328 [Proc. B.N.F.C., 



held for the English. In 1641, Cromwell — apparently as a pre- 

 cautionary measure — ordered it to be demolished ; and the old 

 historians, from whom the foregoing notices have been taken, 

 suggestively state that "it has since been suffered to run entirely to 

 ruin." It affords us great pleasure to state that this latter remark no 

 longer holds good. The noble family of Downshire — the present 

 proprietors —have, within the past few years, judiciously spent a 

 large sum upon the ruins, to prevent their further decay. 



Several "good plants" were observed about the castle grounds, 

 among others, the hairy rock-cress ( Arabis hirsuta) was found 

 flourishing on the old walls ; this plant is not known to occur else- 

 where in Down or Antrim. Leaving Dundrum by the road leading 

 to Newcastle, the party, after an easy walk of a couple of miles, 

 visited the Cromlech, near Slidderyford Bridge. Many theories 

 have been advanced to account for these rude erections. Perhaps 

 the most generally accepted is, that they were raised as monuments 

 over the graves of great warriors who had fallen in battle. It was 

 noted by members present who had visited this cromlech about a 

 dozen years ago, that the hand of the modern improver (?) had 

 been busy on it, and that a series of large stones which then en- 

 circled it has since been removed. Now it stands bleak and bare 

 on a closely-cropped grazing field, and it is sincerely hoped that 

 the few square feet of ground that it now occupies will not tempt 

 to the further injury of this interesting relic. Crossing the railway 

 near this point, the party entered the extensive area of sandhills 

 which here skirt the shore for several miles. This wild waste of 

 sand is interesting in many ways. To the botanist it yields its 

 peculiar plants, most of which are passed by as possessing neither 

 beauty nor interest for the majority ; but even those who do not 

 make botany a special study, cannot refrain from admiring the 

 wild pansies which occur here in such variety and profusion. The 

 heart's-ease, so dear to poets, displays on this waste its most bril- 

 liant colours ; but the species so abundant on these links is the 



