Vol 13 - Dumfriesshire & Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian ...

32 Notes on Reekiok.
bably due more to the ill-will of his neighbours than to the curse
of his predecessor. The Rerrick ghost, whose noisy manifesta-
tions at Ringcroft of Stocking baffled a whole Presbytery in 1695,
and were the subject of a grave narrative by the Rev. Alexander
Telfair, minister of the parish, was brought under notice. The
visit of Queen Mary to the district on her flight from Langside
was another subject of notice. The writers followed Froude's
account, according to which the hapless Queen halted first at
Sanquhar ; then went to Terregles, where she spent the night of
14th May ;
from there went on the loth to Dundrennan, spent her
last night in the Abbey ; and on the morning of Sunday, the 16th,
sailed from Burnfoot in an open boat, landing- in the evening at
Workington. The other account, adopted by Mackenzie in the
" History of Galloway," by Miss Strickland, and by M'Kerlie, was
shewn to be inherently improbable. This account made the Queen
ride without stopping from Langside to a hill in Tongland now
called Queenshill, but which was called Barstobrick until 1800;
then ride further south, cross the Dee, and then go to Cori-a Castle,
in Kirkgunzeon, where she spent the night of the 13th (the date of
the battle) ;
proceed next day to Terregles, and on the 15th go to
Dundrennan. Attached to this tradition was a story that she
spent the night at Hazelfield, near the Abbey, and presented to a
boy of the family a ruby ring and a damask table-cloth bearing
the royal arms. It was strange she should have carried that table-
cloth when, by her account, she was in "a condition not even
suiting a simple gentlewoman, having saved nothing." It had
been stated that the ring and table-cloth were preserved at Terregles
; but no such articles connected with Queen Mary were
known there. It was further mentioned that Maryport, in
Cumberland, which is popularly supposed to be the place at which
the royal fugitive landed, was formerly Ellensport, and was
changed about a hundred years ago in honour of the daughter of a
local benefactor ; and that although Portmary, on the Scotch
shore, undoubtedly received its modern name out of compliment
to the Queen, it was known as Nether Riddick within the memory
of persons still living. Some attention was bestowed on " the Nun
Slab" in the Abbey burial-ground, with its much disputed figure
and inscription. Mr M'Conachie showed that the animals on
which the lady's feet rests are dogs, not lambs ; that while the
figure is that of a nun there is nothing to indicate the rank of a