after its ereftion and as it was reported to have been tranf.
ported here by angels, it was probably fo fecured for the famt
reafon as the fanta cafa at Loretto was, leaft it ihould take another
flight.
The pedeftal lies buried beneath the floor o f the church : ]
found fome fragments o f the capital, with letters fimilar to the
others j and on each oppoiite iide an eagle, neatly cut in relief.
There was alfo a piece of another, with Saxon letters round tk
lower part of a human figure, in long veftments, with his foot ot
a pair of fmall globes : this too feemed to have been the top of
a crofs.
Scotland has had its vicar of B m y for in this church-yard is,
an infcription in memory of Mr. Gawtn Young, and Jean Stewart
his fpoufe. He was ordained miniiler in 1617, when the churd
was preibyterian : foon after, James VI. eftabliflied a moderate fort
©f epifcopacy.. In 1638, the famous league and covenant took
place: the brlhops were depofed, and their power abolilhed:
preibytery then flourilhed in the fullnefs of acrimony,. Sectaries
o f all forts invaded the church in CromwePs time,, all equally,
hating,perfecuting,, and being perfecuted in their turns. In 1-660,
on the reitoration, epifcopacy arrived at.its-.plenitu.de of. power;
and preibytetianifm expelled ; and. that fedt which in their prof-
perity ihewed no mercy, now met with retributory vengeance. I
Mr. Young maintained his poft amidft all thefe changes, and what I
is much to his honor, fupported his charadter.: was refpefted by
■all parties for his moderation and learning : lived a tranquil life,
and died in peace, after enjoying his cure fifty-four years.
The
| phe epitaph on him, his wife and family, merits prefervation, if
but to ihew the number of his children :
Far from our own, amids our own we ly :
Of our dear Bairns, thirty and one us by.
anagram.
Gavinus junius
XJnius agni ufui
Jean Steuart
a true faint
a true faint 1 live it, fo I die it»
tbo menfavo no, my God did fee it.
I This pariih extends along the Solway firth, which gains on the
land continually, and much is annually waihed away : the tides re-
Icedefar, and leave a vaft fpace of fands dry. The fport o f falmon-
hunting is almoft out of ufe, there being only one perfon on the
coaft who is expert enough to practice the diverfion : the fportfman
is mounted on a good horfe, and furnifhed with a long fpear : he
difcovers the fifh in the fhallow channels formed by Efk, purfues
it full fpeed, turns it like a gre-hound, and after a long chace feldom
fails to transfix it.
f The falt-makers of Ruthwell merit mention, as their method feems
at prefent quite local. As foon as the warm and dry weather o f
1 June comes on, the fun brings up and ¡ncrufts the furface o f the
ijfand with fa it: at that time they gather the fan.d to the depth o f an
1 inch, carry it out o f the reach of the tide, and lay it in round
Icompadt heaps, to prevent the fait from being waihed away by the
I rains: they then make a pit eight feet long and three broad, and
■ the fame depth, and plaifter the infide with clay, that it may
O 2 hold
S a l m o n - c h a c e .
S a l t -m a k e r s «