FieLtp MEETINGS. 199 
gratified to see crinums and agapanthuses flourishing in the 
open air. The mansion house is covered with roses and other 
climbing plants, and these were in perfect condition. 
Captain and Mrs Hope and their family take keen interest 
in the gardens, and to the taste and interest they display, their 
beauty is due. 
The company having again gathered together, Mr Barbour 
made a few remarks regarding the foundation of the ancient 
Priory. St. Mary’s Isle, he said, was originally called the 
Island of Trayl, upon which Fergus, Lord of Galloway, built 
the Priory, and dedicated it to the Virgin Mary in 1129. It 
was founded in the reign of David I. by Fergus, to regain the 
favour of the King, whom he had offended. He appeared in 
the habit of a canon regular, and was introduced to the King by 
the Abbot of Holyrood in full chapter. The Priory held the 
churches of Galtway, Anwoth, and Kirkandrews. The site of 
the precinct-gate is called the Great Cross, and Little Cross 
denotes the place of the court gate. Fergus granted the Isle of 
Trayl, with the Priory founded on it to the monks of Holyrood, 
where he died in 1161. The Prior was a Lord of Parliament, 
and at the Reformation it came into the hands of the Lidder- 
dales. The charter of the foundation is a characteristic 
medieval story, taken from Gordon’s “ Monasticon ’’ :—“ This 
is the history of the foundation of the Priory of the Island of 
Trail, and how Fergus, Great Lord of Galloway, the founder 
thereof, obtained pardon from King David, and gave that island 
and other possessions to the Monastery of Holyrood, and how, 
having become one of the religious, he was buried therein. 
When the fabric of the Monastery of Holyrood, near Edin- 
burgh, was progressing under St. David, a most happy monarch, 
it happened that Fergus, Earl and Great Lord of Galloway, 
failed in his duty to his Majesty, and committed a grievous 
fault, at which the King, evidently very angry, determined to 
put the law in force rigorously against him. This Fergus, 
being very much devoted to God, and notwithstanding his acci- 
dental fault, always faithful to the King, knowing that the King 
was most determined in the execution of justice, was very much 
afraid, and in many ways and by various means was endeavour- 
ing to regain the King’s favour. At length, being inspired by 
Divine counsel, in a change of habit, and in the most secret 
