 
For a deeper and sterner spirit than that of Scott the ‘Lament of 
the Prince of Darkness’ had attractions. Asa youth Carlyle pored 
over the yellow pages of some copy of the pasquil, and possibly 
in fhe grim humour characteristic of so many passages in his 
writings the influence of the bit of rough covenanting verse may 
be detected. 

“The ‘Elegy’ has been attributed to different authors. 
Carlyle told Mr John Carlyle Aitken that it was written by John 
Orr, the old schoolmaster so graphically sketched in the ‘ Remini- 
scences’ as a man ‘religious and enthusiastic, though in practice, 
irregular with drink.’ (6). But there is nothing to shew that 
Carlyle had documentary evidence in favour of his theory, which 
contradicts the tradition of his own parish and receives no support 
from anything known as to Orr’s tastes and studies. 

‘* Mr Macmath informs me that a copy of the 11th oadition 
of ‘ Lag,’ sold by Mr Richard Cameron, Edinburgh, a few years 
ago, bore below the date (1777) the following jotting in a hand- 
writing evidently ‘belonging to the eighteenth century: ‘ This 
Elegy wrote by Will. Wilson, scoolmaster at Douglass, about the 
year 1735.’ (7). 

“Wilson, who is remembered as the author of some pamphlets 
on the Non-Hearer question, was actively engaged in literary 
work about the date of Sir Robert Grierson’s ‘death. I have 
before me a beautiful sermon by Adam Kae, minister of Borgue, 
‘in the time of Scotland’s purest Reformation, which was in the 


6. Fergusson’s ‘Laird of Lag,’ 158-9. Remces. by Thomas Carlyle, 
Vol. L., p. 38. 


7. Mr Cameron’s Catalogue, No. 154, 1896. 


LAG’s ELEGY AND OTHER CHAP BuoKs. 209 


year 1648,’ edited and printed by William Wilson from a MS. in 
1735. (8). 

In the editor's introduction Charles II. is referred to as ‘that vile 
abominable profane monster ’—a description of the hated King as 
unflattering as the one in ‘ Lag’s Elegy.’ I am not aware that 
any rhymes bearing the name of Wm. Wilson were published as 
early as 1735, but about the middle of the century he offered to 
the public two little collections of bad verse. He had some con- 
nection with Tinwald, and it has been conjectured that he wrote 
the inscription on the Covenanter’s tombstone in the churchyard 
of that parish. (9). 

_ “But the weight of evidence seems to favour the claim 
of a third schoolmaster, William Irving, of Hoddom, who died 
in 1782. That Irving was the author is stated as a well- 
known fact in the following sentence from an article on 
Stewart Lewis, a native of Ecclefechan, published in an early 
number of ‘ Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal’: ‘He (Lewis) was 
put for a short time under the ferula of the parish school- 
master, a character famed in Annandale by the name of Dominie 
Irving, and still more generally known as the writer of a wicked 
satire called Lage’s Elegy, of which a copy might once have 
been found in almost every cottar’s window in the south of Scot- 
land.’ (10). As the contributor of the article quoted was well 
acquainted with Siewart Lewis personally, it is highly probable 
that the Ecclefechan bard was one of his authorities for the 
ascription of the pasquil to Dominie Irving. Testimony in favour 
of Irving’s claim is borne also by Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, 
who, in a note to some memoranda on Lag and his connections, 
condescends to name the writer of a poem which he despised as 
popular among the vulgar only. ‘The Elegy on Lag,’ he says, 
‘was written as I have heard by one Irving, a schoolmaster, 
ancestor of the author of Fair Helen of Kirkconnel and other 
poems, who some years ago, in a fit of insanity, cut his own 


8. A Sermon concerning the Believer’s siting under Christ’s Shadow, 
Preached from Canticles ii., 3, by that faithfull minister of Jesus Christ, 
Mr Adam Kae, &c. Printed for and sold by William Wilson, schoolmaster 
at Broad-wood, in the parish of Carluke, 1735. 


9. ‘Martyr Graves of the South of Scotland,” chap. 24. (Dumfries 
Standard of 231d May, 1894.) 


10. No. 116, 19th April, 1834. 


210 LaG’s ELEGY AND OTHER CHAP BOOKS. 


throat in Edinburgh.’ (11). In an article on ‘ Epitaphs and Sepul- 
chral Inscriptions,’ contributed to the ‘Scots Magazine,’ W. §. 
Irving, the bard who committed suicide, refers to the old Hoddom 
teacher as the author of ‘ Lag.’ Citing a dozen satirical lines he 
says they are by ‘old Mr Irving, the author of the well-known 
philippic upon the persecutors entitled Lag’s Elegy.’ (12). W.S5. 
Irving was a native of Hoddom parish, and had devoted much 
attention to its literary associations. His testimony, highly valu- 
able in any case, is almost conclusive if he was descended 
from the satirist, as Kirkpatrick Sharpe, who knew him personally, 
affirms. The bit of verse quoted in the article was written by 
Wm. Irving at the age of 75. An imposing monument of red 
sandstone, still one of the wonders of Hoddom Churchyard, had 
been erected: ‘By James Clow of Land in memory of Mary 
Hunter, his spouse. She was Daughter of Robert Hunter, late 
in Middleshaw, and Sister to John Hunter, in Braehead, of 
Hoddam. She was a virtuous wife, a loving mother, and one 
esteemed by all that knew her. And to be short to her praise 
she was the wife that Solomon speaks of in the xxxi. chap. of the 
Book of Prov. from the 6 verse to the end.’ On reading this 
inscription the grim old dominie drew a piece of chalk from his 
pocket, and wrote on the pedestal of the monument as follows :— 
‘She was the wife !’ oh Solomon, thou fool, 

To make a pattern o’ this grubbing tool ; 

She clothe her house in silk and scarlet fine ! 

Say rather 7’ the linsey woolsey twine, 

Her husband ’mongst the elders at the gate ! 

Yes—known for nothing but an empty pate, 

For guzzling down whole chappins o’ sma’ beer, 

And selling meal and maut a groat too dear. 

Such were the honest silly Clows—say clowns, 

Which every roll of honest fame disowns, 

Who erst, like Moses, brake the ten commands, 

That is the sacred relicts of the Lands.’ (13). 


1l. Memoir prefixed to ‘‘ Letters from and to Charles Kirkpatrick 
Sharpe,” Vol. I., p. 18. 


12. ‘‘ Scots Magazine” for May, 1816. 


13. The estate of Land included part of Birrens, where the great 
Roman Camp, lately excavated by the Scottish Society of Antiquaries, is 
situated. Numerous valuable antiques had been dug up in one of Clow’s 
fields, but he would not suffer them to be collected and sent to a museum 
for preservation. 


sed 


LAG’s ELEGY AND OTHER CHAP BOOKS. 211 


“ ¢ Beelzebub’s Advice to the Forestallers of Victual, another 
piece composed by Irving in his old age, so closely resembles 
‘ Lag’ as at once to connect itself with that pasquil in the mind 
of the reader. It has never been published, but I have a MS. 
copy taken from the original in the possession of Mr Fairnie, 
headmaster of Ecclefechan Public School. Satan is represented 
as addressing the unscrupulous ‘mealmongers,’ who were growing 
rich through oppression, in these words :— 

* Monopoly and forestalling 
Practise with all your might, 


Do not regard the cries of those 
That are in heart upright. 


That law of Love and Charity 
Which Christ Himself shall use 

In judging of Mankind at last 
With all your hearts refuse.’ 

‘JT have been able to glean some information regarding 
William Irving from a fragment of his journal and common-place 
book which Mr Fairnie kindly lent me some time ago, and now 
permits me to exhibit in illustration of my paper. Where Irving 
lived before he was placed, at the age of 42, in charge of the 
school at Hoddom, is unknown to me; but as he occasionally 
visited Dumfries ‘ to see his relations’ (14) it may be conjectured 
that he was a native of the county town or the neighbourhood. 
Like most poets Irving was very poor, and he seems to have had 
some difficulty in collecting the ‘school wages,’ which formed a 
considerable portion of his small income, and were as often 
received in the shape of butter or meal as in coin of the realm. 
At Hoddom he devoted much time to church work, being at once 
session-clerk and treasurer of the congregation. Amongst the 
miscellaneous contents of the little book owned by Mr Fairnie 
are sundry jottings relative to receipts and disbursements by the 
elder on account of the church. The minister of Hoddom 
during the greater part of Irving’s residence in the parish was 
the Rey. Alexander Orr—a fact in which the origin of Carlyle’s 
mistake as to the authorship of ‘ Lag’s Elegy’ may possibly be 
found. If Carlyle’s informant first transferred the surname of 


14. MS. Journal. 


212 LAG’S ELEGY AND OTHER CHAP BOOKS. 


the minister to the elder it would be easy in the second place to 
confound the two dominies. 

“Tn his later years Irving produced no long poem, but occa- 
sionally, as I have shewn, he scribbled short pieces displaying 
some of the qualities so noticeable in ‘Lag’s Elegy.’ That the 
old man had the heart of a child is delightfully evident from one 
entry in his diary :—‘ April 25,1769. This day the weather 
turned warm, and the corn appeared above ground, the hawthorn 
took leaves, and the gowk cryed.’ 

“Irving died in May, 1782. He was buried in the churchyard 
of Hoddom, which is also the repository of the dust of Charles 
Kirkpatrick Sharpe, who often boasted of his connection with 
Lag, the Persecutor. Peeping from the long grass of the church- 
yard is a modest headstone bearing this inscription :—‘ To the 
memory of Mr William Irving, who was schoolmaster of this 
parish for 36 years. He died May 11th, 1782, aged 78 years.” 

“Turning our attention to works widely different in character 
from the Covenanting chap-books, let us now glance at the once- 
popular humorous writings of Dougal Graham, who is described 
by an admirer as 


‘ The wittiest fellow in his time, 

Either for prose or making rhyme.’ 
Dougal was born at Raploch, near Stirling, probably in 1724, 
attached himself to the Highland army in the second Jacobite 
rebellion, and held on till all the hopes of Prince Charlie were 
crushed on Drummossie Moor. Settling in Glasgow, he became so 
great a favourite there that when a new bellman was required for 
the city he obtained the post, which he held till his death in 1779. 
The ablest of his prose tales is entitled ‘ The Whole Proceedings 
of Jockey and Maggy.’ This work is written with no small 
vigour, and shows a thorough knowledge of certain phases of 
Scottish life and character. In respect of language too it has 
value, being rich in expressive words which have long been 
obsolete. His ‘ History of John Cheap, the Chapman,’ was more 
popular than even ‘The Whole Proceedings of Jockey and 
Magey.’ If we may trust the account it gives of the life of the 
Scottish chapman of a century and a half ago that life was a hard 
one. Here is a brief extract describing one of John Cheap’s 
experiences in a farmhouse: ‘On the morning I went into the 


Laq@’s ELEGY AND OTHER CHAP BOOKS. A 


house (after having slept in the barn); the goodman ordered me 
the pottage pot to lick, ‘for,’ says he, ‘it is an old property of 
chapmen.’ Well, I had no sooner begun to it than out came a 
great mastiff dog and grips me by the breast, then turns me over 
upon my back, and takes the pot himself. ‘Ay, ay, said the 
goodman, ‘I think your brother pot licker and you cannot agree 
about your breakfast.’ 

“ Dougal Graham’s works, which number more than a dozen, 
all throw much light on the national manners. But it should 
be kept steadily in view that he was a humourist delighting 
in exaggeration, and that he had no opportunities of studying 
the home life of any of those grave and rigorously virtuous 
men in humble life who abounded in every Scottish parish, 
his tales having no attractions for them. Valuable in many 
ways though Dougal’s productions unquestionably are, it is 
not to be regretted that only antiquarians devote attention 
to them now. OCoarser than even the novels of his great 
contemporary, Henry Fielding, they are quite unfit for popular 
reading. Like Chaucer’s Miller, the Skellat Beilman of Glas- 
gow— ; 

‘ Nolde his wordes for no man forbere 
But tolde his cherlisch tale in his manere.’ (15) 

‘*« As examples of Scottish chap-books treating of the super- 
natural, I would mention specially ‘The Devil of Glenluce’ 
and ‘ The Laird o’ Coul’s Ghost,’ and as a specimen of the records 
of crime ‘Sawney Bean and his Family "—all three being tales 
connected with Galloway. ‘The Devil of Glenluce,’ a work 
in which the ludicrous and the horrible are curiously blended, 
appeared originally in George Sinclair’s ‘ Hydrostaticks,’ 1672, 
and was repeated in his ‘ Satan’s Invisible World, 1685. Mr 
Macmath says the relation had a yet wider circulation in the 
separate form of a chap-book. The Glenluce fiend confined his 
attentions to a respectable weaver named Gilbert Campbell and 
his family, and his appearance was connected with a curse which 
had been uttered by Alexander Agnew, a sturdy beggar, after- 
wards hanged at Dumfries for blasphemy. Sinclair, who was 
Professor of Philosophy and afterwards of Mathematics in 
Glasgow University, died in 1696. I have seen a chap edition of 


15. Morris’s Chaucer, Vol. I1., p. 98. 


214 LAq@’s ELEGY AND OTHER CHAP BOOKS. 


another of his tales, ‘The Marvellous History of Major Weir 
and his Sister.’ 

*«¢ The Laird o’ Coul’s Ghost’ purports to be an account by 
the Rev. William Ogilvie (16), Minister of Innerwick, East 
Lothian, from 1715 to 1729, of four conferences with the ghost 
of Thomas Maxwell of Coul, or Cuil, an estate in the parish of 
Buittle, and near Castle-Douglas. ‘Coul, after gratifying the 
minister’s curiosity as to the state of the dead, &c., asks him to 
call on Mrs Maxwell and beg her to do justice to some persons 
who had been cheated by her husband. 

“ Reflecting how difficult it would be to convince the lady 
that he had really heard a voice from beyond the grave, the 
clergyman declines to undertake Maxwell’s commission. The 
tale ends abruptly with this sentence :—‘ But dropping these 
matters till our next Interview; give me leave to enter upon 
some more diverting subject ; and I do not know, Coul, but thro’ 
the Information given to me, you may do as much service to 
mankind, as the Redress of all the Wrongs you have mentioned 
would amount to,’ &c. . 

* T am informed by Mr Macmath that Thomas Maxwell was 
a ‘man of business’ with a bad reputation, and that his wife was 
Isobel Neilson, daughter of a Dumfries merchant. 

“The chap-book is said to have been first printed in 1750. 
A few years ago an edition from the original MS., in the posses- 
sion of the Rev. Dr Gordon, Glasgow, was published by Mr Elliot 
Stock, London. 

““Qgoilvie’s account of the appearances of Thomas Max- 
well after death is in parts as circumstantial as Defoe’s ‘ True 
Relation of the Apparition of one Mrs Veal,’ which I suspect 
suggested it. The following paragraph is full of touches fitted 
to compel the unsophisticated reader’s belief in the whole matter 
as related :—‘ Upon the 5th of March, 1722, being at Blarehead 
baptizing the Shepherd’s Child, I came off at Sunsetting, or a very 
little after. Near Will White’s March the Laird of Coul came up 


16. William Ogilvie, A.M., studied and was graduated at the Univer- 
sity of Edinburgh, 30th December, 1706, ordained at London in 1712 
as chaplain to the 7th Dragoons, presented by the Laird of Dirleton 
on October, 1714, and admitted 26th January following ; died January, 
1729, aged 40, in 17th ministry.—‘‘ Fasti Ecclesiz Scoticane,” part 1, 
p- 375. 


LAG’S ELEGY AND OTHER CHAP BOOKS. 215 


with me on Horseback as formerly, and, after his first Salutation, 
bid me not be afraid, for he would do me no Harm. I told him I 
was not in the least afraid, in the name of God, and of Christ my 
Saviour, that he would do the least Harm to me: for I knew 
that He in whom I trusted was stronger than all them put 
together, and if any of them should attempt even to do the 
Horse I rode upon Harm, as you have done to Dr Menzies’ man, 
if it be true that is said, and generally believed about Dumfries, I 
have free access to complain to my Lord and Master, to the Lash 
of whose Resentment you are as much liable now as before.’ 

“*Sawney Bean and his Family’ is the most blood-curdling 
tale in chap-book literature. Bean, who lived in the time of 
James I. of Scotland, was guilty of cannibalism, a crime to be 
punished in no common way, as he at length discovered to his 
cost. Lovers of the horrible who have not access to his life in 
the original chap-book form should read it in Captain Charles 
Johnson’s ‘ History of the Lives and Actions of the most famous 
Highwaymen, Murderers, Street Robbers, &c., with the Voyages 
and Plunders of the most noted Pirates’ (17), or in Nicholson’s 
‘ Historical and Traditional Tales.’ (18.) 

“Everyone remembers how superb a use of the ghastly 
legend has been made by Mr Crockett in ‘The Grey Man.’ From 
a letter which Mr Macmath has enclosed in his copy of ‘ Nichol- 
son’ J learn that the distinguished novelist possesses a copy of the 
chap dated 1737.” 

In closing his lecture (after a short reference to the chap- 
books of Ireland) Mr Miller remarked that this class of literature 
deserved wore attention than it had yet received. If anyone 
would do for the British chap-books what Professor Child, with 
valuable assistance from Mr Macmath, did for the British popular 
ballads, he would earn the gratitude of all who are interested in 
literary antiquities. 

Among examples of similar works shewn from Mr Mac- 
math’s collection was a four-page tract, entitled ‘Dornock’s 
Distress, a Tragical Dialogue,’ and bearing the signature ‘ Ar. 
Douglas, with an intimation that it was to be continued. In it 


17. The first edition of Johnson’s book (London, 1734) contains a 
picture of Sawney at the entrance of his cave. 


18. Kirkeudbright,. 1843. 


216 Laq@’s ELEGY AND OTHER CHAP BOOKS. 


‘Douglas, Dornock’s rightful heir, bewails his fate in being 
obliged to part with his estate, and pours maledictions on terri- 
torial magnates of the district and various lawyers for a share 
which he attributes to them in the business. The copy shown 
contains several letters on the subject addressed to Sir Walter 
Scott by Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, and three short marginal 
notes by Sir Walter. Another was an account printed 4t Kirk- 
cudbright in 1805, of ‘The Remarkable Trial of Jean Maxwell, 
the Galloway Sorceress, which took place at Kirkcudbright on 
the 28th day of June last, 1805, for pretending to exercise witch- 
craft, enchantment, conjurations, &c. By Alexander Gordon.’ 
The poor woman was convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned 
for a year, and to stand once a quarter for an hour in the pillory 
or jougs. 


9th May, 1902. 
Mr JAMES BARBOUR, F.S.A. Scot., Architect, in the chair, 


Exhibit.—The Rev. William Andson, on behalf of Mr 
M‘Murdo, porter, exhibited a specimen of Seahorse or Iippo- 
campus which had been brought from Bermuda by a sailor. Mr 
Andson stated that Mr M‘Murdo had kindly presented the speci- 
men to the Society’s Museum, for which, on the motion of the 
Chairman, he was cordially thanked. 


COMMUNICATION. 


“ The Geology of the Dumfries Basin.” By Mr JAMES WATT, 
Oaklands, Noblelill. 


In the observations on the geology of the neighbourhood 
which I have now the honour to submit to the members of this 
society, it may be convenient in order to a clear apprehension of 
our subject if, in imagination, we take our stand on the top of 
the Corbelly Hill, from which, as we all know, a magnificent view 
can be obtained ; the panoramic effect of which, however, is now 
sadly marred by the Convent buildings. The neighbourhood of 
which I propose to speak is the stretch of low-lying land 


GEOLOGY OF DUMFRIES BASIN. PT. 


surrounded by the range of hills not very far off. This area is 
encircled by the Kirkmahoe and Tinwald hills on the north and 
east ;.on the west by the Mabie, Terregles, and Dunscore hills ; 
on the south by the Solway Firth, and is known as the “ Dumfries 
basin.” (In this paper I only take in a part of the basin.) I may 
remind you that the term “basin” in geology is applied to a 
depression in the strata in which beds of later age have been 
deposited. In this case the depression is in Silurian strata, 
and the over-lying deposits of later age are Permian sand- 
stone and breccia. In the Thornhill basin the Permian deposits 
do not rest directly on Silurian strata as they do here. They 
rest there en carboniferous strata, with associated volcanic rocks 
—lava and tuff—so that the relations of the rocks there may be 
said to be of a complex character, while here they are quite 
simple. Of the rock deposits we shall speak later on, and give 
our attention in the first place to the superficial formation. 

The hill upon which we are supposed to have taken our stand, 
and many other similar rounded elevations within the circle of 
the hills on both sides of the Nith, are masses of boulder clay 
or till. And not only are such elevations—drums or kames they 
are called—but the greater part of the whole superficial deposits 
of the district are also boulder clay. This formation attains its 
greatest thickness in low-lying ground, thinning off as we ascend 
valleys. It forms part of the “moraine profonde” or ground 
moraine which was formed and accumulated under the great ice 
sheet which covered the land during the glacial period, as Green- 
land is now covered. It covers a large portion of Scotland and 
Ireland, and is found in England and Wales to the north of the 
Thames and Bristol Channel. The appearance and character of 
boulder clay varies in different districts, and is determined by the 
character of the strata of the country over which the ice sheet has 
moved. In this district it is brick red, the colour of the prevailing 
sandstone, and from weathering within a few feet of the surface it 
is loose and easily worked, but in tunneling at considerable depths 
it is very much the reverse, In the excavation, some sixteen feet 
deep, for the cellarage of the recently-erected Convent buildings a 
typical section of boulder clay was exposed. It showed a mass of 
tough unstratified clay, including smooth and glaciated boulders 
(none of them very large), grits, greywackes, sandstone, and 
breccias, nests of gravel, and a large quantity of very fine sand, 


218° GEOLOGY OF DUMFRIES BASIN. 


so fine that it goes by the name of “ Flower of rocks ;” good for 
mortar, and in this case highly appreciated by the builder. With 
regard to the striking gap in the hills through which the 
Dalbeattie road and line of railway is carried, Mr Watt said that 
he had been informed by a well-known Scottish geologist who 
knows this district well, but who does not allow his name to be 
given, that there is strong presumptive evidence for believing 
that this gap or gorge had been sculptured out by a pre-glacial 
stream, which had been dammed up and diverted by a great mass 
of boulder clay behind the hills, particularly at the part which is 
now the top of the gap. More might be said of examples of 
glaciation not far off, but it would be out of proportion to dwell 
longer on the subject, and we pass on to = 


RAISED BEACHES. 


On the Stewartry side, following the road to Newabbey for,a 


couple of miles, two strips of low-lying ground are noticeable for 


their strikingly level character. These are raised beaches, 
indicating former sea levels; their present position being due to 
a gradual elevation of the land. The whole of that strip of land 
extending from Troqueer Holm to Kirkconnell Moss is of this 
character. The oldest of these beaches, extending from Park to 
Cargenholm, has an average height of 50 feet above sea level. 
The lower beach—the Flats of Cargen—at a height of about 25 
feet, indicates the more recent beach, and extends to the mouth of 
the Nith, but sloping gradually up to the 50 feet level. It may 
seem hardly necessary to mention that the 25 feet beach is a strik- 
ing feature of many parts of the Scottish coast. The late Mr P. 
Dudgeon of Cargen made an important discovery indicating 
“previous oscillations of sea level, as well as probably affording 
traces of neolithic man. During the sinking of a well through 
the raised beach at Islesteps the following section was passed 
through :—Sand, silt, &c., 15 feet; peat, 18 inches; stiff clay, 
14 feet; while underneath the clay gravel was pierced. In 
the peaty layer the remains of a fir tree were found with its 
roots penetrating the underlying clay, and close by were dis- 
covered many bits of charred wood, bundles of moss, and traces 
of phosphate of iron. . . . In this section the clay (in which 
marine shells were found) evidently proves the presence of the 
sea; while the layer of peat, with remains of trees and charred 


ee oe oe 


GEOLOGY OF DUMFRIES BASIN. 219 


wood, points to a relative difference of sea and land, the subse- 
quent growth of terrestrial vegetation, and (unless the presence of 
charred wood can be accounted for by lightning or other natural 
causes) the presence of man. The stratified deposits above the 
peat indicate the submergence of the old land surface and the 
return of marine conditions.” -:Mr Dudgeon communicated this 
discovery to the survey officers, who explained it as above. 


CLAYS AND PEAT. 


The chief deposits of blue clay, used for brick making on 
both sides of the Nith, are Hannahfield; now idle and supposed to 
be exhausted ; and Ryedale, Troqueer, also, it appears, approaching 
exhaustion, as I am informed that the bed of workable clay, which 
at one time measured 18 feet, has now thinned away to half that 
thickness. These clays are of’ glacial origin. On the Dumfries 
side a sandy clay overlaid by peat has: been largely found. The 
foundations of the new Library: buildings are laid-on this sandy 
clay overlaid by 10 feet of peat.’ Pieces of oak, birch, hazel, and 
hazel nuts were found buried in‘ the peat; while close by, on the 
site of the Station Hotel; peat was absent, the foundations resting 
on sandy clay. The probability is that peat at one time covered 
all the low ground extending to Victoria Terrace, the peat having 
probably been removed and utilised by the residents of our ancient 
town in early days. From what is’ observable from the roads 
leading to Lochar Moss, it is evident that the Moss was in not 
very remote times of very wide extent, with here and there great 
drums of boulder clay and ridges of gravelly material standing up 
above the level of the moss. -Kirkconnel Moss, extending from 
Dalscairth to Kirkconnel, at one time famous for the excellent 
quality of its peat, is now, happily, nearly all reclaimed and yield- 
ing food for man and beast. 


UNDERLYING ROCKS. 


The whole of the immediately underlying rocks of the Dum- 
fries basin, as I have already said, are Permian sandstones and 
breccia. These rocks, again, rest uncomfortably on Silurian 
strata. On the eastern side of the basin the deposits are made up 
of alternating bands of sandstone and breccia. This belief, 
previously held, has been confirmed by the deep well borings of 


220 GEOLOGY OF DUMFRIES BASIN. 


recent years; the official journal of the bore at Mr Carruthers’ 
aerated water manufactory showing the following results :— 


FORMATION OF STRATA PASSED THROUGH. 
Feet. Inches. 


Soil ar oa *? wee a 4 7 
Sandy clay and ae = aie sey as 5 2 
*Gravel ... ae ae dda ie rigs Wet 3 
*Gravel and sand.. ee ve ABZ 4 1 
Red sandstone (c che hard) is Lae vegies) tiem 11 
Breccia ... ate ner othe 3 6 
Sandstone aad ve =e <a ae 5 0 
Breccia | «:. sas ie nie nays eee els, 9 
Red sandstone ... are Sid “Ot paageee lol 1 
Breccia (hard) ... + a Fa 2 0 
Red sandstone ... sd sing a oe 2 10 
Breccia 2 11 
Red sandstone Giand) 5 4 
Breccia (broken)... a ri oe sad 1 7 
Red sandstone (extra hard)... Scr J ae ee i 
Breccia... are soe For Seer eee 7 
Red sandstone Gant) Pe ree "A oh 2 5 
Breccia (broken)... ee a es Coie le > 
Red sandstone ... Fis at pee wane SAG 8 
Breccia... se soe “er sais 2 8 
Red sandstone (essen hard) “is = visite, a 0 
Breccia (very hard)... = bea ue 4 6 
Red sandstone ... aia Pe sae ban” tpt 4 
Total AC “ss we 403 2 


A similar bore to the depth ie 600 feet at the Gasworks gave 
practically the same results, the underlying Silurian rocks at that 
depth not being reached. 

On the western side of the basin the deposits of sandstone and 
breccia do not alternate, but so far as I have been able to discover 
consist wholly of breccia, outstanding bosses of which may be 
seen in several places. It is well exposed in the course of the 
river at Cluden Mills. A conspicuous ridge extends from 


*TIt may be noted that the “gravel” and “gravel and sand” are 
really forms of boulder clay or till. 


GEOLOGY OF DUMFRIES BASIN. 221 


Terraughtie behind the shooting butts nearly to Cargen. The 
railway cutting passing through this ridge at Goldielea shows a 
good section. It passes under Lochar Moss, and is to be seen 
resting on Silurian strata on the other side. And the two rocks 
—Permian and Silurian—may be seen in the same relation near 
the bottom of the deep gorge in the Cargen below the Glen 
Mills. 

The term conglomorate is often mistakenly applied to 
breccia. Conglomorate, or pudding stone, is a rock composed 
of a mass of rounded water-worn stones, all cemented together, 
usually by oxide of iron or carbonate of lime. Breccia is a 
similar rock, but instead of rounded stones it is made up of angular 
and subangular fragments. In this area the fragments of which it 
is made up are of various kinds of rocks, and of every size, up to 
half aton. And further, it may be noted that the stones often 
have a glaciated appearance, closely resembling those found in 
true boulder clay. The view now held by many eminent 
geologists is that at many stages throughout the unknown and 
unknowable millions of years during which the crust of the earth 
has been slowly attaining its present development there have been 
many glacial epochs. Sir A. C. Ramsay and Professor James 
Geikie—high authorities in glacial geology—were of opinion that 
those breccias which here, and in other places, reach to so great a 
thickness, “‘ indicate a glacial episode during part of the Permian 
period.” And according to the same authorities the petrological 
character of the Permian rocks in the British area, and in other 
parts of the world where the system is developed, point to “the 
isolation of various large tracts (of an earlier sea), which thus 
became inland seas or salt lakes, like the Caspian ;” and that “ one 
or more of those inland seas-covered large areas which now form 
part of central and northern England, and extended into southern 
Scotland and the north of Ireland.” 

The life of the period, on sea and land, in remarkable contrast 
with the antecedent carboniferous era, was much impoverished, 
and generally stunted and dwarfed in character. But it is interest- 
ing to remember that the footprints of reptiles moving in a 
southerly direction have been found on the Corncockle sandstone. 
And it is to this discovery we owe the witty, but now rather 
hackneyed, remark of Dean Buckland, “that even at that early 
date the migration from Scotland to England had commenced.” 


222 GroLocy OF DUMFRIES BasIN. 


- Mr Service moved a vote of thanks to Mr Watt for his paper. 
He had listened to papers on the same subject by the late Dr 
Gilchrist and Sir William Jardine, and he thought Mr Watt's 
distinctly advanced their knowledge of local geology. 

Rev. Mr Andson seconded. 


223 


FIELD MEETINGS. 


‘14th June, 1902.—In the Irving Country. 


THE TOWERS OF KIRTLE AND BRUCE’S CAVE. 


The first field meeting for the season of the Society took 
place on Saturday, 14th June. A party numbering a dozen pro- 
ceeded to Annan, and thence drove or cycled across country 
by way of Stapleton and Broats to the Kirtle, which they crossed 
at Beltenmont ; then along the highway on the east side of the 
river as far as Kirtlebridge, where they re-crossed and paid a 
visit to Bonshaw Tower, the residence of Golonel Beaufin Irving. 
Good weather favoured the drive, and the country presented a 
very fine appearance, woods and fields clad in the fresh green of 
a late summer and masses of hawthorn here and there adorning 
hedgerow and copse. 

The first halt was made at Kirkpatrick-Fleming Parish 
Church, where a brief exploration was made of the burial-ground. 
Among the most interesting features which it presents is a stone 
set into the front of the Mossknow vault, bearing a Latin inscrip- 
tion to the memory of William Graham, who is designated as 
“ Rector of this church,” and who died just before the Revolution. 
This gentleman was one of the conforming Presbyterian clergy, 
who, as his title indicates, accepted institution at the hands of the 
bishop when the prelatic form of church government was estab- 
lished. He was in his own right proprietor of lands in the 
district, including Redhall, “ Skarles,” Pennersaughs, and “ Blow- 
beoul ;” and by his marriage to the daughter of David Irving of 
Mossknow he became first of the Grahams of that territorial 
designation. Another family revenge an ancient injury by an 
accusation written in stone. It is upon a small tombstone: ‘* Here 
lyes the body of John Scot, who was murthered by the hand of 
Fergus Graham of Mossknow upon the 21st day of November, 
1730, of age 51.” 


224 FIELD MEETINGS. 


A second vault placed against the church is that of the 
Irvings of Woodhouse ; and another branch of the Irving family 
—that of Cove—which once dominated the valley of the Kirtle, 
is commemorated by a table stone aud mural tablets. The 
Irvings have been planted in this district since early in the 
eleventh century. Mr Bruce Armstrong, in his “ History of 
Liddesdale and the Debateable Land,” says: ‘ In Lower Eskdale, 
on the borders of the Debateable Land, a place called Stake- 
heugh on the Irving burn was occupied by a branch of the 
Irvings. The head of this clan resided at Bonshaw, on the 
Kirtle Water in Annandale, where the clan was powerful, 
and at one time numbered upwards of 500 men.” The arms 
of the Irvings, bestowed upon them by Robert the Bruce, are 
three leaves of ‘the pricking bay,” or holly, and the crest is 
a hand holding a branch with seven holly leaves. That branch is 
believed to be a representation of Kirtle Water, and the disposi- 
tion of the leaves indicates the position of seven towers once 
belonging to the clan—Kirkconnel (now Springkell), Woodhouse, 
Cove, and Kirkpatrick on the left bank; on the right, Bonshaw 
and Robgill; and Stapleton detached, at a distance from the 
stream. The Woodhouse Irvings were a junior branch of the 
Bonshaw family, and from them originated the Aberdeenshire 
family of Irvine (as they now spell it) of Drum. It is told that 
Robert the Bruce, during his early struggles for the crown, was 
sheltered at Bonshaw, and took into his service as his secretary a 
younger son of the house, Sir William of Woodhouse, on whom 
he afterwards conferred the Forest of Drum. The Woodhouse 
branch was raised to the baronetage in 1809, the first baronet 
being Lieutenant-General Sir Paulus Aemilius Irving, who was 
Commander-in-Chief in the West Indies, where he did some suc- 
cessful fighting. The same Christian names were borne by several 
of his successors, who are commemorated at Kirkpatrick. The 
title became extinct in 1859. The clan took a prominent and 
valiant part in the turbulent scenes of border foray. They were 
for the most part fast allies of the Johnstones in their feuds with 
the Maxwells. After Johnstone of Annandale had made a raid 
on the Maxwell country (in 1585), burning Cummertrees, Duncow, 
and Cowhill, he found refuge in Bonshaw Tower ; and here he 
was found by Earl Morton and a force of the Maxwell’s friends, 
after they had burned the tower of Lochwood, “to give Dame 


—- 


FIELD MEETINGS. 225 


Johnstone light to set her hood.” Cannon were planted against 
the tower, but a pacification was effected through the intervention 
of the English Lord Scrope. The peace was not, however, of 
long endurance. The bloody battle of Dryfesands followed in 
1598; and Edward Irving of Bonshaw and his four sons were 
included in the respite granted by King James VI. to Sir William 
Johnstone and eight score others for the slaughter of Lord 
Maxwell, the King’s Warden, on that occasion. At an earlier 
date Christopher of Bonshaw and his son had fallen with the 
flower of Scottish chivalry at Flodden, and “ Blacke Christie” of 
Robgill (so named, tradition says, from the colour of his armour) 
was one of the victims of Solway Moss. The clan took part with 
the Armstrongs and other families of the Debateable Land in 
-many a raid avross the Border, and they had need of strong and 
numerous towers to resist reprisals. A curious document of date 
about the middle of the sixteenth century (drawn up by an 
English military officer) gives the name of “ heidsmen within 
Annerdale,” with the number of “ most able horsemen ” that they 
could bring into the field; but as it was obtained by the repre- 
sentative of a hostile power, and probably from tainted sources, 
it cannot be accepted as authoritative. The following is the list 
of the Irvings, extending to three score and four horsemen: 
Cuthbert Irrewing and Watt Irrewing, xiiij horsmen; Herbert 
Irrewing of the Kyrk, iij horsmen; the proctour of Luce, ii 
horsmen ; Duke Rechie, x horsmen ; William Irrewing of South- 
woode, x horsmen ; Christie Irrewing, Mathoes sone, iij horsmen ; 
Christei’s sone of Boneschaw, v horsmen; Hebbe Irrewing of 
Trailtrow, iiij horsmen ; Jefferay Irrewing, vii) horsmen; Dawe 
Irrewing, vj horsmen. 

Another character in which the Irvings figured was as 
King’s-men in the struggle with the Covenanters. One of them 
had the equivocal honour of arresting, and so bringing to the 
scaffold, one of the most intrepid of the Covenanter leaders, 
Donald Cargill. The story is quaintly told by John Howie, with 
characteristic comment and addition. 

Cove was the first of the ancient seats of the Irvings to be 
called at. It passed out of the hands of the family by sale in 
1846, and is now the property of the marriage contract trustees 
of the Hon. Patrick Greville Nugent and his wife. There is here 
no remnant of the tower ; but in the face of a steep cliff near to 


226 FIELD MEETINGS. 


the mansion-house, and adjoining a particularly charming dell on 
the Kirtle, is a cave around which hangs an air of old romance. 
It is an opening in a steep wall of sandstone, some twenty-five 
feet from the level of the stream, and, roughly, as far from the 
top.of the cliff, and the only access to it is by a wooden platform 
or bridge overhanging the precipice, at the end of a winding 
footpath. The cave is roughly circular in shape, its greatest 
diameters being 17 feet and 13 feet, and its height 6 feet. 8 in. 
It has been protected by stout double doors or gates, for the 
reception of which the opening has been chiselled and the rock 
pierced with socket-holes. There are also four holes in the rock, 
which would serve purposes both of ventilation and observation, 
and might also be used as shot-holes in case of an enemy approach- 
ing. Within the cave is a recess in the rock that would serve 
the purpose of a cupboard or “‘aumry.” On the roof and walls 
many initials are carved or scratched, and one is accompanied by 
the date 1717. Legend has associated the mysterious Druids 
with the early occupation of the cave. It is also said to have 
formed a hiding-place of Bruce. The story is that the King was 
in hiding at Bonshaw when an English force invaded Annandale 
in quest of him; but before their arrival he had been conveyed to 
this cave, where he was maintained in secrecy for six weeks ; the 
English meanwhile continuing their march northward after they 
had knocked down a portion of Bonshaw Tower and vainly tried 
to burn the rest. Certainly King Robert in course of his wander- 
ings was driven to shelter in many a place less secure and quite 
as comfortless as this would be ; and within this nest of the rock 
he may have revolved the plans that were to issue in the ultimate 
vindication of his own rights and his country’s independence. 
Whatever the original purpose or early history of the cave, it 
would readily lend itself to the arts of the smuggler, and a 
cottage that anciently stood athwart the pathway, with its back 
to the cave, would aid their efforts at concealment. The present 
proprietrix during a brief residence at Cove caused the following 
inscription, in which her own Christian name occurs, to be carved 
in old English letters (without any capitals) over the entrance : 
Kynge Robert Bruce from foes pursuant soughte a truce. 


Lyke my forbearers who for hymn fell 
I Ermengarde doe guard yt well. 


Crossing by a footbridge the party inspected an ancient. 


lO 


FIELD MEETINGS. 227 


British grave in a coppice near the village of Irvingtown. A 
‘circular stone cairn, from 35 to 40 feet in diameter, has been 
raised over the grave, and from this circumstance we may con- 
clude that it enclosed the remains of a chief or other person of 
consequence ; but the stones have been in great part removed, 
and the flat stones forming the sides of grave, in the centre of 
-the pile, are seen in position. They have probably, however, 
been pressed together and some removed, so that no exact 
measurements are Gbtainable, and any bones or other remains 
which the tomb may have contained have disappeared. 

Resuming the drive, and passing the busy Cove Quarries, the 
party next halted near the old tower of Woodhouse, where they 
were met by Colonel Irving of Bonshaw, who was for the after- 
noon their guide, philosopher, and host. The laird of Bonshaw is 
a stalwart borderer, with all the old border fire, and a passion for 
the border land and the clan, who took part in the Abyssinian 
expedition under Lord Napier of Magdala, and closed an active 
military career as Colonel of the Manchester Regiment. 

Merkland Cross was visited on the way to Bonshaw. This 
is a sandstone shaft, with circular floriated top formed of three 
fleurs-de-lys, the total height, exclusive of the base, being 9 feet 
9 in. It stands a little off the public road, in a field on the 
Woodhouse property and adjoining the hamlet of Merkland. It 
is believed to mark the spot where John, Master of Maxwell, was 
killed in 1484. 

Bonshaw Tower was the final stage of the outward journey, 
and here a most hospitable welcome was extended to the visitors 
by Colonel and Mrs Irving and their family. The old tower is in 
excellent preservation, and owes much to the protecting hand, 
intelligently directed, of the present proprietor. In close proximity 
to it is the mansion-house, erected, as a date stone over its south 
entrance indicates, in 1770. That stone also bears the initials of 
William Irving, the owner of the period, and his wife, Janet 
Douglas, a daughter of the Marquis of Queensberry. Colonel 
Irving has closed this door and connected the tower and mansion 
by a covered hall, giving access to both, and the tower is in 
regular occupation. Over its doorway is the pious inscription in 
antique lettering: “Soli Deo honor et gloria.” (Honour and 
glory to God only.) Set into the roof of its small square porch is 
a stone having engraved on. it the sacred monogram in Hebrew 


228 FIELD MEETINGS. 


characters. This is known as the Crusader’s stone, having, 
according to accepted tradition, been brought from Palestine by 
a member of the family who drew his sword against the infidel, 
and brought here after being blessed by the Pope. It is reputed 
to impart a blessing to all of the name of Irving who pass beneath 
it. The virtue is strictly limited by membership of the clan. 
Not much can be made of the dark ground storey, which would. 
be the retainers’ kitchen. Here, however, the visitor is able to 
inspect the dungeon, a grim apartment in the thickness of the 
broad wall; and a great stone bin, which would hold store of 
salted provisions in time of need, is still intact. The upper 
storeys are all turned to useful purpose, and are approached by 
the original narrow spiral stone stair, on which a stout hanging 
rope serves for hand-rail. The apartment occupying the first 
floor is the library, and it contains also a wonderful collection of 
curious and interesting articles, many of them connected with the 
family history, and some trophies from a temple at Magdala, 
where the Colonel led a storming party. The room, which would 
be the grand hall of the tower, is in perfect preservation. An 
arched recess in one of the walls has formed a small altar. In 
one of the window recesses are the stone seats from which the 
shot holes could be served in case of siege. The apartment over- 
head has been converted into a bedroom, and that forming the 
third floor (where the great oak beams are still intact, and joined 
by bolts of wood) serves the purpose of a smoking-room. The 
battlements command a splendid view of Lower Annandale. 
Over the entrance door are the holes from which, in case of an 
attack being pressed home, molten lead could be poured on the 
assailants. Colonel Irving has also restored the ramparts to the 
east and south of the tower, and mounted on them ship’s guns, 
each with its pile of ball. 

Mr Barbour, vice-president of the society, voiced the thanks 
of the members to Colonel Irving and his family for the great 
kindness extended to them ; then, at six o’clock, a start was made 
for Annan, by way of Breconbeds.—Dumfries Standard. 


FIELD MEETINGS. 229 
20th September, 1902.—Loch Urr. 


A field meeting of the Society was held on Saturday, 20th 
inst., when a party numbering about twenty drove to Loch Urr 
with the object chiefly of inspecting an island which is commonly 
supposed to be a crannog or ancient lake dwelling. Proceeding 
by the Irongray road and Glenesslin, they made short halts at 
Irongray churchyard and Routan Bridge. They had also oppor- 
tunities by the way of noting the progress being made with the 
construction of the Cairn Valley railway. On the other hand, as 
they ascended Glenesslin the ruins of cottages, single and in 
clusters, on the hill-side and by the road, bore witness to the 
process of rural depopulation ; and the silent harvest field, where 
a couple of hands attended the self-binder, in place of the merry 
group of a past generation, indicated at once a cause and an 
effect of the change. Loch Urr was reached about half-past one. 
It is a hill lake of 125 acres (being about half the size of Loch- 
rutton), located in a “ wilderness of heath and rock,” at an 
altitude of 625 feet. Just over the hill Carlyle had no difficulty 
in attaining what his friend Emerson styled “the necessity of 
isolation which genius feels.” From the peat bog are dug large 
oaks and well grown birches and hazels ; but now only a rare 
clump of trees breaks the monotony of the moor and marks the 
site of a lonely dwelling. Except for a few shrubs and saplings 
at the northern end, the shore of the loch is bare. Obviously 
there has been a change in the soil or climatic conditions since 
heavy timber flourished here. Three parishes meet at the loch— 
Glencairn and Dunscore in Dumfriesshire, Balmaclellan in Kirk- 
cudbrightshire ; and the farms which encircle it are Loch Urr, 
Craigenvey, Craigmuie, and Monybuie. There are two islands 
off Craigenvey shore. In the narrow channel which separates 
them is a slightly submerged roadway of stones, and the shore- 
ward one, which is much the smaller of the two, has been con- 
nected with the land bya similar path. It was to the larger 
island that the attention of the visitors was principally directed. 
This is a nesting place of the black-headed gull, and in the month 
of May their eggs are laid upon almost every foot of its surface ; 
but at this season the only indications of bird life are the sight of 
an occasional water hen on the loch and the whir of the grouse 
on the adjacent moors. The island is a bare oblong, roughly 150 


230 FIELD ‘MEETINGS. 


feet by 50, raised very little above the winter level of the water, 

apparently consisting, so far as its structure is exposed, of a 
great heap of stones, with a thin covering of earth. ‘A little 
spade work sufficed to pierce the overlying deposit and lay bare 
the stones at a depth of eighteen inches at one point, near the 
margin, and about three feet at another. There is a tradition, 
embodied in various gazetteers, that there was ‘“‘a castle” on the 
island, of which the remains are distinctly traceable. Certainly 
there are evidences of dry stone walls, but of any building with 
mortar there is none. These walls would seem to point to occu- 
pation of the place at a comparatively recent date, but to prepare 
any reliable plan of them would involve considerable labour. It 
is obvious also that the questions whether there has been an 
earlier lake dwelling, and whether that was entirely formed of 
stone or raised on a structure of wood piles and beams, can only 
be determined by excavation. It was resolved to apply to the 
proprietor for permission to undertake further investigation, and 
if this should be granted to employ a couple of workmen for'a 
week in order to ascertain whether it would be worth while pro- 
ceeding with any more elaborate scheme. Mr John Corrie of 
Burnbank, Moniaive, who joined the party at the loch, undertook 
to superintend the operations. 

Mr and Mrs Hepburn, who occupy Loch Urr farm house as a 
shooting lodge, extended their hospitality to the visitors, and 
placed a boat at their disposal. Before leaving Mr Barbour, 
architect, tendered to them the cordial thanks of the Sociehy for 
their kindness. . 

Mr Corrie submitted the following list of rarer plants to be 
found at Loch Urr :—Zote/ia dortmanna (water lobelia), wtricu- 
laria minor (lesser bladderwort), wtricularia intermedia (inter- 
mediate bladderwort), scutellaria galericulata (scull cap), lythrum 
salicaria (purple loosestrife), carex paucifiora (few-flowered sedge), 
carex filiformis (slender-leaved sedge), polygonum amphibium 
(amphibious polygonum), folygonum minus (creeping p.), salix 
pentandra (bay-leaved willow).—Dum/fries Standard. 


ee ee 


Ls eed 


———— 


LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY 
As at February, 1905. 


Life Members. 


His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, K.G., K.T. 
Right Hon. the Ear! of Mansfield, Scone Palace, Perth. 

F. R. Coles, 1 Oxford Terrace, Edinburgh. 

Thomas Fraser, 94 High Street, Dalbeattie. 

Alex. Young Herries, Spottes, Dalbeattie. 

J. J. Hope-Johnstone, Raehills, Lockerbie. 

Miss M‘Kie, Moat House. . 

Wm. J. Herries Maxwell, M.P., Munches. 

Wn. D. Robinson Douglas, F.L.S., Orchardton. 

Sir Mark J. M‘Taggart Stewart, Bart., M.P., Southwick. ~ 
Samuel Smith, M.P., 20 Chapel Street, Liverpool. 

Captain William Stewart, Shambellie. 


Honorary Members. 


E. G. Baker, F.L.S., British Museum. 

J. G. Baker, F.R.S., Royal Herbarium, Kew. 

J. Harvie Brown, F.L.S., Larbert. 

William Carruthers, F.R.S., British Museum. 

E. J. Chinnock, LL.D., Worthing (former Secretary). 
Frederick R. Coles, Edinburgh. 

Dr Anstruther Davidson, Los Angeles. 

Alexander M‘Millan, Castle-Douglas. 

Alexander D. Murray, Newcastle (former Secretary). 
Dr David Sharp, F.R.S., Cambridge. 

Robert’Hibbert Taylor, M.D., Liverpool. 

William Thomson, Kirkcudbright, 

Joseph Wilson, Liverpool (former Secretary). 

Geo. W. Shirley, Librarian, Ewart Public Library, Dumfries, 


232 LIST OF MEMBERS. 


Ordinary Members. 


Andson, Rev. Wm., Newall Terrace, Dumfries. 

Agnew, Sir A. N., Bart., of Lochnaw, Stranraer. 
Arnott, Samuel, Carsethorn, by Dumfries. 

Atkinson, Mrs, The Ladies’ Club, Dumfries. 

Aitken, Miss M. Carlyle, 11 Laurieknowe, Maxwelltown. 


Barbour, James, F.S.A., Scot.,. Architect, St. Christopher’s, 


Dumfries. 
Barbour, Robert, Belmont, Maxwelltown. 
Barbour, Robert, Solicitor, Do. 


Bryson, Alex., Irish Street, Dumfries. 

Brown, Thos. M., Closeburn Castle, Closeburn. 

Brown, Sir James Crichton, 61 Carlisle Place Mansions, Victoria 
Street, S.W. 

Borland, John, Farmer, Auchencairn, Closeburn. 

Blacklock, J.E., Solicitor, Dumfries. 

Bell, Richard, of Castle O’er, Langholm. 

Beattie, Thos., Davington, near Langholm. 

Brown, Stephen, Farmer, Bennan, Tynron. 

Barbour, Robert, Architect, Dumfries. 

Bell, Miss, 26 Castle Street, Dumfries. 


Corrie, John, Burnbank, Moniaive. 

Copland, Miss, Abbey House, Newabbey. 

Carmont, James, Bank Agent, Dumfries. 

Cairns, Rev. J., M.A., Ivy Lodge, Albany, Dumfries. 
Cormack, J. F., Solicitor, Lockerbie. 

Clarke, Dr, Charlotte Street, Dumfries. 

Corrie, Adam J., Malvern. 

Coats, W.A., Dalskairth. 

Cresswell, Wm., Teacher, Noblehill School, Dumfries. 
Cresswell, Miss C. M. A., Nunholm House, Dumfries. 


Davidson, James, Summerville, Maxwelltown., 

Dickie, Wm., Standard Office, Dumfries. 

Dinwiddie, W. A., Manufacturer, Buccleuch Street, Dumfries. 
Dods, J. W., Sculptor, Dumfries. 

Drummond, Bernard, Plumber, Dumfries. 

Davidson, J., Clerk of Works, C.R.I., Dumfries. 


List oF MEMBERS. 233 


Duncan, J. B., of Newlands, Kirkmahoe. 
Davidson, A. L., Schoolhouse, Clarencefield. 
Dudgeon, C. R., Cargen. 


Edear, Harry, Ferguslea, Maxwelltown. 
hy} 9 oy t= | 
Fergusson, J. Gillon, The Isle, Holywood, 


Gilchrist, Mrs, Linwood, Dumfries. 

Grierson, John, Solicitor, Do. 

Gunning, John, Minshill, Victoria Road, Maxwelltown. 
Gordon, Robert, 22 Old Broad Street, London. 
Gillespie, Wm., Solicitor, Castle-Douglas. 

slover, Provost, Hazeldean, Maxwelltown. 


Hannay, Miss, Langlands, Dumfries. 

Hannay, Miss J... Do., Do. 

Hamilton, Miss, Minshill, Victoria Road, Maxwelltown. 

Ifenderson, John, Solicitor, Dumfries. 

Ilerries, Rt. Hon. Lord, Everingham Park, Yorkshire. 

Ilardy, Miss L. E., Moat House, Dumfries. 

Ilunter, Rev. Joseph, M.A., F.S.A., Scot., 125 Mayfield Road, 
Edinburgh. 

Hope Bell, Thos., of Morrington, Dunscore. 

Houston, John, Brownrigg, by Dumfries. 

Ilenderson, Thos., Solicitor, Afton Lodge, Lockerbie. 

Hill, Edward J., Ladyfield, Dumfries, 

Hewetson, James, Park House, Do. 


Irving, George, West Fell, Corbridge-on-Tyne. 
Irving, Colonel, of Bonshaw, Annan. 
Irving, John Bell, Beanlands, Annan. 


Johnstone, John 'T., Victoria House, Moffat. 
Jamieson, M., Hazeldean, Greystone, Dumfries. 
Jamieson, Mrs, IDXo\s, Do., Do. 
Jardine, D. Jardine, of Jardine Hall, Lockerbie. 
Johnstone, Mrs, 4 Victoria Terrace, Dumfries. 
Johnstone, W. 8., Merchant, Dumfries. 
Johnson-lerguson, J. E.. of Springkell, Ecclefechan. 


234 List OF MEMBERS. 


Kidd, Rev. Thos., U.F. Manse, Moniaive. 


Kirkpatrick, Rev. R. S., The Manse, Govan. 


Lennox, James, F'.S.A., Scot., Edenbank, Maxwelltown. 
Laurie, Rev. Sir Emilius, Bart., of Maxwelton, Moniaive. 
Leighton, Wm., Sedbergh House, Dumfries. 

Laidlaw, James, Teacher, Loreburn Street School, Dumfries. 
Laidlaw, John, Plasterer, Lockerbie. 


Maxwell, W. J., Terregles Banks, by Dumfries. 

Mounsey, Miss, 44 Drumlanrig Street, ‘Thornhill. 

Millar. F., Bank of Scotland, Annan. 

Murray, Robert, George Street, Dumfries. 

Murray, Mrs, Do., Do, 

Moodie, J. A., Solicitor, Dumfries. 

Maxwell Witham, Miss Maud, Kirkconnell, by Dumfries. 
Maxwell Witham, Uol. J. K., D.S.0., of Kirkconnell, Dumfries. 
Maxwell, Wellwood, of Kirkennan, Dalbeattie. 

Malcolm, A., Priestlands, Newabbey Road, Maxwelltown. 
Malcolm, Col. W. E., of Burnfoot, Langholm. 

Murray, William, of Murraythwaite, Ecclefechan. 

Mackenzie. W. E., of Newbie, Fawley Hall, Henley-on-Thames. 
Moffat, James, Central Hotel, Annan. 

Martin, Dr, Newbridge, by Dumfries. 

Mann, R. G., Manager, Courier and Herald, Dumfries. 
Maxwell, Sir Herbert, Bart., M.P., Monreith, Wigtownshire. 
Maxwell, John, Tarquah, Maxwelltown. 


M‘Kie, John, Anchorlee, Kirkcudbright. 
Macdonald, J. C. R., W.S., Dumfries. 

M'Kie, Thos., F.S.A., Scot., Moat House, Dumfries. 
M-Call, James, Caitloch, Moniaive. 

Mackenzie, Colonel, of Auchenskeoch. 

M‘Lachlan, James, M.D., Lockerbie. 

M‘Cargo, James, Kirkpatrick-Durham, Dalbeattie. 
M‘Kerrow, M. H., Solicitor, Dumfries. 

M:‘Gowan, B., Do., Do. 

M‘Cutcheon, Wim., B.Sc., The Academy, Dumfries. 
M‘Connel, Miss, Milnhead, Kirkmahoe. 

M‘Connel, Miss L. H., Do.. Do. 


List OF MEMBERS. 235 


Neilson, George, LL.D., Pitlochie, 11 Annfield Terrace, Partick, 
Glasgow. 
Neilson, J., of Mollance, Castle-Douglas. 


Oven., Walter, of Torr, Auchencairn. 


Phyn, C.S., Procurator-Fiscal, Dumfries. 
Primrose, John, Solicitor, Do. 
Proudfoot, John, Ivy House, Moffat. 
Pickering, R. Y., of Conheath, by Dumfries. 
Penman, A. C., Coachbuilder; Dumfries. 


Ross, Dr J. Maxwell, County Buildings, Dumfries. 
Reid, Frank, St. Catherine’s., Dumfries. 
Rutherford, J., Jardington, by Dumfries. 
Robertson, Dr J. M., Penpont. 


Stark, J. G. H., Troqueer Holm, Dumfries. 


Stobie, P., Cabinetmaker, Do. 

Symons, John, Royal Bank, Do. 

Symons, John, Solicitor, Do. 

Scott-Elliot, G. F., F.L.3., F.R.G.S., of Newton, Dumfries. 
Scott-Elliot, Mrs G. F., Do. Do. 


Scott, Rev. J. Hay, Sanquhar. 

Scott, Alexander, Solicitor, Annan. 

Scott, R. A., Fairfield, Dumfries. 

Sanders, Wm., Rosebank, Lockerbie. 

Scott, W.S., Farmer, Redcastle, Dalbeattie. 
Service, Robert, Seedsman, Maxwelltown. 
Semple, Dr, Airlie, Moffat Road, Dumfries. 
Stephen, Rev. W. L., St. Mary’s Manse, Moffat. 


Thomson, J. 8., Jeweller, Dumfries. 

Thomson, Wim., Solicitor, Do. 

Tocher, John, Chemist, Do. 

Thompson, Mrs H. A., 26 Castle Street, Dumfries, 


Veitch, W. H., Factor, Hoddom. 


Watson, Thos., Standard Office, Dumfries, 
Waitt, Jas., Crawford Villa, Johnstone Park, Dunfries. 


236 List oF MEMBERS. 


Whitelaw, Jas. W.. Solicitor, Dumfries. 

Wilson, J. R., Solicitor, Sanquhar. 

Wright, W. M., Nithsdale Temperance Hotel, Dumfries. 
Wallace, Miss, Lochvale House, Lochmaben. 

Wallace, M. G., Terreglestown, by Dumfries. 

Waddell, Jas. B., 8 Vietoria Terrace, Dumfries. 
Whitelaw, Bev. H. A., U.F. Manse, Albany, Dumfries. 


Yerburgh, R. A., M.P., Barwhillanty, Parton, Kirkeudbrightshire. 


. PRESENTED 
45 MAR 1906 


“a 


T¥iNs 7 L-tVE 


L ea ye) ee Ve 
Ne S3a7 NATURAL 
HISTORY. 


"Vol, XVII, Part 3. 


THE TRANSACTIONS 


AND 


yOURNAL OF J ROCEEDINGS 


nad 
ee 


' nd ik , 
Bec o> ; OF THE 
3 


_ DUMFRIESSHIRE AND GALLOWAY 


‘Matural History and Antiquarian Society 


- Uy d 


FOUNDED NOVEMBER, 1862. 


_ SESSION 1902-1903. 


oe 


INTED AT THE STANDARI) OFFICE, DUMFRIES. 
1906. 


Vol. XVII., Part 3. 


THE TRANSACTIONS 


AND 


pOURNAL ‘OF. J ROCEEDINGS 


OF THE 


DUMFRIESSHIRE AND GALLOWAY 


Natural History and Antiquarian Society 


FOUNDED NOVEMBER, 1862. 


SESSION 1902-1903. 


_ PRINTED AT THE STANDARD OFFICE, DUMFRIES. 
, 1906. 


EDITORIAL NOTES. 


The Editor of the “ Transactions ’’ regrets that some valu- 
able papers, which were mislaid previous to his appointment, 
cannot, therefore, be published in detail. It has also been 
found necessary, on account of the expense involved in publishing 
an issue containing three years’ proceedings, to omit a few papers 


and to condense others of considerable value. 


It is the intention of the Council that the “ Transactions ”’ 


should appear annually in the future. 


This issue forms Parts 3, 4, and 5 of Volume XVII. of the 
series begun on the re-establishment of the Society, and completes 
the volume. For the convenience of those who desire to bind 
the volumes, a complete index to Vol. XVII. will be found at the 


end of this issue. 


Copies of the greater number of the issues of the “ Trans- 
actions ”’ can still be had, and will be supplied by the Treasurer, 
Mr M. H. M‘Kerrow, solicitor, St David Street, Dumfries, who 


will give information regarding the prices of these. 


Dumfries, January, 1906. 


NOTICE TO MEMBERS 


It is hoped that Members will endeavour to add to the 
membership of the Society, and the Secretary will be glad to 
receive the names of those who wish to be proposed as members. 


| 


CONTENTS. 


SESSION 1902-3. 


