212 'OLD q' 



of Drumlanrig, as they were then. The spoliation^ 

 would have been more complete on the demesne of 

 Drumlanrig than it eventually became. Shortly 

 before 'Old Q's' death, the Earl of Dalkeith, after- 

 wards Duke of Buccleuch, when commanding the 

 Dumfriesshire militia, was in Dumfries, and heard 

 that an English company had bought all the remain- 

 ing trees in Drumlanrig park for cutting down as 

 a commercial speculation. This the Earl desired to 

 avoid, as heir to the property ; he therefore bought 

 back the timber from the company, who, no doubt, 

 made this spirited nobleman pay dearly for his in- 

 terference with what might one day become his own. 



1 Drtmilanrig and the Douglases, C. T. Ramage. 



