CHAPTER II. Antiquities. "See yonder hallowed fane! the pious work Of names once famed, now dubious or forgot, BLAIR. ONE of the most venerable monuments of antiquity, still exists in what remains of the old Parish Church, situated about a quarter of a mile to the southeast of the town, on the road leading to Carlisle. It preserves marks of great elegance; but the time of its erection is unknown. It appears to have been built of hewn stone, divided in the middle from one end to the other, by a wall resting upon pillars, of which six superb arches are still entire. In the centre, there is a modern erection, for the nocturnal acommodation of those, who are appointed to watch the repositories of the dead—of late years become so necessary, since these silent resting places were, lawlessly and inhumanly, invaded by the prowling hands of resurectionists. This building is erected upon the grave of Bonshaw, the notorious persecutor, and the boon companion of the bloody Claverhouse. The Persecutor was slain here by one of his own followers, about one year after the capture of the Rev. Donald Cargill, as was predicted of him. Bones supposed to be his, were dug up in excavating the foundation. Not many yards from the same spot, sleep the ashes of an humble martyr, which appear never to have been disturbed. The inscription on his simple time-worn momument is shortly thus,-"HEIR LYES WILIAM HERVI WHO SWFERED AT THE CROS OF LANERK, THE 2 OF MARCH 1682 AGE 38-FOR HIS ADHERENCE TO THE WORD OF GOD AND SCOTLAND'S COUENANTED WORK OF REFORMATION." This Church, according to Blind Harry's account, appears to have been the only one there, in his days. In 1297, he alludes |