CiiUKCii OF St. John the Baptist, Dalkv. 69 



and Japan, probably owe their properties in part to certain species 

 of alga\ Besides, as nourishment, algtc are very beneficial in 

 many com^jlaints owing to the iodine they contain. 



IV. — Notes on the Ancient Parish Church of St. John the Baptist, 



Dairy, Kirkcudbrightshire. 



By Mr William Galloavay,- Corr. Mem. S.A. Scot. 



It was on the 19th of October last that I made my first 

 acquaintance with the charming- district of the Glenkeus, of whose 

 picturesque beauties I had previously heard so much. There had 

 been a sharp frost over-night, and the whole country was covered 

 with a thick coat of rime, only too faithfully simulating the first 

 snows of winter. As the sun gained power, this silveiy veil dis- 

 appeared, and the day turned out very good indeed, the mellowing 

 tints of autumn lending a pleasing- variety to the ever-changing 

 scene. 



The immediate object of my quest was the ancient Parish 

 Church of St. John the Baptist, at Dairy. Knowing it only by 

 name, I was in happy ignorance of what I might expect, yet 

 cherishing the idea that in such an out-of-the-way locality, there 

 was a pleasing hope of at least some mouldering walls, choked 

 possibly with nettles and rank undergrowth, yet presenting suf- 

 ficient indications to determine style and period. 



Arrived at my destination, one glance at the churchyard dis- 

 pelled all these illusions. Occupying- the only spot where the old 

 church could have been, on a knoll surmounting- the brawling 

 Ken, sat a spruce modern building, in all its surroundings so tiim 

 and well kept as to show at once that with one exception all 

 traces of its old predecessor had been carefully removed or buried 

 out of sight. Close to it, yet detached, on a green brae of its 

 own, wreathed with trailmg wisps of ivy, unkempt, yet quaint and 

 curious, with crow-stepped gable, large antiquely-grilled window 

 and panelled coat of arms, stood the one exception noted — the 

 Kenmure burial aisle, and, time being limited, to it I at once 

 directed attention. 



If the present Parish Church has well-nigh obliterated every 

 trace of its predecessor, it has, at least, by exigency of a very 

 restricted site, retained its orientation, in its main length standing- 

 due east and west, and it thus became at once evident that the 



