Notice of Stone Cannon Balls, by David Milne Home. 159 



Swinton village with a bit of iron in it, which is supposed to 

 have been used for a similar purpose. 



On obtaining this information, I asked Mr Cossar, of Green- 

 knowe, to have the goodness to enquire as to the exact spot 

 where the Balls were found, and in what position they had been 

 lying. 



He did make enquiry, and he writes to me, that when the 

 channel of the river Leet was lowered in the year 1865, five 

 Stone Balls were found at the side of a bridge over the yiver to 

 the north of Swinton Mill, on the property of Colonel Trotter of 

 Charter Hall. Mr Cossar says the Balls were at the S.E. side 

 of the bridge, placed apparently so as to guide the water through 

 the arch of the bridge. The bridge (Mr Cossar adds) was re- 

 paired in the year 1745. 



I went to Edinburgh Castle and examined Mens Meg. The 

 gun rests on a handsome iron carriage, bearing the following in- 

 scription : — "At siege of Norham Castle, in 1497." 



On measurement, I found the mouth of the gun to be twenty 

 inches across, and that the inside bore becomes slightly smaller 

 towards the breech. The length of the gun is 1 6 feet. 



It has evidently been made with longitudinal iron bars, out- 

 side of which other iron bars have been hooped round and 

 across the former. 



I found six Stone Balls lying beside the gun, the largest of 

 which is about 42 inches in girth. The others are 35 or 36 

 inches. 



Having, through the good offices of Mr Cossar, obtained pos- 

 session of one of the Stone Balls, I find that its girth is 56 

 inches. It is apparently of limestone, as vinegar poured on it 

 causes effervescence. 



The Ball at Swinton village has a girth of 58 inches, and is 

 said to be of grey granite. 



Lately on visiting Norham Castle, I found near the porter's 

 lodge a Stone Ball, with a girth of 57 inches, which I learnt had 

 some years ago been found in the river Tweed, a few hundred 

 yards to the west of the Castle. The spot where it was found is 

 in a line between the Castle and Ladykirk village. An old 

 grass field to the east of the village shows the remains of 

 military ramparts, where artillery might suitably have been 

 stationed for firing on Norham Castle. The probability therefore 



