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by which they were suspended. Many fine specimens could at 

 present be picked up, but in a short time they will disappear and 

 find their way to the stone magazines and be converted into road 

 metal. 



Of Pot Querns I possess a large number. They are to be 

 found on almost every farm in the two parishes. Some are very 

 small and neat, while others are very capacious, and indicate that 

 they may have been used for brewing or even dyeing purposes. I 

 recently saw one in a wood at Langholm, pai'ish of Auchinleck, iu 

 use as a dye-pot, and covered with a flat stone above of the same 

 diameter as the jxit below. Often you will find them used as pig 

 troughs, and the late Mr Stitt of Ryehill, an experienced valuator, 

 on seeuig my collection in my garden, remarked that he had on one 

 occasion valued over six as good as mine to the new tenant of 

 Orchard. He knew their orig-inal use well, and informed me of one 

 made of granite, which he had seen when a boy lying at Townhead 

 of Auchenbainzie. I told JNIr Hewetson of his remark, and be 

 found the Quern referred to, and removed it for safe keeping to 

 Auchenbainzie. I may mention that I have one which was re- 

 moved from Queensberry Square, and I beard long after " that 

 Wilson stole old M'Cririck's grandfather's sow trough." This 

 proves the late use of such articles, but there can be no doubt they 

 were originally used for removing the husks from grain or for 

 converting it into meal by aid of a wooden or stone pestle. 



III. A Relic of Burtts — Original Miniature Portrait of Clarinda. 

 By Mr James Barbour, Architect. 

 Another Burns anniversary having just been celebrated, it may 

 be appropriate, while his name is uppermost, to bring under notice 

 a small but most interesting memento closely touching the cele- 

 brated correspondence between the poet, as Sylvander, and Mrs 

 M'Lehose of Edinburgh as Clarinda. It is a miniature silhouette 

 portrait of that lady. The history of it is thoroughly authentic. 

 It was one of the articles given by the poet's widow to Mary 

 M'Lachlan, her servant, on the occasion of leaving her situation 

 to be married to Andrew Nicholson. Mr Nicholson, his son, 

 inherited the relic, and his widow is now the possessor of it. The 

 portrait is a black j^rofile bust, delicately executed on ivory. The 

 outline of the ivory plate is a pointed ellijise, one inch and a 

 quarter high, and three-quarter inch iu breadth. The picture itself 

 is less than three-quarters of an inch high. It shows a prominent 