Page. 
Annual Meeting... ae 3 : as = “of ne is 237 
Cinerary Urn found in Holywood—Dr J. W. Martin... Bee .. 238 
A Year’s Observations of the Maximum and Minimum Temperature 
of the Nith and its Estuary—Rev. W. Andson a re ... 239 
Lake Dwelling and Earthworks at Loch Urr—John Corrie... Sen DAD 
Toxic Effects of Colchicums on Bees—S. Arnott, F.R.H.S. ee ... 246 
Lochrutton Crannog, Further Excavations at—James Barbour, F.S.A. 
(Scot. ) Pe IS ee Na oe ie oat 2, Ne NG 
Greyfriars’ Monastery, Dumfries, Excavations on the Site of the— 
James Lennox, F.S.A. (Scot.) ... Be : oo re ... 254 
Evolution, The Ideas of—Professor Scott-Elliot ... RA ay. 250 
Comyn, The Assassination of the Red—Z. J. Chinnock, LL.D. ... 263 
Meteorological Observations for 1902—Rev. W. Andson... ape ... 265 
Notes on the Death Rate for 1902--Dr J. Maawell Ross... mn tee 2a 
The Sparrow Hawk—Robert Service, M.B.0.U. ... Sp os a eae 
Scottish Life in the 17th Century—W. Dickie... se s eva 219 
Comyn, The Death of, from ee Records—#. J. Chinnock, 
LL.D. tes re 3 F at = .. 298 
Burial Mound at Bogrie—Robert Service, M.B.0.U. sa ee ... 309 
Arrow Heads and Stone Whorls from Townhead of Closeburn—Robert 
Service, M.B.0.U. ... a ma as ue at ot .. 309 
Pre-historic Red Deer of Solway—Robert Service, M.B.0.U. .. Pap!) 


Merkland Cross—George Irving te ‘a rai ee zs are, LO 


=u)! Se 


237 


PROCEEDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS 


OF THE 


DUMFRIESSHIRE AND GALLOWAY 


NATURAL HISTORY & ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY. 


SHSSION 1902-3. 


17th October, 1902. 


ANNUAL MEETING. 
Mr R. SERVICE, Vice-President, in the Chair. 


The Chairman delivered an interesting address, in which he 
suggested means for stimulating interest in the Society, and 
pointed out departments of its work in which fresh research might 
be made. 


New Memsers.—Mr Thos. Henderson, Afton Lodge, 
Lockerbie, and Mr Jas. Reid, Chemist, Dumfries. 


Letters were read from Sir Herbert Maxwell, President, and 
Mr Bertram M‘Gowan, Secretary, regretting that they could not 
continue to occupy these offices on account of other engagements. 
The meeting received these resignations with regret. 


The following were elected Office-bearers or Ordinary Mem- 
bers of Council: President, Professor G. F. Scott-Elliot, M.A., 
F.R.G.S., F.L.S., etc. ; Vice-Presidents, Rev. J. Cairns, Mr R. 
Murray, Mr R. Service, and Mr J. Barbour; Secretary and 
Treasurer, Mr J. A. Moodie; Librarians and Curators, Rev. W. 


238 CINERARY URN FounpD aT NEWTONRIGG. 


Andson and Mr J. Lennox; Curators of Herbarium, Mr Scott- 
Elliot and Miss Hannay; Ordinary Members, Dr Maxwell Ross, 
Dr Martin, and Messrs J. S. Thomson, J. Davidson, S. Arnott, 
and Dr Semple, and Misses Hannay and Cresswell. 


14th November, 1902. 


Chairman, Mr JAMEs Bargour, Vice-President. 
NEw ORDINARY MEMBER.—Sir Herbert Maxwell, M.P. 


I.—CINERARY URN FOUND AT NEWTONRIGG, HOLYwoopD, IN 
CaiRN VALLEY Rattway CutTtTinc, May, root. 
By Dr J. W. Martin. 


In this paper Dr Martin gave a description of a Cinerary 
Urn, which was found by one of the workmen engaged in the 
construction of the Cairn Valley Railway. He exhibited the 
fragments, and gave an interesting description, of which the 
following is a summary :— 

The urn had unfortunately been shattered by a workman’s 
pick before it was observed. It was found on a somewhat 
flattened-out knoll, which is level at the top and overgrown with 
trees, at a depth of three and a half or four feet, embedded in 
loose earth, with no evidence of a cist or cairn. It had the 
appearance of a solitary burial, the body having first been re- 
duced to ashes. The urn was of clay, probably baked, sun 
dried, and not wheel made. Particles of sand were mixed with 
the clay, which was yellow without and black in the inside. It 
broke with a coarse fracture. The diameter would probably be 
8? inches across the mouth, and the clay was five-eighths of an 
inch thick at the lip, narrowing as the vessel sloped inwards to a 
thickness of three-eighths of an inch. There was a slight bead 
ornament round both the top and bottom of the broad flat band 
which formed the top of the urn. It contained numerous small 
fragments of human bones, apparently those of an adult female. 
It was undoubtedly an example of ancient British burial, 
probably pre-Roman, and, of course, pagan. 


TEMPERATURE OF THE RIVER NITH. 239 


IJ.—A YEAR’s OBSERVATIONS OF THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM 
TEMPERATURES OF THE RIVER NITH AT DUMFRIES, AND ITS 
ESTUARY AT GLENCAPLE. By Rev. W. ANDSON. 


(The observations at Dumfries made by Mr Andson, assisted 
by Mr W. Dickie and Mr Cunningham, boat-hirer ; and at Glen- 
caple by Rev. Jas. Malcolm, assisted by Capt. Hunter.) 


After referring to similar observations made by him, and 
recorded in the “ Transactions,’?’ Mr Andson explained that the 
present were made at the request of Mr Calderwood, In- 
spector of the Salmon Fisheries for Scotland, and the method 
adopted was in accordance with his suggestion, i.e., two self- 
registering thermometers were used; the one maximum and the 
other minimum; kept constantly in the water below the boat- 
house landing stage on the Nith near the New Bridge, and daily 
or almost daily examined. The following table was submitted, 
followed by the succeeding remarks :— 


Tabular View of Temperatures of River Nith and its Estuary, along with 
that of the Air, for a year from Ist June, 1901, to 31st May, 1902. 


RIVER. ESTUARY. ATR. 


| Mean | Mean | Mean Mean | Mean. Temp. 
Month. Hig’st. |Lowest., Max. | Min. | Tem. Hig’st. Lewest. Temp, in Shade. 


Jan. 46 315 | 40 36°3 | 38:1 | 45 32 39 2 39°2 
Feb. | 41 315 | 352 | 33 34:55 | 405 32 34°9 34 


Mar. | 49 | 36°5| 44-3 | 41-4 | 428147 | 41-7 | 43 43°8 
Apr. | 52°8 | 39 | 47-8 | 42-7 | 45:2 ].53-2 | 41-1 | 44 46 
May | 59 | 435/526 | 473| 50 [58 | 47 | 50 47°3 
June | 64 | 46 | 59-4 | 55-1] 572]64 | 53 | 582 56 
July | 74 | 57 | 68 | 643] 661] 71-7 | 59°5 | 65-6 64°6 
Aug. | 705 | 48 | 62-2 | 576 | 599] 69 | 50°3 | 62-1 59-2 
Sep. | 61 | 505/575 | 53:3] 554160 | 54:5 | 572 55°8 
Oct. (60 | 42°5 | 50°9 | 461 | 48 

0 


478 | 38 43°] 40°8 


4 ) 

5159 | 45 | 49:9 48°3 
8 

1] 45:3 | 33 | 376 37 


v 
4 
Nov. | 49 32 | 42-7 | 39 4 
Dec. 47 BES MS il is et!) 63: 


Year | 74 | 31°5 | 49-9 463 | 478 "1-71.32 | 48-7 47°77 


| 


If we compare the river temperature observations with those 
of the shade temperature of the air, which may be reckoned as 
that of the land, we find in one respect a great difference. I 
mean in the range of temperature in the two sets of observations. 
Thé range of the river observations is much more limited than 


240 ‘TEMPERATURE OF THE RIVER NITH. 


that of the air or land. The highest temperature recorded for 
the river was 74 deg., on the 2oth of July, and the lowest was 
31.5 deg., say 32 deg. to avoid fractions, on the roth of 
February, giving a range of 42 deg. for the year. In the air or 
land observations, on the other hand, the highest temperature 
was go deg., on the same day in July, and the lowest 6 deg., on 
a day in February, which would give an annual range of 84 deg. 
As the above values, however, were abnormal, I prefer to substi- 
tute for them a fifteen years’ average of the highest single day 
temperatures, and a similar average of the lowest, which would 
alter the range to 84 deg. for the highest and 14 deg. for the 
lowest, and show an annual range of 70 deg. for the air, as com- 
pared with 42 deg. for the river. The mean maximum for the 
year being 49.9 deg., and the mean minimum 46.3 deg., the 
mean daily range would only be 3.6 deg. For the air the mean 
maximum was 54.4 deg., the mean minimum 40.5 deg., hence 
the mean daily range would be 14.4 deg. But now, when we 
compare the mean annual temperatures of air and water, we find 
a remarkable agreement. They almost exactly coincide. The 
one (air) is 47.7 deg. ; the other (water) is 47.8 deg. The differ- 
ence amounts to only one-tenth. JI may mention that authorities 
on the subject lay it down as a rule that the temperatures should 
coincide. Thus Dr Hugh Robert Mill, in his book, entitled 
“The Realm of Nature,’’ says:—“ The temperature of a river 
in the temperate zone follows that of the land over which it 
flows, and it is thus subject to considerable variations between 
day and night.’’ Hence the use of self-registering minimum as 
well as maximum thermometers to record the temperature is 
fitted to secure greater accuracy; and when the yearly mean, 
founded on such observations, is found to correspond with that 
of the air for the same period, it is only what might be expected, 
and may be regarded, indeed, as an evidence of the accuracy of 
the observations. This coincidence of annual means does not, 
however, necessarily imply a like coincidence in the monthly 
means. It will be seen from the table that the months in which 
they approximate most closely are the autumn and winter months, 
and those in which they diverge most are in spring partly, but 
still more in summer. In August, September, October, 
November, December, February, and April there is only a 
difference of a fraction of a degree, but in January, March, May, 


TEMPERATURE OF THE RIVER NITH. 241 


June, and July from 1 deg. in March to 2.7 deg. in May. There 
were four months in which the temperature of the air was slightly 
higher than that of the water, one (November) in which it was 
exactly the same, and seven in which the temperature of the 
water was highest, but only to a very limited extent, the excess 
and the deficiencies almost balancing one another. If now we 
compare the temperature of the river with that of the estuary at 
Glencaple, we find a different result. The annual means, instead 
of coinciding, show an excess of almost 1 deg. in favour of the 
estuary, viz., 48.7 deg. The annual mean of the river as ascer- 
tained by the observations ten years ago, was 48.5 deg., as com- 
pared with 47.8 deg. The explanation of this is very simple. 
The observations of the estuary having been taken always at or 
near high tide, and during the day, would, as a rule, be near the 
maximum, while those, both of the river and the air, were 
‘calculated from the combined maxima and minima of each day ; 
and then the flow of the tide over a large extent of sand on warm, 
sunny weather must also necessarily have the effect of increasing 
the estuary temperature. It may be interesting to bring out the 
seasonal variations of temperature, both in the river and estuary, 
as compared with those of the air. Dividing the year into four 
‘seasons—winter, spring, summer, and autumn—with three months 
each, the following table will show the variations :— 


River Water. Estuary. Air. 
Mean temp. Mean Temp. Mean temp. 
Deg. Deg. Deg. 

December ER 371 37°6 37 
January ... fo fe 38°1 + 36°5 40 7375 39°2 +36 7 
February os ne 34°5 34°9 34 
March _... ans me 428 43 43°8 
April a oe be 45°2 +46 44 145°6 46 }45°7 
May zsh oe A 50 50 47°3 
June eae a: fe 57 2 58:2 56 
July = Sch "2 66°1 }61°6 65°6 -61°9 64°6 +59°9 
August ... xy ie 59°9 62:1 59-2 | 
September oe: oe 55°4 57°2 55°8 
October ... As 4 48°5 }36°5 49°9 1-37°5 48°3 +36°7 
November Pe e 40°8 43°1 41°3 


From this table it appears that the temperatures of spring—in- 
cluding March, April, and May—approximate most closely those 
of the estuary, and the air differing only by one-tenth of a degree, 
viz., 45.6 deg. for the estuary and 45.7 deg. for the air, while the 
Tiver has a mean of 46 deg.—-the highest of the three by a 


242 Tue Locu UrR CRANNOG. 


fraction of a degree. In winter, including the months of Decem- 
ber, January, and February, the temperature of the river and 
the air differ by only two-tenths of a degree, the air being highest, 
36.7 deg., and the river 36.5 deg., while the estuary is 37.5 deg.,. 
about one degree higher. The greatest difference is in summer— 
June, July, and August—when the river and the estuary are both 
in excess of the air, the former by fully 1.4 deg. and the latter by 
2 degrees. In autumn, again—including September, October, 
temperatures respectively of 48.2 deg. and 48.4 deg., while the 
estuary is more than two degrees higher, viz., 50.6 deg. 


III.—Tue Loch Urr Crannoc. By Mr Joun Corrie. 


Loch Urr, or Loch Orr as it is often called, is a small hill 
lake on the boundary between Dumfriesshire and Kirkcudbright- 
shire. According to the O.S. map, it is 623.9 feet above sea 
level. Its area is 137.765 acres, of which 33.741 is in Balma- 
clellan, Kirkcudbrightshire ; 33.125 in Glencairn, Dumfriesshire ;. 
and 50.899 in Dunscore, Dumfriesshire. The place which Loch 
Urr fills in history is not large. Chalmers, in his “ Caledonia ’’ 
(page 217, vol. iii.), lays Symson’s MS. account of Galloway 
(1684) under contribution as follows :-- 

“Loch Urr, which has a circumference of three miles, lies. 
partly in Dumfriesshire and partly in Kirkcudbrightshire. Symson 
says it is replenished with pike and salmon. It has two islets ; on 
one of these there is an old castle with plantations of willows ; 


and here wild geese and other wild fowl breed. From the 
eastern bank there is an artificial road leading into the castle isle ; 
this causeway is now about knee-deep under water.’’ The “Old 


2) 


Statistical Account ’’ says:—“ Small island with remains of stone 
walls.”’ Fullarton’s Gazetteer of Scotland (1844) introduces. 
matter of a more controversial character. At page 780, 
vol. ii., we read:—“ Loch Urr seems to be the Loch-cure of 
Camden, from which he erroneously represents the Nith as 
issuing, and which he states to have been the site of a town of 
the Selgove, called by the Romans Corda. The islet may 
possibly have borne on its bosom some Selgovze huts ; and it cer- 
tainly was the site, at a later date, of an important though 
unstoried castle. Some ruins which remain show the fortalice to: 
have had great strength of wall and a variety of apartments.’” 


: 


THe Locu UrRr CRANNOG. 243 


Dr Munro’s “ Ancient Scotch Lake-Dwellings’’ contains no 
description of Loch Urr. It finds a place, however, in that 
writer’s tabular list of lake-dwellings, where it is included in 
Class 2—“Constructed of stone, earth, etc.’’ It would thus 
appear that the island in Loch Urr has long been recognised as a 
place of early human habitation, and it is in no way surprising 
that the attention of the society should have been directed to it 
as a fitting subject of investigation. With the permission of the 
proprietor, excavations were made. 

The work of excavation was almost entirely confined to the 
targer island. ‘The entire island is covered with a considerable 
surface deposit, consisting of decayed, or partially decayed, vege- 
table matter. This deposit was found to vary greatly in depth; 
in some places it was as much as two feet three inches; 
in others not more than nine _ inches. The — sub-soil 
could not be penetrated to any depth owing to the 
presence of water. The surface material was removed with the 
utmost care, exposing the walls of the various enclosures to the 
foundation. All the walls gave evidence of care in construction. 
No trace of mortar was visible, and it is improbable that any 
mortar was used. The amount of debris found at the base of the 
walls or in the neighbourhood was not large, a fact which seems 
to justify the inference that the walls were not carried to any 
great height, probably not more than three feet at the most. 
The height of the portions at present standing is about two feet, 
and the thickness, which is nearly uniform throughout, is two feet 
three inches. The outer wall, which encircles the main island, 
although built of dry stone in much the same manner as the inner 
enclosures, has evidently been of a more important character 
altogether. The height has been greater, the thickness in some 
places is as much as six feet, and, near to what seems to have 
been the entrance, additional stonework in the form of rude 
buttresses are found. This wall seems to have been undermined, 
and to have then fallen outward. Hence the large quantities of 
stone found around the margin. 

The remains at Loch Urr then consist of :—(1) A gangway of 
stone, 114 feet in length, entirely submerged, and affording a 
secret means of communication with the island from the shore; 
(2) a small island, 66 feet in length and 33 feet in breadth, on the 
line of the gangway ; (3) a second gangway of stone, 56 feet in 


244 Tue Locu Urr CRANNOG. 


length, and partially submerged, communicating with the main 
island; (4) the main island, with ruins of outer wall and four 
inner enclosures. 

We come now to speak of-the earthwork. If the O.S. map 
is referred to it will be seen that a point of land, bearing the 
significant name “ White Isle,’’ juts out from the Dunscore side 
of the loch and forms a peninsula some six acres or thereby in 
extent. This portion of ground takes a somewhat conical 
form, and it is upon the neck of land which connects this knoll 
with the mainland that the earthwork is found. 

It consists of a well-defined rampart and ditch, and appears 
to have been a work of some importance. The length of the 
rampart may be stated approximately at 500 feet. On the west 
side, where the rampart is most entire, it rises above the present 
ground level of the trench in front to a height of between eleven 
and twelve feet. At the rear the height is about four feet. Two 
sections were cut here; one through the rampart itself ; another 
through the ditch in front. The rampart was found to be com- 
posed of a stiff white clay, mixed with rough gravel. This 
overlies the original soil to a depth of six feet six inches, 
measuring from the centre of the rampart. No stone larger than 
coarse gravel was found here; but it may be mentioned that 
stones show through the surface at two points on the face of the 
rampart, and at one at least of these points the stones have 
evidently been arranged so as to overlap one another. _ I observe 
from the copy of the “ Transactions ’’ lately placed in my hands 
that Mr Barbour refers to a similar arrangement as occurring at 
Birrenswark. In the rear of the rampart a rough stone pavement 
ten feet in width was found. As this pavement lies near the 
surface, it has the effect of altering the character of the vege- 
tation, and the pavement can be traced in this way along the 
greater part of the line of rampart. It should be mentioned 
that a wide gap of between eighty and ninety feet occurs almost 
in the centre of the earthwork. It seems probable that this 
portion has been broken down, but at present I have no proof 
to offer in support of this suggestion. The trench in front of 
the rampart was found to be silted up to a depth of five feet 
ten inches. This fact is important, for it proves, almost con- 
clusively, that the point of land which we now know as a 
peninsula was at one time an island. The name “ White Isle,’’ 


Tue Locu UrR CRANNOG. 245 


which still lingers, seems to be reminiscent of such a period. 
That an intimate connection, for purposes of defence, existed 
between the earthwork and the lake-dwelling can scarcely be 
doubted. The two are little more than 300 yards distant from 
each other, and we know that fortifications on land adjacent to 
lake-dwellings are a more or less constant feature of such remains 
elsewhere. 

Such are the details of the investigations at Loch Urr. I 
am afraid thé results, so far at least as relics are concerned, are 
somewhat disappointing. No relics were found at the earthwork. 
In lieu thereof I submit two samples of earth which may prove 
of interest to the members [showing the white deposit of clay 
and gravel over the black earth]. The relics found during 
the excavations on the island are as follows: 1, a flint flake; 2, 
fragment of clay pottery; 3, fragment of red pottery; 4, other 
small fragments of pottery; 5 and 6, two round stone balls. 

Through the kindness of Mr Barbour, all the specimens 
were submitted to Dr Anderson. He reports that No. r shows 
slight signs of use. That No. 3, the lip piece of pottery, 
showing indications of having been made on the wheel, may be 
of Roman times or later. Nos. 5 and 6 he pronounces 
“natural.’’ 

Is it possible with such slender data to form an opinion 
as to the period to which the lake-dwelling at Loch Urr belongs ? 
I am afraid not. Dr Anderson’s report favours the view that 
it is post-Roman, and that is, perhaps, as far as we can go with 
safety. That the Loch Urr lake-dwelling does not possess the 
characteristic features of the crannog proper goes without saying. 
I am disposed to favour the view that it is a natural island 
artificially strengthened, but Mr Barbour sagely reminds me that 
our early forefathers did not mind hard work, and it is perfectly 
possible that the main island, like the gangways, and in all 


probability the small island also, are the work of man. 


I would only add that the thanks of the Society are due to 
Mr William Kennedy Moffat of Craigenvey and Shillingland for 
his kindness in sanctioning the excavations; to Mr Hepburn, 
Liverpool, for the use of his boat; and to the Rev. T. Kidd, 
Moniaive, for the photographs which accompany the report. 

Mr Barbour remarked that the presence of the stone 


246 EXCAVATIONS AT LOCHRUTTON LAKE-DWELLING. 


buildings and the earthwork gave to the crannog a character 
different from any which had yet been described. 


19th December, 1902. 


Chairman—Mr RosBert Murray, Vice-President. 


I.—Tue Toxic Errects oF Cotcuicums on Brees. By Mr 
SAMUEL ARNOTT, Carsethorn. 


In this short paper the author gave the results of a series of 
observations upon the toxic effect produced upon bees frequenting 
colchicums in search of honey or pollen. The bees became 
stupefied and died. 


II.—Account oF ExcAvATIONS AT LOCHRUTTON LAKE- 
DweELLinc. By Mr James Barsovr, F.S.A. (Scot.). 


In a former communication (on page 128) to the Society on 
this subject I had the privilege of submitting a report describing 
the exploratory works then overtaken on the island, and the 
results, and the main inferences, it will be remembered, drawn 
from the facts disclosed, were :—(1) That the structural charac- 
teristics of the island are those of an epoch when the craft of 
carpentry had made some advance, and sharp-edged iron tools, 
such as the axe, chisel, and boring instruments, had come into 
use ; and (2) that the island served as a place of human habitation 
and there had been a medieval occupation of considerable 
opulence and prolonged duration. 

I shall proceed first with the further description of 


THE STRUCTURE OF THE ISLAND, 


and shall most easily and intelligibly explain the details by refer- 


ence to the accompanying plan, which, unfortunately, owing to. 
the interruption of its preparation by the flooding of the floor, is. 


incomplete. It does not show all the timbers exposed, but only 
so much of the work as was actually surveyed. Four trenches, 


marked A, B, C, and D, cut from the centre of the island to the 


outer margin, exposed the floor, which consists of logs of wood 


laid side by side, forming the pavement, and doubtless the parts. 


ExcavaTIOoNs AT LocHRUTTON LAKE-DWELLING. 247 
not exposed correspond. ‘The pavement is more or less decayed, 
but few of the timbers are wanting. The most perfect part lies 
towards the north side of the island, and is partly detailed on the 
plan. It is regular, close jointed, and even, and comparatively 
sound. 

The disposition of the timbers is peculiar. They are 
arranged in groups, lying in different directions, and the pieces 
are sometimes assorted in equal lengths as if prepared beforehand 
to go together. In the case of a forked piece a filler is inserted. 
The axe has been used to cut the pieces to the lengths required. 

Another detail presents itself. A thin bed of stones is found 
between the log pavement and the layer of logs below it. The 
purpose the stones were meant to serve seems to be to fill up the 
inequalities of the lower layer and raise the smaller timbers of the 
pavement itself in order to secure a straight upper surface. 
Remaining inequalities were then reduced by the use of the axe. 
The swelled lower end of a large trunk 18 inches in diameter, 
for instance, was observed to be reduced to the general level in 
this way, and other timbers exhibit-marks of similar treatment. 

At the point marked E on the plan a flat stone was exposed, 
not large, but with others seemingly displaced, sufficient to form 
a hearth, and that such was its purpose, I think the presence of 
considerable quantities of charcoal proved. The hearth lay 
almost immediately over the log pavement. 

Remains of super-imposed works near the north margin of 
the island are shown on the plan. One of these consists of two 
parallel oak logs, 9 to 10 feet in length, 11 inches by 6 in section, 
and 8 feet apart, overlying the floor. The logs are squared by 
means of an axe. Each exhibits three mortice-holes on the upper 
side, and pinholes passing through them at right angles; and 
fragments of two upright tenoned pieces measuring 6 inches by 5 
on the section, reduced on the tenon to 5 inches by 5, and holed 
for the reception of the pins, were still in position. The logs 
were fixed in position by pins of oak driven into the floor. 

A squared oak block 104 inches by 8, and 4 feet 2 inches in 
length, rebated at the ends and grooved in the middle, described 

in the former Paper, and exhibited, lay about 10 feet south of, 
and at right angles with, the logs just described. 

Another observable feature consists of a double line of logs, 
forming a raised ledge 8 inches high and 18 inches wide (H H). 


248 EXCAVATIONS AT LOCHRUTTON LAKE-DWELLING. 


It starts from the margin of the crannogs at a point about north- 
east, runs nearly westwards, and then southwards, dividing the 
area unequally. It does not cross the space between the morticed 
logs before described, but is found on either side of it. There 
are indications of a characteristic gateway, about 3 feet 6 inches 
wide, flanked by a return of the ledge, and with a group of five 
stout posts in front. 
Tue RELICS 

Of the vestiges of occupation recovered during this year’s 
operations very few were got from the trenches. Fortunately 
the refuse-bed was discovered, and from it were exhumed nearly 
all the objects to be described, those mentioned in the First 
Paper excepted. 

Several oak posts driven into the floor of the structure 
project above the surface of the pavement, 8 inches or more. 
Four in the west section, at K, form apparently part of two rows, 
19 feet and 27 feet respectively, from the south exterior margin 
of the island; in the south section, at L, three posts stand in a 
row, 11 feet from the margin, and another, at M, is 30 feet from 
the same point. Their purpose is uncertain. 

A fragment of a morticed oak beam, corresponding with one 
represented at page 74 of Dr Munro’s “ Ancient Scottish Lake- 
Dwellings,’’ fig. 36, was recovered, but not 7m sizz. 

Notwithstanding the partial description contained in the 
former Paper, I will, in order to avoid confusion, set out here 
the whole group, under different heads. 


OBJECTS OF STONE. 


Fragments of a circular vessel of red sandstone with level 
bottom and expanding sides, 14 inch thick, smooth inside, and 
neatly dressed with a point outside. 

A circular hammer, and a circular disc, neither of them 
characteristic. 

ARTICLES OF Woop. 


These consist of three shaped pieces of oak, for what 
purpose intended is not evident. 
METAL OBJECTS. 


An iron axe head. It is much corroded and_ broken, 
measures about 34 inches across the cutting edge, and 84 inches 


EXCAVATIONS AT LOCHRUTTON LAKE-DWELLING. 249 


in length over all. There is no hammer, and the handle-socket, 
which stops with a blind end, projects from the side of the blade. 

An iron spear head 84 inches long and 1 inch across the 
broadest part of the blade. It is furnished with a socket, and 
the blade is marked with a central ridge. 

A fragment of an iron knife blade, 1} inch broad, curving 
inwards, the edge returning at the point with a curve to the back 
of the blade. 

Several nails and nondescript pieces of iron. 

A bronze or brass pot foot, 2 inches long, and 1 inch broad, 
having projecting central bead and turned out end. 

A bronze ring $ inch diameter, made of hoop, } inch by 
3-16, bent round so as to meet at the ends. 

Several small pieces of sheet lead of different thickness. 

An oval disc of lead, 1 3-16 inch by 1 inch, the thickness 
barely 1-16 inch. 

Five leaden spindle whorls, 1 inch to 1 1-8 inch in diameter, 
about 1-8 inch thick, the holes 5-16 inch wide. 


MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS. 


A small equal armed jet cross, personal ornament, described 
in former Paper. 

A glass bead of sixteen sides, and holed. 

A piece of bone or horn, shaped like a pin. 

A shaped piece of horn. 

A leather sole of a female’s shoe. It measures 9 inches in 
length, the breadth is 1{ inch at the heel, 1} inch at the hollow 
of the foot, 2% inches at the widest part, and the toe is sharp at 
the point, 

The toe part of a male person’s foot-dress, broad and 
round, made of half tanned skin. 


POTTERY. 


This article, which I am assured is both ancient and interest- 
ing, again bulks largely. It is difficult to convey a just idea of 
the quantity recovered. When I say there are about 600 frag- 
ments, it is necessary to explain that the pieces are very small, 
measuring from 4 inch to five or six inches across. That a large 
number of vessels are represented is obvious from the difference 
of the ware, shape, colour, and style of ornamentation. In one 
respect there is uniformity—all the fragments present the peculiar 


250 EXCAVATIONS AT LOCHRUTTON LAKE-DWELLING. 


glaze believed to be characteristic of the work of medizeval manu- 
facture. As the general description of the pottery contained in 
the former Paper applies to the whole, it need not be repeated, 
but something may be added by way of setting out more fully the 
different styles of the ornamentation. 

The pottery is so fragmentary that in most instances the 
designs are incomplete. It exhibits ornamentation either incised 
or in relief, or both, but colour decoration is absent. Of incised 
designs the most simple consists of thumb marks, usually found 
round the bottom of the larger vessels. 

A number of pieces of ware, + inch thick, red inside, and 
finished outside with a yellowish brown glaze, representing one or 
more vessels of a form contracting in the middle and expanding 
above and below, are enriched nearly all over with a kind of 
herring bone or fern-like ornament, scratched into the soft clay. 

A fragment of fine hard ware, } inch thick, bluish in the 
fracture, grey inside and glazed outside a greenish brown colour, 
part of a large vessel, is marked with incised ornament, consisting 
of a pair of vertical lines and short sloping strokes on either side, 
forming together a broad fern-like design. 

A piece of ware, enriched with an incised undulating line. 

Several pieces of fine ware, black inside, and glazed outside 
bluish green, are enriched with vertical ribs in relief, laid on in 
slip, and between them with incised lines half an inch apart, in 
horizontal or more or less sloping directions. 

Fragments of hard ware, black inside and green glazed out- 
side, enriched in relief with vertical rope-like ornament, termi- 
nating with tasselled ends. 

Several pieces of ware, red inside, glazed green outside, 
decorated with a net-like pattern in relief, having knots at the 
intersections of the lines, all laid on in slip. The design is 
imperfect, but it has evidently been elaborate. The vessel was 
probably square or octagonal shaped, as the pieces show scarcely 
any curvature. 

A piece of thin ware, bluish grey inside, and of a brownish 
colour outside, and glazed, shows a vertical ornament in relief 
crossing with a knot, a horizontal line in relief, and terminating 
in a ball pendant. There is only a fragment of this design. 

The handles of vessels, of which there are upwards of forty, 
are moulded or otherwise ornamented. One is marked longitudi- 


EXCAVATIONS AT LOCHRUTTON LAKE-DWELLING. 251 


nally with four sharply incised lines ; another is rope-like, and at 
its junction with the vessel the shoulder is fluted. 


Foop REFUSE. 


A large addition has been made to the food refuse, consisting 
of animals’ teeth, including 6 boars’ tusks, and a considerable 
quantity of bones, nearly all of them broken, presumably in order 
to extract the marrow. These were submitted to Dr Thomas H. 
Bryce, Queen Margaret College, University of Glasgow, for 
identification, and the following is his report :— 


REPORT ON BONES FROM LOCHRUTTON CRANNOG. 


The bones forwarded to me for identification by James 
Barbour, Esq., from Lochrutton Crannog are, unfortunately, in 
a very fragmentary condition. The majority are bones of cattle, 
but of which species it is impossible to say in the absence of 
any sufficiently distinctive parts. The other animals are repre- 
sented by a smaller number of parts, as noted below :— 

t. Ox (Bos ?) teeth and fragments of various bones. 

Sheep (Ovis aries, variety domestica), various bones. 

3. Pig (Sus scrofa domestica), incisor tooth and canine of a 
boar. 


bo 


4. Red deer (Cervus elaphus), metacarpus and various frag- 
ments. 

5. Roe deer (Carpreolus caprea), portion of a single cannon 
bone. 

6. Horse (Equus caballus), two molar teeth and one metacarpal 
bone. 

7. Fish (?), fragment of a single vertebra. 

In answer to inquiries regarding some of the points men- 
tioned in the report, Dr Bryce furnishes the following Note to 
Report on Animal Bones found at Lochrutton Crannog :— 

In regard to the bones of the domestic animals of the above 
list, it may be interesting to note that they do not correspond to 
those of the modern breeds. In the absence of the distinctive 
horn-cores of the Celtic Shorthorn (Bos longifrons) it is not 
possible to identify the ox bones with certainty as belonging to 
that ancient variety of small ox, but such bones as exist corre- 
spond in size to those in my possession, which certainly belonged 
to Bos longifrons. 


252 EXCAVATIONS AT LOCHRUTTON LAKE-DWELLING. 


The sheep bones must be attributed to the ancient slender 
legged sheep, and not to any of the modern breeds. 

The horse represented was a small animal of about 104 to 
11 hands. The only long bone of the limbs present is a meta- 
carpal, which is not broken, and in the absence of any of the 
other bones broken like the ox bones, it is not possible to say 
whether the horse like the ox had been used for food. 


I have now recorded the facts disclosed by the explorations, 
and they are respectfully submitted to the judgment of anti- 
quaries competent in such matters. Having seen and as it 
were handled the facts, however, it may be useful to indicate 
the impressions I have formed of them. 


THE STRUCTURE. 


Referring to the super-imposed works, I would suggest that 
the raised stage, H.H., may be the basal part of a dividing 
structure separating the area into two unequal courts, the opening 
J in it being the gate or entrance to the more important division. 
The group of morticed beams or sleepers, F and G, and tenoned 
uprights, bisecting the dividing structure, is evidently, I think, 
remains of a wooden house, it may be a guard-room, tower, or 
dwelling, the length probably 20 feet, partitioned into two 
apartments. 

The bed of stones covering the log pavement is a peculiarity. 
It seems to have been about 3 feet in depth. The breakwater of 
stones surrounding the island is also a notable, feature. 

If we compare this island with other Scottish crannogs in- 
vestigated, it is found that it coincides, generally at least, as re- 
gards the constructive principles. The author of “Ancient Scot- 
tish Lake-Dwellings’’’ indicates two prominent characterising 
features of such structures, viz., (1) upright piles in the form of 
one or more circles, and (2) the remains of flat beams containing 
large square cut holes at their extremities. 

In this instance the first of these features has not been 
observed, although originally it may have existed. Of the 
second, the remains are meagre, but sufficient, I think, to prove 
conformity. And there are other evidences of agreement, 
such as the use of wood logs as the main element in the 
construction, the peculiar disposition of the logs in groups, the 


‘ 
: 
: 


Et 


EXCAVATIONS AT LOCHRUTTON LAKE-DWELLING. 253 


levellings of stones between the layers of wood, and the use by 
the builders of sharp-edged iron tools. 

The structure thus furnishes evidence from which to infer 
comparatively its chronological position. Being of the common 
type, it may be conjectured to have emerged during the crannog- 
building epoch in Scotland, which, according to Dr Munro, 
corresponds to the age of anarchy consequent on the withdrawal 
of the Roman soldiers from Britain. The strengthening and 
heightening of the island with stones, as previously described, 
was, however, there is reason to conclude, work subsequently 
overtaken, and it would appear at a time when the forests had 
given out, or the ancient art of crannog-building was lost. 

It may also be conjectured that there had been two occupa- 
tions. The floor of the original occupation was the log pave- 
ment; that of the later occupation was the bed of stones over- 
lying the wood. 

THE RELIcs 
furnish abundant evidence of the occupation of the island as 
a place of human habitation. That vestiges distinctive of the 
original occupation could hardly be expected to survive, con- 
sidering the vicissitudes which seem to have attended the history 
of the island, may well be allowed, and while the food remains 
correspond with what is usually found on crannogs and other 
ancient sites of habitation, I do not know that any of it can with 
certainty be differentiated as belonging to the one settlement or 
the other. The pottery, the remains of the shoes, the cross, and 
the bead, are all, I am advised, characteristic of medieval times. 

I may now summarise in a word the leading characteristics 
of this crannog and its products as compared with results ob- 
tained on other investigated sites of the class. (1) The original 
structure itself, although now deficient in the completeness of 
some of the usual features, essentially follows the common plan ; 
(2) the strengthening and heightening of the crannog after 
subsidence with stones is, I think, an unusual circumstance ; (3) 


the remains of the basal portion of a superstructure are well 


represented in this instance ; (4) the food refuse here corresponds 
with what is found on other such sites ; (5) whether arising from 
a meagre original occupation, or the obliteration of the products 
of it by the later works, there is in this case very little trace of 
articles characteristic of the earlier civilisation obtained on other 


254 SITE OF THE MONASTERY OF DUMFRIES. 


corresponding structures; (6) on the other hand, medizval 
pottery and other objects of like character found very sparingly 
on similar sites constitute the special and most interesting 
feature which differentiates the Lake-Dwelling of Lochrutton. 

It must be evident that the civilisation represented is not 
without marks of culture and refinement. Domestic animals 
were reared for food, such as the ox, sheep, and pig. These 
were supplemented with red deer, roe deer, and fish; and the 
pony, perhaps, in stress of circumstances, was not rejected for 
the table. Then the high-class pottery is a marvel to be found 
in use in such a place, and seems to show the urgency of circum- 
stances compelling the retreat. Men with broad feet were 
there, who might handle the axe and spear, and the lady of 
the slender foot, wearing a little Greek cross inscribed with 
the sacred monogram, and supported probably by a string of 
sixteen-sided beads. Nor were the ladies idle. Five spindle 
whorls at last found their way to the refuse bed. The presence 
of ladies and their peaceful occupation predominates. <A 
single spear is the only evidence suggestive of war. 


TII.—-ExcavaATIONS ON THE SITE OF THE MONASTERY OF 
DUMFRIES. (Summer, 1901.) 
By Mr James LENNox, F.S.A. (Scot.). 


Owing to building alterations in 9, 11, 13, and 15 Castle 
Street, it became necessary to take down eight buildings and to 
excavate the ground to the extent of nine feet deep for the 
formation of a cellar and warehouses above same. 

The back portion was known to cover part of the site of 
the monastery buildings, so that on taking down the old buildings 
it was discovered that these had been built out of the remains of 
the still older building, the monastery, many of these were 
wrought stones. Some of these are described further on. 

The excavations revealed a great number of human bones, 
some of which had been disturbed when the buildings, now 
removed, had been erected, as in one part these lay heaped 
together. The majority were as they had been deposited in 
mother earth, and in no case was there remains of wood, except 
one, in which was the body of a child, and this was much more 
recent than any of the other interments. 


SITE OF THE MONASTERY OF DUMFRIES. 255 


We found no buildings or human remains north of Nos. 
2 and 6 on plan, but in every other part there were a great 
number of skeletons. 

On going down from three to four feet we came on a 
rectangular foundation, 9 ft. 2 in. long by 3 ft. 5 in. broad, 
stretching N. to S. It consisted of well set foundations, with 
a few of what had formed a running course of hewn stones, as 
marked No. 1 on plan. These were 5 inches deep, with a 
facing slope of 3 inches and a straight face of 2} inches. 
This was quite detached from any other foundation, and just 
where we were told to expect the altar stones to the east of 
this, 9 feet distant, was the foundations of a wall of the same 
kind of sandstone as the one discovered. 

These foundations were not quite continuous, as here and 
there they had been broken into for drainage purposes for the 
buildings just removed. 

These are marked red on plan, and show a measurement 
of 45 feet north to south, with walls running west from them 
in the direction of Greyfriars’ Street. The excavators could 
not fix the length of these, as the operations did not include 
the houses in Greyfriars’ Street, but it is known that the roadway 
in that street stands on old vaults, and that the houses in both 
Greyfriars’ and St David Streets did at one time form part of the 
buildings. 

At the altar we found nine skeletons, with their heads 
against it and their feet to the east, and according to the 
custom of the period, probably ecclesiastics. | On the south we 
found only two. These had their heads to the west and feet 
to the east. On the north and west there were no interments at 
the altar. 

All the skeletons had fine sets of teeth, the wisdom ones 
being well developed, and in no case did we see any decay. 
The only other bones we could handle were the larger leg ones ; 
the others, if they were visible, crumbled when exposed to 
the air. 

South of the altar we came on traces of the earth having 
been disturbed at a much lower level than at any other point, 
and on digging down we found at the depth of nine feet from 
_ the surface a culvert of flat sandstones with a channel six inches 
broad, and three deep, covered with sandstone flags. On 


256 SITE OF THE MONASTERY OF DUMFRIES. 


following this up it proved to be a drain or culvert leading from 
the old well, also marked red on plan, to where it entered the 
property of Mr Haining, where at one time stood the Grey 
Horse Inn, where the convent kitchen fireplace used to be shown 
in our memory. This duct had clear water running in it when 
we opened it up. 

On cutting a tunnel between two cellars we came on a heavy 
piece of masonry, also marked on plan, being an old wall of 
44 feet broad and only supporting a 9g inch wall. 

Owing to the fact that there were no inscriptions found, it 
is impossible to state whose the skeletons were, but, as is 
shown by historical references, the two found to the south 
of the altar were probably the Red Comyn and his uncle. 

The best of the stones discovered were the font, which had 
been broken into three, and used in the building now removed. 
It measured when set up 21 inches across the lip and 13 inches 
in diameter ; inside the lip this stone was 184 inches deep. 

We also found a small proczeneum, 6 inches by 44 inches 
inside measure ; also a mullion of a window, showing good work- 
manship; and several rebates for windows or doors. There 
had been a small pilaster at one of the angles, with a diameter 
of 24 inches. In one case this pilaster entered a right angle, 
showing the lentil of a door or window. 

All hewn stones had mason’s marks on them, as is the 
custom in ancient church remains. 

Behind the back wall of the church were numerous skele- 
tons. These were found when the street was paved nearly as 
far as the Burns Statue, where a wall runs from near to Messrs 
Low & Johnstone’s shop, so that the graveyard had extended thus 
far east of the church, and after passing this wall no human 
remains were found towards St Andrew Street. 

After quotations from John of Fordun and other ancient 
writers, supporting the conclusions at which he had arrived, 
Mr Lennox proceeded :— 

The record of John of Fordun that the friars laid Comyn 
behind the altar is borne out by the discovery that the altar 
was nine feet from the back wall of the church. The only 
definite facts we have established by these excavations are 
these :—We have fixed the site of the altar and the breadth of 
the choir. 


N 


THE IDEA oF EvoLuTIon. 25 
16th January, 1903. 


Chairman—The PresipenvT. 


New MEmMBER.—Mr J. R. Thompson, chemist, Dumfries. 


I.—Tue Ipea oF EVOLUTION, AND PossiBtE FIELDS oF Work 
FOR BritisH BoTANists. 

By Professor G. F. Scott-Ex.iot, F.L.S., EVt-G:s., Clee, being 
his presidential address. 


Professor Scott-Elliot said it seemed that the most interest- 
ing subject one could take would be that of evolution. If they 
took it in the right spirit, these wider ideas of science gave you a 
clue by which you can find your way through all minor depart- 
ments. Such a science as botany, for instance, was generally 
divided up into little abstract sciences in which workers are 
without sympathy, in fact generally did not understand what 
their neighbours in the other compartments were doing; but 
with a proper idea of evolution, you could bring the whole of 
these workers into one continuous scheme. "The general course 
of the subject of evolution was most easily shown by a very 
simple diagram. It advanced in a series of waves, followed by 
a dip. The first tidal wave was the work of Charles Darwin, 
Which swept away all the accumulated rubbish of the middle 
ages, and left the ground clear for future workers. Darwin might 
be considered as the accumulation of a whole series of other 
people. Next came the sinking portion—the trough of the 
wave, chiefly due to theological and metaphisical objections— 
not strictly scientific at all—which sprang from a total miscon- 
ception of Darwin’s position. It was the cruelty, the barbarism 
of rooting out the unfit, which shocked the easy-going people 
of 1860; but by a curious confusion of ideas they blamed 
Darwin for the fact that he pointed out. Darwin was not 
responsible for the cruelty; he only pointed out the fact that 
it existed. Of course there was no foolish sentimentality about 
Nature, and there should not be any in business of any sort. 
But one of the fatal defects in this world was that for anything 
dear and precious you had to pay heavily. You could not get 

over that unfortunate arrangement of the world however you 
tried to do so. The next point was what was Wrapped up in 


258 Tue IDEA OF EVOLUTION. 


what Darwin gave, and might he put down as harmony with 
environment. Every plant and every animal living to-day was 
adjusted more or less exactly to its conditions at that particular 
place and in that particular era. If they examined the com- 
monest plant and looked at the shapes of the leaves, the teeth, 
and hairs on leaves, and then studied the conditions in which 
you found them growing, you would find that every one of these 
minute details were of real importance to its life. It was on 
these little adaptations by which the plant or animal came into 
the most perfect harmony with all the needs of its special 
atmosphere that he thought a great prospect lay for British 
botanists. Good books had been published on the subject by Sir 
John Lubbock and Kerner, and others; but so far he found in 
this country that people will not take up these interesting and 
important subjects, but preferred to spend their time on purely 
systematic work. The study of plants which were avoided or 
preferred by animals was a very important one, and we know 
nothing about it. Again, we do not understand much with 
regard to the scattering of fruit and seed, and a whole infinitude 
of subjects are not studied at all. The next development is of 
the nature of a denial. The inheritance of acquired characters 
was denied by Dr Weissmann, a German, who, however, brought 
forward no evidence except his opinion that it could not be true, 
because it interfered with his theory of heredity. That was 
scarcely scientific reasoning, and it was soon pointed out that 
if you denied the fact that a character acquired in life could be 
inherited it led you into very curious positions. For example, 
dipsomania could certainly be acquired, but according to 
Weissmann it could not be inherited. That criticism was got 
over, and with very great advantage to science, but its effect 
had been unfortunate, as it prevented a great many people from 
following up what seemed to be a very valuable field of inquiry. 
The next point was the struggle for life within the body of the 
plant or animal. Such an organ as one’s hand or the foot of 
a horse was composed of an infinite number of little living 
particles. It had been pointed out by the German botanist, 
Rolfe, that these living cells or particles were competing for 
food with one another, so that if you used your thumb, and if 
the same amount of blood was passing into your hand, the 
excessive use of the thumb would dwarf the little finger or 


THE IpEA OF EVOLUTION. 259 


whatever was not used. In that way they could explain a great 
many important points which were difficult to understand. For 
instance, one toe of the horse was developed enormously, and 
the other four toes which were not used had become starved 
and disappeared, because all the nourishment went into that 
one toe. That was a very important variation, and one that had 
never received in this country all the attention it deserved. It 
showed you at once how useless things would disappear, and 
it was also important for this reason that it brought clearly out 
the resemblance between the animal or plant’s body, and the 
whole mass of individuals that made up a plant species. The 
disappearance of what was useless in the body of the plant was 
thus exactly similar to the disappearance of a useful species. 
The next point was one of those curious drawbacks or objections 
that constantly came up as if they were a sort of rebellion 
against the calm progress of scientific inquiry. That was the 
hybrid idea. People began to remark that hybridising gave a 
simpler explanation of evolution than those Darwinian ideas. 
That was all very well, but supposing they crossed two species 
then each species was tuned to the special conditions of the place 
in which it lived. The product hybrid of these two species 
would possibly be in harmony with the environment, and as a 
matter of fact hybrids, though common enough—for instance, 
the willows and others in this country were chiefly hybrid— 
did not seem able to breed and hold their own ground in 
the way that ordinary species did. Again, it had been recently 
shown that there was a curious tendency amongst hybrids to 
turn back either to one or to the other ancestral form. Accord- 
ing to Mendel’s law in the case of one dominant character, one- 
fourth would be the weaker character pure, one-fourth would 
be the stronger character pure, and one-half would be mixed 
with both strains in the blood. Here again was a vast oppor- 
tunity for those who were interested in experimental work of 
that sort. The fourth great advance was associated with the 
names of Galton, Pearson, and others. This was the study of 
variation of the normal variation in one species. This was 
a mode or fashionable number or length for every character 
in a species, but abnormal individuals were exceedingly common. 
A very curious case was that of the 7-leaved clover, which was 
artificially produced by De Vries, who found plants of clover 


260 THe IDEA OF EVOLUTION. 


with frequently four and five leaflets. He grew plants from the 
seeds of those, and gradually, by selecting those with the 
greatest number of leaflets, he obtained plants in which there 
were 29 per cent. of the leaves with seven leaflets. Clover with 
seven leaflets had never been seen by anybody, and in all 
probability it had never extended to the world at all. And 
if this botanist could produce a seven-leaved clover in this way 
in the course of a few years, he saw no reason that Nature 
should not be able to produce anything in the plant world in 
the course of a few centuries. Then there was the usual back- 
ward trend again, the usual trough of the wave following after 
Galton’s and Pearson’s discoveries, and that was an appeal to 
garden sports and variations. Everybody who had been at all 
observant in the fields or in gardens must have noticed a tendency 
for extraordinary and peculiar forms to develop apparently 
without any reason at all. These sports or bud variations were 
carefully examined by Dr Bateson and others, and the theory 
which Bateson was most inclined to follow was that evolution, 
instead of following in this gradual way, step by step and line by 
line, had come about by a series of sudden leaps or jumps. The 
question was more important from every point of view than it 
looked, because it came to be—Was progress due to a struggle 
for existence under evil circumstances and bad conditions, or 
were these great advances due to overfeeding? These bud 
variations were due to too much food and nourishment, whereas 
the small minor variations such as we found in such a case as 
this were due to the natural hard lines in which every plant 
found itself. The point he thought most conclusive of this ques- 
tion was this:—In any museum they would find instances of 
sheep with a supernumerary eye in the middle of the forehead 
or an extra leg tacked on somewhere on the middle of the back. 
They found cattle occasionally with two heads, and also in 
plants they found continual instances in which all the stamens 
and pistils had become petals. Could one suppose that things 
of that sort could ever produce an offspring, vigorous and 
efficient enough to overcome the difficulties of ordinary outside 
existence? He thought not. And, besides, if they looked to 
the general behaviour of the different wild species in this country 
they could see not what they should expect on this theory of 
sports, but exactly the condition which ought to come about if 


Tue IDEA OF EVOLUTION. 261 


the species were developed little by little and line by line. 
They found some plants quite distinct, recognisable everywhere. 
Others again could only be recognised by a good botanist ; and 
then there were plants like the hawk-weeds, the brambles, and 
the roses that could only be recognised by one or, at the utmost, 
three people living, and those three people, from his own 
personal experience, very frequently gave quite different names 
to the specimen in question. Occasionally he had known cases 
in which specimens of the same bramble from the same bush 
were named differently by the same specialist in two succeeding 
years. All that led to the view that the formation of species 
had been in this gradual ‘slow and cumulative manner. So far 
he had given them the average general doctrine on that question. 
The next stage was predestination—a very good old Scottish 
expression, and which was the only one he could think of to 
account for a good many facts that were otherwise inexplicable. 
If they took the development of the plant, the gradual building 
up of its complex body from the simple egg cell, they would see 
that every step from the egg cell upwards followed directly 
upon the previous step. They could not really imagine any 
change in the regular sequence of development unless there was 
a change in the circumstances or environment. It seemed 
that the truth was very much of the same nature as the truth 
of Newton’s first law of motion—that an object would persist 
in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line so long 
as it was not induced by circumstances to change that motion. 
He thought the development of the plant was of the same 
ordinary continuous manner. Each step depended upon the 
_ previous one, and unless environment altered it, the sequence 
would be the same and lead to the same result. But not merely 
so, any change in the conditions and the surroundings, however 
slight, would affect that development and alter that develop- 
ment. Thus by these slow changes in the environment—most 
-of which were utterly beyond the power of any instrument devised 
by mankind to record—we had a differentiation which had pro- 
duced a complex mixture of characters which we called a 
‘species or plant. He would go so far as to say from his own 
experience of botany and plant life generally, that one found 
a very curious and a very striking resemblance between the 
laws concerning the individual—a single plant or animal body— 


262 THe IDEA OF EVOLUTION. 


and the laws concerning a species or collection of individuals, 
and even beyond that a similar resemblance in the laws which 
governed associations or communities of species, such as, for 
instance, a wood or marsh or grass meadow. In a wood you 
found a number of different species living together in such a 
way that while each individual had its own existence, yet its 
existence was governed by the welfare of the whole wood. 
Also in a species we found something of the same sort, and 
again in cells of the body of a plant or animal. The existence 
of each cell was independent in itself, but it was governed by 
the act of the whole organisation. He thought, looking at things 
in that manner, that one gradually perceived the definite scientific 
reason for a great many points that were generally left outside 
the field of scientific inquiry. We found in nature one form of 
vegetation competing with another. The place where they were 
now had been at one time probably covered by coniferous or 
geological vegetation of some sort. After the retreat of the 
ice that neighbourhood would be first of all covered by a very 
scanty vegetation of alpine plants. Then would come probably 
a pine forest covering the whole of the Nith valley, and much 
later on the old Caledonian oak forest would cover the whole 
of that neighbourhood. And then, last of all, but still in perfect 


continuity with the preceding, they had that particular spot of 


ground utilised by the one animal that was capable of the 
reverent study of nature, and also of subduing nature for his own 
purposes. We saw that the vegetation of the earth might be 
explained and understood scientifically by the study of the first 
few chapters of Genesis. He was rather afraid when he chose 
that subject to address them upon that night that he might 
possibly hurt the feelings of some of them in dealing with this 
question of evolution from a wholly scientific spirit, but as they 
saw he had put down the origin of these variations to a vast 
quantity of minute and imperceptible changes in the environment, 
or if they wanted one word for it they might say to chance. 
They might ask—‘“ What is chance?’’ There was no better 
answer than the very old one—chance was a cause unperceived 
by human logic. 


ASSASSINATION OF THE RED Comyn. 263 


16th February, 19038. 
Chairman—Mr James Barzour, Vice-President. 


I.—TuHE ASSASSINATION OF THE RED Comyn. By Dr CHINNOcK, 
LL.D. 


The commonly received accounts of the assassination of the 

Red Comyn derived from Fordun and Barbour are recognised to 

be largely mythical. They were written sixty or seventy years 
after the event, and therefore do not possess the validity or 
credibility of contemporary authorities. On investigation I find 

_ that the most authentic account is given by Walter of Heming- 
burgh, an historian who lived at the time when the event 
occurred, and whose history is highly valued by students of that 
period of British history. I have translated his account of the 
murder of Comyn, and for the sake of verification I append the 
extract in his own words. John Comyn the younger, generally 
called the “Red Comyn,’’ was the son of John Comyn of 
Badenoch, generally called the “Black Comyn.’’ The latter 
was one of the claimants of the crown, basing his claim on 
descent from Donald Bane, the younger son of King Duncan 
and brother of Malcolm Kenmore, whom he succeeded as king. 
The Black Comyn married Margery, eldest sister of King John 


Balliol. By his mother, therefore, after John Balliol’s own 
family, young John Comyn had the best claim to the Scottish 
crown. From the defeat of Wallace to his own death, the 


Red Comyn was the most powerful man in Scotland. He was 
appointed by the Scots after Falkirk the Guardian of the realm, 
and for six years held his position, defeating his English rival, 
John de Segrave, at the battle of Roslin, 26th February, 1303. 
After Balliol’s renunciation of the crown, John Comyn might 
be considered the rightful heir, and Robert Bruce could not 
obtain the crown unless he were removed. Whatever may be 
thought of Comyn’s desertion of the cause of independence, it 
cannot be denied that he was a great man. I should like to 
suggest that an inexpensive tablet might be placed in front of 
the house nearest to the site of the murder, which however in- 
excusable it may have in itself, was the cause of great good 
to Scotland; for it impelled Bruce to take the irrevocable step 
of assuming the crown. 


264 ASSASSINATION OF THE RED Comyn. 


Translation of an Excerpt from Walter of Hemingburgh’s 
Chronicle, Vol. 2, pp. 245-246. 

“Tn the year of the Lord 1305, Robert de Brus, fifth son of 

that Robert de Brus who, as before described, disputed with 


John de Balliol in the presence of the King of England about © 


the throne of Scotland, and, as was shown before, his suit had 
been rejected by the judgment of the court, relying on perverse 
counsel, aspired to the throne; and fearing the lord John 
Comyn, earl of Badenoch, who was a powerful man in that 
country and faithful to his lord the King of England, to whom 
he had done homage, and knowing that he could be prevented 
by him, he sent to him in craft two of his brothers, Thomas 
and Nigel, to wit, begging him to be so kind as to come to him 
at Dumfries, as he wished to treat with him on some matters of 
business which concerned them both. For the justitiaries of 
their lord the King of England were sitting in the castle on the 
same day, to wit, the roth of February, and he suspecting no 
evil come to him with a small retinue. They saluted each other 
with a kiss, but not of peace, in the cloister of the Minor Friars, 
and as they were conversing with each other with peaceful words, 
as it seemed, suddenly changing his look and altering his style 
of speech he began to upbraid him for his desertion, because he 
had accused him to the King of England and had lowered his 
position to his loss. When Comyn spoke peacefully and ex- 
culpated himself, Brus refused to listen to his discourse; but, 
as he had plotted, he gave him a kick and struck him with his 
sword, and went away back again. But his men pursued him at 
once and cast him forward on the pavement of the altar, leaving 
him for dead. One of his soldiers, however, the Lord Robert 
Comyn, his uncle, ran to his aid; but Christopher de Sethon, 
who had married the sister of the Lord Robert de Brus, ran 
up to him and struck on the head with his sword, and he died. 
The Lord Robert de Brus went out, and seeing the Lord John’s 
fine steed, he mounted it, and his men mounted with him. They 
set out for the castle and seized it. And when what had been 
done was noised abroad the Scots ran to him, and the 
justiciaries, fearing for themselves, shut the doors of the court 
in which they were sitting with the few Englishmen who were 
with them. When he heard this he ordered fire to be brought 
unless they gave them up at once. But they surrendered, de- 


is he, 


om 


ASSASSINATION OF THE RED Comyn. 265 


manding their lives and a safe departure from the country. 

This he granted them. When this had been done, certain ill- 

disposed ones told him that the Lord John Comyn was still 

alive, for the friars had carried him within the vestibule of the 
altar, in order to administer to him medical treatment and that 
q he might confess his sins. When he had confessed them, and 
__ was truly penitent, by the command of the tyrant he was dragged 
out of the vestibule and killed on the steps of the greater altar, 
so that his blood touched the table of the altar, and even the 
= altar itself.’’ 


Note.—Walter is wrong in calling Bruce the 5th son of 
the claimant of the throne. He was his grandson.—E. J. C. 


Note.—There are eight MSS. existing of this very valuable 
history. The best is in the College of Arms, London; four are 
in the British Museum, two at Cambridge, and one at Oxford. 
In all of them the name of the author is given as Walter of 
Hemingburgh. He is so called by Leland, but Bale calls him 
Hemingford, and his mistake has been generally followed 
since. Tanner and Hearne were aware of Bale’s error. The 
MS. in the College of Arms has been edited by Hans Claude 
Hamilton at the cost of the College. Walter Hemingburgh was 
a canon of the Priory of Gisborough, in the East Riding of York. 
He was employed by Edward I. to visit many of the priories in 
Scotland to consult records. Being a friar himself he would 
be likely to receive an account from the Dumfries friars of an 
event that horrified the religious world and drew down the 
reprobation of the Pope. It must be remembered that the year 
began on the 25th March then, and so what Walter calls roth 
February, 1305, was really what we call 1306. The rst of 
January was adopted as the commencement of the year by 


Scotland in 1600, but by England not till 1752. 
§ Bd jal 


Il.—TuHe WEATHER OF 1902. By Rev. W. ANDsON. 


The highest reading of the year was recorded on the 31st 
January, during the prevalence of a northerly type of weather, 
and amounted to 30.981 in., which, when reduced to 32 deg. of 
temperature and sea level, would give a reading of 31.018 in., 
and was followed by a reading almost equally high on the 1st 


THE WEATHER OF 1902. 


266 


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THE WEATHER OF 1902. 267 


February of 30.924 in. Such very high readings are extremely 
tare in our climate, occurring only once in a number of years. 
Since 1887 there has been only one other record of a reading 
above 31 in., viz., in January, 1896. The lowest reading of the 
year was 28.495 in. on the 29th December, which also was 
exceptionally low, being the lowest for a period of nearly three 
years—since the roth February, 1900, when it was 28.300 in. 
This gives a very wide annual range of barometrical pressure, 
being no less than 2.468 in. The weather of 1902, as a whole, 
was of a changeable and unsettled character. Even duc‘ng the 
summer there was no continuance of fine weather such és we 
are often favoured with, but for the most part cold and showery 
days, although with few heavy rainfalls. The mean pressure 
for the year was 29.913 in., which is somewhat under average. 
It may be noticed as a remarkable circumstance that there was 
only one month in which the mean pressure was up to 30 inches, 
and that was January. In the previous year there were six, viz., 
February, May, June, July, August, and September. There 
were few severe storms, but once in January, and on several 
occasions in the last four months of the year, the barometer 
fell below 29 inches, and on each of these the weather was 
more or less stormy. Strong gales were experienced on the 18th 
and soth March, in the beginning of September, in the early 
part of October, in the first half of November, and in the middle 
and end of December. The most notable of these were those 
which occurred in September and December. On the former 
date, viz., on September 3rd, there was a sudden fall of the 
barometer from 29.637 in. in the previous evening to 28.981 
in. in the forenoon of the 3rd. This was accompanied by a 
severe gale from south and south-west, and by a heavy rainfall, 
amounting to 1.16 in. for the two days. The result was that the 
river was flooded, and an abnormally high spring tide occurring 
at the same time, the Dock Park and \Vhitesands were covered 
with water to an unusual extent. But what was more extra- 
ordinary than this, the tidal waters, forced up by the strength 
of the gale, rose so high as to surmount the caul or weir, and 
to raise the river at the New Bridge one foot higher than it 
would have been raised by the rainiall alone. Great damage 
was done to farms along the seaboar) of the Solway shore, and 
on both sides of the estuary of the Nit, many farm fields having 


268 THe WEATHER OF 1902. 


been flooded with sea water to the depth of six or seven feet, with 
serious loss both to crops and stock, while numbers of trees were 
blown down and no small damage done to buildings. In the 
middle of December there was a repetition of the south-westerly 
storm, with an extraordinary heavy rainfall, the heaviest of the 
year—the concurrence of which with a very high spring tide, as 
in September, occasioned heavy flooding of the river banks and 
adjoining fields. The amount of rain that fell on the r4th and 
15th was about two inches, and the result, as evidenced by the 
guage on the New Bridge, was to give the river a mean depth 
of twelve feet, a depth which, as far as my observation goes, it 
has never exceeded. 

