56 TRANSACTIONS. 
to Rome through Gaul, which was the overland route to Rome, 
and that he got masons from Tours to build Candida Casa. But 
it is reasonable to suppose that after St. Ninian’s death Candida 
Casa would be sacred to his memory alone, and that Kirkmadrine 
would be named after St. Martin of Tours, to whose memory the 
holy men named upon these pillar-stones performed services. That 
district is studded over with the prefix of “ Kirk,” which is Anglo- 
Saxon, and the same dialect would harden the name Martin to 
Madrine. There isno X in the Gaelic, but C spelled sometimes 
K, as in Kilbride, Innokill; and later the Norman-French Zag/ais 
for Zg/isle occur in this district for the word Church instead of 
Kirk. It has been suggested that they may have been Irish 
ecclesiastics, but all the facts are against this theory. There are 
no pillar-stones like them in all Ireland ; and the Greek letters and 
Monogram, together with the Latin inscription, point to a Byzan- 
tine-Roman influence succeeding, if not contemporary with, the 
4th century, when Constantine was converted to Christianity. If 
LT have reasonably established this I shall have succeeded in the 
main object of this paper. 
Il. Zhe Oak and Other Trees. By Mr FRANK MILLER of 
Annan. 
Mr F. Miller, Annan, read an able paper, rendered more at- 
tractive by copious poetical extracts, on the subject of the “ Oak 
and other Trees.” He dealt first with the extraordinary longevity 
of the oak, stating that oaks were still standing in this country 
which were planted as acorns before the last of the Roman legions 
left these shores. He then vividly depicted the reverence with 
which the Druids regarded the tree, and the observances associated 
with it in Druidical times, and also treated of the many historical 
associations which had since centred round it. The oak had also 
proved its practical value, the strength and durability of its timber 
specially fitting it for naval purposes in the days when “the 
wooden walls of old England” were renowned all over the world, 
and making it valuable for architectural uses in the present time. 
Among large oaks, Mr Miller mentioned several majestic trees in 
Scotland, specifying particularly two at Drumlanrig, which had 
escaped the mania for destruction of the late Duke of Queensberry, 
and two on the Eskdale estate of the Duke of Buccleuch. Mr 
Miller then dealt at some length, and in an interesting fashion, 
with the characteristics of the beech, the ash, and the yew, and 
the poetical associations connected with them. 
