Report of Meetings for 1886. By J. Hardy. 355 



ened bulky hill on the east side of the valley, with a plantation 

 of firs drawn across its shoulders, leaving a green top free. The 

 other side, I believe, still partly preserves its native coat of heather. 

 The members from Lauder, with their friends, met us by 

 appointment opposite Whitslaid Tower. This tower, the old 

 possession of the Lauders, was reached after a short walk ; the 

 river being crossed by a new foot bridge. It stands on an 

 abrupt eminence, shaded with a grove of old ashes, and behind 

 it is a flattish open platform sufficient for a garden and the 

 offices attached to the residence of a landowner in the warlike 

 times with which it was coeval. An old road winds round it in 

 a hollow to the north, the pass being commanded by the fortress. 

 The ruinous walls of the square peel are the portions remaining. 

 The vault for cattle situated on the ground floor is entire, and 

 the turnpike stair in the tower above the entrance is still acces- 

 sible, having at the top a square aperture for pouring hot water 

 or melted pitch on the heads of assailants. The dwelling com- 

 partment, the third story, and the roof are gone. Several of the 

 foundation stones are immense rolled unsquared boulders, that 

 must have been dragged here by oxen. The northern end is 

 built of unquarried stones, that must have been collected from 

 the fields or the river sides, their angles being worn off like 

 stones rolled by water, or polished by the glacial drift. This 

 end is yellow with an incrustation of Parmelia parietina, which 

 prefers a dryish wall. The most of the stones incorporated in 

 the building are of grey wacke ; several of the corner blocks have 

 been picked out ; and the dressed stones of the fire-places and 

 windows have been removed. The roof of the vault is of a 

 quarried greywacke that splits into thin slabs, which are fixed 

 edgeways with little art. The present flooring to the upper 

 room is the roof of the cattle vault. The roof and upper floors 

 have collapsed above it, and the rubbish has partially been 

 cleared away. The large ash tree (not a sycamore as in the 

 Stat. Acct.) that once grew within this apartment has been cut 

 down. It probably once grew on the roof, and after conducing 

 to its fall, sank down with it to its present position. A careful 

 enumeration in the annual rings of growth, resulted in making 

 it 196 years old. If this is correct, its earliest date is 1690. 

 But the tower was occupied as a mansion in 1689. This confirms 

 the idea that it originally came from the roof. The prospect 