Temperature in shade (four feet above grass).—On the 
whole there was a considerable deficiency both of sunshine and 
heat during 1902. The absolute maximum, or highest single 
day temperature of the year, was 86 deg., on the 27th of June. 
On the 25th and 28th of the same month readings of 83 deg. 
and 83.8 deg. were recorded. But these were the only days in 
the whole year on which the thermometer rose to or above 80 
deg. The maximum in July was only 75 deg., and in August 
76 deg. The absolute minimum for the year was 6 deg. on 
the 11th of February, and the annual range of temperature thus 
comes out at 80 deg. Although June had the highest single 
day temperature, the highest monthly mean was, as usual, in 
July, which had a mean of 57.6 deg., as compared with 56.3 
deg. in June, and that of August also was slightly higher than 
that of June, although only by one-tenth of a degree. It 
must be observed, however, that the mean temperature of all 
these summer months was decidedly below average—June by 
1.6 deg., July by about 2 deg., and August by a little more than 
2 deg.— and when the mean maximum temperatures are com- 
pared the deficiency comes out as much more considerable. 
Thus the mean maximum temperature for June, on an average 
of fifteen years, is 67.4 deg., and last year it was only 64.4 deg., 
which is three degrees less; the mean maximum for July is 68.2 
deg., last year it was 64.4 deg., which is nearly four degrees 
less; August is 67 deg., last year it was 64.4 deg., from two to 
three degrees less. This means that there was a more than 
usual deficiency of sunshine and summer warmth during these 
months. The coldest month of the year was February, which 


THE WEATHER OF 1902. 269 


had both the absolute minimum of the year and the lowest 
monthly mean. The average mean temperature for February 
is 38.1 deg., last year it was only 34 deg., and the 
average mean minimum temperature for February is 
32.5; last year it was only 27.7. The months in which the 
mean temperature was above average were: March, by 2.8 deg. ; 
October, by 2.6 deg. ; November, by 0.8 deg. ; and December, 
by 1.6 deg.—sum of excesses, 7.8 deg. The months in which 
it was under average were:—January, 0.7 deg.; February, 
Bemmeer. ; Mays 4og deg. Juney: m6 qdeg.; July; ° 2.8 
deg.; August, 2.1 deg.; September, 0.4 deg.—sum of 
deficiencies, 15 deg. Hence we may expect to find the mean 
annual temperature to be not up to average, but decidedly below 
it. The mean annual temperature during the last fifteen years 
has ranged from 46 deg. in 1892 to 49.5 deg. in 1898. In 1902 
it has only reached 46.3 deg., which is the lowest of the 15 
except that of 1892, when it was 46 deg. The average annual 
temperature is 47.7 deg. The month of April was not men- 
tioned because it was exactly average. It was not an un- 
favourable month for the season, but the month of May, on 
which so much depends, was peculiarly unfavourable, with a 
prevalence of cold northerly and easterly winds and a low 
temperature, fully 4 deg. below the mean. The number of 
days or nights in which the temperature fell to or below 32 
deg. was in January 13, with an aggregate of 83.2 deg. of frost ; 
in February 14, with an aggregate of 171 deg. ; in March 5, with 
an aggregate of 10.1 deg.; in April 5, with an aggregate of 4.9 
deg. ; in May 3, with an aggregate of 2.3 deg. ; October 1, with 
an aggregate of 1.4 deg.; in November 5, with 13.2 deg.; and 
December 9, with an aggregate of 50.3 deg.; being for the 
whole year, 55 nights, with an aggregate of 336.5 deg. of frost. 
Rainfall.—The number of days on which 0.01 in. or more 
of rain or snow fell during the past year was 198—rain, I91 ; 
snow, 7. The heaviest rainfall in 24 hours was registered on 
the 14th December, when it amounted to 1.03 in., and this 
was the only day on which it reached or exceeded one inch. 
The next heaviest was on the following day, when it was 0.95 
in. The year, however, was singularly free from heavy rainfalls, 
and the total amount for the year was very much short of the 
average, being only 30.50 in., as compared with an average of 


270 THE WEATHER OF 1902. 


37-44 in. This deficiency was not due to any protracted period 
of drought, of which, in fact, there was less than usual, but to a 
deficiency in quantity, spread over the whole year. There were 
only two periods to which the term of drought or partial drought 
could be applied, one in February, when for 12 successive days 
only 0.02 in. of rain fell, and the other between the 24th 
September and the 8th October, when for 14 days there was only 
a slight fall of 0.02 in. The latter period proved extremely 
favourable to the ingathering of the crops in a somewhat late 
harvest. The true explanation of the small rainfall of 1902 is 
to be found in the fact that although the number of days on 
which it fell was very little short of the average, 198, as com- 
pared with about 200, the quantity was deficient, that is, below 
average, in every month except one. In April there was a 
slight excess, but only to the amount of two-hundredths of an 
inch. In all the other months, from January till December, 
there was a deficiency, in some more and in others less, but so 
much that the accumulated deficiency in the end of the year 
amounted to almost seven inches. This was the driest year of 
the sixteen during which observations have been taken at this 
station. The next driest was in 1887, when it was 30.99 in., 
and the next to that 32.39 in. in 1893. The average, as before 
mentioned, is about 37 inches, but the amount has been as 
much as 47 in., which was the quantity recorded in rg00. In 
consequence of the deficiency of the past year there has been a 
scarcity of water, as is well known, in many places. The driest 
month was June, with a record of 1.68 in., the wettest December, 
which had a little over four inches. 

Hygrometer.—The mean of the readings of the dry bulb 
thermometer for the year was 46.4 deg., and it is worthy of 
note that this annual mean, which is calculated from the 9 a.m. 
and the 9 p.m. readings of every day, corresponds almost 
exactly with the mean annual temperature as calculated from the 
daily maxima and minima. This coincidence has been noticed 
in previous reports, and it shows that the mean temperature 
may be correctly ascertained by either of these methods. The 
mean of the wet bulb thermometer for the year was 44.6 deg.— 
dew point, 42.5 deg.; while the relative humidity for the year 
was 82 (saturation being equal to 160). This is rather less 
than the average, which is more frequently 83 or 84, and corre- 


THE WEATHER OF 1902. 27 . 


sponds with the deficiency of rainfall by which the year was 
marked. 

Thunderstorms, etc.—During 1902 thunderstorms were 
rare, and hail was equally uncommon, but lunar halos were not 
unfrequently observed, especially in the later months of the 
year. With regard to the wind observations, the south-westerly, 
as usual, blew on the greatest number of days, viz., 88; the 
next in point of frequency were due west and east, which 
prevailed each on 56 days; the next was the south-east, with 
43% days; and the north-east and the north-west, which were 
nearly equal, the north-east having 39 days, and the north- 
west 37; due south had 29, and due north 9, and 64 were 
variable. 


. 


WEATHER AND HEALTH. 


Dr Maxwell Ross proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Andson 
for his valuable paper. The weather of the year had been 
exceptional, but it had not had very much effect on the health 
of the community, except that it might be that it had rather 
improved the health than otherwise. He found that of the 
eleven areas which he served as medical officer of health and 
the statistics for which he had to collect, there were only two 
whose death-rates were higher than their averages for a con- 
siderable number of years. In not one of the county districts, 
where he had the averages for something like twenty-one years, 
was there any death-rate above its average. The county death- 
rate was one of the lowest we had had during the past twenty 
years; he did not know that there was a lower. The zymotic 
death-rate was certainly the lowest. And one very curious fact 
had been that the death-rate from diarrhceea and enteric fever or 
typhoid, diseases which were associated with the warmer period 
of the year, had been lower than they ever were before in his 
experience in Dumfriesshire. He was rather interested in work- 
‘Ing out from the averages what one might call the “expected 
deaths ’’ for each month of the year. He got this very curious 
result. In January, which was a favourable month but followed 
a very stormy December, the deaths were actually 28 less than 
the expected number. In February the actual deaths were 19 
ess than the expected deaths; in March, 8 less; in April, 36 
less. Then they had a series of months, four following each 
other, in which the actual deaths exceeded the expected deaths. 


272 THe WEATHER OF 1902. 


In May, a cold month, in which there was a prevalence of north 
and easterly winds and a temperature below the average, 94 
deaths occurred, against 87 that were expected. ‘That was due 
largely to consumption and such diseases carrying off patients. 
It was an inclement month, and naturally those whose constitu- 
tions were weakened by phthisis were more liable to be cut off. 
The death-rate from respiratory diseases was also high, although 
not the highest of the year; and deaths from nervous and 
malignant diseases were high. There were no deaths from 
zymotic diseases. In June the actual deaths were nine over the 
expected ; in July they were seven over; in August, also seven 
over. Then we had a series of three months in which the actual 
deaths were again very much less than the expected number. 
In September 49 deaths occurred, as against 67 expected; in 
October 62, as against 72; in November 70, as against 71. 
In December again the actual deaths were higher than the ex- 
pected—o6, as against 79. In that month we had also a high 
death-rate from consumption, respiratory diseases, and influenza ; 
and also from developmental causes: these were deaths which 
occurred at the extremes of life, from premature birth and 
deaths in old age. Altogether, although it had been a very odd 
year so far as weather was concerned, and although there had 
been a great deficiency of sunshine, it had not had an unfavour- 
able effect on the death-rate. Part of the lowered death-rate 
was, of course, due to other causes, but the weather was a factor 
in causing a higher or lower rate of mortality. While it would 
be heresy on his part to suggest that our improved sanitation 
had no effect, still he thought we should be cautious in attribu- 
ting the improved death-rate of last year entirely to that cause. 
He thought the weather had: had a very considerable influence. 
And he said that because he had seen in the newspapers several 
people claiming an improved death-rate as an evidence of how 
well their sanitation was carried out. Now a wise man would 
wait a little before he boasted of a low death-rate as a result 
of improved sanitation in the place where he lived, because the 
result of that improvement would only become apparent after a 
period of years. Sir Emilius Laurie had been kind enough to 
send him a record of the rainfall at Maxwelton House for the 
last year; and Mr Lyall sent him records taken at the school- 
house in Ewes and at Ewes Burnfoot. At Maxwelton House the 


THE Sparrow Hawk. 273 
fall for 1902 was 39.70 inches; the average for fifteen years, 
45.90. At Ewes Schoolhouse the fall was the lowest of any 
recorded year, being 36.5 inches. The next lowest record was 
in 1889, when it was something like 38 inches. Sir Emilius 
Laurie contrasted the rainfall at Maxwelton House with that at 
Folkestown and Hatfield, which he got. At Folkestown the 
fall for 1902 was 21.99 inches; and at Hatfield, 18.03. In 
January of this year the fall at Maxwelton House was 8.49 
inches ; at Folkestown, 2.29. 


II].—Tue Sparrow Hawk (AccIPITER nisus Linn). By Mr 
ROBERT SERVICE. 


Amongst our British diurnal raptorial birds we have vultures, 
eagles, falcons, hawks, kites, buzzards, and harriers—groups of 
birds distinguished from each other by well marked characters 

and habits. 

Our sparrow hawk is the type and representative of the 
hawks. It is not a falcon, and a falcon is never a_ hawk, 
although the transposition constantly occurs in the conversation 
and ideas of sportsmen of all degrees. 

The hawks are distinguished from the falcons, mainly 
(although there are several other good distinctions), by the 
possession of short wings. This strong structural character 
affects their mode of life, and in consequence we do not find in 
their case the high powers of flight, and the meteoric rush with 
which the peregrine, for instance, dashes upon its prey. 

Throughout our area by far the most familiar raptorial 
bird is the sparrow hawk. On the moorlands the kestrel may 
outnumber it, and the merlin may claim our attention as often; 
while in districts where woods and plantations abound, the 
_ brown owl and the long-eared owl may be more abundant, still 
our subject is the species, amongst the birds of prey, that comes 
_-oftenest under ordinary and general observation. 

During the months when the autumn migration is going on 
the sparrow hawk is most in evidence, and it is during that 
period of very regular and evenly distributed abundance. The 
word “abundant ’’ is in this connection a comparative term. 
From the very nature of the case, birds of prey of any British 
‘Species in ordinary circumstances can never be more than widely 


274 THE SPARROW HAWK. 


scattered points, or in the breeding season small and very 
isolated family parties. 

During winter also, but becoming scarcer as the season 
advances, sparrow hawks are not at all uncommon. With the 
spring migration a sudden accession of numbers takes place, most 
of the birds passing onwards, northwards, and eastwards. As. 
a summer resident the sparrow hawk has become greatly reduced 
in numbers, and althought a nest is still no rarity it is not nearly 
so common as formerly. There can be little question that since 
the modern form of game preserving set in, now some seventy 
or eighty years ago, the resident or breeding stock of sparrow 
hawks has been destroyed outright at least half a dozen times 
_ over. The places or beats of the birds thus killed are filled 
again each season by arrivals from other parts of the western 
range of the spieces. This process, however, shows signs of 
coming to an end, as it cannot go on for ever; and, like other 
members of our native fauna, subjected to like cruel treatment, 
the sparrow hawk is bound to be finally banished from the land. 

In boldness there is none to surpass it, for while the kestrel 
flies off and keeps at a discreet distance, the sparrow hawk, more 
especially the male, will dash past within a yard or two, and 
seize a bird almost within one’s reach, or chase its intended 
victim right to one’s feet, as has happened more than once in 
my own experience. 

The female rarely ever takes a bird larger than a blackbird 
or a thrush, and only seldom does she take any except the small 
warblers or finches. A robin is a favourite prey, and another 
bird that is often taken is the greenfinch. These birds are fond 
of sitting engaged in meditation on conspicuous points of shrubs. 
and hedges, clear of the thicker growth of branches and twigs, 
and so when this hawk glides suddenly along he falls upon the 
unsuspecting bird in an instant, and striking out with whichever 
foot is nearest as he passes, without swerving or pausing in 
flight. Should he miss, as very seldom happens, the robin or 
greenfinch will be off into the nearest thicket uttering a series. 
of terrified squeals, the hawk meanwhile wheeling in a moment 
and pursuing it through every twist and turn with marvellous. 
speed and dexterity. Hunting along the hedgerows is a favourite 
mode of seeking its food. Gliding along the top, now dipping 
down to one side, and then to the other, whisking through every 


THE SPARROW Hawk. 275 


gap or gateway, skimming along the surface of the adjacent 
fields, it dashes along, and not seldom pounces upon some 
unwary small bird, strikes it dead with one movement, and bears 
it off. Scarcely any small bird is exempt from capture if it is 
out in the open, and cannot reach the shelter of bush or hedge 
in time. Notwithstanding the trivial name of this hawk, the 
ordinary house sparrows are, perhaps, less frequently caught 
than most other small birds, whereas the kestrel takes them quite 
commonly. Another way in which the male sparrow hawk is 
often successful in catching a bird is to glide through some open- 
ing in a large, thick tree, and snap up a victim on the other side. 

The female, as a rule, seeks a somewhat different class of 
prey. Being fully twice as large and proportionately more 
powerful than the male, she is able to take much bigger birds 
than her rather diminutive partner. Her habits are also a little 
modified to suit. While never declining to snatch a small bird 
should the opportunity be tempting, the female likes best to 
catch something more bulky. The great natural enemy of the 
wood pigeon in this country is the female sparrow hawk. I 
well remember hiding once to shoot wood pigeons, having set 
out a stuffed specimen as a decoy. While patiently waiting 
there was a rush of wings, and a big female sparrow hawk 
knocked my stuffed pigeon several yards away, but without 
making her clutch good. Wheeling round with great rapidity 
she came at the stuffed bird again, but without hitting out a 
second time, she evidently, from her very palpable look of 
astonishment, as she hovered for a second or two, decided 
there was something wrong, and made her way at once. I 
Was so interested in the whole sudden incident that I never 
thought of firing at the hawk, and it flew off unharmed. 

The great flocks of lapwings that gather in autumn con- 
stantly furnish food to the sparrow hawks, which are never very 
far away when lapwings are numerous. 

Both sexes of this bird have one particular trait that has 
incurred to them the universal hate and enmity of gamekeepers. 
_ Once they ascertain that pheasant chicks are to be had by a 
sudden raid across the rearing field, they will be daily visitors, 
and will only cease the practice when shot. And they are very 
difficult to shoot in such a case. Whether they know that danger 
may be doubted, but it is a fact, that when stealing pheasant 


276 THE SPARROW Hawk. 


chicks, they are specially wary and never seem to come the same 
road twice. I have seen the keepers watch for days before they 
got a chance of hitting a hawk that had been visiting the coops. 

In the autumn and early winter months when it is the 
custom of birds to gather round the stackyards in large numbers, 
the sparrow hawk will almost certainly pay the assemblage a 
visit once a day. The evening, just about sundown, is a 
favourite time of choice. Picking a scanty sustenance round the 
stacks of grain, the birds are all unsuspecting. Some chaffinch 
will catch a glimpse of the enemy gliding onwards like a 
shadow, and he utters his warning “ chink.’’ ‘Thereupon the 
birds will disperse instantaneously into the nearest shelter, but 
one of their number is missing. The hawk is away with his 
supper as silently and swiftly as he came. A minute or two 
of silence amongst the shrinking birds in the thorn bushes, and 
then one after another they forget their alarms and resume 
their search for food as if nothing had happened. 

But birds are not at all the only sustenance of the sparrow 
hawk. They take rats and water voles, mice and field voles at 
times ; now and again they will descend to frogs, and occasionally 
they will catch young rabbits. Once I put a female sparrow 
hawk off a partly devoured adder. 

The sparrow hawk’s dining table is usually on some little 
mound or elevation; sometimes the top of a large stone or the 
flat surface of a dyke or wall, perhaps the flat stump of a tree or 
a broad surfaced horizontal branch. Here the feathers plucked 
from its latest victim are scattered around. It is often of interest 
to identify the species on which they have been feeding, and 
this can be easily done. ‘The feathers are not eaten except by 
chance. Like all other birds of prey, the sparrow hawk ejects 
the indigestible part of its food, such as bones, feathers, fur, 
etc., in little pellets. 

The predilections of this species for darting through holes 
in hedges and along narrow spaces, such as lanes and woodland 
gates, is, I believe, the reason why the sparrow hawk is so 
often killed by dashing itself against windows. I never knew 
any but this species immolate itself in this way. In flying along 
in its usual sneaking fashion the bird sees the window reflecting 
a close fringe of shrubs with what it imagines is a nice clear 
space in the centre for darting through. So on it comes into a 


THE SPARROW Hawk. QE 


headlong dash, but, alas, it is to knock its brains out against 
the supposed gap in the shrubs. 

Sparrow hawks pair for life—the very brief life that game 
preservers allow them. Their courtship is a curious one. It is 
Teminiscent of an old adage still sometimes heard amongst 
country people—“ Nippin’ and scartin’ are Scots folks’ wooin’.’’ 
To watch a pair of hawks engaged in wooing is to see a couple 
of birds that the casual observer might well think were fighting. 
Dashing at and buffeting each other, uttering short cries, while 
wheeling about in the air, their demeanour is suggestive of 
anything rather than love. By and by they settle down in some 
tree, where, after a good deal of preliminary sparring the 
female will ultimately condescend to allow her little lover to 
stroke her feathers with his bill—a duty he performs very 
gingerly and warily, and with one eye always watching for a 
sudden assault from her sharp talons. 

In April a spot is chosen for the nest, a favourite site being 
some 15 to 18 feet up an old spruce tree, and close to the trunk. 
They always build their own nest, but now and then will use 
an old squirrel’s drey or a wood pigeon’s old nest for a founda- 
tion. By the middle of May the full clutch of eggs is laid upon 
the shallow saucer-shaped hollow over the twigs that form the 
nest. The eggs vary to a great extent from bluish-green, almost 
‘spotless specimens, to others that are quite clouded over with 
reddish brown of several shades. 

The young are attended to with great assiduity, and at this 
period the parents are most relentless in their pursuit of prey of 
all kinds. ‘The small birds suffer most at this time, and a visit 
‘to a sparrow hawk’s eyrie at the time the young have begun to 
scramble out of their nest along the branches is most instructive. 
All the food lying about the nest will be found to be mostly 
warblers, and no game birds at all. As happens with all the 
birds of prey, the young when able to take care of themselves 
are driven off their parents’ beat and are never allowed to 
return to their birthplace. 

In the days when falconry was the prevailing sport this 
Species was held in a higher reputation than it has any hope of 
enjoying amongst sportsmen of the present day. The female, 
under the laws of falconry, which assigned different kinds to 
different ranks, was entitled to be carried by a priest, while the 


278 THe SPARROW HAwkE. 


male, then known as the musket, could be carried by the holy 
water clerk. Shakespearian students will recollect how, in “ The 
Merry Wives of Windsor,’’ Mrs Ford addresses Falstaff’s page 
with, “ How now, my Eyas Muskett ?’’—an Eyas Muskett being 
a young male sparrow hawk taken from the nest. There is no 
doubt that falconry, having for generations almost ceased to 
exist in this country, has now began again to increase in favour. 
In its revival lies a great hope that the unwise destruction of our 
native raptorial birds may cease. I do not wish for a moment 
to deny that the present species is rapacious and destructive in 
the extreme. But are there no points to be put to the credit side 
of the ledger? No other species so effectively keeps the small 
seed-eating birds in check, and that most destructive pest to the 
farmers—wood pigeons—could be greatly reduced if there were 
more sparrow hawks. And a prime consideration is that no 
estate enjoys a proper amenity, and its full share of natural 
beauty without a fair head of all the birds of prey. The 
damage done to game in consegence would be comparatively 
trifling. One pair of sparrow hawks in the course of a year on 
an average estate would not cause as much injury to game as 
would the efforts of one bad shot on a big shooting day. 

A few words about the plumage of this species will end this 
narrative. The young birds are at first covered with white down, 
which gives place to a general sepid brown feathering above, all 
the feathers margined with rufous. The under surface of body 
is white, the throat narrowly streaked with black, the foreneck 
and chest with broad rufous streaks, flanks and thighs barred 
with dark brown. 

The young plumage remains for one or two years, and these 
birds sometimes breed while still in miniature feathers. The 
first adult dress with bars underneath seems to be gained by the 
breaking up of the paltern on the feather, rather than by a com- 
plete moult. The broad centre of pale rufous alters in shape 
and breaks off into bars, and the heart-shaped spot on the 
terminal part of the feather being absorbed, the bird is then in 
fully adult plumage. With old age the birds become more and 
more rufous. 


Ca 


ee 


es Leo 


ScottisH LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 279 


20th March, 1905. 
Chairman—Mr J. Barbour, Vice-President. 


ScoTTisH LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY: ILLUSTRATED SPECIALLY 
FROM DUMFRIESSHIRE AND GALLOWAY. 
By Mr W. Dickie. 


I propose to make Dumfries the central point for a cursory 
survey of the conditions of life in Scotland in the 
seventeenth century. It is desirable as a_ preliminary 
to have some. idea of the appearance and_ extent 
of the town at that period. It is not possible to construct a 
complete or perfectly reliable mental picture, but it may be 
done with approximate accuracy. The town then was in its 
main outlines wonderfully like what we may call the old town of 
to-day. It consisted of the High Street; part of Friars’ Vennel ; 
the Kirkgate; East Barnraws, somewhere in the neighbourhood 
of the present Loreburn Street, and having as one of its boun- 
daries the Loreburn, which figures in the motto of the burgh; a 
small street between these two called the Midraw, extending 
from “the Rattan Raw,’’ our present Chapel Street, on the 
one hand, to what is now Queensberry Square on the other; the 
Lochmabengate, now known as English Street ; and west of the 
High Street, a street called the West Barnraws. And off the 
various streets were, as now, numerous closes. Then there 
was, of course, “the brig-en’,’’ which has developed into Max- 
welltown; and on the Troqueer Road there was a village known 
as “the Toun of Troqueer.’’ At the top of the High Street, on 
the site of Greyfriars’ Church, stood the castle, or rather 
battlemented town house of the Lord Maxwells, which had been 
in rather a dilapidated condition since 1570, when the town 
was burned by an English force, under the Earl of Sussex and 
Lord Scrope. The more ancient castle of Dumfries, in the 
neighbourhood of Castledykes, had ceased to be a place of 
strength. The New Wark, a two storey building with some 
slight pertensions to fortification, and commanding extensive 
vaults for protection of the valuables of the citizens in times of 
danger, stood on the south side of what is now Queensberry 
Square; and in the square were also the flesh market and the 
slaughter-house. An extensive improvement was carried out 
about 1770, when a new flesh-market was built and King Street, 
or “the Wide Entry,’’ was opened up. At the earlier period 
to which our notes refer, part of the Greyfriars’ Monastery, 
which lay between Castle Street and St David Street, was still 
standing ; but it had been unoccupied for about a century, the 
Reformation having suppressed it and other conventual establish- 
ments. The Midsteeple had not been built. But on the High 


280 Scottish LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 


Street, a little south of the shop of Messrs Kennedy & Co.,. 


- seedsmen, stood the old Tolbooth and Council Chambers, which 
were erected in 1627. The Meal Market was also in High 
Street, on the space, I suppose, now occupied in the summer 
season by the gardeners’ stands, and the Fish Cross was near it. 
A little above the site of the Midsteeple, on the spot occupied by 
a jeweller’s shop, was a one-storey building, with the Town 
Cross on its flat roof. There was only one place of public 
worship in the town, St Michael’s Church. It was not, of 
course, the present edifice; that dates from about the middle of 
the 18th century ; and it appears to have been “a church without 
a steeple.’ It had been the Roman Catholic Church of the 
town, and after the Reformation it was occupied by a Protestant 
congregation. There had been two other pre-Reformation 
churches in the town—one, the Church of Our Lady, near where 
is now the office of the Bank of Scotland in Irish Street; the 
other, the Church of St Thomas, the site of which I have seen 
variously given as between St Michael Street and the river, and 
as in High Street, near the Coffee House. There was also, on 
the eminence now crowned by St Mary’s Church, a chapel 
erected by the sister of Robert Bruce in memory of her husband, 
Sir Christopher Seton, who had suffered death on the spot, at 
the hands of the English troops ; but this little church was never, 
I fancy, used to any considerable extent as a place of public 
worship, and since the Reformation both it and the churches of 
St Thomas and Our Lady had been closed. None of the public 
buildings was of imposing appearance, if we except the castle, 
and it was in a partly ruinous state. 

Regarding the dwelling-houses the Lord Provost of Glasgow 
and one of the city bailies, who passed through the town in 
1688, have left this record: That they were either composed of 
mud walls strengthened by upright wooden posts, or were built 
of stone laid in clay and thatched with straw or heather. The 
shops, say the same observers, were small and ill-lighted, with 
naked walls, seldom plastered, and often not even floored or 
paved. Of the dwelling-house accommodation of the rural 
population the same visitors give us the following picture :— 
“Many of the farm houses were built in part and some altogether 
of turf, or of mud, plastered on stakes and basket work. The 
window was composed of a few panes of glass and two boards 
that opened like shutters for the admission of air. On the small 
farms part of the dwelling-house was occupied by the cattle, 
which generally entered by the same door with the family—the 
one turning by the trance-door to the kitchen, the other the 
contrary way to the byre or stable. The people in the kitchen 
could see but to the byre and the cattle saw ben to the kitchen. 
The houses of the labourers consisted of a single unceiled apart- 
ment, with clay floor, unclean and full of holes.’’? The 


_ 


———— 


i ee ee ee ee ee ee 


Scottisn LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 281 


chroniclers do not mention, what we know, however, to have 
been the fact, that the business of many classes of tradesmen 
was conducted in little wooden booths which were set out on 
the High Street for display of their wares on market days. 
Many of the houses, I fancy, would be entirely of wood, for we 
know that on several occasions, one of them being about 1598, 
the town suffered severely from fire ; but we have on old dwelling- 
houses in the High Street dates on stones going back to 1604.* 
The old Turnpike House, built in the seventeenth century by 
Sharpe of Hoddam, the sheriff clerk of Dumfries, and occupied 
during his last years by the notorious Grierson of Lagg, was 
known by way of distinction as “ Hoddam’s stone house.”’ 
The proprietor of Hoddom owned also the adjoining house, 
which was of wood, and on the site of which the building now 
known as the Commercial Hotel was erected some time before 
the visit of Prince Charlie. Regarding the method of building 
and the materials employed, we get a local glimpse in Mr 
Colville’s “ Byeways of History.”’ “At Canonbie, 1769, the 
owner prepares the materials—clay mixed with straw—summons 
his neighbours for a day’s darg (work) at daubing, who come 
with victuals at their own cost, and setting cheerfully to work 
complete the house before nightfall. At Dornock, Annan, 
1792, all the houses in the village, save the manse and two 
others, were of mud and thatch. I have easily pushed my 
walking stick into the front wall of one of these houses. They 
are still common at Gretna Green.’’ So says Mr Colville; and 
the statement agrees with that in a well-known letter written by 
Mr Maxwell of Munches, that “there was almost no lime used 
for building in Dumfries, except a little shell-lime made of 
cockle-shells, burned at Colvend,’’ and that, “in 1740, when 
Provost Bell built his house, the under storey was built with 
clay, and the upper storeys with lime brought from Whitehaven 
in dryware casks.’? The Old Bridge was the only means of 
crossing the Nith, except by fords, and the town was deprived 
even of it for some time. Great part of the bridge was carried 
away by a spate in the year 1620; and in the absence of a 
Devorgilla or a Miss M‘Kie, the burgesses had at their own 
charges to rebuild it. An Act of Parliament of the period sets 
forth that this was a work so herculean as to be “ maist incredible 


* On the skew-stone of a three-storey building in the Standard Close, 
High Street, date and initials are carved as follows :— 


In the front wall of the Hole-in-the-Wa’ Inn, High Street, which is in the 
line of the old ‘“‘ Mid Raw,” is a marriage stone bearing the date 1620. 
The small house at the Maxwelltown end of the Old Bridge, on the south 
side, and partly resting upon it, was built in or very shortly before 1660. 


282 ScottTisH LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 


to have been performit by thaim without His Majesty’s help’’ 
—a help, by the way, which had been invoked and refused— 
and by way of reward the formerly existing right of the magis- 
trates to levy bridge dues was renewed and confirmed. 

The caul at this time was above the bridge, instead of below 
it; and the Town Mills were on the Dumfries side of the water. 
The change to the Maxwelltown site was made after the destruc- 
tion of the old mills by fire in 1780. The town, like most 
towns of any importance at that time, was enclosed by a wall 
for purposes of defence, except on those sides where it was 
protected by the river. The wall started at about the 
Moat House, was carried in a line to Sir Christopher’s 
Chapel, then made a _ curve’ towards St  Michael’s 
Church; and terminated at the river a little below Swan’s 
Vennel. Part of it was built of stone to a height of 8 feet; 
other portions consisted of an earthen bank, strengthened by 
stake-work and protected by a deep ditch on the outer side. 
There were three gates. One was the South, or Nether Port, 
near St Michael’s; another the North Gate, at Townhead ; the 
third, the East Gate, near the site of St Mary’s Church. 
There was also a gate, or “ port,’’ on the bridge; and there was 
an inner gate, or “ port,’’ half-way up Friars’ Vennel: hence 
the name “ Port of the Vennel.’’ 

Having said so much of the town, let us turn to the inhabi- 
tants and see how they fared, using the word in its literal 
sense. Some of the dishes which we have come to regard 
as necessaries of life were absent from their tables. Potatoes 
were not yet cultivated in this country, and tea was only begin- 
ning to be known as an expensive luxury of the rich, the price 
being as high as 30s a pound, and money being very scarce. 
Butcher meat was little known at the tables of the common 
people. Even a Protestant Parliament, which must have been 
indoctrinated with vegetarian views, passed a law forbidding 
the eating of flesh either on Fridays or Wednesdays, because of 
the great scaith said to be occasioned to the realm by its too 
great consumption; and this prohibition was repeated, I know, 
in the Acts of the Town Council of Kirkcudbright, and I sup- 
pose in those of other burghs. But whether the danger appre- 
hended was to the health of the king’s subjects or to the wealth 
of his realm, this sumptuary law could not be required to 
restrain the over-indulgence of the peasant or tradesmen classes. 
A well-informed writer on the condition of Galloway about this 
period (the Rev. Mr Mackenzie, author of the “ History of 
Galloway ’’) says (Hist. Gal. ii., 335-6):—“ The food of the 
common people consisted of the meanest and coarsest materials, 
besides being dirty and ill-cooked. Those lived comfortably 
who could obtain a sufficient supply of brose, porridge, and 
sowens, perhaps made of meagre grain, dried in pots, and ground 


, 
] 
4 
. 
7 
i 
i 


| 
; 


ScottisH LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 283 


in querns, with greens, or kail, occasionally boiled in salt and 
water. They seldom or never tasted animal food except the 
carcases of such beasts as either died from stravation or disease ; 
it was a rare thing to slaughter even an old ewe for winter 
provision. The common people had as yet acquired no luxuries 
except tobacco, though the higher classes possessed a few. 
Their chief drink was fermented whey, which they kept in barrels 
sometimes for a whole year, or a kind of ale, which is said to 
have been still manufactured from heather.’’ 

To recur to our magisterial visitors from the city of St 
Mungo, they inform us that: “In the county of Dumfries there 
was not so much victual produced as was necessary for supplying 
the inhabitants, and the chief part of what was required for the 
purpose was brought from the sand-beds of Esk on tumbling 
cars on the Wednesdays to Dumfries.’’ One of the citizens 
informed the Lord Provost that when the waters were high by 
reason of spates, there being no bridges, so that these cars 
could not come with the meal, he had seen the tradesmen’s 
wives crying because there was none to be got. The same 
statement occurs in the letter of Mr Maxwell of Munches above 
referred to. They mention, however, as a compensation for 
the general poverty of the fare to be got at hostelries on the 
way, that they were able to procure an abundant supply of 
claret and French brandy at 18d a bottle. Scotland had at 
that time a considerable trade with the continent, and large 
quantities of wine were imported. Dumfries, however, fell 
behind in this commerce because of the difficult navigation of its 
river. Only some three small boats seem to have traded from 
the Nith to France, Norway, and Sweden; France supplying 
wine and brandy, Norway wood, and Sweden iron. Kirkcud- 
bright had most of the sea-borne traffic of these parts. 

In the passages which I have quoted nothing is said about 
what has come to be regarded as the national drink—whisky. 
But we know that it was manufactured in Scotland at that 
time, not only for home consumpt but for exportation. An 
Act of Parliament of date 1661 imposed an export duty of two 
ounces of silver on every barrel containing ten gallons of aqua 
vitze, and an excise duty of two merks Scots per boll malt used in 
its manufacture for home consumption. All aqua vite or strong 
waters imported from other countries was to bear a customs duty 
of 6s per pint; and an Act of 1663 expressly prohibited its im- 
portation. And the disciplinary records of the Kirk Sessions shew 
that it was a drink in common use in this district, for in the 
frequent proceedings following upon drunken brawls we have 
reference, in the Session records of Dumfries in the seventeenth 
century, to indulgence in “strong waters.’’ I have no doubt that 
among both the Dumfriesshire and Galloway hills there were 


284 ScottisH LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 


many stills, the produce of which found its way into the cottage 
homes of which Mr Mackenzie presents a rather gloomy picture. 

It is interesting to note the light which is thrown on the 
Scottish commerce of the period by the Act of Parliament to 
which I have just referred—the 17th of the first Scottish Parlia- 
ment of Charles II. That statute prescribes export duties on 
herring, salmon (regarding the efficient packing of which 
stringent regulations were laid down by the same Parliament), 
butter—the Scotch then had not, apparently to send to Denmark 
for supplies—beef, eggs, oats, wheat, flour, cheese, horses, 
cattle, and various other products of the field and farm; and 
a very respectable catalogue of manufactures, including such 
things as sword blades, iron ordnance, horse shoes, pans of 
brass and iron, pewter work, linen cloth, plaiding, silk and 
worsted ribbons, sail canvas, saddles, shoes. In a list of skins 
liable to export duty it seems strange to a twentieth century 
reader to find that of the wolf. In the list the rabbit figures by 
its old Scotch name of the cunning; the martin by the name of 
the mertrick ; the fox as the tod; the polecat as the fulmert. In 
the restrictive spirit of the times Parliament soon afterwards 
passed an Act to prohibit the export of skins, as they considered 
it hurtful to the interests of native furriers to send out the raw 
material for use by rival tradesmen in other countries. 

We return from this digression to the diet of the people. 
The want of flesh meat would in sea-board districts be in large 
measure supplied by fish. And we have the testimony of a 
contemporary poet—for the graces of the muse were cultivated 
even in that disturbed time—to the picturesque variety of 
dishes that were available to a stout stomach. I quote from 
“The Blythesome Bridal,’’ by Francis Sempill, a Renfrewshire 
bard, to whom is also attributed the song, “ Maggie Lauder.’ 
He thus, with amusing and somewhat sarcastic amplitude of 
detail, catalogues the dishes at a rural wedding feast :— 


Fy, let us a’ to the bridal, 
For there will be lilting there; 

For Jock’s to be married to Maggie, 
The lass wi’ the gowden hair. 

And there will be lang kail and porridge, 
And bannocks 0’ barley meal; 

And there will be good saut herring, 
To relish a cog of good ale. 


And there will be fadges and brochan, 
With fouth of good gabbocks of skate, 
Powsowdy and drammock, and crowdy, 
And caller nowt-feet in a plate; 
And there will be partans and buckies, 
And whitings and speldings enew, 
With singed sheepheads and a haggis, 
And scadlips to sup till ye spew. 


ScotrisH LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 285 


And there will be lappered milk kebbocks, 
And sowens and farls and baps, 

With swat and well-scraped paunches, 
And brandy in stoups and in caps; 
And there will be meal-kail and castocks, 

With skink to sup till ve rive, 
And roasts to roast on a brander 
Of flukes that were taken alive ; 


Scrapt haddocks, wilks, dulse, and tangle, 
And a mill of good sneishing to pree; 
When weary with eating and drinking, 
We’ll rise up and dance till we dee. 
Then fy, let us a’ to the bridal, 
For there will be lilting there; 
For Jock’s to be married to Maggie, 
The lass wi’ the gowden hair. 


Fadges were large, flat loaves; brochan is oatmeal boiled 
to a consistency somewhat thicker than gruel; powsodie is 
_ sheep’s-head broth; drammock is meal and water mixed in a 
. y “ ? Ms ?? 
raw state, what country people often call “ beggar’s porridge ; 
scadlips is thin broth; lappered milk kebbocks are, of course, 
sour milk cheese ; swats mean new ale; skink may either refer to 
drink in general, or to a strong soup made of cow’s hams; and 
dulse and tangle are names still familiar for edible kinds of 
sea-weed. 

Ale was then a staple article of diet, and it was one of the 
curious duties of the Town Council to fix annually, at the close 
of harvest, the price at which it was to be sold during the year 
then ensuing. The meeting for this purpose was called the 
assize of ale. ‘There was also an assize of bread, which fixed 
the charges that bakers were permitted to make ; and sometimes 
the price of candles also was a subject of municipal regulation. 
The price of the bread and the ale depended, of course, on the 
abundance or scantiness of the harvest, and the records of that 
early period reveal to us, despite the hilarity of the songster 
of rural mirth, a community hovering painfully near the verge 
of starvation. 

Agriculture throughout the country was of a very primitive 
kind, and this district, long disturbed as it was by border raids 
- and clan feuds, had made but slow advance in the arts of peace. 
Our friends the magistrates of Glasgow in their progress from 
Dumfries to Carlingwark (now Castle-Douglas) found the 
country a wide tract of black moss, extending for miles on each 
side, overgrown with whins and broom, but utterly destitute both 
of enclosures and trees, a few isolated dwellings, a cottage or a 
farm house, alone indicating that the desolate-looking district 
was not wholly uninhabited. Little grain was grown but coarse, 
_ grey oats; and the harvest was often so late, on account of the 
dampness of the soil from want of draining, that it was no 
uncommon thing for the crop to be cut amid frost and snow, and 


286 ScoTTisH LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 


even then in an unripe condition. Ploughing was a laborious 
operation, performed with a ponderous wooden plough, drawn 
either by four horses or eight oxen, or by a mixed team. A 
district so circumstanced could have no surplus sustenance even 
in a good year, and a failure of the harvest meant literal famine. 
Foreign countries could not as now supply the deficiency, and 
in the absence of proper roads communication even with other 
parts of Scotland was beset with some of the difficulties of 
modern African exploration. It was not until 1664 that even 
a weekly postal service between Dumfries and Edinburgh was 
established. Pestilence often followed in the steps of famine. 
We have frequent references to “the pest ’’ in Council minutes. 
One year, when it raged in Dumfries, the civic rulers of Kirk- 
cudbright prohibited all communication with the town or even 
with the district east of the Urr, and required the householders 
— all that raise reik’’ they are expressively termed—to take 
turns as an armed guard to see that the cordon was not broken. 
In 1623 the whole of Scotland suffered grievously from famine 
and plague, and it is computed that the town and parish of 
Dumfries lost a ninth part of their inhabitants. In 1665 the 
“pest ’’? was raging in London, and to guard against contagion 
by the visits of the southerners or the introduction of English 
merchandise, the Town Council of Dumfries gave orders that 
twenty-four burgesses should keep watch and ward day and 
night. 

So much for the food of the period. Let us now glance at 
the dress. In England the costume of both sexes, among the 
higher classes, underwent changes of fashion as frequent as 
they do in our own days, and even more striking. That of 
gentlemen in the time of Charles I. is considered the most 
picturesque in English history, its chief characteristic features 
being the high-crowned beaver hat with a plume of feathers, 
a close-fitting doublet with pointed lace collar, which gave 
to the costume the name of Vandyke, breeches reaching to the 
knee, tight-fitting stockings, and a cloak after the pattern of the 
Spanish mantua hung from one shoulder. The ladies during 
Charles’s reign gave up the unsightly farthingale, a sixteenth 
century exaggeration of the crinoline of a more recent day, 
and adopted a simpler and much more elegant style of dress; 
but they gratified their love of display by enormous trains, 
which required in the case of ladies of fashion the attendance of 
several pages in order to bear them. But Scotland, exempt 
from the temptations to imitate a luxurious court, and with less of 
wealth at its command, seems to have escaped in large measure 
the fantastic changes of the time. Certainly they little affected 
the common people, with whose condition we are chiefly con- 
cerned. They, free from “luxury’s contagion,’’ preserved in 
the article of dress, as in more weighty matters, the rustic 


ScottTisH LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 287 


simplicity of their lives. Tartan was going out of use as the 
common material of dress in the lowlands; but it was still 
preserved in the plaids of the men and in the “screens ’”’ of the 
women, the latter being a light shawl, which in the case of 
unmarried persons was made to serve the purpose of a head- 
covering. The men at the time of which I speak wore coats of 
waulked plaiding, made of a mixture of black and white wool in 
an undressed state, and the product, of course, of their own 
_ looms; their knee-breeches were of white plaiding; their head- 
dress was the Kilmarnock bonnet, of blue or black, only the 
 lairds wearing hats; and their shoes were rudely made by shoe- 
makers—cordwainers they were called—who exposed their wares 
-on the street twice a week in the town, or who travelled from 
house to house in the country. Shirts were little worn, and they 
were made of coarse woollen. The gowns of the women were 
made of coarse plaiding or drugget ; and home-made linen was 
used in the wardrobes of those who could afford it. Allan 
Ramsay belongs to a somewhat later date; but we may accept 
his picture of rural life in “The Gentle Shepherd ’’ as fairly 
applicable to this period; and we have a glimpse of the prevail- 
ing style of dress in Jenny’s description of Roger, her shepherd 
beau :-— 


ee 


“He kaims his hair indeed, and gangs richt snug, 
Wi’ ribbon-knots at his blue bonnet lug, 
Whilk pensilie he wears a thought a-jee; 
And spreads his gartens diced beneath his knee; 
He faulds his o’erlay doon his breast wi’ care; 
And few gang trigger to the kirk or fair.’’ 


For a glimpse of those of higher degree we are again 
indebted to the Lord Provost and his travelling companion. 
‘The laird of Munches, whom they went to visit, was wearing 
a broad blue bonnet, a long home-spun coat of blue colour, knee 
breeches of the same material, and rig and fur stockings. Lady 
Munches, as his wife was termed by the custom of the period, 
wore a close linen cap ornamented with a coloured ribbon, 
and a gown composed of lindsey-woolsey spun in the family and 
woven by the village weaver. But on state occasions, such as 
the Hogmanay festivities, which the city visitors witnessed, the 
dresses were expensive and even ostentatious. The clothes of 
gentlemen in full dress were fringed with gold and silver. The 
coats had very wide sleeves, with immense cuffs folding back 
nearly to the elbows, and were ornamented with a profusion of 
large gilded or gold buttons. The waistcoats descended nearly 
to the knees, and contained most capacious pockets. The 
breeches were short, and the knees and shoes sparkled with 
immense silver buttons. Elderly gentlemen wore large wigs, 
ecorated with numerous rows of curls, and a large toupee in 
front, the whole surmounted with a magnificent cocked hat. 


288 ScoTtisH LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 


The younger male members of the family had adopted the 
fashion of powdered hair. When they went abroad these 
gentlemen carried a gold-headed cane in their hand, reaching to 
about a foot above their heads, and grasped by the middle. 
Swords were regarded as an indispensible article of fashionable 
costume. Ladies, when visiting or receiving company, wore silk 
gowns with gold or gilded buttons or fringes. These gowns were 
very long in the waist, with long flowing trains. High-heeled 
shoes and silver buckles were the fashion. The hair was so 
dressed as to stand almost erect, and was covered with a fine 
lawn head-dress, with lappets of Flanders lace, and penners 
which hung down from the back of the head. The visitors were 
surprised at the splendour and costliness of the ladies’ dresses, 
but were privately informed by the hostess that two suits would 
last for life, and that they were not renewed except at marriage 
or some other great event. 

I have already drawn on a contemporary poet of the west 
country for a description of a rural feast of the period. Let me 
give you a stanza or two from the verse of a more noted man, Sir 
Richard Maitland of Lethington or Thirlstane, who belongs 
rather to the close of the sixteenth century, in order to illustrate 
the fact that the ungallant pastime of satirising the ladies’ 
apparel is no modern growth, and that fine dressing was no 
monopoly of the nobility or county families. Sir Richard wrote 
a long “ Satire of the Town Ladies,’’ of which this is a sample :— 


““Sum wives of the burrows-toun 
Sa wonder vane are and wantoun, 
In warld they watt not what to wear, 
On claithes they wair monie a croon, 
And all for new fangleness of geir. 


‘‘Their goons are costlie and trimlie trails ; 
Barrit with velvons, slieve, neck, and tails, 
And their foreskirt of silks seir [several], 
Of finest camroche their faik-sails [over-mantle], 
And all for new fangleness of geir. 


*‘ And of fine silk their furrit clokes, 
With hingand sleeves like geill-pokes; 
Na preaching will gar them forbeir 
To wear such things that sin pr ovokes, 
And all for new fangleness of geir. 


Others of Maitland’s poems shew us how wonderfully — 
similar, under varying circumstances, has been the condition of 
human life from age to age. _In these verses, for example, you 
would think you had a present-day wail about landlord oppres- 
sion and the decay of agriculture :— : 

‘‘Some with deir farme are herriet haill, 


That wont to pay but penny maill ; 
Some by their lordis are oppresst, 


ScoTrTisH LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 289 


Put frae the iand that they possessed ; 
Sair service has some herriet soon ; 
For carrage als some has no rest, 
Tho’ their ain work should ly undone. 


‘Sic extortion and taxation 
Was never seen into this nation. 
Taen of the commons of this land, 
Of whilk some is left waste liand, 
Because few may sic charges peir ; 
Mony has whips now in their hand 
That wont to have baith jak and speir.’ 


Again the poet complains of wasteful extravagance :— 


““ Now we have mair, as is weill kend, 
Nor our forebears had to spend, 
But far less at the year’s end; 

And never has ane merrie day.’’ 


Wonderfully like, too, an echo of the voice of John Knox 
from the previous century. It is taken from his “ Treatise on 
Fasting,’’ issued in 1565. 

“What reverence is had to God’s messengers, and what 
respect unto the poor, that now so multiply within this realm 
(that the like hath seldom been seen)? ‘Though we will cease, 
the stones will cry, and condemn us; and yet what superfluity, 
what vanity, what feasting, riotous banqueting have been, and 
yet are used in court, country, and towns, although the tongues 
of men dare not speak, yet we think the purses of some do feel, 
and in their manner complain. 

“Let us consider what God craveth of us, but especially let 
Earls, Lords, Barons, Burgesses, and Artificers consider by what 
means their substances are increased. It is not enough to justify 
us before God that civil laws cannot accuse us. Nay, brethren, 
the eyes of our God pierce deeper than the laws of men can 
stretch. The law of man cannot convince the Earl, the Lord, 
the Baron, or Gentleman for the oppression of the poor labourers 
of the ground, for his defence is ready: I may do with mine own 
as best pleaseth me. The merchant is just enough in his own 
‘conceit if before men he cannot be convicted of theft and deceit. 
The artificer or craftsman thinketh himself free before God, 


albeit that he neither work sufficient stuff nor yet sell it for 
reasonable price. The world is evil, saith he, and how can men 
live if they do not as others do? And thus doth every man lean 


upon the iniquity of another, and thinketh himself sufficiently 


excused when that he meeteth craft with craft, and repulseth 


‘back violence either with deceit or else with open injury.”’ 
The Reformer and the Minstrel each in his own way be- 


_ wailed the same evils as characteristic of his own age. 


Among the annual merrymakings of the period in Dumfries 


“were two days’ horse races, for which the Town Council pro- 


290 ScoTtisH LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 


vided several prizes in the form of silver bells and silver cups ; 
in October there was the riding—more properly the 
“redding ’’ or clearing—of the marches, when the Town 
Council, the Incorporated Trades, and Burgesses generally 
encompassed the far-extending town lands with much state, and 
the people held high holiday ; and they were enjoined by Act of 
Parliament to hold twice in the year a wappenshaw for practice in 
the use of fire arms, the Siller Gun, which James VI. had pre- 
sented to the Trades, and which now hangs in the Town Hall, 


being shot for on such occasions. “ Promiscuous dancing ’’ is. 


included in a list of minor vices to which the Rev. John. 
Blackader found the parishioners of Troqueer addicted, especi- 


ally on occasion of marriages. A more questionable form of 


amusement, and one which shews the rough spirit of the time, 
was that which took place on the annual sort of gala-day in the 
burgh school. On Fastern’s Eve, that being the 6th of April, 
there was in the school an exhibition of cock-fighting, the pupils 


supplying the birds and “ gentlemen of note ’’ coming to share the 
entertainment. In accounts connected with the education of Sir 
Robert Grierson of Lag (the “ Auld Sir Robert ’’ of Redgauntlet. 


and the Covenanters’ persecution) there occur entries of contri- 
butions for this sport. 

From what may be called the personal and social aspects 
of the time, let us turn to the legal or political aspect, and see 
what was the system of local government which existed and how 
it was worked. The ciicumstance which strikes one most 


forcibly in reading the chronicles of the town at this time is the 
great power which was possessed by the Town Council and the 


extraordinary variety of subjects in regard to which it was 
exercised. That power was shared in matters affecting public 
morality by the Kirk Session, which, in regard to a certain class 
of cases, had the power of inflicting fines or imprisonment, but 


which more frequently called upon the civil power to undertake- 


the trial and punishment of offenders. These two bodies, 
jointly or severally, exercised an almost uncontrolled authority 
in the departments both of trade and morality, which stopped 
short only of the power to inflict capital punishment. The law 


of the country was in a very rude state. The liberty of the 


subject was a doctrine which might be known to the statute- 


book, but it received little practical recognition. Travelling 


was a laborious, tedious, and expensive process; so that it was 


next to impossible for most suitors to bring their case under the: 
review of a higher tribunal ; and neither the purity nor the justice 
of the decisions of these courts of appeal was to be altogether 


7 


depended upon. The Court of Session had been established; — 


but as yet it concerned itself only with civil business. |Two- 
Justiciary Judges had been appointed, who made a circuit of the 
kingdom for the trial of important criminal cases. But the Privy 


ScottisH LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 291 


Council retained in its own hands the power to try all such cases ; 
and we know from the black record of the persecution that that 
court could be made, under despotic influences, to exhibit all the 
vices of the Star Chamber and the High Commission Court. 

The Town Council of this period exercised along with the 
magistrates the powers of judges. It was in the main a self- 
elected body, the Council itself choosing those who should take 
the place of the members whose turn it was to retire; but it 
included the Deacons of the seven Incorporated Trades, who 
had something of a representative character. The magistrates 
at least would receive a salary. They continued to do so until 
some time after the passing of the Municipal Reform Act of 
1833. And we shall see later on that the strict opinions with 
regard to the expenditure of public money with which we are now 
familiar did not then obtain. 

It is well known that at the time of which I speak, and 
indeed until a recent date, no one could follow any trade in the 
town, or could engage in any kind of business, unless he was 
by birth a burgess or had by purchase acquired the privilege ; and 
he must also be a member of one of the guilds or incorporated 
trades, and therefore have served an apprenticeship. Even when 
he had complied with these conditions he was by no means at 
liberty to “ do as he liked with his own.’’ Marketing was fenced 
about with a code of regulations establishing the three offences 
of forestalling, regrating, and engrossing, which were the subject 
of a learned paper recently contributed by Sir James Marwick 
to the Scottish Antiquarian Society. The purport of them was 
that you must not sell merchandise of any kind except in the 
public market, within the hours officially appointed for the 
holding of the market, and at the particular cross or other spot 
appointed for the sale of the article in which you dealt ; that you 
must not buy with the purpose of selling over again at a profit, 
at least in that market or within four miles of it; and you must 
not buy large quantities with the purpose of forming what would 
now be called a corner and so raising the price say of meal by 
an artificial scarcity. To sell outwith the market was to fore- 
stall ; to buy for re-sale was to re-grate ; to buy for the purpose of 
holding up was to engross; and these were all punishable 
offences. The Town Council also had a right of pre-emption 
over goods brought to market, and they frequently, from con- 
siderations of public convenience, bought large quantities of such 
things as meal and fish, which were afterwards retailed to the 
community. The price at which different commodities were to 
be sold was arbitrarily fixed by the Council. I have made refer- 
ence to the excise of bread and the excise of ale. On other 
occasions they ordained that candles should be sold at 4s 6d 
Scots money for “ilk pund Scots weight,’’ and French wines at 
five groats a pint. They exercised a close supervision of the 


292 Scottish LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 


public-houses, and by local enactment anticipated and even 
out-did Forbes Mackenzie, ordering the houses to be closed 
altogether on Sundays and at ten o’clock on week nights. The 
national legislature was equally advanced on the temperance 
platform. An Act passed in 1661 enjoined Justices to be diligent 
in putting into execution the Acts “for the punishing of all 
persons found guilty of the sin of drunkenness or excessive drink- 
ing, especially under the names of healths, or haunting taverns 
or ale-houses after ten of the clock at night, or at any time of 
the day except in time of travel, or for ordinary refreshments.’’ 
The municipal Act was indeed practically a repetition of the 
general statute, embodied in the local records probably as a 
means of publishing it. The vice of intemperance and that of 
profane swearing seem to have been characteristic of all classes, 
not excepting the clergy, if we may judge from the terms of 
another statute of the same year.—(Read Act 19 of the Scottish 
Parliament held at Edinburgh in January, 1661-2.). 

An Act of Council passed late in the century disqualified any 
person who made or sold intoxicating liquor from acting as 
Provost ; in the eighteenth century the probibition was extended 
to all offices of the magistracy. 

Along with the Kirk Session, the Town Council was largely 
occupied in trying persons who took part in drunken brawls. 
They were, moreover, believers in that sound maxim that “ Pre- 
vention is better than cure ;’’ but their way of putting their faith 
into practice was repugnant in some particulars to modern ideas. 
Thus, they argued that these brawls frequently arose out of 
festive and social meetings ; and therefore, striking as they would 
no doubt think at the root of the matter, they passed a law 
strictly limiting the attendance at marriages, baptisms, and 
funerals under pain of fine or imprisonment; and they also fixed 
a limit within which the expense of entertainments on such 
occasions should be restricted. In this again they were echoing 
the legislature.—(Read Act 14 of the third Scottish Parliament 
of King Charles II., September 13, 1681——“ Act restraining the 
exorbitant expense of marriages, baptisms, and burials.’’). 

The Town Council and Kirk Session not only framed 
stringent laws for the regulation of the drink trade, but they were 
vigilant in seeing that they were observed. The modern police 
force was then represented only by the town officers, who had 
other duties to discharge; and the civic rulers undertook in this 
matter to lend them voluntary assistance. Eight members of 
Council were specially told off, in committees of two, to keep a 
watch upon the public-houses in the four quarters of the town; 
and a like number of members of Kirk Session were appointed 
to attend at the gates to the town on the afternoon of market 
days and make a note of any persons who were seen under the 
influence of liquor, with instructions to have them apprehended 


| 
} 


ScoTTisH LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 293 


if they could procure the services of an officer. The Town 
Council added to its other onerous duties the charge of the 
burgh school, taught, I think, in the Tolbooth, and they re- 
quired all burgesses who were able to pay the fees to send their 
children there. But here again that spirit of monopoly pre- 
vailed, for they imposed a heavy fine upon all “pettie dominies’’ 
who should teach children in other schools; a power this which 
in the hands of a School Board might be fatal to adventure 
schools. As showing the state of education at the time, and 
also affording some indication of the qualifications of the 
councillors for the many duties they assumed, it is interesting 
to note that at the date of the first minute of Council, 1623, 
thirteen members out of twenty-four, or a majority of the whole, 
were unable to sign their names. 

The members of the Council, with all their zeal for 
temperance, by no means set an example of abstinence; and, as 
I have said, they were not restrained by any punctilious scruples 
about the propriety of spending public money on their own 
entertainment. ‘Their drink bill, at least on all occasions which 
could be called public, was paid out of the public purse. They 
had wine or ale before going to the court, the council, or the 
kirk. They must have relaxed in their own favour the 
‘stringency of the infant Forbes Mackenzie. They drank when 
they had business of any kind to transact with outsiders, and 
when any distinguished person was made a burgess; and on 
such other occasions as the anniversary of the King’s birthday 
or the annual election. Their drink and feasting bill from 
March, 1670, to October, 1673, amounted in Scots money to 
4797. Reduced to sterling coin, of which Scots was only one- 
‘twelfth the value, this amounted to the less extravagant sum of 
4,66; but even that was a very large figure when we remember 
‘the low wages of the time and the high purchasing power of 
money. It was equal to a labourer’s wages for five years. A 
labourer then received between 5s and 6s sterling weekly. A 
leg of mutton could be bought for 8d or tod, and a dozen 
eggs for 14d. By expenses such as these the town’s patrimony 
was consumed, until it had to become in our own days a suitor 
‘to the Crown for a gift of Kingholm and Hannahfield, which 
were once but a small portion of its own estate. 

The Kirk Session, like the more secular body, showed a 
strong disposition to interfere in private affairs. It could im- 
‘pose civil penalties, and it sometimes offered to support the 
-action of the secular authorities with ecclesiastical censures, as 
in the case of enforcing the licensing laws. This would be no 
light matter at a time when ecclesiastical censures might involve 
‘the shame of a public rebuke from the pulpit and exposure in 
sackcloth before the whole congregation. The duties of the 
Session were so many and so onerous that meetings were held 


294 Scottish LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 


twice a week. In addition to the cases now commonly dealt 
with by such bodies, it was largely occupied in trying persons 
accused of circulating scandal, of intemperance, and of Sabbath- 
breaking. On one occasion a piper applied to the Session for 
liberty to follow his vocation in the town; but the members. 
would seem to have been rigid anti-instrumentalists, for they 
advised the poor wight to “ betake himself to some more honest 
and lawful way of living.” 

