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[Page 168]
[Continued from page 166]

By the help of Mr. Cuthbert we were brought again
together with comparatively little loss of time! Racing
as fast as we could rattle to make up for the delay
we speedily came to Nenthorn where in a clump of
trees near the old mansion house I found the
site of the old chapel. The stone described by Mr.
Ferguson lies about 8 ft. [feet] E. [East] of the foundation of the
E. [East] gable. It was, when I found it, entirely overgrown
with moss and is rapidly disappearing in the
earth. With some difficulty and much jolting over
rough roads bad for a cart far less a motor I
reached the remains of the Tower at Whiteside
about 1 m. [mile] S.W. [South West] of Mellerstain Ho. [House]. Only a vaulted
basement remains and in that the vault is
beginning to fall in. It is 53 ft. [feet] long, 25 ft. [feet] wide
with walls 3 ft. [feet] thick. We drove home through
the beech woods of Mellerstain splendid in all
the gold and brown liveries of autumn wer
the chauffeur who had spoken little all day
gloried in their beauty. Our drive over the bleak
country by Greenlaw was rapid and chilly and
we returned to Duns at 5.45. There is little
beyond Cockburnspath & Edrom now to see here..
A mound called Doon’s Law at Leetside I have not
reached. It is about 6 ft. [feet] high & was mentioned to
me by Mr. Deas the factor who thought it might be
sepulchral.

24th Oct. 1908
A showery morning which developed into a perfect autumn
day. Took the 10. o’clock train for Edrom, but on my
way to the station tried to get entrance to the Duns
kirkyard to see an inscribed stone in the Wedderburn
Aisle but failed. Arrived at Edrom I made my way
to the manse and called for Mr. Simpson. I found
him a tall grizzled man with somewhat of an
Irish accent, and a remarkable individual. His
garden, where he detained me for nearly an hour,
was full of fine plants and flowers. Rows of Sweet
peas of the finest varieties he grew to hybridise & get
new kinds; bulbs he likewise experimented with and
grew daffodils of all sorts by the thousands. He
was an expert carpenter as his sheds and an
excellent greenhouse, entirely reared by his own
hands, testified, nor were his powers as a mechanic
limited to ordinary joiner work for he showed
me a most comfortable and neatly finished
two wheeled trap of his own construction. In
addition he was proud to be able to add that
he had doubled his congregation in a de:
:creasing population during his “incumbency”.
no bad record for one man. His church and
churchyard were both tidy and well kept.
The beautiful Norman doorway at the entrance
to the burial vault at the West end has recently
been pointed with cement and the imposts where

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