194 BUKIAL OF THE KEMAINS Chap. IV. 



a castle ; and it is certain that they have been 

 removed. The position of the nave-transept 

 was ascertained not long ago by the 

 foundations having been found ; and the 

 place is now marked by stones let into 

 the ground. Where the abbey formerly 

 stood, there now extends a smooth grass- 

 covered surface, which resembles in all 

 respects the rest of the field. The guardian, 

 a very old man, said the surface had never 

 been levelled in his time. In the year 1853, 

 the Duke of Buccleuch had three holes dug 

 in the turf within a few yards of one another, 

 at the western end of the nave ; and the old 

 tesselated pavement of the abbey was thus 

 discovered. These holes were afterwards 

 surrounded by brickwork, and protected by 

 trap-doors, so that the pavement might be 

 readily inspected and preserved. When my 

 son William examined the place on January 

 5, 1872, he found that the pavement in the 

 three holes lay at depths of 6|, 10 and Hi 

 inches beneath the surrounding turf- covered 

 surface. The old guardian asserted that he 

 was often forced to remove worm-castings 

 from the pavement ; and that he had done 



