Dk Archibald's " Cukiosities oi' Dumfiues." gi 



to carry out for the society, and in that respect it was very 

 interesting, and he thought it would of itself be an interesting 

 feature in their publications. It showed not only many wonderful 

 things, some of them probably quite correct, but it gave a good 

 idea of how matters were regarded at the time by even an 

 educated man such as Dr Archibald was. With reference to the 

 date mentioned, it struck him that perhaps part of it must have 

 been written at a later date. It mentioned, for instance, the cross 

 of Dumfries. The expression was " our stately cross." He had 

 no doubt that that referred to the Midsteeple, which was built in 

 1707, during Dr Archibald's day. Before that time there was a 

 standing cross, but the Midsteeple itself had since been called the 

 Cross of Dumfries. One of the wells referred to was the Brow 

 Well. The Castledykes Well he did not know, unless that there 

 was a stream from a spring there still. Of course he could not 

 identify it with the one that was described there. He proposed 

 a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Macdonald. 



Dr Maxwell Ross, in seconding, said he understood Ruth well 

 was derived from Rudvald, meaning a stream from the wood, but 

 one found over and over again that certain parties had got an 

 idea it was derived from St. Ruth, and he recollected very well 

 some years ago being taken by a person living there to see the 

 origiual St. Ruth's Well, which he said he had just discovered two 

 or three days before. He happened to be doing- some work in 

 the district, and this young man asked him to go and see the spring 

 in a iield down below the village, which he believed to be the 

 original St. Ruth's Well. That derivation had been given on 

 more than one occasion to him, although he did not suggest that 

 it was correct. His experience with reference to wells was, that 

 in moving along the coast of the Solway, and particularly about 

 Priestside, he had come upon wells of a sulphurous character, and 

 also wells of a very strong- chalybeate character. There were 

 two wells which certainly had the very marked odour of sulphurous 

 hydrogen, and he was informed that there was once a doctor 

 resident in Annan who used to go there regularly for his glass of 

 sulphurated water. It had as strong an odour as that of the 

 Moffat sulphurated water. The wells containing- iron were so 

 atrongly impregnated with it down there that if an attempt was 

 made to make tea the result was the production of a kind of ink, 

 so that it could not be used for domestic purposes. With regard 



