242 Transactions. 



convert it into a i^lace of worship or use its stones to build one. 

 Though its Castle was the main defence of Annan in time of war, 

 the church, which stood near to it, was also a place of strength, 

 the tower being fortified. The destruction of " Annan Steeple " 

 was the chief object of an English invasion in September, 1547. 

 At the head of 2500 men, " whereof 500 were Scotsmen that 

 served the King," Lord Wharton advanced to the attack, planting 

 his siege train on the slope known as Battery Brae. The defenders 

 were ably commanded by an officer named Lyon and by the 

 Master of Maxwell, and the Lairds of Johnston and Cockpool. 

 They did not exceed a hundred in number, yet for eight hours the 

 unequal struggle was maintained, the heroic men of Annan 

 hurling defiance at the foe — 



" Till foi'ty of the poor hundred were slain, 

 And half of the rest of them maimed for life ! " 



The battered church after its capture was completely destroyed, 

 being blown up with gunpowder. " This done," writes the old 

 historian, " the English sacked and burnt the town, and left not 

 a stone standing, for it had ever been a right noisome neighbour to 

 England. The Englishmen had conceived such a spite to it that 

 if they saw but a piece of timber remaining unburnt they would 

 cut the same in pieces." 



Near to the brae from which on that far-off September morn- 

 ing the invaders' guns poured their deadly discharge stands " The 

 Moat," a long old-fashioned house, guarded by spreading elms and 

 beeches. In the midst of the grounds, which stretch down to the 

 holm, is a small tree-crowned height — one of the artificial 

 eminences so common in Annandale. The " Moat Hill " is 

 generally supposed to have been raised in early times as a spot on 

 which to assemble for the administration of justice, but its origin 

 is really wrapt in mystery. The Moat for a few months in 1808 

 was the residence of the Eev. James Grahame, author of " The 

 Sabbath," who married an Annan lady, a daughter of Richard 

 Grahame, town clerk. In his charming retreat the poet wrote 

 " The British Georgies," gaining fresh inspiration from the old- 

 world garden and the little wildernesses of tree and shrub. Only 

 a Virgil can treat satisfactorily such a subject as " Husbandry," 

 but Grahame's work has merit, and in many of the lines the 

 influence of local scenery can be traced. 



Proceeding, in his description of Annan, to the Town Hall, a 

 handsome modern erection, Mr Miller gave some of the results of 



