158 OBITUARY NOTICE.— REV. GEORGE GUNN 



with reluctance that he accepted ofl&ce, for he was diffident 

 of his own powers, but he yielded at last to the clearly 

 expressed desire of the Club, and his scruples were partly 

 removed by the knowledge that Dr Hardy was anxious that 

 he should be appointed. He entered on his new duties with 

 characteristic energy, giving his colleague every assistance in 

 his power, and working with him in the most harmonious 

 and cordial manner. But it was not till after Dr Hardy's 

 death that it was seen how completely the confidence of the 

 Club was justified. He threw himself heart and soul into 

 the work which now entirely devolved upon him, making 

 arrangements for the meetings, conducting a voluminous 

 correspondence, and attending to the multitudinous details, 

 which consumed so much of his time, and yet which could 

 not be neglected. The issue of the Proceedings of the 

 Club had fallen into arrear, but he worked diligently and 

 laboriously, and issued one Part after another until the 

 arrears were wiped off. His own contributions in the form 

 of set papers, as distinct from reports of meetings, were not 

 numerous, but from the date of his association with Dr 

 Hardy in the Secretaryship, his time was too fully occupied 

 to permit of much original writing. His presidential address, 

 delivered at the Annual Meeting in October 1894, had for 

 its subject the early history of Stichill down to the year 

 1627, and is a long, minute, and clear account of the parish, 

 which cost him much laborious investigation. He gathered 

 together from many sources all the facts bearing on the 

 subject that can now be ascertained, and he scrupulously 

 cited his authority for every statement of importance. The 

 paper is a valuable chapter of local history, and takes a 

 place among the best presidential addresses preserved in the 

 Proceedings of the Club. In 1897 he contributed a some- 

 what similar paper on the ecclesiastical history of the parish 

 of Hume, now united to that of Stichill. This paper 

 displays the same features as the other, careful accuracy, 

 extensive survey of documents, clearness of presentation, and 

 a deep feeling of sympathy with his subject. It is to be 

 desired that the history of all our Border parishes should 

 be as fully treated, and by as competent hands. If Mr 

 Gunn's life had been spared, he would doubtless have added 



