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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
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 CHRONICLES OF LINCLUDEN
 
 THE IMPRESSION FOR SALE IS FIFTY COPIES DEMY QUARTO AND 
 THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY COPIES CROWN QUARTO. 
 
 A^o. Crown Quarto.
 
 CHRONICLES 
 
 OF 
 
 LINCLUDEN 
 
 Es an UhhtQ anti as a (JTollege 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM M'DOWALL, F.S.A. Scot. 
 
 AUTHOR OF 'HISTORY OF THE BURGH OF DUMFRIES, WITH NOTICES OF NITHSDALE, ANNANDALE, AND 
 
 THE WESTERN BORDER;' ' MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAEL'S ;' ' BURNS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE ; ' 
 
 ' THE MAN OF THE WOODS; ' ' THE MIND IN THE FACE ;' ETC. 
 
 EDINBURGH 
 ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 
 
 1886
 
 PREFACE 
 
 Of Lincluden Abbey comparatively little is known. It did not 
 occupy a high place among the monastic houses of Scotland, 
 neither did it figure much in history ; yet it rose up during an 
 interesting period, and among a people who were peculiarly 
 situated, and it is associated with some distinguished names and 
 a few incidents of national importance. 
 
 After existing as an Abbey for female celibates nearly two 
 hundred and fifty years the primitive structure was supplemented 
 by a magnificent Church, and the entire foundation assumed the 
 form of a Collegiate Establishment. From that time Lincluden 
 began to supply fuller materials for the chronicler, as it became 
 interlinked with the fortunes of the Galloway Douglases, the 
 Nithsdale Maxwells, and other powerful families ; and sometimes 
 noteworthy incidents occurred under its roof or around its walls 
 to enrich its annals. 
 
 All that has been hitherto published on the subject amounts 
 to little ; and if the author has laboured under the drawback of 
 having no accumulated stores to borrow from, the counterbalancing 
 
 531734
 
 2 Preface. 
 
 advantage is his of having had a tale to tell that is neither trite 
 nor stale, however imperfectly he may have performed his task. 
 
 When collecting materials for the work he had the good luck 
 to fall in with a rare old folio manuscript, which supplies many 
 curious particulars regarding the inner economy and the tem- 
 poral endowments of the College during the Reformation period, 
 1547-64. For its use he is indebted to Mr. Thomas Dickson, of 
 the Register House, who, besides conferring this favour, supplied 
 other important assistance by which the author felt much en- 
 couraged in the prosecution of his research. Ready facilities 
 for the same purpose were supplied by Mr. J. T. Clark, of the 
 Advocates' Library. The author has thankfully to acknowledge 
 the receipt of several useful contributions from Mr. Joseph Bain, 
 of the Public Record Office, London ; also of some serviceable 
 hints from Lieutenant -Colonel Fergusson, and from the learned 
 author of Monasticon, the Rev. Dr. J. F. S. Gordon. 
 
 To Mr. James Barbour, architect, Dumfries, the author is 
 under great obligations. Mr. Barbour is thoroughly conversant 
 with the remains of Lincluden, whether looked at from a profes- 
 sional or an antiquarian point of view. He has written some 
 excellent papers on the subject, which, together with a plan and 
 drawings illustrative of it, were generously placed by him at the 
 disposal of the author ; and, as the reader will not fail to see, they 
 have been turned freely to account in the preparation of this 
 volume. 
 
 Mr. John Carlyle Aitken, Dumfries, who is an adept in all 
 matters of pedigree, gave a kindly helping hand to the author.
 
 Preface. 3 
 
 On sundry points relating to the College lands he received valu- 
 able information from Mr. William J. Maxwell, Terregles Banks ; 
 the Latin documents introduced were carefully revised and 
 translated by Rector Chinnock, of the Dumfries Academy ; and 
 an interesting addition to the statistics of the narrative was sup- 
 plied by Mr. George Neilson, Glasgow. 
 
 The competent pencil of Mr. John R. Fergusson, artist, 
 Dumfries, is traceable in the embellishments, towards which 
 the camera of a skilful amateur photographer, Mr. John Cowan, 
 Dumfries, also contributed ; while, by the liberal permission of 
 Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Dundee, one of their charming 
 photographs of Lincluden has been copied as a frontispiece. 
 
 Some of the author's sweetest memories cling to the ruined 
 fane, and centre in its beautiful surroundings. For the love he 
 bears to it, and because of multitudes to whom its crumbling walls 
 are dear, he devoutly wishes that this volume of Chronicles had 
 been less unworthy of its theme. 
 
 Cresswell Terrace, Dumfries, 
 New Year's Day, 1886.
 
 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Abbey built by Uchtred : its Architectural Style, Equipments, 
 
 and Monastic Order ........ 9 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 Life of its Sisterhood — Murder of the Founder by his brother 
 
 Gilbert 24 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 Archibald the Grim, Lord of Galloway, suppresses the Abbey 3 7 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 He changes the foundation into a Collegiate Church — His 
 
 daughter-in-law, the Princess Margaret, buried in the Church 50 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The College : Duties and Emoluments of its Provosts, Prebendars, 
 
 and Bedesmen ......... 67
 
 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Conference on the Laws of Border Warfare held in the College — 
 
 Relationship of the Herries and Maxwell families to Lincluden 79 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 Effect of the Reformation on the College and its Lands : its 
 local connection with the Battle of Dryfe Sands and the 
 Assassination of Sir James Johnstone by the Ninth Lord 
 Maxwell .......... 94 
 
 CHAPTER Vni. 
 " Register Buik " giving a list of the College Lands . . .106 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 " Register Buik " {continued) showing the functions of the inmates, 
 
 and giving a list of their Charters and Tacks . . .115 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Negotiations for the disposal of the College Property . . -134 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Douglas of Pinzerie, feuar of Lincluden — His downward career and 
 
 fate . . . 147
 
 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Period of Decay — Extensive reparatory Operations and important 
 
 Discoveries . . . . . . .160 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The leading Actors and Incidents in the narrative reviewed in a 
 Historical Panorama ........ 
 
 177 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A. Lincluden as a Sanctuary ..... 
 
 B. The Subterranean Passage ..... 
 
 C. The Lincluden Border Ordinances 
 
 D. Act of Parliament relating to the College Patrimony 
 
 E. Present Owners of Lincluden Property . 
 
 F. Burns and Lincluden ...... 
 
 G. Walter's Poem on the Ruins of Lincluden 
 
 H. Fir Tree on the Abbey ..... 
 
 183 
 186 
 190 
 196 
 202 
 203 
 206 
 208 
 
 Index 
 
 213
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 1. Ruins of Lincluden .... 
 
 2. Plan of the Remains .... 
 
 3. Sacristy or Priest's Door 
 
 4. Princess Margaret's Tomb . 
 
 5. Ruins as depicted by Pennant and Grose 
 
 6. Relics of Royal Arms and Rood Screen 
 
 7. Group of Heraldic Escutcheons . 
 
 8. Distant View of the Ruins . 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 52 
 54 
 63 
 165 
 169 
 171 
 181
 
 CHRONICLES OF LINCLUDEN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ABBEY. 
 
 Galloway a Celtic Province when Lincluden Abbey was built — Nominally subject to the 
 Scottish Crown, its rulers often asserted their independence, and sometimes sided 
 with the Kings of England against their own Sovereigns — Erection of religious 
 houses in Galloway by Fergus, one of its first Lords — He retires to Holyrood 
 Abbey, leaving the province to be ruled over by his two sons, Uchtred and Gilbert 
 — Uchtred builds and endows Lincluden — Its architectural style and equipments 
 — Its inmates, sisters of the Order of St. Benedict. 
 
 T was during a transition epoch of Scottish history, 
 when the Church of Rome began to take firm 
 root in the land under the fostering care of David 
 I., that Lincluden Abbey and many other monastic 
 houses rose up at his command, or as a result of 
 the example shown by him to his nobles. The primitive Celtic 
 population of the country also experienced an important contem- 
 poraneous change, brought about greatly through the influence of 
 the same sovereign. The son of Margaret, the Saxon Princess 
 who after her death received a place in the Roman calendar, 
 David sought to honour the memory of his sainted mother not 
 only by his munificent liberality to the Church, but by encouraging 
 
 B
 
 lo Chronicles of Ltncludcn. 
 
 the settlement of her countrymen in Scotland when England was 
 made too hot for them by their Norman conquerors. Very few of 
 them, however, settled in Galloway, which was still thoroughly 
 Celtic in its population, language, and institutions when Lincluden 
 Abbey was founded by one of its rulers. It was also to a large 
 extent an independent province, and though feudally subject to 
 the Scottish Crown, its lords sometimes stood on more friendly 
 terms with the English kings than with their own nominal sover- 
 eigns. At the Battle of the Standard, however, fought near 
 Northallerton in 1138, "the Wild Scots of Galloway," to use a 
 phrase then current, formed the van of the Scottish army as led 
 by their chiefs Ulgric and Dovenald. It was while thus engaged 
 that the first historic glimpse, and almost the last, of these two 
 doughty warriors is obtained. For a while it seemed as if the 
 Galwegians, with their impetuous valour, were about to carry all 
 before them ; but eventually the tide of battle turned in favour of 
 England's Norman chivalry, and defeat was experienced along 
 the entire Caledonian line, Ulgric and Dovenald falling dead 
 among heaps of slain. Fergus, who is supposed to have been 
 son of the one and nephew of the other, succeeded them in the 
 Lordship of Galloway. As he was forty-two years of age at 
 the time, the likelihood is that he took part in the engage- 
 ment. But Fergus, though sufficiently warlike for the position 
 he inherited, liked the Church better than the camp, and showed 
 his preference for the former by founding no fewer than five 
 religious houses : the Monasteries of Tongland and Soulseat, 
 the Priories of Whithorn and St. Mary's Isle, and the Abbey of 
 Dundrennan. 
 
 For several centuries before this period, Whithorn, owing to 
 its connection with St. Ninian, had been recognised as the most 
 hallowed place in the province. Born near Whithorn, the great 
 Galloway missionary built there a stone church, the first of that
 
 The Abbey. 1 1 
 
 material ever erected in Britain/ and which bore the appropriate 
 name of Candida Casa ; and according to Pinkerton the see of 
 which it was the nucleus was the oldest bishopric in Scotland." 
 When Ninian died he was buried in the little sanctuary, which 
 thenceforward acquired a peculiar sacredness, and also, it was 
 believed, a healing virtue, that drew to it hosts of pilgrims every 
 year. The Priory established at Whithorn by Fergus would be 
 looked upon by him as a fitting sequel to Candida Casa ; and he 
 identified it further with Ninian by placing among its treasures 
 sundry precious relics of the saint. 
 
 For labours of this congenial nature Fergus had comparatively 
 little time to spare, as during a lengthened portion of his rule 
 Galloway was convulsed by insurrectionary movements having for 
 their object the assertion of its complete independence, and it was 
 not till Malcolm IV. had put these down by the strong hand that 
 order was restored to the province, and it became loyal again, 
 against its will. Peacefully inclined and pious, Fergus was not 
 quite in his element as ruler over a turbulent people. In 1160, 
 when bowed down by age and care, he became an inmate of Holy- 
 rood Abbey. Fergus, it is said, took this step in order to propitiate 
 King David as well as to secure for himself bodily rest. The cir- 
 cumstances of his withdrawal from public life as described in the 
 Bannatyne Miscellany are sufficiently curious. When, we are told, 
 the fabric of Holyrood was progressing "under St. David, a most 
 happy monarch," it happened that " Fergus Earl and Great Lord 
 of Galloway failed in his duty to his Majesty and committed a 
 grievous fault, at which the King, evidently very angry, determined 
 to put the law in force rigorously against him." On this account 
 
 1 Beda Historia Ecclesiastica, vol. iii. p. 4. It is conjectured by Chalmers that the 
 town owes its modern name to a corruption of the Saxon word Hwit-arn, which means 
 the White House. 
 
 2 Pinkerton's Inquiry, vol. ii. p. 268.
 
 12 Chronicles of Lincbiden. 
 
 Fergus, who was " very much devoted to God, and, notwithstand- 
 ing his accidental fault, always faithful to the King," was greatly 
 troubled. In his distress he opened his mind to Albyn, the King's 
 confessor and also Abbot of Holy rood, by whom he was advised 
 to assume the habit of a canon regular, and under that guise to 
 ask pardon from his Majesty. This pious fraud, if it may be so 
 called, was carried out to the letter. One day, while David was 
 visiting the Abbey to mark the progress of its builders, the 
 monks assembled with the Prince of Galloway in their midst, and 
 he obtained anonymously the royal forgiveness which would have 
 been denied to him had he pleaded for it undisguised and openly. 
 " O most gracious Prince," said the Abbot, "we, the petitioners of 
 your Highness, confessing our faults, that we are guilty and 
 transgressors, most humbly beseech thee, in the bowels of Jesus 
 Christ, that your most benignant Highness would condescend 
 to pardon us, and every one of us, every fault and offence com- 
 mitted against your Majesty, with a single and unfeigned heart, 
 and at the same time bestow upon us your blessing, in order 
 that for the future we may be deserving to meditate and pray 
 for the safety of your kingdom more holily and devotedly ; and 
 that your most merciful Highness would be pleased, in token of 
 this gracious pardon, to bestow upon every one of us the kiss of 
 peace." 
 
 Thus appealed to, the King gave a gracious response ; and 
 taking the Abbot by the hand, kissed him affectionately, saying, 
 "Pax tibi, frater, cum benedictione divina" (peace be to thee, 
 brother, with the divine benediction).^ The Prince seems never 
 to have thrown off the cowl which he at first put on in this singular 
 way, if the foregoing legend may be relied upon. Fergus, as we 
 shall afterwards see, showed a truly paternal interest in the brother- 
 
 1 Dr. Gordon's Monasticon, pp. 204-206.
 
 The Abbey. 13 
 
 hood by endowing their house with numerous benefices. He died 
 after a residence in it of only one year.^ 
 
 From the chronicles oi the period but few particulars can be 
 gathered of his personal history. That he was a man of extra- 
 ordinary munificence, emulating even that of King David, the 
 relics of the costly structures that he reared remain to show. In 
 Fergus the family of which he was the head took quite a new 
 departure. Looking backwards to the semi-savage warriors who 
 fell at the Battle of the Standard, on to Galvus and Dunnallon, 
 from whom they claimed descent, we find only the fierce, bar- 
 barous thanes of an unlettered age ; but in Fergus we see a 
 prince of a higher type— one far in advance of his time, and who 
 gave a virtuous bent to at least a portion of his lineage, which they 
 retained for many generations. Fergus married an illegitimate 
 daughter of Henry I., King of England, receiving with her a 
 goodly dowry of lands and heritages. She bore to her husband 
 two sons, who, according to Scoto-Irish law, became at his death 
 joint Lords of Galloway. 
 
 While Fergus was still alive, the land over which he ruled was 
 recognised in all royal writs as a principality distinct from Scotland 
 proper. As an example of this practice we quote as follows the 
 deed by which William the Lion confirmed to Robert Bruce 
 (afterwards competitor for the crown) the grant of Annandale 
 given to him in preceding reigns. " William King of Scots to his 
 bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justices, sheriffs, and other good 
 men, French, English, Scots, Galwegians. Gives to Robert de 
 Brus and his heirs the land which his father and himself held in 
 the vale of Annand, by the same bounds and as freely as they held 
 
 1 Fergus was buried on the east side of the Abbey chapel, " where," says Dr. Gor- 
 don, " the remains of many other illustrious personages were deposited, whose monu- 
 ments have either been destroyed or who have never had any erected to their memory." 
 — Monasticon, p. 196.
 
 14 Chronicles of Line htden. 
 
 it in the time of King David his grandfather or King Malcolm his 
 brother. Saving to the King the pleas of the Crown, viz. of 
 treasure trove, of murder, of premeditated assault, of rape, of 
 arson, of robbery." ^ This charter derives further interest from 
 the circumstance that among those who bore witness to its validity 
 ■were " Huchtred, son of Fergus," the founder of Lincluden, and 
 " Gilebert, son of Fergus " — the first recorded instance, we believe, 
 of the existence of these Galloway brothers. Pleasant it is to see 
 them thus united in peaceful witness-bearing : pity that succeeding 
 pages of this narrative should have to present them in a totally 
 different aspect, the one as the slaughtered victim of the other's 
 remorseless lust of power ! 
 
 At the date of this document, 1 1 66, surnames were scarcely 
 known in Scotland, but soon afterwards they became common, and 
 before the close of the twelfth century the rulers of Galloway took 
 " M'Dowall," — a modification of Dovenald, it is believed, — -as their 
 family designation. Writing on this subject Nisbet says, "The 
 old lords of Galloway were of the name M'Dowall, and one of the 
 most powerful families in Scotland at that time. They built five 
 abbacies and five priories, endowing them with lands — a work of 
 most prodigious charge, of which few private families in Europe 
 may be said to have done the like."^ 
 
 Just twenty-six years after Ulgric and Dovenald were slain in 
 battle we find a Galwegian host, led by their successors, Uchtred 
 and Gilbert, taking part with William the Lion in an attempt 
 
 1 Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, edited by Joseph Bain, vol. i. pp. 13, 14. 
 
 2 Nisbet's Heraldry, vol. i. p. 283. — Sir Andrew Agnew states that the M'Dowalls 
 hold their family to have been derived from Douall of Galloway, who lived 230 years 
 before the birth ot our Saviour ; and killing Nothalus (the tyrant), sixth king of Scot- 
 land, established Ruthenus as seventh king in his place. — Hereditary Sheriffs of Wig- 
 townshire, p. 28. 
 
 "The M'Dowalls have always been powerful in the western division of Galloway, 
 and their origin is lost in antiquity, ' ultras memoriam hominum,' to quote the words of 
 one of their early charters." — Statistical Account of Wigtownshire, p. 225.
 
 The Abbey. 15 
 
 made by him to recover Northumberland, which had been ceded 
 to the EngHsh by his weak brother, Malcohn the Maiden. The 
 enterprise terminated in the capture of the Scottish monarch ; and 
 during his lengthened imprisonment the Galloway Scots threw off 
 their allegiance, and paid homage to Henry 11/ For some years 
 neither of the sons of Fergus exhibited any resemblance to him 
 mentally — Uchtred no less than Gilbert figuring as a fighting chief 
 rather than as a cultivator of the peaceful arts. But it was the 
 circumstances of his position perhaps that made Uchtred a man of 
 the sword ; and if Galloway during his joint lordship had been in 
 a less unsettled condition, the likelihood is, we think, that he would 
 have followed to a large extent in the footsteps of his father. He 
 did not seek to emulate Fergus by founding a series of great 
 religious houses, and perhaps lack of sufficient means rather than 
 any want of will hindered him from pursuing that course ; yet he 
 resolved to add one monastic institution to the existing number 
 before he died, for the purpose, according to his religious creed, of 
 atoning in some degree for the sins of his life, and helping to 
 secure his eternal welfare ; and so in due season arose the fair 
 abbey on Nithside, "the grey ruins of which still help to keep his 
 memory green." As for Gilbert, he seems to have been a son of 
 violence from his youth upward, and he has left behind a name 
 that is loaded with infamy. 
 
 Uchtred having made up his mind to found and endow a retreat 
 for recluses somewhere in that part of Galloway— the eastern, which, 
 more directly than the western, lay under his rule — the questions 
 of its site, of its architectural character, and of its ecclesiastical 
 order had next to be considered. When visiting his relatives of 
 the Dunegal family, who then bore sway over Stranith, he may 
 
 1 Benedictus Abbas, as quoted in Lord Hailes's Annals of Scotland, says the negoti- 
 ations on the subject were initiated by the King of England, and he sent Hovenden and 
 Robert de Val to the two brothers for that purpose.
 
 1 6 Chronicles of Linchiden. 
 
 have been struck with the beauty of a piece of elevated ground that 
 rises up about a mile from Dumfries, near which two rivers mingle 
 their waters, and then, lovingly merged into one, roll on to the 
 Solway. At all events, this spot, at once sequestered, charming, 
 and salubrious, was selected as the site for the new edifice. One 
 of the sister streams, the Cluden, after draining the parish of 
 Irongray, pursues a slow circuitous route to the south-west, catching 
 the Upper Cairn in its course ; and some miles afterwards it is 
 in turn embraced by the more impetuous Nith as that river comes 
 rolling onward through a spacious dale to combine with the 
 Galloway stream in separating Kirkcudbrightshire from Dumfries- 
 shire for a space of eight miles, before being absorbed by the sea. 
 At a point a little below " the vale in whose bosom the bright 
 waters meet " the right bank appears as an elevated plateau, 
 on the crest of which stands the now ruined house of Uchtred. 
 
 Its name, Lincluden, is doubtless derived from the word 
 "Linn," which in the ancient British language means a pool, 
 as the water scoops out a deep basin for itself in the immediate 
 neighbourhood of the building. A small natural mound, rising 
 higher than the edifice a little to the south-west, increased its 
 amenity. This hillock, after having been artificially scarped, may 
 have been used as an encampment by the Selgovee Britons ; and 
 it is believed to have been turned to account by the inmates of 
 the Abbey either as a devotional Calvary or for a recreative pur- 
 pose. On these points we have no precise information ; but we 
 know that Kirk-Hill, as it came to be called, possessed some little 
 agricultural value when the establishment to which it belonofed 
 existed as a College. From the summit of the mound a charming 
 view is obtainable, comprising a rich portion of Lower Nithsdale ; 
 a picturesque range of mountain land culminating in Criffel, at the 
 base of which stands the Abbey of Dulce Cor, built by Uchtred's 
 great-granddaughter Devorgilla ; and at times the swelling tidal
 
 The Abbey. 17 
 
 flood rushing up the Solway Firth, and on rarer occasions making 
 its presence felt in the sister rivers that meet immediately below 
 the view-point.^ To Lincluden in due time there were attached a 
 flower-garden and herbarium, traces of which were seen by the 
 tourist Pennant when he visited the place in 1775. 
 
 Besides its natural beauty the site had the recommendation 
 of beinor on eround that from time immemorial had borne the con- 
 genial title of Tir-eglwys, which in the old British tongue, or as 
 Latinised into Terra-ecclesia, means the Land of the Church. 
 This name, slightly altered to Terregles, was assigned to the 
 district when formed into a parish, and also to the barony carved 
 out of it which Sir John Herries received from David II. in 1365." 
 The ruins of the Abbey which still survive comprise but a 
 morsel of the twelfth -century erection ; and careful scrutiny is 
 needed to trace its existence among the less ancient remains by 
 which it is overlapped. At the date of the Abbey, 1 164 or thereby, 
 the transition style of architecture, in which the severe Norman 
 was graduating into the Early English, was in vogue. That the 
 house was of this character all the little that is left of it tends to 
 show. Small in size, it consisted chiefly of a nave, 56 feet long 
 and about 20 feet wide ; a choir of the same width ; and a north 
 aisle, 9 feet wide, with a less extended sweep westward than the 
 nave. In all probability there was a south aisle also, occupying 
 the site of part of the less ancient building ; but if so, it has entirely 
 disappeared, as have also the domestic apartments, which formed 
 an indispensable feature of all such establishments. The doorway, 
 situated in the west wall of the nave, was about 4^ feet wide, and 
 must have presented a fine appearance, as it had a semicircular 
 arched top, formed of several concentric rings projecting over each 
 
 1 Since the caul or weir was built across the Nith at Dumfries in 1 704 the tide has only 
 on very rare occasions swept over the barrier and onwards in the direction of Lincluden. 
 
 2 Register of the Great Seal, book I. p. 96. 
 
 C
 
 1 8 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 other, two of which at least were moulded and enriched with the 
 favourite zigzag ornament of the Norman style. By a descent of 
 two steps from the doorway the floor of the nave was reached ; 
 while that of the choir rose higher, and access to it was obtained 
 by a series of steps extending from side to side under the chancel 
 arch. Separating the nave from the aisle there rose an arcade, 
 composed of cylindrical pillars terminating on the east with a 
 shafted respond or half-pillar that rested on a plain square pedestal ; 
 depressed pointed arches spanning the bays between the pillars, 
 the rings of which were recessed and truncated. For a while 
 plain single-light pointed openings would do service for windows, 
 but ultimately the Abbey appears to have acquired "storied win- 
 dows richly dight," of a more ambitious stamp, divided by cham- 
 fered mullions and displaying tracery plainly cusped. The 
 unknown architect seems to have aimed at combining massiveness 
 with simplicity, and to have made the restricted ornamentation of 
 the building tributary to its strength.^ We infer these character- 
 istics from the few relics of it that are still in position — foundation 
 fragments of the west wall of the nave, some broken masonry at 
 its north-east corner, a small remnant of the wall by which the 
 north of the aisle was bounded, two steps of the doorway on which 
 the founder's feet must have often pressed, a portion of the lower 
 plinth of the eastmost pillar, the pedestal, base, and one course of 
 the east respond of the north arcade, a piece of wall extending 
 eastward from the back of that half-pillar ; together with a mingled 
 heap made up of no ordinary ddbris, seeing it includes portions of 
 window stones, two pieces of circular pillars, and several large 
 splinters of the arcaded screen that rose up, " like an alley'd walk," 
 to divide the aisle from the nave. 
 
 1 There is a probability that France supphed both the designer and the builders ot 
 the fabric. We know from Boece that when King David resolved to found Holyrood 
 Abbey in 1 128 he sent his " traist servandis to France and Flanders, and brocht rycht 
 crafty mesons to big the same."
 
 The Abbey. ig 
 
 Not a few of these relics were secured during extensive exca- 
 vations to which the ruins were recently subjected ; but there was 
 one rare prize, real or fanciful, of which no trace could be dis- 
 covered, though sought for eagerly — that being the secret roadway 
 below the Nith, which, according to a persistent popular belief, 
 united the Abbey with the strong fortress which stood lower down 
 on the opposite bank of the river. Tales of tradition and romance 
 have invested this subterranean passage with thrilling interest, and 
 helped to confirm the idea of its existence in the public mind. We 
 have all heard how during the wars on the Border the castle of 
 Dumfries was again and again kept from being starved into a sur- 
 render by supplies sent through the tunnel from the Abbey ; and 
 how also the garrison, when sometimes no longer able to hold out 
 against the besieging force, effected their escape by slipping through 
 this convenient subway. Incidents of this kind may have occurred, 
 but it is at least unfortunate for their acceptance that the mys- 
 terious passage on which their credibility depends refuses to 
 disclose itself to the peering eye of the anxious archaeologist, 
 even when a staff of sappers and miners assist him in his search ; 
 and it will be our unpleasant duty to show afterwards that in all 
 probability no such curious adjunct as this was ever possessed by 
 Uchtred's Abbey. 
 
