Field Meetings. 113 



dispensed justice, shew that it was held in 1731 at Gateside of 

 AUanton. The ruin has received a good deal of attention in the 

 way of facing the corners with dre.'^sed stone and pointing for 

 purposes of preservation. The Wall-Rue g-rows freely iu the 

 crevices of the mouldering masonry. — Dumfiies Standard. 



21st SeptemheVf lOOt.—LocJirutton. 



A party of the members visited Lochrutton on Saturday 

 afternoon, 21st Sept., 1*J01, to examine the progress of the 

 excavation of the crannog at Lochrutton undertaken by the 

 Society, under the supervision of Mr James Barbour, architect, 

 who accompanied the party. They had also the advantage 

 of the company of Dr Munro, of Edinburgh, the leading 

 authority on the subject of lake dwellings, and author, among 

 other works, of " The Crannogs of Scotland," " The Lake 

 Dwellings of Europe," " Prehistoric Scotland." They were joined 

 also by Mr Grierson, farmer in Moat of Lochrutton, whose anti- 

 quarian tastes have led him to take an intelligent practical 

 interest in the work, and who placed his boat at the service of 

 the visitors. The boat of the Water Commissioners was also 

 impressed into their service. 



The loch, from which Dumfries and Maxwelltown derive 

 their water supply, is about 250 acres in extent. The crannog 

 island is almost exactly in the centre. It is a rounded hummock 

 of stones and earth overgrown with young trees, and is a pretty 

 object on the surface of the water. Around its edg-es there have 

 long been exposed upright wooden piles and some tree trunks 

 lying horizontally. Two trenches have been cut through the 

 island at right angles to each other and intersecting at the centre, 

 right down to the water level of the loch as it was found on 

 Saturday. This level was considerably higher than it had been 

 for some time, for the digging was begun when the loch was 

 shrunk by the long drought, and the heavy rains had raised it by 

 two feet on the previous day. And the winter level will be 

 several feet higher. Just above the surface of the water as it 

 was on Saturday there ha.s been disclosed a floor composed of 



