lieport of Meetings for 1887. By J. Hardy. 35 



above it ; and there may have been a road to it, down a slack 

 overgrown with rough herbage and bushes on the opposite side. 

 A little farther down is the deserted mill. A curious old "bowie" 

 or milk-dish, of wood turned, in shape of a "milsey,"or "milk- 

 sithe" (milk-straiuer) was placed outside here to dry ; there was 

 also a long swine stone trough, very rude. It was the sort of 

 place for meeting with obsolete utensils and primitive domestic 

 contrivances. The rocks here are usually of a yellowish sand- 

 stone. Below the mill there are slabs of red coloured stone in 

 sectiou, followed by a shale with nodules of iron, based on white 

 sandstones. Whether this was the iron ore that was smelted on 

 the upper part of the burn above Canada, where heaps of slags 

 are so numerous, would require much minute search to ascertain. 

 Here the Grey Wagtail was piping uneasily, as if we had 

 approached too near to its nest. Here grew Carduus heterophyllus, 

 JEquisetum syhattcum,JSpipaotis lat i folia (and higher up also), Wood- 

 ruff, Common Polypody, Ivy, native Oaks of goodly size. Poly- 

 podium Dryopteris is also said to grow on the banks. The burn 

 flowed gently in a pretty naturally wooded ravine as far as we 

 penetrated. Mr Robinson of Newmoor-kouse had kindly enter- 

 tained the rest of the company, in the old mansion of the Man- 

 nerses, which he has purchased, and restored to something like 

 what it was in better days. One of our members writes : " Mr 

 Eobinson bought it, and the land, about 1100 acres, a few years 

 ago. It had been untenanted for fifty-two years before that. 

 I saw it about five and twenty years ago, the very picture of ruin 

 and desolation — now it is a very pretty country residence." 

 Swarland estate, containing about 2585, was for sale in 1874. 

 When it was sold, Mr Andrews bought the central portion, or 

 New Swarland ; Mr Robinson, Newmoor House and Overgrass ; 

 and Mr Riddell of Felton Park the remainder. 



I have not mentioned Camps, as I did not go in the direction 

 whero they were said to be situated ; but subsequently one very 

 large oval but rather effaced British Camp was examined in the 

 Oxtree Burn field, south of Canada farm. In the centre was a 

 circular raised space, as if once encircled with stones, fifteen 

 yards in diameter, in the middle of which a pit like a built well, 

 covered by a large stone, was opened within memory, and a half 

 brick was found at the bottom. It might not be very old and 

 have been forgotten ; or it might be the well of the camp. A 

 smaller circular camp lies in a field close to Canada between it 

 and Snook Bank. A cursory glance at one or two of the old grass 



