268 REPORT OF MEETINGS FOR 1905 



cane, originally belonging to Sir Walter Scott, which had 

 come into his possession in consequence of the settlement of 

 a bad debt, incurred by a former servant of Sir Walter to a 

 Kelso tradesman. 



The name of Mr Charles W. Dunlop, Embsay- 

 Notiiina° kirk, Skipton-in-Craven, to whose courtesy the 

 tion of Club was indebted for their visit to Whitmuir 



Member. Hall, was duly proposed for membership. 



Mr Curie informs us that subsequent to the visit of the 

 Club, the line of the Via Principalis running North and 

 South and dividing the fort into two unequal portions was 

 defined in the Red Abbeystead, while beyond the buttressed 

 building already mentioned, the Praetorium of the fort was 

 discovered. This building measured 132 feet long by 105 

 feet broad. It consisted of an outer courtyard surrounded 

 by an ambulatory supported at least on three sides on pillars, 

 the bases of some of which remain. Opening from this 

 courtyard was a smaller inner court which gave access to 

 five chambers placed against the West wall of the building, 

 of which the central chamber probably formed the shrine 

 in which the standards were deposited. The plan is of a 

 well known type occurring both in Germany and Britain. 

 An uncommon feature, however, is the occurrence in the outer 

 courtyard of a small chamber immediately facing the entrance 

 and measuring over the walls sixteen feet square. Close to 

 this chamber on the North side a great pit was discovered. 

 The position is that in which we might expect a well to be 

 found, and it is highly probable that this pit had served 

 for this purpose. At the surface it had a diameter of 20 

 feet. It was found to contain a great mass of pieces of red 

 sandstone such as were used for building. Many of the 

 stones showed signs of hammer-dressing, and some of the 

 larger blocks had apparently been used in the construction 

 of the doorways and other parts of the building. Over 40 

 cartloads of the stones were taken from the pit. The first 

 discovery made was a very well preserved bronze pennannular 

 brooch found at a depth of 8 feet. Near it lay a human 



