Dr. Johnston's Journal of a visit to Jardine Rail. 407 



The contrast between the land here, and in Berwickshire, is 

 greatly in favour of the latter. The only plant of rarity I 

 gathered was Vtricul'aria intermedia. It grew in abun- 

 dance in a ditch cut through a swampy field, which not 

 many years ago was a pond of resort for myriads of Avild 

 ducks. It is now firm enough to bear a coarse sort of grass, 

 which is annually mown and makes good meadow hay ; and 

 this conversion from water to solid land, is solely the result 

 of nature, and of the annual decay of the aquatic plants 

 that grew in the lake — -the pond — the morass— the bog — 

 and which will ere long be the meadow. About Jardine 

 Hall, Lepidium Smithii grows plentifully, and I observed 

 it to be common in other parts of Dumfriesshire and Gallo- 

 way. Polytrichum urnigerum was most profuse, on banks 

 by the road sides, in our walk this day, and was really an 

 interesting object. 



Wednesday, Sept. 1 1th. Soon after breakfast Sir William's 

 carriage was at the door to take a willing party to Loch- 

 maben and its Castle. The drive was pretty enough, but 

 chiefly interesting from its novelty. It took us through the 

 royal burgh of Lochmaben, an insignificant town with some 

 antiquarian interest ; and a pillar of granite, erected by his 

 nephews to Mr. Jardine, who went from this, his native 

 town, to China, where he prospered and grew rich, and 

 succeeded in making some relatives grateful by his death. 

 One of them, Mr. Johnstone, has his residence close at hand, 

 where he has built a handsome range of stables, and prides 

 himself on being the owner of Charles the 12th. This 

 gentleman who now enacts the squire and the sportsman, 

 had been educated for the profession of a surgeon, and was 

 for some time an assistant in the navy. He dined with us 

 at Jardine Hall yesterday, and was pleasing both in his 

 appearance and manners. Lochmaben is a large sheet of 

 water, for nothing so remarkable, as for containing an abun- 

 dance of the Vendace ; and for being the locality of Bruce's 

 Castle, which stands on a peninsula that juts out on one 

 side of the lake. This Castle has been a place of great 

 strength and noble architecture ; to judge from its crumbling 

 remains, which are now surrounded by many noble ash trees. 

 I brought away with me a memorial or two from the walls 

 of a place which is said to have been the favourite residence 

 of Robert the Bruce. — (Chambers' "Picture of Scotland," 

 p. 97.) Chambers here confounds Lochmaben Castle with 



1 z 



