292 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORT SOCIETY OP GLASGOW. 



sible to the party through the kindness of Mr. James Cant. 

 The party next proceeded to the Public Park, where the remains 

 of the Castle of Ardrossan were visited. Very little now exists 

 of the ancient structure, which appears to have extended to a 

 considerable size. Its history is involved in obscurity ; but Pont, 

 who wrote early in the seventeenth century, states that it was 

 for many ages possessed by the Barclays, one of whom — Sir 

 Richard de Barclay, Dominus de Ardrossan — was a witness to 

 a charter by Sir Richard Morvill, Lord of Cuninghame, &c., to 

 the monastery of Kilwinning. This document is supposed to 

 have been the foundation charter of the Abbey, granted about 

 the year 1140. It is said that Ardrossan Castle was destroyed 

 by Cromwell, and part of its materials used in the erection of 

 the Fort at Ayr. A visit was also made to the site of the old 

 church and churchyard of Ardrossan, in the vicinity of the castle. 

 The original church was blown down during a severe storm in 

 the year 1691, but the line of its foundations can still be traced. 

 The graveyard contains comparatively few monuments, and none 

 of a date prior to the middle of the seventeenth century. During 

 a walk up the north shore, comparatively few plants, and these 

 only the commonest species, were observed in bloom. On the 

 roadside beyond Burnfoot, the whitlow-grass (Erophila vulgaris, 

 DC.) was common. At Glenfoot a short detour was made for 

 the purpose of examining one of a series of prehistoric hill-forts 

 which occur at frequent intervals along this part of the western 

 coast. The main road was followed to West Kilbride, where tea 

 brought the afternoon's proceedings to an appropriate close. 



Sauchrib, Matbole, 24th April, 1905. — Mr. John Smith, 

 Conductor. Joint excursion with the Geological Society of 

 Glasgow. — On this date Sauchrie, an estate with a glen on the 

 Brown Carriok Hill, was visited, by permission of Mr. W. H. 

 Dunlop of Doonside. Among the plants observed were Arum 

 maculatum, L., and Scolopendrium vulgare, Sym. The follow- 

 ing trees were measured : — 



Near Maybole, a Black Poplar {Populus nigra, L.), girth 10 ft. 

 at 5 ft. ; bole, 18 ft. 



At Sauchrie, between 300 and 400 ft. above sea level— Holly 

 {Ilex Aquifolium, L.), 4 ft. 9i ins. at 5 ft. ; bole, 30 ft. 