 All the monastic houses previously erected in Galloway 
 were for recluses of the rougher sex ; Uchtred opened his one 
 for a sisterhood of Black Nuns, who followed the rule of 
 St. Benedict ; and in due course it received a complement of 
 inmates, probably drafted at first from the French establishments 
 of Clugny or Marmoutier, and reinforced afterwards by natives 
 of the district. Next to the AuQ-ustinian Order that of the 
 Benedictines was the most notable in Scotland during the twelfth 
 and two following centuries ; its principal houses having been 
 at Coldingham, Dunfermline, Kelso, Kilwinning, Aberbrothock,
 
 \ 
 
 20 Chronicles of Lmchiden. 
 
 Paisley,^ Newbattle, Culross, Melrose, and Pluscardin. Compared 
 with these, Lincluden Abbey was small and of much less conse- 
 quence socially or politically. It was, like them, possessed of large 
 endowments ; but though the females of that day sometimes used 
 the sword, they, like their modern representatives, were prevented 
 from intermeddling, at least directly, with State affairs ; and while 
 the male heads of religious fraternities usually wore the lordly 
 mitre, the superioress of Lincluden was debarred by her sex from 
 sitting in Parliament or aspiring to senatorial honours; all the 
 more time she would have therefore for the performance of her 
 religious duties. Lincluden was in fact a convent or nunnery 
 rather than an abbey in the full sense of that term ; and though 
 we read of the Lady Alianore being its Abbess at the beginning 
 of the fourteenth century, the title of prioress was more frequently 
 and fittingly assigned to the rulers of the establishment. The 
 names of those who bore it have, with one or two exceptions, 
 vanished from the historic scroll. As we shall see afterwards, 
 there is some room for supposing that the last of the lengthened 
 line, extending over about two hundred and forty years, was 
 named Lady Blanche ; and from the oblivion which has overtaken 
 all the rest, save Alianore, the first of them has not escaped. 
 
 Of David L, the greatest monastery-builder that Scotland ever 
 saw, his successor, James VL, said he had been a sore saint for the 
 Crown ; and in the same way the Lordship of Galloway was con- 
 siderably impoverished by the munificent piety of Fergus, who not 
 only founded and endowed the five religious houses already speci- 
 fied, but enriched Holyrood with numerous benefices, the gift of 
 which was confirmed by his son, the founder of Lincluden. The 
 grant included the church of St. Mary and St. Bruok of Dunroden; 
 the island of Trahil (afterwards called St. Mary's Isle), on which 
 
 ^ Of this Abbey an excellent history has been published by the Rev. Dr. Cameron 
 Lees, which we have consulted with advantare.
 
 The Abbey. 2 1 
 
 Rolland, son of Uchtred, erected a Priory that was dependent on 
 Holyrood ; the church of Galtweid ; the church of St. Bridget of 
 Blakhet (supposed to be Kirkbride); the church of St. Cuthbert 
 of Desnesmore (Kirkcudbright); the church of Tungeland ; the 
 church of Twenhame (Twynholm) ; the church of St. Constantino 
 of Colmanate ; the church of Kirkandrew, Balemakethe (Bal- 
 maghie) ; the church of Keltun ; the church of Ryrechormac, 
 with its chapel of Balnecross.^ 
 
 But for the drain to which Uchtred's resources were thus sub- 
 jected he would very likely have made Lincluden vie in magni- 
 ficence with the greatest religious houses of its day. Inferior in 
 size and wealth to many of them, yet it was liberally dowered by 
 him with farms and other sources of maintenance — the lands lying 
 chiefly in the baronies of Crossmichael and Drumsleet. Nor did 
 he restrict his bounty to Lincluden, or his own district. There is 
 a document still extant showing that a great charitable institution 
 in the city of York shared in the benefactions of the good Galloway 
 chief. By this deed " Huctred, son of Fergus, signifies to his 
 lord and father Christian, Bishop of the Galwalouses, that he has 
 granted to God and St. Leonard and the brothers of the Hospital 
 of St. Peter of York, a carucate and toft in Crevequer [Troqueer], 
 in frankal moigne for the souls of David King of Scots, Fergus 
 his father, his mother, and all his ancestors."^ 
 
 1 Lib. Cart. Sanct. Cruets, p. 1 1. 
 
 * Bain's Calendar, vol. ii. p. 422. — The witnesses are — Cliristian, Bisliop of Gallo- 
 way ; Everard, Abbot of Holmcoltram ; Robert, Prior of that abbey ; William the 
 cellarer ; Robert, Archdeacon of Carlisle ; Robert, Archdeacon of Galloway ; Hubert 
 de Vaux; Robert fitz Trute, sheriff; Richard, his brother; Lohlan, son of Huddredy ; 
 Peter del Teillos ; Richard de Chenay ; Richard de Heriz ; Robert, clerk of York ; 
 Radulf fitz Richard ; William de la Crespinor ; Hudard de Hodelma ; Gillechad 
 Gillamor ; Ralf, clerk of Carlisle ; Richard of York ; Simon, brother of Ralf the clerk ; 
 William de Briston ; Robert Dunbredan. Charters confirmatory of the grant were 
 given by Alan, grandson of Uchtred, and by William the Lion, the former having for 
 witnesses Lord Walter, Bishop of Whitehem (Candida Casa) ; Lord Galfrid, Abbot of 
 Tungeland ; Sir John the Archdeacon ; Sir Durand the official : Sir Mathew the
 
 Chronicles of Lincludcn. 
 
 During the twelfth century the rural economy of Galloway was 
 of a very primitive type. As in other parts of Scotland, the monks 
 were the best farmers ; and when Fergus and Uchtred dowered 
 the religious houses which they set up with extensive lands they 
 gave a stimulus to the agriculture of the district, and by this 
 means many portions of it that were previously lying in a wilderness 
 condition were brought to yield goodly crops of oats and barley 
 and abundance of hay ; not till a century afterwards was the pro- 
 vince able to grow wheat with success, or, unless in favourable 
 seasons, to produce a sufficiency of cereal food for its inhabitants. 
 Even the monastic acres, though comparatively well tilled, did not 
 always in the infancy of Lincluden Abbey supply all the grain 
 required by their owners ; and, wonderful though it may seem, 
 numerous ship-loads of breadstuffs were imported for them from 
 Ireland through the permission of Galloway's royal patron. King 
 Henry III. Thus we read that on the 15th of February 1220-21 
 the King commands his Irish Justiciar " to allow the monks of the 
 order of Vauday dwelling at Kar in Galloway [Carsphairn ?] to buy 
 in Ireland corn, meal, and other victuals for their maintenance, to 
 last for four years from Easter next (loth April)." Again, on the 
 loth of May 1226, the same King "allows the Abbot of Glenluce 
 to buy corn in Ireland and take it to his own place in Galweye for 
 the sustenance of his house till Easter next year ; " and on the 23d 
 of July 1227 the privilege is renewed, to endure till Easter of the 
 King's thirteenth year.^ It may be assumed, we think, that these 
 
 deacon ; Master Adam de Thomiton ; Thomas de Cancia ; Thomas, parson of Creve- 
 quer ; Richard, parson of Culewen (Colvend); Martin, parson of Kirkcudbright; 
 Master Gervase de Somervile ; Master Thomas, and others. 
 
 1 These extracts are taken from Mr. Bain's Calendar. Commenting upon them and 
 many similar permissions given to the religious houses of England and Scotland to buy com, 
 meal, and other articles of food in Ireland, he says, " That island, so reno%vned in later 
 times for its verdure, must have been a veritable land of Goshen, and probably enjoyed 
 in former days a climate more fitted to bring grain crops to maturity than now." — Intro- 
 duction to vol. i. p. 46.
 
 The Abbey. 23 
 
 importations were exceptional, occurring only or chiefly when the 
 native fruits of the field were injured by bad weather or ravaged in 
 times of war ; as regards temporalities the nuns of Lincluden 
 must have been plentifully provided for, and have had enough 
 besides to maintain the hospitable character of their house, if we 
 may judge from the extent of their farms and the produce yielded 
 by them as shown at succeeding dates. By the laws of their order 
 the sisters were forbidden to indulge in luxurious diet, but during 
 festival days, or when entertaining strangers, no asceticism was 
 insisted upon. Of animal food, including fowls from their own barn- 
 yards, they had a fair allowance ; plenty of dainty salmon also, 
 drawn from their own "linn ;" and, on high occasions, we doubt 
 not, the board of the Abbess could display, in addition to other 
 
 delicacies, 
 
 " Sea-fowls dried and solands store, 
 And gamons of the dusky boar. 
 And savoury haunch of deer." 
 
 When the Abbey was ready to receive its virgin sisterhood it 
 would doubtless be duly consecrated by Bishop Christian, to whose 
 diocese it belonged. After seeing the desire of his heart fulfilled, 
 the princely founder of the hallowed fane would, we may conceive, 
 retire satisfied to his paternal residence, the castle of Loch Fergus, 
 built on two rocky islets that rose out of a lake near Kirkcudbright 
 that has been long since drained away.^ If the peace which he 
 coveted followed him thither it did not abide with him as a per- 
 manent guest : his latter years were disturbed now and again by 
 internecine wars, and the last scene of all was one of unutterable 
 agony. 
 
 1 When Chalmers wrote his Caledonia (published in 1824) Loch Fergus was still in 
 existence, and contained several islets, one of them termed Palace Isle, according to the 
 Rev. Dr. Winter, who penned the Statistical Account of Kirkcudbright. The lake was 
 artificial, with two small islands showing remains of ancient fortifications which " were 
 unquestionably the seats of Fergus, Lord of Galloway." — p. 25.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE ABBEY. 
 
 The founder of the Order of St. Bennet or Benedict — His code of rules for its govern- 
 ment — Daily life of the Lincluden sisterhood — Its routine disturbed by the tidings 
 of Uchtred's assassination by his brother — Details of the fratricide — Gilbert obtains 
 the protection of King Henry II. — After the death of Gilbert, Rolland, son of the 
 murdered Uchtred, establishes his rule over the entire province — Vast power and 
 affluence of RoUand's son Alan — Devorgilla, daughter of Alan and mother of King 
 John Baliol — Her connection with Lincluden — Traditional story of an underground 
 passage between the Abbey and the Castle of Dumfries. 
 
 For the guidance of the Benedictine Order, its founder, born 
 at Nursi, Italy, about 480, drew up an elaborate body of rules ; 
 and though it has a special reference to the male members 
 of the order, it was doubtless applicable in a modified way to 
 its female members also. As the nature of conventual life at 
 Lincluden may be inferred from St. Bennet's code, it is worthy 
 of being glanced at. In one chapter we find him embodying 
 seventy-two precepts on the most eminent Christian duties. The 
 first is love to God, the second love to our neighbour as ourself ; 
 and the monastery is magnified as the proper place for putting 
 them all in force. As if anticipating Thomas Carlyle, Bennet 
 looks upon silence as a supreme virtue, for love of which " we 
 ought sometimes to abstain from good and edifying discourses." 
 Obedience to superiors and humility are placed in the same high
 
 The Abbey. 
 
 category ; the latter duty being graduated in twelve degrees, one 
 of which is " not to laugh easily," another to speak only when 
 necessity requires, and that " without laughter " or being otherwise 
 than laconic. As regards individual service, the brethren were 
 required to rise two hours after midnight for the purpose of singing 
 canticles in the church. Reading at meals was prescribed, each 
 brother taking his turn for a week ; and special prayer was to be 
 offered up for the reader at church, lest he should be puffed up by 
 a spirit of pride. They were required also to serve for seven days 
 by turns at table and in the kitchen, the officiating monk cleaning 
 all the plates and washing the feet of his fellows on the closing 
 day. They might either sleep all in one dormitory or in several 
 rooms by tens or twenties, their girdles being retained, and a lamp 
 kept burning through all the night watches. 
 
 The monks were to possess nothing at all of their own, but 
 everything in common. They were to have two dishes at dinner, 
 with some fruit and one pound of bread, flesh meat being interdicted 
 except for the sick ; but a small measure of wine called heiiiina was 
 allowed to each, which might be withdrawn because of bad be- 
 haviour.^ Any brother who was "rebellious, proud, or a murmurer," 
 was to receive admonition, and if necessary to suffer excommuni- 
 cation ; and corporal punishment was inflicted afterwards ; expulsion 
 being the next step resorted to if the offender remained impenitent. 
 As a special mark of favour the monks who deserved it were 
 occasionally allowed to pass into the outer world for a brief season, 
 on condition that they should all the while wear their distinctive 
 garments and follow the rules of their order as far as practicable. 
 
 ^ Mabillon, in his Dictio7iaire des Ordres Religieuses, vol. ii. p. 306, states that the 
 Benedictine monks were required at the end of their meals to consume all the left 
 crumbs. "There was a disposition at first," he tells us, "to evade this regulation; but 
 when a dying monk exclaimed in horror that he saw the devil holding up in accusation 
 against him a bag of crumbs which he had been unwilling to swallow, the brethren were 
 terrified into obedience." 
 
 D
 
 26 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 Strangers who visited the monastery were to be received "as if 
 they were Christ himself," the brethren adoring our Lord in them 
 "by a humble prostration at their feet," which, it is added, "the 
 abbot and the monks must wash." These proceedings over, the 
 visitors were to be admitted as guests at the table of the superior 
 in an apartment by itself reserved for that purpose. 
 
 In a letter that is still extant, written by Peter, Archabbot of 
 Clugny, he gives the following advice to an inmate of an affiliated 
 convent regarding the employment of his leisure. " Trees cannot 
 be planted, fields cannot be watered, and no agricultural work can 
 be done consistent with perpetual seclusion ; but what is more 
 useful, instead of the plough you can take in hand the pen, and 
 instead of marking the fields with furrows you may store page 
 after page with sacred letters, and the work of God may be sown 
 on the parchment, which, when the harvest is ripe, — that is, when 
 the book is completed, — may fill hungry readers with abundant 
 fruits, and so heavenly bread may dispel the famine of the soul. 
 If, however, from injury to your sight, or from headache, or from 
 the wearisome sameness, you cannot or will not be content with 
 this one manual employment, make a variety of other handyworks 
 — make combs for combing and cleaning the heads of the brethren, 
 with skilful hand and well-instructed feet turn needle-cases, hollow 
 out. vessels for wine, or try to put them together, and if there are 
 any marshy places near by [growing flags or rushes] weave mats 
 on which you may always or frequently pray, bedew with daily or 
 frequent tears, and wear out with frequent genuflexions before 
 God." 1 
 
 Possessed of these details and suggestions, we can form some 
 
 idea, vague though it may be, of the life led by the Lincluden 
 
 sisterhood. Much of it, however, must have been imperfectly 
 
 known even at the time to persons outside. Pent up in their 
 
 1 Maitland's Dark Ages, pp. 451, 452.
 
 The Abbey. 2 7 
 
 cloisters, the general public could not witness the piety of the 
 vestals nor penetrate their thoughts ; yet men, as it has been ob- 
 served, "are strangely moved by the very sight of walls within 
 which are enclosed women who have devoted their virginity to 
 God, and who are supposed to serve Him without any admixture 
 of those passions which mingle so largely in other breasts ; and 
 no doubt the very existence of nunneries, and the religious mys- 
 tery which shrouded their inmates, must have had their power in 
 moulding the piety of the times, though it was unconsciously exer- 
 cised, and too secret in its operations to be traced." ^ 
 
 Judging from the dimensions of the original building, the sisters 
 under vow within it at any time would not number more than 
 twenty-five, if so many. Some similar establishments — the Bene- 
 dictine Abbey of Whitby, for instance, — contained both monks and 
 nuns ; it is supposed by some chroniclers, but without any proof, 
 that this may have been the case also at Lincluden, though, as the 
 house was ruled over by a female, the inference may be safely 
 drawn that the celibates of her own sex would greatly outnumber 
 their male associates ; and the latter, for anything that is known to 
 the contrary, may have been restricted to an officiating priest and 
 one or two assistants. Several girls under training — each, shall 
 
 we say, 
 
 " Young and fair " like " Sister Clare, 
 As yet a novice unprofessed " — 
 
 would besides be included ; certainly also a lay domestic 
 servant or two ; and, living outside, sundry non-clerical officials, 
 having for special duty the oversight of the temporalities with 
 which the house was endowed. The nuns were presumed to be 
 cut off from all intercourse with the outer world, and practically the 
 narrow cells assigned to them were the homes day and night of the 
 virgin sisterhood. Necessarily the life led by the recluses would 
 
 1 Dr. Cunningham's Church History of Scotland, vol. i. p. 83.
 
 28 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 be somewhat monotonous, and, unless when sublimated by true 
 heart consecration, would often feel irksome. Yet their matin 
 and vesper chants, their counting of beads, their service at com- 
 munion and festival seasons, would doubtless be diversified by 
 reading, by the use of the needle in Dorcas work, or embroidery, 
 by alms-giving, by acts of hospitality ; not to speak of an occasional 
 dish of gossip, if the statement may be hazarded, that feminine 
 human nature is not always raised above the relish of such a luxury 
 by being pent within the walls of a convent. 
 
 Then the scenery around them, so softly sweet — the green 
 pastures and the still waters, was fitted of itself to soothe the minds 
 of the sisterhood ; and the garden within the gates would be to 
 many of them a source of pure delight when tending its products 
 of utility and beauty — " fondling the flowers," it may be, not amid 
 " the sobbing rain," but moistened with their own dewlike tears. 
 Sufficient it was to some of the celibates that the Abbey afforded a 
 retreat from the world " when crazed by care, or crossed by hap- 
 less love," or heartbroken by cruel bereavements ; as in the case 
 of the despairing Lady Kirkpatrick, who, after her husband had 
 been basely murdered by the rival claimant of her fair hand, Sir John 
 Lindsay, was made by the poet to say, 
 
 " To sweet Lincluden's holy cells 
 
 Fu' dowie I'll repair ; 
 There peace wi' gentle patience dwells — 
 
 Nae deadly feuds are there. 
 In tears I'll wither ilka charm. 
 
 Like draps o' balefu' dew. 
 And wail the beauty that could harm 
 
 A knight sae brave and true." ^ 
 
 Yet the sad thought forces itself upon us that the Nunnery might 
 at times become a veritable prison-house to some unfortunate 
 
 1 Charles Kirkpatrick-Sharpe's Ballad, Tlic Murder of Caerlaverock.
 
 The Abbey. 29 
 
 refugee who, after having vowed to renounce all earthly love, 
 found, when too late, that an Abelard in the world outside who 
 had won her heart's affections still retained hold of them. And 
 then what could the poor maiden do but soliloquise like the lost 
 
 Eloisa : — 
 
 " Relentless walls ! whose darksome round contains 
 Repentant sighs, and voluntary pains : 
 Shrines ! where their vigils pale-eyed virgins keep, 
 And pitying saints, whose statues learn to weep ! 
 Though cold like you, unmoved and silent grown, 
 I have not yet forgot myself to stone ! " ^ 
 
 Nine years passed along, during which the Benedictine sisters 
 of Lincluden maintained "the even tenor of their way," their 
 establishment, it may be, growing in repute, and its history remain- 
 ing as uneventful as their occupation was monotonous. But there 
 came a day in the autumn of 1 1 74 when the uniformity of their 
 experience was broken up by startling tidings from the vicinity of 
 the county town, announcing the tragedy that has already been 
 foreshadowed: a mounted messenger — "bloody with spurring, 
 fiery red with haste "■ — it may be presumed, making known to them 
 that the castle of Loch Fergus in which Lord Uchtred dwelt had 
 been besieged by the forces of his brother, that it had been captured 
 by assault, and that their noble patron himself had been murdered 
 under circumstances of the most revolting cruelty. If ever the 
 vestals of Lincluden sang the doleful Dies Ir(z or the deeply 
 pathetic De Proftmdis in their service, it would be on the receipt 
 of the terrible news ; and whereas they had prayed hitherto that 
 his days might be long in the land which he adorned, they would 
 in tremulous tones say masses for the repose of the soul that had 
 been so suddenly sent to the bar of Heaven's assize ; and we can 
 scarcely be wrong in supposing that the walls of the sacred edifice 
 would long reverberate with the voice of sorrow. 
 
 Pope's Abelard and Eloisa.
 
 30 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 The report sent from Loch Fergus Castle proved to be only 
 too true. Gilbert coveted the whole of Galloway for himself, and 
 in order to gratify his guilty ambition he seized the fortress on 
 the 2 2d of September 1174 and put his brother to death, sub- 
 jecting him first to horrible treatment. So shocking were the 
 aggravations which accompanied the murder, that we would be 
 disposed to discredit them were they not, as Lord Hailes says, 
 testified to by all our historians.^ The tongue of the gentle 
 Uchtred was cut from his mouth, his eyes were put out, and a 
 grosser outrage still was perpetrated upon him, abscissis testiculis, 
 before death came to his relief; all this, too, done at the instance 
 of the man who, when a child, had been dandled on the same 
 maternal knee as his victim. Surely we may say of the crime 
 in the words of Shakspeare : — 
 
 " This is the very top, 
 The height, the crest, or crest unto the crest 
 Of murder's arms ; this is the bloodiest shame, 
 The wildest savagery, the vilest stroke 
 That ever wall-eyed wrath or staring rage 
 Presented to the tears of soft remorse." 
 
 Throughout Nithsdale the news of the tragedy would create a 
 painful sensation, yet we do not read of any attempts being made 
 by its rulers to avenge the slaughter of their kinsman. William 
 the Lion, who had come under an oath of allegiance to Henry IL 
 in order to recover his personal freedom, took no adequate steps 
 for the punishment of Gilbert, lest, we suppose, he should offend 
 his English superior. The fratricide knew full well that he had 
 little to fear from his nominal sovereign, and that the protection 
 which he needed so much must come from England, and be 
 secured at any cost. 
 
 Human life was not looked upon as such a sacred thing in 
 
 1 Annals of Scotland, vol. i. p. 128.
 
 The Abbey. 31 
 
 these rude, fighting times as it is with us ; but the Ufa taken in 
 this instance was that of a brother, and Gilbert, Prince though he 
 was, could not affect to treat the slaughter by him of his father's 
 son as an ordinary act of homicide. With no " compunctious 
 visitings" was he troubled. He did not exclaim, with the con- 
 science-stricken king in the play, 
 
 " What if this cursed hand 
 Were thicker than itself with brother's blood. 
 Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens 
 To wash it white as snow ? " 
 
 All that Gilbert seems to have concerned himself about, was 
 the maintenance of his credit with King Henry, letting the 
 Church, if she liked or dared, put him under ban. He did not, 
 therefore, appear before the Bishop of Galloway as a contrite 
 penitent ; nor did he lay rich offerings of atonement on the altar 
 of Lincluden Abbey ; nor yet did he try to compound for his crime 
 by offers of restitution, partial or complete, to his nephew Rolland, 
 the youthful son of his victim. None of these courses did the 
 fratricide pursue, but, proceeding to the English Court, he threw 
 himself on the protection of King Henry ; and got it too, on 
 ^"g^&'ng to give that monarch _^iooo sterling, though the amount 
 actually paid did not do much towards the enrichment of the royal 
 coffers. The reader will recollect how Sir Walter Scott makes 
 Marmion heedless about incurring the wrath of the Church, with 
 which he was threatened, so long as he could count ujDon the 
 protection of England's king : — 
 
 " Himself proud Henry's favourite peer, 
 Held Romish thunders idle fear, 
 Secure his pardon he might hold, 
 For some slight mulct of penance gold ; " 
 
 and so Gilbert of Galloway purchased exemption from the pen-
 
 32 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 allies which his crime involved, if not absolution for the crime 
 itself, in the way just set forth. This transaction between him and 
 Henry, however scandalous it may seem to us, was by no means 
 out of keeping with the beliefs and customs of mediseval times. It 
 was first brought to light, we believe, by Lord Hailes ; but it was 
 left to an eminent antiquary of our own day, Mr. Joseph Bain, to 
 furnish the true business details of the ugly bargain ; which he has 
 done in his Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland} 
 
 We thus learn that there are numerous entries in the royal 
 ledger of small sums paid to account by Gilbert, the first of them 
 running as follows, under date 1179: "Gilbert, son of Fergus, 
 accounts for ^1000 for having the King's benevolence." Here we 
 have a rare example of courtly euphuism : a nobleman kills his 
 brother, compounds for the horrible crime by a pecuniary offering to 
 the King, and the Clerk of the Treasury calls the monarch's com- 
 pound with the murderer — " a benevolence " ! " The minute closes 
 thus : — " Has paid in the Chamber of the Court {camera ctirie) 
 ^80 : 1 1 s. by the hands of Robert de Vallibas ; and he owes ^920 : 9s. 
 In 1 182 we read, "Gilbert son of Fergus accounts for ^^917 :9s. 
 for having the King's benevolence. He has paid into the Treasury 
 £2,0 ; and he owes ;^887 : 9s." During the next two years he 
 further reduced his liabilities by a trifle. Gilbert died in 1185, 
 after a troublous rule over Galloway of eleven years, ^ and when 
 
 1 Vol. i. pp. 23, 24. 
 
 - English histoiy furnishes not a few instances of " benevolences " so called, though 
 none of such turpitude as the above. " Benevolences," says Professor Thorold Rogers, 
 " were gifts or loans from wealthy citizens and others, pressed for with impunity, and 
 exacted with disguised force. Such gifts had been conveniently made to kings in earlier 
 times, but Edward IV. is reported to have systematised the custom." — Six Centuries of 
 Work and Wages, p. 316. 
 
 3 " At that time, in the year 1 1 S 5, died that lover and wager of civil war, Gilbert 
 son of Fergus, he who had wickedly killed his brother Ochtred, after he had cut out his 
 tongue, and put out his eyes. Nowe this was sure to happen by the will of God, who 
 in his loving-kindness hearkeneth unto the constant ciying of the poor and needy, and 
 gladly snatcheth them from the hands of the stronger." — Fordun's Chronicle, p. 264.
 
 The Abbey, 33 
 
 called upon to pay the debt of nature, and to appear before the 
 High Court above, in which no guilt -compounding bribes arc 
 taken, ^917:193. ot the hush-money he had promised King 
 Henry remained unpaid ; and it was never forthcoming afterwards. 
 But Henry, by taking Gilbert under his wing, was all the better 
 enabled to feather his own nest in Galloway. 
 
