48 REPORT OF MEETINGS FOR 1903 



BeR WICK- ON-TWEED . 



The Annual Meeting was held in the Museum, Berwick, 

 on Thursday, 8th October, when there were present: — Rev. 

 Thomas Martin, M.A., Lauder, President; Captain Norman, 

 R.N., Organizing Secretary; Rev. J. J. M. L. Aiken, B.D., 

 Editing Secretary; Mr George Bolam, F.Z.S., Treasurer; Mr 

 G. G. Butler, F.G.S., Ewart Park; Mr James Hewat Craw, 

 Foulden ; Mr A. M. Dunlop, Crawford ; Lady Elliot, Maines 

 House, and Mrs Kelsall ; Mr Arthur Giles, Edinburgh ; Mr 

 George P. Hughes, Middleton Hall; Captain Fullarton James, 

 Morpeth ; Mr H. Rutherfurd, Fairnington ; Mr T. B. Short, 

 Berwick ; Mr James Stevenson, junr., Berwick ; and others. 



Before assembling for the transaction of business, the 

 members, at the invitation of Captain Norman, 

 Brass proceeded by the subterranean passage under- 



Mount. lyiiig tlie Brass Mount of the ancient fortifications 



of the town to examine the vaulted chambers 

 below, regarding whose use and history varying speculations 

 have been indulged in. They consist of strongly built rooms 

 with arched roofs of brick, and numerous mural recesses 

 suggestive of fireplaces, though no opening to the outside 

 is apparent. At the spring of the arch in each, spaces have 

 been left for the joists of an upper chamber, one of which 

 in good preservation and of large dimensions still remains. 

 Considerable mystery enshrouds the purpose for which these 

 apartments were designed, though suggestions have been 

 offered that they were employed as magazines, or stores, 

 or dungeons. The character of the bricks which form the 

 roofs stamps them with a date not -later than the time of 

 Queen Elizabeth. In view of the prevailing uncertainty 

 regarding these chambers, it was gratifying to learn from 

 Captain Norman that he had put himself in communication 

 with a military authority on fortifications, and was willing, 

 on obtaining fuller knowledge from this source, to read a 

 paper on the subject at a future meeting of the Club, 



