(6) By the NORDISKA MUSEET, Stockholm.

Publications of the Nordiska Museet, 1895-98.

(7) By the AUTHORITIES of the MUSEUM, Sarajevo.

Wissenschaftliche Mittheilungen aus Bosnien und der Herzegovina, Vols. i.-vi.

(8) By Mrs BALFOUR, Balfour Castle, Shapinsay.

Ancient Orkney Melodies.

Balfour. 4to; 1885.

Collected by Col. David Balfour, of

(9) By Messrs JOHNSTON & GREIG, the Publishers.

Shetland Folklore. By John Spence.

8vo; Lerwick, 1899.

(10) By F. C. EELES, the Author.

Reservation of the Holy Eucharist in the Scottish Church.

1899.

(11) By the Hon. JOHN ABERCROMBY, Vice-President. Catalogue of Antiquities in the Museum at Devizes. Part I. 1896.

4to;

Part I. 8vo;

(12) By the LORD PROVOST, MAGISTRATES, AND COUNCIL. City of Edinburgh Old Accounts, vols. i. and ii. 4to; 1899.

(13) By D. FRASER HARRIS, F.S.A. Scot., the Author. St Cecilia's Hall in the Niddry Wynd. 8vo; 1899.

(14) By Rev. DAVID IMRIE, F.S.A. Scot., the Author.

List of over 500 Books, Pamphlets, etc., printed in Dunfermline from 1729 to 1894, now in the Library of the Dunfermline Archæological Society. 12mo; 1894.

(15) By the KEEPER OF THE RECORDS OF SCOTLAND.

The Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, vol. ii. Edited by Sir James Balfour Paul, F.S.A. Scot., Lyon King-of-Arms.

There were Exhibited :

(1) By the Most Hon. THE MARQUIS OF BUTE, K.T., LL.D., F.S.A. Scot.

A Collection of Carved Stones and other Objects found in excavations at St Blane's Church, Bute, with Illustrative Plans and Drawings. By R. W. SCHULTZ. [See the subsequent Communications by Dr Joseph Anderson.]

(2) By Mr WILLIAM DUNN, through Rev. J. B. MACKENZIE, Kenmore, F.S.A. Scot.

Small Stone Cup, 24 inches in diameter by 14 inches in depth, with remains of the handle at one side, ornamented with horizontal lines round the circumference, and short vertical lines on the lip and the rounded edge of the bottom. It was found on the top of Schihallion in 1899, and is the property of Mr Dunn, factor to the Marquis of Breadalbane. [See the subsequent Paper by Rev. J. B. Mackenzie.]

The following Communications were read :—

I.

DESCRIPTION OF A COLLECTION OF OBJECTS FOUND IN EXCAVATIONS AT ST BLANE'S CHURCH, BUTE, EXHIBITED BY THE MARQUIS OF BUTE. BY JOSEPH ANDERSON LL.D., ASSISTANT SECRETARY AND KEEPER OF THE MUSEUM.

St Blane's Church, in the parish of Kingarth, Bute, is now a roofless ruin, consisting of nave and chancel, mostly of Norman' work, but partly of inferior masonry and rubble work, which has been supposed by some writers to be the remains of an older and ruder edifice, but is considered by Macgibbon and Ross to be due to a later reconstruction.1 St Blane, the nephew of St Cathan of Kilchattan, and a contemporary of St Columba, is chronicled in the Irish Calendars as of Cengaradh (Kingarth) in Bute, and the founder of the ecclesiastical settlement which bore his name there.

In 1896, in consequence of the serious disintegration of the building, Lord Bute gave instructions to Robert Weir Schultz, Architect, to have the walls thoroughly examined and repaired. Some parts were so unsafe that the only course possible was to take them down stone by stone and rebuild them. In doing so some sculptured stones were found to have been used in the foundations of the so-called 'Norman' work; and these were taken out and preserved.

