t and the Feast of S.
Martin; and 10 merks of silver from our holding of Pitcairn, to be paid
in the same manner." And in 1358 there is ratified a grant, previously
made, of "42 merks yearly from the Thanage of Dunnyne"; also "the tithe
of all the rents, cane, corn, cheese, flesh, fish, fowl, and game, and of
all the food used in the Earl's Court, and 20 merks from our ferme at
Dunnyne."

It may interest lovers of archaeological studies to know that when the
Church of S. Serf at Dunning--originated and endowed as above
described--was being re-floored some thirty-five years ago, there was dug
up, from among earth and bones in the nave, a good specimen of a Celtic
cross, which is now erected in a fitting place underneath the Tower. Mr
A. Hutchison, F.S.A., Scot., Dundee (a reliable authority), has examined
it, and has pronounced it "of the true Celtic type." He adds the opinion
that "the fact that no mention is made in contemporary documents of an
earlier church (_i.e._, earlier than 1210) does not prove that such a
church did not exist.... It is a fair inference from the existence of
this early cross that an earlier ecclesiastical settlement existed at
Dunning, and that the present church superseded a pre-Norman, or Celtic
Church, in all probability on the same site."

At the risk of its being regarded as an unpardonably wide digression,
reference may here be made, not to another cross, but to a monumental
stone of another kind and of a much later date (although no date is
inscribed upon it.) It is what is known as the "Ebenezer" stone of the
parish. Though at one time lying flat and covered with crop-bearing
soil, it now stands erect, and on what is believed to have been its first
site. It is placed on a field on the farm of Easter Gatherleys, and
about three-quarters of a mile west of the farm-house. Its origin is
said to have been this:--The farmer of Gatherleys of the time--who was
also "laird" of the place--had for long been in doubt and spiritual
darkness--to all appearance hopelessly perplexed. Sitting down, here,
one day, he found comfort, peace, and light. Showing a most laudable
example, he not selfishly received the blessing, but most gratefully
acknowledged it, raising on the spot his "Ebenezer" of indebtedness to
Him from whom our blessings flow. On the surface of the stone facing the
east are inscribed in English the words of Is. l., 10; while on that
facing the west we have the following:--