40 Address of the Vice-President. 



The words of the song 



" whistle and I'll come to ye my lad," 



are by Burns, but the tune was by John Bruce, a fiddle player 

 of Dumfries. See Stenhouse, p. 109. 



From this survey of the district, rapid and general as it 

 is, it will be manifest that the area of the Society's opera- 

 tions is rich in objects and associations of antiquarian inter- 

 est. And having regard to the large number forming the 

 Society, and at the same time the few comparatively who put 

 their shoulders to the wheel, what we desire is not to weary 

 you with details on the different objects of interest, but 

 rather, in a few remarks, to light up the feelings of members 

 and stimulate them to improve the condition of the Society 

 and further its objects. 



It is true that in many cases, as for instance, at the 

 Abbey of Holywood, we may, as it were, see a sepulchral 

 tablet. Here lies an extinct fabric ! And there is too fre- 

 quent reason to deplore the condition of our ancient struc- 

 tures. But yet we have also tangible remains — and ruins 

 which are sometimes magnificent, sometimes picturesque — 

 and these have to the antiquary their responsive echoes. 

 With them the antiquary may hold communion with the past. 



And our whole subject is calculated to occupy leisure 

 time usefully and agreeably, — to gi'atify an ardent and 

 reasonable curiosity respecting the past — to supply trust- 

 worthy aids to history, and generally to advance our know- 

 ledge, to improve our taste, and to further the progress of 

 civilization. 



I have now only to add a word on the means at the dis- 

 posal of the Society, to carry out its purposes — particularly 

 its Library and Museum. And I do this on the present oc- 

 casion the more readily, as I was instrumental in organizing 

 the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, and was 

 elected its first President. 