It was not only trespasses against the moral law, breaches. 
of the King’s peace, or offences against the lives or property of 
the King’s lieges that were visited with pains and penalties. 
The efforts of our rulers were directed to securing both uni- 
formity and regularity in public worship. All persons who. 
failed to attend the parish church were subjected to a fine. 
The inhabitants of Kelton seem to have been sinners above 
other men in this respect. The minister was instructed to call 
over their names from the pulpit every Sabbath, and absentees. 
were fined six shillings. These measures were directed not only 
against the openly indifferent and ungodly, but also in an 
especial manner against Roman Catholics; and still more severe 
measures were adopted to prevent the practice of their religion 
by those who adhered to that proscribed sect. It is to the 
honour of our country that they shed no blood in endeavouring 
to suppress Romanism ; but until ideas of toleration had leavened 
public policy they adopted measures sufficiently harsh and 


intolerant to justify Milton’s sarcasm that new Presbyter was. 


but old Priest writ large. Roman Catholics, including the Earl 
of Nithsdale and Lord Herries, both residents in this district, 
the one at Caerlaverock, the other at Terregles, were proclaimed 
“excommunicated rebels;’’ and the Privy Council deprived 
Lord Nithsdale of the paternal right of superintending the 


education of his son. Numerous persons, chiefly women, were 


apprehended at the instance of the Kirk Session for hearing 
mass, and were taken to Edinburgh, where the Privy Council 
sentenced them to imprisonment; and the same tribunal had 
before them a luckless pair who had had the hardihood to get a 


Roman Catholic priest to marry them, the ceremony being 


performed for greater secrecy in the fields near Lincluden after 


nightfall. | Blackader of Troqueer was greatly exercised over 


the tenacity with which Mr and Mrs Maxwell of Mabie and 
residents on their estate adhered to the ancient faith, and the 
obstinacy with which they refused to attend the parish church. 


After years of ineffectual dealing with them the Presbytery of 


Dumfries passed sentence of excommunication. The _ laird 
quailed before the storm, but “Lady Mabie’”’ was firm, and 


Blackader publicly and solemnly delivered her and eight others. 


over to Satan in pursuance of the sentence. If he was stern 


with others, he was himself of the stuff of which martyrs are 


ScottisH LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 295 


made. A few years later the changes brought about by the 
restoration made his own church a proscribed sect, and he 
became an exile and a prisoner for conscience sake. 

Besides fine and imprisonment, modes of punishment 
peculiar to the time were then in use, and some of them were 
quaintly appropriate to the nature of the offences. Thus a 
scandal monger was exposed in public with the branks, a 
wooden muzzle, upon her tongue; and a vixen was shaven at 
the market cross. More common forms of chastisement were 
the placing of culprits in the jougs, an iron collar which was 
fastened to every market cross and church door, or in the 
pillory. The latter was a savage punishment, the neck of the 
person being enclosed in a wooden collar at a height which 
just allowed him to touch the ground with his toes and conse- 
quently caused the weight of his body to rest on the chin 
and back part of the head. Scourgings were also resorted to, 
and as an additional disgrace the delinquent was often carted 
through the town. An instrument of punishment that was 
commonly in use in Britain at this time was the ducking stool. 
A strong chair was fixed to the end of a movable plank and 
suspended over the river or a pool of water; and by elevating the 
other end of the plank the victim (generally a scolding or 
drunken woman) was immersed as often as the sentence re- 
quired. The ducking stool, however, was more of an English 
than a Scotch institution; and it does not seem to have been 
established in Dumfries. 

The power of imposing the punishment of death was re- 
stricted in ordinary times to the Privy Council and the Circuit 
Court. Trial at the latter was by judge and jury. The judges 
were not always trained lawyers. There were two justiciary 
judges ; but the courts seem to have been more frequently pre- 
sided over by a number of landed proprietors, to whom a com- 
mission for the purpose was issued by the Privy Council. The 
Earl of Buccleuch and other members of the Scott family 
figure in these commissions. The trials at these courts were 
chiefly for cattle lifting and theft, both of which offences were 
punished with death. The common mode of execution was by 
hanging, but sometimes the criminal was allowed the less 
degrading death of drowning in the Nith. A more revolting 
form of death, that of burning, was reserved for those whose 
crimes were viewed with special horror. Such were the 
unfortunate creatures to whom the dark superstition of the time 
ascribed powers of witchcraft. Belief in the possession of 
magical powers by persons who might have incurred the dis- 
pleasure of their neighbours was universal at this time. It 
was not confined to the ignorant and the degraded; but was 
shared by the most learned and exalted in the land, and none 
were more zealous in the discovery and persecution of reputed 


296 ScottisH LiFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 


witches than the ministers of the church. Kirk Sessions were 
turned into inquisitorial courts, and invitations were addressed 
from the pulpits to any who might be possessed of information 
that would aid in convicting suspected persons to make it known 
to the church court, that it might be communicated to the 
secular authorities. Again referring to “The Gentle Shepherd,’’ 
we have an indication of the powers and practices with which 
the popular imagination credited its objects in the soliloquy of 
Bauldy when he is going to consult the witch upon the prospects 
of his courtship :-— 


‘She can o’ercast the nicht and cloud the mune, 

And mak’ the de’ils obedient to her crune: 

At midnight oor, o’er the kirkyard she raves, 

An’ howks unchristened weans oot o’ their graves; 

Boils up their livers in a warlock’s pow; 

Rins withershins aboot the hemlock lowe, [from west 

to east] 

And seven times does her prayers backward pray, 

Till Plotcock comes wi’ lumps o’ Lapland clay, 

Mixt wi’ the venom o’ black tades and snakes. 

O’ this, unsonsy pictures aft she makes 

O’ ony ane she hates—and gars expire 

Wi’ slaw an’ racking pains afore a fire, 

Stuck fou o’ preens, the devilish pictures melt ; 

The pain, by fouk they represent, is felt.’’ 
Numerous charms and incantations were used by the people to 
protect themselves and their cattle from the arts of witches. 
A favourite charm was the wood of the rowan-tree, a slip of 
which was often worn on the person and tied to the tails of 
cows or hung over their head in the byre. A pin made of it 
would also be placed above the door of the dwelling, and 
sometimes the tree itself would be planted beside the door. 
The sprinkling of blood was also considered effective, as we 
learn from the lilt which Hogg, in “The Brownie 0’ Bodes- 
beck,’’ puts into the mouth of the weird visitor that so much 
alarmed the family at Riskinhope :— 

““There’s neither blood nor rown-tree pin; 
At open doors the dogs go in.’’ 

A hill at Locharbriggs was believed to be a favourite place of 
assembly for the witches, who doubtless would proceed to it in 
proper fashion, riding upon a broomstick. If the superstition 
had expended itself in such absurd fancies and_ frivolous 
practices, it would have been a theme only for amusement. 
But it forms the subject of one of the darkest chapters in our 
national annals. The imaginary crime of witchcraft was the 
object of numerous prosecutions, and was often visited with 
sentence of death. In 1569 Sir William Stewart, the Lyon King 
at Arms, was burned to death at St Andrews by sentence of the 
Regent Moray. One of the most tragic events that ever 


ScotrisH LIFE IN THE 17TH CENTURY. 297 


occurred in Dumfries was the execution, just a hundred years 
later, of nine reputed witches, who were tried at one assize, and 
condemned to be strangled and their bodies afterwards burned. 
It does not appear that torture was resorted to in order to extort 
a confession of guilt from these unhappy creatures; but the 
same object was sometimes gained by the rigours of a lengthened 
imprisonment before trial. One poor woman, against whom 
sufficient evidence was not forthcoming, was imprisoned at Kirk- 
cudbright, near the close of the seventeenth century, for two 
years, until she prayed her persecutors to end her sufferings by 
death ; and her melancholy request was granted, on the strength 
of a confession thus obtained, by a commission appointed by 
the Privy Council. It is sad to note how tenacious of life 
this cruel and debasing superstition was. The last trial for 
witchcraft before the Justiciary Court in Scotland took place at 
Dumfries in 1790, when the accused was burned in the cheek 
with a hot iron and banished for life. But it projected its 
baneful shadow even into the nineteenth century, for in the 
year 1805 the Steward-Depute of Kirkcudbright sentenced a 
person accused of pretending to powers of witchcraft to im- 
prisonment for a year and repeated exposure in the jougs. 

During the time covered by our narrative the country passed 
through a civil war, and “the bridge port’’ for a time bore 
grim memorials in the form of the heads of “rebels,’’ as the 
Covenanters were styled. The Committee of Estates recruited 
an army for operations against Charles, and required all 
citizens to contribute for its support. A committee entrusted 
with the carrying out of these objects in Dumfriesshire, as well 
as other parts, sat generally at the Kirkcudbrightshire village of 
Lauriston, then called Cullenoch, but certain “ substantious ’ 
burgesses of the town were deputed by the committee to receive 
contributions, and they sat in the Town Hall for that purpose 
for a portion of every lawful day during part of the years 1640 
and 1641. The contributions were not altogether voluntary, 
but were enforced where necessary by poinding and sale; and 
people were required to bring not only money of the realm, 
which was somewhat scarce, but also articles of silver and gold, 
for which they were promised a money equivalent when the 
war should be over. A regiment recruited in the south, and 
placed under command of Lord Kirkcudbright, was also billeted 
for some time in the town. Some of the actual campaigning 
took place in the neighbourhood. Caerlaverock was the strong- 
hold of the Royalist family of Maxwell, and it was reduced 
after a month’s siege by the Parliamentary General; Home. 

But I shall not pursue the subject of the war, the general 
history of which is foreign to our subject. Our hasty survey 
has helped to show that our ancestors of the seventeenth 
century lived under a system oppressive and inquisitorial, and 


298 DEATH OF CoMmyYN. 


that in many respects their lot was a hard one; but it was 
brightened too by humble pleasures, and they were not exempt 
from the little vanities and weaknesses of their twentieth 
century descendants. And when we feel disposed too strongly 
to commisserate their lot we must reflect that it was amid those 
hard conditions that the heroes of the Covenants were reared. 


24th April, 1903. 
Chairman—Mr James Barzovur, Vice-President. 


Exu1BiTt.—Stone axe found on Grange Farm, Dalbeattie, by 
Mr James Biggar. 


J.—TRANSLATIONS OF NARRATIVES, CHIEFLY CONTEMPORARY, 
OF THE DEATH OF COMYN, AND OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATING 
TO DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY. 
By Dr E. J. Cuinnock. 


MATTHEW OF WESTMINSTER’S ACCOUNT. 


Translation of an extract from Matthew of Westminster’s 
“Flores Historiarum.’’ Matthew was a contemporary of Bruce, 
whose Chronicle concludes with the year 1307. 

“ After all these things had thus been brought to conclusion, 
a new war arises again in Scotland. For the Earl of Carrik, 
Robert de Brus, collects, at first secretly, afterwards openly, 
some of the nobles of Scotland, saying to them:—‘ You know 
how this kingdom belongs to me by the hereditary law of succes- 
sion, and how this nation had proposed to crown my father 
king, but was defrauded of its desire by the craft of the King of 
England. If therefore you will crown me king I will fight your 
battles and will free this kingdom and nation from English 
servitude.’ This he said, and forthwith many of the perjured 
agreed. But when he asked John Comyn, a very noble soldier 
and powerful man, whether he would also agree to it, he 
distinctly replied that he would not, and says :—‘ Since all 
nations know that the King of England has conquered our land 
and nation four times, and that all soldiers as well as 
clergy have sworn faith and homage to him for the present and 
for the future, far be this from me. I will never certainly 


DEATH OF ComyN. 299 


agree to, lest I perfure myself.’ | Bruce persuades, Comyn 
dissuades, Bruce threatens, Comyn is aghast, and Bruce having 
drawn his sword, struck the unarmed soldier on the head, who 
tried to wrest the sword from the hands of his assailant, and he 
would have cast him down beneath himself (for he was a very 
strong man), but the traitor’s attendants ran up and stabbed 
him with their swords, freeing their master. But the Lord John 
escaped as well as he could to the altar. Robert followed him, 
and as he refused to agree, the man, impious and cruel, sacrificed 
a pious victim. This was done in the Church of the Minor 
Friars at Dumfries.’’ 


Sir Tuomas Gray’s NARRATIVE. 


The Rev. John Leland was the earliest of British antiquaries. 
He lived in the reign of Henry VIII. In his “ Collectanea ”’ 
he translated certain portions of a MS. copy of Gray’s “ Scala- 
cronica.’’ On page 542 occurs the following translation :— 
“Robert de Bruse, counte of Carrik, that bare himself very 
bold of his kinsmen in Scotland, trusting to wynne his title of 
the corone of Scotland, caussid John Comyn, by sending to hym 
his 2 bretherne to meete with hym at the Gray Freres at Dunfres 
to speke with hym. And wen he cam thyther, Bruse 
told hym hys mynd and bad hym ‘other take his en- 
heritance of Carrik and help me to be King of Scotland, or let 
me have thyme, and I wyl help the to be king.’ But John 
Comyn not consenting to this was slayn, and his uncle also, that 
strake Bruse afore such a blow, that if he had not been harnessid, 
he had slayn hym.’’ Sir Thomas Gray of Heton was a leading 
warrior in the English armies of Edward I. and II. He was 
the ancestor of Earl Grey and Sir Edward Grey. Being taken 
prisoner by the Scots, he was sent to Edinburgh, where he 
employed his time in writing a history of the time, which he 
called “Scalacronica,’’ the Ladder of History. A _ ladder 
was the device on his own coat-of-arms. The book is 
composed in the Norman French of the period, and requires 
considerable knowledge to understand. The only MS. existing 
is in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. It 


was edited by Joseph Stevenson, and printed and published by 


him for the Maitland Club, Edinburgh. I have translated 
Gray’s account of the death of Comyn: 


300 DEATH OF ComyN. 


“At this same time Robert de Bruis, earl of Carrik, who 
bore himself boldly of his kinsmen and allies, trusting to prove 
his right to challenge the succession to the realm of Scotland, 
in the year of grace, 1306, 29th of January, sent his two brothers, 
Thomas and Neil, from Loghmaben to Dalscuentoun to John 
Comyn, begging him to be willing to meet him at Dromfres, in 
the Minor Friars, that they might be able to converse. He had 
arranged with his two brothers aforesaid that on their journey 
they should kill the said John Comyne. The which were 
received in such a friendly manner by the said John Comyne 
that they could not consent to do him any harm; but they 
agreed that their brother should himself do his best. The said 
John Comyn, who was thinking no evil, betook himself with the 
two brothers of the said Robert de Bruys to Dromfres to speak 
with him. They came to the Friars, where he found the said 
Robert, who came to meet him. So he led him to the high 
altar. The two brothers of the said Robert spoke to him 
privately. ‘Sir,’ said they, ‘he gave us such a handsome recep- 
tion, and with such large gifts, and trusted us so much by so 
open a countenance, that in no manner were we able to do him 
harm.’ ‘See,’ said he, ‘you have well discharged your duty ; 
leave me to manage.’ He took the said John Comyn, and 
they approached the altar. ‘Sir,’ then said the said Robert de 
Bruis to the said John Comyn, ‘this land of Scotland is entirely 
subdued into servitude by the English through the default of the 
leader, who allows his own right and the freedom of the realm 
to be lost. Choose one of two ways; either take my inheritance, 
and help me to become king, or give me yours. So I will help 
you to become king ; for you are of his blood who lost the crown. 
Or I will take it, who claim it by succession from my ancestors, 
who claimed the right to have it, but who were debarred by the 
votes. For now is the time, in the old-age of this English King.’ 
Then said the said John Comyne, ‘I will certainly never act 
falsely to my English lord in what has been entrusted to me on 
oath and homage in anything which can be imputed to me as 
treason.’ ‘No,’ said Robert de Bruys to him, ‘I had another 
hope in you, by promise of you and yours; but you will reveal 
it to the King by your letters. Wherefore, if you live, I cannot 
achieve my wish. You shall have your reward.’ So he 
struck him with his dagger; others cut him down in the midst of 


DEATH OF CoMYN. 301 


the church before the altar. A knight, his uncle, who was pre- 
sent, struck the said Robert de Bruys with a sword on the breast. 
But as he was armed it did not wound him. The uncle was 
killed there.’’ 


Tue NARRATIVE OF THE CHRONICLER OF LANERCOST. 


The Chronicle of Lanercost was written by a Minor Friar 
of Carlisle, attached to the Abbey of Lanercost, in Cumberland. 
He was a contemporary of Bruce. There is only one MS. of 
it existing. Stevenson says:—“It forms one of the treasures of 
the Cottonian collection in the British Museum.’’ It was 
printed and published for the Maitland Club, Edinburgh, and 
edited by Joseph Stevenson, the editor of Gray’s “Scalacronica.”’ 

Translation :—* In the same year, on the roth of February, 
to wit, on the feast of the Holy Scholastic Virgin (Feb. 10, 
1306), the lord Robert Bruse, earl of Carrike, with sedition and 
in guile sent for the lord John Comyn to come and speak with 
him at the Minor Friars of Dumfrese. And when he had come, 
he killed him in the church of the Friars, and the lord Robert 
Cumyn, his uncle. And afterwards he took the castles of 
Scotland and their garrisons, and on the Annunciation of the 
Blessed Virgin next following (25th March, 1306), he was made 
King of Scotland at Scone, and many of the greater and less 
men of the land adhered to him.’’ 


TRANSLATION OF EXTRACT FROM HEMINGBURGH’S CHRONICLE. 


“Christopher de Seton, who had married a sister of the new 
King named Mary, and was an Englishman, was captured in the 
Castle of Lochdor, as were afterwards his wife and many others. 
The King ordered him to be taken to Dunfrees, where he had 
killed a soldier, and there to be drawn, hanged, and beheaded. 
His two brothers and all others who had agreed to and taken 
part in the death of the lord John Comyn had the same sentence. 
And this was by the special order of the King. But the King 
placed Christopher’s wife in the monastery of Thixtell in 
Lyndesay, and he placed the new King’s daughter in the 
monastery of Wotton. And our lord the King gave to lord 
Edmund de Malolacu the manor of Sethon in Wythebystrand, 
which was Christopher’s, and his other lands which he had in 
Northumberland the King gave to lord William de Latymer.’’ 


302 DEATH OF ComyYN. 
TRANSLATION OF EXTRACT FROM THE CHRONICLE OF LANERCOST. 


“They hanged those who had given advice and assistance 
in the foresaid conspiracy to make him king; and they caused 
the greater of them first to be drawn at the feet of horses, and 
afterwards hanged them. Among whom were Christopher de 
Setone Englishman, who had married a sister of the often-said 
Robert, and John and Humfrid, brothers of the said Christopher, 
and some others with them.’’ 


TRANSLATION OF EXTRACT FROM SiR THOMAS GRAY’S 
“SCALACRONICA,’’ P. 131. 


“Thomas, earl of Lancaster, and Humfray de Bouhun, earl 
of Hereford, who had passed the mountains of Scotland, 
besieged the castle of Kyndromy in Mar and took it. In which 
castle was found Christopher de Setoun with his wife, the sister 
of Robert de Bruys, who as an English renegade was sent to 
Dunfres, and there hung, drawn, and beheaded; where he had 
before helped to kill a knight, the viscount of the country, 
representing the King of England.’’ 


TRANSLATION OF SECOND EXTRACT FROM GRAY. 


“Robert de Bruys formed a great plan and sent his two 
brothers, Thomas and Alexander, towards Niddisdale, and the 
vale of Anande, in order to levy the requisitions from the people. 
Where they were surprised by the English and taken, and led by 
the King’s order to Cardvil, and there hung, drawn, and 
beheaded.”’ 

I have now translated all the extant accounts of the 
assassination of John Comyn, which were written during roo 
years after the event. |The contemporaries were Walter of 
Hemingburgh, Matthew of Westminster, the Chronicler of Laner- 
cost, and Sir Thomas Gray. The last named was, like Bruce 
and Comyn, a Norman knight. I have also appended Barbour’s 
account published 70 years after the event, and John of Fordun’s 
account published about 80 years after the event. It seems to 
me that Hemingburgh, supplemented by Gray, gives the most 
reliable account. I am trying to trace the first account of the 
Kirkpatrick episode, but at present I have not found it. At any 
rate, no author within roo years has anything about it. 


DEATH OF CoMYN. 303 


ADDITIONAL NOTE. 


I have consulted the Chronicle of John of Fordun, who is 
recognised by all historical students as the best authority on this 
period of the History of Scotland from the Scottish point of 
view. He was a friar of Aberdeen, and wrote about eighty 
years after the death of Comyn. He is believed to have 
been acquainted with John Barbour, Archdeacon of Aberdeen, 
the author of “The Bruce.’’ Fordun’s account does not seem 
to throw much discredit on that of Hemingburgh. It must be 
remembered that eighty years intervened between him and his 
English predecessor, and that there is absolutely no contempo- 
rary record by a Scotsman. On referring to the Dictionary of 
National Biography I see that Sheriff Aeneas Mackay thinks 
that the account given by Hemingburgh is probably the most 
to be depended upon. 

TRANSLATION OF EXTRACT FROM JOHN OF FORDUN’s CHRONICLE 
OF THE SCOTTISH NATION. 


“Tn the same year, after the aforesaid Robert had returned 
home from the King of England, no less marvellously than by 
divine grace, a day is agreed upon between him and the afore- 
said John to meet together at Dumfries; and both parties pro- 
_ ceed to the aforesaid place. John Comyn is upbraided for his 
treachery and troth belied. He forthwith replies, ‘ You lie.’ 
A mortal wound is inflicted upon the evil-speaker in the church 
of the Friars, and the wounded man is laid behind the altar by 
the friars. He is asked by those who stand around him 
whether he can live. He straightway himself answers, ‘I can.’ 
- His foes hearing this give him a second wound; and thus on the 
toth of February he is withdrawn from this light.’’ 

Since writing the above I have been looking into Barbour’s 
-“Bruce,’’ and I think that his account should accompany that 
of Fordun. Everyone knows that John Barbour is next to 
Geoffrey Chaucer, the greatest of old English authors. His 
“Bruce ”’ is the Epic of Scotland, written for the glorification of 
the national hero. It was published in 1375, about ten years 
before Fordun’s Chronicle. I have extracted from the poem 
what is said about the death of Comyn:— 


304 DEATH OF Comyn. 


“So fell it in samyn tid, 
That at Dumfres, rycht thar besid, 
Schyr Jhone the Comyn soiornying maid; 
The Brus lap on, and thiddir raid; 
And thocht, for-owtyn mar letting, 
For to gwyt hym his discoueryng. 
Thiddir he raid, but langer let, 
And with Schyr Jhone the Comyn met, 
In the freris, at the hye awter, 
And schawyt him, with lauchand cher, 
The Endentur; syne with a knyff 
Rycht in that sted, hym reft the lyff. 
Schyr Edmund Cumyn, als was slayn, 
And othir also off mekill mayn. 
And nocht for thi yeit sum men sayis, 
At that debat fell othir wayis: 
But quhat sa euyr maid the debate, 
Thar—throuch he deyt, weill I wat. 
He mysdyd thar gretly, but wer 
That gave na gyrth to the awter. 
Therefor sa hard myscheiff him fell, 
That ik herd neuir in romanys tell 
Off man so hard sted as wes he, 
That efterwart com to sic boute.’’ 


So far as I know at present, the only accounts thereof written 
within 100 years of the event are Hemingburgh’s, Matthew of 
Westminster’s, Barbour’s, and Fordun’s. All the other incidents 
related seem to be accretions entirely legendary, and each of us 
according to his temperament is at liberty to believe as much or 
as little of them as he pleases. If anything can be shown to 
have contemporary evidence for it, it may be taken as authentic. 
I have never met. in England, Scotland, or Ireland a single 
individual who was not an admirer of the Bruce of Bannock- 
burn, the liberator of Scotland; but though all intelligent men 
admire King Robert they are not obliged to disbelieve anything 
because it may seem to be to the discredit of the hero. The 
poet in the extract distinctly says that his hero did wrong, and 
what Barbour thought and said we are at liberty to think and 
say. 

In the passage from Barbour there is a mistake in the name 
of John Comyn’s brother. Three MSS. have Edmund, two 
MSS. Edward. The right name was Robert. There is only — 
one difficult word gryth, which means sanctuary. The line 
means “That respected not the sanctuary of the altar.’’ 


DEATH OF ComyN. 305 


TRIVETH’s ACCOUNT OF THE DEATH OF COMYN. 


Nicolas Triveth was the prior of the London Dominicans. 
He was a contemporary of King Robert the Bruce. He 
wrote “Annales Sex Regum Angliae,’’ the chronicle of Six 
Kings of England, from Stephen to Edward I. He was as 
highly esteemed on the Continent as in Britain. 

Translation:—“In the same year, the roth of Februarv, 
Robert de Brus, aspiring to the throne of Scotland, in a 
sacrilegious manner killed the noble man John Comin, in the 
church of the Minor Friars at the town of Dumfreis, in the castle 
of which the justiciaries of the King of England were then 
sitting, because he refused to agree with his treacherous faction.”’ 


THE “I'LL MAK’ stexer’’ EPISODE. 


The statement that Roger Kirkpatrick completed the 
assassination of the Red Comyn is supported by no contemporary 
authority, and relies entirely upon oral tradition. The only 
Scottish historian of the 14th century, John of Fordun, does not 
mention it at all. Walter Bower, the author of the “ Scoti- 
chronicon,’’ written in 1447, and the author of the Book of 
Pluscarden, compiled in 1461, the next historians to Fordun, 
do mention it. | Fordun wrote 85 years after the event, Bower 
141, and the author of the Book of Pluscarden 1°6 years there- 
after. Therefore, the first mention of Kirkpatrick’s 
part in the affray occurs nearly a century and a_ half 
after the event. Bower says that James Lyndsay, together with 
Gilpatrick of Kirkpatrick, gave Comyn the finishing stroke. 
The author of the Book of Pluscarden says James Lyndesay of 
Kilpatrick, the cousin and very dear friend of the said Robert 
de Broys, performed the exploit. These are the first two 
chroniclers to bring in the name of Kirkpatrick at all. The 
Book of Pluscarden has been erroneously ascribed to Bishop 
Elphinstone, of Aberdeen; but the author tells us in the preface 
that he knew Joan of Arc, who died in 1430, while Elphinstone 
was not born till 1437. Felix Skene, the editor of the printed 
copy, says that it was probably compiled by a priest named 
Maurice Buchanan, who had been treasurer to the Dauphiness 
of France. Of course, both the histories are in Latin. 


WyNTOUN’s ACCOUNT. 
I append the account given by Androw of Wyntoun, prior of 


306 DEATH OF COMYN. 


the monastery of St. Serfon, Lochleven. He wrote “The 
Orygynate Cronykil of Scotland,’’ about 1420. 


‘Fra Lundyn on the fyft day 

Till Lochmabane than come thai. 
Hys brodyr Edward there he fand, 
That thoucht ferly, he tuk on hand 
To cum hame sa prevaly. 

He tald hys brodyr halyly, 

How he chapyd, and all the cas, 

How before all hapnyd was. 

Sa fell it in the same tyde, 

That at Dumfres rycht there besyd 
Schyre Jhon the Cumyne his dwelling made. 
The Brus lap on, and thiddyr rade. 
Thaire togyddyr as they mete, 

But gret delay, or langere lete, 

In the Freris at the hey autere 

He schawyd hym with hevy chere 
Hys indenture. Than wyth a knyff 
He revyd him in that sted the lyff. 
Quhat that efftyr this Brus Robert 
In all his tyme dyde efftyrwart 

The Archedene off Abbyrdene 

In Bruys hys Bok has gert be sene 
Mare wysly tretyde in to wryt, 

Than I can thynk wyth all my wyt.”’ 


From Book III., chapter 18. 


The “ mak’ siccar’’ episode seems to have been founded 
on oral tradition. It does not appear in any writer, I believe, 
till the middle of the 15th century, 150 years after the event, 
and those historians who mention it give no authority for it. 
I will consult Nisbet’s Heraldry, if I can, and see what he says 
about the date when the Kirkpatrick crest of arm and dagger, 
with the motto “I’se mak’ siccar,’’ were first used, and the 
reason why Lyon King of Arms gave authority to the family to 
use it. 


? 


TRIVETH’s ACCOUNT OF THE EXECUTION OF SETON. 


Translation :—*“ After this, the castle of Lochdor was taken, 
in which was found Christopher de Setone, brother-in-law of 
Robert de Brus, when, since he was not a Scot, but an English- 
man, the King ordered to be taken to Dumfries, where he had 
killed a certain soldier of the King’s party; and there he was 
compelled to undergo his trial, was drawn, hanged, and finally 


DEATH OF CoMyYN. 307 


beheaded. But he placed Christopher’s wife and the daughter 
of Robert de Brus in different nunneries.’’? (Monalium 
monasterium—monastery of nuns. AZonale—nun.) 


Extracts RELATING TO DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY FROM JOHN 
oF ForpuN’s CHRONICA GENTIS SCOTORUM. 


I.—Page 300 of W. F. Skene’s Edition. A.D 1264. 


When the news of the death of Hako, the King of the 
Norwegians, reached King Alexander he quickly gathered a 
strong army, and prepared to set out in his fleet to the Isle of 
Man. But the King of Man hearing thereof was panic-stricken, 
and sent his messengers to the King to say if a truce were 
granted him he would come into his presence in Scotland. 
The King, however, did not swerve from his purpose nor relax 
his preparations for departure; but having sent him a safe 
conduct to himself, quickly collected his army, and led it in 
the direction of the Isle of Man. He arrived at the town of 
Dumfries, where the same petty King met him, and became the 
vassal of the King of Scotland, doing him homage for his petty 
kingdom, to hold it of him for ever, under this condition, that 
if the King of the Norwegians for the time being should pre- 
sume to molest him he should have for himself and his for 
all time to come a safe refuge in Scotland, and that the petty 
King of Man himself should provide for his lord the King of 
Scotland, as often as he should need them, ten pirate galleys, 
namely, five of twenty-four oars and other five of twelve oars. 


Il.—Page 342. A.D. 13006. 


In the same year Thomas and Alexander de Bruce, brothers 
of the aforesaid King, while hastening towards Carrick by another 
route were taken at Loch Ryan, and were beheaded at Carlisle. 
And so all those who departed from the King in the same year 
were either deprived of life, or, being captured, were confined 
in prison. 

III.—Page 345. A.D. 1308. 

In the same year, on the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul 
(29th June), Donald of the Isles, having collected an imposing 
number of foot, arrived at the river Dee. Edward de Bruce 
met him near the river Dee, and defeated Donald himself and 
all his Gallewegians, and in the conflict slew a certain soldier 


208 DEATH OF CoOMYN. 


(or knight) named Roland, together with many nobles of Gallo- 
way. And he caught the said Donald, their leader, fleeing. 
And after this he burnt up the island. 


IV.—Page 346. A.D. 1312. 


In the same year the castles of Buth, Dumfries, and Dal- 
swinton, with many other fortalices, are taken with the strong 
hand and levelled with the earth. 


V.—Page 356. A.D. 1332. 


In the same year, on the 15th of December, John Randolph, 
earl of Murray, Archibald Douglas, and Simon Fraser, with a 
few other nobles, having met in the town of Moffat, came by 
night to the town of Annan. There they had a sudden 
encounter with Edward de Balliol; but they quickly put the 
said Edward to flight. | John de Mowbray, Henry de Balliol, 
and Walter Comyn, with many others, were killed in the conflict 
itself, and Edward himself, with a few men, with difficulty 
escaped. In the same place Alexander de Bruce was taken by 
the earl of Murray and rescued from death. 


VI.—Page 383. 
In the year 1383, the castle of Lochmaben was taken by 


the Scots, namely, Earl William de Douglas and Archibald, 
and destroyed on the fourth day of the month of February. 


EXTRACTS FROM THE BOOK OF PLUSCARDENSIS, WRITTEN IN 1461 
BY MAuRICE BUCHANAN. 


I.—Book 8, chapter 10 (Edition Felix Skene). A.D. 1307. 


In the first place Edward of Carnarvon caused all the 
magnates of Scotland to be summoned before him, both clergy 
and laity, at Dumfries to render him homage and to take the 
oath of fealty. 

II1.—Book 10, Chapter 22. 

In the year of the Lord, 1415, the town of Penrith was 
burnt down by the Scots, and the town of Dumfries by the 
English. 


Saas 


Pre-Historic RED DEER OF SOLWAY. 309 


II.—BurtaL Mounp At BoGRIE; ARROW-HEADS OF FLINT AND 
STONE WHORLS FROM TOWNHEAD OF CLOSEBURN ; AND FLAT 
StonEs FouND IN CONNECTION WITH OLD HEARTHS AT 
Moat oF LOCHRUTTON. 

By Mr RoBErT SERVICE. 


Mr Service gave several interesting notes relating to the 
above, giving a full description of the Burial Mound at Bogrie, 
and exhibiting the urn found therein. Exhibits of the other 
articles were also made, and the notes, which were highly in- 
teresting, formed the basis of a valuable discussion, relating 
chiefly to the supposed age of the cairns in Closeburn, in which 
the arrow-heads and whorls were found. 


Il1I.—Tue Pre-Historic RED DEER OF SoLway. By Mr 
RoBERT SERVICE, M.B.O.U. 


This interesting address was accompanied by several 
exhibits, which included pair of antlers on shield, sent by Mr 
C. Watson, Annan; left antler, belonging to the Observatory 
collection; fragment found in the Urr, also from the Observa- 
tory; an imperfect pair, right antler, left, and the “burr ”’ of 
the other, found in the bed of the Lochar, and two imperfect 
antlers, belonging to the Society’s museum. Among _ other 
points, Mr Service referred to the fact that the Red Deer was 
the animal which came most frequently under the notice of the 
pre-historic student. | He also described the places in the 
Solway area where the remains were most frequently found, 

and discussed the question as to the probable period in pre- 
historic ages when these animals roved the earth. 


22nd May, 1903. 
Chairman—Dr SEMPLE. 


Exuipits.—By Mr R. Service, Bronze Axe, found at Tra- 
houghton ; specimen of Ocean Pipe Fish; specimen of Angler 
Fish. The Pipe Fish, which had not previously been recorded 

_for the Solway proper, was got at Glencaple; and the Angler 


_ Fish was caught at Newabbey. 
ie 


a 


310 MERKLAND CROSS. 


MERKLAND Cross. By Mr GeorceE Irvinc, Corbridge-on-Tyne. 


(Another interesting paper on the Rere Cross by Mr 
Irving is not published on account of the pressure of matter.) 


This fine floriated cross of the latter half of the fifteenth 
century stands at Merkland, on the east side of the Kirtle, about 
550 yards from Woodhouse Tower, in the parish of Kirkpatrick- 
Fleming. It is almost on the line of the old Roman road that 
led up Annandale. The floriated cross at the top of the shaft is 
2 feet 4 inches high, the shaft 7 feet 10 inches, and the base 
about 2 feet ro inches long by 16 inches high above ground. 
The lower end of the shaft is 13 inches broad by 7 inches thick 
and slightly tapered and chamfered to the top. It is made of 
the red sandstone of the district, and must have been very care- 
fully selected to have stood the storms of four centuries. There 
is no inscription upon it, but there are good grounds for believing 
that it was erected in memory of John, Master of Maxwell, Caer- 
laverock and Maines. In July, 1484, the Duke of Albany and 
James, ninth and last Earl of Douglas, invaded Scotland from 
England to wrest the crown from James III. They marched 
into Dumfriesshire and reached Hoddom unopposed, and en- 
camped at Birrenswark—possibly on the old Roman camp. A 
small part of the force pushed on to Lochmaben, announcing 
their intention to deposit offerings on the High Altar of the 
Church of Bruce’s Burgh. The Master of Maxwell, Johnstone 
of Johnstone, Murray of Cockpeel (one of the ancestors of the 
present Earl of Mansfield), Crichton of Sanquhar (an ancestor 
of the Marquis of Bute), Carruthers of Holmains, and Charteris 
of Amisfield, led the Dumfriesians, and met the invaders near 
Lochmaben. The battle is said to have lasted all day ; but when 
Musgrave and his men at Birrenswark saw his friends retreating, 
hotly pursued by Maxwell and his men, they fled to the south. 
The last part of the skirmish seems to have taken place on the 
south and east side of the Kirtle. Douglas was captured, but 
Albany, with the remnant of his followers, escaped during the 
night into Cumberland. 

The death of Maxwell is recorded in an old manuscript :— 
“The Duke of Albanie and the Earl of Douglas, being rebells to 
King James the Fourth, brought ane army out of Ingland upon 


~ 


MERKLAND CROSS. 311 


the Magdallen day, being the 22d of July, 1484, till Lochmaben, 
and after the destroying of Annandale, being passing back againe 
to Ingland was fochen by the said Master of Maxwell at Kirtell, 
suppleing his father’s place accompanied by the Barrones of 
Nithsdaille and Annandaille, where the lairds of Drumlanerick 
and Mouswald were slain with sundry other gentlemen. But 
yet the victorie remained with Scotland, for the Duke of Albanie 
was chased in England, and the Douglas taken by ane brother of 
the Laird of Ross, Kirkpatrick ; for the whilk service he gott the 
lands of Kirkmichael, and ane great number of the army was 
either taken or slain; and though the Scott syde was glad of the 
victory, yett they were so sorrowful for the loss of the Master of 
Maxwell, their chiftane ; for in mean tyme ther was ane Scottish 
limmar, named Gask, whose kinsman the Master of Maxwell 
hade caused hang be justice, seeing he was Steuart of Annan- 
dalle. This Gask in revenge of his wicked intentions thought 
it ane meit tyme and sticked the said Master behind his back, 
with ane lang whinger, as he was leaning and reposing himselfe 
on his sword hilt, being very evele hurt and wounded in the field 
before, and sun died ther.”’ 


DUMFRIESSHIRE AND GALLOWAY 
Natural History and Antiquarian Society 


ROUwEee NOVEMBER, 1862. 
SESSION 1903-1904. 


. peavey AT THE STANDARI) OFFICE, DUMFRIES. 
1906. 
eee 


Vol. XVII., Part 4. 


THE TRANSACTIONS 


J OURNAL OF J ROCEEDINGS 


OF THE 


DUMFRIESSHIRE AND GALLOWAY 


Natural History and Antiquarian Society 


FOUNDED NOVEMBER, 1862. 


SESSION 1903-1904. 


PRINTED AT THE STANDARI) OFFICE, DUMFRIES. 
1906, 


COT Rw TS- 


SESSION 1903-4. 


Annual Meeting 

Trees—Professor Scott-Elliot 

Edward I. at Sweetheart Abbey—-Z. J. Chinnock, LL.D. 

How the Royal Burgh of Annan built a Bridge—James Barbour, 
F.S.A. (Scot. ) : 


Diurnal and Nocturnal Raptorial Birds of the Solway Area—Robert 
Service, M.B.0.U. ... Pf i Riss 


The Snowdrop—S. Arnott, F.R.H.S. 
Meteorological Observations for 1903—Rev. W. Andson... 


The Weather Conditions of 1903 in Relation to Health—Dr J. Maxwell 
PROSE | >: 


s of Fines for the Presbytery of Dumfries-—Rev. R. W. Weir 
Scottish Words found in Old English Writers-—H#. J. Chinnock, LL.D. 
eological Notes—James Watt 

Testiges of the Castle of Dumfries—James Barbour, F.S.A. (Scot.) ... 
‘ield Meeting at Castledykes... 


313 


PROCEEDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS 


OF THE 


DUMFRIESSHIRE AND GALLOWAY 


NATURAL HISTORY & ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY. 


SESSION 1908-4. 


16th October, 1903. 
ANNUAL MEETING. 


Chairman—Mr G. F. Scort-Exuiot, M.A., F.L.S., &c. 


New Memser—Mr John. Bell-Irving, Viaduct Hotel, 
Carlisle. é 


The Secretary and Treasurer read his annual report, which 


stated that 11 deaths and resignations had taken place, and that 
four new members had been admitted. The deficit on the 
publication of “ Birrens and Its Antiquities,’’ 


» to reduce which 
Mr James Barbour had given £5, was carried to the debit of 


ordinary account, which showed a balance to credit of 445 2s 


3d. The report was adopted, and a vote of 
to Mr Barbour. 


thanks passed 

In accordance with the recommendation of Council, the 
following were appointed office-bearers for the session: President, 
Professor G. F. Scott-Elliot ; Vice-Presidents, Mr R. Murray, 
“Mr R. Service, Mr J. Barbour, and Dr J. Maxwell Ross ; other 
Members of Council, Rey. J. Cairns, Dr Martin; Mr Ts Si 
Thomson, Mr J. Davidson, Dr Semple, Mr S. Arnott, Mr W. 


314 TREES. 


Dickie, Mr J. Tocher, Miss Hannay, Miss Cresswell; Librarians 
and Curators of Museum, Rev. W. Andson and Mr James 
Lennox ; Curators of Herbarium, Professor Scott-Elliot and Miss 
Hannay ; Secretary and Treasurer, Mr J. A. Moodie. 


The general adoption of a tentative agreement between the 
Society and the Managing Committee of the Ewart Public 
Library, as submitted by the Council, was agreed to, with the 
condition that means be adopted by which members would be 
enabled to borrow the books and periodicals belonging to the 
Society. 


TREES. By The PRESIDENT. 


The word is a very ancient one, and characteristic of the 
Scandinavian group of families—Arbor of the Roman and Bann 
of the German. Trees may be regarded as the _ highest 
kind of vegetation, and they are the most highly de- 
veloped type of plant. Here, however, there is a 
difficulty. How are we to judge development? In 
some senses wheat, or lilies, or other flowers might be considered 
on a better level of development. There are, however, two 
respects in which trees surpass all other plants. (1) They show 
a far greater division of labour and a specialisation of work 
unknown in lower organisms. (2) A tree is much more than 
any ordinary plant. It is like an empire, under whose shadow 
myriads of other organisms, animal as well as vegetable, are 
able to find shelter and profitable employment. 

The way in which trees have developed is a pecay in- 
teresting study. In the primordial ocean, seaweeds were pro- 
bably the first to develop. They show extremely little specialisa- 
tion, and there is very little difference in the structure of the cells 
composing the seaweed. One cell is much like another. They 
were also confined to wet places or water. Next probably come 
fungi and bacteria, whose office in the world is an important, 
though generally unpopular, one. To destroy the worn-out and 
unfit so that better types may take their places. 

On dry land, in my own view, lichens or crottles were the 
first kind of vegetation and settled themselves on dry rocks or 
earth. Mosses came next, and amongst them there are tree-like 
forms. Yet all mosses are very small. They differ radically 


“P-- 


TREES. 3 9) 


from flowering plants in their being refreshed by the descending 
water of the rain. They cannot, like trees, raise water as sap 
within themselves. 

The first appearance of anything like a tree seems to have 
been in old red sandstone times, when gigantic clubmosses be- 
longing to the same class as our little clubmosses appeared. 
These were, however, very clumsy and uneconomical, considered 
as trees. Note especially how wasteful as regards the catching 
of light. Especially note the monotonous regularity both of 
foliage and branching. Yet types of this sort of tree are found 
not merely in clubmosses; many conifers show it, especially 
monkey-puzzle, Araucaria, Thuja, and some Australian veronicas. 
The weak point consists in the stem being covered by the leaf 
bases, and in the small size and simple shape of the leaves. 

A very early type of plant is that called by botanists the 
“Tosette,’’ very familiar to us in the daisy and dandelion. 

_ This is found in the clubmoss group—Phylloglossum, in ferns, 
many bulbous plants, and in fact most of the monocotyledons. 
The stem is extremely short, the leaf bases cover the stem, but 
the leaves themselves are often large. In our common British 
dandelions and plantains, the circle of leaves is always close to 
the soil. Yet many of them live several years. In the 
dandelion the root regularly dies away, and contracts, or shortens 
so that the tuft or rosette is kept low. Plantagos have special 
roots which grow at a slant downwards. These roots contract 
or shorten, and haul down the rosette of leaves, so that they 
are kept in the most favourable position (close to the ground). 

But, suppose this did not happen, let us imagine the stem 
to grow regularly every year, what would happen? The palm 
type of tree would be formed. A column slender and 
stately with a rosette or crown of leaves at the top. We find 
many trees of this type. 

Tree fern, the cycad or sagopalm, and the tree palms. 
‘There are even dicotyledons of this type, but theyare rare, and 
why? It is not the best type because the trunk is still covered by 
the leaf bases, and the area shaded is just the diameter of the 
one rosette or tuft of leaves. Thus the shade area depends on 
the size of the leaves, and cannot increase. The area shaded 
_by a young plant will be very nearly the same as that covered 
‘by aveteran. Full advantage is not taken of its long standing. 


316 TREES. 


The raphia palm has leaves 50 to 66 feet long and 36 feet broad, 
probably the largest leaves known, but even here you see the 
area shaded is only about 132 feet in diameter, which is not at 
all remarkable. 

The regular tree type has been obtained by a_ simple 
‘development ; by introducing internodes between the leaf bases, 
and by continuing to modify and alter the shape of the leaves. 
Thus a single column, as soon as it has lifted itself above the 
reach of grazing animals, can rapidly push out branches. 
horizontally, and form a dense crown of foliage. Thus, once 
it has got a base for development, it can utilise its long standing 
in the fullest way possible. 

Such a tree may be compared to an empire of living indi- 
viduals. Not only so, but the life works of these individuals 
are as different as possible. I am on holiday just now, and 
I am not going to give a botanical lecture, but I should like 
for a moment to show how wonderfully the different offices are 
filled. The living units, the small cell with its protoplasm, are 
in their youth almost alike. Yet, as they develop and specialise, 
each takes its characteristic shape as it gets into its own particular 
line of work. The outside ones become cork, others in the bark 
produce the tannin, of which 4 per cent. is enough to prevent 
the growth of fungi. Thus the rabbit and the roe deer are 
kept off. Through an oak tree during five months of summer 
a current of water is always passing, entering by the roots and 
passing off by the leaves. About 250,000 Ibs. weight 
of water passes through it in five months. The cells 
which absorb this water, the cells in the woody trunk, and the 
leaves show the most extraordinary finish in their adaptation to 
it. The pressure inside some of these cells is probably 200 
Ibs. to the square inch. Then again, the leaves regularly manu- 
facture the sugar and other material. An oak leaf will have 
some 2,000,000 pores or stomata through which the carbonic acid 
hurries in. © For every 1-500th of a pound of wood substance 
1,000,000 litres of air has been freed of CO2. 

The sunlight falling on the tree is absorbed by the little 
green chlorophyll bodies in the leaf. In the trunk there are the 
wonderful storage arrangements by which sugars, fats, oils, 
everything made by the leaves, is retained within the stem for 
next year’s buds. 


i a i i 


TREES. 317 


Again the wind adaptations. Think of the stresses and 
strains in a forest tree in a gale of wind. Look at the heights 
of an Eucalyptus amygdalus, 456 feet, 120 feet above St. 
Paul’s; mammoth tree, 426 feet; silver fir, 225; spruce, 180; 
Scotch fir, larch, and cypress, 159; yew, 45 feet. Even sun- 
flowers may be 17 feet high in America. All this is arranged by 
the specialisation of the myriads of living and dead organisms 
which go to make up the tree. 

Generally, it seems as if any one of these organisms had to 
do exactly what was best for the good of the whole tree, accord- 
ing to the position in which it has been placed. In which case 
our own societies and civilisations appear to be distinctly on an 
inferior level. Yet these little living units are often called 
upon to become something quite different. Supposing you cut 
into the tree. Those cells that are wounded are at once cut 
off from the rest. The nearest living cells are sacrificed ; they 
are changed into cork, stoppered with gum, or sometimes with 
indiarubber, and the wound is promptly healed. A rampart 
of dead bodies is built up over the spot. But it is not only in 
themselves, but also as sheltering organisms that trees are im- 

portant. On the bark of a tree we find seaweeds—pleurococcus. 
On the branches lichens and mosses. Most people consider 
these to be useless except to themselves. That is not so. 
Those low forms of life occupy spaces where light would be 
wasted, and their dead material falls eventually to the ground 
and manures it. They add to the valuable leaf mould regularly 
formed. The fungi on the ground are even more important, 
for it is by their fine insinuating and dissolving threads that all 
this dead material is broken up, modified and prepared for 
absorption by the trees again. The ferns, hyacinths, anemonies, 
the brambles, and rasps in the wood, all add to the efficiency of 
the wood which shelters them. The leaves are gradually broken 
up, and practically nothing once formed is ever lost. 

Finally such woods usually fall under the axe of the 
lumberer. The wood itself is an essential; it is necessary for 
human civilisation. Seven acres of forest are required for a 
day’s issue of one New York paper. The end may, we hope, 
_ justify the destruction. Then upon the site of this wood home- 
steads and fields of wheat, and oats, and barley are farmed. 


ee —h 


318 Epwarp I. aT SWEETHEART ABBEY. 
20th November, 1903. 
Chairman—Mr R. SeErvice, V.P. 


Exuisits.—By Mr G. Irving, printed rules, dated 7th Oct., 
1788, for the House of Correction in Dumfries. From Mr 
Service, shrubs in full flower, viz., Laurustinus, or strawberry 
tree, from garden at Portmary ; common whin; Arbutus unedo. 


I.—Epwarp I. at SWEETHEART ABBEY. EXCERPT FROM A 
LETTER TO Pope BonrFAcE VII. FROM ROBERT OF 
WINCHILSEY, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. Dated 
Offord, Oct. 8, 1300. Extracted from Annales Lon- 
doniensis; edited from the Lambeth MS. by Bishop 


Stubbs. 
By Dr CuHINNOcK. 


“When at last, after careful enquiry, I heard that the same 
lord the King, with his army, returning towards the castle of 
Carlaverock, which he had previously taken, in Scotland, had 
pitched his camp near the new abbey of Sweetheart (Dulce Cor, 
or Douzquer), in Galloway, preferring to expose myself, my 
men, and my possession to danger rather than thus any longer 
to languish in such remote regions in a certain manner un- 
inhabited, beyond my own diocese and province, I lurked in 
certain secret places near the sea, which divides England from 
Galloway, and taking the opportunity of the ebb of the tide, 
under the guidance of those who had a perfect knowledge where 
to cross, I made the passage in the course of four tides, with 
the horses and their trappings, there being great danger in 
entering and departing, not more by reason of the depth of the 
water than by reason of the shore and the quick-sands. On 
the next Friday after the feast of St. Bartholomew the apostle, 
which was already at last concluded, I came, as if unexpectedly, 
to the said King, who was then at dinner in the midst of his 
army. And because he said he could not find any leisure on that 
day, he informed me late on that day through two of the 
greater earls who were then attending him that he would be 
kind enough to hear me on the morrow, to wit, the Sabbath 
following. Therefore, the Sabbath day itself arriving, in the 
presence of the very devout young lord Edward, son of my lord 


a 
J 


Epwarp I. aT SWEETHEART ABBEY. 319 


the King, in an assembly of a great number of earls, barons, and 
other knights of his army in attendance on my said lord the 
King, having read aloud your foresaid mandate transmitted to 
me, I presented to the same the letter of your holy paternity 
directed to my foresaid lord the King, having obtained the 
authority of the same. My lord the King himself received this 
letter respectfully, and caused it to be read publicly in the 
presence of all, and to be clearly explained in the French 
tongue. When this had been patiently heard by each and all, I 
encouraged myself, and urged in every way I could and knew, 
that he would obey respectfully in all things your exhortations 
in regard to what was set forth in the said letter. Afterwards 
I withdrew from him with my clergy at his command, while he 
deliberated on these things with his said chief men. At last 
he recalled me and answered me in the presence of the same, 
through an intermediary, in the following wise: ‘My lord 
archbishop, you have made on the part of our superior and 
reverend father, the lord the Pope, a certain admonition touching 
the state and law of the kingdom of Scotland; but because the 
custom of the kingdom of England is that in matters touching 
the state of the same kingdom the counsel of all is required, 
whom the matter touches, and the present business of the king- 
dom of Scotland touches the state and law of the kingdom of 
England, and there are many bishops, earls, barons, and other 
chief men of the kingdom absent, who are not and have not 
been in this army, whom the said business touches, in whose 
absence it will not be possible to answer our said most high 
father or you finally; on this account our lord the King intends, 
upon the matters contained in the letter of the said father, as 
far as he shall be able conveniently, to consult in a body those 
who are absent as well as those who are now present, and to 
treat with the same with greater deliberation and to send 4 
reply to the same most high Pontiff through his own ambas- 
sadors upon these things concerning the common counsel of the 
same.’ This same answer indeed thus made in his presence 
and in his name my lord the King ratified and also expressly 
approved.”’ 


320 How ANNAN BUILT A BRIDGE. 


Il.—How THE Royar Burcu or ANNAN Buitt A Bripce. By 
Mr JAMEs Barzovr, F.S.A. (Scot.). 


The river Annan, at the town of that name, although a con- 
siderable stream, was not, so far as is known, spanned with a 
bridge until the beginning of the eighteenth century. For 
passage there was a ford, and the town owned a boat, which 
was farmed out as part of the burgh revenues. At fairs, ford- 
women attended, and bore over on their shoulders persons pre- 
ferring their assistance. ‘The science of bridge building appears 
to have reached: a low level at the Border, as the first Annan 
bridge, built between 1700 and 1705, required to be rebuilt in 
1720, and the latter gave place in 1824 to the existing fabric. 
This sketch is concerned with the earliest bridge, or rather the 
municipal management of the scheme, for the meagre and im- 
perfect records of the Town Council and Burgh Court, the only 
source of information available, furnish no indication of the 
design—of the length, width, number of arches, or other details ; 
there is just enough to prove that it was a stone-built structure. 
The circumstances out of which the scheme originated are 
obscure. The subject is introduced abruptly in a Burgh Court 
minute of 12th May, 1700, where it is said that several funds 
were set apart for the work. Their nature is not stated, but 
about this time a special item of income must have fallen to the 
town likely to be devoted to the bridge. Annan _ formally 
agreed to the project of the Commission of Royal Burghs to 
farm the customs and foreign excise of Scotland, and to her 
share of the profit therefrom was probably due the rise of the 
bridge scheme, just as Dumfries Midsteeple owed its existence 
to the same speculation. In proceeding to deal with the 
management of the scheme it will be convenient in the first place 
to introduce briefly the chief actors concerned; and the most 
potent personage in respect of social and political position and of 
influence relative to the bridge work is My Lord William, 
second Earl of Annandale, Provost of the burgh. Sir William 
Frazer, in “The Annandale Book of the Johnstones,’’ repre- 
sents the Earl, afterwards Marquis, as the greatest of his family, 
and as doing the country service in many high offices of State 
which he held. His lordship’s connection with the burgh of 
Annan is not, however, alluded to; nevertheless the Earl was 
the occupant of the civic chair in the reign of six sovereigns. 
On 14th October, 1684, being then hardly 21 years of age, his 
lordship, when present at the Council meeting, was chosen Pro- 
vost, and his characteristic signature, “ Annandale,’’ is appended 
to the minute. From this time, with the exception of two years’ 
occupancy of his son, Lord James Johnstone, the Earl continued 
in office from year to year until his death in 1721. At home 
he was a Commissioner of Supply, Steward of the 


: 
. 
! 
iq 


i 


: 


How ANNAN BuItt A BRIDGE. 321 


Stewartry of Annandale, and patron of the Church of 
Annan, as well as Provost of the burgh. It might be conceived, 
considering the time and energy absorbed by the numerous im- 
portant State offices he held, that the Earl’s provostship would 
be of an honorary nature. The records prove the case to be 
otherwise. This most active and forceful nobleman dominated 
everything—the elections, and all the affairs and business of the 
town, acting himself or through his chamberlain. Frequently 
the election of the Council was deferred on his account, as in 
the following instance:—“ The bailies, treasurer, dean, and 
Council are continued as formerly till such time as My Lord 
Annandale, Provost, be present at a new election or appoint one 
under His Lordship’s hand when a new election should be, and 
no new Councillor be added without His Lordship’s advice.’’ 
In regard to other business, there are enactments that “the 
customs are to be uplifted by the bailies and treasurer till My 
Lord Annandale, Provost, ordains the said customs to be rouped, 
or be present himself, or his advice be taken thereanent ; that the 
income from the common good is not to be disposed upon except 
My Lord Annandale, Provost, his consent be given and precepts 
under His Lordship’s hand before disposing thereupon; and 
that persons who have had the common goods in time by past, 
with the Magistrates and their clerk, are to attend the Provost 
at Lochwood when called, and account therefor.’’ The Earl, 
it should be explained, subsequently by a bond acquired the 
right of dealing with the customs of the burgh. William Whyte, 
who resided at Poldean, near Moffat, is the Earl’s chamberlain. 
Second to the Provost is “Mr Matthias Partis of Tallentyre, 
Esquire, eldest bailie,’’ an Englishman from Cumberland. Ad- 
mitted a burgess of the burgh of Annan 1st October, 1694, and 
designated “merchant in Tallentyre,’’ he was elected a Coun- 
cillor 28th May, 1697, and advanced the same day to be senior 
bailie. With him was another Englishman, “ Master John 
Woosley, merchant of London,’’ who was admitted burgess 26th 
May, 1698, added to the Council 29th October the same year, 
and elected junior bailie 5th October, 1700. In partnership 
these gentlemen started a mercantile business, chiefly as im- 
porters of tobacco, at Annan, and appear to have been considered 
men of substance. John Johnstone of Gallabanks and John 
Irving of Gulliland, well-known Annan men, are bailies, and 
James Bryden is treasurer. 

Passing to the history of the bridge, the minute of the Burgh 
Court of 12th May, 1700, already mentioned, has reference to 
the registration in the Court books of a contract, of which the 
tenor, abbreviated, follows :— 

“Tt is contracted and agreed betwixt a noble and potent 
Earl, William Earl of Annandale and Hartfell, etc., Provost of 
Annan, with express advice and consent of the bailies, whole 


322 How ANNAN BUILT A BRIDGE. 


Town Council, and community of the burgh, on the 
one part, and Mr Matthias Partis of Tallentyre on the other 
part, That is to say that forasmuch as the building of a bridge 
at the said town, over the river of Annan, is found may prove 
very advantageous to the place, and seeing several funds are 
designed for carrying on so good a work, which yet is thought not 
sufficient, Therefor it is agreed that the said Mr Matthias Partis 
shall immediately fall to work and employ, contract, and agree 
with workmen for building a bridge over the said river at the 
place designed, which is commonly called Tommies brae, and 
shall furnish all manner of materials, and lay out and disburse 
what money shall be contracted until the perfecting of the whole 
works. And in regard at present no liquid sum can be con- 
descended upon, Therefore the said noble Earl, with the con- 
sent of the magistrates, council, and community, by these pre- 
sents bind and oblige them that they shall give right and 
commission to the said Mr Matthias Partis to receive and uplift 
all manner of funds that may fall to the town for carrying on the 
said work. And further, that where the said funds fall short 
in the necessary expense They shall in ample manner assign to 
the said Matthias Partis the whole common good, town lands, 
and boat with customs, to be possessed by the said Matthias 
Partis until he be paid what sums of money he shall be found 
to disburse necessarily in the said work with the just and true 
interest thereof, etc. Written by William Whyte, servitor to the 
said noble Earl.”’ 

By this deed the senior bailie of the burgh was created 
trustee of the bridge affairs, with power to uplift and apply the 
funds, and to furnish any shortage, for the repayment of which 
the town’s revenues were pledged to him in security. The 
contract proved hazardous to the town, as within five months of 
its registration the firm of Matthias Partis and John Woosley 
had become discredited through certain tobaccos imported to 
Annan by the firm being arrested for payment of dues. _There- 
after the Earl of Annandale, as patron of the church of Annan, 
in granting a year’s vacant stipend towards the building of the 
bridge, did not entrust Partis with the fund; John Irving, one of 
the bailies, was engaged to uplift the stipend and pay the same 
to John Lodiore, the builder of the bridge. It appears the 
church was vacant in 1700, 1701, and 1702. ‘The stipend of 
each year was granted by the Earl towards the bridge work. 
The manse and outbuildings connected therewith were possessed 
by Partis and Woosley as tobacco stores. On 19th May, 1700, 
William Whyte gave in at the Burgh Court a commission by the 
Earl of Annandale for clearing of the accounts betwixt Mr 
Matthias Partis and the burgh anent the bridge, and whereby the 
said Earl declares his resolution to furnish what money may be 
wanting for the completion of the bridge, on the town’s security. 


eS ee ee 


How ANNAN BuILt A BRIDGE. 323 
The council accordingly “ impegnorate ’’ and engage the customs 
and meadows belonging to the burgh, until the Earl of Annan- 
dale be fully and completely reimbursed and paid. The Earl in 
this way possessed himself of Partis’ contract, and the common 
good was from this time let from year to year by or with consent 
of the Earl’s chamberlain. 

The minute of the Burgh Court, dated 3rst May, 1701, 
presents a clear view of the circumstances of the case of Partis 
anent the bridge, and shows the risk attending contracts with 
Englishmen, who were foreigners before the Union. Commis- 
sion was given in, according to the minute, for the Earl of 
Annandale and Hartfell, etc., one of the Lords of His Majesty’s 
most honourable Privy Council, and Steward of the Stewartry 
of Annandale :—“ Forasmuch as it being represented to us by the 
bailies, council, and community of the burgh of Annan That Mr 
Matthias Partis and John Woosley, merchants in the said burgh, 
have uplifted and received these several years past the whole 
common good and money of the said burgh, which by indenture 
and contract they were obliged to employ in building a stone 
bridge over the river of Annan, and the said Mr Matthias Partis 
and Mr John Woosley, being Englishmen, are like to fail in the 
performing of their part of the said contract, and may as 
foreigners easily transport their effects and persons without giving 
count and reckoning, Therefore these give warrant and com- 
mission as we by these presents as one of His Majesty’s Privy 
Council of this kingdom, and as Steward of Annandale, com- 
missionate and appoint William Whyte, our servitor, to join with 
the present bailies of the said burgh, and state account of charge 
and discharge betwixt the town and the said Mr Partis ‘and 
Woosley, and if any balance be found due to take sufficient 
security for payment of the same to us towards the perfecting 
of the said bridge, by us to be applied, and if Partis and Woosley 
fail these presents authorise the said William Whyte with the 
bailies to secure by arrestment all effects belonging to them, and 
detain the same within the burgh until count and payment be 
made. In witness whereof these presents (written by the said 
William Whyte) are subscribed at Lochwood this thirtieth day of 
May, 1701 years, before these witnesses, etc.’’ 

