Excavations at Kirkcudbright Castle. 121 



He has all along been most public spirited, and assisted in 

 every possible manner in getting information bearing upon 

 the question, and had the charter by the burgh to Sir Thomas 

 M'Lellan translated. He has set an example which might 

 very well be followed by other proprietors who have monu- 

 ments of antiquity on their estates. 



[On the motion of the Chairman, the Society passed a 

 vote of thanks to Captain Hope for his generous assistance 

 in the valuable archaeological work above recorded.] 



White Quartz Pebbles and their Archaeological 

 Significance. 



By Nona Lebour. 



Some few years ago, my attention was called, in the first 

 instance by the Rev. R. Gatty, to the frequent finding of 

 rings or belts of white quartz pebbles on the sandhills of Mid 

 Torrs, Glenluce. I was told that a man employed regularly 

 by an antiquary in Glasgow to look for urns, implements, 

 necklaces, etc., stated that he always searched for a ring of 

 white stones, and if he dug within this zone, found articles 

 of the above nature. The pebbles were of quartz, and must 

 have been brought from the sea-shore more than a mile dis- 

 tant. Some of the rings included much larger white pebbles 

 than others, and these had evidently been placed there as orna- 

 ments, and as a reminder of the place of interment. It is a 

 curious fact, as Mr Gatty pointed out to me, that the white 

 quartz pebbles give out a bright spark when struck together, 

 and even when struck under water the light emitted is 

 almost better. Last summer I visited a spot, about two 

 miles south from Dunragit Station, where many urns have 

 been found, and although the actual rings of stones were 

 gone, there were a great number of the white pebbles still 

 to be seen. 



In many burial places, large stones form a cist in which 

 the urns with ashes and calcined bones are placed, but in the 

 case of those burial places on the Torrs Sand-Hills, large 

 stones are only to be found beyond the Piltanton Burn which 

 is some distance off, so that the Bronze Age men had to make 



