president's address. 263 



On a board fixed to one of the trees is another inscription 

 to the same effect, but adding that the well belonged to the 

 Nunnery in the village. There is considerable doubt as to 

 whether the Bishop was here at this time, but the tradition, 

 possibly incorrect as to date, may have some truth in it. At 

 one end of the pool is a statue, said to have been intended 

 for Paulinus, clad in long, flowing ecclesiastical robes. It 

 was brought from Alnwick in 1780. A regret was expressed 

 that time did not permit us to inspect the many ancient camps 

 in the neighbourhood. There are, however, numerous indica- 

 tions that in times long gone by, and also more recently, the 

 population must have been much greater than it is at the 

 present day. Passing by way of Mungo's Well (called after 

 St. Mungo or Kentigern, a Celtic missionary) over parts ol 

 Holystone Moor and the Dues Hill Farm, we gradually 

 ascended through the heather and sweet scented bog-myrtle 

 to the summit of the hill, said to be 1,000 feet above sea level; 

 but we certainly thought the elevation greater than this. On 

 the summit is a large circle of quarried stone indicating at 

 one time the probabilities of a fortified place, and in the centre 

 is the cairn of the ordinance survey. A beautiful view was 

 obtained of the valley of the Coquet and the numerous wind- 

 ings of its course. On our way we started to flight several 

 Grouse. Frogs were observed among the heather, and an 

 adder which by its rapidity of movement was soon lost to 

 sight. The right-angled course of the streams flowing down 

 the hill were evidences of the beds being formed in the later 

 period of the Ice Age. The descent of the hill is very steep, 

 and foothold was difficult for those having boots without 

 nails. The immense blocks of stone on the side of the hill 

 added a grandeur and picturesqueness difficult to be described. 

 Our route then lay across Woodhouses Farm, passing by the 

 way the erect stones known as " The Five Kings," a reHc of 

 ancient British times. Four of these stones only now stand 

 erect. By the side of the Hay Burn the brambles were still in 

 flower — a poor prospect of any fruit this year. 



The day which hitherto had been so bright now began to 



R 



