Mr. J. Stuart on St. Ebla and Coldimjham. 207 



Hypnum crista-castrensis. One or two patches in an old fir 

 ■wood near Tudhope, Jedburgh.. This beautiful moss is rare 

 in the Lowlands, though comparatively common in the High- 

 lands. 



Hypnum ochraceum. Wet spots on rocks by the side of the 

 burn in Henhole. 



Hypnum sylvaticum. Dry banks in woods, about the roots of 

 trees.* 



Omalia trichomanoides. On trunks of trees in moist woods. 

 Not uncommon. A pretty moss, remarkable for its obtuse glossy 

 leaves. 



JSeckera crispa. On rocks by the sea shore near Coldingham 

 Loch. June, 1865. I gathered specimens of this moss on the 

 day the Club met at Ayton this year. Mr. Hardy informed me 

 that it had not been found in Berwickshire before. The speci- 

 mens were rather small, but there was no doubt of the plant. 



Fontinalis squamosa. In the burn in Henhole, in some abun- 

 dance. 



* The upright mountain form of H, denticulatum occurs on wet rocks in 

 Henshole. 



The Monastery of St. Elba. The Prior]/ of Coldingham. 

 By John Stuart, F.S.A., Edinburgh. 



Standing on the magnificent cliffs on which the primitive 

 establishment of St. Ebba was perched, it is hardly possible 

 to resist a backward glance at its early history and singular 

 vicissitudes. 



Whatever may have been the cause which drew the royal 

 lady to seek refuge on this isolated spot, there is no doubt 

 that she here presided over a monastic establishment, com- 

 posed of a nunnery for women and a monastery for men, 

 before the middle of the seventh century. The headland on 

 which it was built, fortified by nature on three sides, was 

 cut off from the adjoining country by a trench and wall, and 

 was thus a place of defence, in which respect its position 

 resembled that of many contemporary monasteries, which 

 were placed on islands, such as Lindisfarne and lona, or in 

 situations naturally difficult of access and strengthened by 

 art. The Monastery of St: Columba, at lona, consisted of 

 separate huts of hurdle work for the monks, with an adjoin- 

 ing church, all enclosed by a circular wall or cashel ; and 

 many of the Irish monasteries were erected within the raths 



2d 



