with the query, "Jamie, what o'clock is't?" and his response, always readily given, was usually correct, though, we need scarcely say, he carried no watch in his pocket, but something equivalent to one in his own upper storey that was otherwise but poorly furnished. Headstones arise in this subdivision to commemorate an industrious tradesman, Charles Robb, cabinetmaker, died 14th April 1839, aged 82, his wife, Elizabeth Reid, eight of their children, including William died at 24, Elizabeth, wife of Robert Reid, also a cabinetmaker, died 27th August 1840, aged 46; Ebenezer Irving, died 9th August 1794, aged 45, with Sarah Watson, his wife; Ann Milligan, spouse of Rawland Wilson, died 19th January 1800, aged 41; two brothers Nixon, Thomas died 16th October 1835, aged 48, John died 23d December 1837, aged 62; William Hyslop, mason, died 19th March 1843, aged 39, with Sarah Ballantine, his wife; Elizabeth Wright, spouse of Nathaniel Cowan, died 12th April 1815, aged 74, with four infant children of her brother William Wright, staymaker, by his wife, Mary Cowan, who is also named in the inscription, died 23d March 1823, aged 48; James Underwood, shoemaker, died 5th April 1837, aged 79, with Agnes Jardine his spouse, and four children, the eldest of whom died at 19; Nicholas M'Dowal, wife of William Brown, shoemaker, died 21st August 1827, aged 76, the following poetical tribute forming part of the inscription : 'No smarting pain, no faithless terrors come To break thy slumbers in the peaceful tomb; Nor mournful eye nor plaintive voice bemoan, O, child of God! thy Saviour's presence gone: Thy Lord appeared to hush th ne every sigh, To y eld thee Faith's triumph nt victory, At ev'n ng tide, ere to the realms of day, Thy long-afflicted spirit hied away." The bereaved husband lived till he was 83, his death occurring 18th October 1834. B BEHIND THE CHURCH-CONTINUED. AILIE John Key, progenitor of several distinguished merchants, is commemorated by a stone of tabular form; also his wife, Janet Thompson, and a number of their offspring. He died 9th April, 1790, aged 66. Their daughter, Elizabeth, was wedded to Charles Johnston, who carried on a mercantile establishment at Ostend, dying at Dumfries, 27th October 1792, aged 46—both being mentioned in the inscription; also, their daughter Janet, died at the age of 3. Adjoining, there rises a four-sided, urn-surmounted pillar, on the east side of which appears the name of "Alexander Key, Esq., merchant in London," who died at Cowhill, 21st October 1817, aged 57; also the name of his wife, Sarah Denholm, who died at Broomrig, 29th July 1805, aged 36. The north side records the name of Bailie Key's daughter Jane, died 17th November 1835, aged 67. On the south side appears the name of William Key, born in the Burgh, another City merchant, who died 10th August 1840, aged 70, and lies buried in the chancel vault of St. Martin's-in-theFields. North of the Key memorials stand altar-stones bearing the following names: Sarah Parkins, spouse of James Newall, died 22d March 1837, aged 77, with their son James, aged 16; Eliza M'Caw, daughter of John Mosley M'Caw, Jamaica, aged 15; James Scott, joiner, died 23d March 1781, aged 40, with Elizabeth Mundell, his spouse, and several children, including Martha, aged 16, also Walter Scott, Deacon of the Shoemakers, died 30th March 1834, aged 65, with his wife, Sarah Hopkins, and it is stated that the tombstone was erected by his second wife, Elizabeth: a headstone adjoins, commemorating the worthy Deacon's daughter, aged 69, his son Thomas, also a cordwainer," died 26th October 1816, aged 24, with three infant members of his household. Robert Smith, coppersmith, died 5th September 1767, age not given, with Bethia Leckie, his spouse, and Bethia, their daughter, spouse to James Paterson, stocking manufacturer, died 28th November 1803, aged 75; Jean Welsh, spouse of James Grive, merchant, died 10th September 1795, aged 24, with their infant daughter Agnes, also Agnes Welsh, spouse to James Rae, baker, died 31st June 1815, aged 31, and Janet, daughter of Charles Donaldson, joiner, died 10th December 1848, aged 22; Samuel Paterson, joiner, died 21st October 1856, aged 74, with Anne Bell, his spouse, "She was a loving and virtuous wife, an affectionate mother, a sincere friend, and a pious Christian," and two children, the eldest, Mary, aged 6; Robert Gibson, flesher, died 20th October 1833, aged 64, with Sarah Reid, his spouse, and their son William, died in Portugal, 7th February 1835, aged 35; also two Roberts, youthful sons of Robert Gibson, shoemaker, and William, another son, died in the Bay of Bengal, 22d November 1849, aged 23; James Morine, another flesher, died 7th November 1853, aged 72, with Janet M'Minn, his spouse, their children— James died at Stranraer when 27, William died at Ferazapore, East Indies, aged 29, Robert 31, Ann, spouse of William Richardson, died 29th November 1862, aged 55; John Carlisle, vintner, died 