294 tlEPORl* OF MEETINGS FOR 1906 



(Taxus baceata), one member of which measured 8 feet 



6 inches at 4 feet from the ground ; and in the same neigh- 

 bourhood flourished a very large Holm Oak (Quercus Ilex) 

 bearing acorns, whose branching habit confirms Loudon's 

 description of its appearance, "even when fully grown, it 

 is that of an immense bush, rather than that of a timber 

 tree." 



The chief object of antiquarian interest is the wonderfully 

 preserved ruin of "the Colledge Kirk of Danglas," whither 

 the members wended their steps in response to an invitation 

 by the Editing Secretary, who read a descriptive paper under 

 the shelter of its massive and still perfect roof. In spite of 



ravages made upon its Eastern wall, to admit, 

 Dunglass it is said, of the housing of the family-coach 

 Church. in former days, the Church retains a complete 



outline of its original dimensions, with its choir, 

 nave, and tower, its North and South transepts and side-chapel, 

 and its imposing roof, constructed of regularly shaped, over- 

 lapping slabs of stone. The total internal length is 90 feet 8 

 inches, while that of the cross-arms is 63 feet. Its foundation is 

 generally ascribed to Sir Alexander Home of Home, the son 

 of Sir Thomas Home, who married Nicola Pepdie, the heiress 

 of Dunglass, and whose coat of arms, consisting of a lion 

 rampant for Home, impaling three popinjays for Pepdie, may 

 be seen near the North transept window. The precise date 

 of its foundation has not been determined, varying periods 

 from the beginning to the middle of the fifteenth century 

 having been suggested. The building being cruciform may 

 be conveniently treated in the order of its parts. The choir, 

 which like all the other portions is roofed over by a pointed 

 barrel-vault of stone, measures 33 feet 3 inches in length by 

 17 feet 9 inches in breadth, being 6 feet 9 inches shorter and 

 2 feet 3 inches narrower than the nave. It is flanked on the 

 North by a side-chapel or sacristy, 19 feet 3 inches by 13 feet 



7 inches, which is entered by a low-centred arch, on whose 

 walls are four consecration crosses opposite each other, and 

 under whose Northern window is built a sepulchral recess. 

 By far the most noteworthy feature of the choir, however, is 

 the sedilia in the South wall, which is fairly intact, and contains 

 the customary triple seat, indicated by three ogee crocheted 



