FIELD Q@MEEMINGS, 1886. 
e 
KiIRKCONNELL Woops AnD NEwassry.—lst May, 1886. 
The first Field Meeting of this session was held on the above 
date, when a party numbering 18 met at the Fountain at noon, 
and proceeded thence in waggonettes to Kirkconnell, permission 
having been granted by R. M. Witham, Esq., to botanize in the 
woods adjacent to the shore, and to examine the old granite 
quarry on his estate. On arriving at Whinnyhill, they were 
joined by Mr Symington, who had promised to act as guide for 
the day. At Kirkconnell, Mr Witham’s gamekeeper met and 
conducted them through the Old Tower, some rooms of the old 
house—which is one of the oldest inhabited houses in Scotland— 
and showed several old swords and portions of armour that had 
been found in the Kirkconnell Moss. Having examined these 
interesting objects, the party wandered leisurely through the 
woods and along the shore until the old quarry was reached, 
where a halt was made and a short business meeting held~-Mr 
Neilson presiding. The Secretary reported that the Committee 
had arranged to hold the June excursion in the neighbourhood of 
Lochmaben, and to meet the Scottish Natural History Club 
there. He also informed the meeting that a set of Pont’s Maps 
of Dumfriesshire and Galloway had been offered to the Society, 
and that the Committee were negotiating as to purchasing the 
same for £5, subject to the approval of this meeting. It was 
agreed to purchase the maps at the above-named sum. The 
Secretary subsequently exhibited and described the plants which 
he collected, but as the season was later than last year only the 
ordinary spring flowers had been found, the rarest being Vinca 
minor and Chrysosplenium alternifolium. Having spent an hour 
in the quarry, they continued their walk along the shore and 
adjoining fields until the Abbot’s Tower, on the farm of Landis, 
was reached. This is a square stone tower, now roofless, with its 
walls covered with ivy ; and no one present was able to impart any 
information respecting it, except what is expressed in the name. 
After visiting Sweetheart Abbey, the party adjourned to the 
Commercial Hotel, where tea was partaken of, and at six P.M. 
