84 REPORT OF MEETINGS FOR 1901 



by tbe vagabond poet Villon in his "Grand Testament" as, 



" le roy Scotiste, 



Qui demy-face eut, ce dit-on, 

 Vermeille comme une amathisfce 

 Depuis le front jusqu' au menton." 



Crossing the river, opposite the flower garden gate, may 

 be traced the line of a dam, said to have been used to fill 

 the moat of Eoxburgh Castle. If this was so, there has 

 been great alteration in ground levels. 



The pasture-field of Old Maisondieu, further up the river, 

 was the site of a charitable establishment— possibly a lazar- 

 house — a dependency, in monastic days, from Kelso Abbey. 

 Outlines of the buildings are still roughly traceable. 



G. Douglas. 

 August 1901. 



Leaving the house under the guidance of Sir George Douglas, 

 we proceeded to the gardens, which, notwithstanding recent 

 severe rains, were found to be in beautiful order. The fine 

 flower-beds, and not less the woods, which contain many 

 noteworthy trees, were greatly admired, A section of the 

 members inspected the site of the old chapel, which is marked 

 by a stone carrying the inscription — ' This stone marks the 

 site of an oratory, dedicated to St. Thomas the Martyr, erected 

 early in the Xllth Century, and endowed by Herbert de 

 Maccuswel with the adjoining lands. The chapel was destroyed 

 by the English under the Earl of Hertford in 1545.' A 

 number of us also proceeded along the beautiful Green Walk, 

 at the end of which is the mausoleum of the Springwood 

 family. Oq the opposite side of the Teviot a fine glimpse 

 is obtained of the ruins of the ancient castle of Roxburgh, 

 which in its palmy days was the main feature of the ancient 

 town of that name, lying between the fortress and the con- 

 fluence of Tweed and Teviot, but of which barely a vestige 

 now remains. The castle, built on a tabular rock rising 40 

 feet from the level of the plain, is supposed to have been 

 erected by the Saxons while they held sovereignty of the 

 kingdom of Northumberland. It was for long a most important 



