l'ransactions. 91 
be taken for the.defence of the County. A letter was also sent 
from the Home Secretary asking them to ascertain the amount 
of live and dead stock in the parishes within ten or twelve miles 
from the'sea, and to consider the methods by which such could 
be removed inland in the event of an invasion. The Deputy- 
Lieutenants, in reply, wrote to the Duke of Queensberry in 
regard to the suggestion made by the Home Secretary, and stated 
that, “ with great submission, we beg here to state it as our 
opinion to your grace that we think such a measure at present 
unnecessary, because from the situation of the Firth on the 
Border of this country the navigation is so very difficult and the 
water so shallow that no vessels of force or any considerable 
burden can possibly approach this county. In the next place, 
we are really apprehensive that taking such an account would be 
productive of dangerous consequences, and we are unwilling to 
increase the alarm which has already been given to credit and 
paper currency, but should the measure directed by the Duke 
of Portland afterwards seem necessary, it shall be instantly 
carried into effect.”. The Deputy-Lieutenants further stated that 
in their opinion the best method of defence would be the raising 
of volunteer corps on a similar plan to the one adopted in the 
Lothians and other counties, and in order to carry this proposal 
into effect they suggested a great County meeting. A ineeting 
of this kind was held on March 4th, 1797, and was attended by 
85 gentlemen, of whom 16 are still represented in the list of 
Dumfriesshire landowners. The meeting proposed that all 
between 15 and 60 years of age should be enrolled, clothed, and 
trained to arms under the authority and terms of the Volunteer 
Act. They also desired to express their confidence in the credit 
of the banks, and ordered that it should be known that they were 
willing to receive in payment the notes of the banks. 1000 
copies of the resolutions of the meeting, with declarations 
appended as to the terms of service, and 1000 copies of a certifi- 
cate to be given to the volunteers, were afterwards printed, and 
parcels of these were sent to the Deputy-Lieutenants who had 
charge of the nine districts into which the County had been 
divided for the purpose of military administration by the Deputy- 
Lieutenants. 
These preparations for a further enrolment of volunteers appear 
to have’ been interrupted or abandoned by the necessity of carry- 