 There is a tradition that the mutilated body of Uchtred was 
 buried in Lincluden Abbey ; ^ but though this may have been the 
 case, no trace of his tomb is visible among its ruins ; and indeed 
 it is not likely that the ruffians who put him to death in the 
 horrible manner we have stated would give Christian burial to 
 his remains. But the edifice itself, fragmentary though it is, 
 constitutes a fitting monument of the unfortunate Prince, and to 
 the pensive melancholy of its aspect a deeper shade is given 
 by the memory of his fate. 
 
 He left a son, Rolland, who made a brave but vain attempt 
 to maintain his hereditary rights against his unnatural uncle; 
 but no sooner had Gilbert been removed by death than the son of 
 Uchtred rose in arms and, assisted by the Scottish King, defeated 
 the Gilbert faction and slew their leader Gilpatrick.- King Henry, 
 afraid of losing his hold of Galloway, assembled a large army at 
 Carlisle in 11 86 for the purpose of invading the province. 
 Rolland fortified all its passes and made other preparations for a 
 desperate resistance ; in view of which Henry proposed a peaceful 
 compromise that was approved of by both parties. According to 
 its terms Rolland not only regained the power and territory of 
 which his father had been deprived, but was made Lord over the 
 entire province, with the exception of Carrick, which was then a, 
 part of it, on condition that he would give up that district to 
 Duncan, the son of Gilbert, and swear fealty to the English King. 
 This important convention was ratified by the King of Scots, his 
 
 1 Grose, p. 271. 2 Benedidus Abbas, pp. 44S, 449. 
 
 E
 
 34 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 brother David, and all his great barons, they also promising upon 
 oath that if Rolland proved untrue to it they would combine to 
 punish him. The Church, as Ave have seen, launched no thunder- 
 bolts against the fratricidal Gilbert ; but when the son of his victim 
 made terms with the murderer's representatives, the Bishojs of 
 Glasgow was ready enough, it appears, to come under pledge that 
 all the spiritual artillery at his disposal would be directed against 
 Rolland should he be tempted to violate the treaty ; and this 
 threat of the Prelate, we are told, was uttered '^ coram omnibus, et 
 sanctorum rcliquiis" (with full heart, and in presence of the relics 
 of saints), in order to give it increased significance.^ 
 
 Rolland, however, inherited all the good qualities of his father 
 and grandfather, and needed no threats from king or bishop to 
 keep him in the path of honour. Like them, too, he was liberal 
 to the Church, founding the Priory of Glenluce and giving valuable 
 grants to the brethren of Dryburgh and Kelso ; and it may be 
 fairly assumed that a share of his bounty would also be allotted to 
 the sisters of Lincluden. Henry II. died in 1189; his successor, 
 Richard I., resolved to go on a crusading expedition to Palestine, 
 and he received the money required, ten thousand marks, from 
 William the Lion on condition of restoring the independence of 
 Scotland. This arrangement brought a blessed peace to both king- 
 doms, which lasted fully a century ; and to no portion of either 
 of them was it more welcome than to the Lordship of Galloway. 
 Henceforth its owner Rolland had a happy time of it, which con- 
 trasted pleasantly with the trials of his youthhood and prime. He 
 married Ela or Helena, daughter of Richard Morville, Constable 
 of Scotland ; and at the death of his brother-in-law, William, in 
 1 196, he succeeded to the great estates of the family, and also to 
 the constableship. Able, wise, and patriotic, he died full of 
 honours early in 12 10, leaving his dignities and wealth to his 
 
 1 Benedictus Abbas, pp. 449, 450.
 
 The Abbey. 
 
 OD 
 
 eldest son Alan, who proved to be the last and greatest Lord of 
 the M'Dowall line " that ever Galloway saw." 
 
 His daughter, the far-famed Devorgilla, was the most muni- 
 ficent lady of her day in Scotland. A spiritual enthusiast, she also 
 possessed a large amount of practical sagacity ; and while her 
 liberality manifested itself in erecting quite as many monastic 
 establishments as those which owed their orio;in to her ancestor 
 Fergus, she also spent much of her wealth in erecting a bridge 
 over the Nith at Dumfries, in founding a college in Oxford Uni- 
 versity, named after her husband John Baliol, and in deeds of 
 charity and benevolence. 
 
 We have sometimes been tempted to hazard the conjecture 
 that it must have been the bountiful lady who united the Dum- 
 friesshire and Galloway sides of the Nith by a bond of masonry, 
 who also joined them in another manner by a tunnel under the 
 river, already referred to, if the underground passage between 
 Lincluden Abbey and the Castle of Dumfries which tradition 
 speaks of had ever any real existence. She had plenty of money 
 to spare for this object had its attainment been desirable ; but 
 Uchtred, as we have already seen, was not very opulent, and it 
 can scarcely be supposed that after founding and endowing the 
 Abbey he would further reduce his resources by constructing an 
 appendage to it that could well enough be dispensed with. Why, 
 it may well be asked, should there have been a roadway of this 
 kind brought into existence ? There was no absolute necessity for 
 it. It would have been at variance with the coveted isolation of 
 the Abbey ; and its strategic benefits to the castle, by affording a 
 secret means of obtaining supplies to its defenders, or egress when 
 hardly pressed, are at best problematical. 
 
 If the castle had stood near by and been the family seat of the 
 M'Dowalls, the reason for a subterranean connection between it 
 and the Abbey would have been more apparent, but the fortress
 
 36 Chronicles of Liticluden. 
 
 belonged to the Crown, unless when temporarily held by a foreign 
 enemy, and it was situated a mile below "the meeting of the 
 waters," — a circumstance which in itself renders the existence of 
 the passage highly improbable. As we have already stated, no 
 certain trace of such a thing has ever been obtained, and we fear 
 the story about it ought to be set down as mythical, though it is so 
 fascinatingly romantic that we wish it were true. How vexatious 
 it is to learn, on the high authority of Mr. Bloxham, that similar 
 tales are told about other monastic establishments, and that the 
 traditionary tunnels are all resolvable into prosaic yet highly useful 
 openings for the outlet of sewage !^ 
 
 1 " The sewers of the monasteries," says Mr. Bloxham, " were good, and in sanitary 
 matters these structures were far in advance of the ages in which they were constructed. 
 The position of a monastery was in general fixed close to a river or flowing stream, into 
 which the sewers w-ere carried, ofttimes under the refectorj'. At Tinterton a sewer is 
 carried under the remains of the Abbots' Lodgings. At Mailing, Kent, eastward of the 
 site of the church, is a very deep and large sewer. The size indeed of some of these 
 sewers has evidently given rise to those stories often prevalent of subterranean passages 
 of unknown but immense length, leading from this or that particular monastery to, 
 indeed, we know not where." — Ecclesiastical Gothic Architecture.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ABBEY. 
 
 Uchtred's relatives receive grants of land in Ireland from Henry II. — Services rendered 
 to the King by Uchtred's nephew Duncan — Bruce, son of the competitor, marries 
 the granddaughter of Duncan — Bruce, the Hero-King, a son of this marriage — 
 Alianore, Abbess of Lincluden, pays homage to Edward I. — The province given 
 by King Robert to his brother Edward Bruce — Rise of the Douglases — Their chief, 
 Archibald the Grim, becomes Lord of Galloway — He suppresses Lincluden and 
 appropriates its endowments — Fate of the ejected Sisters not known — Probable 
 flight of their last Abbess to Dundrennan Abbey. 
 
 Just two years before the slaughter of Uchtred Ireland was 
 subdued by Henry II. Both that monarch and one of his 
 successors, John, received assistance in their wars, foreign and 
 domestic, from Uchtred's descendants, they, in return for it, ob- 
 taining grants of land in the conquered country. Thus the con- 
 nection between the people of the province and the cradle-land of 
 their ancestors acquired additional strength, and the relationship 
 of its rulers to the Kings of England became increasingly cordial. 
 About the period of RoUand's death we find his cousin Duncan 
 rendering somewhat inglorious service to King John by seizing 
 Matillidis, the wife of a rebel baron, William de Breosa, and their 
 two sons, who fled to Carrick for refuge, while Breosa himself was 
 a fugitive in Ireland. The King, reporting the incident, states that 
 it had occurred while he was besieging Carrickfergus Castle ; and
 
 o 
 
 8 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 he speaks of the captor as being " a certain friend and cousin of 
 mine, Duncan de Karyc of Galweya." In the royal narrative it is 
 further stated that the King sent John de Curcy and Godfrey de 
 Craucumb in two galleys, with a band of crossbowmen, to receive 
 the prisoners from Duncan ; that when brought before him Matil- 
 lidis offered a huge sum — 50,000 marks — by way of a soiatitmt ; 
 that afterwards she admitted that " 24 marks of silver, 24 shillings 
 in bizants, and 15 ounces of gold," constituted the whole of her 
 available wealth ; so, says John in closing, " after proclaiming 
 William from county to county, I outlawed him according to the 
 law and custom of England." ^ 
 
 Duncan was the first who bore a title, which was destined to 
 become a famous one in Scottish history, since, as Burns tells us, 
 
 " Among the bonnie winding banks. 
 Where Doon rins wimpling clear, 
 Where Bruce once ruled the martial ranks 
 And shook his Carrick spear." 
 
 A slicrht connection between Bruce of Annandale and Gilbert of 
 Galloway, when their names ajapeared together in a royal charter, 
 has already been noticed ; and we now proceed to show how the 
 grandson of Bruce and the great-granddaughter of Gilbert were 
 brought into the closest possible relationship. Duncan, son of the 
 fratricide, was succeeded by his son Niel, who left one daughter, 
 Marjory, but no male offspring. This lady therefore became 
 Countess of Carrick in her own right. One eventful day, some 
 time in 1274, not long after the Countess had lost her husband, a 
 gallant crusader with a small escort rode through the grounds sur- 
 rounding her castle of Turnberry, just as she, attended by a large 
 hunting train, happened to pass. Struck by his handsome appear- 
 ance, and feeling persuaded that the stranger would prove a good 
 matrimonial prize, the Countess, careless about stags, wild boars, 
 
 ^ Bain's Historical Documents, vol. i. p. 82.
 
 The Abbey. 39 
 
 and other creatures of the chase, resolved on making a bold dash 
 at hio'her eame. In a trice the cavalier found himself environed 
 by the lady's attendants, while the bridle of his horse was seized 
 by her own fair hand. Consigned to an apartment of the castle 
 before he could recover from his surprise, he was there wooed and 
 eventually won by his captor, the enamoured amazon of Carrick. 
 Need it be said that the prisoned knight was none other than the 
 eldest son of Robert Bruce, who afterwards competed for the 
 Scottish crown, and whose claims to it were set aside by Edward 
 I. in favour of those of John Baliol ? 
 
 The Countess, being a royal ward, could not marry without the 
 sovereign's approval. On this account Bruce demurred to her 
 overtures, but after fifteen days of gentle durance he consented to 
 become Lord of Carrick for her sake ; and King Alexander, pla- 
 cated by a handsome present, soon gave his sanction to the 
 match. 
 
 Truly a romantic courtship. Of transcendent importance was 
 the marriage to which it led, since there was born of it a child in 
 whose life the national cause of Scotland was bound up, and which 
 as a man he triumphantly championed. Traced backward for 
 three generations we see that his great-grandfather by the 
 mother's side was the fratricide of the founder of Lincluden : 
 traced forward from his birthday onward for forty years, we see 
 him as the saviour of his country at Bannockburn ; and from his 
 loins springing a line of royal personages which is represented in 
 our own day by the present gracious ruler of these realms. Queen 
 Victoria. Commenting on the descent of the Hero-King from 
 Gilbert of Galloway, Mr. Bain says of Bruce : " Perhaps the one 
 treacherous occurrence in that great man's career, the slaughter of 
 the Red Comyn, may be traceable to his wild Galwegian blood ;"i 
 yet the deed was at worst " the wild justice of revenge " perpetrated 
 
 1 Historical Documents, Introduction to vol. i. p. 21.
 
 40 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 under strong provocation ; and the after-life of Bruce, irrespective 
 of his consummate statesmanship and prowess, showed that he had 
 inherited in a pre-eminent degree the personal virtues of his 
 ancestor Lord Fergus. 
 
 The connection of Bruce with the founder of Lincluden gives a 
 charm of its own to the memories of the Abbey ; it was afterwards 
 renewed when one of his direct descendants was buried under its 
 roof. With the rival family of the Baliols Lincluden is also inti- 
 mately associated. Rolland, as we have seen, was succeeded in 
 the Lordship of Galloway by Alan, one of whose three daughters, 
 the illustrious Devorgilla, became the wife of John Baliol of Bar- 
 nard Castle. It was their son John who was adjudged the crown 
 of Scotland by Edward L when he acted as umpire among the 
 competitors, and who for a brief period bore nominal rule as King, 
 till the rapacious English sovereign took the sceptre into his own 
 hands. During the succession war the M'Dowalls were always 
 found on the side of their kinsman Baliol, though the Earl of 
 Carrick was their near relative also. Were we to dwell much 
 longer on these family relationships the risk would be incurred of 
 making the frame of the picture more prominent than the picture 
 itself, so little can be said of Lincluden at this period of its history ; 
 and indeed its annals as an Abbey are disappointingly meagre 
 from first to last. 
 
 When Scotland was temporarily subdued by Edward, the 
 heads of all the religious houses in Galloway paid homage to the 
 usurper ; yet some of their establishments suffered much harm 
 during the war. From the " Abbey of our Lady of Dundrennan " 
 came a petition to the King soliciting his protection ; and a similar 
 petition was received by him from " the Abbot and Convent of our 
 Lady of Sweetheart," in which they prayed him to confirm them 
 in the lands they held in charter from their foundress Devorgilla, 
 and redress sundry grievances which had reduced them to "great
 
 The Abbey. 41 
 
 impoverishment."^ In all likelihood the community of Lincluden 
 would have similar complaints to make, as their live stock, corn, 
 and other goods were in dangerous proximity to the English 
 garrison at Dumfries. 
 
 It was on the 2Sth of August 1296 that Alianore, Prioress of 
 Lincluden del Counte de Dunfres, presented herself at Berwick- 
 on-Tweed to swear fealty to the English King. An immense 
 number of notables were there at the same time for the same 
 purpose, their names and seals making up what is called "The 
 Ragman Roll " — a valuable document, though it is the abiding 
 shadow of a dark page in Scottish history. It appears that the 
 homagers were sworn in companies, Alianore being one of thirty- 
 six, all males save herself, who went through the humiliating cere- 
 mony at the same moment. Their signatures were not appended, 
 their names being simply recorded by clerical officials and authen- 
 ticated by seals.^ 
 
 Galloway, exceptional in many things, did not view the victory 
 of Bruce at Bannockburn, which cancelled all the dishonourable 
 obligations entered into at Berwick, with unmixed delight ; since 
 the blow which seated him securely on the throne and established 
 his country's independence helped to bring about the downfall of 
 the M'Dowall dynasty. As Lord Alan, when he died in 1234, 
 left no male issue, his territorial possessions devolved on Devor- 
 gilla and his two other daughters. An interregnum in the Lordship, 
 
 1 This petition is thus entered in Mr. Bain's Calendar, vol. ii. p. 2S6 : — "The Abbot 
 and Convent of our Lady of Sweetheart in Galloway prays the King (i) to confirm the 
 lands held by charter of their founder and others and grant warren ; (2) protection for 
 their lands and men, and relief from seignurages and talliages imposed contrary to their 
 franchise and founder's charter to their great impoverishment, whereby they can neither 
 maintain themselves, the service of God, nor the alms of their house ; (3) restoration of 
 8^ sacks of good wool taken for the King by Sir Harseulf de Cleseby out of a grange at 
 Holm Coltram [an abbey on the English side of the Solway], where they had placed it for 
 safety from the Scots in the 2 5th year [of Edward's English reign] ; (4) to remember their 
 destruction and burning in the war, which they place at ^5000 and more, in his grace.'' 
 
 2 Not a few of the seals are still extant, but that of Lincluden has disappeared.
 
 42 Chronicles of Lincbiden. 
 
 due to the non-existence of a male inheritor and the troubles of 
 the period, prevailed for many years ; and it could scarcely be said 
 to have ceased when Devorgilla's son bore nominal sway over the 
 province, nor even when it was granted by King Robert to his 
 brother Edward, as that brave knight was slain in Ireland soon 
 after receiving the gift. Not till a new family — that of the Doug- 
 lases — acquired ascendency in Galloway as a result of the War of 
 Independence, was the vacancy left by Alan thoroughly filled up. 
 
 David II., recognising their valuable services to the Crown, 
 bestowed a peerage on one of their chiefs, Sir William Douglas, 
 nephew of the Good Sir James, the first possessed by the family ; 
 and to Archibald, the natural son of the latter, he granted that 
 part of the province which lies between the Nith and the Cree. 
 No sooner had Archibald Douglas become the new ruler of Eastern 
 Galloway than he, like the Gilbert of a preceding reign, resorted 
 to unscrupulous means for acquiring its Western or Wigtownshire 
 division, and thus manifested a grasping covetousness which clung 
 to him through life. Though Thomas Fleming, who was at that 
 time Earl of Wigtown, wished to live on good terms with his neigh- 
 bour, he found this to be impossible ; and when the choice of either 
 selling his superiority for a paltry sum or having to uphold it by 
 the sword was in effect presented to him, he preferred the pacific 
 alternative. Archibald Douglas, not content with this profit- 
 able bargain, soon afterwards secured a still greater prize. On 
 the slaughter of his illustrious uncle, James, the second Earl, at 
 Otterburn in 1388, without direct issue, he, says Chalmers, "ob- 
 tained from the imbecility of Robert II. the high honours and 
 the original estates of the house of Douglas ;" thus becoming " the 
 most powerful as well as the most oppressive subject of Scotland." ^ 
 Married to Jean, heiress of her father Thomas Moray, Lord of 
 Bothwell, Douglas acquired with her the Lordship of Bothwell, and 
 
 ^ Caledonia, vol. iii. p. 268.
 
 The Abbey. 43 
 
 thereupon added to his armorial bearing, which was argent, in chief, 
 azure, the three stars of Moray.^ The first Douglas who bore 
 rule over undivided Galloway, and the third Earl of Douglas, he 
 is best known in history as Archibald the Grim — a surname due 
 to his dark visage, with its sinister expression, which accorded so 
 thoroughly with his evil deeds. "Even one," says Scott, "who 
 had never seen Archibald Earl of Douglas must have known him 
 by his swart complexion, his gigantic frame, and his air of courage, 
 firmness, and sagacity, united with indomitable pride."' If it 
 would scarcely be just to say of this grim Lord, 
 
 " Where'er his frown of hatred darkly fell, 
 Hope withering fled and mercy sighed farewell " — 
 
 it is yet true that when prosecuting his own selfish ends he allowed 
 no sentiments of justice or pity to temper his heart or restrain his 
 hand. How remorseless he could be, and often was, the Bene- 
 dictine Sisters of Lincluden learned, among many others, in their 
 own sad experience. 
 
 For more than a generation prior to the close of the fourteenth 
 century the Scottish sceptre was swayed by feeble hands ; and to 
 have kept Archibald Douglas under curb would have required a 
 ruler of Bruce's own masterful stamp. The English influence in 
 Galloway was now a thing of the past ; and its new chief eradicated 
 from it as far as he was able all its remaining Celtic elements. It 
 thus became to a large extent assimilated with the rest of Lowland 
 Scotland ; yet, more perhaps than ever, was it an independent 
 province, receiving law from its own Prince alone. While still 
 professing to be a loyal subject of Robert II., who had been so 
 generous to him, Douglas through life played the bad part of a 
 lawless autocrat, just as if he owed the King neither gratitude nor 
 obedience. For the old fortlet of Thrieve, on an island in the Dee, 
 
 ^ Douglas' Peerae;e, vol. ii. p. 220. ^ p^ir Maid of Perth, chap. xi.
 
 44 Chronicles of Lincbiden. 
 
 he substituted a powerful new stronghold, which became the centre 
 of a despotism that was experienced over all the wide district of 
 Galloway, East and West. 
 
 Yet the grim Earl, like nearly all the magnates of his race, was 
 noted for valour, and for mental not less than bodily strength. 
 Caring little for Pope or Prelate, and rarely allowing the claims of 
 morality or the requirements of justice to cross his own ambitious 
 schemes, he was at times bountiful and generous : pious too after 
 a sort, — witness the Collegiate Church of Bothwell, Lanarkshire, 
 which he founded ; the restoration by him of the Abbey of Holy- 
 wood, Dumfriesshire, that had been ruined during the Succession 
 War ; and also the confirmation charter granted by him of lands 
 to support an Hospital erected by Edward Bruce, brother of 
 King Robert, within the bounds of the same Abbey.^ 
 
 All the darker traits of his character, however, seem to have 
 been developed in his treatment of another religious house — the one 
 to which this narrative relates. A man of his stamp could not 
 but grieve to see so much of the best land in Galloway that had 
 belonged to his predecessors possessed by its monastic com- 
 munities. We can fancy that he was often tempted to take back 
 with the strong hand some of the rich estates that had been 
 given away at the dictate of pietistic enthusiasm by Fergus, Uch- 
 tred, and Devorgilla. He stood in no awe of the Crown, and if he 
 respected the proprietary rights of his ecclesiastical neighbours it 
 must have been because he did not care about encroaching upon 
 them at the risk of breaking entirely with the Church. Yet had 
 not the Regent Albany's brother a few years before fastened a 
 quarrel upon the Bishop of Moray, and in prosecuting it plundered 
 
 ^ On the subject of this charter, Douglas states in his Peerage that the Hospital was 
 founded by " Edward de Brus, King of Ireland," that its erection was confirmed by 
 Robert II., and that the charter received from Archibald Earl of Douglas endowed the 
 Hospital with the lands of Crossmichael and Troquere. But these lands still belonged to 
 Lincluden when the College was suppressed, towards the close of the sixteenth century.
 
 The Abbey. 45 
 
 Elgin Cathedral and then committed the sacred building to the 
 flames, and that too without having been visited by a Papal interdict ? 
 
 The example set by this sacrilegious brigand was a temptation 
 to Douglas ; he, however, did not yield to it : but ere long an 
 opportunity arose, which he eagerly seized, for confiscating to 
 himself by a safer process all the property of Uchtred's Abbey, 
 and expelling its inmates from house and home. He did not pro- 
 ceed in the ferocious style of Albany's brother, "the Wolf of 
 Badenoch." Were we to say that he came down on the un- 
 defended fold of Lincluden in wolfish style, the metaphor might 
 seem to be too strong ; yet, judged by the result of his actions, it 
 would not be far off the right mark. 
 
 His pretext was, gross irregularities on the part of the 
 celibates. A rumour had reached Thrieve to that effect, which 
 he was not slow to credit. It was affirmed that they had broken 
 their vows of chastity, and were no longer the virgin brides of 
 heaven. How far this charge was true — whether it might not 
 have been trumped up without any foundation, for a base purpose 
 — these are points which we cannot determine. The chroniclers 
 of the period did little to clear up the mystery ; it remains, to us at 
 least, a mystery still. The strongest defenders of the monastic 
 system admit that even in its earliest and purest days it was not 
 always free from taint ; and certainly the presence of male 
 celebrants, permanently or occasionally, in houses set apart for 
 celibates of the weaker sex, as was the case in all convents like 
 Lincluden, could not have been unattended with risk, except on 
 the impossible theory that the nuns rose above the influence of 
 mundane things when they took the world-renouncing vow, and 
 put on a spiritual nature when they took the veil. The likelihood 
 is, we fear, that in this instance the sisters were not immaculate — 
 that they must have been guilty of some " irregularities," less or 
 more. Had this not been the case, Douglas, with all his audacity,
 
 46 Chronicles of Lincbiden. 
 
 must, we think, have shrunk from treating them as if they had 
 been impenitent Magdalenes who deserved no mercy. The 
 historian of his house, Hume of Godscroft, does not say that the 
 disorders which tempted the intervention of Douglas constituted a 
 pubhc scandal. Major, however, boldly affirms that "the dismissal 
 of the female devotees " was due to their own " insolence," and 
 that if they had not been conspicuous for their incontinence, the 
 " good Earl " would have left them unharmed. 
 
 But taking the case against them at its worst, why, it may be 
 asked, were the accused not subjected to trial in an ecclesiastical 
 court, as was required by the canon law of the period ? During 
 the preceding reign Dryburgh Abbey was the scene of certain 
 flagrant offences that were dealt with by the Abbot and taken 
 cognisance of by the Pope. "It was found that strife and debate 
 had existed and blows had been dealt, not only among themselves 
 but to other religious. Some of the brethren had infringed the 
 rule which forbade the possession of private property ; some had 
 obtained admission into the convent by simony, and others who 
 lay under censures had been admitted to holy orders. For these 
 offences they had been excommunicated, and could not be lawfully 
 restored without personally appearing at Rome before the Pope. 
 The observance of this obligation made matters rather worse ; for 
 in so long a journey, during which those under ban were neces- 
 sarily removed from notice and control, they were apt to fall into 
 irregularities, to wander about at their ease, and to contract 
 vagabond habits. These things being stated to Pope Gregory 
 XL, he, in the second year of his pontificate [1372], gave the Abbot 
 power, according to his discretion, to absolve the least guilty, upon 
 due penance done ; but more enormous offenders were still to be 
 sent to receive correction and absolution at the Papal Court. ^ 
 
 Douglas, discarding this and similar precedents, constituted 
 
 ' Gordon's Monasiicon, pp. 323-324; Chart. Dryburgh, 96, v.
 
 The Abbey. 47 
 
 himself accuser, jury, and judge, in the case against the unfor- 
 tunate inmates of Lincluden. If his motives had been unselfish 
 and pure, and his procedure justified by well-supported evidence, 
 he would, while punishing them, have looked upon their property 
 as sacred, and taken means to place it at the disposal of a new 
 sisterhood fresh from France. By pursuing a course of this kind 
 he might have gained repute for being a disinterested though 
 harsh religious disciplinarian. Hume in fact protests that Douglas 
 was solely influenced by "an eye for religion, and a special care 
 for the pure and sincere worship of God " ; but then the historian 
 sadly damages his own plea when he candidly adds that the Earl 
 did thereby " greatly increase his revenues, and enlarge his domi- 
 nions."^ Misappropriation of the Lincluden endowments was a 
 high-handed outrage, though it would be unfair for us to assume 
 that he had prepared the way for it by filching from the nuns their 
 good name — a much greater crime, had he been really guilty of it, 
 than the seizure of their worldly goods. 
 
