338 



The Scottish Naturalist. 



There were also received by the Secretary of the E. S.U.N. S. 

 after the meeting was concluded two other papers, viz. : 



The Great Maple, or What's in a Name ? by Charles 

 Howie ; and A Refutation of the Struggle for Existence 

 in the case of Armeria maritima, by William Wilson, Jim. 



The members of the Union dined together (the Montrose 

 Society treating the members of the others as guests), and passed 

 a very pleasant evening. 



The Seventh Annual Meeting will be held in 189 1 in Arbroath. 



PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



EARLY HISTORY OF MONTROSE. 



Montrose, as all the world knows, is an ancient town and a 

 Royal burgh. During the reign of Kenneth, son of Malcolm 

 I., from 970 to 992, it was said to have been the most populous 

 town in Forfarshire, and was called Celurca. When it came 

 to be known by its present name is uncertain, but in a charter 

 granted by Malcolm IV. to the monks of Jedburgh, about 

 1159, mention is made of Salorch, Munros, and Rossie ; and 

 Warden, in his "Angus or Forfarshire," says — "Salorch and Celurca 

 are evidently different spellings of the same word; and as both 

 names are mentioned (in the charter) we conclude that the 

 territorial district was called Salorch or Celurca, while the town 

 itself was called Montrose." There are various theories as to the 

 derivation of the word Montrose. Latin writers call it Mons 

 rosarum, the Mount of Roses ; and the burgh coat of arms, Mare 

 ditat, Rosa decorat, gives countenance to this derivation. All 

 things are relative, and the early settlers had certainly as good 

 reason for calling their slight elevation above the sea level a 

 Mount, as their descendants had in calling three little sand 

 mounds about 30 feet high the Fort, the Horologe, and the 

 Windmill Hills. But granting the Mons or Mount for the nonce, 

 we can hardly believe that the rose was one of its most prominent 

 botanical productions. 



As men of science, however, we must bear in mind that 

 climatal conditions are constantly changing, and that even now 

 we are, perhaps, imperceptibly and unconsciously making for a 

 new glacial epoch. Be this as it may, so recently as 1642, Dr. 

 Arthur Johnstone wrote : — 