30th December 1817, aged 30, David Forteath, died 3d May 1863, aged 72, the two husbands of Elizabeth M'Murray, who lies buried beside them, her death occurring 13th November 1864, when she was 72, the stone commemorating also her daughter, Mary Carlisle, who died at Barrow-on-Furness, 16th August 1865, aged 49; another vintner, William Hutchison, died 14th January 1815, aged 58, with Mary Dargavel, his spouse; Susan M'Kill, spouse of John Milroy of Tachar, died 11th October 1779, aged 61; Elizabeth, daughter of James Thomson, Plainstones, died in Edinburgh, 6th February 1846; Mary, daughter of Adam Borland, Kilmarnock, died 13th July 1873, aged 36; Alexander Lennox, died 20th February 1778, aged 26. Fronting the northern walk a handsome little monument rises in a neatly kept compartment, the marble tablet telling that "Mrs. Janet M. T. Murdoch, late milliner," lies below. She died 13th March 1867, aged 56. It bears the name also of Agnes Aitken, wife of William Murdoch, clothier, died 1st July, 1872, aged 47. An additional inscription commemorates Robert Thomson, late farmer in Calside, died 11th December, 1819, aged 64; Janet Miller, his wife; Robert Smith, builder, died 12th October 1834, aged 45; and Mary Hannay, his wife. In the next plot, which fronts to the northern walk, lie the remains of Jane Burgess, wife of Mr. Alexander Crombie, architect, died 31st July, 1848, at the early age of 28. An adjoining altar monument is inscribed as follows: "Here lyes Mrs. Jean Martin, late spouse to John Clark, writer in Dumfries, who was a good wife, tender, affectionate, and charitable, and managed the affairs of her family with prudence and discretion. She had 8 sons and 6 daughters, and died lamented 12th February 1766." The stone also commemorates James Clark, her son, died 21st November 1824, aged 75. A humble table stone adjacent bears high historical names : it commemorates Sarah, daughter of Captain Alexander Douglas, and spouse of Lieutenant John Campbell, died 29th October, 1764, aged 21; the inscription stating that "Here also lyes Jean Carruthers, daughter of the late William Carruthers of Warmanbie, who died February 25 1773"-age not specified. Next to the above rises another table monument in memory of Elizabeth, daughter of William Johnstone of Bearholm, died 17th November, 1729, aged 51; Joseph Johnstone, surgeon, died 29th November 1774, aged 49; and Ann Johnstone, his spouse. A youthful victim of small-pox is commemorated by a solid oblong block within an enclosure, which bears her name, Jean Hay, and the following beautiful tribute to her memory: "If sense mature even in the dawn of years; She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Hay of Park, Bart., and died 20th February 1762, aged 11. We now reach a range of four tables marking the spot where related families repose, one of them bearing the name of the oldest female of which we have yet obtained any trace in the Churchyard. It appears on the second stone, which commemorates Robert Tait, shoemaker, her husband, who died 19th May 1801, aged 80; his first wife, Mary M'Kie, died 2d November, 1751, aged 33; and the venerable matron referred to, Agnes Findlay, his second spouse, "who died Dec. the 17th 1801, aged 101 years." Born in 1700, when William of Orange occupied the British throne, Mrs. Tait secundus lived under the rule of five sovereigns, and, if a resident in the Burgh all that time, she would witness many local changes, such as the building of the Mid-Steeple, of the New Church, the rebuilding and spiring of St. Michael's Church, the formation of Queensberry Square, the embankment of the discursive Nith, the erection of the Caul over it, of the Grain Mills upon its right bank, and of the New Bridge by which it is spanned, the planting of the Dock trees, and the extension of the town by the opening of Queensberry Street and the carrying of the Kirkgate far past St. Michael's Church. Of many stirring events the old lady might have been able to speak from personal observation: the dreams of her early childhood may have been broken by the alarming anti-Union disturbances at the Market Cross in 1707; she would probably recollect till her latest day the crucible of terror into which the Jacobites of 1715 threw the town; she may have seen "Royal Charlie" with his Highlanders in actual possession of it; possibly enough her own gudeman may have been "airt and pairt" in the Pyet riot with which the whole country side rang at Michaelmas 1759; and her recollection would embrace such far-separated conflicts as the fight at Sheriffmuir and the battle of the Nile. William Lookup, tailor, who married Robert Tait's daughter, is named upon the same tombstone, died 28th July 1815, aged 61; also a son of the former, same name and trade, died 25th June 1827, aged 51, his wife, Janet M'Dowall, and their sons-Joseph died at 14, John at 41. The other inscriptions commemorate Alexander Smith, flesher, died 6th September |