10 president's address. 



The Third Field Meeting was fixed to be held at Lindis- 

 farne, on Thursday, the 29th June ; but the unfavourable state 

 of the weather prevented its taking place, nor did another 

 opportunity occur, during the season, of visiting this distant but 

 interesting locality. Holy Island, and the adjacent coasts and 

 islands, are in many respects extremely curious and interesting. 

 The basaltic rock, which forms so prominent a feature in the 

 geology of the central and eastern parts of the North of England, 

 may here be studied with advantage; and the Artist and the 

 Antiquary cannot fail to derive much gratification from the 

 scenery and antiquities. Among the birds which frequent Holy 

 Island, I had the good fortune, on a former visit, to obtain an 

 excellent specimen of the Northern Diver, which is now in the 

 collection of my friend Mr. John Hancock, and is considered by 

 him a good example. The ruins of Lindisfarne have been ren- 

 dered familiar by the excellent drawings of the late T. M. 

 Richardson of this town, and by numerous engravings from the 

 drawings of Allom and others. A plan, and most accurately 

 detailed account of this venerable structure, is given by the Eev. 

 James Raine, in his "History of North Durham;"* and I well 

 remember that this account, when it first appeared, was charac- 

 terised by an able critic, the Rev. Anthony Hedley, as a master- 

 piece of Topographical and Antiquarian description. 



In one of my journals, containing some occasional notices such 

 as the few and short intervals of professional occupations per- 

 mitted me to make, I find the following memoranda relating to 

 this locality : — 



" Holy Island is adjacent to the coast of North Durham ; an 

 extensive plain of sand intervenes between the Island and the 

 main land. In no other part of the kingdom, probably, is there 

 so wide and perfectly level a tract of sand, between two portions 

 of cultivated land. The distance is about three miles, and at 

 high water, the whole is covered to a considerable depth. Holy 

 Island consists of a nearly square portion of land at the south- 

 eastern extremity, and of a long and irregular ridge of sandy 

 ground. It presents a very striking appearance when viewed 



* Page 137. 



