170 Anniversary Address. 



Scotland lay there on the night of the 12th September, 

 1415, the night before the battle of Flodden : but the Castle 

 had been besieged and burnt before that, and it is doubtful if 

 the king was ever in the Castle at all. The first mention 

 of this dubious fact, and of the king's flirtations with Lady 

 Heron, is by old Pitscot x ie, who doubtless wished to extenu- 

 ate the negligence or rashness of the king before the battle, 

 thereby finding some color of excuse for the defeat of his 

 countrymen. This view of the matter soon became popular, 

 and was adopted by Sir Walter Scott in his "Marmion" and 

 in his " Tales of a Grandfather." 



Twenty-three assembled to dinner in Mr. Pattison's Tem- 

 perance Hotel. An account of Etal had been read by Mr. 

 Hardy after breakfast, and now many of the circumstances 

 which render Ford so memorable were detailed. The Rev. 

 Beverley S. Wilson, of Duddo, was unanimously elected a 

 member of the Club ; and Captain Charles Gandy, Barndale, 

 Alnwick, was proposed. Thanks were voted to the two 

 noble ladies who had opened their mansions and grounds to 

 the Club. Dr. Douglas read a communication from Mr. 

 Harvie Brown, on the desirability of an organisation for the 

 periodical publication of select memoirs of scientific clubs. 

 The Club then adjourned to inspect the spacious and hand- 

 somely fitted up school-house, whose walls are enriched by 

 cartoons and medallions painted by the Marchioness. 



The Club held its second meeting for the year on Thurs- 

 day, June 25th, at Foulden, the seat of John Wilkie, Esq., 

 and breakfasted, by invitation, at his mansion. As I was 

 unavoidably absent on this occasion, I am indebted to the 

 kindness of Mr. Hardy for the following notes. There were 

 present : Sir Walter Elliot ; David Milne Home, Esq. ; 

 Professor Balfour ; Mr. James Hardy, Secretary ; Revs. W. 

 Darnell, J. S. Green, B. S. Wilson, Peter Mearns, Evan 

 Rutter, D. Paul, A. Davidson, P. Mackerron ; Drs. C. Stuart 

 and P. Hughes ; Messrs. W. B. Boyd, S. H. Smith, W. 

 Stevenson, James Purves, R. Douglas, J. E. Friar, W. Shaw, 



