242 Anderson's Protocol Book. 



In the preparation of these abstracts Mr Shirley has 

 given me the most valuable assistance. 



In No. 20 I have used the word " dargs " as the equiva- 

 lent of "dietis." "Dauerk," " Dawerk," or " Darg " 

 means primarily a day's work, and secondarily the amount of 

 land that could be worked in a day (Jamieson, Scottish 

 Dictionary, Paisley, 1879-87; J. Wrig-ht, English Dialect 

 Dictionary , London, 1898-1903 ; The New English Dic- 

 tionary). It is in the latter sense it is used in No. 20 and in 

 No. 50. No. 21 presents difficulties. The " Bishop's 

 Forest " in Irong-ray is well known; and I am told that the 

 " Tree Well " can be identified ; but the words " fossa capitali 

 fossarum lapidatarum," even with the help of "/?> stane dik," 

 are not easy to interpret. What the expression " head dyke of 

 the stone dykes " refers to at a time when enclosed fields were 

 unknown, or at least very exceptional, in Dumfriesshire and 

 Galloway, is, to say the least of it, doubtful. Whether 

 " auld Wallis " in No. 70 points to this " stane dik," or to an 

 old man called Wallace, is matter of mere conjecture. It 

 may be, as a learned friend has suggested to me, that there 

 was a place named " stane dik," just as there was a well 

 named " trawell," and that the best equivalents which 

 Anderson's Latin could provide were " fossarum lapida- 

 tarum " in the one case, and " arbori fontis " in the other. 

 " Dyke " means, of course, a ditch as well as a wall. It 

 sometimes means a road. Perhaps some local antiquary who 

 knows the ground can throw some light on this not unin- 

 teiesting problem. 



A topographical difficulty occurs in No. 53. The 

 " rynnar of fress hole " may be identical with the burn which 

 at the point where it crossed St. Michael Street was known 

 as the Catstrand. It rose in the hollow between Mountainhall 

 and the Cemetery, and flowed down the Craigs Road, across 

 St. Michael Street, and entered the Nith at the Stank. The 

 meaning of the name is not known. It is variously spelt, 

 Fress, Freis, Freirs, Freize, etc. 



Some of the forms of the names of places are curious. 

 Thus in Nos. 66 and 69 " Carsnaw " appears as " Cars- 



