all the dayis of his lyfe and for using and exerceing of the samyn offices (as heireftir he salbe requirit and in sic places or partis upoun the feildis or uthirwayis as hir grace sall command and think gude) hir hienes gevis and grantis to him the sowme of fyve pundis usuale money of hir realme to be payit to him monethlie in his feis and waigis for all the dayis of his lyfe be hir thesaurar now present and being for the tyme Off the reddiest of hir hienes casualiteis and dewiteis the first payment begynnand at the day of the dait heirof and that the said lettre, etc., with command to the said thesaurare to mak thankfull payment, etc. At Newbotle the first daye of August 1557.

Per signaturam.

Grant by King James VI. to John Leischman.

Ane lettre maid to Johne Leischman Smyth at the Calsayheid makand him Vol. xlvi. fol. 35. oure soverane lordis smith for schoing of his majesteis horss and gevand to him the office thairof for all the dayis of his lyfe with all feis and dewiteis belanging and pertenyng thairto with power to the said Johnne to use and exerce the said office in tyme cuming siclyk as ony utheris hes servit in the said office in tyme bygane with all feis and dewiteis usit and wount, etc., with command thairin to his majesteis comptrollar present and being for the tyme and utheris appointit or to be appointit for payment of feallis To answer and mak payment to the said Johnne Leischman of all feis and dewiteis usit and wount perteining to the office foirsaid during his lyftyme etc. At Striviling Castell the xxvij. day of August the yeir of God jmy threscoir nynetene yeiris.

Per signaturam.

Grant by King James VI. to James Murray, Elder.

Ixxiv. fol. 323.

Letter to James Murray, elder, present principal master gunner to his majesty, Privy Seal, vol. ordaining him overseer and attender on all his majesty's works of reparations, etc., for life, and in succession to the late Sir William M'Dougall. Fee £10 monthly, with stand of clothing yearly. Dalkeith, 4th May 1601.

Grant by King James VI. to James Murray, Younger.

Letter to James Murray, younger, making him principal master wright and gunner ordinary in the Castle of Edinburgh, and in all other castles, etc. On dimission of the office by James Murray, elder, his father, his majesty's present wright and master gunner, with all rights and privileges "as the said James Murray elder or umquhile Thomas Craufurd" or other master wrights enjoyed. Fee £10 monthly, and stand of clothes yearly. Dalkeith, 4th May 1601.

Grant by King James VI. to John Scott.

Letter to John Scot, wright, appointing him his majesty's master wheel- Vol. cvii, fol. 94. wright in Edinburgh Castle, and in all others of his majesty's castles, etc.--the office being vacant by the death of James Cokburne, last possessor thereof. Fee,

£8 monthly. Presented for the office by Sir Anthony Alexander, H.M. Master of Work, and Surveyor-General. At Edinburgh, 13th February 1636.

Gift by King George III. to George Campbell to be His Majestie's House Carpenter and Plaisterer in Scotland. Given at S. James, 31 March 1748, George, etc.

Whereas we Considering that our Royal Predecessors have been in use to grant commissions to such tradesmen as were thought fit for their service in Scotland, and we being well informed of the sufficiency and ability of George Campbell, House Carpenter and Plaisterer there.

Therefore wit ye us to have nominated, constituted, and appointed, Likeas we by these presents nominate, constitute, and appoint the said George Campbell to be our House Carpenter and Plaisterer to all our Buildings, Palaces, Houses, Forts, works and artillery, etc., within that part of our said kingdom, and that during our pleasure only, and give and grant to the said George Campbell during the space aforesaid the aforesaid office with all the freedoms, privileges, fees, and immunities belonging thereto, with power to him to exerce and enjoy the said office of master carpenter, artillery carpenter and plaisterer by himself and his servants employed by him for whom he shall be answerable, as fully and freely as any others his predecessors in the said office exerced, brooked, and enjoyed the same office before, and to enjoy all privileges and immunities that are competent by law to Tradesmen having commissions from us; and particularly freedom and immunity from watching or warding within burgh. Given at our Court at S. James, and under our Privy Seal of Scotland, the 26th day of March 1748 years, in the twenty-first year of our reign.