A burgess ticket on skin, bearing date 17th July, 1701, 
survives, although the minute from which it is extracted is lost. 
It is in favour of John Whyte, assistant to Tobio Bachup, 
builder in Alloway, whose advice might be sought in connection 
with the building of the bridge. | Bachup subsequently con- 
tracted to erect the Midsteeple of Dumfries. As an example 
of the form in use at the time, a transcript of the ticket 
follows :— 

“Annan Decimo Septimo die July anno domini Millesimo 
Septingentes imo and uno. __In presentia honorabilium virorum 


O24 How ANNAN BUILT A BRIDGE. 


Gulielmi Marchionis de Annandaill and Consulis, Matthize Partis 
of Tallentyre, Joannis Johnston de Galabanks, Joannis Irving de 
Gulielands et Magistri Joannes Woosly Bailivorum, Gulielmi 
Hair decani Gilde, Jacobi . Brydon  Thesaurary et 
caeterorum Concily dicti burghi. Quo Die Jounis Whyte 
servitor Tobio Bachup in Alloway fabro murario admissus et 
Receptus fuit in municipen et fractrem Gilde dicti burgi propter 
singularem favorem et Benevolentiam quibus dicti magistratus 
illum amplectuntur prestito per eundem Juramento S.D.N. 
Regi et dicto burgo solito. Extractum de liberis concily Dicti 
burgi per me scribam ejusdem subscribentem. “ Geo. Binines = 

The Provost had been advanced to the dignity of Marquis, 
as the ticket bears, and in the records he is styled “ High and 
mighty prince, William Marquis of Annandale,’’ etc. 

The Burgh Court books are much occupied with the registra- 
tion of claims against the estate of Partis and Woosley. Great 
delay takes place in arriving at a settlement, notwithstanding 
frequent protestations that the tobaccos are in danger of perish- 
ing, being stored in bad cellars ; but after the lapse of more than 
a year, at the end of 1702, an arrangement is come to. John 
Hallyburton, advocate, probably a descendant of the early Edin- 
burgh banker of that name, and Clement Nicholson and Isaac 
Tallowfield, Englishmen, are authorised to roup the tobaccos 
lying at Annan in several cellars and in the manse and buildings 
belonging thereto, they undertaking to make payment to other 
creditors—to William Graham of Mossknowe, collector of 
customs, the sum of £40, he to give discharge in full of all 
claims from the beginning of the world to this day; to John 
Irving, surveyor, #140; and to Bailie John Irving, #100 worth 
of tobacco to satisfy himself and several others. It does not 
appear that anything was found to be owing to the bridge fund. 

Money was scarce, and several times, contrary to use and 
wont, the customs, at the instance of the Marquis of Annandale, 
who, it is noted, has right by contract thereto, were rouped for 
ready money, 3d November, 1702 :—“ The bailies and Council, 
taking into consideration the matter of the bridge, and finding 
that since the first day of June last the whole workmen are yet 
unpaid to this day, except only what has been advanced to them 
by William Whyte out of the vacant stipend of Annan for meal 
towards their maintenance this summer, and now winter ap- 
proaching and several of the said workmen being to go to their 
several habitations, and that the Marquis of Annandale, his 
chamberlain, refuses to clear and pay up what is resting to the 
said workmen, pretending he has no order and warrant so to do, 
Therefore Mr William Johnstone, commissioner to Parliament, is 
to apply to the Marchionness of Annandale in my Lord’s ab- 
sence to grant order to pay the workmen for this summer’s work, 
and also for keeping together as many workmen as may be need- 


LE 


How ANNAN BUILT A BRIDGE. 325 


ful for the winter season, and also to represent that we are con- 
vinced the work cannot be perfected at the rate first agreed 
upon; the town willingly offers any further security they are 
capable to give; earnestly recommends that a speedy and 
effectual answer be given.’’ 

3d May, 1703.—An Act is passed in favour of the town- 
clerk in consideration of certain sums advanced by him for pay- 
ing the workmen, masons, and barrowmen, working at the bridge 
their wages. The same day certain creditors of Partis and 
Woosley within the burgh agreed to lend £100 sterling of re- 
covered money to the Council towards the bridge work, the 
burgh having come greatly in arrear. 

1st November, 1703.—George Blain, collector, to receive 
collections for our bridge, has received from the Magistrates, 
Council, and community of the burgh of Dumfries the sum of 
#132 16s 6d Scots for helping to build our bridge, and which 
sum the said George Blain is to apply towards defraying the 
expense of the said bridge. 

On the oth of the same month the Marquis of Annandale 
gifted the vacant stipend of the year 1702, being the last contri- 
bution noted in the records, towards the bridge fund. 

The let of the customs in November, 1704, provides that if 
an Act of Privy Council is obtained for an additional custom 

upon account of the bridge of Annan within the year the benefit 
-is to accrue to the taxman; and in November, 1705, bridge 
custom is included in the let for the first time, not, however, by 
authority of the Privy Council, but by an Act of the Town 
Council. The bridge work had at last, it is presumed, reached 
completion. 
’ The conditions of let of the customs vary according to cir- 
cumstances, but always exhibit Border influence. In 1683 it 
-is provided that the taxman shall pay, without defalcation, be 
it peace or war; next year the expression is, without defalcation 
_either for peace or yet in time of war. The terms in 1705 are, 
that in case the prohibition upon linen cloth and cattle prohibi- 
ting the importation of them from Scotland into England be con- 
tinued or allowed, or in case of open war betwixt the said 
. “kingdoms, or in case the Act of Council for the bridge customs. 
be suspended by any merchant or others, the taxman shall have 
allowance therefor. After the Union it is conditioned that in 
case linen cloth or cattle be stopped from going into that part 
of Britain formerly called England, or in case of war betwixt this. 
kingdom and any other so as trade be stopped, or should the 
bridge custom be suspended by any merchant or drover or other- 
wise, allowance is to be made. therefor. 

The dues were re-arranged 30th October, 1706, as fol- 
lows :—“ The which day it is statute enacted and ordained That 
the town and bridge customs of this burgh for the goods after- 


326 How ANNAN BuItT A BRIDGE. 


mentioned shall be as follows, viz.:—For each cart-load of 
goods 12s, each wheel car load 6s, each corded pack of goods 
3s, each load of goods 1s 6d, each horse 3s, each score of sheep 
or lambs tos, each merchant’s horse pack 1s 6d, each foot 
merchant’s pack 6d.  Item—All the heritors and wadsetters 
within the parish of Annan, each one for themselves and families, 
are to pay vearly for the benefit of the bridge at the custom 
thereof 12s for the whole year. Item—All tenants and others 
within the said parish 6s for the whole year. Item—Each bridal 
12s, and each burial 12s (Scots money). The present Act is 
only to take place if My Lord Marquis of Annandale, our present 
Provost, authorise and approve of the same. 

It is not surprising that the Council should hesitate. After 
imposing bridge dues without authority, they now propose to rate 
the whole parish. The Provost conserved his own interests and 
secured immunity from the customs of the burgh for his tenants. 

22nd May, 1707.—The which day My Lord Marquis of 
Annandale, Provost, John and Robert Johnstones, Bailies, and 
Town Council of the said burgh, being in council convened. 
For the great and good services done by Mr Lord Marquis to the 
said burgh, They have enacted and hereby enact that My Lord 
Marquis’ tenants within the parish of Annan shall be free of all 
custom for what goods they shall bring through the said burgh, 
and liberties thereof, that are the product of the said Marquis his 
lands as said is. (Signed) Annandale, etc. 

With the Marquis of Annandale is bracketed the town of 
Dumfries as a recipient of favours. 20th June, 1707.—The 
which day the bailies and Council of the said burgh, being in 
council convened, and taking to their consideration the good ser- 
vices done by the good town of Dumfries to our burgh, have 
enacted and hereby enact that in all time coming the Magis- 
trates, Council, merchants, burgesses, and inhabitants of the 
said burgh of Dumfries that bears scot and lot within the said 
burgh, shall only pay the sums after-mentioned as the customs 
for the town and bridge of the said burgh of Annan, viz. :—For 
each cart-load of goods 8s, each corded pack 3s, each horse 
load or fardel 1s 6d (Scots) ; and that the Magistrates and Town 
Council of the said burgh of Dumfries, a list whereof is to be 
given and subscribed yearly by the Magistrates and their clerk, 
are to be free of all customs, both men and horse, when they 
come or go end-long the said bridge of Annan in all time 
coming. 


— 


RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 327 
18th December, 19038. 
Chairman—Dr J. Maxwett Ross, Vice-President. 


THE DrIuRNAL AND NOCTURNAL RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY 
AREA. By Mr Rosert SERVICE. 


THe EAGLEs. 


The identity of the species that formerly frequented so 
many eyries in Solway has been badly mixed up. A century 
ago there must have been pretty nearly a score of occupied nest- 
ing sites in Dumfriesshire and Galloway. Both species were 
undoubtedly present. Those at the head of Moffatdale and 
Annandale—some three eyries—may well have been Golden 
Eagles. 

Old David Tweedie, in his day a famous anglers’ guide on 
Tweedside, when interviewed in 1834, when he was in his 83rd 
year, is said to have stated :— 

“That there is not one salmon, or trout, now for 20 that 
were found in his young days, that everything is changed, saving 
and excepting the glorious green hills of his native valley, that he 
perfectly recollects when there were just six pairs of Eagles in 
Moffat water-—the shepherds keeping their numbers down to this 
mark.’’ 

The very last of the resident Dumfriesshire Eagles (and it 
was a Golden Eagle, for I have seen the specimen) was brought 
down by a shepherd in a way which, so far as I know, is quite 
unique. On the farm of Gameshope, near to Loch Skene, one 
Eagle in particular got so bold as to lift lambs within 20 yards of 
the herd, a man named Bauldie Hairstanes. He could not stand 
this, even from an Eagle, which is not to be wondered at, and he 
used to carry stones in his plaid when going over the hill. One 
day in April, 1833, this herd was going his rounds, and the Eagle 
—probably having young in the cliffs above Loch Skene— 
swooped at the dogs. SBauldie threw a stone, which, very likely 
more by good luck than good guidance, struck the Eagle and 
brought it down to the ground, where, with the help of the dogs, 
it was secured. I question if a similar incident ever happened 
in this or any other country. 

In Galloway Eagles nested till after 1850, and one (which 


328 RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 


Sir H. Maxwell says is a White-tailed Eagle), taken from the 
nest about that time, was kept in captivity at Cairnsmore House, 
where it died only a couple of years ago. As I have already said, 
there is considerable confusion in local records and stories betwixt 
the two species, and the Osprey has also been confused with 
them. But the Golden Eagle, judging from specimens in exist- 
ence, seems to have been by far the commoner. ‘There was some 
ro or 12 years ago an old man still alive in Dalmellington who as 
a youth swam to the islet in Loch Macaterick, and took the 
eaglets from the eyrie there so far back as 1812. 


THE OSPREY. 


The picturesque lochs of Galloway lost their finest ornament 
when the Fishing Eagle left their shores. Beyond any doubt it 
bred on the islets of Lochs Skerrow and Grannoch, and also on 
one or other of the Glenhead group of lochs, till about 1860—a 
year, or maybe two, sooner or later. 

The birch tree on an islet on Loch Skerrow was still standing 
within the last 20 years, and I have spoken to several persons, 
not much older than myself, who had seen the big, bulky nest 
the birds built upon it. 

Gray made a statement in “ Birds of the West of Scotland ’’ 
(and the same passage also appears in Gray and Anderson’s 
“Birds of Ayrshire and Galloway ’’) that it then had (that was 
under date of 1870) a frequented eyrie in Wigtownshire. He 
farther stated that it had then a nesting site in Kirkcudbright- 
shire. Not long before Gray’s death Professor Newton was, I 
believe, in communication with him as to these statements, but 
could not obtain, I was told, any confirmatory evidence. The 
late Captain Clark Kennedy was Mr Gray’s informant, and I 
tried also to get some data from him on the subject, but those 
who knew that gallant gentleman will not be surprised to hear 
that I failed. While I have no evidence against these statements 
of Gray’s and Clark Kennedy’s, there is considerable doubt that 
the Osprey really nested in Galloway more than perhaps a couple 
of years at most subsequent to 1860. I have questioned many 
persons who knew the lochs well as angling haunts, but I never 
succeeded in getting any tangible information. At the same 
time, several anglers have told me of having seen an occasional 
Osprey during these last thirty years. Of the 


iit. ce 


RaprorIAL Birps OF THE SOLWAy AREA. 329 


PEREGRINE FALCON 


we have still a good many resident birds. Those who are 
familiar with the Colvend heughs will often have seen the couple, 
resident on those cliffs, dash out amongst the Herring Gulls there. 
Pairs are found in summer on several suitable parts of the Gallo- 
way coast. I believe there may be 8 to 12 pairs on the shore line. 
There are as many, perhaps more, on inland sites. In Dumfries- 
shire it is much scarcer, and there being no shore cliffs, it is 
confined to the Moffat hills and Upper Nithsdale near the 
Stewartry boundary. But there is an awful drain, year by year, 
by the keepers on these birds. It is curious how persistently 
birds turn up each recurring season to take the place of the 
slaughtered ones. 

At the migration seasons some very fine examples are often 
got, more particularly in autumn, when “ passage falcons ’’ are 
seen now and then. ‘These are mostly fine, large, dark, 
beautifully-plumaged birds in the feather of the first autumn. 

Altogether, the Peregrine is by no means a rare bird, and is 
to be noted in most of at least one’s longer rambles. On a 
recent date, when on the wide sands west of Southerness Point, 
along with some friends, we heard a faint call, that after some 
discussion we assigned to the Peregrine. But we could not see 
it anywhere around. The calls being repeated, we located them 
from skywards, and, putting the binoculars on, we found three 
specks high in air. We considered the birds to be one old and 
two young, and we watched them for nearly half an hour go 
through a pretty set of aerial manceuvres. A systematic search 
with the glasses will often reveal a Peregrine high in the heavens, 
and it is a most charming sight to see this finest of all the Falcons 
pursuing its strong and rapid flight in those wide circles it seems 
to delight in. 

We now come to the Peregrine’s miniature, the active and 
beautiful little 


Hospsy. 


Up till the last week or two there was only one good record 
of the Hobby in Solway—a specimen shot on Rockhall in 1866, 
not in 1867, as Gray has it. The other record I have referred 
to is a Hobby shot near Carsethorn, and now preserved in the 
nice little collection of local birds preserved by Mr Robert M‘Call 
there. 


330 RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 


Gray states that Totenham Lee shot two and saw a third on 
Glenlee in 1853, but I do not care to accept the statement. 

We next come to one of the most interesting Raptores on 
our list, 


Tue MERLIN. 


In the breeding season it is rather local. It nests pretty freely 
on the Upper Nithsdale moors, but seems scarce and casual else- 
where in Dumfriesshire. In Galloway it is partial to moorlands 
near the shore during summer. During the autumn months it is 
a comparatively numerous species, and is then of general distribu- 
tion throughout Solway. At that time its splendid speed and 
supreme mastery of the power of flight make it an object of much 
interest to the field ornithologist. 


THe KEStTREL 


still holds its own wonderfully well, and I verily believe that 
even gamekeepers are beginning to doubt if a Falcon, after all, 
may be entirely evil. It is a scheduled species, and well deserves. 
all the protection that can be given it. I have often observed the 
nests of this bird on the sheep farms of Nithsdale and Annandale, 
and noticed how in these districts the pellets, or castings, which, 
as you know, all the Raptorial birds disgorge, being the indiges- 
tible parts of their meals, are often largely, and sometimes entirely, 
composed of the rejectamenta of the Spring Dorbeetle. During 
the vole plague the Kestrels were augmented in numbers to an 
enormous extent, and they seemed to suffer similarly, but to a 
considerably less degree, from the same cause that killed off so 
many of the Short-eared Owls. 


[THE GosHAwk ] 


[comes next, and following the admirable method adopted by Mr 
Harvie Brown, the Goshawk as a Solway species must be kept 
within “square brackets.’’? The bird is mentioned twice in the 
“New Statistical Account ’’ as a nesting species on the Ross 
and Muncraig heughs, near Kirkcudbright. These are at pre- 
sent, or were very recently, both stations of the Peregrine Falcon. 
The name “ Goshawk ’’ used to be often applied to the Peregrine 
in Galloway, where it is quite a common habit to misname things. 
Then we have the story first set down by Totenham Lee, jun., to 
Robert Gray, which I may be allowed to give in the latter 


RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. Sat 


gentleman’s own words, that I quote from “ Birds of the West of 
Scotland,’’ p. 37 :—“Within a comparatively recent period I have 
known the Goshawk to breed in Kirkcudbrightshire, in which 
district my correspondent, Mr Totenham Lee, jun., who was 
quite familiar with all the British Birds of Prey, repeatedly 
saw the birds flying about. Under the observation of that 
gentleman, a pair of Ravens were turned out of their nest by two 
Goshawks, who appropriated it to their own use, and a second 
nest built not far from this locality was situated in a tree.’’? Thus 
far Gray’s narrative, which was penned, or at least published, in 
1871. But the incidents described had happened about 18 years 
previously. At that time Mr Lee was a very voung man, and 
his sporting rambles were under the tutelage of Gilbert Anderson, 
the keeper on Glenlee, whom I knew well, and who died only last 
year, almost a nonagenarian. With Anderson I have discussed 
and rediscussed the Goshawk story over and over again. The 
birds were Peregrines, or, as old Gilbert preferred to call 
them, “Game Hawks!’’ He told me some folks always called 
the Peregrines “ Goshawks,’’ but the real Goshawk he had never 
seen alive! ] 
THE SPARROW Hawk. 


This is by far the most abundant of all our remaining Birds 
of Prey, and no other species come so regularly under observa- 
tion. During the months when the autumn migration is going 
on this hawk is most in evidence, and it is during that period of 
very regular and evenly distributed abundance. The word 
“abundance ’’ is in this connection a comparative term. From 
the very nature of the case, birds of prey, of any British species, 
in ordinary circumstances, can never be more than widely 
scattered points, or in the breeding season, small and very 
isolated family parties. 

During winter, also, but becoming scarcer as the season 
advances, Sparrow Hawks are not at all uncommon. With the 
spring migration a sudden accession of numbers takes place, most 
of the birds passing onwards—northwards or eastwards. As a sum- 
mer resident the species has become greatly reduced in number, 
and although a nest is still no rarity, it is not nearly so common 
as formerly. There can be little question that since the modern 


_ form of game preserving set in, now some 70 or 80 years ago, the 


resident, or breeding, stock of Sparrow Hawks has been destroyed 


332 RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 


outright at least half a dozen times over. The places, or beats, 
of the birds thus killed are filled again each season by arrivals 
from other parts of the western range of the species. This 
process, however, cannot go on for ever, and it is showing signs 
of coming to an end. Like other members of our fauna, sub- 
jected to like cruel treatment, continued persecution is bound to 
finally banish the Sparrow Hawk. 


Tue KITE 


may have been, and probably was, a resident at one period. But I 
have never been able to glean a single authentic note on its former 
existence. It is occasionally reported as seen, the fork in the tail 
leading sanguine observers to think they have identified it. 


THE CoMMON BuZZARD, 


although not by any means justified in its trivial name, now-a- 
days, is still happily not rare in the Stewartry. I hardly think it 
breeds in Dumfriesshire or Wigtownshire, but it does so in several 
localities in Kirkcudbrightshire. In the south of the county one 
pair had their nest on a tree in late years, but in the hill country 
they breed on cliffs. The last time I was in the neighbourhood 
of Loch Dungeon I saw no fewer than three on the wing at one 
time, flying in wide circles over the Carlin’s Cairn. One was 
shot in Eskdale a short time ago, and another frequented a 
locality not more than three miles from this hall most of last 
winter. Almost every year a few examples are killed during the 
autumn migration. 


THe RouGH-LEGGED BuzzARD 


is a species that, so far at least as Solway is concerned, can 
only be regarded as a casual winter migrant. We have had in 
my own experience three immigrations. The first was in the 
autumn of 1875, just at the start off of the vole plague of 
1875-76. There was another in the autumn of 1880, since when, 
until the present season, I have not heard of it with us. On each 
of the two first described immigrations from a dozen to a score 
of specimens were recorded. No doubt as many more were 
taken and no record made of the fact. Those I saw were 
most remarkable for the range of colour in the plumage shown by 
the various examples. Some were very fine dark 
birds, while others were very light. MacGillivray states that one 


almost black— — 


RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 333 


he examined that had been shot in Dumfriesshire in 1840 “had a 
great number of young feathers of a blackish brown colour, and 
would have been entirely of that tint had the moult been com- 
pleted.’’ The current immigration, going on at present, promises 
to be a remarkable one. So far as I have heard, a bird got near 
Tarff, another on Auchencheyne, and a third shot on Glengaber, 
are the only local occurrences yet, but they seem to have been 
seen all over the British Islands, and quite abundantly along 
the eastern seaboard. 


THE Honey Buzzarp. 


In the “ Dumfries Courier ’’ of June 11, 1833, I find a para- 
graph which states:—“ A specimen of that very rare and elegant 
species, the Honey Buzzard, was shot last week at Drumlanrig. 

The specimen has been added to the collection of Mr 
Bushnan of this place.’’ 

MacGillivray records the same bird. 

Mr Richard Bell of Castle O’er, in the course of a valuable 
paper, entitled “ Rare Birds in Eskdale,’’ read at this table on 
April 17, 1901, stated that a Honey Buzzard was shot by his 
brother in the year 1850. Robert Gray says, with reference to 
probably only these two instances, that “specimens have been 
shot in Dumfriesshire on several occasions.”’ 

On 17th January, 1901, Mr Jardine, farmer in Waterside of 
Troqueer, caught a very beautiful Honey Buzzard by the side of 
his sheep fold in the dusk of a dark morning. It was kept 
captive for three weeks, and died. I saw the bird, which was in 
splendid feather and condition, and it was remarkably tame. It 
is hard to give a reason for finding this bird here on a date when 
it should have been away in Africa under the Tropic of Cancer. 
Winter occurrences are not quite unknown in Britain, and, like 
the Land Rail, the Blackcap Warbler, and some other migrants, 
the Honey Buzzard may find no great difficulty in prolonging its 
stay when circumstances are favourable. 

THE HARRIERS 
may fittingly be taken together, since none of the three is resident 
with us now. The Marsh Harrier was probably always a rarity 
in Solway. The older records treat it as such, and in my own 
experience I have met with only one individual, and that was 
_ from Kirkmichael on 7th May, 1898. On the other hand, the 


' $34 RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 


Hen Harrier seems to have been quite abundant till shortly after 
game preserving set in. Even yet an odd bird or two (I heard 
of one in Kirkbean in October) turns up occasionally, mostly at 
the migration seasons. There are about half a dozen instances 
of the occurrence of Montagu’s Harrier. One was a specially 
interesting case, as the bird, a fine female, caught on Cairnsmore 
of Fleet, had beyond doubt been sitting on eggs. The date was 
June rsth, 188r. 

This brings me to the end of the Diurnal Raptores, and I 
now turn to the Nocturnal section, beginning with 


THe Barn OWL. 


Somehow, I always think of this bird in connection with one 
peculiar habit it has. This is the power of emitting, at extremely 
infrequent intervals, a most appalling shriek, calculated to lift 
the hair on the baldest head, if the listener happens to be 
unaware of the source from whence the frightful scream proceeds. 
At the dead hour of night, breaking in on the stillness, with a 
suddenness which is often startling, even to those who have heard 
it before, this uncanny sound may well give rise to any amount of 
belief in warlocks and witches. Except for this wild expression 
of disgust with the world itself, and a few grotesque incoherences 
in the way of hissings, nasal whistling, and snores, the Barn Owl 
is voiceless, for, if it hoots at all, it must do so very rarely. 
Sir W. Jardine, however, states in a footnote to his edition of 
Selborne that “this species DoEs hoot, for I have shot them in 
the act. They also hiss and scream, but at night, when not 
alarmed, hooting is the general cry.’’ 

Frequenting buildings, new and old, only seldom resorting 
to hollow trees and rock faces, this species is to most people fully 
more familiar (in the preserved form) than the three other Owls 
that are resident with us. Its pretty contrasted colours of pale 
buff and yellow, with an intricate tracery of delicate greys and 
browns, and the purity of its white underparts, render it a 
desirable addition to the orthodox case of “stuffed ’’ birds. 
Perhaps no other bird figures so often and so prominently as an 
ornament for the parlour window-sill, or as one of the occupants 
that gaze with glassy eyes and a never ending stare from the case 
on the lobby table. Everyone to his, or her, taste. Barbarian 
habits die out slowly. The stuffing of Barn Owls is a barbarous 


eee 


ees 


RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 335 


taste, only less vile than that of using this poor bird’s skin as the 
centre-piece of a drawing-room hand-screen. After all, such 
‘fate as falls to the lot of those that are “ stuffed’’ is not so 
ignoble as that of the great army of Barn Owls which annually 
become victims to the misguided zeal of the game preserver. 
Not much can really be laid to the charge of any of the Owls, 
and nothing at all may be truly alleged against this particular 
“species so far as the interests of game, real and supposed, are 
concerned. The legions of mice, voles, and rats that almost 
entirely constitute the food of the Barn Owl would surely work 
havoc incalculable were they not destroyed in the quiet, remorse- 
lessly unceasing way that few people, except the vigilant field 
ornithologist, has any idea of. The three County Councils that 
preside over the faunal region of Solway never did wiser actions 
than when they included this and the other Owls in the protected 
schedules. 
The Barn Owl is the most ghost-like of all the Owls in its 
flight. Let me not be understood as likening the movements of 
this bird to that of the spirits of darkness in any other than a 
conventional sense. It hovers, and turns, and quarters its beat 
on noiseless wings, and the pale colour gleams out against the 
dark background of the woods, as it flits in and out of the 
changing and uncertain twilight of the summer evening. 

An old and most respectable school of naturalists taught that 
the innumerable instances of means to definite ends were designed 

. directly by the Creator. A younger, and, let it be said, less 
reverential, generation insists that Nature herself has evolved all 
these beautiful designs by the automatic working of natural laws. 
Of course the argument, well founded as it may be, only puts the 
First Cause a step farther back. 

Amongst these appliances for equipping their owners to take 
part in the great struggle for life, the feathering and structure of 
the Owls must surely be reckoned as amongst the most perfect. 
Examine the exquisite series of fringes along the edges of the 
feathers. Feel how soft and fluffy is the plumage. Note the 

largeness of the eyes, adapted for collecting every ray of light. 

See what a great cavity in the large head is occupied by the ear, 

wide enough to catch the faintest rustle of the creeping vole in 
the grass. Look at the powerful talons and the strength of beak, 
and if your examination has been conducted intelligently you will 


336 RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 


realise what a magnificent engine for a specific purpose is before 
you. 

Barn Owls are not nearly so common with us in Solway as 
was once the case. Close observers of the bird are agreed that 
throughout Great Britain this species is decreasing sadly in some 
parts, while in none is it doing more than holding its own. 
While persecution by game preservers is, of course, mainly to 
blame, still a strong agency for its decline will probably be found 
in some, as yet, mysterious modification of climate. With us, 
I am pretty certain, there has been a marked withdrawal towards 
the warmer, sea coast districts, just as it has been with the House 
Martins. 

Now-a-days the Barn Owl is oftenest seen along the cliffy 
parts of the Galloway shore. Here it frequents the caverns and 
crannies in the rocks, where nests may be found from April to 
September. Of late years rats have become far more plentiful 
than was formerly the case, and these nasty rodents positively 
swarm along the coast, feeding on mollusks and garbage of all 
kinds that is so often strewn along the tide line. Late in the 
gloaming the Barn Owls may often be observed working along the 
wrack and pouncing down on a rat every here and there. The 
unfortunate quadruped has barely time to squeak before it is 
borne off, a dangling corpse, to the nestful of snoring, spluttering 
youngsters up in the cliff. 

The second species of Owl that comes under notice is the 


Brown OWL. 


If I were asked to name the voice amongst the birds that 
we should miss most if birds and their notes were to be entirely 
eliminated from sight and sound, after the entrancing double 
note of the Cuckoo, I should unreservedly place that of the Brown 
Owl. What a grand thing it is to hear the hooting of the Owls 
repeated, and replied to, from different directions, on a quiet 
night ! 

This Owl is our commonest species, and is decidedly in- 
creasing. It is one of the protected birds, and, apart from the 
fact, general public opinion is against its slaughter, while on 
many estates it is very rigidly ensured against the desire of the 
keepers to slay it. 


RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 337 


In autumn and spring many migrant Brown Owls pass 
through our area, amongst which an occasional fine example in 
the interesting grey phase of plumage may be distinguished. So 
far as my experience goes, this grey phase of plumage has no 
representatives with us as breeding birds. They are, I believe, 
all migrants passing through the district, and are found usually 
in the late autumn months. 

The other day I happened to be reading a novel—an 
occupation, I am bound to explain, that I very rarely indulge in. 
The scene of the part I was perusing was laid in Galloway, and 
the following passage attracted my attention :—“ An owl hooted, 
but presently the bird itself passed close to him with a soft woof 
of feathers, and a glint of a face like a white mask.’’ Now, 
the Barn Owl has a white face, but does not hoot; the Brown 
Owl hoots, and hoots prodigiously, but its face is not white. So 
there is considerable ambiguity about the exact species. In any 
case none of our resident Owls emit any sound whatever from 
their wings in flight. It is absolutely noiseless, although the 
motion of the air is easily felt as they pass. I have had all 
the species pass within a foot or two of me, and I have kept all 
of them, except the Short-eared, in captivity. We should really 
expect a little more scientific precision of expression from one like 
Mr Crockett, who is both an M.B.O.U. and a great writer. 


THe LONG-EARED OWL 


is, I think, the prettiest of all the British Owls. Its more 
slender form, better carriage, and the distinguishing length of its 
ear tufts, give it a fine appearance. Coming out well before 
twilight has ended, and sitting as it does on some quite con- 
spicuous position about the tree tops, or flying in short flights 
from tree to tree, it is in consequence fully more interesting in 
these respects than its congeners. While not exactly a gregarious 
bird, yet there is a strong tendency to a form of company keep- 
ing, for in favourable circumstances two, or sometimes three, 
pairs may be found in tolerably close proximity. Throughout 
Solway it is quite as numerous as the Brown Owl, but is strictly 
confined to the woodland districts, and is not found either on the 
hills or along the cliffs of the shore. 

During the migration seasons it is occasionally quite 
common. 


338 RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 


Tue SHORT-EARED OWL. 


The status of this species in normal circumstances is that 
only a pair or two remain to breed with us. Still, they are 
always present. It must not be forgotten that almost the first 
good account of the breeding of the Short-eared Owl in Great 
Britain was given by Sir William Jardine from observations made 
at the head of the Water of Dryfe, almost 70 years ago. The 
vole plague of 1875-76 saw a big movement of these Owls, and 
they were accompanied by Rough-legged Buzzards, while the 
plague of 1890 and subsequent years brought an altogether 
marvellous immigration. In Dumfriesshire alone not less than 
500 pairs of breeding birds were estimated as present. Probably 
there were three or four times that number on the vole-infested 
farms. I have elsewhere told how these grand birds commenced 
to nest in February, and continued nesting without intermission 
till September ; how 10 and 12 eggs were the usual number in a 
clutch ; and with what avidity and untiring vigilance the voles 
were pursued during every one of the hours of day and night. 
It was a never-to-be-forgotten experience to see on mile after 
mile of the moorlands always a dozen or more of them in sight at 
once. One farmer of my acquaintance counted 36 sitting in a 
row on a hillock in Carsphairn on a summer afternoon. The 
finest sight of all was when at midsummer of 1892 I had a 
chance of going along the hills at midnight. The night was 
bright and clear, and very still. The Owls were on all sides, 
flying like no other birds I ever saw. The voles were scurrying 
hither and thither, squeaking and rustling as one stepped over 
and amongst them. ‘The unfeathered owlets had left their nests, 
and were sitting blinking their eyes and contorting their bodies in 
groups on almost every little hillock. The parents never troubled 
to alight amongst their offspring—they simply flew past, and 
flung the dead voles at their young in the byegoing. It was a 
weird and impressive bit of bird life, one my poor powers of 
description cannot do justice to. 

As you may remember, the great vole plague came to a very 
sudden termination, and the destroying angels in the shape of 
Short-eared Owls died too in hundreds, being picked up every- 
where in the last stages of emaciation. “Died of hunger ’’ was 
the general verdict, but I believe this was quite wrong. Died of 


RAPTORIAL BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 339 


_ disease incurred through eating the diseased voles is, I fancy, the 


; 
: 


q 


true reason . 
Lastly, 
THE Snowy Owl. 
In every sense of the word, a fine bird indeed. For Solway I 
have only a couple of authenticated occurrences. Mr Rimmer of 
Dalawoodie told me he saw one sitting on a tree in the park at 
Kirkmichael in the winter of 1860-61. 

A few years ago a specimen was shot on the Dumfriesshire 
bank of the Esk. The late Rev. H. A. Macpherson fully in- 
formed me of the occurrence in his usual kind way, but at the 
present moment I have mislaid the note and cannot, therefore, 
give any further particulars. 


19th February, 1904. 


Chairman—Mr R. SrErvicE, Vice-President. 
New Memser.—Miss M‘Connell, Milnhead, Kirkmahoe. 


Exuipit.—Collection of Rock-forming Minerals, from 
Professor Burns, Andersonian Institute, Glasgow, who was 
accorded a hearty vote of thanks. 


Farr Mars or Frespruary. THE SNowproP: Its History, 
LITERATURE, AND Botany. By Mr S. ARNorrT. 


In the popular name of the Snowdrops, selected for the 
title of this paper, there is perpetuated the memory of the pro- 
cession of maidens who, on the feast of the purification, paid 
their vows to the Virgin on Candelmas day, a celebration which 
will be referred to a little later. | According to Dr Prior, the 
still more familiar popular name of “ Snowdrop ’’ is not derived, 
as many suppose, either from the resemblance of the flower to a 
drop of frozen snow or from its flowering, as a rule, in the time 
when snow is on the ground. It is probably only the German 
Schneetropf, and originates from the resemblance of the form of 
the flower to that of an ear-drop or the ornaments which ladies 
hhave at various times had suspended from their brooches and 


340 THE SNOWDROP. 


other articles of jewellery. The botanical name of Galanthus, 
literally “ Milkflower,’’ is derived from gala, milk, and anthos, a 
flower—quite an appropriate name, and justified by the colour of - 
the blossom, which is not that of snow, but more akin to that 
of milk, as may be observed if the Snowdrop is seen in the 
midst of snow. 

History. 

The question of whether the Snowdrop is a plant indigenous 
to our islands has received some consideration from botanists, 
but the general opinion is adverse, although Hooker, in the 
“Student’s Flora,’’ says that it is possibly wild in Hertford and 
Denbigh. It is found, however, practically wild in many places, 
where it has probably been a survival of old gardens of monastic 
and other establishments where gardening was in vogue in long 
past generations. 

It is found in Central and Southern Europe from the 
Pyrenees to the Caucasus, where it is, to all appearance, a 
native. The Mediterranean regions, the Bosphorus, and the 
Black Sea, with Asia Minor, appear to be its headquarters, and 
it is probably there that we may find its original progenitor has 
appeared. 

LITERATURE. 

Of course, we cannot tell how long the Snowdrop has been 
a flower admired by men and women. It has probably been a 
favourite through all ages, though it is comparatively lately that 
we have become acquainted with its various forms, and the 
diversity which exists among them. The earliest known figure of 
a Snowdrop occurs in a work of L’Obel, named “ Stirpium 
Historia,’ published in Antwerp in 1576. ‘The figure is that of 
the common Snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis. ‘The English herbal- 
ist, Gerarde, uses the same figure in his work of 1597, and 
supplements it with a larger one, which is supposed to be a draw- 
ing of either Galanthus Imperati, a large form of Galanthus 
nivalis, or Galanthus plicatus. In 1611 Clusius in his “Historia”’ 
gave the same figures, and added the information that the large 
Snowdrop came to Europe by way of Constantinople. It was 
thus familiar to the authors of herbals and similar works in 
early days, and we find it spoken of by Evelyn as the “ Snow- 
flower,’’ while it appeared in other old writers as the lesser 
“Bulbous Violet.’’ 


THE SNOWDROP. 341 


Its legendary history is fairly well known to a few interested 
in the flower; although, one fears, it will hardly be accepted 
as authentic in these critical days. The more common legend 
regarding its origin has a few trifling variations, but the follow- 
ing may be considered a good example of the legendary treat- 
ment of the origin of the Snowdrop. I have no idea of its 
antiquity, but it is curious to note regarding its statement that 
the Snowdrop was not created until after the expulsion from 
Eden, that John Parkinson, whose “ Paradisus’ appeared in 
1656, gives as its frontispiece an illustration of Adam and Eve in 
the garden of Eden, and shows in this several plants well known 
to us, and at least one purely fabulous—the “ Vegetable Lamb.”’ 
He omits, however, the Galanthus, and it is possibly owing to 
the existence of the legend in his day. 

The story runs thus:—-After our first parents were driven 
out of Paradise, Eve, it is said, was mourning over the barren 
earth, and the driving snow kept falling, to form, as it were, a 
pall for the earth’s funeral after the fall of man. An angel was 
sent to comfort Eve, and, while bringing her a message of 
comfort, he caught a flake of falling snow, and, breathing on 
it, bade it take a form, and bud and blow. Before the snow- 
flake reached the earth it was suddenly transformed into a lovely 
plant, which Eve prized far more than other flowers she had 
seen in Paradise, for the angel said to her:— 


“This is an earnest, Eve, to thee, 
That sun and summer soon shall be.”’ 


The angel’s mission being completed, he took his flight to 
heaven, but where he had stood on earth there appeared a ring 
of snowdrops. Another legend, which, by the way, I found ina 
charming little book for children, called “ Alexis and _ his 
Flowers,’’ written by Miss Beatrix Cresswell, and prettily illus- 
trated by Miss H. Cresswell, of Nunholm House, Dumfries, 
gives a different story, but one teaching the same lesson of hope. 
It tells that Hope was weeping over the death of nature in the 
cold winter time, and where her tears fell they melted the snow, 
and snowdrops sprang up; henceforth they have been the flowers 
of Hope. ‘Trivial as these legends may appear, they are valu- 
_ able to students of folk-lore, and to all who can appreciate how 


such simple things as flowers appeal to the higher and deeper 
thoughts of men and women. 


342 THE SNOWDROP. 


From its purity and grace the Snowdrop has ever been 
associated with the virtues ascribed to the Virgin Mary. As 
such it was dedicated to her, and on the day of the Purification— 
Candlemas Day—February 2, old style, the image of the Virgin 
was taken from the altar and Snowdrops placed upon it. The 
young maidens walked in procession to the churches on that day, 
clad in white, and the flowers thus acquired the name of “ Fair 
Maids of February,’’ one which is descriptive of the purity, 
grace, and charming beauty of the Snowdrop as we know it still. 
In the old metrical rendering of the Church’s Calendar of 
English flowers we find it said that :— 


““The Snowdrop, in purest white arraie, 
First rears her hedde on Candlemass daie.”’ 


and it still remains the appropriate flower for the red letter day 
of the second of February. 

There are few superstitions attached to the Snowdrop, so far 
as one has been able to discover, the only one appearing to be 
that it is unlucky to bring a single Snowdrop into a house. This 
is alleged to be owing to the resemblance of the flower to a 
shroud. 

POETRY. 

The older poets leave the “ Fair Maids of February ’’ un- 
mentioned in their verses. One cannot but think that this is a 
witness to the theory that the plant is of comparatively recent 
introduction to our island. Shakespeare, whose wealth of 
allusion to plants is remarkably great, makes no mention of it, 
and when the great Bard of Avon, who was such an observer of 
such things, says nothing about it, we must expect to see little 
mention of the Snowdrop for some time after his day. Even 
in more recent times it was largely left to the minor poets to 
portray the flower in those words which poesy alone can use with 
such skill. There are now, however, many references to the 
Snowdrop by the poets, and one can only touch upon a few of 
these, as illustrations of the more esthetic side of our subject, 
ere we enter upon the more abstruse one of its botanical charac- 
ters. These are selected more from a desire to give a repre- 
sentative character to the quotations than with a view to 
discriminate among them from a literary point of view. None 
of the poets have touched more aptly upon the characteristic 
thoughts of the Snowdrop than Tennyson, when he tells of his 


THE SNOWDROP. 343 


white-robed nun, who, on St. Agnes Eve, stands watching, as 
she says :— 


““The shadows of the convent towers 
Slant down the snowy sward, 
Still creeping with the creeping hours 
That lead me to my Lord. 


Make Thou my spirit pure and clear 
As are the frosty skies, 

Or this first Snowdrop of the year 
That in my bosom lies.’’ 


It seems a little ungrateful to the poet to mention that it is the 
snowflake, or Leucojum, which is more appropriately the flower 
of St. Agnes. Then one cannot but rejoice with Tennyson when 
he gives us the following lines :— 


‘Many, many welcomes 
February fair-maid, 

. Ever as of old time, 
Solitary firstling, 
Coming in the cold time, 
Prophet of the gay time, 
Prophet of the May time, 
Prophet of the roses, 
Many, many welcomes 
February fair-maid !”’ 


With a like note of cheerfulness Lewis Morris has written 
these lines of the flower :— 
** And as I went 
Across the lightening fields, upon a bank 
I saw a single Snowdrop glance, and bring 
Promise of spring.’’ 

Bringing us other aspects of the Snowdrop, Wordsworth 
gives us some references to the flower, among which we may 
quote two, as representing it in different, vet allied, associations. 
In the first we have the flower exposed to one of the early storms 
of the year. The flowers are— 

*‘ Frail Snowdrops that together cling, 


And nod their helmets, smitten by the wing 
Of many a furious whirl-blast sweeping by.’’ 


Here is another :— 


“‘Chaste Snowdrop, venturous harbinger of spring, 
And pensive monitor of fleeting years.’’ 


344 THE SNOWDROP. 


One of the most striking references to the flower among the 
poets is tc be found in some lines by Robert Buchanan, who 
says :— 

“Could you understand 
One who was wild as if he found a mine 
Of golden guineas, when he noticed first 
The soft green streaks in a Snowdrop’s inner leaves ?”’ 

Here is another note—this time by Mrs Browning—and 
instinct with that feeling which comes to those who have been 
sufferers themselves. It is :— 

‘¢The poor sad Snowdrop—growing between drifts, 
Mysterious medium ’twixt the plants and frost, 
So faint with winter while so quick with spring, 
And doubtful if to thaw itself away 
With that snow near it.”’ 
Everyone knows the following from Thomson’s “Seasons’’ :— 


‘‘ Pair-handed spring unbosoms every grace; 
Throws out the Snowdrop and the Crocus first.”’ 

These are only a few among the now numerous references in 
the poets to the Snowdrop, and one would gladly have culled a 
few more from a bouquet of such flowers of poesy had it not been 
that the botany of the flower will require all the further time 
available. I had intended to illustrate this section of the 
subject with some living specimens of the leading species of 
Galanthus, but having to leave home before the flowers were all 
open, I can only furnish a few imperfect, because not fully 
developed specimens, and some of these are not yet far enough 
forward to enable anyone to form a true idea of their characters. 


THE BOTANY OF THE SNOWDROP. 


While the late Dean Herbert and other botanists did not fail 
to study the Snowdrop in a systematic way, and the former in 
his monograph of the “ Amaryllidez ’’ treated of the few plants 
of the genus known to him, it has been reserved to later botanists 
to deal with the genus Galanthus in a more thorough manner. 
Mr J. G. Baker has done yeoman service in this way in his 
“ Handbook of the Amaryllidez,’’ and in recent descriptions of 
the newer species in various periodicals, but the Royal Horticul- 
tural Society’s action in holding a conference on Snowdrops in 
1891, brought the study of the flower to a height never before 
reached. At that conference a brilliant synopsis of the Snowdrop 


THE SNOWDROP. 345 


was given by Mr F. W. Burbidge, M.A., the Curator of Trinity 
College Botanic Gardens, Dublin. I must draw largely from his 
work, supplemented by what has been discovered since the date of 
that conference, and by my own observation of all the species 
but one in my own garden, besides the cultivation of a number 
of the hybrids and seedling varieties. Mr Burbidge’s arrange- 
ment in 1891 was founded upon the character of the leaves, and, 
although Mr Baker puts more stress upon the green markings 
upon the flowers as a guide to the systematic arrangement, I 
cannot but hold that Mr Burbidge’s is the more satisfactory 
division of the main groups. 

Mr Burbidge classed the Snowdrops as:—1. Those with 
narrow, glaucous leaves, such as those of our common Snowdrop, 
G. nivalis. 2. Those with broadly plaited glaucescent leaf, 
such as G. plicatus. 3. Those with broad lorate green leaves, 
‘such as G. latifolius. 

Those who have studied the flowers in growth are disposed 
to agree with Mr Burbidge in thinking that these three species 
may be said to be the backbone of the genus, and that all others 
are either variations or hybrids of these three. I shall return to 
the leaves again, after beginning with what is the proper and most 
symmetrical starting point—the bulb. 

The bulb of the Snowdrop is what is known as a true bulb, 
as distinguished from a cormous or other form of root, by being 
composed of a number of scales united together. Like the 
leaves, the bulbs of Snowdrops group themselves into three 
divisions, which may be readily distinguished when in bulk by 
their form. Thus Galanthus nivalis has ovoidal, or egg-shaped 
bulbs ; G. plicatus has rhomboidal, or short-spindle shaped ones ; 
and G. Elwesii has rounded, or, sometimes, oblate spheroidal 
ones. They are all variable in size, so that it is hardly safe to 
state the dimensions to which they grow. 

If a section of a Snowdrop bulb is made, it will be found 
that it is composed of the swollen bases or petioles of two, three, 
or more of its former leaves, arranged eccentrically around the 
new growth. The inner faces of two of these scales are fluted in 
a pretty manner, and covered with a fine membrane. 

The leaves have already been referred to, and it is unneces- 
sary to say much more about them at present, especially as we 
shall have to touch upon them in speaking of the various species. 


346 THE SNOWDROP. 


It may be said, however, that the leaves of G. plicatus are the 
most distinct, because of the manner in which the margin is 
folded back. I regret that I have no specimens far enough 
advanced to show this as it ought to be done to give an idea of 
the true character of the leaves of this Snowdrop. 

The scape, or flower stem, unlike that of the Narcissi, which 
belong to the same natural order—the “ Amaryllidez ’’—is solid 
and not hollow. It is elliptical in section, and fluted, and that 
of G. nivalis is only about half the thickness of the greater 
number of the other species. 

At the top of this are the two spathe-valves, which serve the 
important purpose of protecting the flower ere it emerges. They 
are connected by a clear satin-like membrane, which in most 
Snowdrops bursts open on one side only, but in a few forms the 
membrane opens so as to show the twin-spathes separate. The 
spathe-valves are generally green, but in the case of a few 
varieties are yellow like the ovary, and other portions of the 
flower which are green in the normal forms. An abnormally 
formed Snowdrop has been found with two sets of spathe-valves, 
the lower set being green and the upper white, like the sepals. 

The flower itself is composed, in addition to the ovary or 
seed vessel, of three outer segments, called the sepals. These 
are generally entirely white, but there are a few exceptions, 
which will be mentioned later. The inner segments are the 
petals, and these are more or less marked with green. Then 
there is a cluster of 6 anthers, opening by slits or seams near the 
apex, so as to allow the pollent to fall on the pin-like stigma in 
the centre of the flower. 


SPECIES AND VARIETIES. 


Taking the various species and forms according to Mr Bur- 
bidge’s arrangement as a whole, although there is room for some 
difference of opinion as to what are true species and what are 
merely varieties, we come first to Galanthus nivalis, our common 
Snowdrop, a rather variable plant. There are two forms com- 
monly met with. The small one we generally see in gardens, of 
which I have here a small specimen, grown in poor soil, and the 
southern form known as G. nivalis Imperati. I have here a 
specimen of one of the finest forms of the latter, one called 
Atkinsi, which, by the way, frequently has an additional 


THE SNOWDROP. 347 


segment. There are, however, a number of other varieties, and 
among these are what are called the autumn-flowering varieties, 
known by various names, such as corcyrensis, octobrensis, 
Rachele, and Olge. The distinguishing feature of the autumn- 
flowering forms is a whitish line down the centre of the leaf. 
In our climate most of these show a tendency to come into line 
with our common Snowdrop in time of blooming. Of the 
numerous varieties one can only mention a few of the most 
distinct. There is a large-flowered one, named Melvillei, interest- 
ing to Scotsmen from its having originated at Dunrobin Castle, 
Sutherlandshire. Virescens is an interesting one, from the green 
colouring of the exterior of outer segments. The curious 
Scharloki, which was found in Germany, has some green shading 
on these outer segments, but its divided spathes are its most 
distinguishing feature. Warei has divided spathes and green 
spots at the apex of the outer segments, like those of a snow- 
flake. Flavescens and lutescens, which were both found in 
Northumberland, are rather weakly Snowdrops, which are much 
prettier when growing than in the dried state. They have 
yellowish ovaries and markings. The smaller is rather plentiful 
at Howick Hall, Northumberland, the seat of Earl Grey. A 
variety called poculiformis has very long inner segments, which 
are pure white and free from any markings. The double variety 
is well known, but I have a double one with yellow markings, and 
Mr Allen has raised one or two doubles of slightly different 
character. Galanthus caucasicus is generally considered a form 
only of G. nivalis, though some give it specific rank. 

Galanthus Elwesii, of which I have a flower or two from Mr 
Davidson’s garden, and a dried specimen from my own, is a very 
distinct Snowdrop from the mountains near Smyrna. It is most 
variable in size and in the form of the outer segments, but is 
not a very satisfactory garden Snowdrop. It was at first easily 
recognised by the tubular arrangement of the inner segments, 
which are crisped, and by the dark green basal blotch, and the 
two deltz on either side, but the discovery of a few species with 
some allied features has shaken this means of determination. 
It is a remarkably varied Snowdrop in size and shape. 

Galanthus gracilis, from Bulgaria, is the only one of the 
species I have not grown. It comes close to Elwesii, and has 
the basal blotch of the inner segments as in that species, but the 


348 THE SNOWDROP. 


lobes are not crisped as in G. Elwesii. 

The fine G. cilicicus, of which I have a dried specimen 
here, flowered in the autumn of 1902 with me, but it did not 
bloom again until January, 1904. The flowers are not large in 
proportion to the size of the leaves, but it is a tall and beautiful 
Snowdrop, coming in nearer to G.n caucasicus than any other, 
in my opinion. It comes from Sirwas, in N.E. Asia Minor. 

When Mr Burbidge drew up his synopsis he included only 
one Galanthus in his class 2—those with broadly plaited 
glaucescent leaf. This is G. plicatus, from the Crimea, a fine 
Snowdrop, which, however, has a curious habit of dying off 
without apparent cause. I have here a specimen, hardly at 
maturity, of a fine form of this, called Fraseri, selected in an 
Edinburgh garden from a lot of imported plants. It is more 
permanent than the other. You may be able to observe the 
reduplication or folding back of the leaves at the margin. 
Since Mr Burbidge’s paper appeared we have had another 
introduction in this section, in the shape of Galanthus byzantinus, 
which is intermediate between G. plicatus and G. Elwesii. It is 
probably a natural hybrid. There seems some dubiety as to the 
source whence this Snowdrop has come, but it is said to have 
been found on the European shores of the Bosphorus. I have 
here a specimen, from a number which were collected on the 
Asiatic side, near Broussa. This is identical with G. byzantinus 
from the European coasts, and from a number of bulbs I had 
sent me by a collector from Broussa I had a very mixed lot of 
flowers, some showing a greater affinity to G. Elwesii than to G. 
plicatus and vice-versa. Thus I feel certain that this is a natural 
hybrid, but, although G. Elwesii occurs in that district, no one 
has yet traced G. plicatus to its neighbourhood. You will observe 
the rather curious form of the leaf, and the folding back as in G. 
plicatus. 

In the section of Snowdrops with a broad lorate green leaf, 
Mr Burbidge mentioned two species, G. latifolius and G. Fosteri. 
Since then G. Ikarize has been introduced, so that there are now 
three in this class. G. latifolius is a handsome-leaved Snow- 
drop, but as our climate does not suit it, I am unable to show a 
specimen. Its main distinction lies in its broad, shining green 
leaves. Its flowers are small and pure white. A form called 


THE SNOWDROP. 349 


Alleni is hardier, and I have here a portion of an immature leaf 
which gives an idea of the general character of the foliage. 

G. Fosteri is generally believed to be a natural hybrid 
between G. latifolius and G. Elwesii. The green petal markings 
of this are like those of Elwesii, but the green apical spots are 
confluent. This is a most variable Snowdrop. When I left 
home it was not in bloom, so that I have not a dried specimen 
here, but, thanks to Mr James Davidson of Summerville, I am 
able to show a fresh bloom from his garden. One is glad to be 
able to show a specimen of G. Ikariz, from the classic island of 
Icaria, where the body of Icarus was cast by the sea and buried 
by Hercules, after his unfortunate flight from Crete, when the 
sun is said to have melted the wax which cemented his wings, 
with the result that he fell into the A°gean Sea. The leaves of 
the specimen I have were not fully developed when plucked, but 
it will show the character of the foliage, although it cannot 
reveal the beautiful arching habit it has when fully grown. The 
flower is a fine one, and much superior to that of any other form 
with lorate green leaves. It seems to combine the characters of 
Galanthuses nivalis, Elwesii, and latifolius. 

Within comparatively recent years hybridisation has given us 
a number of fine Snowdrops, the most of these having been raised 
by Mr James Allen of Shepton Mallet. When I left home only 
a few of these were in bloom, but I have a few here which will 
show how fine some of these are. Mr Allen principally employed 
G. nivalis, G. plicatus, and G. Elwesii as the parents, and it is 
interesting to observe the various effects of the crosses employed. 
I have also a series of hybrids obtained by the late Mr William 
Thomson, High Blantyre, Lanarkshire. Some of these are very 
handsome flowers, and I have here a specimen of one of these 
hybrids, which were all between G. plicatus and G. nivalis, 
though some are the progeny of hybrid plants themselves. Un- 
fortunately, Mr Thomson is dead, and Mr Allen is now in such a 
state of health that there is no prospect of his being able to 
continue a work of great interest. 


DISEASES OF THE SNOWDROP. 


No one has as yet discovered the cause of the sudden 
collapse of plants of Galanthus plicatus or of the frequently 
short life of some plants of Glanthus Elwesii, but Botrytis 


390 THE SNOWDROP. 


galanthina is, unfortunately, only too frequently a destroyer of 
all Snowdrops, although, happily, there are some gardens where 
it has not been observed. Its popular name is given as “ Snow- 
drop White Mould,’’ but this, like many other popular names, is 
not a suitable one, as the fungus is more grey than white. There 
are few years in which it does not make its appearance in some 
gardens, and it seems as virulent on plants of original species 
newly imported as on the hybrids or those which have been long 
in cultivation. It seems to appear soon after a thaw, and is 
more prevalent in winters where we have frequent alternations of 
frost and thaws. It has, one time and another, attacked all the 
species and many of the varieties in my garden. This year I 
have only seen it on some bulbs of Galanthus cilicicus, but the 
plants of Galanthus byzantinus I had from Broussa were deci- 
mated, and a fine row of Gal. ikariz suffered even more severely 
a few years ago. I have found several clumps badly affected 
among the myriads of plants in Arbigland woods, so that one 
cannot consider that it is artificial conditions which introduce it. 
I have here an illustration of Botrytis galanthina, in a copy of 
the “ Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society,’’ where it forms 
one of a series of illustrations of a capital series of articles by Dr 
M. C. Cooke on “ Pests of the Flower Garden.’’ The best treat- 
ment is the destruction of the infected plants by means of fire, 
and dusting round about the spot with sulphur or a specific for 
plant diseases called Veltha. 


II.-—METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS AT DumFRIEs DuRING 
1903. By Rev. W. ANDson. 


Barometer—Highest on 5th November, 30.629 in. ; lowest on 
27th February, at 5 a.m., 28.250 in.; annual range, 2.379 in. 
Mean barometrical pressure for the year (reduced to 32 deg. and 
sea level), 29.816 in. This is about one-tenth of an inch below 
average, and when the details are examined it appears that only 
one month in the year, namely, the month of June, had a mean 
pressure of a little over 30 inches, while several had values 
considerably below the average of the last 17 years. This was 
true of December, March, and October, the last-mentioned 
month in particular showing the abnormal figure of 29.461 in., 
instead of a mean of 29.925 in. On the whole, therefore, the 


301 


THE METEOROLOGY OF 1903. 


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352 THE METEOROLOGY OF 1903. 


year was one of low barometer readings, and the number of days 
on which these fell below 29 inches was considerably more than 
usual. They occurred in January, February, and March; and 
again in August, October, and December, and for the most part 
were accompanied by strong gales and heavy rains. The lowest 
reading of the year, 28.250 in., as previously noted, occurred in 
February, but in March it was little higher, and that month was 
throughout singularly boisterous and unsettled. 

Temperature in shade, 4 feet above grass—The highest 
temperature of the year was recorded on the 2d July, and was no 
more than 80 deg. This was the only day on which the ther- 
mometer rose so high, the next being 79.7 deg., on the 31st May. 
June had a no higher single day temperature than 76.8 deg., and 
the absolute maximum of August was only 71 deg. This shows 
a remarkable scarcity of very warm, sunny days, although there 
seems to have been less deficiency in days moderately warm, 
with readings above 70 deg. The lowest temperature of the 
year was registered on the r4th January, with a record of 17 
deg., giving an annual range of 63 deg. The warmest month 
was July, with a mean of 58.4 deg. August had 57.1 deg., and 
June 56 deg., all of which were decidedly under average. The 
coldest month was December, with a mean of 36.7 deg., and the 
next coldest January, with a mean of 37.5 deg., both of which 
were slightly under average. But the deficiency, we might thus 
have been led to expect, was more than compensated by the 
excess above average in several of the other months. In 
February it was 5.7 deg., in March 2.2 deg., and in October 5 
deg., giving an aggregate excess of 12.9 deg., while the deficiency 
in the other months only amounted to 10 deg. Hence the mean 
annual temperature turns out to be slightly above average, viz., 
48.1 deg., as compared with a mean of 47.5 deg. Of course, the 
explanation of such excesses of temperature as have been referred 
to in February, March, and October is to be found in the unusual 
prevalence of cyclones from the Atlantic with southerly, south- 
westerly, and westerly winds, and heavy rains. The first three 
months of the year were characterised by open and wet weather. 
April was cold and dry, May was favourable on the whole to 
vegetation, but during the proper summer months there was 
a deficiency of hot and sunny days, while the autumn, although 
mild, was very wet, and proved excessively injurious to the 


THE METEOROLOGY OF 1903. 3D3 


harvest, causing great lateness, and serious loss and damage 
to the crops. The number of nights on which the self-registering 
thermometer fell to or below the freezing point was as follows :— 
In January, 15, with an aggregate of 74 deg. of frost ; February, 
4, with an aggregate of 3.6 deg. ; March, 1, with an aggregate of 
1.2 deg.; April, 12, with an aggregate of 37.7 deg. ; October, 
1, with an aggregate of 1.2 deg. ; November, 6, with an aggregate 
of 21.4 deg. ; December, 17, with an aggregate of 64.3 deg. In 
all 57 nights with an aggregate of 203 deg. of frost. It will be 
observed from this report that February and March were uncom- 
monly free from frost, and that April had more than its usual 
share. It may be noted as an unusual circumstance that the 
mean temperature of April was exactly the same as that of March, 
viz., 43.3 deg., and that February had a temperature slightly 
higher, viz., 44.1 deg., and in this fact doubtless we find the 
true explanation of the serious failure of the fruit crops. There 
was a great appearance of blossom in the early part of the season, 
but it was mostly blighted by the April frosts, and unproductive 
of fruit. January and December were, as usual, the coldest 
months of the year, but by no means in a degree exceeding the 
average. 

Rainfall.—I need hardly say that the most outstanding and 
remarkable feature of the weather of 1903 was its excessive rain- 
fall. The number of days on which precipitation took place to 
the amount of one-hundredth of an inch or more was 237, the 
average being about 200. In the month of March rain fell 
more or less every day, a circumstance almost, if not altogether, 
unprecedented of any month, and in October the number was 
very little short of the whole, viz., 28 out of 31. These two 
months were the rainiest of the year, October having a record of 
8.55 in. and March of 7.46 in. The driest months were April 
and June, each of which had the same amounts, viz., 1.71 in., 
both below average ; but with the exception of these two months, 
and of a slight shortage in November and December, all the 
other months had values in excess of the mean, but more particu- 
larly January, February, March, and October, the two first of 
which had nearly double, and the two last almost treble the 
amount of the seventeen years’ average. The total fall for the 
year was 50.45 in., which is 13 inches above the mean, and the 
heaviest recorded at this station since observations were begun 


354 THE METEOROLOGY OF 1903. 


in 1887. The next heaviest was 47.08 inches in 1900. In 
1891, 1894, 1897, and 1899 they ranged from 40.86 in. to 42.92, 
but all the others were under 4o in., the driest year having 
30.99 in., in 1887, the average of the whole period being about 
37 in. Three times in the course of the year there was a fall 
exceeding an inch in 24 hours, once in January, once in July, 
and once in October, and on these occasions the river was in 
heavy flood. During the months of March and October, indeed, 
it may be said to have been in constant flood, the depth at the 
New Bridge, as indicated by the gauge, ranging from seven or 
eight to eleven or even twelve feet. I have noted eleven and 
a-half feet on the depth on the 17th March, and twelve feet on 
the 22nd, and nine feet on the 27th October. There were dry 
periods in April and June. From the 16th to the 28th of the 
former month rain fell only once to the amount of no more than 
0.03 in., and from the 5th to the 14th June, a period of nine 
days, there was no rain. Again, there was a period in September, 
extending from the rith to 22nd, twelve days, quite dry, during 
which an opportunity was afforded on early farms of securing the 
safe in-gathering of the crops, but after that there were not two 
days in succession perfectly dry till well on in November, with 
the unfortunate result that the work of the harvest was almost 
completely arrested, and great loss and damage to the crops 
ensued. 

