30 Transactions. 
found to have disappeared. The apparently solid ground was 
only a matted crust of mud and roots resting on the surface of 
the water. The great and constantly increasing weight caused 
the crust to give way, and the whole mass sank out of sight and 
out of reach in the soft black mud at the bottom of the loch. 
The loss is distinctly to be regretted, but in spite of it, the 
Friars’ Carse lake dwelling remains one of the most interesting 
spots in the parish. 
Many traces still exist of the occupation of the Lowlands of 
Scotland by the Roman legions seventeen or eighteen hundred 
years ago. Besides some indication of the roads they constructed, 
the remains of two of their forts are to be found in Dunscore. 
One of them occupies a picturesque site on the farm of 
Sundaywell. 
Distinctly visible from Sundaywell, yet six miles distant as 
the crow flies, is the Camp of Springfield Hill. It is smaller, 
but even more difficult to approach than the former, and its 
three lines of fortification are much more clearly marked. The 
view from Springfield Hill is of wide extent, commanding the 
whole of Nithsdale from the Lowthers to the Solway, and taking 
in a long stretch of the Cumberland shore. Over the shoulder 
of the Tinwald Hills is seen the square top of Burnswark, an 
important military centre in the days of the Roman occupation. 
Signals could be made between these two places, or passed on by 
Springfield Hill from Sundaywell to Burnswark. By means of 
stations such as these, widely apart, yet within signalling 
distance, the conquered country was effectually kept in order, 
until troubles in other quarters compelled the generals of the 
Empire first to withdraw their forces within the line of Hadrian’s 
wall between the Solway and the Tyne, and then, in the reign of 
Honorius, finally to abandon Britain. 
The people of former days knew how to build so that time 
and decay should have little power to mar their work. More 
than two hundred years have passed since the old tower of Lag 
ceased to be a place of human habitation, yet its walls still 
stand grimly defiant of wind and weather as once they were of 
English bow and spear. It was built at a very early date. The 
mound which was chosen as its site was then in the middle of a 
lake, and thus the solid square keep was a safe retreat in the 
unsettled days of the Border raids. It was several storeys high, 
each with a vaulted roof, and there were round turrets at the 
