3-011-436 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Floral jubilee recently held in honour of the Dumfries and Galloway Horticultural Society's fiftieth anniversary, 1862. 'The show of plants, fruits, and flowers...was held in the charming grounds of the Crichton Institution. The show-tent was pitched on a grassy level near the bowling-green...two grassy terraces alone intervening. Adjacent to the bowling-green...was a capacious refreshment-tent. Smaller tents were dotted about the grounds, and the white canvas, contrasting with the greenery of the trees, gave variety to the picture. Not the least attractive...were the well-ordered grounds, amid which all were free to rove. Standing near the refreshment-tent, a magnificent prospect could be obtained of the marches of Dumfriesshire and Galloway, stretching from the far-off Queensberry Hill in the north, round a picturesque range of grouped mountain peaks, to the lofty Criffel. Embosomed in the extensive amphitheatre of hills lay the old romantic town, from which in the morning the sound of preparations floated on the gale, and at noon the music of the bands and pealing of the bells as the procession moved through the streets. In the afternoon the grounds had a most lively aspect, all the walks being thronged with gaily-dressed ladies'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.