440 Sir W. Scott's Connection with Ashiesteel,hy Miss Russell. 



The spot in the Peel valley where the Knight of Liddesdale 

 was assassinated is still called William's Cross. Below "William- 

 hope Hill, where the open valley ends, is an outstanding knoll or 

 low shonlder facing down the glen, called the Wolf Knowe, or 

 the Bare Knowe ; on the western edge of this, over the small 

 ravine called the Wolf's Glen, are, or were, two small heaps of 

 stones ; the outer one seems to be a sort of landmark, but the 

 one lying nearer to the main hill is known as William's Cross, 

 and no doubt marks the site of one. It seems doubtfnl if there 

 can have been really a Wolf's den here ; the valley has evidently 

 been, inhabited from very early times, besides having roads 

 through it. It may have been the official Wolf -hunter's habita- 

 tion ; other things suggested this as possible. 



Of the stuffed birds in the house at Ashiesteel, the young bird 

 of the Eagle kind came to the place wounded, forty or fifty years 

 ago ; it only lived a few days. The other birds, except the small 

 ones in the glass case, were all shot in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood. 



The stone implements in the press in the library were found 

 about ten years ago in a field broken up, many years before, by 

 Sir James Russell. The site of a dwelling must have been come 

 upon ; the small find was perfectly typical, containing all the 

 articles most commonly found. 



There is a heavy flint axe-head, which has apparently broken 

 away at the hafting before it had been much used or chipped ; 

 the outline is rather round, the sides bulging or convex. (It 

 seems now considered nearly certain, on mineralogical grounds, 

 that the flint implements found in Scotland must have been 

 brought from England, either worked or in the rough ; the 

 bright-coloured flints of some parts of the Scotch coast have 

 neither the size nor the greenish-grey colour ; and some sort of 

 trade or barter seems as wide as the human race). 



There are two stone spindle-whorls ; these so little indicate re- 

 mote antiquity if found by themselves, that the ploughmen who 

 found them recognised them as what used to be employed in 

 spinning with the distaff ; one is a flat disk, the other convex on 

 one side and ornamented with a circle round the hole. They are 

 of two different kinds of stone both common in the country. 



There are several circular baked clay weights, marked by the 

 strings they have been suspended by ; these are believed to have 