 Quite in accordance with the political relationship which 
 Galloway long bore to England, its see was at this time a good 
 deal dominated over by the Archbishop of York, who seems to 
 have winked at the conduct of Douglas, if it was ever brought 
 under his notice. From none of the spiritual dignitaries of the 
 province did it provoke complaint or remonstrance ; they were so 
 much under the thumb of Pope Archibald of Thrieve that they 
 durst not interfere ; neither did the Primate of St. Andrews, as 
 head of the Scottish Church, step in to dispute the right of 
 Douglas to sit in judgment on the accused. But, though this 
 page of our monastic annals is black enough as it stands, it might 
 have been rendered darker still if the incriminated nuns had been 
 brought before a sacerdotal conclave like that which, according to 
 the poet, condemned Constance de Beverley to a living tomb. 
 
 ' House of Douglas, p. 114.
 
 48 Chronicles of Lincludcn. 
 
 " Sister professed of Fontevraud, 
 Whom the Cliurch numbered with the dead 
 For broken vows, and convent fled ; " 
 
 the Court consisting of " the heads of convents three " 
 
 " All servants of St. Benedict, 
 The statutes of whose order strict 
 On iron table lay ; " 
 
 "The Abbess of St. Hilda there;" and Tynemouth's haughty 
 Prioress, and the bhnd old Saint of Lindisfarne, 
 
 " Upon whose wrinkled brow alone 
 Nor ruth nor mercy's trace was shown." 
 
 Yet, innocent or guilty, the doom meted out to the Lincluden 
 community was crushingly severe. When the Abbey was but 
 an infant institution its walls echoed with the voice of sorrow for 
 its slaughtered founder ; often since then, doubtless, afflictive 
 dispensations would fall to the lot of its inmates ; but these trials 
 must have been small compared with the ordeal through which 
 they had to pass, from the day when the terrible charge against 
 them was launched, till the bolt of ruin following rapidly in its 
 train drove them from their retreat, beggared and dishonoured ; 
 the cup of affliction being peradventure rendered increasingly 
 bitter for some of them by an ingredient of remorse. What came 
 of them is not known ; but they would surely obtain shelter in 
 some hospicium, in the event of no monastic house opening its 
 gates for their reception. On their enforced departure, the 
 institution which Uchtred set up ceased to exist ; and it is under 
 such sorrowful circumstances that the historic curtain falls on the 
 Convent of Lincluden. 
 
 Not finally, however : let us open up the stage again just for a 
 minute, that we may mark a female figure apparently withdrawing
 
 The Abbey. 49 
 
 from it, and bending her steps to the south-west in the direction 
 of Dundrennan Abbey. We cannot be quite sure of her identity, 
 but having regard to the conventual dress she wears, to her 
 troubled aspect, which a veil closely drawn over her face cannot 
 entirely hide, to the haste with which she travels, as if fleeing for 
 sheer life, and to the goal towards which she turns — for was not 
 Dundrennan built by Uchtred's father, Lord Fergus ? — taking all 
 these circumstances into account, together with a piece of 
 monumental evidence to be afterwards noticed, the conclusion is, 
 we think, at least a probable one that the forlorn fugitive is none 
 other than the last Lady Prioress of Lincluden. Certain it is, at 
 all events, that about the date of that lady's ignominious expulsion 
 from the house over which she ruled, the figure corresponding to 
 hers whose wanderings we have traced found a home in Dundrennan 
 Abbey; that when she died after a sojourn there of many years, it 
 may have been forty or more, she was buried within its walls, 
 and that a monumental effigy was raised over her dust. Keep up 
 the curtain still for yet another minute, that we may descry this 
 memorial of the dead as it lies in the south transept sadly wasted, 
 and read the inscription upon it, which, as recently deciphered and 
 interpreted, we find to be as follows : " hic jacet domina 
 
 BLANCHEA V. SIT DOMINAPR QUONDAM OBIT ANNO D. I44O." 
 
 " Here lies the Lady Blanche : she was a nun, at one time a Lady 
 Prioress. She died in the year of our Lord 1440." ^ 
 
 1 The Rev. Dr. Hutchison, in his Memorials of the Abbey of Dundrennan, in 
 noticing the tombstone, remarks on the singularity of a female being buried within the 
 precincts of a monastery, but he gives no explanation of it or any reading of the 
 inscription ; he, venturing simply on the supposition that the nun must have been of 
 the same order as the brethren of the Abbey, though other considerations than co- 
 fraternity might have led to her being buried under its roof. To the late Mr. James 
 Starke, F.S.A. Scot., of Troqueer Holm, an accomplished and enthusiastic antiquary, we 
 are indebted for the suggested explanation of the mystery that is given in the text. 
 See a paper by him on the subject published in Tlie Transactions of the Dumfriesshire 
 and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society, Session 1863-64. 
 
 G
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE COLLEGE. 
 
 Archibald Douglas transforms the Abbey into a Collegiate Establishment — He adds a 
 magnificent Church with auxiliary buildings to the original fabric — Description of 
 the College and the residence of its Provosts — The Church an " architectural gem " 
 — Its style and ornamentation — The community and revenue of the College — 
 Archibald Tyneman, son of the founder, marries Margaret, daughter of King 
 Robert III. — He assists the King of France against the English, and because of 
 his services is created Duke of Touraine — Is slain in battle — His widow, the 
 Princess Margaret, rules over Galloway till her death — Burial of her remains in a 
 gorgeous tomb at Lincluden. 
 
 " Bring me the Book of Tacts that I may see what this 
 house of Lincluden, that I have purged of its sinful inmates, 
 is worth." When the Earl's chamberlain, in obedience to 
 this command, expressed or implied, produces the little folio, 
 we can imagine the grim visage of his master softened by a 
 smile as he glances over its pages, reckoning up the granges, 
 mills, tofts, crofts, and fishings, which belonged to the nuns, 
 but are now his property. Substantially the lands upon the list 
 would be the same as those that made up the Uchtred endowment, 
 but greatly increased in value by the lapse of time, and yielding a 
 goodly increase to his annual income. In the rental book he 
 would find the names of some forty-three farms, varying in extent 
 from the ten merkland of Nunbelly to smaller pendicles, such as
 
 The College. 51 
 
 Curriestaines, Mollance, and Clairbrand, each worth five merks 
 annually, down to ErnfiUan, valued at two merks, to Cluny and 
 Skilllngholme, which yielded only the same sum between them. 
 Money was a very scarce article at this date, and the amount of 
 it placed in the purse of Douglas by the rents of his new property 
 was not great, as they were for the most part paid in meal, 
 poultry, turf for fuel, and other produce. 
 
 At this period the agriculture of the province was in a very 
 primitive condition. As a rule, the lands in it that belonged 
 to monastic establishments were better cultivated, and were 
 consequently of more value, than those owned by the secular 
 barons, and tilled by their free tenants or bondsmen. But 
 even the Lincluden farms, the names of which at the present 
 day are suggestive of fertility and wealth, included great breadths 
 of moor and bog, some portions worth no more perhaps annually 
 than twopence Scots per acre. From the churches connected 
 with the Abbey a considerable revenue was drawn in the shape 
 of teinds or tithes, the likelihood being that the money and 
 produce by which these tributes were paid, were appropriated 
 along with the temporalities of the establishment by Archibald 
 the Grim. 
 
 However gratified the Earl was with his new possessions, 
 the mode in which he had acquired them did not sit easily on 
 his mind. After his cupidity had been sated there came a 
 reaction which, if not quite virtuous, " leaned to virtue's side." 
 With the view of making amends for his sacrilegious sins, and 
 thereby soothing his troubled conscience, he resolved, however 
 strange it may seem, to add a grand new Church to Lincluden, 
 that would, by its architectural splendour, cast the humble Abbey 
 into the shade, and show that he was still a arood Catholic and a 
 
 o 
 
 devoted believer in the tutelary guardian of his house. Saint 
 Bride. On no other theory than this can the erection of the
 
 52 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 Collegiate buildings by Lord Douglas be satisfactorily accounted 
 for. Assuming it to be correct, we see his character in a less 
 repulsive light than it has hitherto appeared. The prevailing 
 bent of his mind, however, showed itself in the style of the 
 structure ; and also in the purpose to which it was devoted. The 
 heraldry of its architecture was so fashioned as to become a 
 perpetual oblation to the pride of the illustrious family over which 
 he ruled ; its altar-masses were to be offered up exclusively for 
 their everlasting weal and his; and the chief offices connected 
 with the Church were allocated as so many snug berths to his 
 relatives or other friends. 
 
 From the remains of the College a fair idea may be acquired 
 of its pristine form, size, and beauty. It consisted of a chancel or 
 choir, a south aisle, a south transept, and a sacristy, all new, and 
 joined on to the west end, with parts of the original nave — the 
 light florid architecture of the fourteenth century meeting and 
 minfrline with the less ornate and heavier style of the twelfth 
 century. When Robert III. ascended the throne the Gothic 
 architecture had reached its highest stage ; and there have been 
 few finer specimens of it when at its best than the edifice which 
 owed its existence to the munificence and, shall we say, the 
 contrition of Archibald the Grim. " Before the forms which 
 characterise it were evolved," says Mr. Barbour, " it required the 
 thought and constant forward effort of six generations of designers, 
 each beginning at the point reached by his predecessor, and 
 making a new advance." Perfected by this long, slow process of 
 artistic genius and craftsmanship, the result, as regards Lincluden 
 Church, was, in the words of Bloxham, "an architectural gem." 
 On that cynosure of the College was lavished some of the best 
 work of the best architectural age ; and fortunately, though much 
 wasted, it has suffered less from natural decay and the ravage of 
 human hands than the other contemporaneous portions of the
 
 The College. 53 
 
 building, all of which, if a degree less ornate, were scarcely 
 inferior to it in beauty. The length of the Church is about forty- 
 four feet ; its width nineteen feet six inches. Though thus small, 
 its magnitude is amplified to the eye by the unusually large size of 
 the corbels, capitals, crocketing, and ornamental work with which 
 it abounds. 
 
 It is entered from the nave at the west end through a massive 
 stone screen, the arch of which is straight -lined in the head and 
 richly carved at the angles, the east or inner side being straight 
 and plain. In the south wall are three spacious windows with 
 canopied stone sedilia below, in which sat the celebrants of high 
 mass; a piscina within a very florid niche opening on the right, in 
 which they washed their hands before officiating at the high altar. 
 The large window which lets in light from the east overlooked the 
 altar, an object that has long since vanished — three brackets on 
 which it lay, however, still remaining. In the north wall there 
 are two windows entire, and, eastward of these, one rendered 
 peculiar by a piece of masonry connected with a gorgeous tomb 
 jutting into its lower half In this place of sepulture were laid the 
 ashes of Bruce's descendant, the daughter-in-law of Archibald the 
 Grim — a circumstance that invests the College with even more 
 repute than that which it derives from its artistic embellishments, 
 with their treasures of heraldic lore relating to the Douglas race. 
 
 Throughout the choir indeed, the escutcheons of the founder 
 and his kinsmen constitute the main feature of the ornamentation. 
 In all cases the charges are gracefully designed and delicately cut, 
 and the shields are interlaced with carved foliage in a way that 
 gives relief to forms that might otherwise have been bald or tame. 
 Further variety is given by the introduction of six objects repre- 
 senting cherubim. Of solid stone, these figures seem to be poised 
 in air as they spring from the walls to carry the superincumbent 
 shafts — this being the chief duty assigned to them, though two
 
 5 4 Chronicles of L inchiden. 
 
 bear also uninscribed scrolls, and other two are playing on musical 
 instruments. 
 
 A doorway, vying in richness of effect with the tomb which 
 it neighbours, gives access to the sacristy on the north side of the 
 choir ; another doorway in the east wall of the south aisle opens 
 into a circular stair leading to a place that was deemed peculiarly 
 sacred — the rood loft, on which stood a figure of our Lord on the 
 Cross, with attendant images representing probably the Virgin 
 Mother and St. John, or it might be the Four Evangelists. 
 Galleries of this kind, as we learn from Dr. Gordon,^ were common 
 to all such buildings, and their style seldom varied. Besides 
 bearing sculptured figures, they were sometimes occupied by 
 musicians during divine service. They were commonly supported 
 by cross beams, richly carved, with a screen of beautiful open 
 tabernacle work running below. All the windows of the Church were 
 fitted with variously-shaped panes of coloured glass fastened with 
 lead, as we know from specimens that still exist. The roof, an ap- 
 propriate lid for the casket of " the gem," consisted of groined 
 and rubied vaulting in three divisions with a roof of timber, slated. 
 
 Such in brief was the Collegiate Church of Lincluden. Its 
 inmates were secular priests ; that is to say, men who were in holy 
 orders, but not monks. They consisted at first of twelve canons, 
 with a ruler over them, who bore the title of prepositus or provost ; 
 and on this account the foundation itself is often termed a 
 Provostry. " The first Provost is said to have been one Elese :" 
 so we read in Chalmers's Caledonia} We are enabled to verify 
 this conjectural statement by a quotation from an English State 
 document, the Patent Roll of Henry IV., in which the King, on the 
 13th of June 1404, soon after the new community had got into fair 
 working order, "grants a safe conduct to Sir John Heryse, Knight ; 
 Sir William Borthwick, Knight ; and Elias, Provost of Lynclowe- 
 
 1 Monasticon, pp. 18, 19. ^ Vol. i. p. 308.
 
 DOOR Of SACRlST-'-lim, LUl/tn
 
 The College. 55 
 
 dane in Scotland, to come to England with twenty attendants, 
 horse or foot, for six weeks.' In these days such protections could 
 not safely be dispensed with, even when there was a truce between 
 the two countries, and at this period they were at war. If, there- 
 fore, Provost Elias and his companions had dared to cross the 
 Border without receiving a passport from King Henry, they might 
 have been put to grievous trouble by the English warden ; and if 
 he had permitted them to proceed unscathed, they were liable to be 
 pounced upon as fair game by hostile bands farther south, ever on 
 the alert "to catch a prey." Not till some years afterwards do we 
 readofasuccessortoEliasbeing appointed in the person of Alexander 
 de Carnys or Cairns : so it may be assumed that Elias got home 
 unharmed. During the rule of Cairns the community was con- 
 siderably enlarged so as to consist of eight prebendaries, twenty- 
 four bedesmen, and a chaplain.^ To what extent the property of 
 the Abbey was made over to the College is not known, but that 
 the latter was liberally endowed by Douglas there can be little 
 doubt. He did not precisely " thirl the church to theik the 
 queer," yet he is entitled to the credit, small though it is, of having 
 bestowed on his own kith and kin much of what he took with 
 violent hand from the defenceless sisterhood, when he might have 
 devoted it to a worse purpose. The clerical dignitaries of the diocese 
 would only half regret the change which deprived it of a humble 
 monastic establishment and beautified it with an imposing Collegiate 
 Church, though the loss would scarcely be balanced by the gain. 
 
 Archibald the Grim had one son, who succeeded him, and a 
 daughter, Marjory, who, by a stroke of characteristic audacity 
 on his part, acquired as her husband the Duke of Rothesay, heir- 
 apparent to the Crown. The Prince was betrothed to the 
 daughter of the Earl of March, but Douglas, stepping in with the 
 
 1 I- 1 1 Heniy IV.; MS. 20. 
 - Mutton's Collections. Caledonia, vol. iii. p. 308.
 
 56 Chrotticles of Lincluden. 
 
 offer of a larger dowry, obtained by purchase a royal Duke for his 
 son-in-law. The match, however, did not turn out favourably, the 
 unfortunate Rothesay having been all his married life dominated 
 over by his infamous uncle, the Duke of Albany, and at length 
 been literally starved to death at Albany's instance in one of the 
 dungeons of Falkland Palace. 
 
 About two years after the marriage, Archibald the Grim himself 
 died at a patriarchal age in Thrieve Castle, on the 3d of February 
 1400-1.^ It has been said — on what authority we know not — that 
 he was buried in the sacristy of Lincluden. No trace of his 
 tomb has ever been discovered, nor yet of the monument which 
 he is known to have erected in the College to the memory of his 
 father, the Good Sir James. ^ 
 
 Under the rule of the grim Lord's son, Lincluden College 
 acquired higher and purer memories than those which its earliest 
 years have left behind. Archibald, the second Galloway Earl of 
 the Douglas name, bore the uncomplimentary surname of Tyneman, 
 which he partly deserved ; but, though he tined or lost several 
 battles, and at one of them — Homildon — lost an eye also, he was not 
 always defeated, and for personal prowess he had few, if any, to 
 match him in Christendom. The minstrel of the family, when 
 singing in praise of his Lord, might have applied to him what 
 Ossian said of one of his chiefs, " Terrible is the spear of Torlath ; 
 it is a meteor of night. He lifts it and the people fall ! Death 
 sits in the lightning of his sword." The second Earl was 
 fortunate too in winning, and that by fair courtship, the hand of 
 Margaret, daughter of Robert II L, thus uniting by a second 
 matrimonial bond the houses of Bruce-Stewart and Douglas. 
 
 The mother of the Countess was Annabelle Drummond, 
 daughter of the Laird of Stobhall ; the King preferring to marry 
 one of his own subjects — for love shall we say .'' — rather than a 
 
 1 Bower, vol. xv. p. ii. ^ Nisbet's Heraldry, vol. i. p. 289.
 
 The College. 57 
 
 foreign princess at the dictate of policy. Directly descended from 
 Robert Bruce, the Countess seems to have inherited a portion of 
 his mental strength ; and the grace and sweetness which she 
 manifested all her days were probably due to her mother Anna- 
 belle. Lady Douglas was sufficiently masculine for the wife of the 
 heroic Earl, so that in her case it could not be said that " the hind 
 was mated with the lion ;" and he would prize her all the more 
 because her hand, unlike his, was soft and delicate, and her heart 
 gentle and womanly. 
 
 Often away at the wars, he could leave her with confidence 
 to look after business affairs at home. Under their joint administra- 
 tion Galloway forgot the rigours of the preceding rule, and made 
 good progress morally and socially ; and that, too, though hostile 
 bands from the South paid it many unwelcome visits. Not 
 content with leading retaliatory hosts across the Border, Douglas 
 joined with Hotspur, his opponent at Homildon, when that 
 renowned chief rose in arms against his sovereign Henry IV. 
 In the well-known words which Shakspeare puts into the mouth 
 of the King when addressing his rebellious subject, there occurs a 
 truthful reference to the fighting prowess of Archibald Tyneman : 
 
 " Renowned Douglas, whose high deeds, 
 Whose hot incursions, and great name in arms, 
 Holds from all soldiers chief majority. 
 And military title capital, 
 Through all the kingdoms that acknowledge Christ." ' 
 
 At the battle of Shrewsbury, fought in 1403, the rebels were 
 defeated, though their Scottish ally repeatedly turned the fortunes 
 of the field in their favour ; Harry Percy, his spur hot no more, 
 fell fatally wounded : and his brother-in-arms was made prisoner 
 by the Prince of Wales. When, according to our matchless 
 
 1 King Henry IV. Part I. 
 H
 
 58 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 dramatist, the King was urged to take the Hfe of Douglas, he, 
 refusing to comply with this ferocious counsel, bade 
 
 " Brother, John of Lancaster, 
 Go to the Douglas, and deliver him 
 Up to his pleasure ransomless and free ; 
 His valour shown upon our crests to-day 
 Hath taught us how to cherish such high deeds 
 Even in the bosom of our adversaries."^ 
 
 Henry's treatment of Earl Douglas was not quite so generous as 
 these words imply, as the prisoner had to pay a heavy ransom 
 before acquiring his freedom. 
 
 While the captivity continued, a friendship sprang up between 
 the two, which was manifested on the King's part by, among 
 other things, the extension of his protection to the clerical clients 
 of Douglas at Lincluden. The kind-hearted Earl was not so 
 absorbed by his own troubles as to make him forget that in his 
 absence the brethren were peculiarly exposed to danger from the 
 marauding bands previously referred to ; and at his instance 
 Henry graciously issued a royal decree of which the following is 
 a copy : — 
 
 " Rex universis et singulis Capitaneis Castellanis Custodibus 
 Castrorum et aliorum fortaliciarum et eorum locum tenentibus in 
 Marchiis regni nostri Anglie versus partes Scocie ac aliis fidelibus 
 et subditis suis tarn infra libertates quam extra ad quos presentes 
 litterae pervenerint salutem. Sciatis quod intuitu caritatis et ad 
 specialem requisitionem dilecte consanguinei nostri Archebaldi 
 Comitis de Douglas suscepimus et suscipimus per presentes in 
 proteccionem tuicionem et defensionem nostras speciales Magistrum 
 Alexandrum de Carnys prepositum ecclesie Collegiate de Lyn- 
 cludane in Scocia ubicunque ipsum prepositum infra regnum 
 Scocie personaliter fore contegerit, ac dictum locum de Lyncludane 
 
 1 A'zV/o- Henry IV. Part I.
 
 The College. 59 
 
 et Capellanes pauperes ibidem Deo servientes necnon terras predicte 
 prepositi dicte ecclesle circumiacentes una cum grangiis bladis 
 catallis et aliis bonis et rebus suis quibuscunque tam ecclesiasticis 
 quam temporalibus. Et ideo vobis et cuilibet vestrum mandamus 
 quod eidem preposito ubicunque ipsum infra dictum regnum Scocie 
 personaliter fore contigerit, aut dicte loco suo de Lyncludane seu 
 Cappellanis et pauperibus ibidem Deo servientibus in personis terris 
 grangiis bladis bonis catallis aut rebus quibuscumque supra dictis 
 non inferatis vel inferri permetatis iniuriam molestiam dampnum 
 violenciam impedimentum aliquod seu gravamen. Et si quid eis 
 in aliquo premissorum forisfactum fuerit vel injuriatum id eis sine 
 dilacione debite corrigi et reformari faciat (?) Proviso semper 
 quod idem prepositus aut Capellani et pauperes predicte Deo 
 servientes sive tenente, sui infra dictum locum de Lyncludane aut 
 dictas terras predicti prepositi commorantes et residentes quic- 
 quamquod in nostri regni seu populi nostri Anglie dampnum 
 preiudicium vel inquietacionem cedere valeat, non faciant at- 
 temptent seu prosequantur quovis modo. In cuius &c per triennium 
 duratura Teste Rege apud Castrum de Fount freyt xx die April 
 [1408] Per ipsum Regem."' 
 
 Literally translated the document runs thus : — 
 
 " The King to all and each of the Captains, Castellans, 
 Commandants of Castles and other fortified places, and their 
 occupants on the Borders of our kingdom of England towards the 
 parts of Scotland, and to his other faithful adherents and subjects 
 both within his dominions and beyond, whom the present letters 
 may reach, greeting. Know ye, that by the prompting of affection 
 and at the special request of our beloved cousin, Archibald, Earl 
 of Douglas, we have taken and do take by the present, under our 
 special protection, guard, and defence. Master Alexander de 
 
 1 Patent Roll of Henrv IV.
 
 6o Chronicles of Lincbiden. 
 
 Carnys, Provost of the Collegiate Church of Lyncluden in 
 Scotland, wheresoever the Provost himself may chance to be 
 personally within the kingdom of Scotland, and the said place of 
 Lyncluden, and the poor canons serving God in the same place, 
 as well as the circumjacent lands of the aforesaid Provost of the 
 said Church, together with the barns, crops, cattle, and all his other 
 goods and property whatsoever, both ecclesiastical and temporal. 
 And we also forbid you, and every one of you, to inflict or to suffer 
 to be inflicted any injury, molestation, loss, violence, hindrance, or 
 hardship upon the same Provost wheresoever he may chance to 
 be personally within the said kingdom of Scotland, or upon his 
 said place of Lyncluden, or upon the canons and poor [brethren] 
 serving God in the same place, in their persons, lands, barns, 
 crops, goods, cattle, or any other property whatsoever mentioned 
 above. And if anything in any of their premises has been stolen 
 or injured, it must be rectified and repaired for them without 
 delay. Provided always that the same Provost, or aforesaid 
 canons and poor [brethren] serving God or dwelling within the 
 said place of Lyncluden, or sojourning and residing on the said 
 lands of the aforesaid Provost, neither attempt nor effect in any 
 manner anything which may turn out to the loss, prejudice, or 
 disquiet of our kingdom or people of England. To remain in 
 force for three years. 
 
 "Witness the King at the Castle of Pontefract, 20th day of 
 April [1408]. By the King Himself." 
 
 Back again to Galloway. Would the liberated chief, while on 
 his way to Thrieve Castle, call in at Lincluden to learn how the 
 community had fared during his absence .'' Most likely ; and, if he 
 did. Provost de Carnys would as a matter of course move a special 
 vote of thanks to their noble patron for the considerate services he 
 had rendered to them while himself lying "in captive thrall";
 
 The College. 6i 
 
 which motion, if at all proposed, would be passed with cheers that 
 would wake the woodland echoes, if not make the welkin ring. At 
 home once more — " Rest, warrior, rest !" And to the good Lord 
 Douglas, war-worn and weary, the welcome which he received 
 from his devoted wife and their youthful sons, and the repose 
 which he found under the domestic roof, must have been exceed- 
 ingly grateful. He would find the boys grown apace ; one of 
 them, Archibald, the very image of himself, the other, James, 
 timid, docile, easy-minded, like his royal grandfather ; that is to 
 say, if in each case "the child was father of the man." Both of 
 them lived to be Lords of the province, and in ruling it they pre- 
 sented a marked contrast to each other. Not a few uneventful 
 but happy years were spent by the Earl in attending to his duties 
 as a ruler, and enjoying the endearments of wedded life.' But 
 neither onerous public claims nor the ties of family affection could 
 induce this inveterate son of Mars to let his banner hang any 
 longer idly on the wall when the news reached him from France, 
 as it did in 1423, that Charles VI L, its King, was sore pressed 
 by the English claimants of his crown, and would be glad to 
 receive help from his old Scottish allies. 
 
 According to Hollinshed, Douglas crossed the Channel with 
 no fewer than 10,000 men, and freely placed their services at the 
 disposal of Charles. In the campaign that ensued they acquired 
 much distinction, bearing the chief brunt at several battles ; and 
 the grateful King rewarded their leader by creating him a Marshal 
 of France and Duke of Touraine, attaching to the peerage the rich 
 province of that name, which, with the title, long remained in the 
 
 ' After his return home, and some time prior to 1423, the Earl, as Lord of Annan- 
 dale, granted a charter to Gilbert Greresoun, his shield-bearer, of the lands of Mckil 
 Daltoun and Dormant, and another to the same vassal and his son William of the 
 same subjects, which Thomas Corbet had formerly held, but had forfeited. — Paper in 
 Appendix 8, Sixth Report of the Historical Manuscripts Commission, p. 709, communi- 
 cated by Dr. William Fraser.
 
