182 DR. GILLY ON NORHAM CHURCH AND CHURCHYARD. 



late vicar, Mr. Darnell. At the western extremity of the 

 foundations discovered in 1832-3, the remains of a cell or 

 prison were found, in which a niche, walled up, had the ap- 

 pearance of having been used to bury alive some miserable 

 victim of tyranny or superstition. An embankment of clay, 

 thick walls, and iron bolt-holes remained as the witnesses of 

 some cruel confinement. One large stone, within the iron 

 railing, comes more under the naturalist's notice than these 

 memorials of man's doings. It is part of a fossil tree dug up 

 from the northern bank of the Tweed in 1839-40, when 

 they were constructing the road which leads from Ladykirk 

 and Norham bridge. For the following description, we are 

 indebted to the kindness, and to the extensive researches in 

 Natural History of Dr. Johnston, the founder and life of the 

 Berwickshire Naturalists' Club. 



" I have now ascertained that your fossil trees are identi- 

 cal in kind with those from Lennel Braes. They are beauti- 

 fully figured in a work of the late Mr. Witham, and about 

 sixteen years ago created a great deal of interest, for they 

 were amongst the first of the coniferous fossils that had been 

 found in so old a formation. Previous to that time, it was 

 believed that the fossils of our mountain limestone group of 

 rocks were all monocotyledonous, but the fossil trees you have 

 are cone-bearing, or a species of pines, and these again are 

 dicotyledonous^ and of higher organization than fossils of the 

 first class," 



There are but few monumental inscriptions of any interest 

 in this churchyard. One records the death of a woman who 

 died, "aged 100 years.'' Another, on an altar tombstone 

 near the chancel door, states, that the family of a farmer, 

 who lies buried beneath, had been " tenants at Tindal House, 

 ever since a.d. 1650, the year of the battle of Dunbar." 



NoRHAM Church. — The exterior of the church announces 

 its Norman origin ; and the style of its recent enlargement 

 and repairs shows that a successful attempt has been made 

 to restore its ancient character and dimensions. A new 

 tower and south aisle have been built within the last two or 

 three years, and if the vicar and churchwardens can raise 

 money enough to rebuild the north aisle, this will be not 



