30 Transactions. 



found to have disappeared. The apparently solid ground was 

 only a matted crust of mud and roots resting on the surface of 

 the water. The great and constantly increasing weight caused 

 the crust to give way, and the whole mass sank out of sight and 

 out of reach in the soft black mud at the bottom of the loch. 

 The loss is distinctly to be regretted, but in spite of it, the 

 Friars' Carse lake dwelling remains one of the most interesting 

 spots in the parish. 



Many traces still exist of the occupation of the Lowlands of 

 Scotland by tlie Roman legions seventeen or eighteen hundred 

 years ago. Besides some indication of the roads they constructed, 

 the remains of two of their forts are to be found in Dunscore. 

 One of them occupies a picturesque site on the farm of 

 Sundaywell. 



Distinctly visible from Sundaywell, yet six miles distant as 

 the crow flies, is the Camp^ of Springfield Hill. It is smaller, 

 but even more difficult to approach than the former, and its 

 three lines of fortilication are much more clearly marked. The 

 view from Springfield Hill is of wide extent, commanding the 

 whole of Nithsdale from the Lowthers to the Solway, and taking 

 in a long stretch of the Cumberland shore. Over the shoulder 

 of the Tinwald Hills is seen the square top of Burnswark, an 

 important military centre in the days of the Roman occupation. 

 Signals could be made between these two places, or passed on by 

 Springfield Hill from Sundaywell to Burnswark. By means of 

 stations such as these, widely apart, yet within signalling 

 distance, the conquered country was effectually kept in order, 

 until troubles in other quarters compelled the generals of the 

 Empire first to withdraw their forces within the line of Hadrian's 

 wall between the Solway and the Tyne, and then, in the reign of 

 Honorius, finally to abandon Britain. 



The people of former days knew how to build so tliat time 

 and decay should have little power to mar their work. More 

 than two hundred years have passed since the old tower of Lag 

 ceased to be a place of human habitation, yet its walls still 

 stand »rimly defiant of wind and weather as once they were of 

 English bow and spear. It was built at a very early date. The 

 mound wliich was chosen as its site was then in the middle of a 

 lake, and thus the solid square keep was a safe retreat in the 

 unsettled days of the Border raids. It was several storeys high, 

 each with a vaulted roof, and there were round turrets at the 