 62 ■ CJironicles of Lincluden. 
 
 family of Douglas. Only for a brief period, however, did the 
 brave Galloway Duke of Touraine live to enjoy these new 
 honours, as, on the 17th of August 1424, he "tined" all his 
 dignities, old and new, and dear life itself, at the disastrous battle 
 of Verneuil. 
 
 As an evidence of the love which Douglas bore to his wife, 
 and the reliance he placed upon her judgment, he, before bidding 
 her what proved to be a last adieu, settled the superiority of Gallo- . 
 way upon her as a life estate ; which grant received confirmation 
 from her brother. King James I. Her rule, as directed from 
 Thrieve, was characterised by benignity and wisdom. Though the 
 castle, like the first Lord who occupied it, still wore a swart and 
 frowning aspect, its natural surroundings were attractive ; and, 
 quite in keeping with them, the widowed Duchess of Touraine 
 demeaned herself so graciously as to rob the rugged pile of half 
 its gloom. All the accounts that have come down to us respecting 
 her concur in stating that she combined to a remarkable desfree 
 sweetness of disposition with strength of purpose. Hence the 
 castle during her sway got rid of its repellent associations, and 
 became recognised wide and far as a palace of the virtues instead 
 of as formerly, a den of violence and oppression. When the 
 traveller of the present day surveys Thrieve in its ruined condition, 
 he will be apt to recall the fiery passions and the turbulent schemes 
 that were fostered under its roof by the Black Douglas and some 
 of his successors : thoughts of these being naturally suggested by 
 the huge square tower, still wearing its accustomed frown ; the 
 gaunt half-desolated barbican, still uncompromisingly defiant ; and 
 the gallows knob — which, as boasted by one of them, had never 
 for fifty years preceding 1452 been without its human tassel — 
 still protruding hideously from above the principal gateway. 
 Some sweet memories — those left by the Lady Margaret — also 
 cling to the castle, like the garniture of ivy that may be seen
 
 -t^ 
 
 
 :;S MAf^OAHtTi TOMB LiNCLUDEN.
 
 The College. 63 
 
 trying, not without success, to tone down the sinister aspect of 
 the ruins. 
 
 The Duchess survived her husband about sixteen years, her 
 demise occurring some time in 1440. In proportion as she was 
 loved and honoured in hfe so was she lamented in death. With 
 much solemn pomp and pageantry, as befitted the rank of the 
 deceased lady, her remains were conveyed from Thrieve to Lin- 
 cluden, a distance of fifteen miles — the procession, which would 
 include most of the Galloway magnates and also some repre- 
 sentatives of royalty, being swelled by district contributions as it 
 passed along. Never before had such a grand pageant — at once so 
 large, solemn, and imposing — entered the College grounds. Arrived 
 there, the body was laid in the magnificent tomb that had been 
 prepared for it ; the Church thus acquiring a new and powerful 
 human interest that will be coeval with its own existence, and, 
 unlike it, grow in strength with the advance of time.' 
 
 1 Sir Andrew Agnew, in his valuable work, A History of the Hereditary Sheriffs oj 
 Galloway, furnishes some very interesting information respecting the relationship which 
 one of his ancestors of the same name bore towards the Princess Margaret. The 
 Agnews of Lochnaw having been dispossessed by Archibald the Grim, and their lands 
 been given by him to William Douglas of Leswalt, they emigrated beyond his influence 
 to the West of Ireland ; but not liking their new place of abode, they, father and son, 
 repaired to the court of Robert III. at Perth, the former becoming a member of the royal 
 household, and the latter having the good fortune to attract the favourable regard of the 
 King's daughter, Margaret, about the time she was married to Archibald Tyneman. 
 " Though not inclined to love the name of Douglas, young Agnew was sincerely attached 
 to this lady, and had soon cause to be grateful for her good offices." When, as Duchess 
 of Touraine, she acquired supreme rule at Thrieve, her young protege, Andrew Agnew, 
 who had feared both her father-in-law and husband, accepted service in her household, 
 and that all the more gladly because there was in it also " a fair scion of the house of 
 Dunure, a daughter of the Duchess's sister, the Princess Mary," for whom he cherished 
 a strong affection. His suit was promoted by the Duchess ; the youthful couple were 
 wedded in due course ; and their kind patroness gave back to the happy bridegroom 
 his patrimonial estate, having first provided Douglas of Leswalt with an equivalent else- 
 where. " When the good Duchess of Touraine died, respected and beloved through all 
 the province," among the long string of mourners who attended the lady to her grave 
 " none more sincerely lamented her decease than her former esquire, Agnew of Lochnaw " 
 (PP- 52, 53, 56, 57-65).
 
 64 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 The tomb is nine feet square. It consists of a boldly 
 crocketed, deeply recessed arch, springing from an elaborate 
 richly sculptured base, and forming a canopy for the sarcophagus 
 in which the body was laid ; the whole surmounted by a horizontal 
 cornice moulding, terminating with a finial florid with foliage. 
 Between the cornice and plinth of the base are nine panels, having 
 cusped pointed tops, forming together a beautiful little arcade ; 
 the panels enclosing a shield each, two of them being blank, and 
 the rest enriched with the blazonry of the house of Douglas and 
 their relatives. The lordship of Annandale is represented by its 
 saltire and chief; a lion rampant, the cognisance of the M'Dowalls, 
 typifies Galloway ; three stars show the Moray arms, which the 
 founder of Lincluden Church acquired by marriage ; three stars 
 of the first, with a man's heart below, indicate the escutcheon of 
 the Douglases when rising nearer the political zenith, and recall 
 one of the saddest, proudest passages of their history — that in 
 which the Good Lord James, when bearing the heart of Bruce to 
 Palestine, was the hero. Attacked on his way by the Moors of 
 Spain he threw the casketed relic amongst them with the words 
 " Forward, gallant heart, as thou wert wont ; Douglas will follow 
 thee or die !" and he fell covered with wounds ; and when his 
 body was found by the companions from whom he had been 
 separated, the casket lay clasped near his own heart as if he were 
 guarding it even in death. One of the shields displays a fess 
 checque surmounted by a bend engrailed, another the same 
 emblem without the bend, these telling in heraldic language of the 
 Royal Stewarts' connection with the Douglases, the checquered 
 fess illustrating the old tally method by which stewards kept 
 their accounts. 
 
 Was this tomb constructed after the death ot the Countess, or 
 did it form a part of the Choir from the first ? Nearly all the 
 evidence on the subject tends to show that it was comprised in the
 
 The College. 65 
 
 original design, and that for a lengthened period it remained 
 unoccupied. Mr. Bloxham has expressed his conviction that this 
 must have been the case ; as a result of careful inspection Mr. 
 Barbour entertains the same opinion. " The tomb, in style and 
 design," he says, " resembles the sedilia and piscina in the opposite 
 wall. I cannot detect jointing in the masonry of a character to 
 indicate after-insertion ; and I think the arrangement of the work 
 generally points in an opposite direction. The projection of 
 masonry behind the tomb already referred to is a necessary part 
 of the design of the Church itself, and also of the tomb, and 
 therefore it would seem to be required that the work of both 
 should have been carried up together. But for the tomb the 
 opposite windows in the north and south walls would probably have 
 corresponded in position and dimensions ; and if the tomb had 
 been afterwards inserted the upper part of the adjoining window 
 would have remained uniform with that of the opposite one. 
 This window, however, is altogether smaller." Mr. Barbour 
 fortifies his opinion by showing that the same tomb-feature was a 
 not uncommon occurrence in the ecclesiastical buildings of the 
 period. The inscription on the tomb points to a similar conclusion. 
 In it the Lady Margaret is called "regis Scotie filia" as if her 
 royal father were still on the throne ; and we know that, dying in 
 1406, he must have predeceased his daughter by more than thirty 
 years. As her highest acquired title is not specified on the tomb, 
 the fair inference is that the lettering was placed upon it before 
 her husband was made a Peer of France ; had the words been 
 engraved after the honour was conferred they would certainly have 
 included " Ducisse Turonensis." Finally, the inscription bears 
 no date ; it tells neither her age nor the time when she died — 
 omissions which would scarcely have occurred if it had been 
 posthumous. 
 
 After the body had been deposited in its narrow house of stone 
 
 I
 
 66 Chronicles of Linchiden. 
 
 a slab was placed over the sarcophagus, and on that in due time 
 was laid a full-length sculptured figure of the Princess crowned 
 and otherwise royally apparelled. As no prepared panel had been 
 fixed in the back wall for an inscription, one was cut upon the 
 ordinary dark red sandstone of which the College was constructed, 
 and runs thus : — 
 
 ^ laitic lie btcu. 
 
 ?^ic jacrt ina JHargarrta 
 
 i^rgis Orotic fiUa quoUa 
 
 Comitissa tjc ©ouglas 
 
 ©na (gallofattite ct faalUs 
 
 Snnanliie. 
 
 " By the favour of God. 
 
 " Here lies the Lady Margaret, daughter of the King ot 
 Scotland, Countess of Douglas and Lady of Galloway and 
 Annandale." 
 
 This monument, when entire, must have been exceedingly im- 
 posing, and considering the character of the Countess for goodness 
 and piety, the beautiful image of her would be apt to evoke 
 something like idolatrous homage. In modern times it experienced 
 quite a different fate, having suffered terribly, along with the entire 
 building in which it was enshrined.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE COLLEGE. 
 
 The Princess Margaret founds a chapel in Lincluden — Charter and endowment of the 
 chapel— Enlargement of the College and of its community — Duties and emolu- 
 ments of its Provosts and prebendars — Notice of its poor bedesmen — List of its 
 Provosts — Business connection of Herries of Terraughty with the College — Copy of 
 its oldest land charter — Ecclesiastical rental of the Provostry and the other bene- 
 fices in the Bishopric of Galloway. 
 
 Immediately after her bereavement the Duchess of Touraine 
 founded a chapel in Lincluden Church, endowing it with farms 
 which she had boug-ht ''cum arzcnte et aiiro" with her own silver 
 and gold. The charter, dated at Thrieve Castle, sets forth that the 
 gift was made in her widowhood, for the benefit of the souls of her 
 father King Robert III., of her mother Annabelle, his Queen, 
 and their predecessors ; for the happy condition of her brother. 
 King James ; in pious remembrance of Lord Archibald Earl of 
 Douglas, and of his son, her late spouse, Archibald Duke of Tou- 
 raine ; and for the good of their son. Lord James de Douglas. 
 The lands are specified as lying in the Lordship of Galloway, and 
 consisting of Estwood, Bank of Carvorland, Drummukhede, Mains 
 of Suthake and Mains of Borness. An abbreviated copy of the 
 document as confirmed by King James I. is here subjoined. 
 
 " Apud Edynburgh, 29th September 1429. Rex confirmavit
 
 68 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 cartam sororis suae Margrete Ducisse Turonensis, Comitesse de 
 Douglase, Domine Galwidie et vallis Anandie, quae, in pura et sim- 
 plice viduitate sua, et pro salute animarum inclitae memorice Roberti 
 Regis et Annabellse Reginse Scotiae progenitorum suorum et pro 
 felici statu animae Jacobi Regis, &c., de ejus speciali licentia, &c., 
 et pro salute animarum recolendae memoriae olim D. Arch. Com. de 
 Douglas filii ejus et sponsi dicte Marg. et de Jac. de Duglase filii 
 eorum et pro salute animae suae, &c. Concessit Deo, &c., ac uni 
 capellano per se electo, et presentato in Ecclesia Collegiata de 
 Lyncludene et successoribus ejus terras suas de le Estwood, Bar- 
 schryve, de la Bank de Carvorland [Carlaverock] de Drummuk- 
 hede, de le Maynys de Suthake et de Borness, [omnes] in constabu- 
 laria Kyrudbrycht domino Galwidie; quas terras dicta Marg. emerat 
 cum argento et auro suo. Tenend in puram elemosinam." 
 
 The list of witnesses to the charter is headed by Alexander, 
 Bishop of Candida Casa ; the others, including several men of 
 mark, being William Douglas of Leswalt, an illegitimate son of 
 Archibald the Grim; John M'Gilhauck, Provost of Lincluden; 
 Patrick, heir of an old family, the M'Lellans of Galston; Alexander 
 Mure, Steward of Kirkcudbright; and Magister M'Guffok, Secre- 
 tary to the Duchess. 
 
 This addition to Lincluden is usually called the Lady Margaret's 
 Chapel. When opened, the inmates of the College would neces- 
 sarily be increased. From that period (1429) we may safely date 
 the beginning of the change already referred to, which terminated 
 in the enlargement of the community from thirteen officials to 
 thirty-four. The additional house and store accommodation thus 
 needed was supplied from time to time, till eventually the Collegiate 
 buildings covered nearly twice as much ground as was occupied by 
 the church proper and the remains of Uchtred's Abbey which it 
 incorporated ; a special residence for the Provost would doubtless 
 be provided by Archibald the Grim ; but what is now known as
 
 The College. 69 
 
 the Provost's Lodging — the tall structure that rises on the extreme 
 north — is of much less ancient date than the Church itself. South- 
 west of its site a little stood what was a very striking feature of 
 the building — a heptagonal tower, which, it is sometimes said, 
 may have been used for defensive purposes, but if so, it could 
 never have resisted anything more formidable than a bow-and- 
 arrow assault/ It bore the royal arms and also the crest and 
 initials of Provost William Stewart on its front. This tower fell 
 suddenly in 185 1. It constituted, we think, a portion of the 
 enlargement begun soon after 1429, and which, extending north- 
 ward from the sacristy, embraced the buildings that stretched 
 between it and the residence of the chief ruler, if it did not also 
 include that domicile within its range ; all with the exception of two 
 vaulted chambers adjoining the sacristy, the hewing and rag work 
 of which seem to prove that they were coeval with the Church. 
 
 The Provost and the prebendars formed an incorporated body 
 governed by fixed rules, like similar fraternities elsewhere. 
 Though the Provost was the acknowledged head of the estab- 
 lishment he possessed no autocratic power, and all important 
 matters had to be sanctioned by the brethren in chapter assembled, 
 before action could be taken regarding them. So far as religious 
 services were concerned Lincluden was still monastic, but those 
 who performed them were not shut out by vow from the outer 
 world ; even the poor bedesmen of the community, though all 
 celibates, being allowed to go occasionally beyond the gates of the 
 College, and even to make an honest penny by sublunary pursuits. 
 As already explained, the devotional exercises engaged in with 
 mechanical regularity from day to day bore special reference to the 
 founder and his family connections living and dead. A considerable 
 amount of secular business devolved on the collegiates, — this 
 
 1 The tower is frequently spoken of as having been octagonal, but the pictures given 
 of it by Grose and others seem to show that it was seven-sided.
 
 "JO Chronicles of Lincludcn. 
 
 arising out of the extensive estates with which their house was 
 endowed, and which were usually let, in feu -farm, by charter. 
 The duties laid upon the Provost were not of an exactive nature. 
 His office was one of dignity, with good pay, rather than of hard 
 work. Though he occupied a lower position than a secular 
 baron or mitred abbot, he held high social rank, and exercised 
 considerable social influence in the district. At various times the 
 ofiice was held by men of high intellectual mark, to whom it 
 sometimes became a stepping-stone to much loftier appointments 
 in Church and State. 
 
 On the prebendars much of the routine services of the establish- 
 ment was thrown, yet they were gentlemen-priests fairly well paid 
 by a yearly stipend of forty-five marks each.' The chaplain, as 
 may be conceived, possessed no sinecure, neither did the plebeians 
 of the community, the bedesmen ; though their share in the 
 bounties of the foundation was equivalent only to the proverbial 
 crumbs which fall from the rich man's table. All that these poor 
 brethren, twenty-four in number, received as their allowance was 
 eight bolls of oatmeal annually each, with clothing and fuel " — the 
 exclusiveness of the diet suggesting the lines which Sir Walter 
 Scott was fond of quoting : 
 
 " Crowdie aince and crowdie twice, 
 And crowdie three times in a day ; 
 Gin ye crowdie ony mair 
 
 Ye'U crowdie a' my meal away." 
 
 As for the chaplaincy, it seems to have been liberally endowed. 
 In the accounts of William, Abbot of Dundrennan, who was 
 Chamberlain of Galloway from Whitsunday 1455 till September 
 1456, credit is taken for payment to the Lincluden chaplain of 
 £10 yearly from the lands of Southwick.^ Subsequent accounts 
 
 1 Hutton's MSS. ^ Ibid. 3 Exchequer Rolls, vol. vi. p. 19S.
 
 The College. 71 
 
 rendered by the same officer, and by Adam Mure, his successor, 
 dating from 17th September 1456 till i8th July 1462, state what has 
 already been made known, that for the grant of these lands the 
 Colleee was indebted to the bountiful Duchess of Touraine.' 
 
 Elias has been already mentioned as first Superior of the College, 
 also Alexander de Carnys as his immediate successor. In a charter 
 received by the latter from the first Duke of Touraine, dated the 
 1 2th of February 141 3, he is termed Cancellarius noster, "our 
 own chancellor." He seems to have been an able sagacious man, 
 with a diplomatic cast of mind. In 1410 he acted as a commis- 
 sioner for negotiating "a day" of Border "trews" with the 
 English. Two years afterwards he, with John Stewart of Lorn 
 and Master John Trotter, was appointed to proceed to France on 
 State affairs, but after long waiting vainly for a fair wind the 
 embassy was recalled.^ Provost Carnys died in office and was 
 buried in Lady Margaret's Chapel. John Cameron, the third 
 Provost, was a man of great intellect, and one of the most 
 accomplished and ambitious ecclesiastics of his day. He had 
 previously acted as secretary and confessor to the Duke of 
 Touraine. Cameron and several other delegates attended the 
 celebrated Council of Bazil as representatives of the Scottish 
 Church. Rising rapidly in Court favour, he was soon afterwards 
 constituted Keeper of the Great Seal and Auditor of the 
 Exchequer.^ We next find this aspiring churchman occupying 
 
 1 Exchequer Rolls, vol. v. pp. 198, 344, 568, 692 ; vol. vi. p. 115. 
 
 2 Et per solucionem factam domino Johanni Senescalli de Loom, magistro 
 Alexandre de Carnys preposito de Linclouden et magistro Johanni Trotter, ambassia- 
 toribus ordinatis ad Franciam, qui tamen diu expectantes ventum, in naulo navium ac 
 pluribus expensis magnos fecerunt sumptus licet postmodum fuerunt ex magna causa 
 revocati et non processerunt (Pro ipsorum tamen sumptibus et expensis de receptis nichil 
 reddiderunt), .£200. — Exchequer Rolls, vol. iv. p. 164. 
 
 3 We find from the Exchequer Rolls (vol. iv. p. 379) that Cameron was still 
 Provost of Lincluden in May 1425, though then acting as Secretary to the King and
 
 Chronicles of Linchiden. 
 
 the positions of Bishop of Glasgow and Chancellor of the 
 Kingdom. Long before his death he acquired the evil repute of 
 being rapacious and tyrannical, especially towards his own tenants 
 and vassals. According to Spottiswoode, his latter end was the 
 reverse of peaceful. That historian states that when Bishop 
 Cameron was lying asleep on Christmas Eve 1446 in his house of 
 Lockwood, seven miles from Glasgow, "he seemed to hear a 
 voice summoning him to appear before the tribunal of Christ and 
 give an account of his doings : thereupon he awaked, and being 
 greatly troubled did call his servants to bring light and sit by 
 him." A second time the same voice was heard, to the great 
 amazement of the attendants; and again a third time, "far louder 
 and more fearfully," upon which the dying man gave a heavy groan 
 and breathed his last ; " his fate," it is added, " being a notable ex- 
 ample of God's judgment against the crying sin of oppression."^ 
 
 John M 'Gilhauck, Rector of Parton and secretary to the Duchess 
 of Touraine, was promoted by her to the provostship in succession 
 to Cameron. Then followed John Halyburton, of whom little is 
 known ; but his arms, carved on the south wall of the College 
 Church, still remain to show his connection with it and the heraldic 
 
 Auditor of Exchequer. On the 15th of April 1426, he is mentioned in the Rolls as 
 Keeper of the Great Seal and Auditor. 
 
 The following payments are recorded to him as Secretary, &c. — 
 
 "Et domino nostroregiperrecepcionem JohannisCameronn,j£'i:r^/'izrasui;£i87 : 18:9." 
 (AccountoftheCustumarsofDundee, 2 5thjuly i424toiithMay 1425.) Ibid.xoVw.'p. 383. 
 
 " Et per liberacionem factum Jacobo Lernionth, servienti regis, in diversis denariatis 
 ad usum ejusdem, magistro Johanne Cameronn, ctcstode privati sigilli domini regis 
 testante receptum supra compotum, £\\ : 12s." (Account of the Custumars of Edin- 
 burgh, 1 2th May 1425 to 19th April 1426.) Ibid. vol. iv. p. 405. There are several other 
 payments to him in the accounts 1425-26, in all of which he bears the designation 
 Keeper of the Pri\^ Seal. In one, however, the account (Whitsunday 1425 to 17th April 
 1426) rendered by the bailies of Rutherglen, he is called Keeper of the Great Seal, as 
 well as in the two passages referred to above. He appears again in 1435 as Keeper of 
 the Privy Seal. Exdiequer Rolls, vol. iv. p. 644. 
 
 ^ Spottiswoode, p. 114.
 
 The College. 73 
 
 honours which he wore. John Winchester, who was elevated to 
 the See of Moray in 1436, was the next holder of the Provostry. 
 To him succeeded John Methven, a learned doctor of decretals. 
 Made a Secretary of State during the minority of James II., he, 
 with other plenipotentiaries, went to London during the war of 
 1438, and succeeded in negotiating a peace with England to last 
 for nine years. On James Lindsay of Covington the rule of the 
 College devolved in 1449. His provostship was rendered memor- 
 able, as we shall afterwards see, by the protection he afforded to 
 Queen Margaret of Anjou when she sought for an asylum at Lin- 
 cluden. In 1465 Lindsay was constituted Keeper of the Privy 
 Seal, and as such he and other magnates crossed the Border that 
 year to hold a conference, for the redress of grievances, with com- 
 missioners from the English Court. 
 
 In 1483 the office was acquired by David Livingstone, who, it 
 is believed, belonged to the old family of that name.^ In the 
 summer of 1488 he was succeeded by Andrew Stewart, a cadet of 
 the house of Garlies;- George Hepburn and William Stewart 
 being the next in order. The last-named Provost was also a 
 member of the Garlies family. From being Rector of Lochmaben 
 he rose eventually to be Bishop of Aberdeen and Lord Treasurer 
 of Scotland. His arms were still to be seen on the great staircase 
 of the Provost's Lodging in 1789. The name of the next 
 Superior appears in several legal documents still extant. In one 
 of these he is styled "ane venerable man George Marichell, 
 Provost of Lincludane," and as such he grants to John Greirsone 
 
 1 "Compeared before the Lords of Council, 29th January 1488, Maister David 
 Levingstone, Provest of Linclouden, as curator to James Lord Livingstone," on matters 
 of business respecting the College. — Acta Dominoruin Concilii. 
 
 2 The Lords of Council on 21st June 1480 gave decree "that Robert of Douglas 
 and Thomas Nicholeson sail pay to Maister Andrew Stewart, Provest of Linclouden 
 and Dene of Murra, for thre chalders of malt and three chalders of mele for ilk boll 
 \%:'—Ibid. 
 
 K
 
 74 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 of Lag, " honorabili viro " [an honourable man], and his heirs 
 and assignees, a certain portion of land belonging to the College, 
 the boundaries of which are duly set forth. The deed is attested 
 by John Broune, Schir James Eltron, Herbert Barclay, and others; 
 while John Welche and James Amuligone are specified as having 
 been also "present at the seisin." In a second charter, written 
 on the 1 6th of December 1546, Provost Marshall is represented as 
 " a high and venerable man," granting " three acres of the lands of 
 the Priest croft, and on the northern part of the same croft a house 
 and orchard, with the pertinents, to ane honourable man, Richard 
 M'Kee of Myntoun.''^ On the death of Provost Marshall the 
 office held by him for about three years was conferred upon 
 Robert Douglas, natural son of Sir James Douglas, seventh Lord 
 Drumlanrig, regarding whose provostshi^a we shall have much to 
 say, as it extended over fully fifty years, and was very eventful. 
 
 Occasional references to Lincluden occur in the Decrees of 
 the Lords of Council 1494, when Andrew Stewart was Provost, 
 which show that George Herries of Terraughty was at that time 
 curator of the College, and had therefore a good deal to do with 
 its business management. On the 26th of June the Lords decree 
 that Herries be distrained for "the soume of five hundreth fifty 
 merks usual money of Scotland for the males, fermez, teynds, and 
 dewities of the Provestri of Linclowdene defalkand [deducting] to 
 
 1 These deeds are entered in the original Protocol Book of Herbert Anderson, 
 notary public, Dumfries, as preserved in the Town Council records. The substance 
 of the first charter is subjoined: " Georgius Marichell, Prepositus de Lincludane ad dilec- 
 tus meus Johanni Maxwell de Lochruton, Johanni Anderson et Johanni Kirkhaucht et 
 eorum cuilibet, &c., balliviis meis in hac parte, &c. Salutem que dedimus et concessimus 
 hereditis honorabili viro Johanne Greirson de Lag, et heredibus suis et assignatis una 
 petam terre marcarum terrarum de Lincluedane, occupat per Johanne Clerk jacen infra 
 terarum ville de Troqueir, jacen terras quondam Georgii Heres, ex parte boreali ex pro 
 una, et nostras terras ex parte altera, et petam terre sive tenementum jacen in terra villa 
 de Troqueir ex parte occidentali via regie . . . et terras dicti quondam Georgii Heres 
 ex parte australi. Apud Lincluedane, ist July 1546."
 