Hygrometer—The annual mean of the 9 a.m. and the 9 
p.m. readings of the dry bulb thermometer was 47.5 deg., very 
nearly equal to the mean temperature of the year. The annual 
mean of the wet bulb readings was 45 deg. The mean tempera- 
ture of the dew point, as calculated from these data, was 41.8 
deg., and the relative humidity (saturation being equal to 100) 
was 83. 

As regards the wind directions, the south-westerly was as 
usual the most prevailing, blowing no fewer than 98 days. The 
next was the westerly, which had 57 days. Then followed the 
south-easterly with 454 days, the east with 434, the north-west 
with 423, the south with 344, the north-east with 294, and the 
north with 114, while six were calm or variable. Combining 
those which had a southerly and westerly direction, but including 
the south-easterly, we have a total of 235 days, while those from 
a northerly and easterly direction, including the north-westerly, 


THE WEATHER IN RELATION TO HEALTH. 355 


only show a total of 127 days. The usual proportion of these 
two classes of winds is in general similar to this. But owing to 
the unusual prevalence of cyclones from the Atlantic during the 
past year, it seems to me that the southerly and westerly have 
had more than their ordinary share; and this would only be in 
correspondence with the fact of a temperature somewhat above 
the average, and a rainfall much in excess of it. 


THE WEATHER IN RELATION TO HEALTH. By Dr J. 
MAXWELL Ross. 
(From the Dumfries and Galloway Standard. ) 


Dr Ross said that Mr Andson’s paper showed the usual 
painstaking work that had always characterised his contribu- 
tions to the society. As they were aware, there were something 
like sixty stations in Scotland accepted by the Scottish Meteoro- 
logical Society, as well-equipped and from which observations 
were made. There were only two in this county, one at which 
Mr Andson procured his data, and one at Drumlanrig. Mr 
Andson’s inability to be present last month and read his paper 
had afforded an opportunity of studying the observations taken 
at some of the other stations, and it was rather interesting to 
compare the results. At Drumlanrig, for example, some of the 
observations were in close accord with those of Mr Andson, while 
others were very different. Drumlanrig was situated ror feet 
above the sea level, and the station at which Mr Andson made 
his observations was about 60 feet. That and other facts helped 
to account for the difference. The mean barometric pressure at 
Drumlanrig for the year was 29.593. Mr Andson’s was 29.816, 
so that the higher pressure was, of course, where they might 
expect it. The mean maximum temperature at Drumlanrig was 
53.4; the mean minimum, 39; and the mean temperature 46.2 
degrees. These were rather less than Mr Andson’s. The 
number of rainy days was found by Mr Andson to be 237. At 
Drumlanrig they were 240. The amount of rainfall at the latter 
place was also considerably in excess of Mr Andson’s observa- 
tions, being 62.86, or at least 12 inches more. With regard to 
direction of winds, it had to be noted that formerly the observa- 
tions were recorded daily, and Mr Andson continued that, giving 
the prevailing wind for the 24 hours—probably the average re- 


356 THe WEATHER IN RELATION TO HEALTH. 


sult of two observations—but the sum of the two observations 

made at 9 a.m. and g p.m. were now given in the society’s 
monthly tables, making the observations apparently double those 
in Mr Andson’s table. At Drumlanrig the prevailing winds, as 
at Dumfries, were south-westerly, there being 216 at the former 
against 190 which he had calculated as the observations of Mr 
Andson. Direct westerly winds at Drumlanrig were much fewer, 
64 against 115. North-westerly were much more prevalent at 
Drumlanrig, 199 against 83. North-easterly and easterly were 
much more prevalent at Dumfries, the north-easterly numbering 
61 against 44 at Drumlanrig, and the easterly numbering 89 
against 5. Mr Andson indicated that the year was one of low 
barometer at Dumfries. The same remark held good over the 
whole of Scotland, only three months being in excess of their 
average, viz., June, September, and November. All the other 
months were below the average. Comparing the temperature of 
Dumfries with that of other parts of Scotland, he found that 
Dumfries was somewhat favoured. He did not know that it was 
exactly the hottest place in Scotland, but there were two months 
during which it certainly had that characteristic, in May and 
July, when the highest temperature of 79.7 and 80 respectively 
were recorded. The lowest temperature of the year at Dumfries 
was 17 degrees on 14th January. On the same day at Drumlanrig 
it was 13. The rainfall at Dumfries was 13 inches, and at 
Drumlanrig 18 inches in excess of their respective averages. 
Dealing afterwards with the influence which the weather made 
upon the mortality from various diseases, Dr Ross said he was 
not prepared to state that during the year the weather had 
abnormally affected health. The fact of the matter was that, 
if anything, last year had been one of the healthiest they had 
experienced, and showed one of the lowest death-rates. Taking 
the whole county, but excluding the burgh of Dumfries, for 
which he had not the requisite data, the death-rate was 15.609 
per thousand. It was not always very easy to gather from a 
statement of that kind whether the year had been a healthy one 
or not, but he would put it in another way. If they took the 
average death-rates and calculated from them what they might 
call the expected deaths, they would find that there should have 
been something like 961, whereas the actual deaths amounted to 
915, so that the mortality during 1903 was considerably less than 


THE WEATHER IN RELATION TO HEALTH. 357 


what might have been anticipated. Dr Ross afterwards gave 
the weather conditions and mortality rates for the various months 
of the year, and summing these up he remarked that taking 
the months with deaths beyond the number expected, viz., 
January, February, July, August, October, and December, and 
the months with deaths below the number expected, viz., March, 
April, May, June, September, and November, he found, on 
contrasting their climatic conditions, that the difference between 
the two sets of months was not very great. The months with 
deaths beyond the expected number all had a low barometer. 
Four months had low mean temperatures, two had high mean 
temperatures, one had a low rainfall, one an average rainfall, 
and four high rainfalls. Of months with deaths below the 
expected number three had low barometer readings; two high, 
one average. The mean temperature in three of the months were 
low; in two, average; in one, higher than the average. The 
rainfalls were low in three months, high in two, and about the 
average in one. The greater number of deaths from zymotic 
causes occurred in the first quarter of the year, and were due to 
the prevalence of whooping cough in January and February. 
Of nineteen deaths during the year, fourteen occurred in the 
first quarter, and of these fourteen, nine were in January. Only 
one death was due to typhoid or enteric fever, and it occurred 
in December. Influenza was also prevalent during the first 
quarter, and was most fatal then, there being ten deaths in that 
period out of fourteen during the year. From consumption, or 
phthisis, there were 99 deaths altogether; and of these, 50 
occurred in May, June, July, and August, the warmer part of the 
year. Twenty-eight occurred in the first four months, and 
twenty-one in the last four. These figures showed that consump- 
tion, though a debilitating disease, was not necessarily most 
fatal in the colder part of the year. There were 176 deaths 
traceable to circulatory, and 114 to respiratory diseases. The 
highest number of circulatory deaths in any one month occurred 
in March, when there were twenty-three. In January and 
October 20 were recorded. The lowest number was seven, 
recorded in July, there being ten in June and ten in September. 
From respiratory causes the highest number of deaths occurred 
in January, when there were 19, and in December, when there 
were 16. The lowest rates were in April, June, July, and 


358 THE WEATHER IN RELATION TO HEALTH. 


September, showing that the colder and wetter part of the year 
was more liable to affect those suffering from that disease. In 
concluding, Dr Ross stated that study of the phthisis statistics 
would show that there was too much fear in regard to exposing 
consumptive patients to the weather. The death-rate from that 
cause was really higher in the warmer months than in the colder, 
so that fear of the results of exposure was a fetish that ought to 
be abolished. 


29th March, 1904. 
Chairman—Mr James LENNOX. 


Exurpsits.—Flint-lock Carbine and 2 Brass-barrelled Flint- 
lock Pistols, with Spring Bayonets attached, the property of the 
Bank of Scotland, which had always been in the Dumfries 
Branch, since it was opened in 1784, by the Secretary; a Rose 
with a bud coming through the centre of the flower, by the 
Chairman. 


I.—Laws oF FINES FOR THE PRESBYTERY OF DUMFRIES. 


An interesting document read by Rev. R. W. Weir, and 
dated May 7, 1816, and being a list of the Fines imposed by the 
Dining Club of the Dumfries Presbytery. 


II.—Some Scottish Worps FounpD In OLD ENGLISH WRITERS. 
By Dr CHINNOCK. 


This valuable and interesting paper, which gave evidence of 
much knowledge and research, gave many quotations to show that 
many of our Scottish words were to be found in old English 
writers. 


20th May, 1904. 


Chairman—Mr W. Dickie. 


New Memper.—Rev. H. A. Whitelaw, Townhead United 
Free Church. 


GEOLOGICAL NOTES. 359 


I.—GeotocicaL Notes. By Mr JAmMes Watt. 


In these interesting notes Mr Watt summarised in a concise 
manner the leading geological features of the two countries. It 
was shown that in England examples of the whole rocks forming 
the earth’s crust in all its divisions of primary, secondary, tertiary, 
and post-tertiary, with the single exception of Miocene system, 
were to be found. And, such being the case, it was held that it 
was not too much to say that England, for the extent of its area, 
affords to the geologist and naturalist the most interesting field 
for observation of any country in the whole world; and this. 
particularly on account of the abundance and variety of fossilised 
organic remains to be found in strata of secondary and tertiary 
times. 

With regard to Scottish geology it was shown that its interest- 
ing features were of quite a different order from those of the 
sister country. In Scotland the secondary series of rocks, includ- 
ing the great Jurassic system, so rich in fossils, and the whole of 
the tartiaries were almost entirely absent. The exceptions were 
chiefly the great masses of volcanic rocks of tertiary age in the 
west of Scotland, in Skye, Mull, and other islands, where they 
rise in huge cliffs above the sea; as also by a great number of 
volcanic dykes which had risen through rents in the crust of the 
earth in different parts of the country. In addition a number 
of fossiliferous sedementary patches of rock in certain districts 
were mentioned. But upon the whole, it was shown that 
practically the geology of Scotland was notable, and most in- 
teresting from the fact that the mountains and whole surface 
belong to either the most ancient, the primary or Palaeozoic or 
to the most recent, the Pleistocene, with all the debris of the 
glacial age, grooved and striated rock surfaces, punched blocks, 
and great masses of boulder clay. 


DUMFRIES CRAIGS. 


The late Dr Harkness, of Dumfries, communicated a paper 
to the Journal of the Edinburgh Geological Society, in which he 
propounded the theory that these cliffs (the Craigs) were caused 
by two faults. That is, that a portion of the rock surface had 
been displaced and thrown down, leaving the cliffs as we now 
see them. I am aware that the officers of the Survey who 


360 GEOLOGICAL NOTES. 


surveyed this part of the country dissented from Dr Harkness’s 
opinion. Iam not aware of the views of those gentlemen on the 
subject, but, on my own account, I beg to differ from such an 
opinion, and will endeavour very shortly to state my reasons. 
The three ridges out of which the Craigs have been hewn are 
masses of permian breccia, resting on sandstone—the sandstone 
of Georgetown and Craigs quarries. It is not a very material 
point, but we may note the heights as given in the New Ordnance 
sheet: Maidenbower Craig, 276.1 feet; Middle Craig, 247.4 
feet; Lower Craig, 200 feet above sea level. The height from 
the base of the Maidenbower and Middle Craigs, measured by the 
eye, I take to be somewhere about roo feet—standing up as sheer 
perpendicular cliffs, and I dissent from the fault theory, because 
(1) “faults ’’ are not found in such form; (2) if the Craigs were 
formed of two faults the dislocation would have shown in greater 
length; (3) at the Middle Craig, north side, the sandstone is 
seen dipping below the breccia, which would not be in the case 
of a fault ; (4) at Craigs Quarry, Maidenbower Craig, you can see 
the thick-bedded sandstones with breccia on the top. This is 
opposed to the existence of a fault. In my opinion, the Craigs 
are simply the topmost of the series of regularly alternating beds 
of sandstone and breccia with which the whole of the Dumfries 
Basin is filled, as has been shown by the well borings mentioned 
in a former paper. At the Gasworks the bore went through 
twenty alternations of sandstone and breccia, and, having gone 
down six hundred feet, had not reached the bottom of the strata. 
There cannot be a doubt, I venture to think, but that the appear- 
ance of these cliffs is due to the action of the waves and breakers 
of an ancient sea. The mechanical force exerted by storm-driven 
waves on a rocky shore is, as is well known, very great. It 
is a force always in action, and with the rise and fall of the tide, 
four times a day, it acts like a saw, cutting horizontally into the 
land ; not so much from the weight of the waves alone as from the 
enormous power which they exert in times of storms and great 
gales, pushing forward great masses of gravel, sand, boulders, 
and dislodged masses of the rocks against which the waves are 
beating, and so pounding and battering the opposing barrier, until 
‘in process of time, in the case of a very hard rock, vertical cliffs 
are sculptured out of the line of coast. Such is the process by 
which I venture to think the Craigs have been formed. As to 


Se 


GEOLOGICAL NOTES. 361 


their age, the bases of each being at a higher level than any of 
the well-marked raised beaches of the country, as also the pre- 
sence of boulder clay above and below and all around it makes 
it, I think, certain that they are of pre-glacial origin. 


ARBIGLAND SHORE. 


On the subject of this short paper there is no pretension of 
any original observation. But simply to offer a few notes of a 
walk along the shore on two occasions, and aided in this by the 
“ Official Explanation of Sheet 5 ’’ of the Geological Survey Map. 
As seen standing on the top of the Twenty-five-Foot Beach close 
to the Arbigland grounds and looking down on the shore, below 
high-water mark, we see a horizontal section of what in carboni- 
ferous times was an atoll or coral island, which has been planed 
flat down by the action of the waves and other denuding 
agencies, affording good illustration of the deposit and growth of 
the original coral island, now merged into coralline limestone. 
Looked at from above it will be seen that these coral stones form 
a symmetrical basin, and that their successive beds are arranged 
in consecutive layers, and, when observed nearer, they will be 
seen to dip towards the centre at gentle angles. It can only be 
said further that the corals to be found along the shore are 
abundant and well preserved, also many shells, bivalves, 
gastropods, etc., all very interesting. According to the official 
account, on “the shore between Hogus Point and Carsethorn there 
is an almost continuous section of carboniferous strata, all much 
faulted and folded, which may be grouped in descending order: 
(1) Coralline limestone of Arbigland Bay; (2) sandstones and 
shales and marine limestones ; (3) sandstones and shales, marine 
bands and cement sandstones.’’ The great ice-borne granite 
boulder is a well-known object of interest on the Arbigland shore. 

As we are not very far from Criffel, we may notice, in con- 
clusion, that Sir Archibald Geikie, formerly Director-General of 
the Geological Survey, has observed that “while tracing the 
glaciation of the region, Dr Horne obtained proofs that the ice 
which drained from the inland country was in mass sufficient to 
override Criffel, and must, therefore, have had there a minimum 
thickness of 2000 feet. This is a fact of much interest, in view 
of the wide distribution of boulders of Criffel granite over the 
north of England, and even as far south as Wales.”’ 


362 VESTIGES OF THE CASTLE OF DUMFRIES. 


II.—VEsSTIGES OF THE CASTLE OF Dumrries. By Mr JAMEs 
BarBour, F.S.A. (Scot.). 


As far back as the reign of William the Lion a Castle of 
Dumfries existed, as appears from charters of that time describing 
tenements as lying between the Castle and the church. Later, 
about the year 1259, the Castle is mentioned as the place where 
the trial by jury of Richard, son of Robert, son of Elsa, for the 
murder of Adam the Miller was held. And frequent references 
to it occur in ancient documents relating to the period of the 
Edwardian wars. 

Geographically, the Castle appears sufficiently authenticated. 
A report by an English official prepared between the years 1563 
and 1566, printed in Armstrong’s “ Liddesdale,’’ and given also 
in Mr William Dickie’s “ Dumfries and Round About,’’ conveys 
a clear idea of its situation. 

“The old Castle of Dumfries,’’ the report says, “ five miles 

and a half within the mouth of Nith, standing upon the side of 
the same, very good for a fort. The plat and ground thereof in 
manner like to Roxburgh Castle. It may late (command) the 
town and the bridge of Dumfries, and receive boats of ten tons 
as said is furth of England. 
: The town of Dumfries standeth vi. miles within the 
mouth of Nith, the head town of the shire. The Lord Maxwell 
hath a fair house, battled, within this town, but not tentable 
nor strong against any battery of guns.”’ 

The terms of this report show that the Castle of Dumfries 
stood on the side of the river half a mile below the town, a 
description which coincides with the place called Castledykes ; 
and the castle which occupied the site of Greyfriars’ Church in 
the centre of the town is differentiated as a house of the 
Maxwells. 

Vestiges of the ancient Castle of Dumfries are thus to be 
looked for at Castledykes—a name suggestive of the existence of 
a castle fortified with dykes. Earthen fortifications were usually 
called dykes. At Carstairs a Roman camp with fortifications of 
this character was called Castledykes, and in Barbour’s “ Bruce ”’ 
dykes is the term used :— 


The Inglis men sa clossyt had 
Thair ost, with dykis that thai maid, 
That thai war strenthit gretumly. 


VESTIGES OF THE CASTLE OF DUMFRIES. 363 


Thai in hy towart the town; 

And fillyt dykis hastily, 

Syne to the wall rycht hardely 

They went, with leddris that thai haid. 


Castledykes has, no doubt, been much altered. The Kelton 
road skirts it on the north, and the road leading to the New Quay 
on the south, cutting off the river bank and Kingholm; and a 
house with its gardens covers the greater part of what was pro- 
bably the Castle area. 

Towards the north there is a tabular elevation, named on the 
O.M., on what authority I do not know, “Site of Comyn’s Castle.’’ 
From it the ground falls in all directions, gently at some places, 
but on the south and west quickly forming a steep and high bank. 
From the foot of this bank southwards the area is comparatively 
level, but still well elevated above the river. 

Part of a great open ditch or fosse is found on the north and 
east sides of the plateau. It extends from the entrance gateway 
off the Kelton road eastwards, parallel with the road and nearly 
in a straight line, a length of eighty yards. At this point it 
turns with a wide and shapely curve and runs southwards 60 
yards, where trace of it is lost. Evidently the ditch has con- 
tinued westwards from the gateway for about eighty yards and 
thence southwards, thus covering the north, east, and west sides 
of the plateau. The west ditch, and the part of the north ditch 
west of the gateway, are filled with a large stone-built drain and 
a deep covering of earth. The only evidence of a ditch on the 
south side of the plateau is a longitudinal hollow at the west end. 
The shape and direction of the hollow, taken with the probabilty 
of such a ditch, may, I think, be accepted as sufficient proof. 
The open part of the ditch measures 50 to 60 feet in width at the 
top and 6 at the bottom, and the depths is 25 to 30 feet. 

Obviously these are vestiges of the ancient fortifications of 
the Castle, encompassing the citadel, and judging by the parts 
open they appear to be as large and formidable barriers of 
defence as any of the ditches of military works reported in the 
proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 

Edward I. in the year 1300 greatly strengthened the castle. 
According to calculations by Dr George Neilson, contained in 
“Peel: Its Meaning and Derivation,’’ ditchers to the number of 
250, with some women helpers, worked on the fosses for a fort- 


364. VESTIGES OF THE CASTLE OF DUMFRIES. 


night, and 60 to 100 carpenters, with two dozen smiths, were con- 
tinuously at work for a period of between two and three months, 
cutting timber in Inglewood forest, Cumberland, and in woods 
near Dumfries, transporting the material and constructing with 
them round the Castle a stout palisade. Whether the palisade 
was the only carpenter work overtaken seems doubtful consider- 
ing the number of workmen employed and the time occupied. It 
is a notable circumstance that masons are not represented among 
the craftsmen. Might not the scheme of strengthening the place 
embrace the building of a wooden tower ? 

It was to this place that Bruce fled on the slaughter of 
Comyn in the chapel of the Greyfriars’ Monastery, situated at 
the other end of the town. In the words of Hemingburgh, “ The 
Lord Robert de Brus went out; and seeing the Lord John’s fine 
steed, he mounted it; and his men mounted with him. They set 
out for the Castle and seized it.’’ 


365 


Pie a oi EE IDEN G. 


28th June, 1904. 


A Meeting of the Society was held at Castledykes for the 
purpose of inspecting the vestiges of the Castle of Dumfries. 


Chairman—Rev. W. ANDSON. 


Provost Glover and other Members of Dumfries Town 
Council were present by invitation. 


/ 


New MemBer.—Reyv. W. L. Stephen, St Mary’s Manse, 
Moffat. 


“Under the guidance of Mr James Barbour, the party went 
over the trenches and moat, Mr Barbour giving explanations as to 
the formation thereof, and their uses ; and referring to the history 
of the Castle. Mr Barbour suggested that it would be desirable 
to cut several trenches across the plateau, and offered his per- 
sonal supervision for the work. The Provost and other members 
of the Council thanked Mr Barbour for the kind offer, and 
agreed to recommend the Council to provide a couple of 
labourers for a few days for excavating work, so that, if possible, 
further light might be obtained regarding the position and struc- 
ture of the Old Castle. Mr James M‘Gregor, tenant of Castle- 
dykes, cordially gave his consent to the proposed excavations. 
Votes of thanks were accorded to Mr and Mrs M‘Gregor for 
permission to visit the grounds; to Mr Barbour for his instructive 
remarks; and to Provost Glover and the Members of Council 
for their presence. 


as 


SP : 


DUMFRIESSHIRE AND GALLOWAY 


“Natural History and Antiquarian Society 


FOUNDED NOVEMBER, 1862. 


SESSION 1904-1905. 


PONTED AT a STANDARI]) OFFICE, DUMFRIES. 


Mee 


Vol. XVII., Part 5. 


THE TRANSACTIONS 


AND 


pOURNAL OF J ROCEEDINGS 


OF THE 


DUMFRIESSHIRE AND GALLOWAY 


Natural History and Antiquarian Society 


FOUNDED NOVEMBER, 1862. 


SESSION 1904-1905. 


PRINTED AT THE STANDARI) OFFICE, DUMFRIES. 


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CON TEN TS. 


SHSSION 1904-6. 


Page 
Annual Meeting.. a wt a er Pe Se sss lien Saag SOO 
Chile—Professor Scott-Elliot ... xa . 368 


Forests : Wild and Cultivated—A ugustine re. MA. F.D.S., &¢... 375 
Biblical Money, and Coins of the Holy Land—Rev. H. A. Whitelaw ... 376 


Burial Urns found in Maxwelltown Park ... = “of - ee oid 
Meteorological Observations for 1904—Rev. W. Andson ... be? ie Ole 
Notes on above with reference to Health—Dr J. Maxwell Ross ... 384 
Liability of Japanese Larch to Larch Fungus—W. Murray... ... 386 
Birds observed on Solway—R. M‘Call er = ss ws 388 
Burgh of Annan, Extracts from Records of—James Barbour, FS. A. 

(Scot. ) ee ast an se bat ost - .. 390 
Sedum Telephium— IW. Oe ien BuStscc. we met ore re toe! 
An Antiquary’s Notes—-George Neilson, LL.D. we fe ots 
Some Local and other Popular Plant Names—S. Arnott, F.R.H.S.  ... 404 
Declaration of Loyalty by Inhabitants of Closeburn aes 7s .. 410 
Letter from Frances Carlyle, grand-uncle of Thomas Carlyle ... .. 411 
The Weavers’ Incorporation of Dumfries—W. Dickie... is .. All 
Kinnelhead, Notes on the Ruins at-—J. J’. Johnstone... bo Pael 
Rarer Birds of the Solway Area—Robert Service, M.B.0.U. _ ... . 423 
Experiments with Cutting the Leaves of Plants— Mrs Athinson .. 436 
Field Meeting : Lincluden College ... wi a ae a .. 438 

x Kirkconnell, Troqueer - a ee ... 438 
NA Thornhill, Penpont, and Glenw aout tee og .. 4389 
2 Lochmaben ... ae Pe as , ; ... 439 
a Birdoswald, Lanercost, Naworth, and rey es ... 440 
- Moniaive District ... : sie és ie . 441 
- Dumfries and Maxwelltown Sewage Purification Works 442 
Donations ae sas sich a Se ws Bs a .. 448 


Exchanges he beg noe see as a on x8 was, SAS 


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367 


PROCEEDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS 


OF THE 


DUMFRIESSHIRE AND GALLOWAY 


NATURAL HISTORY & ANTIQUARIAN SOGIETY. 


SHSSION 1904-5. 


28th October, 1904. 


ANNUAL MEETING. 


Chairman—Mr G. F. Scott-Ettiot, President. 


New Mempers.—Mrs Atkinson, Ladies’ Club, Dumfries ; 
Mr Robert Barbour, architect. Mr G. W. Shirley, librarian of 
the Ewart Public Library, was elected an Honorary Member. 


The Secretary and Treasurer submitted his annual reports, 
which showed that the Society had lost 23 members by death or 
resignation, that 4 new members had been elected, and that 
the Society had to its credit the sum of £57 14s 1od. 


The following office-bearers were appointed on the recom- 
mendation of the Council :—President, Prof. Scott-Elliot ; Vice- 
Presidents, Mr R. Murray, Mr R. Service, Mr Jas. Barbour, and 
Dr J. Maxwell Ross; other Members of Council, Rev. J. Cairns, 
Dr Martin, Mr W. M‘Cutcheon, Mr Jas. Davidson, Dr Semple, 
Mr S. Arnott, Mr W. Dickie, Mr J. Tocher, Miss Hannay, and 
Miss Cresswell; Librarians and Curators of Museum, Rev. W. 
Andson and Mr Jas. Lennox; Curators of Herbarium, Prof. 


Scott-Elliot and Miss Hannay; Secretary and Treasurer, Mr 
J. A. Moodie. 


368 CHILE. 
CuILE. By the President, Professor G. F. Scott-EL.iort. 


In the earliest times of which we have geological evidence 
Chile consisted only of a western range of mountains. There 
was no Andes, and to the east, where is now the Argentine 
Republic, rolled the waves of the Atlantic, only interrupted here 
and there by island mountain ridges, such as the Sierra Roca, 
which have since been almost worn away. On the floor of the 
wide valley between the western mountains and the Roca chain 
submarine volcanoes poured forth lava flows sometimes a mile, in 
thickness. There were islands in the valley, and carboniferous 
period trees grew on them. Then great rivers scattered shingle 
and sand over these lava flows, which are now beds of sandstone 
and conglomerate: these last of the same age as our Locharbriggs 
sandstone. 

After this the earth’s crust began to shrink and cracks 
appeared running east and west, through which again molten 
rock poured forth, forming transverse ridges in the great valley. 
Copper is found along these ridges, and in 1go1 the mines yielded 
about £1,593,246 export. 

There followed a second period of shrinking and contraction, 
and the whole of Chile sank deep in the water. Whilst this went 
on deposits of shingle and of sand containing much gypsum 
were distributed over the valley bottom during a period of time 
corresponding to the Tiras. This sinking of the land continued, 
and in the great gulph so formed ammonites and sea-urchins 
disported themselves many thousand feet below the level of the 
sea. 

The earth crust broke and yielded. There was a prodigious 
upheaval accompanied by volcanic disturbances. Limestones 
with remains of marine fossils were carried up to a height of 15 
to 16,000 feet, and the Andes chain, adorned with volcanoes 
at the weaker spots, was definitely formed. 

As a minor detail of this eruption, silver was deposited, with 
unfortunate results for the poor Indians, of whom 20,000 were 
employed by Valdivia in the very earliest days of settlement. 
These gigantic earth movements have by no means finished since 
the formation of the Andes, which seems to have occurred about 
the cretaceous period ; earthquakes and upheavals and subsidences 
have continued to our own times. 


CHILE. 369 


Moreover, these occur on a gigantic scale. Imagine moun- 
tains 5000 to 6000 feet high topped by icefields covering many 
square miles, from which powerful torrents lead down by narrow, 
tortuous steep-sided valleys to the lower grounds. 

Then imagine your volcanic outburst, such as that of Volkan 
Viego, accompanied by deluges of hot ashes and great rivers of 
molten lava. All these, you must remember, on the top of and 
suddenly melting all the snow and ice. 

It is not easy to get a clear picture of the destruction so 
caused, and of the extraordinary jumble of stones, sand, mud, 
and lava that filled up the Santa Gertrudis valley. 

Ever since the Andes were made this sort of destruction has 
been going on, and it has been accompanied by upheavals and 
subsidences. 

Somewhere about the beginning of the tertiary we find 
Southern Chile occupied by forests of conifers and other trees, 
with also many ferns. These became the beds of liquite now 
found near Concepcion, at Lota, Coronel, Arauco, even at Sandy 
Point, in the Straits of Magellan, and at various places up the 
east side of the Andes. 

Still later all Northern Chile was submerged, and a great sea 
occupied the present nitrate fields. | When this sea dried up, 
through elevation, the nitric acid of these seaweeds, in contact 
with gypsum and limestone, produced nitrate of soda. Some 
400,000,000,000 of kilogrammes are supposed to exist, and the 
value of the export, iodine and nitrate, in 1901 was £9,181,440. 
The borate of lime alone came to £97,680. 

Middle Chile, including the rich central valley, was, how- 
ever, almost filled up even then by the richest soil, brought 
down by the Andine rivers, and blended at all the many diverse 
rocks which compose that chain. 

The transgressions of the sea filled the lower part of the 
Chile valley with water, but the valley itself can be traced in 
sounds and inlets right down to Cape Horn. 

Thus, Chile consists of (1) the Western Mountains; (2) the 
valley nitrate desert, rich land or sea inlet; (3) Andes, with its 
river system of valleys; and (4) another valley, the “ Moreno,’’ 
which is partly occupied by great fresh-water lakes, and partly 
filled by shingles or lavas or sand of recent deposit. 

To the east stretches the monotonous terraces and tablelands 


370 é CHILE. 


of Patagonia and the Argentine Republic, only broken here and 
there by inconspicuous ridges which represent a great mountain 
system now nearly worn away. 

The rainfall of Chile depends upon the prevalent winds. . 
All winds from the east cross the Argentine and lose all moisture 
long before they rise into the cold Andine passes, where they 
form violent and dangerous hurricanes. These blow especially 
from 10 a.m., thus travellers have to cross in the early morning. 
We left the night’s hotel at 4 a.m., and got over on mule-back 
by 7.30. But by a sort of suction these winds cause a breeze 
over the central valley which begins about 1-2 p.m. After a 
morning of brilliant sunshine, it dies off towards night. During 
the night cold air flows down into the valley from the Andes. 

There lies in the Pacific Ocean a permanent eddy, a kind of 
“swirl,’’ in the atmosphere. It follows that on all southern 
Chile a procession of westerly winds from the Pacific deposits 
abundant rain on the Pacific slopes and West Coast islands, 
As one passes north in Chile these winds are either parellel to or 
away from the coast and bring no rain. 

Thus the rainfall varies :— 


F Latitud 
Bolo Re ee Western end 
Valdivia. | of Magellan’s 
a4°.97". | 72°.29°. | 29°-30°. | 38°. hie 
0 | ) 0 16-20 ins. | 114 ins. 149°65 ins. 
over in in in 134 days 313 days 
many years 1-2 years| no year lyear | in 1 year in 1 year 


The last is Dr Coppinger’s estimate. 


The aristocracy are mostly Spanish descendants of the 
conguistadores, but many of the ruling families are partly of 
British descent. It must be remembered that South American 
republics owe a great deal to us. Our army in the Spanish 
peninsula, the great Earl of Dundonald, Elamirante Cochrane, 
guarded the Pacific for the insurgents. O’Higgins, the liberator, 
was the descendant of a West Meath Irishman, and such names 
as Walker, Pratt, Condell, Rogers, Simpson, and Golwards are 
found amongst the Chilian aristocracy. The loans which enabled 
the young republic to fight were raised in London, and, in fact, 


CHILE. yal 


from the time of Drake, the Republic of Chile has been greatly 
assisted by British. It may be on this account that the govern- 
ing classes seem more enlightened and business-like than other 
South American States. The military dictator, so common else- 
where, has not appeared in Chile. There has been, of course, 
one revolution, that of Balmacedan, but it was not of the usual 
South American type. Chile has come out victorious from a 
severe struggle against Peru and Bolivia. In these wars the 
Chilian people have distinguished themselves. They are of 
mixed Spanish and Indian descent, and brave, obstinate, en- 
during, and patient to the uttermost, but possibly cruel and 
blood-thirsty in success. It is these Chilians who do the hard 


‘labour of the nitrate mines, which are financed in London, and 


managed by British, chiefly Liverpool, firms. It is also this 
Chilian who does the agricultural work of the great fertile valley. 
The coffee-coloured water from some Andes stream is led for 
miles along broad channels, shaded by tall poplars, and distri- 
buted through those magnificent pasture lands, where three cows 
are kept on an acre, not three acres to a cow as in poor old 
Scotland. The forage alfalfa may yield five cuttings in the year. 
Few sheep are seen, because the water is said to contain a 
parasite liver-fluke. Corn crops are magnificent, and are some- 
times thrashed after a very prehistoric manner. A troop of mares 
is driven into a large circle covered with corn, and they are 
made to gallop round this for twenty minutes, then sent in the 
other direction. They are turned out and the corn shovelled up, 
and a second supply is laid down, the process being continued by 
a second troop, and so on. The mares are kept for breeding, 


‘so that the process is not so wasteful as it looks or sounds. 


But it is dying out, and the wonderful Australian machine which 
reaps, thrashes, and puts into sacks all by itself is coming in. 


‘The system on these big estancies or farms is a very curious one, 


and directly descends from the Spanish days. The Chilian 
labourer or inquileno is given a house, made of a dobe or dried 
mud-brick, and as much land as he wants for raising beans and 
vegetables. He generally keeps pigs, chickens, possibly goats or 
sheep. He has always a horse, and many dogs, which guard the 
premises. As a rule he has a large family. For this he or one 


of his family has to work for the proprietor whenever called upon 
to do so. Taking current wages this amounts to a rent of 


ot CHILE. 


possibly £10 to £30 per annum. The system seems antiquated 
and oppressive, but I do not think that the Chilian inquileno, 
though sometimes hard worked and poor, is by any means so 
badly off as the poor in our large cities in Scotland. The climate 
is glorious; no one ever seems hungry, and though it is said 
that there is much aquardiate or brandy drunk, one sees ex- 
tremely little drunkenness—far less than in Scotland. The 
exports of agricultural products in 1901 amounted to £336,076. 
The Government fosters agriculture. I found an agricultural 
school at Chillan, a smaller town than Dumfries, where the care 
of vineyards and other agricultural practice was thoroughly and 
scientifically taught. Down the great central valley of exceeding 
fertility, irrigated after the Luca fashion and managed on old 
Spanish lines, runs a main line of railway. Locomotives and 
running-stock are American, but the travelling is exceedingly 
comfortable. Trains start from big cities at a convenient hour, 
stop for 25 minutes to lunch, and stop at a big city for the night. 
About dinner time, at every station, the traveller may choose 
plums, peaches, cherries, and other fruits from long files of 
baskets. The restaurants are excellent, and the fares by rail 
are extremely moderate. 

Going south, after crossing the Bio Bio, which was for cen- 
turies the Spanish-American frontier, the whole character of the 
land and economy changes. The clearing of the forest and the 
formation of farms can be seen in every stage. Some 2500 
acres of forest can be bought for #1000, on easy terms. Fencing 
and surveying is compulsory. First the smaller trees, creepers, 
and brushwood are cut through, and then the whole is set on 
fire. The blackened stumps of the larger trees are left till 
they rot away, standing in a melancholy fashion out of the rich, 
waving wheat. Wheat is grown till the land can no longer pro- 
duce a harvest, and then it is used as pasture. Such a farm, if 
carefully tended, is said to yield about £250 a year. This 
southern part of Chile is rapidly losing its woods, and the farmers 
are often German, English, or Chilian. In this modern agricul- 
tural development Germans play a large part. Valdivia is wholly 
German, and very excellent and cheap beer and lager beer is 
made and exported through all Chile. Though the German 
language is kept up, and Deutschland is very conspicuous in 
convivial meetings and songs about the Vaterland, yet I am sure 


y————eEEE——————SEe 


CHILE. 373 


not one man of them would ever return to Germany on any con- 
sideration whatever. 

At Sandy Point, in the Straits of Magellan, founded by 
Commodore Byron in 1764, a pastoral development is taking 
place on Australian lines. This place is the scene of Sarmiento’s 
disastrous colony. Four hundred men and 30 women were left 
there, and by the end of the second winter 15 men and three 
women were left alive. A solitary survivor was taken away by 
Cavendish in 1587. But at Sandy Point there is a thriving town 
of 7000 or 8000 inhabitants, and in Tierra del Fuego Scotch and 
New Zealand shepherds with collies watch over thousands of 
sheep. The company which owns this land is said to have 
thriven exceedingly. My information leads me to think that for 
every £100 originally subscribed is now worth £3100. All 
depends on the simple fact that the sheep corresponds to the 
quanaco, and that the cold, inclement climate produces fine wool. 
At present many land companies are starting all along the great 
Moreno valley round the big lakes; but I should warn you that 
though there is rich and good land and excellent grazing, there 
are also many dry, arid tablelands, where even the ostrich hunter 
dare not go for fear of losing his horse and dogs by thirst. 

Sawmills, tanyards, etc., are often German. Frenchmen are 
also common in Chile, and they have a large share in working 
the vineyards, in clothing, articles of luxury, and all sorts of 
expensive and dainty frivolity. A Frenchman introduced the 
snail Helixaspera, which is a Parisian dainty, and it is now a 
pest in every vineyard. The richer Chilian families often go to 
Paris, and all endeavour to keep up with Paris fashions. Thus 
the Chilian lady begins to spoil her complexion with powder and 
paint at a very early age. The streets of Santiago are paraded 
by jeunease doree of an effeminate and languid type, who make 
admiring remarks and criticisms on the ladies that pass. “ Has 
not the little one a sympathetic appearance!’’ No lady ever 
dares to walk in the street without an escort. The ladies are 
usually invisible until twelve and one o’clock. After dinner, in 
the beautiful cool evenings of Chile, all the better classes patrol 
the squares or plazas, which are often beautifully laid out with 
trees and flowering shrubs, while an excellent band plays. The 
children attend this evening parade. Even quite small girls of 
four or five years old will take care to throw the sunshine of her 


374. ; CHILE. 


smiles on every man or boy present. These ornamental parts of 
the towns show considerable taste on Italian and Parisian lines. 
It is astonishing to see what a magnificent effect a few square 
yards of stucco coloured a delicate pink and gaily painted railings 
can produce. This sort of rococo and stucco buildings and bad 
statuary might, however, have been avoided in some cases. The 
old rock of Sta Lucia, the original camp of Pedrode Vaidiavia. 
and the cradle of Santiago, might surely have been left in ils 
original stern ruggedness. It is now so covered with gilt railings, 
stucco parapets, gardens, and restaurants that it only reminds one 
of the decorations usual on boxes containing inferior cigars. 
Santiago with its 292,000 inhabitants, Valparaiso with 136,050 
inhabitants, and a large residential suburb, Vina del Mar, were 
to us the least interesting parts of Chile. 

It is in these towns also that the health of the people appears 
to be worst, that the people are worst off, and that religion seems 
to be at its lowest. In the smaller places there is a larger 
percentage of men attending more regularly than in any ordinary 
London church. Indeed, through Chile the priests have great 
power. This is shown by one astonishing fact. Every woman 
in the country, whatever her position in life, attends Mass in a 
black manta made of various materials, but entirely without 
decoration or ornament. These cities also suffer as regards 
health. Typhoid and other fevers are common, but in some ways 
they are in front of us in Dumfries, for every wall and tramcar 
and seat is placarded with agonised appeals to the public not to 
expectorate in public places. Over the most of Chile the climate 
seems to be excellent, and the only complaint seems to be that there 
is an extraordinary infant mortality. But when linen is habitually 
washed in what may quite fairly be called open sewers, when 
little children play with mangy dogs and measly swine on what we 
call here a free coup, it is absurd to expect anything else. Even 
amongst people quite well off, babies dine at table-d’hotes, and 
cry for a second glass of beer. On the whole, however, this 
vigorous little republic which calls itself the England of the 
Pacific makes an excellent impression on the stranger than is 
possible at home. Moreover, with a considerable experience of 
my fellow-countrymen when exiles abroad, Chile is the one place 
I have ever known in which everybody has something good to 
say of his Babylon, and, as a matter of fact, the descendants of 


CHILE. 375 


English or Scotch people become entirely Chilians in speech and 
sentiment. The mixture of races and civilisation never failed to 
interest me. I passed New-Year’s Eve at Angol in the company 
-of a German from Hamburg in the hotel of a Basque from the 
Pyrennees. Telegraph and telephone wires cross unpaved 
streets. Under them rides an Indian woman with her baskets. 
Donkeys with loads of sticks stumble into the town from their 
fifteen mile journey. Bullock carts with solid creaking wheels 
come to the railway station, where American locomotives bring in 
polite Chilian officials, German chemists, Italian shopkeepers, 
French hotel-keepers, British merchants, pure Indians in 
blankets, and Chilian workmen. 


25th November, 1904. 


Chairman—The PRESIDENT. 


NEw Memsers.—Miss L. H. M‘Connell, Milnhead ; Mrs M. 
A. Thompson, and Miss Bell, Castle Street, Dumfries; and Mr 
Edward J. Hill, Ladyfield. 


Forests: WILD AND CULTIVATED. By Dr AUGUSTINE HENRY, 
M.A.F.L.S., &c., Kew. 


In this lecture Dr Henry gave an interesting account of the 
wild forests of the world, and contrasted them with those which 
were cultivated, pointing out the errors in the management of 
_most cultivated forests in this country, and contrasting them with 
‘those which are properly managed. The lecture was illustrated 
with limelight views. It has been published in the “ Economic 
Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society.’’ Vol. I., Part V., 
No. 11, under the above title. 


16th December, 1904. 


Chairman—Mr R. SErRvIcE, Vice-President. 


New MemBer.—Mr Jas. Hewitson, Park House, Dumfries. 


376 BrBticAL MONEY AND COINS OF THE HoLy LAND. 


ExuiBits.—In addition to the coins shown by Rev. H. A. 
Whitelaw and referred to in his paper, a collection of German 
and Hamburg coins, by Miss Cresswell, Nunholm; coins of 
Charles I. and the Commonwealth, by Mr Jas. Davidson; 
Scottish and English coins, by Master Wm. Dickie. 


BrBLIcAL MONEY AND CoINs OF THE Hoty LAnp. By Rev. H. A. 
WHITELAW. 


Ranging over an extensive field and beginning from the 
earliest ages, the lecturer showed the development of the idea of 
“purchase ’’ from the principle of “ barter’’ or exchange; how 
articles different in kind became related to each other by refer- 
ence to a common standard of weight ; how definiteness of weight: 
(cf. Job xxviii. 15; Zechariah xi. 12) was quickly followed 
by definiteness of shape (cf. Genesis xlii. 25; Deuteronomy xiv. 
25; Il. Kings xii. 9; etc.). Not, however, till the seventh 
century B.c. did the medium of purchase take the form of coin, 
while the only coined money mentioned in the Old Testament, or 
connected with the Holy Land in any way during that period, was. 
the Persian Daric or Drachm (B.c. 538-529), in gold and silver. 
(See I. Chronicles xxix. 7, Ezra ii. 69, vili. 27, and Nehemiah 
vii. 70-72.) Though commonly supposed to have been first coined 
by, and named after, Darius Hystaspes, of the Book of Ezra (the 
father of Ahasuerus of the Book of Esther and grandfather of 
Artaxerxes of Nehemiah), the lecturer inclined to the view that. 
they were coined first by Cyrus, the conquerer of the fifth and 
last of the Lydian Kings, Croesus, whose wealth of jewels and 
money fell into the conqueror’s hands, and that the name given 
was from the Persian word “Dara,’’ meaning “king,’’ or 
“sovereign,’’ a term analagous to that in use in our own day. 
The period between the Old and New Testaments occupied a 
large section of the lecture. In this, the series known as the 
Maccabeean coins was dealt with, beginning with the Shekels of 
Simon Maccabeeus (B.C. 140-135), and ending with the copper 
coinage of Antigonus (B.c. 40-37), the last of the line. From 
the types displayed on these pieces it was interesting to observe: 
the fluctuations and gradual deterioration in the national and 
religious idea of the Jewish people. Under the New Testament: 
section came the coins of the Idumzans and those of the Roman 


BIBLICAL MONEY AND COINS OF THE Ho Ly LAND. 377 


Procurators along with the aurei, denarii, and brasses of the con- 
temporary Roman Emperors. Here also were exhibited the 
pieces specified in the New Testament Scriptures (e.g., the stater, 
the penny, the farthing, the mite, etc.). A final brief section was 
devoted to the “ Coins relative to Judaism and Jerusalem subse- 
quent to New Testament times.’’ Here were noted the coins of 
the First Revolt in the reign of Nero, the Judaea Capta and 
Devicta coins of Vespasian and Titus, and others celebrating 
the conquest of Judaea, the coins of the Second Revolt under 
Simon Bar Cochab, and the Aelia Capitolina coins of Hadrian 
and subsequent Emperors. Among the pieces exhibited from 
the cabinet of the lecturer were a Lydian Electrum (700-568 B.c.), 
Aegina Stater (early 700-550 B.c.), another (later type, B.C. 550- 
456), Persian Daric (B.c. 538-529), Siglos, Alexander the Great 
(Tetradrachms), Ptolemy I. Soter, Antiochus IV. Epiphanes, 
Antiochus VII. Sidetes, Jewish Shekel and Half Shekel, John 
Hyrcanus I., Alexander Jannaeus, Alexandra, A. Plantius 
(Judaeus Bacchius), Antigonus, Herod the Great, Herod 
Archelaus, Herod Antipas, Herod Agrippa I., Herod Agrippa II., 
the Procurators (Ambivius, Rufus, Gratus, Pontius Pilate, and 
Felix), Augustus’ Stater, Tribute Penny, Simon Nasi, Judaea 
Devicta, Simon Bar Cochab, and Crusader Penny of Amalric II. 
These, with aurei, denarii, and brasses of Mark Antony, Julius 
Cesar, Cesar Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, 
and others, enhanced greatly the interest of the lecture. 


20th January, 1905. 
Chairman—Mr G. F. Scott-E uiot, President. 


New MempBers.—Mr John Maxwell, Tarquah, Maxwell- 
town; Mr Harry Edgar, Ferguslea, Maxwelltown. 


I.—BuriaL Urns Founp IN MAXWELLTOWN Park. By Mr 
James Barzsour, F.S.A. (Scot.). 


_Mr Barbour read an interesting note describing two Burial 
Urns found in 1904 in the field acquired by the Burgh of Max- 
welltown for a public park. The large urn had been broken by 


378 THe WEATHER OF 1904. 


the workman’s pick, and only pieces were recovered, but the 
smaller, though imperfect, was nearly complete. Both urns con- 
tained a considerable uantity of calcined bones. Mr Barbour 
described the form and ornament of the urns, which may be seen 
in the Society's Museum, and presented them to the Society 
with the permission of the parties or authorities who had any 
interest therein. 


The Chairman introduced Mr John Maxwell, travelling com- 
missioner on the Gold Coast, who exhibited a number of the 
products of the colony, which he presented to the Society, and 
gave a number of details respecting these, for which he was 
heartily thanked. 


II.—THE WEATHER OF 1904. By Rev. W. ANDSON. 


Before submitting my annual report of the weather of 1904, 
I may mention that the instruments used, consisting of barometer, 
certified maximum and minimum self-registering thermometers, 
dry and wet bulb thermometers, and rain gauge, were inspected 
by Dr Buchan, secretary of the Scottish Meteorological Society, 
in September last, and on being compared with his standard 
instruments were found to vary so little from the standard that it 
was not considered necessary to apply corrections to the readings. 
I submit first of all a table, which contains a summary of all the 
observations taken during the year, which will be printed as usual 
in the Transactions, but which I need not read now. The re- 
marks which follow are founded upon these observations, and 
intended to bring out the general character of the weather of the 
past year, as compared with other years embraced in the period of 
observation. 

Beginning with the barometer, I find that the highest reading 
of the year occurred on the 21st January, when it rose to 30.655 
inches; and the lowest on the 13th February, when it fell to 
28.552 in., giving an annual range of 2.103 in. The mean 
annual pressure (reduced to 32 deg. and sea level), was 29.813 
in. This is about one-tenth of an inch below the average of the 
last eighteen years; and is hardly what one would have expected 
in an exceptionally dry year. But it may be explained by a series 
of extremely low readings in January and February, and especi- 
ally in the latter month, which had readings below 29 inches on 


lt 


THE WEATHER OF 1904. 


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380 THE WEATHER OF 1904. 


six days, and a mean for the month of only 29.491 in. The only 
months which had means above 30 inches were June, September, 
and October, and these were, on the whole, the finest months 
of the year. Cyclones, with their accompanying storms of wind 
and rain, were most frequent in January, February, and December, 
and in the first half of April; but taking the year as a whole, they 
were less frequent than usual, and there was a preponderance of 
anti-cyclonic weather. 

We now pass on to temperature, that exceedingly important 
element in weather conditions—it being understood that the read- 
ings are all of thermometers kept constantly in the shade and 
four feet above the grass, in a Stevenson screen. The highest 
single day temperature of the year occurred on the rrth July, 
when a reading of 84.7 deg. was recorded. But twice also in 
June there were readings in excess of 80 deg., viz., 80.5 deg., on 
the 4th, and 81.7 deg. on the 5th. The absolute minimum, or 
lowest single day temperature of the year, occurred on the 26th 
November and the 11th December, when it was 19.5 deg. This 
gives an annual range of 65.2 deg. The warmest month of the 
year was July, with a mean of 60.7 deg., and the next warmest, 
August, with a mean of 58.1 deg. The coldest month was 
February, with a mean of 37.1 deg., and the next coldest 
December, with a mean of 37.6 deg. January, March, April, 
July, and October had monthly means slightly above the average, 
and the others means slightly below; but when the excesses and 
deficiencies were compared they were found almost exactly to 
balance one another, the former amounting to 7.2 deg. and the 
latter to 6.8 deg., so that we are prepared to find that the mean 
temperature of the year is just about average. It comes out at 
47.6 deg., which is as nearly as possible the mean of the last 
eighteen years. It has been as low as 46 deg., and as high as 
49 deg. But the exact mean is 47.7 deg. On the 
whole the season was exceptionally favourable to vegeta- 
tion. But this was not due to any excess of warmth, 
as is shown by the fact that the mean annual temperature, as we 
have just seen, was barely up to average, although there was a 
fair number of really warm days, with temperatures ranging from 
70 deg. to 84 deg. But the explanation is rather to be found 
in the distribution of the successive periods of moderate rainfall 
and dry sunny weather, which was such as to promote in a re- 


THE WEATHER OF 1904. 381 


markable degree the growth, and ripening, and safe in-gathering 
of all kinds of crops. The first ten days of April were, indeed, 
unfavourable, owing to the boisterous and wet weather which 
prevailed, resembling that of March rather than that of April, 
and illustrating the well-known saying about the “ borrowing 
days ’’—“ March borrowed from April three days, and they were 
wild.’’ But in this case it was not three days only, but ten 
days, or a whole third of the month. In consequence there was 
considerable delay in the seed-time, and the fear was expressed 
that the harvest might be late again, as in the preceding year. 
But so favourable did the weather become in the latter part of 
April and in the succeeding months, that the harvest, instead of 
being late, was rather earlier than usual, as well as abundant. 
The conditions of weather which secured this happy result were 
so well expressed in a recent letter in the “ Standard,’’ entitled 
“The Farmer’s Year,’’ by a Nithsdale farmer, that I think I 
cannot do better than quote his words. He says: “ The season, 
taken all over, has been remarkable for long spells of fine 
weather, followed by short spells of showery weather, beginning 
with a good wet day and gradually tapering off.’’ This occurred 
again and again in the course of the summer months, ending in 
ideal weather in September and October. I have already re- 
ferred to the verification in April of a well-known weather saying 
about the borrowing days. There is another which relates to the 
month of October, which was as remarkably verified in the past 
year. It is called St. Luke’s little summer. St. Luke’s Day is 
the 18th of October, and about that period the weather is often 
remarkably mild; and it was so in a remarkable degree last year. 
On calculating the temperature of the seven days, beginning with 
the 17th and ending with the 23d, I found that the mean tempera- 
ture of that period was 53 deg., whereas the average mean for 
the whole month is only 47.6 deg. These current weather say- 
ings have reference generally to comparatively warm or cold 
periods occurring at seasons when weather of the opposite kind 
might have been expected. And there is another relating to 
November, to which I may refer, as verfied in the past year. 
It is called St. Martin’s little summer, beginning with the 11th, 
which is Martinmas. The warmth of the week beginning on that 
day and ending on the 17th was something abnormal, viz., 48 
deg., which is five degrees above the mean of the whole month. 


582 THE WEATHER OF I904. 


But shortly afterwards the temperature underwent a sudden and 
complete change, passing from spring-like mildness to the 
severity of mid-winter. Between the 2oth and the 26th occurred 
a fall in temperature to 19.5 deg., and the heaviest snowfall of 
the year, or even of a good many years, measuring eleven inches 
in depth on the ground, and causing serious obstruction to traffic 
in many parts of the country both by road and rail. 

I now pass on to the rainfall of the year. The number of 
days on which precipitation took place in the form of rain or 
snow was 204 (rain, 198; snow, 6). And the amount for the 
year was 31.26 inches. That is considerably short of the average 
of the last eighteen years, to which the period of observation 
extends. It is in striking contrast with that of the previous year, 
1903, which measured no less than 50 inches. That, however, 
was the rainiest of the eighteen; but when the record of the past 
year is compared with the average of all these years since 1887, it 
falls short by fully six inches, being 31.26 in., as compared with 
a mean of 37.31 in. The other years most closely resembling it 
were those of 1887, with a record of 30.99 in., and 1902, with a 
record of 30.90 in., both slightly less. The rainiest month was 
August, which had 3.85 in., and the next, January, which had 
3.32 in.; and, curiously enough, the driest month was October, 
which had only 1.89 in., whereas in the previous year it was the 
rainiest month of the whole year, with over eight inches, and in 
ordinary years has an average of nearly four inches. Most of the 
months were drier than usual, with the exception of April, which 
had 2.88 in., as compared with a mean of 2.12 in. One of the 
most notable facts in connection with the rainfall was the unusual 
dryness of the last three months, which are usually the rainiest. 
The average amount for these months is over eleven inches, but 
last year it was only between four and five, which was less than 
half. There was only one day in the year that the amount 
recorded for the twenty-four hours was in excess of an inch. 
That was on the 15th July, which is St. Swithin’s Day, when 
1.40 in. fell, being fully one-half of the whole amount for the 
month. The tradition is, that if it rains on St. Swithin’s Day it 
will rain for forty days thereafter. This led me to institute an 
inquiry how far this well-known weather saying was justified by 
the facts, as ascertained by actual observation. I accordingly 
drew up a table, which showed: 1st, Whether St. Swithin’s Day 


THE WEATHER OF 1904. 383 


was wet or dry; 2d, on how many of the forty days following 
rain fell; and 3rd, the amount of rain for these days. The 
result, as shown by the table, was that there was not a single 
year in the past eighteen on which rain fell for forty days after 
the 15th. The greatest number was 34, in 1895, with the 
heaviest rainfall for the period, viz., 7.93 in., and the additional 
circumstance that St. Swithin’s was dry. This was enough of 
itself to upset the theory. But in other respects also the facts 
were against it. I may mention that I sent a copy of this paper 
to Dr H. R. Mill, the editor of the “ British Rainfall,’’? who 
inserted it in the next number of his meteorological magazine. 
It drew forth two communications on the subject from other 
observers in England, both of whom practically agreed with 
the conclusions to which I had come. One of them particularly, 
who seemed to be an official in the Greenwich Observatory, and 
collated the Greenwich rainfall observations extending over 64. 
years, gives as the result of his calculations that a wet St. 
Swithin’s entails on an average seventeen wet days out of the next 
forty, with a total rainfall of 3.13 in.; and a dry St. Swithin’s 
brings the same number of wet days, with an average total rain- 
fall of 3.33 in. This surely is sufficient to explode the old legend 
as a baseless superstition. And neither the farmer nor the 
pleasure-seeker need henceforth be unduly depressed by a wet, 
nor unduly elated by a dry, St. Swithin’s, as the strong proba- 
bility is that there will be very little difference in the kind of 
weather which follows in either case. 
In connection with this part of the subject, perhaps it is 
right that I should notice the occurrence in this neighbourhood 
of the somewhat rare phenomenon of a “ waterspout,’’ which did 
a great deal of damage to the district in which it fell. The time 
was the 23d of June, and the district the upper part of Kirk- 
mahoe and lower part of Closeburn, but extending eastward as 
far as Courance, in Kirkmichael. It seemed to come down 
upon Auldgirth Hill about 4 p.m. in a great body of water, 
which rushed with tremendous violence in different directions, 
part towards Auldgirth railway station, which was flooded, with 
a good deal of injury to the embankment; part by Forest farm 
and Boatrigg; and part by Dalswinton Mill, the gable of which 
was wrecked and the sawmill dam washed away, and cutting its 
way thence by levelling the stone dykes on each side of the road 


384 THE WEATHER OF 1904. 


to Braehead, it reached the public road between Dalswinton 
Lodge and Boghead Bridge, cutting it up to the depth of four 
feet and thirty yards in length, and depositing great quantities of 
stones and mud upon the Dalswinton meadows. Part also came 
down upon the Duncow Burn, flooding the houses of the village, 
and carrying along with it great deposits of stones and mud. 
At Courance also, in Kirkmichael, either a separate waterspout, 
or more probably a part of the same, came down upon the Garrel, 
carrying havoc in its progress and causing no small amount of 
damage. The Garrel passed by a culvert below the Dumfries 
and Moffat Road, and the culvert being blocked, a chasm was 
made in the road at that point extending to a length of 150 feet 
and 25 feet in depth. 

With regard to the hygrometer observations, the mean dry 
bulb reading for the year was 47.6 deg., as ascertained from the 
daily morning and evening readings, and exactly the same as the 
mean annual temperature calculated from the daily maxima and 
minima; while the mean wet bulb was 44.9 deg. From these 
values the mean temperature of the dew point comes out at 
41.8 deg., and the relative humidity at 81, saturation being equal 
to roo. This indicates a dryness a little above the average, 
corresponding with the fact that the rainfall was decidedly under 
the mean. 

The records of wind direction vary little from what is usual. 
The wind which prevailed during the greatest number of days, as 
it never fails to do, was the south-west, which had 93 days. 
The next was the west, with 57. And if we compare the 
northerly and easterly with the southerly and westerly, we find 
as the result that the former blew on 129 days and the latter on 
231 days, while a few were calm or variable. 


Tue WEATHER IN RELATION TO HEALTH. By Dr MAXWELL Ross. 


Dr Maxwell Ross made the following remarks :— 

He noticed the fact that the highest temperature recorded in 
Dumfries was in July, and the reading 84.7. He thought that 
was the highest record at any of the sixty meteorological stations 
in Scotland. A somewhat similar occurrence took place in the 
month of April. The absolute maximum was observed at Dum- 
fries on 19th April, being 67.5. The weather sayings, about St. 


