Field Meetitujs. 147 



band of prisoners, and being overtaken by a storm lightened the 

 boats by drowning his captives. Repentance Tower is said to 

 have lieen the outward and visible sign of his remorse for this 

 act of barbarity, as it would be a constant mentor. Tiie tradition 

 further represents that the erection of the tower was an act of 

 penance prescribed by the Bishop of Glasgow. A more prosaic 

 account of the genesis of the tower associates it also with 

 ecclesiastical dictation. According to this story Lord Herries 

 had laid sacrilegious hands upon church lands, and the erection of 

 Repentance was a sign of penitence I'equired of him by the 

 clergy. Colour is given to this theory by the generally accepted 

 report that Hoddara Castle was built of the stones of a chapel. 

 There were anciently two churches in the immediate vicinity. 

 One was the chapel of Trailtrow, on the site of which Repentance 

 Tower stands, in the midst of its old burial-ground ; the other 

 was the church of the original parish of Hoddam, on the left 

 bank of tlie Annan, a short way below the castle. If Trailtrow 

 Chapel had been demolished in order to help with the building of 

 the fortress, there would be something like poetical justice in 

 compelling tlie spoliator to undertake the task of rearing another 

 building on the same elevated spot, and giving it a name which 

 should be at once a confession and a constant reminder of Ins 

 guilt. And from what we know of the spirit of the time, 

 intei'ference with the patrimony of the Church would be quite as 

 likely to excite the retributive indignation of her priests as a 

 sanguinary act of war. 



It is a curious spot to tind a little God's acre on the summit of 

 a hill, and where the graves must almost literally be hewn out of 

 the rock. What is apparently the oldest of the tombstones still 

 retaining its lettering is a flat one thus quaintly inscribed : 

 " Here lies ane honest man, Andrew Davison, once in Knockhill, 

 husband to Jounet Wallet, who with her had seven children, who 

 living with peace and accord with all dyed the 2 of June, 170 — , 

 and of his age 63." Rae, which sometimes takes the form of 

 Ree, is a name of frequent occurrence. Irving is another 

 repeatedly met with, and three holly leaves are carved on the 

 memorial of one of tliis family. The Murrays of Murraythwaite 

 have here their family burial place, enclosed by a high wall. A 

 Latin inscription tells that it was first erected by George Murray 

 and Christina Forrester, his spouse, some time in last century. 