While the work at the church was in progress the attention of Lord Bute was drawn by Mr Schultz to the remains of the thick wall of enclosure of the precinct, locally known as 'The Causeway,' and it was resolved to try to trace it right round. On the south side no traces of it were visible, and in digging trenches to discover the line of the wall, the remains of a series of foundations of early dwellings were discovered, extending over a considerable area south of the churchyard and inside the enclosing wall of the precinct. During the summer a considerable por

1 See Mr Galloway's account of St Blane's Church in the Archeologia Scotica, vol. v. p. 317; Bute in the Olden Time, by Rev. J. King Hewison, vol. i. p. 182; and Macgibbon & Ross's Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland, vol. i. p. 295.

tion of the site was uncovered and the various objects which were found are now described and illustrated. At the close of the season the work was stopped, and the foundations again covered over. Lord Bute had intended to examine the excavations and eventually to explore the whole site, but nothing further has been done.

The remains indicate that in all probability the original site has not been changed. About 50 yards to the west of the church, a line of cliff forming one side of the little valley runs nearly north and south, and along its base is an irregular talus of rocky fragments, mixed up with which are here and there remains of rude dry-built walling, apparently forming parts of roughly constructed chambers of irregular circular and oblong forms. Nearly 100 yards to the north-west, and close under the shelter of the cliff, is a larger dry-built structure much more solidly and regularly built, consisting of a wall about 9 feet thick, enclosing an approximately circular area of about 30 feet in diameter. The wall is still complete in its inner circumference, rising to a height of from 2 or 3 feet to nearly 10 feet at the highest part, and showing an entrance at the south-east side nearly 4 feet wide at the outside, narrowing slightly towards the inner side. A massive dry-built wall about 4 to 5 feet thick encloses the precinct, including the church and churchyard as well as the remains of dry-built constructions, and a considerable area around the whole group. Starting from the cliff a few yards to the north of the circular structure, the enclosing wall keeps well out to the eastward of the church till the space enclosed between it and the cliff reaches about 150 yards in width, and then bends round to the south till it comes towards the cliff again, at a distance of fully 200 yards to the south of the circular structure. The area enclosed is thus approximately half of an oval of 200 yards by 150 yards bounded lengthways by the line of the cliff, having the circular structure at the northern end, the church and churchyard near the middle, and to the south of the churchyard a space apparently unoccupied. It was in this space between the southern boundary of the churchyard and the line of the enclosing wall that the principal part of the excavation was made.

The following is a detailed description of the objects found:Ovoid Pebble of quartzite, 4 inches in length by 12 inches in breadth, and about 1 inch in thickness, bearing marks of use at one end as a hammer-stone, and highly polished by use as a burnisher on one of its flatter faces.

Oblong semi-ovoid Pebble (fig. 1), of a reddish coloured clay-stone, 4 inches in length by 1 inches in breadth, and inch in thickness, flattened on one side by use as a burnisher.

Oblong quadrangular Whetstone or Burnisher of quartzite (fig. 2), 41 inches in length by 14 inches in breadth, by 1 inch in thickness, the ends bevelled off, the surfaces highly polished by use.

Oblong quadrangular Whetstone of silicious sandstone (fig. 3), 5 inches in length by 1 inches in breadth, and inch in thickness, worn flat on one face by use.

Oblong quadrangular Whetstone or Burnisher of hard micaceous claystone (fig. 4), 5 inches in length by 1 inch in breadth, and

inch in thickness in the middle of its length, tapering to both ends, and pierced at one end for suspension.

Oblong ovally rounded Pebble of greywacke (fig. 5), 37 inches in length by inch in breadth, and 3 inch in thickness, slightly polished on one face by use.

Burnisher of hard micaceous inch in breadth, and inch

Oblong quadrangular Whetstone or claystone (fig. 6), 23 inches in length by in thickness in the middle of its length, and tapering slightly to both ends. On one side there is a groove as if by sharpening a wire or pin. Broken portion of an oblong quadrangular Whetstone of hard micaceous claystone, 2 inches in length by 1 inch in breadth, and ğ inch in thickness, highly polished on all sides by use, and having at one end the commencement of a hole for suspension.

5

8

Broken portion of an oblong quadrangular Whetstone of silicious sandstone, 2 inches in length by 2 inches in breadth, and 14 inches in thickness, highly polished on all four sides by use.

Portion of a Polishing Slab of red sandstone, 5 inches in length by