THE WEATHER IN RELATION TO HEALTH. 385 


Luke’s and St. Martin’s little summers had been very remarkably 
verified in 1904. The observations also afforded an illustration, 
in the case of St. Swithin’s, of the way in which such weather 
sayings could be corrected. One naturally wondered, in view of 
the destructive evidence adduced, how such a saying had ob- 
tained currency. He thought an explanation might be found in 
the fact that parties had been somewhat careless as to the way 
in which they phrased their weather prophecies. What was 
probably in their minds was that the weather conditions about 
that time of the year were fairly constant; consequently that if 
the day were fine there would probably be a continuance of fine 
weather ; if you had bad weather it would probably continue for 
some time. In “Poor Rcbin’s Almanac’”’ (1697) the St. 
Swithin legend was thus expressed :— 
“In this month is St Swithin’s Day 
On which if that it rain, they say 
Full forty days after it will, 
Or more or less, some rain distil.’’ 
We found the same tradition in Italy with regard to St. Gallo’s 
Day. It was said in Tuscany that the weather on St. Gallo’s 
Day would prevail for forty days. The poet Gay ridiculed such 
prophecies :-— 
. “Let not such vulgar tales debase thy mind; 
Nor Paul nor Swithin rules the clouds and wind.”’ 
There were similar popular sayings regarding other days in 
July :-— 
“Tf the 1st of July it be rainy weather, 
It will rain more or less for four weeks together.”’ 
“Tf it rains on St. Mary’s Day (2nd July), it will rain four 
weeks.’’ “If it rains on first dog day (3rd July), it will rain for 
forty days together.’’ Regarding 4th July :— 
“ Bullion’s Day, gif ye be fair, 
For forty days ’twill rain nae mair.’’ 
“Tf it rains on July roth, it will rain for seven weeks.’’ These 
all pointed to a general conviction that the weather conditions 
which were prevalent in the early part of July would probably 
continue for some time. Dr Ross proceeded to remark on the 
mortality records of Dumfriesshire for the past year, with a view 
to indicating how far the experience corresponded with the 
“seasonal mortality curves’’ of Sir Arthur Mitchell and Dr 


386 THe WEATHER IN RELATION TO HEALTH. 


Buchan, while pointing out that, of course, no conclusion could 
be drawn except from data extending over a wide area and a 
long period. 


10th February, 1905. 
Chairman—The PRESIDENT. 
New Memper.—Mr C. R. Dudgeon, Cargen. 


Exuipits.—From Mr R. Service, a bunch of the marble 
gall of the oak, a specimen of the rough-legged buzzard (a male) 
taken in Corsock on January 6th, 1904, during the migration 
which took place during the season 1903-4, a pair of eggs of the 
rough-legged buzzard, taken in Lapland about 55 years ago; 
from Mr Montgomery, fruiterer, a living specimen of the small 
tortoiseshell butterfly, taken that morning from a case of oranges 
from Palermo, Sicily; from Miss Thomson, Langlands, pistol 
left by one of Prince Charlie’s party on its way through Dumfries, 
seal from a D.D. certificate in 1675, fragment of a letter in 
cipher from Guy Fawkes, stone pipe from New Zealand, and 
pipe-head found in carriage of Prince Menschikoff after the 
battle of Alma; from Mr Waddell, a number of geographical 
models in relief of districts in this locality ; from Miss Cresswell, 
a richly embroidered coat of period of Elizabeth, which belonged 
to Sir Philip Sidney, and carved tortoiseshell snuff box tops ; 
from Mr Harry Edgar, a rare collection of old British stamps, 
including a specimen of the first issue; from the President, 
specimens of Egyptian cotton; from Mr R. Service, jun., a 
sixpence and a shilling of William III., recently found at Jane- 
field Nurseries, and a Burns relic, being a collar which belonged 
to Jean Armour; from Mr John Corrie, Moniaive, a specimen of 
the stoat in its winter coat of white. 


I.—Tue Larcu Disease. By the PREsIpENT, on behalf of Mr 
W. Murray, Murraythwaite. 


The discovery has been made that the Japanese larch can 
be attacked by this pest of our Scottish woods. This discovery 
is due to Mr W. Murray of Murraythwaite, who sent specimens of 


4 


THe LarcH DISEASE. 387 


Japanese larch which were certainly attacked by the fungus. 
Dr Massee, of Kew, who is the best authority in Britain on the 
subject, has pronounced that the fungus is the real larch-canker, 
so that there is no doubt about the matter. 

The trees were grown from seed brought by Mr W. 
Campbell from Japan, and planted out at Murraythwaite in the 
autumn of 1899. ‘They are in a pure plantation of Japanese 
larches (Larix Leptolepis), but very close to a plantation of the 
common larch, which is badly affected by the disease. As only 
two trees of the Japanese seem to have been touched, it is cer- 
tainly less subject than the common larch, at anyrate at present. 

The fungus Dasycypha Willkommii, or Peziza calycina, is 
found on flattened deformed parts of the branches. The fruit 
(about the height of a capital letter) is whitish on the outside, 
ending above in a tiny orange-yellow cup. Several of these fruits 
are usually scattered over a deformed swelling of the branch. 
The orange cup contains thousands of spores, which are carried 
by the wind or insects to other trees. If a spore happens to fall 
on a young twig gnawed by a beetle or by squirrels, or on a 
branch accidentally peeled or broken in any way, it begins to 
grow, and forms a delicate cobwebby mass of threads, which 
develops between the wood and the bark, absorbing food which 
ought to nourish the tree. 

Sometimes the tree by a great effort cuts off the injured 
branch by a sheet of cork and recovers, but more usually the 
fungus lives on, year after year, destroying its health and vigour. 

The fungus is decidedly worst in damp, low-lying places ; on 
mountain sides even the common larch sometimes escapes, as, 
for instance, at Dalswinton (on the authority of Mr Hattersley). 
But the present universal system of growing larches in pure 
plantations, without any other trees between them, must, of 
course, be particularly favourable to the spread of this or any 
other fungus or insect pest. Almost every spore of the thousands 
in a cup will reach another larch, instead of some other tree, 
which it would not be able to attack, and in this case, of course, 
it would perish miserably. 

These pure plantations are, therefore, dangerous; the best 
continental authorities recommend a mixture of larch with 
deciduous and other conifers, for other reasons as well as the 
above. 


388 Locat BirpDs. 


II.—Locat Birps. Communicated by Mr Rosert M‘CAtt, 
Carsethorn, Kirkbean. 


The annexed list of local birds is not offered as complete, 
but as an attempt to record those captured or recognised by a 
collector and observer on the coast of the Solway. All the birds 
named have been captured or seen within the limited area 
embraced between Colvend and Newabbey, and were mainly 
seen in the parish of Kirkbean and its coast, or on the Solway 
opposite. The list of land birds is incomplete, as the observer 
has not much opportunity of seeing those frequenting the wood- 
lands. 

The following are in his own collection, and of his own 
stuffing :— 


Duck, Eider. Tern, Sandwich. 

» Common Teal. Water Rail. 

» Golden Eye. Merganser, Red-breasted. 

», | Wigson. Ousel, Ring. 

» Long-tailed. Phalarope, Grey. 

;ferePintatl: Razor Bill. 

» Pochard. Redshank, Spotted. 

» Tufted. Sanderling. 

»»  Shoveller. Sandpiper, Purple. 
Fulmar, Sheldrake. Skua, Richardson’s. 
Gannet. Blackbird. 

Grebe, Great Crested. Cole Tit. 

»  Red-throated. Crested Wren. 

seattle: Harrier Hen. 
Greenshank. Magpie. 
Kingfisher. Owl, Long-eared. 
Tern, Black. Peregrine. 

», Common. Pheasant. 

» Arctic. Sparrow Hawk. 

5, Lesser, or Sea Swallow. Starling. 


CAPTURED OR OBSERVED IN DISTRICT. 


Cormorant. Dunlin. 
Curlew. Godwit, Bar-tailed. 
Diver, Great Northern. Goose, Barnacle. 


Duck, Scaup. 5 Bean. 


Lecat Birps. 389 


Goose, Brent. 
‘, Pink-footed. 
»  White-fronted. 
Goosander. 
Guillemot, Common. 
Gull, Common. 
»» Great Black-backed. 
»,  Glaucous. 
»» Herring. 
»» Lesser Black-backed. 
» Brown-headed. 
»  Kittiwake. 
Heron, Common, 
Hooper Swan. 


Bewick’s Swan. 
Knot. 
Mallard. 
Petrel, Fork-tailed. 
Plover, Ring. 
Redshank. 
Sandpiper, Common. 
Scoter, Common. 
s Velvet. 
Sea Pyet, or Oyster Catcher. 
Skua, Richardson’s. 
»»  Buffon’s. 
Turnstone. 


LAND OR FRESH WATER BIRDS. 


Blackcap, Warbler. 
Bullfinch. 
Bunting, Reed. 

. Corn. 

x Snow. 
Buzzard, Common. 
Chaffinch. 
Chiff-chaff. 

Coot. 
Crow, Hooded. 

3) Carrion. 
Cuckoo. 

Dipper, or Water Ousel. 
Dove, Rock. 

3» _ Stock, 
Goldfinch. 
Fieldfare. 

Grouse, Black. 

» Red. 

» Sand, Pallas’s. 
Hobby. 

Jackdaw. 
Jay. 
Kestrel. 


Landrail. 
Linnet, Common. 
Martin, House. 

sy.» Sand: 
Merlin. 
Moor (Water) Hen. 
Titlark. 
Nightjar. 
Owl, Tawny. 

», Barn. 
Partridge. 
Pipit, Rock. 
Plover, Golden. 

», Green, or Pewit. 

» Grey. 
Redbreast. 
Redpoll, Lesser. 
Redwing. 
Rook. 
Siskin. 
Skylark. 
Snipe, Common. 

» Jack. 
Sparrow, Common. 


390 Locat Birps. 


Sparrow, Hedge. © Wagtail, Grey. 
Swallow. » Yellow or Ray’s. 
Swift. Waxwing. 
Thrush, Common. Whinchat. 
»  Missel. White-throat. 
Tit, Blue. Woodpecker, Greater Spotded: 
» Great. Woodcock. 
», Long-tailed. ° Wren. 
» tree Creeper. Wood Pigeon. 


Wagtail, Pied. 


IIJ.—ExtTrRAcTs FROM ANNAN BurRGH RECORDS,- FROM 1682 TO 
1712. By Mr James BaRBour. 


RIDING OF THE MARCHES. 


30th October, 1682.—The said day the whole inhabitants 
were ordained to wait upon the Magistrates and Town Council 
the morrow, upon their best horses and in their best apparel, and 
that before the sun-rising, for riding of the town marches, and 
that under the pain of forty pounds Scots money, to be paid by 
each person inhabitant in case of failure. 

30th September, 1697.—The marches to be ridden this 
year. The whole inhabitants except the present magistrates are 
to ride time about, and to carry the cripples time about. 


REFERENCES TO THE PERSECUTION. 


27th April, 1683.—The which day the Magistrates and 
Council ordain the treasurer and customers to pay their expenses 
when they went out upon the Laird of Claverhouse accounts con- 
form to their respective accounts to be given by each one of them 
for that effect to the town treasurer. 

22nd October, 1683.—Customs let to Pat Galloway, late 
bailie, for r100 merks; and that without defalcation, be it peace 
or war. [He is to pay the full rent even should business be 
dislocated by civil war.] 

14th October, 1684.—The Earl of Annandale chosen pro- 
vost (his lordship then being 20 years of age). All the Council 
sworn, and likewise took the test. 

8th February, 1689.—Earl of Annandale re-elected provost. 
Sir Robert Grierson of Lag was admitted burgess and freeman to 


EXTRACTS FROM ANNAN BURGH RECORDS. 391 


give his advice and counsel to the burgh when required. The 
treasurer was ordained to uplift the custom of that year as from 
- the Earl of Annandale. 


THE REVOLUTION. 


26th February, 1689.—Bryce Blair chosen commissioner to 
attend convention of estates appointed to be held at Edinburgh 
14th March next in obedience to the Prince of Orange proclama- 
tion, to have for his pains two pounds sixteen shillings Scots 
each day during the sitting of said convention. 


THE DOMINIE AND THE TERMAGANT. 


25th October, 1685.—Walter Miller, schoolmaster, in 
Annan, was decerned in ten pounds Scots for striking Marioune 
Robsone, and the said Marioune Robsone decerned in the like 
sum of ten pounds for riving of the said Walter Miller’s hair. 


CONTEMPT OF CoURT. 


19th October, 1689.—John Davidson, in Seafield, was fined 
in twenty pounds Scots money for saying in face of the court that 
the magistrates had not given fair law and that it was like the 
Abay court wherein there was no law. 


GUARDING THE CROPS AND THE FIsH. 


8th August, 1693.—Enacted that no man or woman be seen 
among stooks after daylight is past nightly until harvest be 
done. Enacted that no man or woman shall fish out of their 
neighbour’s nets. 


A Woman LEECH—ASSAULTS AND BATTERIES. 


2nd January, 1694.—Treasurer ordained to pay Sibbild 
Johnstone, relict of the deceased John Lynding, ros sterling, and 
that for curing of five wounds on Robert Johnstone’s head, he 
being wounded by James Lyntone and his sons when the said 
Robert was employed in the town’s business. The which day 
the persons under-named were decerned to make payment to the 
procurator-fiscal of the court and the fines after specified for the 
bloods (assaults to effusion of blood) and batteries (common 
assaults) committed by them, viz.: Robt. Johnstone, son to the 
deceased David Johnstone, late bailie of Annan, of the sum of 


392 EXTRACTS FROM ANNAN BurGH REcoRDs. 


fifty pounds Scots for a blood and ten pounds money foresaid 
for a battery committed by him upon John Johnstone, town 
officer. Item, Harbert Wilkine, fifty pounds for a blood and 
ten pounds Scots for a battery committed by him upon George 
M‘Leive, in Annan. Item, Christopher Johnstone, son to Adam 
Johnstone, in Annan, fifty pounds for a blood and ten pounds 
for a battery committed by him upon John Glover, late servitor 
to Margrate Wilkine, in Annan. Item, John Davidson, in 
Seafield, and John Glesters, in Sandhill, each one of them fifty 
pounds for a blood and ten pounds for a battery committed by 
each one of them upon one another. Item, the said John 
Glesters and John Davidson, each one of them in fifty pounds 
for bloods and ten pounds for batteries committed by each one 
of them upon another, and all and each one of the said persons 
decerned to pay the said fines to the procurator-fiscal within term 
of law under the pain of pcinding and imprisonment till payment 
be made thereof. 

5th August, 1695.—Decerns Janet Smith, in Annan, to pay 
to the procurator-fiscal the sum of fifty pounds Scots for a blood 
and ten pounds for a battery committed by her upon Agnes 
Irving, spouse to Thomas Poll, merchant, of Annan, and one 
hundred pounds Scots for breaking of the King’s free fair, in 
respect she did it upon the town’s fair day. 


Town CLERK AN OFFENDER. 


4th June, 1700.— George Blair, town clerk, found guilty of 
a blood and riot—fined fifty pounds Scots. 


SANITARY REGULATIONS. 


14th March, 1699.—No person living within the burgh is 
to lay any dunghill upon any part of the town street without 
their fore doors; and no person to build any turf or peat stacks 
within any part of the high town street. Enacted that the town 
be causeyed ; that there is great need of a mortcloth, which is 
to be got; and that the magistrates’ seat in the church be 
repaired. 


No DEALING WITH GIPSIES OR “ EGYPTIANS.’’ 


17th March, 1699.—John Irving absolved from William 
Gibson’s unjust libel given in against him and his wife wherein 


EXTRACTS FROM ANNAN BurGH RECORDS. 393 


Gibson accused him of resetting the Egyptians and corresponding 
with them and also eating and drinking with them. 


IRREGULAR MARRIAGES. 


2oth March, 1696.—Robert Johnstone, son to the deceased 
David Johnstone, confessed to irregular marriage over the march, 
and was fined five hundred merks Scots, conform to Act of 
Parliament. 

4th January, 1702.—George Johnstone confessed irregular 
marriage and fine 100 pounds Scots conform to Act of Parlia- 
ment, and ordained to be imprisoned till he satisfy the same. 


CouNCILLORS FARMING THE TOWN’S REVENUES. 


The customs of the town were let by public roup, but were 
always taken up by one or other of the magistrates or members 
of Council, no one bidding against them. On one occasion, 
however, an outsider made offer and took the customs. 
Immediate payment was never exacted from any town councillor ; 
but in this case (the only one which he observed in which the 
lessee was not in the Council) they required him to pay the 
money before noon of next day under penalty of being fined 
and losing his bargain. The following is the entry: 

31st October, 1695.—Customs set to Robert Johnstone for 
1210 merks Scots to be paid betwixt and 12 hours the morrow 
in the forenoon in Scots money or milned money, and in case 
of failure to be fined and the custom to be rouped over again. 
Failed and fined 100 pounds Scots. The treasurer ordained 
to collect and uplift the custom and account. 

22nd December, 1692.—Customs set to Bryce Blair for 710 
merks Scots, the common meadows to John Johnstone of Galla- 
bank for 40 pounds Scots, and the boat set to John Smith 
for 43 pounds Scots. Enacted that none of the money for 
which the common goods are set for be disposed upon except 
my Lord Annandale, provost, his consent be given and precepts 
under his lordship’s hand before disposing thereupon and like- 
wise the persons who have had the common goods in times by 
past with the magistrates, bailies, and their clerk is to attend 
the Provost at Lochwood when called and account therefor. 

1st November, 1705.—The public town and bridge customs 
were with consent of William Whyte rouped and set for #1000 


394 EXTRACTS FROM ANNAN BurGH RECORDS. 


Scots to James Carlyle, late bailie, in case the prohibition upon 
linen cloth and cattle prohibiting the importation of them from 
Scotland and England be continued or allowed, or in case of 
open war betwixt the said kingdoms, then and in both cases, the 
said James Carlyle, shall only be countable to the Marquis [of 
Annandale] and burgh for what is received, etc. | Moreover, 
in case the Act of council for the bridge custom be suspended 
by any merchants or others, the taxman shall have allowance 
therefore. 

30th September, 1697.—The common goods, to wit, the 
custom, rent of the meadows, boat, and others, is for this year 
to be bestowed for building a bridge of stone over the north 
burne and mending the town causey and building a cross and a 
tolbooth. | Customs set to Robert Johnstone for 1260 merks 
Scots. Boat let for £47 Scots. Walter Miller, schoolmaster, 
to uplift the feu duties for payment to him of his wages and 
warrant given. 


MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT. 


25th October, 1702.—Master William Johnstone of Sheens 
nominated to represent the burgh in Parliament. 


SECRECY IN THE COUNCIL. 


27th October, 1698.—Enacted that if any of the Council 
shall happen to devulge or reveal what shall happen to be 
spoken, agitated, or done by the Council, they are to be put off 
and degraded, and that no councillor shall oppose or speak 
against the magistrates under the like penalty, which is to be put 
off the Council. 


I1V.—SEpum TELEPHIUM. By Mr W. M‘CutcHEon, B.Sc. 


Sedum Telephium has got its common name Livelong from 
the fact of its keeping fresh for a long time after being cut. 
This property may often be noted in summer and autumn when 
the grass along the hedgerows is being cut. Should any of 
these Livelongs be cut, the flower buds will open as usual and set 
seed when all the other plants around have quite withered. 
The fleshy leaves contain a great amount of sap, and do not 
easily dry up, but besides this, numerous rootlets are to be seen 
springing out from the cut stems and seeking the moist soil. 


EXTRACTS FROM ANNAN Burcu ReEcorps. 395 


Last August I cut several stalks of this plant when the flowers 
were in full bloom, and to test their vitality they were put into 
a vase without water. In two months or so the leaves had dried 
up, and fell off at a touch, but the buds in their axils had grown 
out at least half-an-inch. The shoots were strong and tinged 
with red, and numerous rootlets were visible. One of the shoots 
was planted in a pot, but it did not thrive any better than those 
left on the parent plant. Only at present has it begun to 
grow to any extent. For the last five months the shoots growing 
from the withered stem have been entirely dependent on the 
atmosphere for their supply of moisture, which no doubt they 
would absorb by means of their aerial roots. The present year’s 
shoots of the Livelong are now fully half-an-inch above ground. 
An example is shown, as also the small shoot planted off from 
the withered stalk. 


Lith February, 1905. 
Chairman—-The PresIpent. 


Exuipit.—From Mr James Lennox, conical cap of bark 
used by natives of Uganda. 


I..—An ANTIQUARY’s NoTEs. By Mr Grorce NEItson, LL.D. 


PEEL OF DuMFRIES AND OTHERS. 


Well known, and not to archeologists only, is the 
term “Peel,’’ applied to the small rectangular towers of 
stone which stud the south of Scotland towards the English 
march. It is always interesting to break up the record of a term 
like this and to find that behind it, remote and forgotten, there 
lies an earlier sense. The records of the War of Independence 
sufficiently establish these not uninteresting propositions—that 
in 1298 the Peel made at Lochmaben by Edward I. was made 
by sawyers and carpenters ; that in 1300 the Peel made round 
about the castle of Dumfries was of timber cut and sawn and 
shaped in the forest of Inglewood in England; and that in 1302 
the Peel of Selkirk, although it had a gateway faced with stone, 
Was essentially of the same character—an enclosed area fortified 
by a surrounding ditch, the banks of which were crowned by a 


396 AN ANTIQUARY’S NOTES. 


carefully constructed stockade. Wages accounts are extant for 
all these operations, the most significant being that of the car- 
penters making in the forest of Inglewood the Peel to be set up 
round about the Castle of Dumfries. A military term like this 
indicates rapid transformation. In war evervthing moves fast, 
and the engineering fastest of all. Down to the 16th century the 
distinction between a Peel and a castle of stone continued, 
although by degrees the original significance of the term was in 
course of being forgotten until at last the term came to mean 
everywhere an ordinary small Border tower. 

Many years ago, when writing an essay on the early Peels of 
Scotland, I was discussing with Dr Thomas Dickson, then keeper 
of the Historical Department of the Register House, the Peel of 
Linlithgow. He then told me he remembered, a long time pre- 
viously, that John Stewart, secretary of the Society of Antiquaries 
of Scotland, came one day into his room in great triumph, waving 
a sheet of parchment, and tcld him that it was no other than the 
account for the making of the Peel of Linlithgow, in which, as 
is well known, Edward I. passed the winter of 1301. But Dr 
Dickson added that he never knew what became of it and he saw 
itno more. Well, it happened that just a year ago my friend, Mr 
J. H. Stevenson, advocate, mentioned to me that he had laid 
aside in an envelope addressed to me a Linlithgow document. 
Before he went further, I interrupted him, and repeated Dr 
Dickson’s conversation. “Well,’’? said Mr Stevenson, “the 
document I have is the missing account.’’ And so it proved, and 
now you have before you Edward I.’s wages account for opera- 
tions by workmen of various kinds upon the works of Linlithgow 
Castle and Linlithgow Peel in the month of September, 1302. 
Masons, carters of stones, carpenters, blockers, carriers of 
timber, smiths, ditchers—among them women at 14d a day 
watchmen, wood-cutters, sawyers are here—the same as at the 
making of the Peel of Dumfries—and there is also a porte martel— 
—a man who carried the mell. It shows incidentally that there 
were not a few Scotsmen in the employment of the English— 
Inglis, of Bothwell; Adams, of Rutherglen; Henry, of Berwick ; 
Friar Thomas, of Edinburgh. This fine record of the days of 
usurpation will satisfy anybody who looks at it how methodical 
was the accounting and book-keeping of Edward I. Here is a 
part of the account relating to ditchers :— 


An ANTIQUARY’S NOTES. 397 


To 8 captains of twenty of the ditchers each getting 3d a day 
for 6 days, 12s. 

Item, 60 men working under them at 2d a day for 5 days, 5os. 

Item, women working under them at 14d a day for the same 
time, £4 7s 6d. 

Item, 2 porters at 3d a day, 2s 6d. 

Item, to 17 porters at 2d a day, 14s 2d. 


The entire cost of all the operations on this pay-sheet was 
445 8s ofd, and the “prob’’ put opposite each summation 
shows that the account was as carefully checked as it was care- 
fully made out. In medieval fortification as in the fortifications 
of the present day, the ditches were reckoned of chief account 
among the elements of defence. The works at Linlithgow are a 
sufficient example. . A few stone quarries, a handful of masons, a 
gang of wood-cutters, and another of carpenters did their part. 
The number of ditchers, however, is decisive of the extent to 
which the simple element of the ditches must have predominated 
in the work. The account, you will notice, proved to be a much 
more permanent affair than the English possession of the place. 


Tue DratH OF ComMyN—AN EARLY ENGLISH VERSION. 


The second item of my Notes is concerning the slaughter of 
Comyn. I hope that some day this society or some other society 
elsewhere may take up the full story of this event and endea- 
vour, by a critical examination of all the authorities, to present 
a collated account. I do not for one moment profess to offer 
you that to-night. I have many notes made with the view to 
attempting it some day, but what I want to do now is to give you 
a copy of an early English account of the incident. It is i 
transcript made from a manuscript in the Hunterian Library at 
Glasgow of a passage from a “ Brut of Engelond,’’ belonging to 
the fourteenth century, and is on the whole a very faithful render- 
ing of an Anglo-French original, dating from before 1340. You 
will agree with me that in respect of quaintness of language and 
circumstance of narration the English account is one not to be 
lightly set aside. It begins with the rubric :— 

“Howe Robert the Brus chalenged Scottlond. And after 
this Robert the Brus Earle of Carrike sente bi his lettres to Erles 
and baronns of Scottlonde that thei scholde come to him to Scone 
in the morwe after conception of oure lady ffor heige nedis of 


398 An ANTIQUARY’S NOTES. 


Scottlond and the lordes come att the day assigned and att the 
same day Se Robert the Brus ffaire lordes ful welle ye witte hit 
hit that in my persone dwelleth the right of the Reame of 
Scottlonde and as ye witte wel as rightful heire Seth that Se 
John Baillol was zair kyng that was oure kyng ws hath for sake 
and al so lefte his lande and thought hit so be that kyng Edwarde 
of Engelond with wrongful pouer hathe made me to him assent 
a geijens my wille if that ye will graunt that i be kyng of Scott- 
londe y schal kepe you ageins kyng Edwarde and a gens alle 
maner of mene. And with that worde the abbot of Scone aroos: 
and be fore ham alle saide that hit was resoun for to helpe him 
and the lande to kepe and defende and thoo said in presence of 
hem alle that he wolde gief him a thousand pounde for to mayn- 
tene the londe and alle the othir grauntede the londe to him and 
with here pouere him to defende and helpe and defied kyng 
Edward of Engelonde and saide that Robert Brus scholde be 
kyng of Scottlonde. 

“ Howe Se John of Comyn gayn saide the crounyng of Se 
Robert the Brus. | Lordynges saide Se John of Comyn thenketh 
up on the treuth and the othe that ye made to kyng Edward of 
Engelond and as touching my selfe I welle nought breke myn 
othe fr noman. And so he wente from the companye at that 
tyme. Wherefore Robert the Brus and all other concented were 
wondire wroothe and thoo manaced Se Johon of Comyn. Tho 
ordeigned their another counceil at Dunfris to the whiche come 
the fforsaide Se John Comyn nought but dwelled ij myle fro 
Dounfrys there that he was wonede to sojorne and abide. 

“How Se John Comyn was wronglych quelled. _Whenne 
Robert the Brus wiste that alle the grett lordes of Scottlond wer 
comen to Scone saf Se John Comyn that sojournede tho neyg 
Scone he sent after him spesialith that Se John Comyns schold 
come to speke with him and up on that he sent after him Sir 
John Comyns ij brethryn and preide him for to come and spek 
with him att the Graifieres of Dumfris and tht was the Thursday 
after candelmasse and Se John grauntede heme for to wende 
with hem and whanne he hade herde messe he tok a sop and 
dranke and afterwards he bistrod his palfray and rod his way and 
so he came to Dunfrys and Robert the Brus saw him come at at 
awyndow as he was in his chamber and tho he made yoie ynonghe 
and come ayens him and colled (embraced) him abowte the 


AN ANTIQUARY’S NOTES. 399 


nekke and made with hym good semblaunt and whenne alle the 
Erles and Baronns of Scottlond were present Robert the Brus 
spak and saide Sers quothe he ye wette wele encheson (because) 
of this comyng and wherefore that hit es if that ye welle graunte 
that y mst be kyng of Scotlond as right heire of the londe. 
And alle the lordes that were there saide with oo vois that he 
scholde be crownede kyng of Scottlonde and that thei wolde him 
helpe and him mayntene ageiens alle maner of menne lyve and 
for him if hit were mede to deie. The Gentyl knyght to John of 
Comen th answerede and saide certis never for me ne for to 
have of me as moche help as the valu of o botonne fa that oth 
thet y have made to Kyng Edward of Engelond I schal holde 
hit whilis my lif last and with that word he wente fro that com- 
panye and wolde have went up on his palfray. And Robert the 
Brus purseuede him with a drawn sworde and bare him thorugh 
the body. And Se John Comyn fil doune to the erth. But 
whenne Roger that was Se John Comynes brothir saugh this 
fallenesse he sterte to Se Robert the Brus and smott him with a 
knyfe but thee fals trettour was armed undir so that the strok 
myght dou him non harme. And so moche help come aboute Se 
Robert the Brus so that Roger Comyn was there quelled and al 
to hewe in small piecis and Robert the Brus tournede ageien there 
that Se John Comyn that noble Baronn lay wounded and pynned 
to ward his dethe be sides the heige auter in the chirche of the 
gray freres and saide un to Se John Comyn O traitour thou schalt 
be ded and nevere after lette myn avauncement and schok his 
swerde att the heigh auter and smot him on hed that the brayn 
fill doun up on the ground and the blode stirte an heighe in to the 
wallis and yiet in to this day that blode es sene there that no 
water may wasch hit away and so deide that nobil knyght in holy 
cherch.”’ 
Story oF A DoucLas CHARTER. 


Once upon a time, a bookseller friend of mine told me in 
answer to my question that the only manuscript he had was an 
old charter, which he pressed me to take. A cursory glance was 
enough to make me decline, but, of course, he insisted, and 
with that fatal want of firmness which has been the bane of very 
many better men than myself, I yielded. For the modest sum of 
7s 6d that bookseller had inflicted upon me this alluring and 
worshipful document (tattered parchment produced), so eminently 


400 AN ANTIQUARY’S NOTES. 


fitted to excite a sense of the fascination of manuscript. 
Outwardly considered, indeed, it is not of much account: 
damp has been at it, perhaps the mice have sampled the vellum, 
and it is ragged and frayed about its inwards although constitu- 
tionally intact. Such as it is, it will serve to illustrate the con- 
stant possibilities of surprise, the revelation of unsuspected ele- 
ments of early record—in a word, those chances of discovery, 
sometimes even romantic chances of historical discovery, which 
lurk in the faded lettering of long ago. For my charter was a 
document of State, a voucher from an obscure and troubled 
period of Scotland, a witness called thus late into the witness- 
box to testify concerning the days when James II. held ineffectual 
sway, when Crichton and Livingstone rivalled each other in their 
effort to hold the reins of government, while the powerful Earl of 
Douglas, sullen, contemptuous, and nursing his own ambitions 
regardless alike of King and minister, stood proudly aloof. It 
was a charter of James II. in January, 1448-9, containing a 
transumpt or official copy certified under the Great Seal of no 
fewer than eight earlier charters. Some of these were previously 
known, though not in their completeness, some were now for the 
first time added to the existing store of national record. What 
were the grants contained in these deeds? There was an earldom 
in one of them ; there was in another a lordship over what is now a 
great westland shire ; there was a Border barony with almost Pala- 
tine jurisdiction ; there was the moiety of a holding in Ayrshire 
which had formed a seat of the Stewart line. Here was a confirma- 
tion and re-grant by David II. in 1368 to Thomas Fleming of the 
Earldom of Wigtown as his grandfather had held it except that 
for certain reasons the right of regality was reserved. There was 
a charter by this Earl, Thomas Fleming, in 1372 indicating that 
on account of the great and severe discords between him and the 
native chiefs of the Earldom of Wigtown he had sold to Sir 
Archibald, Lord of Galloway, all his Earldom for a certain 
notable money-price—the Earldom with all its marches, 
pastures, moors, ways, paths, waters, bondsmen and_bond- 
service, with the rights of hawking, hunting, fishing, fees, for- 
feitures, and estates, liberties, conveniences, easements, appurten- 
ances, and free customs. It is the full authentic story of the 
acquirement of the Earldom by Archibald the Grim. Here, too, 
is the charter, a few months earlier, of September, 1367, granting 


AN ANTIQUARY’S NOTES. 401 


and confirming to Archibald the Grim for his diligent and accept- 
able service, efficiently and effectively rendered to David II., all 
the royal lands of Galloway between the water of Cree and the 
water of Nith, “for the pacification and justification ’’ of which 
the said Archibald made no small expenditure and labour in his 
own person, and which lands are granted with all the feudal 
pertinents and lordship “cum burgis ’’—with the burghs and 
liberties of burghs therein as freely as Edward Bruce, our dearest 
uncle of good memory, held the same, rendering in name of 
blenche farme a white rose annually at our castle at Dumfries at 
the feast of St. Peter, “ad vincula.’’ Here, too, is the grant on 
5th June, 1358, to Thomas Murray, of the Barony of Hawick 
and Spruceton, on the Tweed. Here also is a strange document 
—the verdict of a Roxburgh jury in 1320 in answer to a question 
as to the tenure by which the Lord De Vescy had held Spruce- 
ton, a verdict declaring that he had held Spruceton 
regaliter, that he held it regally by the same liberties as King 
Alexander held his lands when he reigned, and that he had the 
right to have his own justiciary, his own chamberlain, his chan- 
cellor, his crowner, his sergeants, and also his standard measures, 
in the manner of the said King Alexander. Here, further, is a 
charter of 1322 by King Robert the Bruce in favour of his 
natural son, Robert, of the lordship of Spruceton, among the 
witnesses to which are the Abbot of Arbroath, the Chancellor, 
and Randolph, Earl of Murray—that Randolph who redeemed 
so gallantly at Bannockburn the rose that fell from his chaplet 
early in the fight—the Abbot of Arbroath, the patriotic prelate, 
who, in the intervals of his vocation as statesman and chancellor, 
found leisure to indite that Latin song of Bannockburn on which 
so few students of Scottish history have ever deigned to bestow 
their attention. Here, lastly, is another charter of uncertain 
date by Robert the Bruce in favour of his kinsman, William 
Murray, of half the tenement of Stewarton, in Cunningham—a 
deed to which the witnesses, besides the Abbot of Arbroath, are 
Sir James of Douglas and Sir Robert of Keith—the one, famous 
as the daring soldier of infinite resource, “the good Lord James,”’ 
right-hand man of Robert the Bruce in the War of Independence ; 
while the other was Keith, the marshal, who led the charge of 
horse against the English Archers at Bannockburn. It is a pro- 
cession of noble names we meet in these charters and the con- 


402 AN ANTIQUARY’S NOTES. 


firmations of them—some by David II., others by Robert II., 
and all of them by James II. The spirit of feudalism stirs anew 
as we salute Robert the Bruce; his gallant, if headstrong brother ; 
“the good Lord James,’’ shrewdest and most daring of lieuten- 
ants; Archibald the Grim, half-soldier, half-judge, “ pacifying 
and justifying’? Galloway; Sir Hugh of Eglinton, poet and 
singer ; and in company with him Sir Robert of Erskine, the chief 
man of affairs in the Scotland of his time. These make a gallery 
of Scottish notables, a list of names which, in the ‘annals of an 
age of chivalry and rising national spirit, can stand comparison 
with the proudest Europe has on the honoured roll of the 14th 
century. 

In its variety of contents, too, this is not merely a charter. 
As regards feudalism it might serve as a manual, and the terms 
and usages it illustrates might keep a local antiquary going for a 
month to explain. One may, in passing, notice only one or two 
things—the sale of an earldom as a recognised and approved 
transaction ; the old disused castle of Dumfries treated as a “caput 
baroniae ’’ as the head place of the disjoined lordship of Gallo- 
way west of the Nith and east of the Cree; the conveyance of the 
burghs of Galloway by the King to Archibald the Grim with the 
lordship; the feuds of Galloway as the last signs of Celtic pro- 
test against Norman feudalism. Nor is the light confined to the 
r4th century, for the final confirmation, the charter itself proper, 
is by James II., and the problem confronts us—What brings these 
incongruous deeds together? What is the bond of union between 
these charters of Thomas Fleming and Archibald the Grim, 
Thomas Murray of Hawick, Robert Bruce of Spruceton, and 
William Murray of Stewarton? In whose favour is this deed 
conceived? What is its object? Happily, the answer, though 
not expressed on the face of the deed, is obvious from what it 
contains. In 1449, one man was lord of all the possessions in 
all those charters; one man held the Earldom of Wigtown, was 
Lord of Galloway, owned the lordship of Stewarton and the 
baronies of Hawick and Spruceton. That man was William, 
Earl of Douglas, who alone had any interest to serve from such a 
document as this. To this Earl William in January, 1449, this 
charter was certainly granted. | When we look at the witnesses 
we shall find the list significant. One of them is Alexander, 
Earl’ of Crawford; another was Sir Alexander Livingstone of 


AN ANTIQUARY’S NOTES. 403 


Callander; a third was Robert Livingstone, comptroller. The 
first of these was that Earl of Crawford whose “band’’ or 
alliance with Douglas was to cost Douglas his life. In Septem- 
ber, 1449, Sir Alexander of Livingstone, Lord of Callander, was 
arrested for treason, tried, convicted, disgraced, forfeited, and 
imprisoned. Robert Livingstone, the comptroller, was tried too, 
was convicted and was executed. The Livingstone faction was 
overthrown in blood, and “all put down,’’ says the chronicler 
of the town, “all put down that thai put up.’’ It 
was a beginning of troubles which were hasting to become history 
and to overwhelm more than the Livingstones. This document 
marks in a unique manner the summit of the Douglas power 
just as that family was visibly and perilously near to that pitch 
of insolent ambition which provoked the catastrophe of the 
assassination of 1452. 


A DumMFrRIEs SASINE. 


The final subject of brief comment was found in a notarial 
document concerning Crukitakyr on the road from the Chapel of 
St. Mary the Virgin at Castledikis, dated 26 March, 1332. The 
deed was expede by Thomas Connelsonne, a name met with 
elsewhere, as that of a practising notary of the period, and its 
interest lay in the mention of the castle chapel of St. Mary in 
Castledykes. My excuse for introducing it is that I might make 
a suggestion to this society. The amount of historical informa- 
tion that is contained in the instruments of sasine is, of course, 
prodigious, and there are in Dumfriesshire several very valuable 
protocol books which are the places where they are contained. 
There are one or two in Mr Grierson’s hands as town clerk, and 
one or two in the possession of the Buccleuch family, and I 
would ask this society to consider whether it could not do the 
country a great service by organising means whereby these 
protocol books might be, if not edited in full—which would 
involve a considerable amount of Jabour—-at least calendared. 
There can be no doubt that the body of territorial, genealogical, 
topographical, political, and, indeed, national records embodied 
in these documents would be a great god-send to Scottish history, 
and it would reflect the utmost credit on the society that carried 
through the work. 


404 POPULAR PLANT NAMES. 


II.—PopuLaR PLant Names. By Mr SAMUEL ARNOTT. 


We may begin by taking the common burdock, whose sticky 
burs have given so much amusement to many youthful genera- 
tions in past and present times. It is best known in the south of 
Scotland simply as the bur, but elsewhere it has other names. 
Thus it is the cockle or cuckle buttons of Devon; while else- 
where the burs are called variously bachelor’s buttons, sticky 
buttons, and billy-buttons, said to be so-called because boys 
stick them down their coats to personate waiters. ‘Thistle is also 
a name in some parts, not of Scotland, as we may suppose, but of 
England. 

Another wild plant, plantago lanceolata, the ribwort plan- 
tain, often called “ fighters,’’ or “fechters,’? from the flower 
heads being used in mock fights, by striking them against each 
other, secures for itself the names of “ hardhead ’’ and “ soldier.”’ 
Another name applied to it is said to be lamb’s tongue, a term 
also applied to a garden stachys. 

The wild iris (iris pseudacorus) is frequently known in our 
district as segg, an evident corruption of sedge, and the same 
plant is said to bear the name of levvers, also applied to a grass 
which is found on some marshy grounds. Other names for this 
yellow iris are flag-flower, corn-flag (properly belonging to the 
gladiolous), water lily, dragon flower, and dagger flower. The 
names of gladdon, gladder, and gladwyn have also been given to 
one of the irises, correctly to I. foetidissima, which does not, so 
far as I remember, occur in our counties. 

When we come to the name of bachelor’s buttons, familiar 
to many, we are upon very uncertain ground. As already men- 
tioned, this name has been applied to the burs of the burdock, 
but quite a discussion has been raised as to what is the true 
bachelor’s button. In my early days I have heard it applied to 
the flowers of the double form of ranunculus aconitifolius, known 
best, perhaps, throughout the kingdom as “Fair Maids of 
France,’’ from the fact of the plant having been introduced from 
that country. The true bachelor’s button is, however, I believe, 
the double form of ranunculus acris, the common buttercup or 
crowfoot, but it has been rather indiscriminately applied 
to the flowers of other double-flowered ranunculuses. 
The single ranunculus acris, which is generally called 


POPULAR PLANT NAMES. 405 


simply the buttercup with us, and not the crowfoot by the 
people at large, has elsewhere the names of King’s cup, gold cup, 
gold knobs, leopard’s foot, and cuckoo bud. With us yellow 
flowers of similar character, such even as the lesser celandine, 
immortalised by Wordsworth’s well known lines, generally bear 
the name of buttercup, and I have even heard it applied to the 
marsh marigold, caltha palustris. We have thus nothing so 
poetical as the Italian “ Spouse of the Sun,’’ applied to our marsh 
marigold, which, however, is said to have been the flower alluded 
to by Shakespeare in the words, “ And winking Mary-buds begin 
‘to ope their golden eyes.’’ We all know the daisy as the gowan, 
but I have also heard it called the curly doddie, but this was 
given by a man who had spent some years in Cornwall, where, I 
believe, from a curious poem in the vernacular of that county 
which once came under my observation, it is used for another 
flower, apparently of the buttercup or crowfoot family. The dog 
daisy is chrysanthemum leucanthemum, while, as we all know, 
another of the same genus is not, as we might expect, the corn 
‘daisy, but the corn marigold. Then the lucken gowan is a mem- 
ber of still another natural order, as it is the trollius, also called 
the globe flower, and said to bear in some. parts of Scotland the 
name of witches’ gowan. It was also known as the troll flower, 
a term probably, like the preceding one, derived from its acrid 
juices being used by the malignant beings, the Trolls and witches. 
Globe crowfoot and globe ranunculus are also names of this 
pretty native plant. 

We are all familiar with crawtae as our Scottish appellation 
wf the wild scilla or wood hyacinth, which is also the blue-bell 
of England, although it has been called there by the old 
herbalists the hare bell or hare’s bell, and some think that it was 
‘the “azure harebell’’ of Shakespeare. It is the culver keys of 
Izaak Watson. 

Few of our wild plants have had so many popular names as 
-verbascum thapsus, our wild mullein, and a conspicuous object 
near Arbigland on the beach of the Solway. I have never heard 
‘it called locally anything but “a mullin,’’ but with some other 
‘plants I believe it is also called Aaron’s rod. Shepherd’s gourd 
‘is another name I have heard given to it, but that was used by 
a person of more northern origin. Torches, hedge taper, high 
‘taper, and hig taper are all names it has borne, originating from 


406 POPULAR PLANT NAMES. 


the resemblance of the plant to candles used in churches, at least 
so say some authorities, while others say that it was because the 
stalks were used as torches at funerals after being dipped in suet. 
The name of hig taper became corrupted into hag taper, because 
of a belief that it was used by witches when working their spells. 
Another name for the. mullein was flannel flower, because of the 
woolliness of its leaves and stems, this tomentum being dried and 
used as tinder. Bullock’s lungwort was another of its cogno- 
mens, while the modern Romans are said to speak of it by a 
name which signifies “ Light of the Lord.’’ 

The common mugwort, which some say was itself originally a 
corruption of motherwort, of our fields is simply corrupted into: 
muggart, but I am told that a popular name in Wigtownshire was. 
bowlocks—-for what reason I cannot form any idea. The plant 
has many virtues attributed to it, and an old Scottish legend, 
which tells how a mermaid of the Clyde exclaimed, on seeing 
the funeral of a young girl who had died of consumption, may 
be quoted. It runs thus :— 

If they wad drink nettles in March 
An’ eat muzzart in May, 
Sae miny braw maidens 
Wad not go to clay. 
In one part of Russia it is said to be called by a name signifying 
the herb of forgetfulness, while in another it is called simply 
bech, from the belief, derived from an old legend, that when a. 
horse steps on the mugwort the plant moans “ Bech, bech.”’ 

Briza media, that pretty little grass, is called with us simply 
shakin’ grass, but elsewhere it bears such titles as cow quakes, 
dotherin’ or dodderin’ dicks, tremlin’ grass, quakin’ grass or 
ladies’ hair, the last being also one of the names of stipa pennata, 
the feather grass, and more appropriate as applied to it than to: 
the briza. 

Achillea ptarmica is well known here as the wild yarrow or 
sneezeurrt, but it has also borne such names as goose tongue and. 
wild pellitory ; while achillea millefolium, the common yarrow, 
has had several designations besides that of milfoild. From 
being used as a cure for bleeding at the nose it was called 
nose-bleed, and it was also old man’s pepper, and the soldier’s- 
woundwort. 

We are familiar with southernwood, or old man, as popular 


PopuLaR PLANT NAMEs. 407 


names for artemisia abrotanum, and the former has been cor- 
rupted into sutherwood or sidderwud. Other names are boy’s 
love, lad’s love, and, one I have not heard used, but which I saw 
in a newspaper, from the pen of an Exeter writer, is maiden’s ruin. 
Wormwood is familiar enough, but the French “ garde robe ’’ is 
interesting as derived from the uses of the plant to protect clothes 
from moths. 

The goat’s beard, or tragopogon, is not familiar to the 
people as a whole by name, but I have no recollection of hearing 
anyone call it what some do, either noon-day flower, star of 
Jerusalem, Joseph’s flower, or that appropriate, if somewhat 
imperatively stated one, go-to-bed-at-noon, which it has received 
because it closes at noon. Noon flower is elsewhere applied to 
the mesembryanthemum. 

The cow has supplied a portion of the names of a good 
number of plants. Among these we have, of course, the cowslip, 
the exact origin of which is open to discussion, but a good autho- 
rity considers it is derived from an old Saxon term. A north of 
England name for the cowslip is coostropple, “ that is the cow’s 
throat or thropple, deeper than the cow’s lip.’’ I give this for 
what it is worth. It has also been called paigle and petty 
mullein, while a Kentish name was fairy cups. The cowslip of 
Jerusalem was the common lungwort, pulmonaria officinalis, 
which has also had such names as sage of Jerusalem, sage of 
Bethlehem, and wild comfrey. Our common name of lungwort 
was derived from its spotted leaves being understood to denote 
that it was a cure for diseased lungs, according to the doctrine of 
signatures. We all know cow parsnip as the common name of 
the heracleum, but hogweed is a less familiar one, and cow keeks, 
and kelks or keeks, although said to be current in the north of 
England, has never been used in my presence anywhere. The 
purple clover is called by some cow grass, and it is also called 
wild sookies and zizzag, but none of these are current with us, I 
believe. The cowberry is vaccinium vitis ida, the red whortle 
berry. 

The cowberry, empetrum nigrum, has a few other names, 
such as craa crook, and crakeberry, but I have not heard of these 
in our own locality, and in some parts the lady’s fingers, the 
anthyllis, has the name of crawnebs. 

The violet or heart’s-ease, as represented by wayside and in 


408 PopuLAR PLANT NAMEs. 


garden by the wild violets and pansies, is not known with us by 
the many titles it has elsewhere in Britain and on the continent, 
and, poetic as is our term of heart’s-ease, it is not’so quaint as 
some of the following :—Herb trinity, forget-me-not, three-faces- 
under-a-hood, love-and-idle, love-in-idleness, live-in-idleness, 
call-me-to-you, flamy, pink-o’-my-John, tittle-my-fancy, kiss-me- 
ere-I-rise, kiss-me-at-the-garden-gate, jump-up-and-kiss-me, or 
cuddle-me-to-you. The name of love-in-idleness has Shake- 
spearian sanction, seeing that Oberon tells Puck to procure for 
him the little western flower, called by maidens love-in-idleness. 
A north-east of Scotland and Scandinavian word for it is step- 
mother ; while the old Saxon names for the violet were simmering 
wort and banwort. 

Most of us are familiar with the name lady’s smock, for 
cardamine pratensis, but not many in our district know of it as 
the cuckoo flower, so given because, as Garard tells us, it flowers 
when “the cuckoo doth begin to sing her pleasant notes without 
stammering.’’ A purely Kirkbean name, at least so far as I can 
learn, for this plant is carsons, but why applied I can never 
ascertain, except that it may be considered that it only grows 
on carse land. 

Centaurea nigra is called the horse-knot, a name which 
seems with us to be applied to other members of the genus, as 
I have heard centaurea montana spoken of as the horse-knot, and 
also as the blue bonnet. Other names for centaurea nigra are 
hard-head and iron-head. Cornflower is, however, fast creeping 
in as the name for almost all the centaureas, but we have, of 
course, the blue-bottle, bluet, blue-blow, and hurt-sickle as 
applied to them. 

Wandering sailor is rather vaguely used for at least three 
plants to my knowledge. These are lysimachia nummularia, the 
moneywort ; saxifraga sarmentosa, the mother-of-thousands ; and 
sedum reflexum, one of the stonecrops. I have also heard sedum 
oppositifolium called deil’s barley and daun’rin’ Kate; while, as 
you all know, saxifraga umbrosa is the London pride or none-so- 
pretty, corrupted into Nancy Pretty. It is also Prattling Parnell, 
St. Patrick’s cabbage, and Queen Anne’s lacework. According 
to a Devonshire writer, the local name of this plant about Exeter 
is the lengthy one of “ Meet me, love, behind the garden door.”’ 
I may observe that the name of London Pride has nothing to do 


PoPULAR PLANT NAMES. 409 


with its former or present popularity in London gardens, but was 
given because the plant was introduced by London, a partner of 
a celebrated firm of London florists called London & Wise, who 
were royal gardeners, and who published several gardening works 
about the beginning of the eighteenth century. Here are several 
other names for this old-fashioned flower :—Bird’s-eye, garden 
gate, an abbreviation of kiss-me-love-at-the-garden-gate-—a pansy 
name, if you remember; kiss-me-quick, look-up-and-kiss-me, 
chickens, pink, Prince’s feather. With us I only know of Nancy 
Pretty, None-so-pretty, and London Pride being used. 

I have referred to linaria cymbalaria being among the plants 
called Wandering Sailor. It has several other appellations, such 
as Kenilworth Ivy, because said to grow on the ruins of Kenil- 
worth ; butter and eggs, properly applied to linaria vulgaris, how- 
ever; rambling sailor, pedlar’s basket, and mother of millions. 
Saxifraga sarmentosa, formerly mentioned as the mother-of- 
thousands, is also the spider plant and the poor man’s geranium. 
In Somerset I am told that corydalis lutea is also the mother- 
of-thousands ; while tradescantia virginica is the spider wort, and 
also, in some parts of the south of Scotland, the life 0’ man. 

I have heard the charming lotus corniculatus, the bird’s foot 
trefoil named lady’s fingers, which belongs to the anthyllis 
before referred to, but it is also said to be eggs and bacon, from 
the colour of its flowers. An authority on the subject calls it 
butter-jags, which he thinks may be a corruption of buttered eggs, 
but it is difficult to distinguish anything which would account for 
such a gross corruption. Of course, most of us know the double 
narcissi—which are butter and eggs and eggs and bacon—as well 
as their sister flower, which is the codlings and cream. 

When we come into what may be called the names derived 
from comestibles, we enter a wide field, and a few references to 
these must conclude this instalment of my subject. I do not 
suppose any of us here have ever heard the primrose called the 
butter rose, doubtless caused by its colour, nor the ox-eye or dog 
daisy the butter daisy, but, of course, many of us will know the 
flower or leaf-buds of the hawthorn as bread-and-cheese. The 
common wood sorrel, with us cuckoo’s meat, is in some places 
cuckoo’s bread-and-cheese. 

Most young children know well the sourock or sourick, which 


410 EXHIBITS. 


has a considerable number of other names, such as soursauce, 
greensauce, soursuds, sourgrabs, sourdock, and soursabs. 

Others must be left for another time, if you should care to 
have them, and, if so, I would bespeak your assistance and that 
of others in endeavouring to compile a complete list of local 
plant names. 


24th March, 1905. 


Chairman—Mr James Barzour, Vice-President. 


New Mempers.—Mrs Wilson, Castledykes Cottage, Dum- 
fries, and Mr Robert Service, jun., Janefield, Maxwelltown. 


ExuisBits.—From Mr Beattie, of Davington, Eskdalemuir, 
a finely-designed flint arrow-head and a bead, found when digging 
foundations of new Magnetic Observatory at Eskdalemuir. Mr 
Service explained that the bead was apparently of the kind found 
in the grave mounds of the Saxon period. From Mr Thomson, 
Hole-i’-the-wa’ Inn, silver chain worn by Deacon of Weavers; 
from Mr George Irving, Corbridge-on-Tyne, parchment, dated 
1794, being a declaration of loyalty signed by inhabitants of the 
parish of Closeburn, and a document from Francis Carlyle, 
grand-uncle of Thomas Carlyle, to the trustees of Mr Sharpe of 
Hoddom. The following are copies of Mr Irving’s exhibits :— 


(a) Declaration of Loyalty by the Inhabitants of Closeburn 
Parish. 

“We whose names are hereunto subscribed do solemnly 
declare that we are firmly attached to our present happy constitu- 
tion as established in King, Lords, and Commons; that we 
detest all those principles which of late have been attempted to 
be disseminated in this kingdom by wicked and designing men 
tending to subvert all regular government and to introduce 
anarchy, and that we will assist the Government in repelling all 
foreign enemies and assisting the civil magistrates whenever 
called upon for suppressing of riots and tumults within the county 
of Dumfries.’’ Endorsed on the Declaration there was the 
following note by Thomas Kirkpatrick, D.L.:—‘“ None of the 


INCORPORATED TRADES OF DUMFRIES. 411 


signatories shall be bound or desired to go out of the county, but 
in case of actual invasion.”’ 


(b) To George Muir, Esq., Writer to the Signet, Edinburgh. 


“Sir,—Francis Carlyle, late commander of the King’s 
Excise Yacht at Portpatrick, presently possesses a house and 
cow’s grass at Yetts, a farm belonging to Mr Sharp of Hoddom. 
The tack of this farm expires at Candlemas next, and as the said 
Francis Carlyle is desirous of taking a lease of this farm to com- 
mence at the said term from you and the Gentlemen Trustees 
appointed for Charles Sharp, Esq., I hereby offer you nine 
shillings pr. acre for a lease of nineteen years of rent for said 
farm (a small piece of moss ground being about 14 acre to pay 
no rent but to be given in the bargain). And as the house he 
presently possesses is in a ruinous condition and stands in great 
need of immediate repair, He is willing to repair the same at his 
own expense providing you and the other Trustees will reimburse 
him of the expense thereof which will be about five or six pounds. 
In case you do not accept of the above offer for the Farm and 
grant him a lease thereof in the above terms your communicating 
this to the other Gentlemen and letting me know if you and them 
agree to this proposal will oblige, 

Sir, 
Your most obedt. humble Servt., 
FRAS. CARLYLE.”’ 
*Edinbr.,. roth Febry.,. 1773.7 

This Fras. Carlyle was grand-uncle to Thomas Carlyle, and 
is referred to in his Reminiscences, Vol. I., page 33, as “the 
Captain of Middlebie.”’ 


I.—INCORPORATED TRADES OF DUMFRIES. WitH SPECIAL 
REFERENCE TO THE WEAVERS. By Mr W. Dickie. 


I have elsewhere* presented some gleanings from the general 
records of the Seven Incorporated Trades of Dumfries. Recently 
I have had the opportunity of perusing the earliest extant minutes 
of the Weavers. The books in which they are recorded were 
in the possession of the late Mr James Muir, the last surviving 
member of the incorporation, and it is to the courtesy of his son- 


*In “Auld Lang Syne” column of ‘‘ Dumfries Standard.” 


412 INCORPORATED TRADES OF DUMFRIES. 


in-law, Mr Samuel Young, clothier, that I am indebted for access 
to them. I have also in my possession an eighteenth century 
volume of minutes of the Wrights or Squaremen, and to it inci- 
dental references will be made. The oldest of the Weavers’ 
books is a substantial volume bound in rough calf-skin. If we 
could accept all the entries in it as literally accurate, it would 
be much the earliest record of any Incorporated Trade, not only 
in Dumfries, but in the kingdom; for four times in succession 
minutes are headed with the date 1074. It is, however, apparent 
on the most cursory glance that the scribe has misplaced the 
numerals, and that what he intended to write was 1704. The 
date of the actually earliest entry is 1654, and it is in the follow- 
ing quaint and rather confusing terms :— 

“At Drumfreis the year off God 1654.—The quhilk day 
James Fergusone, Deacon, Thomas Pattersone, Trasirer, Robert 
Gibsonne, Nicoll Heslop, Johne Tomson, Richart Dun, Johnne 
Kennen, William Greir, masters, Thomas Willsone, officer, upon 
the twallt day of Agust the weivers’ loft was fulie complit and was 
sat upon it. 1653 years.” 

The record refers to the erection of a gallery for the use of 
members of the trade in the old church of St. Michael, which 
was taken down some ninety years later, but it is not quite clear 
whether it was on the 12th of August, 1654, that the gallery was 
first occupied, or whether this was done on 12th August, 1653, 
and an omission repaired by inserting a minute on the subject in 
the following year. 

The general records of the Dumfries Incorporations extend 
back to 1612. This minute book of the Weavers is the earliest 
known to be extant of any of the particular trades. Before 
proceeding to examine its contents we may recall several of the 
more saliant facts connected with the origin and functions of 
incorporations of crafts or trades as they existed in Scotland. 
These obtained their first statutory sanction in 1424, when an 
Act was passed by the Parliament sitting at Perth requiring that 
in every town of the realm the members of each craft should, 
with consent of the officer of the town, choose a wise man of 
their own number, “ whilk shall be holden deacon or master over 
the rest for the time, to govern and assaye all works that bes 
made by the craftsmen of that craft, so that the King’s lieges be 
not defrauded and skaithed in time to come as they have been 


INCORPORATED TRADES OF DUMFRIES. 413 


in times bygane through untrue men of the crafts.’’ This, it is 
believed, was only legalising a practice which had already been 
adopted more or less generally by various crafts. The Act recites 
one of the objects which such federation has in view, and the 
one which more directly concerns the common weal; to secure, 
namely, that the various tradesmen shall turn out good and 
honest work. But they served another purpose, and one which 
appealed to the stronger instinct of self-interest, by conserving 
and extending the privileges of the crafts, confirming their 
monopoly, and enabling the members to procure higher prices for 
their work. This motive seems at an early stage to have pre- 
dominated to such an extent as to excite the alarm of the legisla- 
tors, and three years afterwards the Act of 1424 was repealed, 
and craftsmen were forbidden “to summon their customary 
assemblies, which are believed to resemble meetings of conspira- 
tors.’’ Instead of popular election, the Town Councils were to 
choose a Warden for every craft and “other discreet men un- 
suspect,’’ who were to “ examine and apprise the matter and the 
workmanship of ilk craft and set it to a certain price ;’’ and if 
any man broke the price he was to be subject to a penalty. 
The Frankenstein of the crafts, however, was not so easily dealt 
with, and in 1491 it was found necessary to pass another statute 
against the election of deacons. The reason assigned was that 
it was “understood by the King and the Three Estates that the 
using of deacons of crafts in burghs is right dangerous, and as 
they use the same may cause trouble to the lieges by convening 
together and making laws of their craft contrary to the common 
profit, whereby when one leaves work another dare not finish it.’’ 
The functions of deacons were to be strictly limited to the 
examining of “stuff and work wrought by the craft.’’ And 
“masons, and wrights, and other men of craft who statutes that 
they shall have fee as well for the halie day as for the work day 
shall be indited as common oppressors and punished accord- 
ingly.’’ Notwithstanding these fulminations the organisation of 
the trades became extended and consolidated. A common 
practice was for the Town Council to grant to a particular trade 
a charter of incorporation under the name of a Seal of Cause, 
sometimes also called a Letter of Deaconry. The records of 
the city of Glasgow show that such Seals of Cause were issued 
in the sixteenth century by the Town Council, with the concur- 


414 INCORPORATED TRADES OF DUMFRIES. 


rence of the Archbishop of Glasgow; and that the Cordiners (or 
shoemakers) and Barkers (or tanners) had been incorporated 
prior to 1460, in which year their regulations were confirmed by 
the Council. These Seals of Cause provided that no person 
should “set up booth to work within this city until he be first 
made a burgess and freeman of the same, and be examined by 
three or four masters of the said craft if he be a sufficient work- 
man and able to work good and sufficient work to serve our 
Sovereign Lord’s lieges.’? The Shoemakers of Dumfries received 
a Seal of Cause from the Town Council of date 1st December, 
1513, and no doubt others would be issued here, as in Glasgow 
and other towns, during that century. In many cases, where no 
formal charter was issued, trades enjoyed by prescription the 
same rights of incorporation. That was pleaded in the case of 
the Hammermen before the Town Council of Dumfries in con- 
nection with a memorable civic dispute in 1759. A saddler had 
in that year been chosen Deacon of the Hammermen. The 
deacons had seats in the Town Council, and objection was taken 
to his admission on the ground that the saddlers were only a 
pendicle of the Hammermen incorporation, not being named in 
the Seal of Cause constituting it, and were not eligible for elec- 
tion to office. The reply, which prevailed, was that there was no 
Seal of Cause, but that the incorporation rested upon prescrip- 
tion, and the saddlers had all along been recognised as con- 
stituent members entitled to the full privileges of the craft. 
The numbers of the trades varied in different towns, and 
also the method in which they were grouped. In connection with 
Dumfries we are accustomed to the mystic number seven, but it 
had no special or universal significance. When the system was 
at its height there were in Glasgow fourteen incorporated trades ; 
in Edinburgh, twelve; in Dundee, nine; in Perth, eight; in 
Aberdeen, seven; and in addition three separate societies—the 
Litsters or Dyers, the Masons, the Leechers (or barber-surgeons), 
each of which elected its deacon ; and in Perth there were, in like 
manner, seven incorporated crafts and three “tolerated com- 
munities.’ In Dumfries the Wrights or Joiners Incorporation, 
which came to adopt the more collective name of the Squaremen, 
embraced all the building trades. We find, for example, mention 
of “sclaiters,’’ “glasenwrights’’ or painters, and “ coupers,’’ 
as well as masons and joiners. The Weaver Trade compre- 


INCORPORATED TRADES OF DUMFRIES. 415 


hended workers in cotton and woollen, dyers, or in the phrase- 
ology of the time “litsters ;’’ and there is, of date 19th September, 
1723, an entry of a peruke-maker, John Newal, being booked a 
freeman of the craft. ‘The Hammermen included not only smiths 
and all workers in metal, but, as we have seen, such craftsmen 
as saddlers. 

