TDGNHAS Series III, Volume 83

Modern ostracods from the recently cleaned moat at Caerlaverock Castle present a
sequence that appears to reflect re-colonization, with Cypria ophtalmica (O.F. Muller,
1776) as the pioneering species. It is followed by Cyclocypris ovum (Jurine, 1820) and
Notodromas monacha (O.F. Muller, 1776), then Candona candida (O.F. Muller, 1776).
They are all hardy, eutrophic taxa common in freshwater to slightly brackish habitats. One
species, Xestoleberis sp., at the top of the sequence, is interpreted to be a contaminant from
the nearby marine environment.

The remains of an unenclosed prehistoric settlement were identified during a series of
archaeological works that took place in advance of sand extraction in 2006. Rathmell
Archaeology Ltd carried out the ensuing excavations on behalf of Barr Ltd. Two ring
groove houses were identified, along with a palisaded enclosure dating from the Late
Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, and a series of unassociated negative features. While
radiocarbon dates showed evidence of further activity from the Neolithic to the Early
Bronze Age, no other coherent structures were identified.

For nearly four hundred years, historians have been perplexed by the location of ‘Rosnat’, a British monastery and house of studies mentioned in the lives of various Irish saints. It was long taken as Whithorn in Galloway, and this is still argued, as we shall see. However, what follows discusses the problem and then (on the basis of new evidence) suggests that the place was Old Kea in Cornwall, on a tidal creek between Truro and Falmouth. If so, it allows us to identify (somewhat unexpectedly) a home of Celtic learning and spirituality that for centuries enjoyed international fame, was the intellectual centre of Cornish or south-western Christianity in the sixth century, and has implications for our understanding of religion in early Scotland, as elsewhere in Britain and Ireland. The present paper may here seem ungracious in trying to show that a home of early learning was not at Whithorn. But, being published in Dumfries and Galloway, it perhaps suggests that, if there was not much learning there in the sixth century, there is a great deal in the twenty-first. 

This article illuminates the history of a rare survival of a 17th century farmstead, variously known as ‘Glenstocken’, ‘Glenstocking’, and ‘Nether town of Glenstocking’, on the coast near Colvend and describes a project to consolidate the structure. The scheme was implemented by the National Scenic Area (NSA) project on behalf of the partners (Scottish Natural Heritage, Dumfries and Galloway Council and the East Stewartry Coast NSA Advisory Group). 

In 1965 the Grierson Museum, Thornhill, was disbanded and its rich collections of natural history and antiquities were distributed to other museums and to private dealers. Glasgow Museums acquired several pieces, including some rare items of clothing that mostly originated in the Great Lakes region of North America. The collection history of these items has become obscured, but current research to reattach the clothing to surviving documentation suggests that it was acquired by a Dumfriesshire man, Thomas Whyte, early in the nineteenth century. This paper introduces this little-known collection and the archival processes through which its history is now being reconstructed and recast. It also reflects upon the social relationships through which the Grierson Museum was developed and highlights possibilities for future research into its fascinating history.

The killing of four Covenanters by Crown forces on Lochenkit Moor near present-day Crocketford in Kirkcudbrightshire in early 1685 was one of the most notorious events of the ‘Killing Times’. Today, a walled enclosure protects the site of their grave and an impressive obelisk nearby records the circumstances of their killing2. However, an account of the incident has been recently discovered in a manuscript book held in the Stewartry Museum in Kirkcudbright, which, if accurate, offers an alternative interpretation of the event.

Recent perusal of the Kirk Session Minutes of the Parish of Lochrutton has revealed an interesting record of one of the more unusual functions of that body – the building of a bridge across the Lochfoot Burn in 1740-41. This venture has been compared with a contemporaneous bridgebuilding exercise by the Kirk Session of Tynholm .

The pediment over the centre of Moffat Town Hall has a date of 1827, presumably when it was built, but without indication of a builder or architect. In 1996 the Transactions marked the centenary of Birrens excavations by James Barbour, architect, civil engineer and archaeologist in Dumfries. His architectural works include Moffat Baths, which, according to his plans, he altered in 1881 by adding a new entrance hall at the north side, a stage to the south and a Billiard Room at the rear. The bathrooms were also changed and an attendant’s flat included. There are two drawings by Barbour: one showing the proposed new Entrance Hall with a new passage to the Billiard Room at the northeast corner (RCAHMS – 072333). The second drawing omits the passage and shows a new entrance Lobby and W.C. to a larger Billiard Room. This drawing is more detailed and with the signatures of John Henry, P.Drummond & Son, J. Johnstone and Robert Proudfoot, apparently was executed after 1881 (RCAHMS -D7235-Moffat Baths No. 1). The Barbour drawings differentiate alterations and additions in a darker shade but it is not easy to be certain of the full extent of works and to deduce the shape of the Baths originally built (RCAHMS-D7234-Moffat Baths No 3).