Per signaturam manu S.D.N.

Regis suprascriptam.

IV.

NOTICE OF A CUP-MARKED BOULDER, CALLED THE SAJ DI GORONE, OR STONE OF THE HEEL, NEAR STRESA ON THE LAGO MAGGIORE. BY THE RIGHT REV. G. F. BROWNE, D.D., BISHOP OF BRISTOL, F.S. A. Scot.

This is a micaceous boulder on the moor near Gignese, 1800 feet above Stresa, at the south end of Lago Maggiore. The top of the boulder is about 5 feet from the ground; but the ground slopes rapidly, with the result that the cup-markings on the stone cover an area 12 feet from top to bottom with a breadth of about 6 feet. There are about 150 complete cups, isolated and independent of one another, and a large number of broken cups, grooves, ovals, and cups joined by channels. The largest cup is about 5 inches across, the majority from 3 to 2 inches; the smallest is only 1 inch. They are mostly bowl-shaped, but the largest is more like a funnel. I show a rubbing of the whole cupmarked surface, taken with leaves of the Spanish chestnut on nine sheets of the Daily Telegraph; a cast of the largest hole, taken with linen blotting-paper; and casts of twelve smaller holes, an oval, and a channel, taken with sheets of the Guardian softened with fluid flour paste, and left on the stone to dry. I had no proper materials with me. I show also a photograph of the stone (fig. 1) enlarged from a snap-shot. The name of the stone in Italian patois, Saj di Gorone, means the stone of the heel. The peasant girl who told me this pointed out by her gestures that a heel would fit into the holes. This is curiously true of the broken holes, where the weathering of the stone has worn away some of the lower half of the rim and left the appearance of half an amphitheatre.

It is rather startling to find this same idea of a heel associated with a flat slab of mica schist 10 feet by 74, and about 24 feet thick, lying not far from Zmutt, in the Zermatt valley (Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 8th December 1898). That stone is called the

Heidenplatte, "the flat stone of the heathen." It has about 100 circular hollows on its surface, from 8 inches to 2 inches across, and from 3 inches to an inch deep. The tradition in Valais is that the Heidenplatte was the stone on which the pagan orators stood to address the assembly gathered round them, and that the rotation of the orator's heel produced in the course of time these hollows! In this case there is no appearance of the half amphitheatre, for the surface is horizontal, and the weathering affects all parts alike.

Julius Cæsar was much harassed by a Gaulish tribe, the Salassi, which occupied the Great and Little St Bernard. They or some neighbouring tribe of Gauls occupied the Théodule Pass, on which many Roman coins have been found, and the valleys on either side of the Monte Moro Pass. The Monte Moro Pass leads down to Stresa, and the Théodule Pass is connected at its southern end by a very easy way with Alagna and the Val Sesia; thus the geographical connection of the Saj di Gorone and the Heidenplatte is closer than at first sight would appear. And it is evident that there may well be a close connection between the pagan rites of the Gaulish tribes occupying the Alps in the north of Italy and the pagan rites of our Celtic ancestors or predecessors who made the cup-markings so frequently found in Scotland. Thus this coincident tradition about the connection of a heel with cup-marking is well worth thinking over carefully; though it is not improbable that the whole subject belongs to the pre-Celtic period, and that the tradition is of modern invention.

It will be seen from the rubbing that there are not rings round any of the cups. It may be added that I could not find any sign of tool marks. The cup-marked surface of the rock looked weather-worn to a degree which indicated great antiquity; but if any sharp tool had been used, there would have been marks in some of the cups. They were, no doubt, produced by the rapid rotation of some blunt instrument, of stone or even of hard wood, with the assistance of sharp sand.