Meetings of Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, by J. Hardy. 431 



two cherry trees — but all got away wild. It is fenced in by a 

 wall 9 feet high ; the north, wall is still good ; but all the rest is 

 nearly down." There had been ample provision made for fixing 

 bee-houses ; the vicinity of heather being favourable to keeping 

 an apiary. He had picked up in that neighbourhood, the under- 

 half of an old hand-mill stone at the back of Calfshaw house ; 

 an amber bead on the line of the Catrail which crosses the farm ; 

 and a small elliptic brass matrix of a seal, found near the 

 wall of the orchard. Pont's old map of "The Sherifdome 

 of Etricke Forest," of date about 1620, places trees both at 

 Fairnalee and Yair, but we do not know the age of the timber 

 that at present environs these mansions. Dr Douglas of Gala- 

 shiels, before 1798, measured at Fairnalee an oak whose circum- 

 ference at three feet above the ground was about 9£ feet ; and 

 another only three or four inches less. One of the trees close to 

 the ground was about 13 feet 9 inches. He reckoned that there 

 were at least 80 feet of excellent timber in the whole tree.* But 

 there was once there — it will be wonderful if it exists now — a 

 tree surpassing all others of bulk or value in human interest. 

 This was an old crooked tree at the back of the house, which was 

 at least known to a third generation, under whose shelter Anne 

 Pringle, Mrs Cockburn's niece, had, "in the bonnie summer 

 nights," sat with her cousin, Adam Cockburn, the poetess's only 

 son, who died unmarried, and for whose sake this lady lived and 

 died unmarried. " Perhaps," say her recent biographers, "this 

 was the 'naked oak' where Alison Rutherford had often met 

 John Aikman, and of which Mrs Cockburn wrote in one of her 

 letters."! 



Before the rest of the company is rejoined, " the Nest," a resort 

 dear to anglers, comes in view. Of this summer lodge Mr Thos. 

 Tod Stoddart obliges me with a notice, which many will be grati- 

 fied to see. " The original Nest was on the property of the late 

 Mr Douglas of Adderston — or Alderston. I was on friendly 

 terms with many of the members of the original Club, and have 

 been on more than one occasion, a guest at their annual meetings 

 in the Old Ship Hotel, Edinburgh. Alexander Eussel of the 

 Scotsman, George Outram of the Glasgow Herald, Charles Morton, 

 W.S., late Crown Agent for Scotland ; Stewart, author of the 



* Agricultural Survey of Selkirkshire, p. 284. 

 t The Songstresses of Scotland, i., pp. 191, 192. 



2b 



