the old.

Several mason's marks were found, and of these care

ful impressions were taken and afterwards tabulated.

It was difficult at first to break the masons working on the Brig from these characteristics of modern work, impersonally hewn stones and mechanically plump and level building. The old curves and twists of the Brig soon, however, made their power felt, and the workmen gradually found that there was more beauty in the old slightly cambered and full line than in the one absolutely straight from start to finish. When once they realised that preservative operations cannot be pushed or worked out as is a contract job, they settled down to the order of things wherein craftsmen and not merely operatives are required, very many taking a most keen interest in the proceedings.

Now that the Brig is finished the retrospect is not unsatisfactory, although there is little doubt that in the town of Ayr the preservation of the Brig did not commend itself to many. In origin and essence it was based largely upon sentiment, upon historic reverence and archæological regard. It did not and does not appeal to utilitarian instincts, and whatever of material value it may hold belongs of necessity to other generations, when men shall more clearly see and understand also its intrinsic worth. But for one or two staunch friends of the Brig in the Town Council the work would never have gone through, and in Mr J. B. Ferguson of Balgarth, then a councillor, the Brig found a warm and fitting friend, for his interests are largely centred in Alloway. His home was for long Doonholm, where William Burnes worked as gardener, and on near land was built the "auld clay bigging" wherein the poet was born. Mr H. R. Wallace, of Busby, a descendant of the Scottish patriot, also stood strongly for the brig from the very first day.

JAMES A. MORRIS,

(In the Glasgow Herala).

THE AULD BRIG O' AYR.

RE-OPENING CEREMONY.

N Friday, 29th July, 1910, the specially invited party met in the Carnegie Library, and at noon they marched to the north end of the Brig, the procession being headed by Lord Rosebery, Provost Hunter, Mr R. A. Oswald of Auchencruive, and Mr P. A. Thomson, the Town Clerk, and following them came the town officers, whose coats of red and quaint headgear provided the only note of colour, if we except a huge umbrella, on the cover of which there was a scroll indicating that the Mauchline Jolly Beggars were represented in the procession. The company included civic and county dignitaries and representatives of Burns Clubs. The ceremony at the Brig was not of long duration, the principal speeches being reserved for a subsequent gathering in the Town Hall, where Lord Rosebery and Mr Oswald had the freedom of the Burgh of Ayr conferred upon them. At the Bridge the ceremony was brief. Provost Hunter, in accepting the trust, tendered to Mr Oswald, as Chairman, and to the other members of the Preservation Committee, the best thanks of the Council for their continuous labours during the past three years. The work had been a feat of no ordinary merit, and reflected the highest credit on the Committee, on Mr Wilson, and on Mr Morris. Ayr had been given the sobriquet of "The Auld Toon." She would have forfeited her right to such a title had she allowed her Auld Brig to be demolished. (Applause.) They were there to congratulate themselves on having successfully negotiated the last fence in connection with the Auld Brig, this " ghaist alluring edifice," as Burns had called it, "whose wrinkled arches," they could see, had been main

tained partly by preserving, partly by restoring, and partly by rebuilding. The preserving and restoring had been done at the expense of a very widely scattered company of loyal Scotsmen and admirers of our National Bard, who looked upon this Brig as the finest monument they had to his memory. The rebuilding would, it was hoped, be paid for partly out of the Templeton Bequest, and a considerable portion of the bequest would remain in trust to meet future rebuilding when such became necessary. But honour must be given where honour was due, and they could not pass on without a word of praise to the worthy builders of the Brig. Dead and forgotten those six centuries or more, their work still remained to put to shame the more transitory work which was the outcome of the hurry and bustle of this twentieth century. (Applause.)

Dean of Guild Meikle presented Lord Rosebery with a silver key to unlock the bar.

Lord Rosebery, having accepted the key, said:-Mr Provost, until I arrived on this red platform I was under the impression that the Bridge was to be opened in perfect silence. All functions, I think, are best performed with as much silence as possible, and I was quite prepared to abide by that agreement; and after the speech that you have delivered no words are necessary from me. I congratulate Ayr not merely on a great restoration, but on the prevention of a great desecration. (Applause.) It was with incredulity and with horror that the great mass of Burns worshippers throughout the world heard that there was any idea under any circumstances to tamper with this immemorial Bridge. Fortunately, owing to the enterprise and energy mainly of Mr Oswald and Mr Morris, that desecration has been averted, and I think we may hope and believe that as long as the poet's works live so long will the Auld Brig stand as a testimony to him for ever. (Loud applause.)

