30 The RrrinvKLL Chors. 



the Cross Avas carried from so distant a place as Druralaiirig, or 

 even from the neighbouring hills about Ruthwell, as suggested 

 by Dr Duncan. Rock fultilling the required conditions is obtain- 

 able in the immediate vicinity. 



Having occasion recently to examine another interesting 

 and important historical monument in the same parish — the old 

 Castle of Comlongon, standing not far from the Cross — I was 

 struck with the appearance of the freestone forming the dressings, 

 which is of a character I had not observed in other buildings in 

 the district. The blocks vary both in colour and texture, but 

 some of them seem to agree exactly in these 7'espects and other- 

 wise with the material of the Cross. It has not been ascertained 

 Avhere these wei'e got, but as held stones about are of similar 

 rock it ni'-iy be inferred that the quarry was a local one. On 

 further inquiry it was ascertained that during the construction 

 of the Gla.sg(^w and South- Western Railway one of the con- 

 tractors worked a quarry at a place about 300 yards north of 

 the Ruthwell Station, the position of which is still apparent 

 from the remaining debris. A fragment of stone obtained at 

 this i)lace is found to exhibit all the characteristics of the rock 

 out of which the Cross is formed, as will appear from the 

 following details : — 



The rock composing the bloclcs of which the Cross is built 

 distinctly ditiers in colour and in general appearance from the 

 common Dumfriesshire red stone. It is a hard sandstone, of 

 coarse texture, and a purplish grey colour, marked with glimmer- 

 ings of mica. A peculiarity already alluded to in connection 

 with Dr Duncan's description consists in a difference of the hue 

 of the upper and lower blocks forming the shaft. The upper 

 block is stained blood -red, but the stain does not pass quite 

 through the stone, and one face retains tlm general hue, a circum- 

 stance which Dr Duncan has evidently failed to observe, and 

 which disposes of the suggestion that the Idocks were taken from 

 different quai-ries, and of the theory that the Cross is of two 

 different periods. The formation of the stone is chiefly silica 

 cemented with oxide of iron ; the predominance of the latter 

 occasions the blood-red stain described. Lime appeal's to be 

 absent. 



In comparison with the Cross, the piece of stone obtained at 

 the quarry near the Ruthwell Railway Station is perceptibly 

 darker in colour and also perhaps closer in texture ; but these 



