22 Anniversary Address. 



No new plants were discovered. Typha latifolia fringed 

 the margin of the stream ; Poly podium phegopteris and other 

 ferns were observed. (Enanthe crocata, which was growing 

 in several places, attracted attention. Noble, one of the 

 guides, stated that it was eaten by sheep, an assertion which, 

 from the known acrid quality of the plant, was received with 

 doubt. But he maintained the accuracy of his observation, 

 and there are not wanting grounds to support its correctness. 

 The poison of (Enanthe resides in the root, and Dr. Johnston 

 in his Flora observes that, " despite the warning of Gerard 

 against such practice, modern physicians have given an in- 

 fusion of the leaves, or the juice of the roots, in leprosy, with 

 benefit."* And he adds' " goats eat the plant with impunity." 

 The same animal browses freely on the stalks of Euphorbia 

 tirucalli in eastern countries, so the Border shepherd may be 

 right after all. 



Inquiry was made for the scene of the combat between 

 one of the Armstrongs and an English champion, of which Sir 

 Walter Scott has given a vivid description in his letter to Mr. 

 F. M. Reynolds, editor of the Keepsake, of 1828.f But the 

 spot lying farther down the valley, at a place near Flat, noted 

 for games of chivalry, and called Turner {quasi Tourney) 

 holm, where the Kershope burn joins the Liddel, was too far 

 to visit. Sir Walter's version differs somewhat from the 

 popular tradition, which makes the duel to have arisen out of 

 a dispute about some land between William Armstrong of 

 Greena, a mile lower down, and Forster of Stonegarthside, 

 on the opposite side of the river. William borrowed his 

 brother Jock o' the Side's famous sword ? but was killed by 

 his opponent, the popular voice says treacherously, for which 

 Jock subsequently took vengeance. Sir Walter makes Arm- 

 strong the only son of the aged Jock, who, witnessing the 

 fall of his boy and the loss of his cherished weapon, survived 

 the combat only three days. The fact attested by the Ettleton 



* Flora of Berwickshire. I., 70. Dr Johnston had paid particular attention to 

 this plant, Hist, of the Berwickshire Cluh, I., 55. 



t Novels, ed. 1832, Vol. XLI., 377, and Border Min.,11., 72. 