 The College. 75 
 
 the said George in the payment making the soume of sevin skore 
 merks vjs. viijd., which the said George has sufficiently proved 
 paid " to the Earl of Bothwell ; and also deducting as much as 
 the Laird of Tynwald, the Laird of Amisfeld, and John of Slowain, 
 declared "that the said George Heriz has spendit and warit upon 
 the reparacioun of the Kirk of Linclowdain and als defalkand to 
 him thre merkis of the sex merkis land of the gressome ; and 
 als delaying the distrenzeing of 200 merks which stands under 
 continuation to the 10 day of October for diversitie of the 
 acquittances. And as for the remanent of the said hale soume 
 to mak the said Erie be content and pait thereof but [without] 
 delay." ^ 
 
 On the 29th of November the Lords Auditors decree that 
 George Herries shall "pay to Patrick, Erie of Bothuile, the soume 
 of 50 merkis usuale money of Scotland off the rest of a mare [larger] 
 soume aucht to the said erle for a part of the froitis [fruits] and 
 dewities of the Provestry of Linclowdain as wes grantit by the 
 said George Heries in presens of the lordis. And ordinis that 
 lettrez be written to distrenze the said George his landis and 
 gudis therefore."" 
 
 The name of a bedesman of the College occurs in a decree of 
 the Council, i ith July 1494, a sufficient proof that the enlargement 
 of the community so as to comprise twenty-four bedesmen had 
 taken place prior to that early date. " Thomas Dunmure," desig- 
 nated " as one of the bedmen of the masyndeu [hospital] of 
 Linclowden," is directed by the Lords on the loth of October 
 next to furnish sufficient proof of his charge that David Maxwell, 
 Gilbert Maxwell, and Edward Maxwell had "spuilyeit and put 
 him out of the tak and mailing of the Staikfurd Mylne, and Mylne 
 land thereof," and had taken possession of the same. The Lords 
 also enjoin the complainant to be prepared to specify by witnesses 
 
 ' Acta Dominorum Concilii. ^ Acta Dominorum Auditorum.
 
 76 Chronicles of Lincbiden. 
 
 the actual quality and value of the property taken from him, 
 inasmuch as William Maxwell had alleged that he occupied a part 
 of the said mill and had paid his mails for it.^ This last minute 
 indicates clearly that the bedesmen of the College were allowed to 
 engage in secular work. Being under no vow of seclusion, and 
 taking active part in mundane affairs, their position presented a 
 strong contrast to that of the sister celibates of the Abbey. 
 
 Lincluden, as already mentioned, belonged to the diocese of 
 Whithorn, which became merged in the see of Glasgow and 
 Galloway. Early in the sixteenth century it was presided over by 
 Bishop David, who granted the oldest charter we have seen 
 relating to the College. It is to the following effect : — Charter by 
 David, Bishop of Whithorn, and of the Chapel Royal of Stirling, 
 with consent of the chapter of Lincluden, to Paul Cunynghame 
 and Janet Pardowen, his spouse, in conjunct fee, and the heirs 
 gotten or to be gotten between them, of the croft of William Raa, 
 lying towards the back gate of the Collegiate Church of Lincluden, 
 extending to two acres and houses built thereon ; also two acres 
 of the Pies croft contiguous to the said croft of William Raa ; two 
 acres of the Beir croft easterward therefrom, and between the croft 
 of Stephen Bek on the south and the garden or orchyard of the 
 canons on the north. To hold in fee and heritage with pasture of 
 eight soumes^ of animals on the common, and grazing thereto, for 
 the yearly rent of twenty shillings. Sealed with the Bishop's 
 round seal at the College of Lincluden, 2d January 15 16-17.'' 
 
 A few years afterwards the same prelate granted another 
 charter, in which he is designated " Bishop of Whithorn, and of the 
 Chapel Royal of Stirling, Perpetual Commendator of Lincluden, 
 of the diocese of Glasgow, united and annexed to the diocese of 
 
 I Ada Doininorum Concilii. 
 
 ^ A soum is as much ground as will pasture a cow or five sheep. 
 
 3 MS. Register Bulk of Linclou den.
 
 The College. yy 
 
 Whithorn." It is in favour of Sir John Cunynghame, prebendar 
 of the said Church, of five acres of land, with one rood on the 
 Kilhil, for constructing a barn immediately contiguous and 
 adjacent in the Barneschot and Hohnend, within the barony of 
 Drumslete, extending westward to the dyke of the Weltreis, and 
 eastward to the Barneschot Hill, northward to the water of 
 Cloudane, and southward to the King's highway reaching to the 
 Cuntfuird ; with pasture of four "soumes" of animals on the 
 common of the said Collegiate Church. To hold in fee and 
 heritage, for yearly payment of 13s. 4d., and for the said rood six 
 pence. Sealed with the Bishop's round seal, and the common 
 seal of the chapter, i6th January 1521-22. Witnesses, Mr. Henry 
 Wemes, official of Whithorn ; Mr. David Arnot, vicar of Loch- 
 ruton ; John Wemes, Alexander Perdovane, and John Perdovane. 
 Subscribed by D., Bishop of Whithorn, etc. Thomas Byrkmyr, 
 Sir Henry Merser, Sir David M'Gee, Sir John Walkar, Sir 
 Mungo Cunyngham, prebendar ; Andrew Makbrek, chancellor of 
 Dumblane, canon of Lincluden ; Thomas Erskin, prebendar ; John 
 Cunyngham, prebendar ; and Roger Makquhirk. The Bishop also 
 grants precept addressed to Edward Maxwell, John Maxwell, and 
 David Cunyngham, bailies, for infefting Sir John Cunyngham in 
 the lands already specified.' 
 
 In the eventful year 1561, when the Church benefices were 
 assumed by the Crown, the rental of the Galloway Bishopric 
 was returned as follows : — 
 
 Abbey of Tongland : — £1266: 14s.; 8 chalders 7 bushels of 
 bear or barley, 10 chalders and 7 bushels of meal, 8 bushels of 
 malt, and 4 hogsheads of salmon. 
 
 Priory of Whithorn: — _;^ioi6 :3 -.4 ; 15 chalders 4 bushels 
 3 pints of bear, 5 1 chalders 1 5 bushels 2 pints of meal. 
 
 Register Buik of Linclouden.
 
 yS Chronicles of Lincbiden. 
 
 Abbey of Soulseat : — _;^343:i3:4; 13 chalders 4 bushels 2 
 pints of meal, 7 chalders 8 bushels of bear, 1 3^ dozen of capons. 
 
 Abbey of Glenluce : — Set to the Earl of Cassillis for yearly- 
 payment of .1^666 : 13 :4. 
 
 Priory of St. Mary's Isle : — ^235 :4 :4 ; 9 bolls of meal, 80 
 bolls of oats, ']'] bolls of bear. 
 
 Abbey of Dundrennan : — Set in assedation for payment of 
 
 ^500- 
 
 Provostry of Lincluden : — ^423; victual, 15 chalders 2 
 
 bushels. The temporalities thereof consist of the baronies of 
 Crossmichael and Drumsleet, the spirituality of five kirks. Car- 
 laverock, Kirkbean, Terregles, and Lochrutton ; founded persons, 
 the Provost, 8 prebends, and 24 bedesmen. 
 
 From an English source we have an estimated valuation of these benefices, made 
 about the same period. An invasion of Nithsdale and Galloway having been projected 
 by Queen Elizabeth, a preliminary survey of the counti-y was taken, at her instance, for 
 the purpose of ascertaining its physical features, warlike defences, and economic resources. 
 The officer's report, 1563-66, contains the subjoined calculation regarding " Profittes ot 
 Benefices in Galloway, whose revenues may releve garrisons." 
 
 FiRSTE. In the Ryndes of Galloway stondeth Salsyde Abbaye, wortht by yeare of 
 Engles money j<^ li [.^100]. 
 
 The Pryory of Whitheirne called Sanct Nynianes, of the same money wortht v"^ 
 markes [500]. 
 
 The Abbacye of Glenluce, of the same money wortht v<= markes. 
 
 The Bishopryc of Gallowaye, wortht by yeare iiij<= markes [400]. 
 
 The Abbacye of Townglande, wortht of that money iij<: markes [300]. 
 
 The Pr>'ory of Sanct Marye Yle, wortht by yeare j= li [^100]. 
 
 The Abbacye of Dumdranen, ii'^1 li [;i{^2So]. 
 
 The New Abbaye, ij=l li [/250]. 
 
 SOMME, iij™l li marckes steringe [3050]. 
 
 The Abbacie of Haliwood of Inglis money, worthe cc marckes [200]. 
 
 The Provestrie of Linclowden, f li [^100]. 
 Soma, ij-^xxxiiij [^234]. 
 Liddesdale and the Debateable Land, by Robert Bruce Armstrong, Appendix, pp. 
 108, 109.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE COLLEGE. 
 
 Tyneman's descendants — William, his grandson, holds a Conference in the College to 
 revise the laws of Border warfare — Rebellion and overthrow of the Douglases — 
 Their principal property confiscated — The Patronage of the Provostry vested in 
 the Crown — Increased connection of the Herries and Maxwell families with Lin- 
 cluden — Queen Margaret of Anjou, with the Prince of Wales, obtains refuge under 
 its roof — Visit to her of the widowed Queen of James II. with their young son 
 James III. — James IV. visits Lincluden when performing pilgrimages to the 
 shrine of St. Ninian. 
 
 Archibald, son of Tyneman, held the Lordship of Galloway in 
 fee under his mother, the Countess, and on her death he succeeded 
 to all her privileges in the province. He was a thorough Douglas, 
 so far as ambition and pride are concerned, manifesting these 
 qualities sometimes in a way that aroused the jealousy of his 
 uncle. King James I. Dying of fever in 1439, he left to his son 
 William, says Tytler, "an immense and dangerous inheritance of 
 power and pride."^ Under what tragical circumstances the Earl- 
 dom again became vacant need not be stated in detail. Suffice 
 it to say that William Douglas, setting at defiance Sir Alexander 
 Livingstone and Sir William Crichton, who carried on the 
 
 1 He was buried in St. Bride's Church, Douglas, his tombstone representing him 
 as " Dominus Archibaldus Douglas, Dux Turonise, Comes de Douglas, et Longueville, 
 Dominus Gallovidiae, et Wigton, et Annandia?, Locum tenens Regis Scotiae."
 
 8o Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 government of Scotland during the minority of James II., was 
 eventually induced by them to attend a banquet at Edinburgh 
 along with his brother David, and that they were both seized at 
 the social board and sent off to instant execution ; the youthful 
 King, who was present, vainly crying out, "Spare them, spare them." 
 When thus foully done to death Earl Douglas was barely 
 seventeen years old. As he left no direct heir his sister 
 Margaret succeeded to his unentailed estates in Galloway and 
 Annandale, and his grand-uncle, James Earl of Avondale, son of 
 the first Duke and Duchess of Touraine, became next Lord of 
 Douglas. James was surnamed the Gross, because of his corpu- 
 lency ; and, resembling Falstaff in figure, he, like that famous 
 knight, habitually preferred discretion to valour. Not so his son 
 William, in whom were concentrated the bravery, the haughtiness, 
 the boundless ambition of the Douglas race. Succeeding to the 
 Earldom on the death of his father in 1443, William soon after- 
 wards obtained a divorce from his wife Jean or Janet, in order that 
 he might wed his cousin Margaret, and get with her as a marriage 
 portion all the family estates that were unentailed.* He thus added 
 greatly to his wealth. He became, in fact, about the richest as 
 well as the haughtiest subject in all the realm ; and the King's 
 counsellors soon found to their cost that the dreadful crime by 
 which they got rid of two Douglases had been of little avail to 
 them since now they were confronted by one — still more powerful, 
 reckless, disloyal, and defiant, and bent, too, on recompensing 
 
 ' Though VVilHam Douglas, the eighth Earl, repudiated his wedded partner. Lady 
 Jean, it has never been clearly shown that the bill of divorcement he obtained against 
 her was a legal document. David Crawford, the learned antiquary and historian, states, 
 as a result of his inquiries into the subject, that Douglas " found means to get rid of her 
 some way or other, we may presume very unwarrantably," " and that upon this he got 
 some kind of marriage patched up between himself and Lady Margaret Douglas, the 
 only daughter of his cousin Archibald Earl of Douglas, whose ward and marriage he 
 had got from the Crown by the charter thereof to him under the Great Seal in the year 
 1449." — Crawford's MS. Notes in Advocates' Library.
 
 The College. 8i 
 
 them for the " black dinner " hospitality which they had served 
 out to his kinsmen. 
 
 With the political intrigues and warlike exploits of Earl 
 William we meddle not, our subject requiring us to follow him 
 into scenes of a different kind, laid in Lincluden Church. Among 
 the offices held by him was that of Warden of the Western 
 Border, Its laws needed revision as he thought. To effect that 
 object he summoned " all the Lords, Freeholders, and oldest 
 Borderers of Scotland" to meet him at the College on the i8th of 
 December 1448. In these times it was usual for churchmen to 
 hold high offices of State, and it was no uncommon thing for 
 purely secular meetings to be held in ecclesiastical buildings. 
 There was no anomaly, therefore, in this great gathering of the 
 Border chiefs taking place at Lincluden. Looking to the amount 
 of work done, we should suppose that the deliberations must have 
 extended over several days. John Methven was Provost at the 
 time, and the Conference, which formed an epoch in his rule, and 
 would be to him a source of anxiety, seeing that on him devolved 
 the care of so many guests, was productive of very important 
 results. This is shown in the Harleian MSS., which embody 
 "the ordinances of war sett doune at Lincludan College by the 
 Commandment of Erie William of Douglasse."' 
 
 "Commandment," — that is the word used, and it rightly 
 expresses, we doubt not, the attitude taken up towards his fellow- 
 counsellors by the imperious Lord whose word was law in more 
 powerful circles than in this little parliament at Lincluden. Yet 
 he could unbend when he liked, and be geniality itself to those who 
 readily acknowledged his leadership. His claim to be chief luminary 
 
 1 The Lansdowne MS., No. 263, which, like the Harleian Collection, is preserved 
 in the British Museum, also contains Statutes of Scotland to be observed in time of 
 war as "sett doune at Linclodane by all the lords freeholders . . . anno 1448 by the 
 commandment of Erie Willm. Douglas." See Appendix. 
 
 L
 
 82 Chronicles of Lincbiden. 
 
 on this occasion would be disputed by no one present, so that the 
 proceedings would be throughout harmonious. From the above 
 document we learn that old statutes were recast, that a number of 
 new rules were adopted, and that the code thus completed pro- 
 hibited intercommuning with the enemy ; enjoined that all men 
 were to keep by their own respective companies ; that they were 
 to answer to their names when the host was arrayed ; that all 
 were to fight on foot, except such as got special leave from their 
 chief to ride on horseback ; that it regulated the terms of ransom ; 
 and set forth the penalties incurred for desertion and other 
 offences. "Whatever he be," runs clause eleventh, "that brings 
 a traytor to the Warden or his deputy, he shall have his re- 
 ward, a hundred shillings ; and he that puts him away fraudfully 
 shall underlie the pain of death like as the traitor should have 
 done." The thirteenth clause, which is also worth quoting, is in the 
 following terms: — "Whoever he be — an host of Englishmen 
 arriving in the country, the bales being burned — that follows not 
 the host, on horse or on foot, ever till the Englishmen be passed 
 off Scotland, and that they have sufficient witnesses thereof, all 
 their goods shall be escheat and their bodies at the Warden's will, 
 unless they have lauful excuse for them." Thus we see that these 
 Border forays, in which our forefathers indulged so much, were con- 
 ducted upon system when the cry arose, 
 
 " March, march, Ettrick and Teviotdale ; 
 
 Why, my lads, dinna ye march forward in order ? 
 March, march, Eskdale and Liddesdale, 
 All the blue bonnets are over the Border." 
 
 The war "ordinances" having been so successfully disposed 
 of, the presiding Earl brought forward the kindred question of the 
 bale-fires. As a result, the Conference enacted that nine beacons 
 should be erected in Nithsdale on the following heights: Ward-
 
 The College. 83 
 
 law, Rachoctoun, Barloch, Pittarra, Malow, Dowlback, Watchfell, 
 Corsell, and Corscincon ; and other eleven in Annandale, on 
 Gallowhill, Kindolknock, Bleis, Browanhill, Burrow - skcnton, 
 Quitsoun, Drysdail, Cowdens, Bailhill, Penchathill, and Trailtrow.^ 
 These beacons were placed under the charge of the Sheriff of 
 Nithsdale and the Stewards of Annandale and Kirkcudbright, with 
 strict injunctions that theyshould engage suitable persons to erect and 
 maintain the pyres and set them ablaze in time of need. By these 
 arrangements the system of signalling the approach of an invading 
 force was brought to a perfection unknown before." In its opera- 
 tion it must have saved many lives, and foreclosed or baulked 
 many plundering expeditions. Before breaking up the meeting 
 the Earl called for a copy of the Gospels, which having been 
 produced, he caused all present to swear upon the holy record 
 
 1 Introduction to Nicholson and Burns' History oj Westmorela7id and Cumberland, 
 p. 59. — It is difficult to identify some of these heights. For Rachoctoun we should prob- 
 ably read Tynron Doon ; Brownmuirhill for Browanhill ; Barr for Burrow ; Whitcomb 
 for Quitsoun ; Pendiclehill for Penchathill. As Criffel is sometimes written Crossfell in 
 old deeds we may assume that this is the Corsell named above ; next to it on the list 
 is the hill with which Burns associates it in the well-known lines, 
 
 " The Nith shall rin to Corsincon, 
 And Criffel sink in Sohvay, 
 Ere we permit a foreign foe 
 On British ground to rally." 
 
 - Some of the beacon hills on the banks of the Nith are described as follows in the re- 
 port drawn up ( i 563-66) at the instance of Queen Elizabeth, already quoted from : — "The 
 towne of Dumfreiss ys subjett to two lytill motes, one called the Beakin hill, which in thre 
 dayes may be the men in the watter of Nytht ; the other at theast gate [Crystal Mount], 
 where upoun the lytill chapell standetht hard by the towne, but removiable by less lauboures 
 nor tother, onless in case of fortification, yt might from that qwarter of the towne be 
 made a monte or bulwork, and upoun the west syde of the watter of Nytht at the brig 
 ende, the towne ys subjett to a hill [Corbelly Hill] whiche I think can doo lytU harme, 
 being almoste a quarter of myle distant from the towne, the revare of Nyght betui.x the 
 same, as my measoures will declare ; the towne of Dumfreis standeth vj myles within 
 the mowtht of Nytht, the hede towne of the schyre. The Lorde iMaxwell haitht a fare 
 howse battaled within this towne, but not tentable nor strong agains any battry or 
 gownes." — Armstrong's Liddesdale and the Debateable Land, Appendix, p. 1 10.
 
 84 Chronicles of Lmcluden. 
 
 that they would within their respective districts observe and cause 
 to be obeyed all the ordinances they had ratified, and assist him 
 in mving- them full effect. It would have been well for the eisfhth 
 Earl of Douglas, and well for his country, if the patriotism and the 
 wisdom which he displayed at the Lincluden Conference had 
 guided him throughout his career. 
 
 Within the brief period of twelve years after that memorable 
 gathering the family with whom Lincluden is so closely associated 
 met with a series of fearful disasters which culminated in their 
 downfall : Earl William stabbed to death in Stirling Castle by 
 James II. because he refused to break the bond which united 
 him to his rebel associates ; his brother James, the ninth Earl, 
 continuing the rebellious game with some faint glimmerings 
 of success, only to be swallowed up in deeper gloom ; his utter 
 defeat by the royal forces at Arkinholm in 1455 ;^ the passing 
 of a Parliamentary enactment next year attainting the Douglases, 
 and depriving them of all their titles and lands. At the date of 
 that document Galloway ceased to be an independent regality, after 
 having existed as such from an immemorial period ; its Lordship, 
 together with that of Eskdale, was annexed to the Crown, and 
 Annandale, with its appendant Castle of Lochmaben, was granted 
 by King James to his second son, Alexander, whom he created 
 Earl of March, Lord of Annandale, and Duke of Albany. 
 The King, who acted with such vigour in Galloway, was killed 
 by the accidental bursting of a cannon at the siege of Roxburgh 
 Castle. He was succeeded by his youthful son, James III., who, 
 as we shall afterwards see, paid a visit to Lincluden College in 
 company with his widowed mother under very interesting circum- 
 
 1 On the 23d of January 1452, less than three years before this battle, James, the 
 last Earl of Douglas, granted a charter to the Friars Minors of the tolls levied at Devor- 
 gilla's Bridge, Dumfries, confirmatory of the original grant given by the first Duchess 
 of Touraine.
 
 The College. 85 
 
 stances. Before reaching his seventeenth year a consort was 
 selected for him by his courtiers, this being "the King's daughter 
 of Noroway o'er the faem," who, on becoming Queen of Scots, 
 received in 1473 from her royal husband as part of her dowry 
 the entire Lordship of Galloway, with the Castle of Thrieve, and 
 the revenues of the burghs of Kirkcudbright and Wigtown.^ 
 
 Consequent on these revolutionary changes a royal Chamberlain, 
 with an annual salary of ;^I20 Scots, now bore modest sway in 
 the province over which the M'Dowalls and after them the Doug- 
 lases had for centuries ruled like sovereign princes. John Win- 
 chester, Provost of Lincluden in 1456, would, no doubt, lament the 
 downfall of his patrons, yet that event must have been a gain to 
 him in some respects. Their greatness made him relatively small; 
 but now he could breathe more freely, and step out more boldly. 
 He had a much larger income than the Chamberlain ; he would be 
 recognised locally as at least equal in position to that official ; and, 
 generally speaking, he and his successors had no reason to regret 
 the change that transferred the patronage of the Provostry to the 
 Crown. 
 
 The name of the great historical family of the Maxwells became 
 ere long afterwards closely linked with that of Lincluden, or more 
 strictly speaking, a connection formed between them so far back 
 as 1 1 80 was renewed in the middle of the fifteenth century. The 
 daughter of Rolland, son of the founder of the Abbey, became the 
 spouse of Eugene de Maccuswell, he acquiring with her lands in 
 East Galloway ; and when the representative of the grim Earl 
 who expelled the Benedictine nuns from their own house was 
 himself banished out of Galloway, Robert Lord Maxwell, the 
 representative of Rolland's daughter and of her husband Eugene, 
 acquired a share of the forfeited property of the Douglases. He 
 was made Steward of Kirkcudbrightshire and Castellan of Thrieve. 
 
 1 Ads of Parliament, vo\. ii. pp. l88, 189. Regist. Magni Sigilli, wth Oct. 1473.
 
 86 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 Nearly 200 years before the battle of Arkinholm Sir John Herries, 
 as we have already seen, received the Barony of Terregles, on 
 which Lincluden stands, from David II. His descendant. Sir 
 Robert Herries, married Margaret, daughter of the founder of 
 the College ; and after the flight of another century the Barony 
 passed by marriage to the Maxwells of Nithsdale, who still retain 
 it. Thus, in a curious, double manner, the subject of our narrative 
 became connected with the Maxwells, and it acquired fresh interest 
 in many ways from the relationship, as we shall endeavour after- 
 wards to show ; yet the Douglas interest in the fortunes of the 
 College never fairly died out till far into the seventeenth century. 
 For about 200 years after the last Earl of Douglas was forfeited 
 the house built by his ancestor supplied a home and sustenance 
 for not a few men of their own kith and kin — most if not all its 
 provosts, and many of its prebends, being related to the family. 
 It was foretold of another Border house that whatever changes 
 might arise there would still be "a Haig in Bemersyde," so in blood 
 or name, or both, one Douglas after another ruled over Lincluden 
 many long years after the power of their chief had passed away. 
 
 Memorable in the annals of Lincluden is the year 1460. Its 
 Provost at that time was James Lindsay, whose utmost resources 
 were taxed for the entertainment of more than one royal guest 
 who claimed his hospitality during the summer of the year just 
 specified. The chief of these was Margaret of Anjou, niece of the 
 King from whom Archibald Tyneman received his French title, — 
 a lady of heroic mould, whose name is kept ever bright by the 
 nimbus-like radiance that has been cast over it by history, poetry, 
 and romance. Possessed of rare personal beauty, she won the 
 heart of England's sixth Henry when that somewhat commonplace 
 monarch was prosecuting his wars against France, and as a result 
 she, the daughter of a petty sovereign, became sharer with her royal 
 husband of one of the proudest thrones in Christendom, and virtual
 
 The College. 87 
 
 ruler of the English realm. But the elevation of the young Queen 
 to such high rank and power was only the prelude to her of 
 troubles and trials innumerable. The Yorkist party, who had 
 always disputed the claim of Henry to the crown, entered the field 
 against him, thus initiating the protracted Wars of the Roses. At 
 the battle of Northampton, fought on the loth of July 1460, the 
 royal army was put to the rout and the King himself was taken 
 prisoner. Queen Margaret and their son Edward, a child of eight 
 years, would have shared the same fate had they not escaped by 
 flight. 
 
 Whither could they go to be certain of safety? Little difficulty 
 would the Queen have in answering this question. To Scotland, 
 the faithful ally of France, whose royal house was related to her 
 own — to the land of Douglas Duke of Touraine, her uncle's friend. 
 So resolving, the fair fugitive, with her young son and a small 
 retinue, crossed the Border and threw herself, in the first instance, 
 on the hospitality of the burgesses of Dumfries, from whom she 
 received a hearty welcome and, as Miss Strickland states, "uni- 
 versal sympathy."^ In these days even bad news did not travel 
 fast, and probably when the Queen of England entered Dumfries 
 she was not aware that the Douglases had fallen from power ; 
 and it was certainly not till she stepped on Scottish ground that 
 she heard how King James II. had been accidentally deprived of 
 life, and that his consort, Mary of Gueldres, was now a widow. 
 
 Obeying her own womanly instincts probably, Queen Margaret 
 did not at once proceed to the Court of her kinswoman, but went 
 direct to Lincluden, with whose name she must have been familiar, 
 and where she could be certain of meeting with friends. Accom- 
 panied, it may be, by some of the Dumfries magistrates, the 
 
 1 These statements are given on the authority of Miss Strickland. See her Lives 
 of the Queens of England, p. 584 (Bohn's Edition). According to Wyrcestre's Annals, 
 p. 774, Queen Margaret entered Scotland from Wales.
 
 88 Chronicles of Lincludeji. 
 
 royal lady, with her son and suite, appeared as a suppliant at 
 the gates of the Collegiate Church. Her presence there under 
 such pathetic circumstances secured for her all that she solicited, 
 and more — a place of sanctuary — a home which, though not sump- 
 tuous like the palaces she had been used to, was yet secure and at 
 least moderately comfortable. 
 