This method of organisation among craftsmen has passed 
away with the monopolist system which gave it birth; but in 
some places the semblance of it remains as a more or less 
picturesque survival. Of this we have an example in Kirkcud- 
bright, where an annual election of Convener and Deacons is 
made. In others its forms are preserved for the administration of 
funds accumulated in the palmy days of the trades, and dedicated 
to benevolent or educational purposes. The most noted example 
of this occurs in the city of Glasgow, where the Trades House 
administers a property of close on half a million sterling, and 
the Deacon-Convener occupies ex officio a seat in the Town 
Council, in which all the trades were formerly represented. 

Addressing ourselves now more particularly to the considera- 
tion of the records of “the Weaver Traid,’’ as its title is therein 
written, it will be proper first to inquire what were the terms of 
admission. It was a pretty onerous probation which had to be 
passed before the position of Freeman was attained. The minutes 
are chiefly occupied with entries of the “ booking ’’ or admission 
of apprentices, journeyman, and freeman. By the terms of his 
indenture, as abbreviated in the minutes, the apprentice is taken 
bound to serve his master “ honestly and dewtyfully,’’ or “truly 
and honestly,’’ for the space of five years. In some instances it 
is stipulated that he shall so serve “night and day’”’ and both 
on “work day and holy days,’’ or again “week day 
and Sabbath day;’’ and further that he shall not hear 
of his master’s “skaith, but shall prevent the same to the 
utmost of his power.’’ On the other hand, the master (who is 
in many instances the father of the apprentice) is taken bound 
to learn and instruct him “in all the points of the weaver trade 
known to himself,’’ and which the apprentice “is capable to take 
up,’’ and to maintain him in bed and board; sometimes it is 
added also in “habiliments.’’ Cautioners are required on both 
sides for fulfilment of the contract. A fee was required at the 
booking of an apprentice, and in 1672 the amount of it was fixed 


416 INCORPORATED TRADES OF DUMFRIES. 


at two merks Scots. The term of apprenticeship varied. Some- 
times it is expressed as simply for five years; in other cases, for 
four years and “ one year for meit and fee;’’ _in others, as for 
“five years and the last year for meit and fee;’’ and yet again 
“for five years time and a year thereafter for meit and fee.”’ 
In the case of the Wrights the term of apprenticeship was six 
years. It is in some cases entered as five years and a year there- 
after for meat and fee; in others, simply as six years. 

Having completed his indenture, the apprentice was next 
entered or booked as a journeyman to some freeman of the in- 
corporation; and it was enacted, by minute of 2oth December, 
1705, that he should not be eligible for admission as a freeman 
until he had served three full years as journeyman, and given 
evidence thereof to the trade. That minute also created what 
may be called a grade of junior freemen, by forbidding any of 
that rank from taking an apprentice “ till first he be four full years 
a freeman using his own employ.’’ He might then hire one 
apprentice, but one only ; for it is ordained—“ further, it shall not 
be leisom to the said freeman so receiving the said first apprentice 
to take another apprentice till four years expire after the entry of 
the said first one,’’ unless the first apprentice shall die or become 
incapable of working. Only in 1752 do I find mention of the fee 
charged to a journeyman on enrolment. It was in that year re- 
duced to two shillings sterling. 

The amount of the fees to be exacted at the admission of 
freemen was a subject of frequent regulation, and they were 
framed on a differential scale. Applicants were divided into 
three classes. There was first the son or son-in-law of a free- 
man. Secondly, there was the “town apprentice,’’ that is, one 
who had served his indenture with a member of the incorporation. 
These were privileged classes. The third class, styled Neutrals, 
and corresponding to the “ Extraneans ’’ of some northern towns, 
consisted of those who had served their apprenticeship in some 
other place and did not stand within the privileged degree of 
relationship to any native freeman. A resolution of the craft of 
22nd March, 1705, fixes the fee for admission of a Neutral at 100 
merks Scots, being equivalent to #5 ros sterling, “ by and attour 
the trade dues use and wont ;’’ but if he should marry a freeman’s 
daughter he “ shall be admitted freeman by his said marriage for 
the price of £20 Scots,’’ or £1 13s 4d sterling ; and a freeman’s 


INCORPORATED TRADES OF DUMFRIES. 417 


son was to be admitted at the same lower rate. We learn, how- 
ever, from an entry, in 1732, that £20 Scots was never exacted 
from the sons or sons-in-law, but only 20 merks. In August, 
1715, the trade, lamenting the decrease in prices for their work, 
attributed this to competition arising from undue multiplication of 
masters, and in the hope of restricting the number they advanced 
the fee or “composition ’’ charged to a town apprentice on enrol- 
ment as a freeman to £48 Scots, or £4 sterling in money, “ by 
and attour drinking, dyner, head-washing, and other dues at 
such solemnitie of admission.’? Then in November, 1730, pre- 
sumably with the same purpose, the fee for a Neutral was in- 
creased from too merks to £100 Scots. Again in 1736 the fees 
for admission in the case of a freeman’s son are fixed as 
follows :—2o0 merks for his freedom; 5s sterling for his speaking 
pint ; two shillings for his “ asy giveing,’’ and two shillings for his 
head-washing ; “ with a drink to the whole corporation after their 
admission, according as the Deacon shall please.’’ 

The term “speaking pint ’’ has its equivalent in the phrase 
“standing his footing ’’ applied to the entertainment expected of 
a new-comer in some trades. “ Head-washing’’ had nothing of 
the sanitary process about it, but was very much of the same 
nature as the other, being defined in Jamieson’s “ Scottish 
Dictionary ’’ as “an entertainment given as a fine by those who 
newly enter on any profession, or are advanced to any situation 
of trust or dignity ; or who, like those who for the first time cross 
the line, have made an expedition they never made before.’’ 
It was a penalty exacted on advancement to the office of Deacon, 
Boxmaster, or Master, as well as on enrolment as freeman ; and in 
1768 the General Committee of the Dumfries Incorporated 
Trades adopted a scale of commutation charges, directing that 
the money should be applied to the public funds of the trade and 
that the accustomed entertainments should no longer be given, as 
they were “a cause of great avoiation from business and loss of 
time, and have been attended with expense out of every indi- 
vidual’s pocket present.’’ This Act of the General Committee 
was recorded also in the minutes of the Weavers and of other 
individual trades. For a similar reason the Weavers at an earlier 
date (in 1742) had enacted that at the booking and receiving of 
apprentices or journeymen there should only be present the 
Deacon and Boxmaster and one or two of the Masters whom they 


418 INCORPORATED TRADES OF DUMFRIES. 


shall call; and no money was to be spent on such occasions from 
the incorporation funds. This Act does not seem, however, to 
have been generally observed ; for in 1753 we have record of a 
complaint made to the Seven Incorporations by a part of the 
trade that the funds were misapplied by unnecessary drinking and 
in other ways. They were prohibited from spending any money 
belonging to the incorporation “upon any account whatever, 
except upon the necessary affairs thereof,’’ and the General Com- 
mittee reserved to itself a power of audit of the accounts. They 
are also prohibited from paying out of the trade funds any 
expenses of law suits between individual members. Other trades 
were exercised by similar excesses. The Wrights, for example, 
found it necessary to restrict the spending at their Deacon’s 
election to twenty shillings of the corporation’s funds. 

In the quotation which I made from a Glasgow Seal of Cause 
it was stipulated that a freeman of the craft must first be a burgess 
of the town. I do not find in the Dumfries trades records that 
such a condition was enforced. The general form of record is 
simply that the applicant presented a petition to be booked 
freeman, which was found reasonable, and he paid the composi- 
tion and gave his oath of fidelity. In some cases it is further 
recorded that he “ made his essay of work assigned to him to the 
satisfaction of all the members.’’ One entry in the Wrights’ 
records, of date January, 1774, does set forth regarding two 
masons that they “ underwent their essay and produced their Act 
of Freedom as burgesses of the burgh, and were admitted and 
received freemen of the incorporation as masons on payment of 
the composition as Neutrals of #10 sterling each.’”’ But it is a 
solitary record of the kind. 

A very interesting aspect of the Weavers’ records is that 
which concerns the “Landward Freemen.’’ The privileges of 
the incorporations had reference primarily, of course, to the area 
of the burgh. But Acts of the Convention of Burghs and of 
Town Councils, passed in the sixteenth century, sought to make 
their monopoly more effectual by extending their jurisdiction to 
the suburbs of towns and a radius of half-a-mile beyond the 
town walls; no craftsman being at liberty to follow his occupation 
within these limits without being enrolled as a freeman. The 
Brig-end of Dumfries, which we now know as the town of Max- 
welltown, fell within this rule; and we have frequent mention in 


INCORPORATED TRADES OF DUMFRIES. 419 


the early records of freemen both of the weavers and wrights 
resident there. It is also specially recorded, on occasion of an 
important meeting of the Weavers on 14th December, 1754, that 
the officer “had warned the freemen both of the town and Brig- 
end and Troqueer,’’ the last named being presumably the old 
village on Troqueer road. These were freemen apparently in 
full enjoyment of trade privileges, albeit not residents in the 
burgh of Dumfries. There is, it is true, one entry (of date 1745) 
that “Wm. M‘Clamruch, weaver in Bridgend, desired to be 
admitted liberty to take out and bring in work without molesta- 
tion, he obliging himself to pay to the box for the trade’s behoof 
2s 6d yearly for each loom he employs.’’ It might be thought 
that this argued a disability on Bridgend freedom, preventing 
them from bringing their goods into Dumfries for sale ; but it will 
be observed that the applicant is not designated a freeman, and 
it is probable that this is an exceptional arrangement with one 
who did not possess the status of freeman. He would be of the 
class designated “ Stallagers,’’? with whom we meet in minutes of 
.1790 and 1791. These minutes refer to persons “within the 
territory of the burgh,’’ namely, at Stoop, Wallacetown, Gateside 
of Lochar, and Whinnyhill, of whom it was complained that they 
had been working as weavers “ without being admitted freemen or 
making acknowledgement [i.e., payment] for their infringing 
upon the laws of the incorporation.’’ They each “came in the 
trade’s will’’ for an annual payment of 6s 8d sterling as 
stallagers. This is defined by Jamieson (who spells it stallangers) 
as a Dumfriesshire term “ denoting a person, not a freeman, who 
is allowed to carry on business for a small consideration to the 
corporation to which he belongs, for the term of a year, in the 
same manner as freemen do.’’ 

There was another and a large class resident in the villages 
and rural district around Dumfries, who were known as landward 
or country freemen, and on whom the usual levy made was 4s 
Scots or a groat yearly. Among the places mentioned in which 
these country members dwelt are Carruchan, Holme of Dal- 
sckairth, Teraghtie, and Leanside, in the parish of Troqueer; 
Ackencreith, Trench, Taylorland, Kelton, in the parish of Dum- 
fries; Colledge, I presume in Terregles; Braecroft and Oaka- 
bush, in Terregles; Conheath, Hiemaynes, Woodend, in Caer- 
laverock ; Gateside, in Holywood ; Holywood Kirk; Dalswinton, 


420 INCORPORATED TRADES OF DUMFRIES. 


Dincow, Kirkton, Carzield, in Kirkmahoe ; Dalquharne, in Iron- 
gray ; Lowghruton, Newabay ; “ Thorall,’’ Dunscore, Glencairn, 
and Tynron parishes; Bruntshiells, in Tinwald; Brantinsylle, in 
the parish of Reveill; Nymbelly, which I take to be in Kirkbean. 
The terms of enrolment sometimes are that these men are to be 
“free of the said trade in the country only ;’’ sometimes that 
they are to be free “to bring and take out work,’’ to the town that 
is; but the variations in form do not seem to indicate any sub- 
stantial distinction. In the case of John Aikine, one of the 
weavers resident at “ Ackencreth,’’ the permission to bring in and 
take out work is limited to four hours each market day; and 
it is expressly stipulated in this entry that he shall make the work 
“good and sufficient, at the ordinar and common prices, without 
less or more, and that he shall: inform of all unfree traders.’’ 
It is a pleasing picture which is brought before us of little in- 
dustrial colonies dotted all over the district, and carrying on 
commerce with the town, albeit under restrictions which are not 
in consonance with modern ideas. 

I will quote in extenso a minute of date 3d April, 1702, 
because it points to the establishment—or contemplated estab- 
lishment—of some new departments of the weaver’s trade in 
Dumfries, and also because it illustrates the detailed regulations 
and restrictive methods of the period, in limiting the number of 
persons employed and forbidding even freemen to practice any 
but their own particular branch of the craft. 

“On the petition of Chas. Bowman, weaver in Air, to be 
freeman with the corporation of weavers in weaving of plush, 
damask, Dornick [that is linen cloth used in Scotland for the 
table], and flowr’d work, for which end he has resolved to come 
and make his residence within this burgh, and to submit to qt. 
composition [what payment] the Deacon and Masters shall exact 
of him. The Deacon and Masters after consideration thereof 
and for the petitioner’s encouragement’ do unanimously admit 
and receive the said Charles to the freedom and privilege of 
their trade and incorporation for his working and weaving 
allenerly [only] of plush, demass, Dornick, and flowr’d work, 
with power to him to set up and use and practice his trade and 
vocation; declaring that after two years succeeding his settle- 
ment he may take prentice and journeymen according to the 
custom of trade. Yet that it shall be leisom to him immediately 


INCORPORATED TRADES OF Dumrrits. 421 


after upsetting in the place to take to himself a man or boy 
for his service in the said four points of work. And for his 
further encouragement do modify the composition for the box to 
20 shillings sterling, which the said Charles by his acceptance of 
his freedom by thir presents obliges him and his heirs and 
executors to pay to the use of boxmaster for the time in name of 
the trade at his convenience after his upsetting. The said 
Charles Bowman being present personally accepted the said free- 
dom and gave his oath of fidelity and fraternity, to maintain, 
assist, and defend the incorporation’ and all its members in the 
whole immunities, and to obey the Deacon and Masters in all 
things reasonable and customary during the time of his enjoying 
the said freedom.”’ 

There is no record of this minute having been rescinded, as 
there is in the case of some others ; but it has been scored out 
by drawing the pen through it. It may be that the trade repented 
of extending its privileges to a stranger; but more probably Mr 
Bowman had reconsidered his position, and resolved not to 
settle in Dumfries. It will be observed that his “ composition ”’ 
was not to be paid until “after his upsetting.” 


II.--KInNELHEAD Tower. By Mr J. I. JOHNSTONE, Moffat. 


The ruins of Kinnelhead Old Tower, which are in the im- 
mediate proximity of the farmhouse of Kinnelhead, show it to 
have been a large and important building in its day, but it has 
this strange peculiarity that nothing authentic seems to be known 
about its history. Its name does not appear in any list of the 
antiquities of the district, as the Statistical Account for 1792 and 
Dr Singer’s “Survey of Dumfries,’’ published in 1812. Neither 
does it appear in the Buccleuch and Annandale papers published 
by the Historical MSS. Commission. No reference is made to it 
as a tower or residence in the Annandale Family Book, and but 
two referencés are made to the lands of Kinnelhead 
in the index of places in the Family Book. The 
first reference is that in 1568 John Johnstone of Glenkill re- 
nounced in favour of Sir John Johnstone, Knight, the lands of 
Armynie, in the Stewartry of ‘Kirkcudbright, with the lands of 
Kinnelhead and Holmschaw, in Annandale, to be occupied by 
him without condition. The other reference is in 1609, when 


422 KINNELHEAD TOWER. 


James Johnstone, first Earl of Hartfell, acquired from Robert 
Johnstone of Bearholm the lands of Easter Kinnelhead. In 
Grieve’s Guide to Moffat there occurs :—* At one time Middlegill 
was the principal seat of David de Lindesay, Baron of Evandale, 
whose peel house stood at Kinnelhead.’? On communicating 
with the authoress of this guide, she could give me no definite 
information as to where she got the statement I have quoted. 
The Lindsays at one time owned land in this neighbourhood, but 
their principal seat was at Crawford, where the ruins of their 
castle. are still to be seen; so that it seems very unlikely to 
have been built by any of that family. The site of the ruins is 
about two hundred yards or so west from Kinnel Water. It is 
surrounded by very rough and rocky ground, having generally a 
slope to the Kinnel. The north and south walls have been 
sandwiched in between two natural mounds or hillocks, which rise 
from ten to twenty feet above the general slope of the ground, 
the tailing of the mound slopes being cut away to allow the walls 
to be built. The space between the south wall and the first 
division wall has been excavated much deeper (probably to form 
a cellar or underground apartment of some kind) than any of the 
other divisions shown on the accompanying plan. This cellar 
has become filled up with stones which have fallen from the 
walls, and I am unable to state how deep it is to the original 
floor level. The first division wall (that is counting from the 
south) is founded on the top of the solid rock, and on the south 
face of this wall the rock is shown as a perpendicular cliff about 
6 feet high before the stone wall begins. The building has 
been originally divided into three compartments, the centre one 
being nearly double the width of the other two. Outside cf 
these places there appears to have been a walled-in outer court 
of considerable extent, and at the south-end of this court the 
foundations are seen of a small square off-shoot, the purpose of 
which seems to have been to cover the entrance to the court 
and buildings, as there are traces of a roadway leading to this 
part still visible. From the east wall of this off-shoot the founda- 
tions of a wall 4 feet 6 inches in width can be traced southwards 
for 238 feet. Small portions of the west and division walls are 
all the faced masonry that remains, although the sites of the 
others shown on the plan can still be clearly made out. A great 
number of the stones at present seen in the walls are of cyclopean 


KINNELHEAD Tower. 423 


Proportions; as, for instance, more than one stone can be 
measured as 6 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft. 6 in. by 1 foot 8 in., and a few 
at 3 ft. 6 in. by 3 ft. 6 in. by 1 foot 6 in. And there is one 
fallen from the walls and lying in the centre compartment which 
measures 6 ft. by 4 ft. 8 in. by 2 ft. The photograph shows a 
number of these large stones. There is a spring of water in 
the outer court. In conversation with a gentleman who was a 
farm servant at Kinnelhead over 60 years ago I gathered that 
the ruins then were just similar to what they are now. The 
Gallowhill, Moffat, and the Bleeze Hill, Wamphray, two of the 
Annandale beacon hills, are visible from the ruin, and it is 
surrounded by the ruins of four other towers at nearly equal 
distances. These are Lochwood and Auchencass, Kirkhope on 
Daer Water, and Locharben on the west side of Queensberry. 
(These two last towers were built by Sir James Douglas of 
Drumlanrig previous to 1578.) There can be no doubt that the 
Tuins are the remains of a stronghold which must have been of 
Some importance in its day, and it seems strange that it should 
have been passed by without some notice from the former anti- 
quarians of this district, such as Dr Singer, etc. 


(The plan and photograph are in the Society’s collection.) 


20th April, 19058. 


Chairman—The PRESIDENT. 


EXHIBITS.—From Mr Lockerbie, Chemist, a nestling pigeon 
with two heads; from Mr Lauder, gamekeeper, Barnbarroch, a 
very fine stone celt, found recently by Mr Lauder in a newly 
ploughed field at Barnbarroch; from Dr Martin, Holywood, a 
Sixpenny piece of the reign of William III., dated 1696, found 
on the road at East Cluden ; from Mr R. Service, a number of 
specimens illustrating the following paper. 


' Tue Rarer Birps or THE Sotway AREA. By Mr Ropert 
SERVICE. 


I have found it just a little difficult to define a “ Rarity,’ 
and to make up my mind on the question of inclusion or exclu- 
sion. The rarity of to-day may be the commonplace species of 


424 THE RARER BirpDs OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 


a few years hence, or the ordinary every-day things of this year of 
grace may ere long be, alas! verging on extinction. 

Thirty years ago the stock dove was a very great rarity—it 
passes us daily without notice now. Ten years earlier than the 
apparition of the stock dove, a starling’s nest was the wonder 
and talk of a whole district—one wonders now where all their 
vast hordes find a living. When I was a boy the chough was to: 
be seen fairly numerously all around our Galloway shores, now 
you may wander from the Heughs of Colvend to the precipices. 
above Portpatrick, and it will be a note well worth booking if you 
see a single example, yea, even in many rambles. These are 
instances of the rise or fall of species from purely natural causes. 
The relative numbers of any species are always in a state of 
ebb or flow, but the process is in the great majority an exceed- 
ingly slow process, and is only seldom so marked as in the 
cases quoted. The occurrence of rarities points, like index 
fingers, to changes in prospect. These may be attributed to one 
or other of several things, that the particular species is (1) more 
or less voluntarily altering its direction of migration-flight, owing 
probably to some varying meteorogical condition; (2) widening 
or lengthening the area of its seasonal occupation ; (3) for some 
more or less inscrutable reason getting into questionable migra- 
tion company, and being led astray into strange areas, not in- 
tended and unsuited for the species; and (4) in the case of the 
so-called gypsy migrants, they are the scouts and fore- 
runners of species desirous of a temporary sojourn only. 
It is thus obvious that the occurrence of rarities opens up 
a most interesting field of study in many directions, and at the 
migration seasons more especially they point out to us the mean- 
ing of much that is going on which would be otherwise obscure. 

Whether attributable to our geographical position or to the 
far more likely cause—scarcity of observers, the fact remains. 
that Solway is, perhaps, the poorest area in Great Britain in its 
record of rarities. Comparing Solway with its two neighbour 
areas, Lakeland and Clyde, I find that in Lakeland they have 28 
rarities that we have not got, while we have only seven that they 
have not recorded. In Clyde there are 13 more rarities than 
we have, and we have about nine that have not yet been recorded 
there. 

I now proceed to give you my catalogue of Solway rarities, 


Tue RARER BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 425, 


and have to explain that the selection of species has been of a 
rather arbitrary character on my part. I divide them into the 
following classes so as to give the subject a rather clearer 
view :— 


I. 
SPRING OR SUMMER VISITANTS. 


The Golden Oriole—a really brilliant bird of tropical 
appearance, closely allied to the thrushes. It comes to Great 
Britain with considerable frequency, and if left alone by the 
Kentish cherry farmers would certainly breed there, but so far 
north as this it is one of the greatest rarities we have. In fact 
there are only two occurrences--one near Sanquhar thirty or 
thirty-five years ago, and the other at Newton-Stewart within the 
last three years. 

The White Wagtail—The continental form of the ordinary 
pied wagtail, but with a grey back, while ours has it black. 
Within recent years it has been found that a migration flight line 
of the white wagtail is along the west coast of England and Scot- 
land, passing about the latter end of March, and proceeding by 
some convenient short cut up the west of our islands, so as 
perhaps to avoid the east wind, and on to the northern part of 
Scandinavia. 

The Hawfinch was a rare bird about 30 years ago, but it 
has so rapidly increased that in many parts of England it is 
already a great pest on green peas. We have had three occur- 
rences of the bird—one in 1869 at Newton-Stewart, another at 
Moffat three years ago, and only last season one was seen in 
Troqueer parish. 

The Wryneck is one of the most interesting of our visitors, 
but its migration limits are strictly defined to a line which passes 
across the country somewhere in the latitude of York. There 
has been only two occurrences, both in Nithsdale, many years 
ago. 

The Hoopoe comes to us very rarely now-a-days, and all the 
records we have are old ones. 

Of the Lesser-spotted Woodpecker only one occurrence is. 
known, namely, at Troqueer Holm, in 1860, and the specimen 
was in the possession of this Society till it became moth-eaten. 

The specimen of the Roller shown is the ordinary south- 


426 THE RARER BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 


eastern European form. There have been two occurrences here, 
one made known by Sir William Jardine in October, 1864, when 
he found its feathers after the bird had been devoured by a cat, 
and another got at Mabie by a party out shooting. 

The Bee-eater is another of those fine south-eastern birds 
which make long migration journeys. | We have one record, so 
long ago as October, 1832, near Kirkmaiden. 

Pallas’s Sand Grouse—Instances in 1863 and in 1888. It 
is one of the most interesting birds known. In 1888 there were 
numerous paragraphs in the newspapers of the great Tartar 
invasion. At that time we had rather more than our share of 
it, for a pretty large flock, at least 60 strong, was located for the 
whole summer on fields near Southerness, where no more suit- 
able spot could have been got, because in its native haunts it is 
confined to open sandy wastes, where the sun shines with a fierce 
heat. When in full plumage long filaments extend for a foot 
and a half from the wings, and the same from the tail. Another 
curious feature of the bird is found in the rat-like pads it has for 
feet. They fly with great swiftness. At that time also some of 
the naturalist M.P.’s got a bill passed in hot haste for the preser- 
vation of this bird for five years, but it so happened that at that 
moment not a single bird of the kind remained in the country, 
the survivors no doubt having gone back to Chinese Tartary, and 
none have been seen here since. 

The Black Winged Stilt has the distinction of having the 
longest legs of any known bird in proportion to its size. We 
might be a little proud of the fact that it was first recorded as a 
British species from a specimen got here. 

Sir Robert Sibbald’s “ Scotia Illustrata’’ (1684) records that 
“this bird was sent to me by William Dalmahoy, one of the 
officers of the King’s Bodyguard, who is very skilled in the 
history of birds, and who transfixed it by a spear in a lake near 
the town of Dumfries, where another was also afterwards stabbed, 
and lost by the carelessness of a soldier.” It is interesting to 
note that the family of Dalmahoy is still serving its country in the 
Same way as that old soldier did. 

Of the Night Heron only one is recorded in this area, as 
taken in the river Cluden in 1825, and the specimen, which 
belonged to the late Sir William Jardine, is in the Royal Scottish 
Museum. 


THE RARER BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 427 


The Whiskered Tern is an exceedingly interesting bird of 
the gull family. It was found in 1894 in the little loch at Friars’ 
Carse, and I had it sent to Edinburgh, where it is one of the 
particular treasures in the museum, being the only one recorded. 


from Scotland. 
II. 


AUTUMN OR WINTER VISITANTS. 


The Great Grey Shrike—One of the butcher-bird family, a 
very rapacious lot, distinguished by their curious habit of catching 
bumble bees, mice, small birds, etc., and impaling them upon 
thorns for convenience in taking them for food. Every winter 
for a long series of years one or more visitants of the kind was. 
reported, but during the last half-dozen years I have not been 
made aware of any more occurrences here. 

The Mealy Redpole—-One of the Arctic forms of the 
common redpole. It is bigger than our own, is of a peculiar 
mealy tinge, and only visits us when we have somewhat Arctic 
conditions of weather. We had them in 1879, again in 1895, 
and none afterwards occurred till the winter of ,1900. 

The Greater-spotted Woodpecker may have bred in this 
area at one time, but does not do so now, although there is. 
more than a suspicion that it has bred in Eskdale in recent years, 
but in the ordinary way it never comes to us till early in the 
winter. 

The Wood Sand Piper—An occurrence of this bird was 
recorded by Mr Bell of Castle O’er, who read an interesting 
paper on the subject to this Society some years ago. 

The Green Sand Piper is of tolerably frequent recurrence 
now, although at one time a rarity. The Smellie Watson cata- 
logue says of it:—“ This beautiful little bird I shot on the 
marshy ground behind Carlingwark House, Castle-Douglas, when 
shooting snipes. On the wing it appeared so white that it re- 
sembled a snowball, and its flight was not unlike that of a 
common snipe, but not so quick. None of my friends in that 
neighbourhood had ever met with one of the species before. Sir 
William Jardine thought this a very fine specimen.’’ 

The Spotted Redshank is a very scarce bird, and it is only 
within the last few years that we were able to establish it as a 
real migrant here. Those acquainted with the cries of the wild 
fowl were quite convinced of having heard it, but until Mr M‘Call 


428 THE RARER BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 


shot a specimen at the mouth of one of the creeks at Carsethorn 
in October, 1900, its occurrence was not authenticated. 

The Ruff is a bird of considerable interest for the part it 
used to form in the feasts in the olden time. In historical annals 
there are accounts of the feasts the bishops held when many 
thousands of fatted ruffs were served up. 

The Little Stint is one of those Siberian birds which in their 
migration south pass through our area for a few days only early 
in September. Here in the Solway area we are a little too far 
west to get anything like a proper share of these birds from 
the Siberian and Russian regions. A closely allied species is 
Temminck’s stint, which has occurred only once. 

The Little Bittern is from the marshes of the Danubian 
region. Only one instance as far as I know has occurred. 
Another is alleged to have been got near Lochmaben, but I have 
not been able to authenticate it. I have a letter from the famous 
historian of the Cumberland birds, late Rev. H. A. Macpherson, 
whose untimely death a few years ago ornithologists have not yet 
ceased to deplore. In it he wrote of a little bittern which “ was 
shot at a place called the Woodhouse, on the Kirtle river between 
Kirkpatrick and Kirtlebridge, by its present owner, Mr Sharp of 
Hodgson’s Court, Cumberland Street, Carlisle, in the early 
summer of 1874.” 

Baillon’s Crake—One specimen of this bird was got near 
Lochmaben by Sir Wm. Jardine in 1835, and another was got 
near Stranraer in 1875. 

The Snowgoose is one of these American forms which we 
manage to get sometimes. There was a flock seen in 1881 in 
Cumberland, and one of these birds turned up in the nets at 
Newbie. 

Of the Gadwall, one of the rare “teal ’’ tribe of ducks, one 
was got at the mouth of the Nith. 

Of the Garganey we have had at least two. One of them 
was got near Glenluce in 1879, and another later on at Kirk- 
michael. These are now looked after by sportsmen, so that, no 
doubt, we will get a fair proportion of the tame reared ones in 
time. 

An exceedingly interesting bird is the Blue-winged Teal. In 
January, 1863, one was shot by the late Mr Shaw, a celebrated 
keeper on Drumlanrig estates, who was the first to investigate the 


Tue RARER BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 429 


sequence of life in the salmon by proving that the pars were really 
the young of salmon, who also introduced the roe deer into this 
district, and tried unsuccessfully the introduction of the 
ptarmigan, and was very successful in introducing the grayling. 
The bird he shot was sent to Sir William Jardine, and is now 
in the collection of the Royal Scottish Museum. Strange to say, 
no other specimen has ever occurred in any part of Europe, so 
that we have here an unique distinction. 

The Roseate Tern is one of the prettiest of the species. 
While alive it shines with a brilliant gloss, and on the under 
side there is a rosy tinge, which fades immediately after death. 
It has been seen on Rough Island at the mouth of the Urr by 
myself and others. 

The Grey Phalarope breeds far to the north, but as each 
recurrent October or November comes round, if we have at the 
time of migration a roaring north-western gale, we are certain to 
find numbers round our coast. At that time they are absurdly 
tame, and, if you happen to come on one in a little pool of water, 
it is a pleasure to see how innocently it looks up without fear 
of the human face. 

The Red-necked Phalarope visits the Solway with extreme 
rarity, which is all the more curious as it breeds at two or three 
stations along the Hebrides and in Shetland, so that it must 
pass over this district, though it never seems to alight here. 

A few of the Great Snipe have occurred from time to time, 
and one instance occurred last autumn at the Brae, Lochrutton. 

The Black-tailed Godwit used to be a feature of the feasts in 
the olden time, but is now rare in this country. A few have 
been seen at the mouth of the Nith. 7 

Of the American Bittern we have only three records. 

Wild Swans are very interesting to the naturalist or lover of 
wild life. Three of them are known here—two with certainty. 
The whooper swan is seen when we have a sufficiently hard 
winter. It seldom comes before December, and those who hear 
its curious trumpet-like calls as it passes, flying in the-midst of a 
gale or rising tempest, can never forget the feeling it engenders. 
It is compared to the sound of a pack of hounds in the distance, 
but there is something more weird and unearthly accompanying it 
than the cry of the hounds. In Northern Germany and Russia it 
is always said that these sounds are heard when the Demon 


430 THE RARER BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 


Huntsman and his hounds are out, and the superstitious peasantry 
crouch closer round the fire when the ominous sounds swell on the 
rising gale. 

Bewick’s Swan is smaller and slimmer. One was got at 
Southwick, and was kept for some months until it recovered 
from a wounded wing, when one day it walked out to a knoll, 
rose in the air, and disappeared. 

The Long-tailed Duck is very familiar as the “calloo’’ to 
those who journey up the West Coast in summer and early 
autumn, and it is so named from its call. Up till recent years, 
none were seen any nearer than the Ayrshire coast, but within 
the last ten or twelve years little parties have been finding their 
way round the Mull of Galloway into our waters, and a few have 
even got inside Southerness. 

A very interesting species is the Velvet Scoter. Those who 
are at Southerness in the winter are attracted by the large flocks 
of black ducks diving into the water. One in five hundred is 
white-spotted on the wing, and such are not freaks but a distinct 
species known as the velvet scoter. 

The Smew is another rare Siberian duck which visits us 
in the winter. 

The Red-necked Grebe is scarce on the west, but common 
on the east coast. 

Of the pretty Little-eared Grebe we have only one record 
locally, that of a pair shot in 1863 at Castledykes pool. 

A specially interesting species is that of the Little Auk, 
which is found as far north as any navigator has penetrated 
towards the North Pole. We had, perhaps, a dozen specimens 
found in our area a few years ago at the time of what was 
called the “ wreck of the little auk,’’ when caught by a gale they 
were dashed against our shores, but since then it has not again 
occurred among us to my knowledge. 

The Black Tern at one time bred. in Cumberland, and 
threatened to breed in Solway Moss, but did not. Since then it 
turns up in the autumn months at odd intervals. 

The Little Gull from the Persian and Caspian region shows 
a tendency to extend its migration far to the west in the early 
part of the winter, owing perhaps to the fact that here in the 
north-west part of Europe we have as mild a time during winter 
as anywhere on the continent. 


‘ 


THE RARER BirDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 431 


The Glaucous Gull, and along with it the Iceland Gull, are 
species of which we have only some very old records. 

The Skuas, Richardson’s, Buffon’s, and the Pomatorhine. 
They are a curious race of rapacious gulls, which follow weaker 
ones, make them disgorge their prey, which they then seize before 
it reaches the water. Richardson’s occurs most often, Buffon’s is 
an occasional visitor, and the Pomatorhine is the least common. 

Those who have had an opportunity of going on the Solway 
in a trawler or whammel boat will have seen the Fulmar, which 
comes within two or three miles of our coast, confining its feeding 
grounds entirely to the channel a few miles out. Along with it 
may be seen the Manx Shearwater. 

The Black Guillemot has been suspected of breeding on the 
rocks at the mouth of Luce Bay, but the fact has not been 
authenticated. 

The Storm Petrel and the Fork-tailed Petrel—Curious birds 
of ill omen, which follow vessels in time of distress. Occasion- 
ally on a very dark day in November I have seen the second 
named flying around Southerness point in small parties, evidently 
mistaking the gloom of mist and rain for the shades of evening 
coming on, most of them being nocturnal. 


Ill. 
BREEDING RARITIES. 


The first I mention of this class is the Pied Flycatcher, 
which was supposed to be confined to Westmorland and Derby- 
shire, but within a short period of about 20 years it has been 
found breeding in our area. It is a specially interesting little 
bird. 

The Lesser Whitethroat is of peculiar interest as a Scottish 
species. I remember reading in a paper given to this Society by 
a gentleman from Moniaive that it was pretty common round 
there, but whatever species may have been mistaken for it, it 
certainly was not the lesser whitethroat. In all my experience I 
have only met with it on two occasions, and although I have 
heard its peculiar note at times all my endeavours to get a local 
specimen have failed. A few months ago I addressed the 
Natural History Society of Glasgow, and said that probably 
Eskdale was the furthest northern station where the lesser white- 
throat would be found fairly regularly as a breeding species. 


432 THE RARER BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 


Following that a gentleman from Hurlford wrote to the news- 
papers and said that was all nonsense, as any amount of them 
could be got there. Some of my friends in Glasgow were de- 
lighted to hear it, and the gentleman took them down to see the 
birds, but they turned out to be the common whitethroat. 

The Turtle Dove is the subject of the inspired writer’s 
beautiful description of spring——“ The voice of the turtle is again 
heard in the land.’’ It comes from Barbary and other countries 
of Northern Africa, and settles down in the sylvan shades of 
England, and if you ever listened to its soft melody there you 
would appreciate the poetic description to the full. It comes 
over the Border very seldom. 

The Quail is the familiar bird of historic literature, but by 
no means well known to us in the bodily form. Long ago it must 
have been of annual occurrence, because old people will tell 
you how they listened to the calls of the quail in the summer 
evenings. During all my experience the quail has never been 
seen except in the fine season of 1893, when they suddenly 
descended on all the fields of ryegrass between Cumnock and 
Annan, and no one could understand what their peculiar calls 
were until the mowers discovered their nests. The chick shown 
is that of a quail taken on the farm of Rotchell. 

The Spotted Drake shown was got at the pond of Terregles. 

The Great Crested Grebe completes the list of breeding 
rarities. During the last few years it has been found breeding 
at Lochmaben and the White Loch of Myrtoun, where Sir 
Herbert Maxwell affords a refuge to all such. 


GS 


HISTORICAL SPECIES. 


Of the Crane, the Rev. H. A. Macpherson, to whom I have 
referred, wrote—I can find no evidence of cranes having ever 
bred in Scotland, but that the bird was well known in Scotland 
and much sought after in the sixteenth century is indisputable. 
As for instance the accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of 
Scotland contain the following :—“ 1503. Item, the XXI. day 
of December, to ane man brocht quik crannes and quik pertrikis 
to the King fra William Cunninghame of Dumfries—five 
shillings.’’ 

That is very interesting, but it must not be forgotten that 


THE RARER BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 438 


country people called the ordinary heron a crane, and it is 
possible there may be some little confusion. 

The Bittern---Nearly 300 years ago Dr Archibald in writing 
of the fauna of Dumfries mentioned biltour as found very fre- 
quently on the land. 

The Chough shown came from Islay, but at one period it 
was exceedingly common round our shores from Colvend to Port- 
patrick. At present I am not aware that it breeds anywhere 
along our coast. 

Ptarmigan—Up till 1825 these were to be found on our hill- 
tops. Inthe Dungeon of Buchan one was shot so lately as 1828, 
the last recorded. The late Duke of Buccleuch tried to intro- 
duce them at Wanlockhead, but there was a sequence of mild 
winters, and they disappeared. 


V. 
ACCIDENTALS OR CASUALS. 


The Red-backed Shrike was only once found at Lochmaben. 

The Waxwing, a curious bird, the appearance of which 
people long attributed to forebodings of war or pestilence, or 
other calamities, was long a mystery in the matter of the place of 
breeding, until in 1854 it was found breeding in great numbers in 
Lapland. It is very rare here. 

Of Richard’s Pipit there is an authentic occurrence as having 
taken place in Terregles. 

The White-winged Crossbill is said to have occurred in 
Dunscore. 

The Rose-coloured Pastor comes to us at long intervals 
from the Far East. It is said in Southern Europe to follow 
up the swarms of locusts, and feed on them, and is reckoned to 
be one of the means whereby the locust is kept in check. 

The Nutcracker is said to have occurred in Wigtownshire a 
few years ago. 

VI. 
INTRODUCED BirRDs. 

Of the Red-winged Starling we have only one occurrence, 

recorded in Sanquhar. No doubt it came from Inveraray, where, 


after the Marquis of Lorne’s return from the Governor-General- 
ship of Canada, the introduction of 200 of the red-winged starling 


434 THE RARER BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 


was a failure. They remained during the summer, and totally 
disappeared in the autumn when the migration fever set in. 

The introduction of the Capercailzie was also a failure. 
The late Duke of Buccleuch proposed to introduce them at 
Sanquhar, and the eggs were successfully hatched, but the 
birds disappeared. Several years later a couple of specimens 
were found at Glenapp, no doubt stragglers from an introduction 
by the late Duke of Hamilton. 

The Virginian Quail was introduced by Mr Shaw at Drum- 
lanrig, but also disappeared. Had the proper conditions been 
observed it might have become one of the local species, 
because they have been successfully introduced in Norfolk and 
other English parts, and give good sport. 


VII. 
ALLEGED OCCURRENCES. 


The Black-throated Thrush is a Siberian species which 
comes to England in very hard weather. One is said to have 
been seen at Kirkconnel in 1895 during the fearful snowstorm of 
that year. 

The Black Redstart is alleged to have occurred and bred 
here, but I venture to think the statement was on totally erroneous 
grounds, because over and over again I have been asked to come 
and see its nest, and greatly to my disgust on every occasion it 
has turned out to be that of the common redstart only. 

The Nightingale—Whenever a good warm dry summer 
occurs, when such species as the sedge warbler begin to sing at 
night, their songs are attributed to the nightingale, and we are 
sure to see in some newspapers a paragraph that the bird has 
been here—but not seen. 

The Wood Lark, according to the Old Statistical Account, is 
said to have been seen in Dumfriesshire, but up to date it has not 
authentically been found here. 

The Pine Grosbeak—There is a very interesting old record in 
the Statistical Account of Kirkmichael parish by Dr Burgess, a 
very well-known botanist, who gives the pine grosbeak as one of 
the birds of his parish, but contemporary writers also say that the 
crossbill was unusually common in Kirkmichael, so that no doubt 
he wrote down grosbeak instead. 

The Green Woodpecker is said to have occurred at 


Tl 


THE RARER BIRDS OF THE SOLWAY AREA. 435 


Munches, and is given in the very good and authentic list of 
Colvend parish, but not one of the European woodpeckers is 
less given to wandering, and those who say they have not 
occurred in Scotland are entitled to be heard. 

The Great White Heron is said by two good naturalists, Mr 
Bruce, Dalshangan, and Mr M‘Kie, Kirkcudbright, to have 
occurred on the Dee in the hard winter of 1879, and as specimens 
were got in England in that winter probably they were correct. 

The Common Skua is a bird of which the Shetlanders are as 
proud as an English squire is of his pheasants. An old record 
says it is occasionally met with on the Solway Firth, but there is 
nothing to authenticate it. 

The Ivory Gull, an Arctic species, is said to have been seen 
on the Solway Firth, but as an albino of the herring gull was got 
shortly after, there seems little doubt the record must be rejected. 


2nd June, 1905. 


Chairman—The PRESIDENT. 


The President stated that a letter had been received from Mr 
J. A. Moodie, honorary secretary and treasurer, resigning these 
offices, and that the council had remitted to a committee to draw 
up a minute expressing the thanks of the Society for his services. 
The minute was submitted and approved of. It referred to Mr 
Moodie’s services as secretary for three and as treasurer for sixteen 
years, and expressed the Society’s appreciation of his services in 
these capacities. 


It was also intimated that Mr Samuel Arnott had consented 
to act as interim secretary, and Mr Mathew H. M‘Kerrow as 
interim treasurer. The appointments were unanimously con- 
firmed. 


NEw MemsBer.—Rev. James Law, South United Free 
Church, Dumfries. 


Exnisits.—From Mr T. Hope-Bell, Morrington, tiles from 
Summer Palace, Pekin, a number of fossils, corals, gold quartz 


436 EXHIBITS. 


from Rosario, and other specimens; from Miss M. Carlyle 
Aitken, fruit of Bignonia, fruit of Brazil nut, Martynia fruit, to- 
gether with a number of other valuable and interesting exhibits ; 
from Mr R. Service, spray of common holly, showing four suc- 
cessive years’ growth, flowers of Ixiolirion, specimen of Old Man 
Cactus—Pilocereus senilis; from the President, plants of 
Brodiza ixioides, CEnothera tenella? from Chili, GZ. odorata, an 
Acena, Camassia esculenta, etc.; from the Secretary, Lychnis 
diurna variegata and Arisarum proboscideum ; from Mr Kennedy, 
teacher, Holywood, Soland Goose, captured in Holywood in 
1902, and which he now presented to the Society; from Dr 
Martin, a photograph of a stone in Holywood Churchyard ; from 
Mr R. Service, coins of reign of Queen Mary, found at Kirkcud- 
bright, a coin found at Carruchan, a stone hammer found in Kirk- 
bean, and one found in Holywood, and a specimen of the 
Cockchafer beetle ; from Mr Charles Cumming, Dumfries, a large 
number of Roman and other coins; from Mr George Irving, 
Corbridge-on-Tyne, a burgess ticket of Lochmaben conferred on 
George Sharp, advocate, Laird of Hoddom, in 1731. 

Interesting information regarding these exhibits was given 
by the President and others. 

Mr Kennedy was thanked for presenting the Soland Goose 
to the Society. 


Dr Martin contributed a number of valuable notes regarding 
the old stones in Holywood Churchyard, an interesting inscription 
from a figured stone in Irongray Churchyard, and several epitaphs 
from local churchyards. 


EXPERIMENTS WITH CutTTING LEAVES OF PLANTS. By Mrs 
ATKINSON, Dumfries. 


The following is an experiment tried on six plants, viz., 
a Schizanthus, a Hydrangea, a Geranium, a Primula, a 
Calceolaria, and a Cineraria, of cutting their leaves at the edge 
and across the centre of leaves. At first very little action took 
place ; afterwards the leaves of the Schizanthus began to shrivel 
and curl up. Unfortunately, the plant got nipped by the frost, 
so no further observations were possible. In the case of the 
Hydrangea the cuts at the edge of the leaves became discoloured ; 
those in the centre split up in an opposite direction to the cuts 


EXPERIMENTS WITH CUTTING LEAVES OF PLANTs. 437 


and looked somewhat dead at their edges. In about six weeks’ 
time the leaves fell from the plant. The cuts on the leaves of 
the Geranium at first looked as though they were inclined to 
re-unite, very minute filaments formed at the edge of the cuts, 
looking as if they might knit the cut parts together again, eventu- 
ally the leaves turned yellow, and dropped from the plant. The 
cut leaves of the Primula became very ragged at the edge of the 
cuts, the leaves became discoloured and decayed, and they 
finally shrivelled up and died. The centre cuts in the leaves of 
the Calceolaria spread in all directions, more so than the cuts 
at the edge of the leaves. After a time the leaves became limp, 
and the cuts becoming black, in the end the leaves died. The 
Cineraria’s leaves that were cut curled up very much at the 
edges, the centre cuts had several little notches at the edges, 
they split away from the main cuts, and all the cut leaves died. 


438 


PE ese Vis El EIN Cos 


On account of the number of papers, etc., it has been found 
necessary to condense the reports of the Field Meetings held in 
1905, which were well attended, and, as a rule, cf a highly 
interesting nature. 


Linceluden College—10th June, 1905, 


Lincluden Abbey was visited, and Mr James Barbour ex- 
plained the history and leading architectural features of the 
College and the Abbey, which was originally built on the site. 


NEw MemsBers.—Rey. S. Dunlop, Irongray Manse, and Mr 
H. Leighton Hare, Lochvale. 


Kirkconnel, Newabbey—24th June, 1905. 


By kind permission of Colonel Maxwell Witham, the Society 
visited Kirkconnell, Newabbey, where the members spent a most 
enjoyable afternoon, inspecting the old tower and mansion, the 
gardens (full of interesting plants), and the fine grounds. 

Colonel Maxwell Witham kindly entertained the party, which 
numbered about 4o, to tea. 


BUSINESS MEETING. 
Chairman—The PRESIDENT. 


Colonel Maxwell Witham, Mr R. Maxwell Witham, and 
Miss Maxwell Witham were accorded a vote of thanks for their 
kindness. 


NEw Memper.-—Dr Joseph Hunter, Duntfries. 


FIELD MEETINGS. 439 


Thornhill, Penpont, and Glenwhargen— 
15th July, 1905. 


About twenty members took part in this Field Meeting, the 
places visited being Dr Grierson’s Museum at Thornhill, the 
ancient devotional cross at Boatford, Penpont Church and 
Churchyard, and Glenwhargen Craig. At the Museum, which 
was open to the party through the courtesy of the Trustees, Mr 
and Mrs Kerr were most attentive, and before leaving a hearty 
vote of thanks was accorded to them. Mr James Barbour acted 
as cicerone at the Devotional Cross, and pointed out its archi- 
tectural and other features, drawing attention to the fact that it 
differed greatly from the engravings hitherto published. At 
Penpont Rev. A. Paton and Mr R. Robson acted as 
guides, and at Glenwhargen Dr Mair Robertson kindly provided 
a most enjoyable repast for the members present. At the close 
a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Dr Robertson for his 
kindness in providing the refreshments, and for his assistance in 
making the arrangements, and also to Mr R. Robson for so much 
assistance willingly given in making the arrangements. 


New Memper..—Mr Hugh Steuart Gladstone, yr. of 
Capenoch. 


Lochmaben—29th July, 1905. 


Despite a stormy day, about 20 visited Lochmaben, where 
Provost Halliday, Rev. R. Neill Rae, and Mr Cameron accom- 
panied them round the principal places of interest. During the 
earlier part of the afternoon Rev. Mr Rae acted as guide, and a 
visit was paid to the old camp near the station, the site of the 
Roman road, a number of old buildings, and the Church and 
Churchyard. A visit was then paid to the Town Hall, where 
Provost and Mrs Halliday had kindly provided tea, and where 
the party was joined by Mr E. B. Rae, town clerk, who exhibited 
several antiquarian objects belonging to the ancient Royal Burgh. 


After tea a short Business Meeting was held, when, on the 
motion of the President, seconded by Dr J. Maxwell Ross, 
Provost and Mrs Halliday were warmly thanked for their kindness 


440 FIELD MEETINGS. 


and hospitality, and Rev. R. Neill Rae was heartily thanked for 
his services as guide. 


New MemBers.—Mrs Murray of Murraythwaite ; Mr Charles 
Palmer, Woodbank, Dumfries; and Mr J. Wilson, solicitor, 
Dumfries. 


Birdoswald Camp, Lanercost Priory, Naworth 
Castle, and Brampton—19th August, 1905. 


A considerable party travelled by train to Gilsland, where 
they were met by Mr F. Penfold, Brampton, who kindly acted 
as guide in lieu of his brother, Mr Henry Penfold, who had 
kindly drawn up the programme for the day. After seeing the 
Roman Wall near the station, and Mumps Ha’, the party drove 
to Birdoswald Camp, which was inspected under the guidance 
of Mr George Irving and Mr F. Penfold. Driving along the 
Roman Wall, they proceeded to Lanercost Priory, where Rev. 
J. T. Willis, the vicar, kindly escorted them through the fine 
abbey, giving many historical details. The next halt was at 
Naworth Castle, permission to visit which had kindly been given 
by the Earl of Carlisle, and where the party had the privilege 
of being guided by Lady Cecilia and Mr Roberts, daughter and 
son-in-law of the Earl. Here a most interesting time was spent, 
and before leaving, on the call of Rev. W. L. Stephen, a hearty 
vote of thanks was accorded to Lady Cecilia and Mr Roberts for 
their great kindness. 

A pleasant drive led to Brampton, where several places of 
interest were visited. Tea was partaken of in the Howard Arms, 
- where a Business Meeting was held, Dr Martin in the chair. 
Votes of thanks were accorded to the Earl of Carlisle, Lady 
Cecilia Roberts, Mr Roberts, Rev. J. T. Willis, and to Mri 
Henry Penfold, Mr Penfold, senior, and Mr F. Penfold, the 
Secretary making special: mention of the great kindness shown 
by the Messrs Penfold. 


New MemBers.—Colonel Jackson, Springvale, Ayr; Mr R. 
Dinwiddie, Overton, Dumfries; Mr James Henderson, Braeside, 
Dumfries; Mr J. H. Nicholson, Airlie, Maxwelltown ; and Mr J. 
Houston, jun., Marchfield. 


Firtp MEETINGS. 441 
Moniaive District—9th September, 1905. 


About 30 took part in this meeting, the party taking train to 
Crossford, where conveyances were in waiting, and where they 
were met by Rev. T. Kidd and Mr John Corrie, who had co- 
operated in making the arrangements, and who acted as guides 
to the company. The first visit was made to the private chapel 
of Sir Emilius Laurie of Maxwelton House, thence the company 
proceeded to Maxwelton House, the home of Annie Laurie, 
where a considerable time was spent in examining the fine old 
mansion and the interesting portraits and other objects of interest, 
Colonel Laurie and Mr Cecil Laurie kindly guiding them over 
the house. Sir Emilius kindly entertained the company to lunch, 
Sir Emilius himself presiding at the table, and afterwards gave a 
deeply interesting account of the history and associations of 
Maxwelton. On the motion of Mr M. H. M‘Kerrow Sir Emilius 
was warmly thanked for his great kindness. 

Resuming their seats the party proceeded to Glencairn 
Churchyard, where Rev. Mr Kidd pointed out the most interest- 
ing tombs, and drew attention in a most interesting way to the 
more notable of these. A detour was then made to pass Ingle- 
ston Moat, which time did not permit visiting, but a halt was 
made to allow of Mr Corrie giving an interesting account of what 
was known and surmised of this ancient moat. Passing through 
the pretty village of Moniaive, a visit was paid to Renwick’s 
Monument, where Mr Kidd gave a short account of Renwick’s 
origin and career. Thence the company proceeded to Caitloch, 
where a most hospitable reception was given by Mr James M‘Call, 
who kindly entertained the company to tea. After tea a Business 
Meeting was held, under the chairmanship of Mr W. Dickie, 
when, on the motion of Colonel Irving of Bonshaw, a hearty vote 
of thanks was accorded to Mr M‘Call for his hospitality, and to 
Miss M‘Call and Miss Martin of Dardarroch for presiding at the 
tea table. 


New Memsers.—Miss Mond, Aberdour House, Dumfries ; 
Mr A. E. Johnson-Ferguson, yr. of Springkell, Wiston Lodge, 
Lamington; and Mr T. G. Armstrong, Rae Street, Dumfries. 


Several interesting old books were examined at Caitloch, and 
a number of the party visited the Covenanters’ Cave on the estate, 


442 FIELD MEETINGS. 


while others spent some time in the pretty garden, and before 
leaving a photograph of the company was taken by Mr Kidd. 
On the return journey a short time was spent in the village of 
Moniaive, once a burgh of regality, and in examining the old 
Town Cross. 


Dumfries and Maxwelltown Sewage Purifica- 
tion Works—23rd September, 1905. 


The concluding Field Meeting took place on the above date, 
when a considerable number of members visited the Sewage 
Purification Works of the Burghs of Dumfries and Maxwelltown. 
Those at Dumfries were first visited, the company proceeding to 
the Castledykes, where Mr John Barker, sanitary inspector of 
Dumfries, kindly escorted the party over the works, and gave full 
explanation of the different steps in the purification of the sewage. 
Thereafter a short Business Meeting was held, under the chair- 
manship of Mr W. Dickie, when Mr John Barker was admitted 
as a member of the Society. On the motion of Dr J. Maxwell 
Ross a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the Town Council 
of Dumfries for giving permission to inspect the works, and to Mr 
Barker for his courtesy and valued services in showing the party 
over the works. Crossing the Nith by boat, kindly lent by Mr 
Charles Turner, the company next visited the Maxwelltown 
Works, where Dr J. Maxwell Ross pointed out the leading 
features of the works and gave a number of explanations regard- 
ing the process in reply to questions. Mr Cruickshank, sanitary 
inspector of Maxwelltown, was also in attendance, and Provost 
Herries was present. On the motion of Dr J. W. Martin, the 
Town Council of Maxwelltown was thanked for permission to 
visit the works, and thanks were accorded to Provost Herries for 
his attendance, to Dr Maxwell Ross for his information and 
explanations, and to Mr Cruickshank for his services. 


—— a eo 


443 


DONATIONS 


For the Three Sessions. 


Reprint of Mr James Barbour’s paper on Rispain, from Mr 
Barbour. 

Old Implements used by workmen at Castledykes Old Quarry, 
discovered during excavations there, presented by Mr M‘Kay. 

Limelight Lantern and Screen from Professor G. F. Scott-Elliot. 


A Collection of Minerals, Fossils, and Geological Specimens, also 
Ancient Coins collected in Egypt in 1864, from Miss Max- 
well, Nunbank. 


(1) Rules and Regulations of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway 
Benefit Society, instituted in London, 14th March, 1820. 
(2) “ Dumfries Monthly Magazine,’’ June, 1826. (3) “Read- 
ing made Easy,”’ published in Dumfries, 1824. (4) “ Bible 
Lessons,’’ by Rev. Thos. T. Duncan, minister of the New 
Church, Dumfries, 1816. (5) “Dumfries Album,” 1857. 
(6) “Report of the great Demonstration at Sanquhar on 
22nd July, 1860. (7) Catalogue of the Society’s Exhibition 
in the Mechanics’ Hall, 1873. From Rev. R. W. Weir. 

Discharge and Assignation, dated 18th August, 1673, granted by 
Alexander Maxwell of Buittle, and William Glendonyng of 
Parton, in favour of Adam Wright, in Cairgane, and James 
Hutchison, in Troqueer, from Mr Thomas Fraser, Dal- 
beattie. 

Portrait of the late Sir William Jardine, Bart. of Applegarth, 
from Miss Maxwell, Nunbank. 


Fossil from Welsh Limestone, from Mr Bulkley Hughes. 
Copy of the first number of the “ Edinburgh Courant,’’ February, 
1705; a print from the “Gentleman’s Magazine,’’ of Old 


Bridge of Dumfries, in 1793. From Miss Henderson, 
London. 


444 DONATIONS. 


Two MS. Volumes of Notes of Weather Observations taken at 
Dunscore from 1st January, 1884, to 31st December, 1891, 
from Dr Callander. 

Burial Urns discovered in Maxwelltown Public Park, from Mr 
James Barbour. 

From Mr John Maxwell, Tarquah—(r1) Specimen of Native 
Cotton, grown in Sikondi; (2) Coffee Beans, grown at 
Tarquah; (3) Piece of Wood used by natives as a tooth- 
brush ; (4) Specimen of Bush Creeper ; (5) Report of Botani- 
cal Department of the Gold Coast Government for rgor. 

From Mrs Thompson, Castle Street—(r) Historical Essay, by 
James Anderson, Edinburgh, 1725; (2) “ Wallace or Fight 
of Falkirk,’’ London, 1820. 

Copy of Circular issued by Mechanics’ Institute in 1859, from 
Mr Smith. 

(1) Guide to the Gallery of Birds, 1905; (2) Guide to the 
Fossil Mammals and Birds; (3) How to collect Diftera ; 
(4) Blood sucking flies and how to collect them; and 23 
other volumes. From Trustees of British Museum. 


= 


EEE ee, ee 


HEXCHANGES. 


Banffshire Field Club—Transactions, 1900-01. 


Berwickshire Natural History Field Club—Transactions, 
1got-1901-02, Vol. XVII. 


Bureau of Ethnology of United States—Publications, Vol. 26; 
Bulletins, Nos. 95 and 96; roth Annual Report, Parts 1 
and 2, 1897-8; 21st and 22nd Annual Reports, 1899-1900 
and 1900-r. 


Canadian Institute—Transactions, October, 1902, No. 2 of Vol. 
VII., No. 3 of Vol. VII., No. 5 of Vol. II.; Proceedings, 
Vol. 7, Part 2, July, 1904. 


Chronological Tables of Introduction of Tobacco into various 
Countries. 


Cold Spring Harbour Monographs—I., 1903; II., Collambola 
of Cold Spring Beach, etc. 


Davenport Academy of Science—Transactions, Vol. 8. 


Edinburgh Geological Society—Transactions, Vol. 8, Sp. Part 
and Part 2. 


Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society Journal. 

Glasgow Natural History Society---Transactions, 1901-02. 
Marlborough College Natural History Society—Report, rgor. 
Minnesota Academy of Natural Science—Proceedings, 1890-91. 


New York Academy of Science—-Annals, Vol. 14, Parts 1, 2, 
and 3; Vol. 15, Part 1; Vol. 14, Parts 1 and 2. 


Nova Scotia Institute of Science-—Transactions, Vol. 10, Parts 
ay Goan 4. 6 


Philadelphia Academy of Science—Transactions, Vols. 53 and 
54; Proceedings, Vol. 54, 1902. 


446 EXCHANGES. 


Pulse and Rhythm, by Mary Hallock Greenwalt. 


Rochester Academy of Natural Science—Proceedings, 4 mono- 
graphs, Williamette Meteorite, March, 1904. 


Smithsonian Institute—32 Monographs; 20 Monographs, from 
Report, 1903; Annual Report, rgot. 


Staten Island Association—Vol. 7. 

Stirling Natural History Society—Transactions, 1901-2, 1902-3, 
and 1903-4. 

Sverige Antikvarish Tidshift, Vol. 17, Part 3. 


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