54 REPORT OF THE MEETINGS FOR 1899 



Sir George Douglas has suggested that the fort now 

 known as Ringley Hall may have been created by the early 

 inhabitants of the district to act as a curb on the advance 

 of the Anglian invaders of Northumbria under Ida, about 

 the middle of the sixth century. The supposition is a 

 plausible one, but nothing in the shape of evidence has yet 

 been adduced in support of it. As bearing on the name 

 " Plea Hill " applied to The Law, Mr Laing, Hawick, calls 

 attention to the significant circumstance that in the vicinity 

 of the well-known moat at Hawick there is a part of the 

 town called " Playlaw," which may be a corruption of 

 " Plealaw." It would be interesting to know whether 

 similar names occur in the neighbourhood of other moots, 

 and it is hoped that some of our members may follow out 

 the line of investigation here suggested. 



Leaving the Law the company clambered down the river 

 bank and crossed by ferry-boat to 



MAKERSTOUN HOUSE, 



which, with its beautiful surroundings, was next inspected. 

 The mansion, which occupies a commanding situation, is of 

 considerable antiquity. It was destroyed in the English raids 

 of 1545, was rebuilt about 1590 by Thomas Makdougall, 

 and has been added to and improved in more recent times. 

 Its late owner. Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, who 

 married the heiress of the estate, was a well-known soldier 

 and man of science, and a President of the Eoyal Society 

 of Edinburgh. It is from him that the capital of Queens- 

 land, Brisbane, takes its name. In the hall are displayed 

 some fine coloured prints of Border Abbeys, bearing the 

 date 1813. The picture gallery contains some interesting 

 pictures, the most important being the original portrait of 

 " Beardie," Sir Walter Scott's grandfather, who is thus 

 referred to by his illustrious grandson : — 



"And this my Christmas still I hold 

 Where my great-grandsire came of old ; 

 With amber beard and flaxen hair, 

 And reverend apostolic air — 

 The feast and holy -tide to share, 



