26 Transactions. 
need of it. In his later days he became, I believe, an altered 
man, and a highly respectable character, a living example of the 
truth of the adage—“ It is never too late to mend.” 
I may allude, in conclusion, to a custom which prevailed in 
my early days in the mode of washing clothes. The young 
women of the middle class used to come down to the Greensands 
provided with wooden tubs. These were placed near the river, 
and half filled with water. The garments to be washed were 
then put into them, and the owners taking off their shoes and 
stockings, and tucking up their petticoats, stepped into the tubs, 
and trampled the clothes, turning round and round during the 
process. When the water became dirty, I suppose it was emptied 
out and a fresh supply added, and when the operation was com- 
pleted, the clothes were spread out upon the grass to dry. This 
primitive fashion probably would not comport with the more 
refined notions of the present day, and besides the same end can 
be attained by other and more effective means. 
There are three worthy persons connected with Dumfries, of 
whom I remember to have heard a good deal in my youth. 
Though not public characters, yet as they are long since 
‘gathered to their fathers,” and all that can be said of them is 
good, I may be permitted without offence to mention their names. 
They are—Robert Gillies, Miss Gordon of Earlston, usually 
known as ‘“ Miss Willy Gordon,” and Miss Jane Goldie of Sum- 
merhill. They were all eminent for their Christian character 
and their practical good works. Gillies was, I believe, a trades- 
man in the burgh, and was remarkable for his zeal in originating 
and conducting Sunday Schools for the benefit of the young. 
Miss Goldie was, I believe, the founder of the Greensands School, 
to which so many children have been indebted for their religious 
and secular education. 
14th December, 1894. 
Mr Rosert Murray in the Chair. 
New Members.—Mr John Millar Crabbie, Duncow ; Captain 
Robert Cutlar Fergusson, Craigdarroch; and Miss M‘Kie, 
Moat House. 
Donatrons.—Report of Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 
1892 (2 vols.) ; Report of U.S. Geological Survey, 1892 (4 vols.) ; 
