2 Anniversary Adcfo°ess. 



years this part of the President's work has been greatly 

 lightened by the kindness of our friend, Mr Hardy, who at 

 our gatherings not only anticipates our wants and removes 

 all difficulties, but preserves an exact record of everything 

 that is noteworthy among the proceedings of the day. Like 

 others before me, I have to thank him for allowing me to 

 embody his memoranda in this address. 



[The following Summary of the results of Meetings for the 

 season was read at Kelso ; the details are given in the 

 Reports.] 



JEDBURGH AND OXNAM. 



The first Meeting for 1885 at Jedburgh in May was favoured 

 with good weather and a large company. A route across the 

 country from the middle part of the Jed to the Oxnam, brought 

 a large tract of the country hitherto unvisited by the Club under 

 observation, and with good local guidance, and Professor Geikie's 

 geological notes and sketches kindly communicated for the 

 occasion, several new circumstances were ascertained not only 

 of value for working out the Natural History and Archaeology 

 of this secluded portion of the Borders, but revealing unexpected 

 intelligence about several of its local celebrities. Perhaps the 

 most interesting incident in this excursion was the discovery that 

 George Stephenson, the father of Railways, was of Oxnam 

 Water descent ; and for the first information of this we are 

 indebted to Mr Simson, Oxnam Eow, • who so generously pro- 

 vided refreshments to the Club on its mid-day journey. Col- 

 lateral relations, descendants from a brother of Stephenson's 

 father are still resident near Jedburgh ; and with their aid, and 

 an examination of the Parish Registers of Oxnam preserved in 

 the General Register Office, a statement of his lineage has been 

 arranged, which Dr Smiles, the biographer of Stephenson, con- 

 siders to be conclusive. Mr David Jerdan, Dalkeith, undertook 

 to work this out, and it will form the subject of a short paper by 

 him. The older members of the Stephenson family were 

 shepherds and crofters and country tradesmen. It was previously 

 known that George's ancestor was a Scotsman, but he could not 

 be located. Oxnam was the burial place of another famous 

 modern Scotsman, James Davidson, one of the original representa- 

 tives of " Dandie Dinmont :" and his tomb is in the churchyard. 



