66 Mr. Dickson on Bothbury and its Saxon Cross. 



Natural History and Antiquities of the county, mistakes the 

 Salicornia for the Crithmum. " Samphire — Crithmum mari- 

 num," — he says, "is on the sea-beach near Alnmouth 

 plentifully. 



I have prepared this account to induce members to give 

 us papers on small isolated subjects in natural history, as 

 such subjects can be treated here more fully than in larger 

 works, and by inviting discussion, would stimulate our young 

 naturalists to reflect, and furnish information and entertain- 

 ment to the other members of the Club. 



I conclude this paper with Dr. Johnston's account of this 

 plant, in his Flora of Berwick, pages 1 and 2 : 



I. — MONOGYNIA. 



Salicornia herbacea. — Calyx turned, undivided ; corolla, 

 none ; stamens, 1 or 2 ; seed, single, invested with calyx ; 

 plant, leafless, much branched, and jointed ; stem, herba- 

 ceous erect ; joints, compressed, notched ; interstices 

 inversely conical ; spikes, tapering upwards. Common 

 jointed Glasswort. Hab. muddy sea shores. 



WM. DICKSON. 



Bothbury and its Saxon Cross. By Wm. Dickson, F.A.S- 



Stephano. — Stephano is my name ; and I bring word, 

 My mistress will, before the break of day, 

 Be here at Belmont ; she doth stray about 

 By liuly crosses, where she kneels and prays 

 For happy wedlock hours. 



— (Merchant of Venice, Act 5, Scene 1.) 



The town of Rothbury, on the north bank of the river 

 Coquet, is just within the limits of our Club. From difficulty 

 of access, it is one of those places which has not yet been 

 visited. But, if salubrious air, the fall of waters, mountain- 

 ous and rugged scenery, be a charm to the naturalist, I should 

 hope it will, at an early period, be fixed upon as a place of 

 meeting. 



The Manor of Rothbury in ancient times was a Royal 

 Domain, and of the inheritance of the Crown of England. 



King Henry II. was seized of that Manor, and the Sheriff 

 of Northumberland took the rents and accounted for them to 

 the Barons of the Exchequer yearly at Michaelmas. His son. 

 King John, by charter in the sixth year of his reign, gave to 

 Robert Fitz Roger and his heirs the manor of Rothbury, to 



