Tue Brus INSCRIPTION AT ANNAN. ral 
double fossee to the north, on which side is the keep... . 
On a stone taken from the old building is the following 
inscription, which I copied :— 
ROBERT DE BRVS 
COUNTE D CA 
RRIK ET SEITY U 
KR DU VAL DE -ANANN 
ANC? 5300.) 
From the terms of the description it is evident that 
Pococke placed the site of the castle at the Mote, or Moat, 
on the left or east bank of the river, and that what he refers 
to as the keep was the high, steep, and rounded Mote, mont, 
or mound itself. While there are plainly several errors in 
the transcription of the lettering, they are all of a kind to 
suggest nevertheless that the bishop’s fidelity to what he 
saw was commendable. ; 
Not greatly divergent from Pococke’s account 1s that 
of Pennant, who visited Annan during his archeological 
journey in 1772. The quotation which follows is taken from 
his Tour in Scotland, vol. II., p. 96 :— 
‘The Bruces were once Lords of this place, as appears 
by a stone at present in a wall of a gentleman’s garden taken 
from the ruins of the castle, and thus inscribed :—ROBERT DE 
Brus CouNTE DE CARRICK ET SENTEUR DU VAL DE ANNAND. 
BAQOO.: 
A feature of Pennant’s reading of the stone is the word 
‘“senteur.’’ As will appear from the sequel, there are good 
excuses for stumbling, if there is stumbling, whether in the 
eighteenth or the twentieth century, as to the precise trans- 
literation of this word. 
The old Statistical Account, edited by Sir John Sinclair, 
frequently found of high value for antiquarian facts, unfor- 
tunately fails us completely in those respects in the case of 
Annan. The account of Annan (vol. xix., 1797) was written 
““ By a Friend to Statistical Inquiries,’’ but its meagre note 
on page 452 carries practically no definite information :— 
‘““The Bruces built here a stately castle, of which the ruins 
still remain,”’ 
