140 . The Kirkcudbrightshire Coast. 



room in the Murray Arms Hotel. The old church at Anwoth 

 was the scene of the ministry of Samuel Rutherford. Of the 

 houses and estates in the neighbourhood, Ardwall is the most 

 interesting. A famous beech tree stood in the grounds until 

 recently, the tree about which Thomas Campbell wrote " The 

 Beech Tree's Petition " in 1800. It had been decided that the 

 tree should be cut down on account of the harm it was doing to 

 the garden in which it stood. As a result of Campbell's appeal 

 on its behalf, the tree was spared and a new garden made in 

 another part of the grounds. The tree was blown down on the 

 12th of November, 1909. It was then about a hundred and 

 seventy years old. There are three old castles on the coast 

 between Gatehouse and Creetown — Cardoness, the old home of 

 the M'Cullochs; Barholm, the reputed original of " Ellangowan " 

 in "Guy Mannering "; and Carsluith, the birthplace of Gilbert 

 Brown, the last abbot of Sweetheart Abbey. Other details of 

 this part of the coast are the rocks at Ravenshall, the cave of 

 Dirk Hatteraick near the foot of the Kirkdale glen, and the 

 circle of standing-.stones at Cairnholy near Barholm, and the 

 wide vistas across Wigtown Bay to the coast of the Machars and 

 across the Firth to Cumberland and the Isle of Man. After 

 skirting the grounds of Kirrouchtrie, the scene of a battle 

 between Edward Bruce and the English, the road descends to 

 Creebridge and the river Cree, where the coast of Kirkcud- 

 brightshire ends. 



15th December^ 1011. 



Chairman — Mr S. Arnott, V.P. 



Lantern Lecture: The Application of Electricity in 

 Agriculture. By Professor J. W. Priestley, Leeds 

 University. 



\Frotn the Dumfries and Galloway Standard, December 23, 

 1911, revised by Professor Priestley. 1 



Professor Priestley said he was very pleased to talk on tne 

 subject of the application of electricity in agriculture in Dum- 

 fries, because the question was one that seemed very likely to 

 have useful information added to it in this neighbourhood. It 

 was a subject that was of rather vital interest to all interested in 