 These were the first of Provost Lindsay's regal visitors. Who 
 should follow them soon but the Queen mother of Scotland and 
 her son, not a bit older than the refugee Prince of Wales, though, 
 as King James III., his "baby brow" already bore "the golden 
 round of sovereignty." Occupied for a while with the obsequies of 
 her departed husband and the coronation of his heir, no sooner 
 were these ceremonies over than the Queen Dowager and the 
 youthful King, responding to letters sent to her by "the royal 
 heroine of the Red Rose,"^ travelled in high state south to Lin- 
 cluden. Our readers may imagine the kind of meeting that ensued 
 when the two Queens were brought face to face : clasped in each 
 other's arms, interchanging the kisses of sisterly love, mingling their 
 tears together, and the rainbow smile of hope playing at times on 
 the lips of each. The visit paid by the royal widow to the royal 
 exile was much more than an affair of courtesy : she brought in 
 her train a number of trusty councillors, and many conferences 
 between the two ladies were held with their assistance and that of 
 the English lords who accompanied their Queen. At these de- 
 liberations, which extended over twelve days, the best modes of 
 repairing the fortunes of Margaret of Anjou were discussed. Mean- 
 while she received a promise of troops from her kind protectress, 
 on condition that Berwick should be restored to the Scots ; and it 
 is even said that the fond dream was indulged in that if the Lan- 
 castrian cause prevailed the union of the two royal houses and of 
 their respective kingdoms might be brought about by the marriage 
 
 1 Miss Strickland's Lives of the Queens of Englatid.
 
 The College. 89 
 
 of Prince Edward with the Princess Mary, sister of King James.' 
 For a fortnight at least old Lincluden would wear quite a courtly 
 aspect ; and it is a puzzle to us how the Provost, even when his 
 own Lodging and all his other best rooms were turned to account, 
 managed to provide anything like adequate accommodation for his 
 numerous and distinguished guests. 
 
 Some furnishings and food supplies would probably be brought 
 by the Scottish royal party ; and it is known that a considerable 
 quantity of wine was sent from Falkland Palace for the entertain- 
 ment of the company. In the accounts of William, Abbot of 
 Dundrennan, as Chamberlain of Galloway, from the loth of July 
 1460 to the 6th of the following March, credit is taken for a pay- 
 ment of _;^i3 : I OS. "for three pipes of white wine of Poitou, and of 
 32s. for the carriage of the same to the College of Lincloudan ; 
 also for three bolls of salt for use at the time when the Queen 
 received the Queen and the Prince of England ; also a payment 
 of I2s, 2d. for the expense of two servants riding with letters from 
 the College of Lincluden to Kirkcudbright and the Rynnys."^ 
 
 There is a more curious entry still — a note on the account of 
 the bailies of Dumfries as rendered at Edinburgh by one of their 
 number, Herbert Gledstanys, 7th July 1460 to 7th March 1460-61 — 
 which states that the sum of 15s. is to be allowed to the accountant 
 in his next account for a bed-cover and a pair of sheets lost at 
 Lincluden when the Queen was there with the Queen of England ; 
 which allowance is accordingly made at the following audit on the 
 loth of July 1462.^ We may reasonably infer from this minute 
 
 1 Asloan MS., pp. 21, 58. 
 
 2 Exchequer Rolls, vol. vii. 8, 9. 
 
 2 Miss Strickland gives the following additional extracts from the Exchequer Rolls, 
 29th August 1460 : — " Payment made to Duncan Dundas for the expense of Margaret 
 of England staying with our Lady the Queen, incurred by bringing her to the parts of 
 Scotland, the Keeper of the Privy Seal attesting the order, the sum of xvii//. xii^. ; and 
 for the wages of two grooms of the Prince of England abiding in Falkland, for the 
 
 M
 
 90 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 that more household articles than the missing ones it specifies had 
 been lent or sold by the lieges of Dumfries to complete the extra 
 plenishing of the College when Provost Lindsay was called upon 
 to entertain two Queens, two royal Princes, and ever so many 
 Lords, for such a lengthened period.^ 
 
 Within less than a year from the date of this deeply interesting 
 Lincluden episode Margaret made a bold attempt to redeem her 
 fortunes at Towton. There, however, she sustained a crushing 
 defeat, and, as a result, the head of the rival house was crowned king 
 under the title of Edward IV. Not till two more valorous efforts 
 had been put forth in vain by the unfortunate but heroic Queen 
 did she give up the struggle, and then — widowed, childless, for- 
 
 keeping of the horses of the said Prince thirteen days, each of them receiving eight 
 pennies a day, and mounting in the whole xvij-. \\\\d." 
 
 1 The further fortunes of Margaret of Anjou, and of her husband, are traced in the 
 following interesting extract from preface to vol. vii., Exchequer Rolls : — 
 
 " On returning to England Margaret quickly assembled an army. The temporary 
 triumph of her party at Wakefield, the slaughter of the Duke of York and his son 
 Richard, and the reverses sustained by the Lancastrians at Mortimer's Cross, the 
 second battle at St. Albans and Towton, are familiar incidents in English history. 
 After the defeat of Towton (March 29, 1461) Queen Margaret and her husband 
 (Henry VI.) seem to have made their way to Berwick, where, as had been prearranged, 
 they brought about the surrender of that Border town and its castle to the Scots. The 
 Royal party, including among others the Dukes of Somerset and Exeter, Lord Roos and 
 his son, then made their way into Scotland. The Paston Letters mention as a current 
 report that the King remained at Kirkcudbright with four men and a boy, while the 
 Queen and Prince went on to Edinburgh ; but such does not appear to have been the 
 fact. Preparations were made at once for the reception of the English King and Queen 
 at Linlithgow Palace, and marts and muttons were supplied to them by the Steward 
 of the Queen's household. While Queen Margaret pledged a gold cup to the Scottish 
 Queen Dowager, we find 100 crowns (^50) given, either as a loan or a present, to the 
 English Queen. From Linlithgow the distinguished fugitives proceeded to Edinburgh, 
 taking up their residence in the Convent of the Dominican Friars, a provision of four 
 marts with hides, twenty-one carcases of marts and fifty sheep, for the e.xpenses of the 
 King of England, appearing of this date in the amounts of the custumars of Edinburgh. 
 . . . The young Prince spent part of his time at Falkland with the Scottish Queen 
 Dowager, the length of sojourn there being on one occasion specified as thirteen days ; 
 and the whole stay of the Royal party in Scotland seems to have exceeded a year."
 
 The College. 91 
 
 lorn, yet not subdued — she sought refuge at her father's Court in 
 Flanders. The Queen's son, who received an asylum with her at 
 Lincluden, was no longer her companion, he having been treacher- 
 ously murdered by the two brothers of King Edward, Clarence 
 and Gloucester, in 147 1. Of all the poor lady's losses and crosses 
 she looked upon this as the worst that had fallen to her lot. What 
 she felt, if not what she literally said on the subject of the Prince's 
 death, is finely expressed by our greatest writer of historical 
 romance when describing her accidental meeting with the fugitive 
 Earl of Oxford in Strasburg Cathedral.^ Replying to his remark 
 that happy times might still be in store for her, she is represented 
 as saying, "If to-morrow's sun could place me once more on the 
 throne of England, could it give back to me what I have lost ? I 
 speak not of wealth or power — they are as nothing in the balance ; 
 I speak not of the hosts of noble friends who have fallen in 
 defence of me and mine — Somersets, Percys, Staffords, Cliffords — 
 they have found their place in fame, in the annals of their country ; 
 I speak not of my husband, he has exchanged the state of a 
 suffering saint upon earth for that of a glorified saint in heaven. 
 But, O Oxford ! my son — my Edward. . . . Thy Arthur lives ; 
 but alas ! my Edward, born under the same auspices, fills a bloody 
 grave!" 
 
 James III., who, as a boy, spent a few bright days at Lincluden 
 in company with Queen Margaret's son, also experienced a violent 
 death, from an unknown hand, after a rebel force had defeated his 
 army at Sauchieburn. He was succeeded by his son, James IV., 
 the noblest monarch of all the Stewart race. Handsome, accom- 
 plished, patriotic, and chivalrous, he marred the beauty of his 
 character by an occasional divergence into questionable pursuits ; 
 and when these indulgences bore heavily on his mind he sought 
 relief in fasts and other mortifications prescribed by the Church. 
 
 ' Anne of Geierstein, chap. xxiv.
 
 92 Chronicles of Lincliidcn. 
 
 The sensitive conscience of the King charged him with having 
 been an accessory to his father's murder, though he was but the 
 nominal leader of the mutinous barons at Sauchieburn. To 
 expiate this imaginary crime James ever afterwards wore an iron 
 girdle round his waist, to the weight of which some ounces were 
 added every year. All readers of Marmion are familiar with the 
 picture given of him — at home alike in festive hall or on battle- 
 field, yet subject even in his merriest hours to sudden fits of 
 depression — 
 
 " If in a sudden turn he felt 
 
 The pressure of his iron belt 
 
 That bound his breast in penance-pain, 
 
 In memory of his father slain." 
 
 During almost every year of his reign James appeared before 
 the shrine of St. Ninian at Whithorn to bewail his transgressions, 
 real or imaginary. On a special occasion he went thither bare- 
 footed, as Drummond of Hawthornden tells us, in order to pray 
 for the recovery of his Queen from a childbed sickness that 
 brought her " near the last agony of death." As was his wont, 
 the royal pilgrim took rest at the various religious houses that lay 
 along the line of his travel, the College Church in Terregles 
 among the number, as the subjoined entries, copied from the 
 Lord Treasurer's accounts, serve to show : — " 3 Aug. 1505. Item, 
 that samyn day in Linclowden, to the piparis to pairt among 
 them yX\]s. (forty-two shillings). Item, to the masonis of Lin- 
 clowden, of drinksilver xiiijj-. (fourteen shillings)." On that day 
 we may be sure the King would pay his devotions at another 
 shrine, which possessed no miraculous pretensions — the tomb of 
 his great-grandaunt — a true saint, though aiever canonized — the 
 illustrious Duchess of Touraine. The Queen having recovered 
 soon afterwards, the reputation of the Saint increased ; and next 
 summer saw the grateful King once more at St. Ninian's, accom-
 
 The College. 93 
 
 panied this time by his Consort and by an imposing retinue that 
 made their visit look more Hke a royal procession than a " pil- 
 grim's progress." The College opened its gates to receive the 
 King on this occasion also, Provost George Hepburn, who then 
 ruled over it, being no doubt delighted with the opportunities that 
 had been afforded to him of entertaining such an illustrious guest. 
 By way of largess his Majesty, on the 3d of May 1506, gave 
 eighteen shillings (xviijV.) "to the menstrales in Linclowden;" 
 and "ane priest in Linclowden received six shillings ' (y']s.) be the 
 King's command." Between these scenes of mingled penitence, 
 piety, and mirth, and the unrelieved gloom — the unspeakable 
 agony — of Flodden field, there is the greatest possible contrast ; 
 yet they were separated by little more than seven years. When 
 the gallant King perished in the fight there fell by his side many 
 representatives of families closely connected with the subject of 
 our narrative, among others — John, Lord Maxwell, with his four 
 brothers ; Robert, Lord Herries, with his brother Andrew ; Uch- 
 tred M'Dowall of Garthland, with his eldest son Thomas ; Gilbert 
 M'Dowall of Freuch ; Charles M'Dowall of Logan ; Sir Alex- 
 ander Gordon of Lochinvar ; Sir Alexander Stewart of Garlies ; 
 and Sir William Douglas of Drumlanrig. To the "moaning" 
 that the disaster drew forth from "ilka green loaning" — to the 
 wild lament which it wrung from the very heart of the nation — 
 Nithsdale and Galloway contributed more than an ordinary share. 
 
 ' Lord Treasurer's Accounts. In each of these instances the performing musicians 
 we may assume, belonged to the wandering class who were in the habit of visiting 
 religious houses not less than baronial castles or mansions, and received food, lodging, 
 and largess in return for their minstrelsy.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE COLLEGE. 
 
 Effect of the Reformation on Lincluden — John, the eighth Lord Maxwell, causes mass 
 to be celebrated in the College Church — Is punished for this illegal act by the 
 Privy Council — He is defeated and slain by the Johnstones at the battle of Dryfe 
 Sands — Burial of his remains in Lincluden — His son, the ninth Lord, avenges his 
 father's death by assassinating the Laird of Johnstone — Local connection of Lin- 
 cluden with the deed. 
 
 Soon after the death of James V. in 1542 the Reformation, by 
 which the Roman Catholic EstabUshment was eventually over- 
 thrown, began to make progress. John Knox gave an irresistible 
 stimulus to the Protestant movement ; and before Mary of Guise, 
 the Queen Regent, died in 1560, it had, through his labours 
 chiefly, spread over the whole land, though she had striven with 
 all her might to arrest its course. Towards the close of the same 
 year the first General Assembly of the Reformed Church was held, 
 and the foundation of the new Establishment firmly laid. In the 
 following year the Dauphin of France, to whom the daughter of 
 King James had been married, died, and his youthful and beauti- 
 ful widow returned to Scotland as its Queen, though, unfortunately 
 for herself, she made her rule impossible by endeavouring vainly 
 to overthrow the Protestant Establishment and build up anew the 
 Papal Church. The armed conflict with the Lords of the Congre-
 
 The College. 95 
 
 gation which Mary's policy provoked ended disastrously for her 
 at Langside in 1568 ; the intensely pathetic sequel being her flight 
 to England and her lengthened captivity there, from which she 
 escaped only by a cruel death at the hands of the executioner. 
 
 This brief notice of the momentous events that were crowded 
 into the twenty years which preceded Langside is all that is neces- 
 sary for the purposes of our narrative. At the beginning of the 
 period the monastic system was still in full force. Shaken by the 
 voice of Knox and undermined by its own innate defects, it rapidly 
 gave way, reaching the nadir of its doom in the summer and early 
 autumn of 1560.^ The Galloway monasteries were about the last 
 to yield. Lincluden withstood the shock of the Reformation longer 
 than its sister establishments ; and we know from documentary 
 evidence that its prebends, if not also its Provost, cherished for 
 awhile the fond delusion that Queen Mary, aided by her devoted 
 friend Lord Herries, would be able in some mysterious way to 
 bring about a reaction in favour of the old faith. 
 
 Occasionally, if not regularly, some members of the Terregles 
 family lodged in Lincluden, and the body of at least one of their 
 historical chiefs was buried there in, it is believed, a sepulchral 
 vault built at the east end of the church. The excavations at that 
 part of the ruins may possibly, when further proceeded with, reveal 
 the last earthly resting-place of John, the eighth Lord Maxwell, 
 
 1 "It was on the 17th of August (1560) that the Parliament adopted the Confes- 
 sion of Faith as the confession of its faith. But something more required to be done 
 to make the work of Reformation complete. On the 24th of the month the Estates 
 again assembled and passed three Acts, which finished the long reign of Romanism in 
 the country. By the first it was statute and ordained that all previous Acts of Parlia- 
 ment regarding the censures of the Church, or the worshipping of saints, should be 
 annulled and deleted from the statute-book. By the second the Pope's jurisdiction was 
 abolished within the realm. By the third to say a mass or hear a mass was made 
 criminal ; the first offence to be punished with confiscation of goods ; the second with 
 banishment ; the third with death." — Dr. J. Cunningham's Church History of Scotland, 
 vol. i. p. 276.
 
 96 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 who when alive scarcely knew what it was to be at peace or rest. 
 He opposed the Reformation to the uttermost, set the Govern- 
 ment at defiance by causing mass to be celebrated in the College, 
 originated a local movement for facilitating the Spanish invasion 
 of this country by the Invincible Armada, which had for its object 
 the overthrow of Protestantism ; was put under arrest for his dis- 
 loyalty, and, after having been leniently dealt with, became in- 
 volved in new troubles which only terminated at his death. 
 
 Of the mass celebration a few details must be o-iven. Lord 
 Maxwell knew that such an act would alienate from him the royal 
 favour, which he had regained ; but he resolved nevertheless to 
 manifest by that means in the most public way possible his adher- 
 ence to Romanism. Responding to his summons, a large body of 
 his followers, with several ecclesiastics, met at Dumfries on Christ- 
 mas Day 1585, marched to Lincluden, and on arriving there mass 
 was performed with unusual splendour and effect. For 400 years 
 the sacred fane, first as an Abbey and next as a College, had been 
 the scene of such religious rites ; " but the choral swell with which 
 the venerable walls rung on this occasion was as the dying requiem 
 of the ancient faith — mass never having been since said or sung 
 in the house of Uchtred." ^ 
 
 Lord Maxwell was forthwith summoned to appear before the 
 Privy Council for thus daring to celebrate mass contrary to the 
 law.^ He had to expiate his offence by undergoing an imprison- 
 ment of several months, and was liberated on condition that he 
 would make penitential submission to the Kirk. He appeared 
 accordingly " in presence of the haill Assembly," and, " in respect 
 of his obedience, protested his cautioner sould be freed, and took 
 instruments upon his compearance and protestatioune." There- 
 upon the Court, because " they knew not the cause of his com- 
 
 1 History of Dumfries, 2d edition, p. 259. 
 
 2 Calderwood, vol. iv p. 489.
 
 The College. 97 
 
 pearance, nor the King's Majestie's command thairanent, desyrit 
 him to be present the morn before noon," and meanwhile decHned 
 to cancel the obligations of his cautioner. The second day's pro- 
 ceedings in the case are thus recorded : — " Compeirit the Earl of 
 Mortoune, Lord Maxwell, being accusit for the heiring of mass, 
 and [the minute of] the King's Majestie's Privie Counsell being 
 read for the satisfactione of the Kirk thairanent, he answerit that 
 he had satisfyed the King's law and desyrit the conference of learnit 
 men concernyng the Religion and participatione of the Lord's 
 table. "^ As three years afterwards Maxwell was mixed up with the 
 Spanish Armada affair, the sincerity of his professions before the 
 Assembly may well be questioned. However, on the 26th of 
 January 1593, he, whether from motives of policy or conviction, 
 subscribed the Confession of Faith before the Presbytery of 
 Edinburgh. - 
 
 When that year had reached its latest day the church bells of 
 Lincluden tolled mournfully, and the doleful requiem for the dead 
 constituted its chief religious service. There had been fought on 
 the 6th of December a great clan battle at Dryfe Sands, near 
 Lockerbie, between the Maxwells, led by their chief, who was 
 then Warden of the Western marches, and the Johnstones of 
 Annandale, in which the Nithsdale men suffered a sore defeat. 
 Retreating with his broken forces from the field when further 
 resistance was hopeless, Lord Maxwell had been struck from his 
 horse by an Annandale trooper and then mercilessly despatched. 
 
 Due arrangements having been made for the obsequies of the 
 slaughtered chief, written invitations to attend the funeral at Lin- 
 cluden were issued by William, Lord Herries, in name of the youthful 
 son of the deceased. A copy of the letter sent to Sir John Maxwell 
 of Pollok is subjoined : — "Ye have hard of the unfortunat slaughter 
 
 1 Book of the Universal Kirk of Scotland, p. 294. 
 2 Calderwood, vol. v. p. 222. 
 
 N
 
 98 Chronicles of Lmcluden. 
 
 of your chieff, my Loird Erie of Mortoun.^ I, with advyis of his 
 frendis here hes thocht meet that the buriall of his body sal be 
 upon Soneday, the penult of December instant ; and [your attend- 
 ance is desired] because ye are ane of his speciall friendis quhais 
 presence is most requisite, baith for the furthsett of the burriall 
 and for your counsell to be had anent the taking ordour with his 
 Loirdshippe's bayrnes leving and friendis. — Dumfries, xi. Dec 
 
 1593-" = 
 
 The appointed day arrives. Toll the bells of Lincluden 
 
 mournfully, begin the solemn burial service, let the plaint of 
 sorrow mingle with the music of the choristers as the gates of 
 the Church open to admit the coffined dust of the unfortunate 
 Lord and the long train of mourners by which it is accompanied ! 
 With all these manifestations of respect and grief the obsequies 
 of the deceased were celebrated. His tragical fate was deeply 
 mourned in Nithsdale and Galloway, and excited a feeling of 
 sympathy far beyond the district. Turbulent, contentious, and 
 aggressive he undoubtedly was, yet he possessed many virtues. 
 According to the testimony of Calderwood, he was "humane, 
 learned, and courteous;"^ and his faults were forgotten, at least 
 by his friends, when they laid him in the tomb. As regards some 
 of the mourners, a strong desire for revenge upon Sir James John- 
 stone of Dunskellie, chief of the Annandale clan, would mingle 
 with their sorrow : if the youthful son of the deceased, when 
 standing at the grave's mouth, did not literally say, like Edgar 
 Ravenswood under somewhat similar circumstances, " Heaven do 
 as much to me and more if I requite not to this man and his 
 house the ruin and disgrace he has brought on me and mine," * 
 
 ' Lord Maxwell took this title, though it was borne also by the then Regent of 
 Scotland, who seems to have had no proper claim to it. 
 
 2 Max^uells of Pollok, p. 170. 3 Vol. ii. p. 47. 
 
 * Bride 0/ Lammermoor, chap. ii.
 
 The College. 99 
 
 we know that the ninth Lord Maxwell registered the same vow 
 in his heart. And then how ruthlessly he gave effect to his 
 resolution by, long afterwards, assassinating the Annandale chief! 
 Here we might have left the subject had it not been that there 
 are strong grounds for concluding that the crime was planned in 
 Lincluden, and that Lord Maxwell hurried red-handed from the 
 scene of the tragedy to take shelter under the roof of the College. 
 It is due to the assassin to state that though Sir James Johnstone 
 was enjoying the favour of royalty at the time, he had previously 
 been "put to the horn" for having "murdred" the king's repre- 
 sentative at Dryfe Sands, and afterwards been guilty of other 
 deeds of violence and treason committed against a body of royal 
 troops sent to Annandale under the new Warden, Lord Herries, 
 for the purpose of tranquillising the district. The light in which 
 Johnstone was viewed by the Government is reflected in the follow- 
 ing proclamation dated at Holyrood House 31st January 1598 : — 
 " Our Sovrane Lord and Estaits presentlie convenit having con- 
 siderit the complaint and supplicatioun gevein in be the subjectis 
 inhabitantis within the boundis of Niddesdaill, Annandaill and 
 uther pairtis of the west bordour, beiring in effect that quhair it is 
 not unknawin to his Ma'j? and Lordis of Counsall quhat grit odious 
 and detestabill slauchteris, murthuris, bluidschedis, and enormiteis 
 hes bene perpetrat and comittit be the Laird of Johnnestoun, his 
 name, kyn, and friends : having first maist crewallie and unmerci- 
 fullie slane and murtherit umqle Johnne Lord Maxwell, his hienes 
 Lieutenant and officiar for the tyme, with the Laird of Nather- 
 pook and sindrie uthers, barrounis and gentilmen to the number 
 of threttie or fourtie : Nixt a grit number of honest men of the 
 Sanquhar, with sindrie gentilmen and others sensyne, to the grit 
 contempt of God, his Ma'.'F, all forme of law and justice, and the 
 troubill of the quyet estait of the cuntrey : And how that the said 
 Laird continewis still in prosequiting a maist wyld and bludie
 
 lOO Chronicles of Lincludcn. 
 
 course without respect of assurance, ayth, or promeis, or reserveing 
 of ony dewtie toward God his Ma'J5, or mutuall luif and cheritie 
 towardis his nychtbour " — for these enormities all good subjects 
 are forbidden to receive, supply, fortify, assist, intercommune with, 
 show favour to, or intercede for the said Laird of Johnstone, under 
 pain of his Highness' indignation, and all who disobey are threatened 
 with condign punishment.^ 
 
 From this deadly-looking missive Dunskellie received no harm. 
 Strange to say, soon after its emission the fickle - minded King 
 received his refractory subject at Court, and endeavoured with 
 apparent success to effect a reconcilement between him and the 
 enemy of his house. Maxwell, urged by his Sovereign Highness, 
 agreed to retire to his Castle of M earns in Clydesdale, first granting 
 "letters of slanes^' on behalf of Sir James Johnstone, remitting 
 and forgiving " all hatred, rancour, mutual grudge, and quarrel 
 which he had against him for the slaughter of John Lord Maxwell, 
 his father, and all other slaughters, mutilations, and insolencies 
 which followed thereon.'"" As events proved, however, the recon- 
 ciliation thus effected was a mere pretence, so far as the Nithsdale 
 chief was concerned. After a brief stay in Lanarkshire he returned 
 home still cherishing vengeance ; the usage of the period not less 
 than the feelings of his heart urging him to compass the death of 
 Dunskellie at all risks and hazards. 
 
 Dreading such an issue, and anxious to foreclose its occurrence, 
 Sir Robert Maxwell of Orchardtoun, who was on cordial terms 
 with the two barons, brought about a personal interview between 
 them, each, according to arrangement, being accompanied by a 
 friend, with the mediating Laird also present. The meeting 
 was held at Auchmanhill, parish of Holywood, the Nithsdale Lord 
 having for his companion Charles Maxwell, an "ill-conditioned" 
 
 1 Ada Parliavioitoriiiii Jacobi VI., p. i66. 
 2 Annandale Papers.
 
 The College. loi 
 
 kinsman, and Dunskellie riding on an old nag " for secresie of die 
 tryst," having his relative, WilHam Johnstone of Lockerbie, as his 
 associate. Before the principals forgathered each pledged his 
 oath to Orchardtoun that, " whatever might be the upshot other- 
 wise, they would meet fairlie and part fairlie;" and as matters 
 wore a promising aspect, the well-meaning mediator withdrew to 
 a short distance, fully expecting that the result would be satis- 
 factory. 
 
 Meanwhile the two subordinates exchange words. " Gif I had 
 known of this tryst," said Charles Maxwell peevishly, "the Lord 
 Maxwell neither could nor should have brought me here." — " I 
 hope in God, Charlie," responds the other, " ye do not rue of 
 coming here for so good an object ! for thir twa noblemen have 
 been lang at variance, and I hope now they shall agree, and be 
 gude friends." To which the other, working himself into a rage, 
 and affecting to be on the side of injured innocence, thus retorts : 
 "Agree? Impossible! The Laird of Johnstone is not able to 
 make amends for the great skaith and injury he has done to the 
 house of Maxwell!" — "But," said Johnstone soothingly, "our 
 chief can come in his Lordship's will, and do all he is able to 
 satisfy him and his friends." — " Not so," said the other, raising 
 his voice and getting into a transport of passion, real or simulated ; 
 "and as for this tryst, it is only made for our prejudice; and 
 that man," pointing to Dunskellie, " has sought his wraik, and 
 we should never have met you, for ye are all traitors!— -all 
 traitors ! " 
 
 Johnstone, knowing how all-important it is to avoid a quarrel 
 at this critical period, patiently protests that he would enter into 
 no altercation that day. " But," he adds, his Border blood warm- 
 ing at the provoking language addressed to him, "send your man 
 to me in a day or two, and I shall satisfy you." No verbal answer 
 is given to this remark : Charlie replies to it with a pistol-shot.
 
