Vol 6 - Dumfriesshire & Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian ...

Transactions.4jminstrelsy. He .staterl that when hnnging the suhject before theSo eyaoout a year ago he had only a very slender stock ofballads rn his ..llet, but since then he had increased it toot s upwardsxty; and the more he read of these ancient lays thehemore wascharmed w.th the.r simplicity, their pathos, their mingledand forcetenderness, and their poetical beauty. Some of these newstudres of old ballads he would now lay before them. As on tl"first occasion he had explained the manner in which they haA beenproduced and their leading characteristics, he would not nowoccupy time by travelling over the same ground. After a fewmore preliminary remarks,Mr M'Dowall presented seven studiesZdH Tl '^n^"''^' '""S- Edom o' Gordon, Johnnie of'"''7"'"'''' ''"^'^ ^'''''' Ki-nount Willie,fidtl M Tand Ihe Marchioness of Douglas.2/^rt' of March, 1888.Major BOWDEN, V.P., presided. Thirty-five members present^v-^f'''J^^:'^'"''-~^' ^^^°^^' ^'^^^'^ Dalbeattie, and MrWilham M. Wright of Charnwood.Donafious.~Mr James Barbour presented a wooden platewith the initials J. F. and the date 171-5, which belonged to aJo n Frood of Blackshaw, Caerlaverock ; also a saucer with tieinitials M.D., 1752. The Rev. E. W. Weir presented the com!munion tokens of Closeburn, Dunscore, Greyfriars (Dumfries)Tmwald, and Trailflat. The Secretary presented from Dr Sharpan address read to the Entomological Society of London and acopy of a pamphlet on Insecfa : also nine parts of the' Journalof the Linnean Society from Mr W. D. Kobinson-Douglas the^Ist Report of the Peabody Museum, and theNew York Academy of Sciences.Transactions of theCommunications.I. The Roman Baths of Aqua: Salis, Bath. By Mr James WWhitelaw, Solicitor.After apologising for choosing a subject not strictly withinthe hues of the Society, Mr Whitelaw went on to describe Bathand Its history, dwelling upon the time of the Romans and thevarious traditions connected with it. He pointed out that therewere evidences of the Roman Baths having been used for a long