His Lordship then, amidst cheers, unlocked the bar and declared the Bridge re-opened. The company passed over from the north to the south end of the Bridge, and then proceeded to the Town Hall, where the ceremony of conferring the freedom

took place. The crowd which had gathered at the south end then streamed across the newly opened structure.

THE FREEDOM CEREMONY.

The ceremony of presenting the freedom of the Burgh to Lord Rosebery and Mr Oswald took place in the Town Hall immediately afterwards. Provost Hunter presided over a very large and representative audience, admission being by ticket, and the platform party, in addition to the burgesses-elect, included the Earl of Glasgow, the Earl of Stair, Viscount Kelburn, Sir Charles Dalrymple, Bart.; Sir James Bell, Bart.; Sir Matthew Arthur, Bart.; Sir William Bilsland, Bart.; Mr George Younger, M.P.; Mr W. P. Beale, M.P.; Sheriff Lorimer, Sheriff Shairp, the Rev. Dr Dykes, Major Julian Oswald, Mr James Kennedy of Doonholm, Mr J. G. A. Baird of Muirkirk, Mr R. F. MacEwan of Bardrochat, Mr Walter Neilson of Ewanfield, Mr Robert Knox of Ladykirk, Dean of Guild Meikle, ex-Deacon-Convener Kirkwood, Mr F. Harcourt Kitchin, Mr James A. Morris, Mr T. W. Macintyre, Mr Wm. Robertson, Mr James P. Hay, Mr David Cooper, Mr Duncan M'Naught, J.P.; Mr Thomas Amos, M.A.; Mr W. S. Wilson, and Mr P. A. Thomson, the Town Clerk.

Provost Hunter said it was most fitting that Lord Rosebery should give the finishing touch to the restoration of this ancient monument to the Poet, as it was very largely due to his efforts that they had it with them that day. (Applause.) They had asked him to go with them one mile, and, following Bible precept, he had gone with them twain. This was not the only occasion on which his Lordship had assisted the municipality. (Hear, hear.) They did not look upon him as a stranger, but they wished to bind him still more closely to their ancient burgh by making him a burgess. (Loud applause.) King William the Lion granted a charter to Ayr in 1202, and also conferred on the community all the lands between the rivers Ayr and Doon for a considerable distance inland as a Common Good. Their predecessors had carefully handed down the charter, which was

believed to be the only one of that date still in existence, but the lands and other property had not been so carefully conserved. (Laughter.) However, there was one privilege which had been. guarded most jealously, and that was the freedom of the burgh. (Applause.) During the last century it had only been conferred on six different occasions. The recipients numbered eight in all. Four of the recipients were local gentlemen. Two of them, Lords Cowan and Ardmillan, had attained eminence in the law. The other two occupied positions of distinction in our Australian colony. Sir Thomas M'Ilwraith was Premier of Queensland, and the Hon. John M'Ilwraith was Lord Mayor of Melbourne. The other recipients were Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot; General Grant, the illustrious soldier and President of the United States; Sir William Arrol, who had become a townsman, and whose achievements were too well-known to need mentioning : and Dr Andrew Carnegie, who had spent so much to foster education. When it became known that Lord Rosebery had so kindly agreed to officiate at the re-opening of the Auld Brig, there was a unanimous desire to acknowledge in some form the keen interest he had all along taken in everything pertaining to our National Bard. (Applause.) It was agreed that this was a most fitting opportunity for the people of the land of Burns to testify their love and admiration for one who had guided the destinies of our great Empire. (Loud applause.) It had been given to his Lordship from early manhood to lead the Empire in the pathway of reform. It might be said of him, as had been said of Kossuth, that he desired rather to reform and improve existing institutions and adapt them to an age of higher civilisation than that in which they were first devised than to see those institutions entirely removed." (Hear, hear.) They looked on him as Scotland's greatest orator. (Loud applause.) During all the thirty years past when his Lordship had spoken an Empire had listened. (Applause.) His words were sufficiently ornate to appeal to the imaginative and sufficiently logical to convince the reasoning. They honoured him for his many gifts and graces. (Applause.)