430 Meetings of Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, by J. Hardy. 



dates of departure. They again, however, returned to Kelso 

 before finally bidding adieu. 



Many of the party alighted, and walked up the neglected road 

 to Fairnalee ; where there is some very fine Scots fir and beech 

 timber. The old mansion and the offices present a melancholy 

 scene of desolation, being quite ruinous. A breach admitted us be- 

 tween the tall dusky walls ; the roof of the underground vault is 

 full of dangerous gaps ; the division walls are broken down be- 

 tween the narrow rooms ; cattle shelter themselves from the heat 

 or the storms, in what may have been tapestried apartments ; all 

 lies open to the sky ; dirt and decay are aj^parent everywhere. 

 The recess at the top of the turret at the S.W. end, where there 

 is a window whence Tweed's varying moods and the opposite line 

 of heather-hills were under the immediate observation of the 

 occupant, marks the room in which Miss Alison Rutherford, 

 afterwards Mrs (Jockburn, then a charming young beauty, com- 

 posed her version of the " Flowers of the Forest." She was 

 born in 1712 ; married in 1731 ; and died in 1791. A few verses 

 of the song were sung on the floor beneath, in memory of the 

 fair songstress. The house, about three storeys high, is a lengthy 

 oblong structure' ; the coat of arms above the main entrance, and 

 all the front is densely overgrown with ivy. A peep behind the 

 leafy screen would have revealed the family by whom it was 

 built ; for it had at least two sets of owners (of different branches 

 of the Kerrs) previous to its possession by the Rutherfords. 

 Two fine yews were noticed outside. There are terraces on the 

 slope in front of the house, that lead to a curling pond, built 

 with stone, which was used a century ago. The orchard only 

 contains a few old fruit trees, and there is no longer any gay 

 garden ; for here it is sadly true that ' ' the Flowers of the Forest 

 are a' wede away." 



Mr Robert Renton sends me, from personal observation, some 

 notes on the place. " The vault," he says, "which you saw on 

 the left hand as you go up the stair is generally thought to be 

 the place of confinement. Its size is about 8 feet by 13 ; and it 

 is strongly arched over with stone. There is a small aperture to 

 light it on the back wall, measuring 15 inches by 9, which has 

 an iron bar up the centre. The house is roofed with strong 

 slates, some of them 1^ inches thick. The orchard is 4 acres in 

 size, and contains eleven fruit trees — one pear, five apple, and 