 I02 Chronicles of Lmclzidejt. 
 
 Lockerbie raises his pistol to return the fire, but it flashes in the 
 pan ; and then he shouts loudly, " Murder ! treason ! " Sir James 
 Johnstone, summoned by the cry of alarm, turns round to ride 
 back ; so does Lord Maxwell, the latter at the same time drawing 
 a pistol as if to take aim at Dunskellie. " Fie, my Lord ! " en- 
 treats the startled mediator, now rushing forward ; " mak not 
 yourself a traitor and me both." — " Upbraid me not," answers the 
 Nithsdale chief; " I am wyteless." Yet he follows the defenceless 
 Laird of Johnstone — fires — the shot takes fatal effect — for a minute 
 or more the dying man retains his seat— then the weak old horse 
 below him founders — its girth gives way — prone to the earth falls 
 the ill-fated chief, treacherously slain in the flower of his age — life's 
 sands ebbing rapidly away. Vainly does his faithful friend en- 
 deavour to get him borne off on his own powerful steed. While 
 thus engaged Charles Maxwell, with superfluous malignity, fires 
 another shot at the bleeding victim, who, after dolefully exclaiming, 
 " I am deceived ! " and fervently praying, " Lord, have mercy on 
 me ! Christ, have mercy on me ! " breathes his last, and is beyond 
 reach of the fiendish hate which plotted his ruin, and the help of 
 the strong human love which his kinsman manifests by ineffectual 
 sobs and tears. 
 
 "Come away! let us be off," cried Lord Maxwell, when the 
 butchery was completed. " My Lord," remonstrated his demoniac 
 emissary, "will ye ride away and leave this bludie thief Johnstone 
 of Lockerbie behind ? " — "What reck of him," quoth Nithsdale, 
 "since the other has had enough!" and with these words both 
 rode away from the dismal scene.' 
 
 The night of the tragedy was spent by the pair in Lincluden 
 
 1 A full account of this " bluidy tr>'st" appears in the ?i\3X\\ox's History of Dumfries^ 
 the first edition of which bears date 1867, based on evidence given at the trial of Lord 
 Maxwell, as reported in Pitcairn's Criminal Trials. From this account we have drawn 
 to some extent in the text. The Book of Carlaverock, published many years afterwards, 
 contains a very similar sketch.
 
 Tlic College. 103 
 
 College. That they sallied forth from it to the fatal trysting-place 
 is more than probable ; that they returned to it after their work 
 was done seems to be a matter of certainty. There is a charter 
 in existence, signed by John, Lord Maxwell, at Lincluden, in 
 which he grants the five-pound farm of Nunbellie, belonging to 
 the Provostry, to Charles Maxwell and his heirs "for a certain 
 sum, and in consideration of good services gratuitously rendered 
 by the grantee to the granter." ^ This document bears date the 
 6th of April 1608, the day of the murder of Sir James Johnstone. 
 Can there be a doubt that the " good services " vaguely acknow- 
 ledged in the charter refer to the share taken by its recipient in 
 the terrible crime ? 
 
 For a while afterwards Maxwell remained at large, though 
 summoned to appear for trial before the High Court of Justiciary, 
 charged with sundry other crimes besides the one that capped 
 them all. Not only did he pour contempt on the writ of summons: 
 he also put the royal authority at defiance, going about the country 
 " in a bragging manner, as gif there had been na King in Isreil 
 nor na punishment for offence." ' Tried in absence, he was found 
 guilty, and condemned to suffer " the tynfall of his lyfe and con- 
 fiscation of all his gudis." Soon all the resources of the Crown, 
 general and local, were drawn upon to secure his capture ; and, 
 hard pressed on every side, the bold outlawed rebel sinks into a 
 terror-stricken fugitive. He finds a hiding-place for a while in or 
 about Dumfries ; and the College, which is so closely associated 
 with his crime, stands up for a brief season between him and the 
 grisly scaffold that is hungering for its prey. But even faithful 
 Lincluden finds that the darkness of its deepest vaults may be 
 irradiated by the detective's torch so as to betray the poor Lord's 
 whereabouts. 
 
 1 The document is preserved at Carruchan. — Book of Carlaverock, vol. i. p. 313. 
 2 Acta Parliamentorum Jacobi VI., p. 415.
 
 I04 Chronicles of Lincbiden. 
 
 In no portion of broad Scotland is Maxwell any longer safe ; 
 and finding this to be the case, he bids his friends " Good-night " 
 in words that have blossomed into song under the treatment of a 
 sympathetic balladist, name unknown. 
 
 " Adieu, madam, my mother dear, 
 
 But and my sisters three ; 
 Adieu, fair Robert of Orchardstone, 
 
 My heart is wae for thee ; 
 Adieu, the lily and the rose, 
 
 The primrose fair to see ; 
 Adieu, my lady and only joy, 
 
 For I may not stay with thee. 
 
 " Though I have slain the Lord Johnstone, 
 
 What care I for their feid ? 
 My noble mind their wrath disdains, 
 
 He was my father's deid. 
 Both night and day I laboured oft 
 
 Of him avenged to be ; 
 But now I've got what lang I sought, 
 
 And I may not stay with thee. 
 
 " Adieu ! Dumfries, my proper place, 
 
 But and Carlaverock fair ; 
 Adieu ! my castle of the Thrieve, 
 
 Wi' a' my buildings there ; 
 Adieu ! Lochmaben's gates sae fair. 
 
 The Langholm holm where birks there be ; 
 Adieu ! my lady and only joy. 
 
 For I may not stay with thee." 
 
 On the sequel, so justly but sorrowfully retributive, we shall 
 not linger. Impelled by an irrepressible desire to see the vale of 
 Nith once more, the exile, after a long absence in France, ventured 
 home. His apprehension soon followed. Vainly did he appeal to 
 the King for mercy on the plea that the death of Sir James John- 
 stone was accidental, and his numerous friends pleaded equally in
 
 The College. 105 
 
 vain that his life might be spared. He was beheaded on the i8th 
 of May 1613. Thus perished the ninth Lord Maxwell. His fate 
 was " deplored by a host of mourners, many of whom looked upon 
 his crime as a legitimate piece of feudal revenge. His own kins- 
 men and people did not view him in the light of a malefactor 
 brought to justice : they pitied him as one who had been more 
 unfortunate than guilty." ^ Alike in the lordly halls of Terregles 
 and Carlaverock, and in the humbler house of Lincluden, there 
 was great lamentation because of his cruel and untimely end. 
 
 It only remains for us to say, in connection with this painful 
 episode, that Lady Elizabeth Douglas, widow of the chief who 
 was slaughtered at Dryfe Sands, survived him many years, during 
 the course of which she became the wife of Alexander Stewart of 
 Garlies (father of the first Earl of Galloway) ; and that after her 
 death in 1637, her son Robert, brother of the ninth Lord, "gave 
 her a sumptuous funeral, and afterwards transported her remains 
 to the College Kirk of Lincluden, to be interred in a vault beside 
 those of her first husband." "' 
 
 1 History of Dumfries, p. 293. 
 - Book of Carlaverock, vol. i. pp. 298-99.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE COLLEGE. 
 
 Register Bulk of the College Kirk, 1 547-64 — Analysis of its contents— Names of the 
 feuars — Conditions on which they held their farms — List of the College lands and 
 other property : Quesby, Mollance, Garrantoun, Ffuffok, Hillyntoun, Clairbrand, 
 Emalaury, Auchyndoly, Largneane, Lytill Dryburgh, Drumjarge, ErnfiUane, Blak 
 Park, Emcrago, Glengopok, Culcrufe, Blaryuny, Chapeleme, Mekle Dryburgh, 
 Chepmantoun, Trodale, The Crofitis, The Ardis, Elaikerne, Ememyne, Emannydy, 
 Mains of Grenelaw, Culnotry, Mill of Corsmychell, Corrouchane, Staikfiirde, 
 Newtoun, Marieholme, Clwny and Skilling Holme, Terrauchty, Dronganis, Troqueir, 
 Stotholme, Mains of College, Fishing of College, Nunland, Crufstanis, The Holme, 
 Nunholme, Nunbelly, Mill of Terrauchty with Croft, Staikfurd Mill, Five Kirks 
 of Carlauerok, Kirkbeane, Prestoun, Culuen Kirk, Terreglis Kirk, and Lochreuton 
 Kirk. 
 
 There has been fortunately preserved a folio volume of sixty 
 pages, which supplies valuable information about the temporalities 
 of the Collegiate Church, the position of its prebendars, and the 
 general economy of the establishment during the several stages of 
 the Revolution at which we glanced in the preceding chapter. 
 The manuscript has suffered considerably from wear and tear, but 
 nothing like so much as the structure to whose wealth it bears 
 witness. It is entitled "The Register Bulk of the Fewis maid 
 be the College Kirk of Linclouden, 1547-1564."' A general list 
 
 1 Chalmers makes several very briet references to the " Register Bulk," showing 
 that he was aware of its existence ; but in this and the succeeding chapter its contents 
 are made known for the first time.
 
 The College. lO'j 
 
 is given, in the first place, of the College lands and other property, 
 with the extent or value of each^ and the terms on which they 
 were let, and in most instances the names of the respective feuars 
 are also recorded. So important do we deem this portion of the 
 chartulary that we give it entire, except that some formal legal 
 terms, such as " auerage and careage, bune verk and all vithir 
 deu serwice," which appear in each lease, have been for an ob- 
 vious reason omitted from all but two or three special quotations. 
 The lands are almost invariably stated to have been let on feu- 
 farm, and that portion of the rents paid in money is termed 
 "mail;" while it is required that the "victual," which often con- 
 stituted the larger half of them, was to have its quantity tested by 
 a vessel termed " The Crete Mesour of Nyth." With these ex- 
 planations we subjoin a copy of the first portion of the document, 
 the original spelling, which does not present many difficulties, 
 having been retained. 
 
 LINCLOUDEN REGISTER BUIK. 
 
 Copia rentalis Magistrj Robertj Doivglas prcpositj de Lindoiidcn 
 
 proitt scqtiitur. 
 
 Assedatioun of the landis of the baronyis of Corsmichael and Drum- 
 slete for thre ycris begynnand at Vitsondaye in the voir of God ane 
 tliovvsand fywe hundreth fifty sevin yeris sett be Maister Robert Dovv- 
 glas prowest of Linclouden. 
 
 1 Ancient Scottish terms about land measurement and valuation: — Oxgate = 13 
 acres (in field land) ; Merkland = 34I acres, or ^ of a ploughgate ; Poutidlaitd or 20s. 
 land = 52 acres, or 4 oxgates. Two-poundland, ploughgate or 40s. land, equivalent to 
 a Three merklatid : all equal to 104 acres, or 8 oxgates. — Legal Anliijuilies, hy Cosmo 
 Innes, pp. 267, 270. 
 
 In the reign of Alexander III. the monies in Scotland were about the same value 
 as in England. King Robert Bruce depreciated the coinage, and it never recovered its 
 old value. About the Reformation period 5s. Scots was nearly equivalent to is. ster- 
 ling; so that £1 sterling had the same power of purchase as loos. or £1 Scots. From 
 the year 1600, or down till the time when sterling money superseded the old Scots
 
 io8 CJn'oniclcs of Lincluden. 
 
 CORSMYCHEL [BARONY]. 
 
 Vnder sic conditionis as followis geif ony of the tenentes gevis thair 
 kyndnes of the said malyngis to ony persoun vithout licence of me or 
 bryngis in subtenentes or payis nocht thair dewteis contenit in this 
 rentale vndervrittin thair takkis to expire and thair kyndnes to remane 
 in my handis. 
 
 QuESBY V merk land payand yeirlie xvj bollis of meill v merk ot 
 main / x! lammes maill / a dosane poultrie / xx laid of petis and thre bollis 
 of multure meill. 
 
 MOLLANCE V merk land payand yeirle viij bollis of meill of the 
 greit mesour of Nyth xxxiij^ iiij";' maill at vitsonday and mertymes 
 equalie / v^ lammes maill xij fowlis / xx creillis of petis vith auerage and 
 careage bwne verk and all vthir dew seruice vith tua bollis ane furlote of 
 multure meill of the mesour foirsaid vith the conditionis contenit in the 
 begynning of the rentale. 
 
 Garrantoun V merk land payand yeirlie xvj bollis of meill 
 xxxiij! iiij'.' maill at vitsonday and mertymes equalie v^ lames maill xij 
 fowlis XX creillis of petis vith auerage and carreage and dew seruice vith 
 thre bollis multure meill of the grete mesure of Nyth / Ville Brovn ane 
 quarter Johne Garrane ane quarter Andro Makcadze ane quarter Niniane 
 Garrane ane quarter. Appilgyrtht 
 
 Ffuffok tua merk land and ane half payand yeirlie xxxiij! iiij^ 
 maill at vitsonday and mertymes equalie v? lames maill xij fowlis xx 
 creillis of petis and vj furlotis multure meill / Andro Mak-clarschar that 
 ane half John Charteris that vthir half 
 
 HiLLYNTOUN v mark land payand yeirlie that ane half xxxiij^ iiij^ 
 m[aill at] vitsonday and mertymes equalie v^ lammes maill xij foulis xx 
 cr[eillis of] petis, etc., and vj fur[lotis] of multure meill, Michael Hillow 
 
 the said half That vthir half of Hillyntoun 
 
 payand yeirlie vj bollis meill xvj^ viij'? maill at vitsonday and mertymes 
 
 coinage, is. Scots was equal to no more than id. English, and £\ Scots to is. 8d. 
 English ; one merk Scots was equivalent to 1 3|^d. sterling.
 
 The College. 109 
 
 equalie xxx<J lammes maill vj foulis ten laid of pctis and vj furlottis 
 multure meill. 
 
 Clairbrand V merkland payand ycirlie iij''.'' vj? viij'^' male at vit- 
 sonday and mertymes equalie x! lammes male xxiiij foulis xl cicilis of 
 petis vith tua [bollis] and iij furlottis of multure meill, Margaret Scrogeoun 
 
 that ane half and Johne Grenlaw hir eftir hir deces / Roger 
 
 Gordoun that vthir half/ 
 
 Ernalaury V merkland payand yeirlie iij''.'^ vj! viij'.' at vitsonday 
 and mertymes equalie x! lames male xxiiij foulis xl creillis of petis vith 
 tua bollis and anc half multure meill. James Murray that ane half/ John 
 Vilson that vthir half. 
 
 AUCHYNDOLY V merk land payand yeirlie vj''.*^ xiij! iiij^ male at 
 vitsonday and mertymes equalie xij fowlis and tua bollis of multure meill. 
 The fowlis delete. 
 
 Largneane V merkland payand yeirlie iij''.'^ vj! viij";' male at vit- 
 sondaye and mertymes equalie x! lammes maill xxiiij foulis xl creillis of 
 petis and ix furlottis of meill. John Makcalland that ane half and Sir 
 James McCallan ane quarter providan that Helene Meyn his guid moder 
 brovk the samyn during hir vcddowheid and at the said Sir James mak 
 na assigna of this tak nor kyndnes except to ane of his brethir / Anabell 
 Brown ane quarter and . . . Meyn hir sone. 
 
 Lytill Dryburgh V merkland payand yeirlie iij''.'' vj! viij'? male at 
 vitsonday and mertymes equalie x! lammes maill xxiiij foulis and tua 
 bollis of multure meill. Villiam Maxwell and Herbert his sone the haill. 
 
 Drumjarge V merkland payand yeirlie iij''.'^ vj! viij"? maill at vit- 
 sonday and mertymes equalie x! lammes maill xxiiij foulis and tua bollis 
 of multure meill. Herbert Maxwell the haill. 
 
 Ernfillane tua markland and ane half payand yeirlie xxxiij! iiij'? 
 male at vitsonday and mertymmes equalie v! lammes maill xij foulis xx 
 crelis of petis and fyve furlottis of multure meill. James Murray. 
 
 Blak P.A.RK tua merkland and ane half payand }-cirlie xvj bollis meill 
 and vj furlottis of multure meill. Villiam Maxwell and Herbert his sone 
 the haill.
 
 I lo Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 Erncrago V merkland payand yeirlie iij''.'' vj^ viij^ male at vitsonday 
 and mertynmes equalie x! lammes male xxiiij foulis xl creillis of petis 
 and tua boUis of multur meill. Herbert Maxwell. 
 
 Glengopok V merkland payand yeirlie iij''.^ vj^ viij'? male at vitson- 
 daye and mertymmes equalie x? lammes male xxiiij fowlis xx laidis of 
 petis and tua bollis of multure meill. James Gordoun and Janet Stewart 
 his spous the haill. 
 
 CULCRUFE V merkland payand yeirlie vj'\^ xiij! iiij4 male at vitson- 
 day and mertymmes equalie vith xxiiij fowlis xl creillis of petis and tua 
 bollis of multure meill. John Makknacht that ane half and failzeing of 
 hym his brothir Villiam Stewart sone to Archbald Stewart the tothir 
 half 
 
 Blaryuny V merkland payand yeirlie iij'l'' vj! viij^ male at [vitson- 
 day] and mertymmes equalie x! lammmes aill xxiiij foulis xl creillis of 
 [petis] and vj fur[lottis of] multure meill. Johne Maxwell of the Hillis 
 the haill. 
 
 Chapelerne X merkland payand yeirlie xx'i'' male at vitson[day 
 and] mertynmes equalie and iiij bollis of multure meill. Lard of Loch- 
 invar. 
 
 Mekle Dryburgh v merkland payand yeirlie xij''.'' male at vitson- 
 day and [mertynmes] equalie and iij bollis of multure meill. Johne Rig. 
 
 ChepmANTOUN V merkland payand yeirlie x''.*^ male at vitsonday and 
 [mertyn]mes equalie and x furlottis of multure meill. Johne Maxwell in 
 Hillis. 
 
 TrODALE v merkland payand yeirlie iij''.'^ vj^ viij^ male at vitsonday 
 and mertynmes equalie x! lammes maill xxiiij fowlis and tua bollis of 
 multure meill. James of Murray. 
 
 The CroFFTIS x merkland payand yeirlie xxiij''.^ vj? viij"? male at 
 vitsonday and mertynmes equalie and v bollis of multure meill. The 
 Makclellenis. 
 
 The Ardis v merkland payand yeirlie iij''.'^ x'f. viij':' male at vitson- 
 day and mertynmes equalie x? lammes maill xxiiij fowlis xl creillis of 
 petis and iij bollis of multure meill. Drumlangrig.
 
 The College. 1 1 1 
 
 o 
 
 Blaikerne V merkland payand ycirlic iij''.'^ vj^ viij^ male at vitson- 
 day and mcrtynmes equalie x! lammes male xxiiij fovvlis and tua bollis 
 of multure meill. Johne Maxwell of Hillis the haill. 
 
 ErnemYNE V merkland payand yeirlie iij''.*^ \'f. viij'? at vitsonday 
 and mertynmes equalie and iij bollis of multure meill. James Murraye 
 that ane half and John Vilson the vthir half Lard of Johnstoun. 
 
 ErNANNYDY twa merkland and ane half payand yeirlie xxxiij' iiij"? 
 male at vitsondaye and mertynmes equalie vi lammes maill vj bollis 
 meill xij fowlis x crcillis of petis and ane boll of multure meill. Riche 
 Brown the haill. 
 
 The Manis of the Grenelaw x''^ land iij scoir of lib. for iiij or 
 fywe chalder of meill. 
 
 CULNOTRY V merkland payand yeirlie x'i^ male at vitsonday and 
 mertynmes equalie x^ lammes male xxiiij fowlis and vj furlottis of 
 multure meill. Alexander Gordoun sone to the Lard of Holme the haill. 
 
 The Mylne of CORSMYCHELL iiij chalder of multure that the haill 
 barony payis to the said myll. 
 
 DRUMSLETE BARONY. 
 
 CORROUCHANE vj merkland payand yeirlie thre chalder of meill and 
 ane chalder of corne of the samyn mesour or ellis . . . chalder of meill 
 at my vill for the multure of the samyn and iiij''.^ [mair at] vitsonday and 
 mertynmes equalie and viij scoir of creillis of petis for ane . . . laid and 
 ilkane of the tenentis vndirvrittin ar boundyn conjunctlie and seuerlie for 
 the yeirlie payment of the seruices and dewtie abone expremit. Michaell 
 Anderson aucht pairt / John Cammok aucht pairt / Ville Anderson aucht 
 pairt / Cubbe Anderson aucht pairt / Johne Vrycht ane aucht pairt / 
 Robin Pat . . . ane aucht pairt / Pate Anderson ane aucht pairt Habbe 
 Anderson ane aucht pairt for Sturgeounis croft and John Cammokis lytill 
 croft and ane xvj pairt occupiit be John Blakis vif payand yeirlie vij bollis 
 tua peckis and oi ... to be allowit xviij peckis for John Cammokis croft 
 in the said John Cammokis .... swa dependis yeirlie ane boll of meill 
 of none payment of the aucth pairt quhilk Habbe Anderson occupiis
 
 112 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 Providan alwayis that nane of the said tenentis bring in ony outtin town- 
 man in the mos of the said town vnder the p[ane] of forfalting of thair 
 takkis and at nane of the said tenentis intromett mos delt and assignit to 
 my self vnder the samyn pane / Item that na tenent of the said land hald 
 sa mony sowmes ^ apon the tath of the said .... efferand to his pairt 
 
 and at nane of the said sowmes be haldin fra the vnder the 
 
 pane of half ane mark for ilk fait. 
 
 Staikfurde xv! land payand yeirlie xxx! male at vitsonday and 
 mertynmes equalie vith multure aucht and wont. Isobell Sloane xx^ and 
 ob. land. Jame Capet vij? vj^ land. Joke Sawrycht xxij'? and ob. land. 
 John Scot xxij'? and ob. land. 
 
 Newtoun xH land payand yeirlie iiij'l^ male at vitsonday and 
 mertynmes equalie vith multure aucht and vont. Mungo Cunyngham 
 xxxv^ land Mariote Gordoun and Johne Cunyngham thair sone / Helena 
 Lewris and Vincent Scot hir sone xxx^ land / Johne M^Kynan xxx'? 
 land. 
 
 M.\RiEHOLME xxs land payand yeirlie xl! male at vitsonday and 
 mertynmes equalie vith and multure aucht. Marion Cunyngham that ane 
 half and Ville Cunyngham hir sone eftir hir deceis. 
 
 Clwny and Skilling Holme ane markland payand yeirlie xxxvj? 
 viij^ male at vitsonday and mertynmes equalie and ix furlottis of multure 
 meill / Memo, the medow of this townn is all and haill in my handis. 
 Arche Heres ane tua pairt, Johne Rob ane thrid pairt. 
 
 Terrauchtv vj merkland payand yeirlie iiij''.'' male at vitsonday 
 and mertynmes vith xxxvj foulis and viij bollis multure meill. Johne 
 Cammok of the Yett ane merkland / John Rob Jame Rob and Thorn 
 Rob half ane merkland / Arche Cammok the thrid pairt of ane merk- 
 land / John Cammok tailyour xl^ land Johne Anderson ane merkland 
 and the tua pairt of ane merkland in few as he allegiis / Thorn Cammokis 
 vif x^ land. 
 
 Dronganis vj markland payand yeirlie iiij''.^ male at vitsonday and 
 mertynmes equalie xxxvj fowlis and multure aucht and vynt. Roger 
 Makbrair the haill and Johne M<^Brair his sone eftir his deces. 
 
 1 A soum is as much land as will pasture one cow or five sheep.
 
 The College. 
 
 Troqueir V markland payand yeirlie vj'".*^ xiij? iiij^ male at vitson- 
 day and mertynmes equalie and multure aucht and wount. Johnc Riche 
 and Thorn Riche half ane merkland Thorn Pane half anc merkland James 
 Maxwell xxxvj? viij pennyvorth of land Villiam Maxwell be the consent 
 of his fader x? land. 
 
 Stotholme xiij! iiij"? land payand yeirlie xiij^ iiij^ male at vitson- 
 day and mertynmes equalie vj capones and multure aucht and wynt. 
 James Cunyngham the haill and Katheryn Kenyde his spous. 
 
 The Manis of the College and the Nunwode vj merkland payand 
 yeirlie xxiiij bollis of meill or ellis xlviij bollis of aittis quhilk at I pleis 
 best and vj merkis of maill in the handis of Paul Cunyngham and James 
 Cunynghame his sone unsett. 
 
 The Fisching of the College. 
 
 The Nunland v merkland payand yeirlie vj''.^ xiij^ iiij';' male at 
 vitsonday and mertynmes equalie and multure aucht and vont. Johne 
 M'^Morane ane thrid pairt. 
 
 The Crufstanis^ v merkland payand yeirlie iij^'.^ vj! viij^ male at 
 vitsonday and mertynmes equalie ane bailye daye of seruice and multure 
 aucht and vont. Elizabeth Dovvglas the haill and eftir hir James Ander- 
 son hir sone. 
 
 The Holme vj merkland payand yeirlie iiij'!.*^ male at vitsonday and 
 mertynmes equalie xxxvj fowlis and multure aucht and vont. 
 
 The Nunholme iiij merkland payand yeirlie v''.^ vj! viij'? male at 
 vitsonday and mertynmes equalie vith iiij capones vith the xx corne . . . 
 aittis of multure to the Staikfurde myll. Johne Johnstoun the haill. 
 
 The Nunbelly x merkland in the Lord Maxwellis handis vnsett 
 quhilk wes vount to pay to the place xl bollis meill and beir and ten 
 merkis of maill yeirlie as is contenit in prowest Andro M'^Brekis rentell. 
 
 The Myln of Terrauchty xl bollis of meill of the grete mesor of 
 Nyth. 
 
 Croft Angri pertenyng to the myll of Terrauchty payand yeirlie 
 iiij! male at vitsonday and mertynmes. 
 
 1 Curriestanes. 
 P
 
 114 Chro7iicles of Lincludeti. 
 
 The Staikfurd Myln payand yeirlie xvj bollis of meill of the 
 grete mesor of Nyth. 
 
 The Fywe Kirkis / the vicaris pensioun of Carlauerok. 
 
 Carlauerok^ iiij'"' tua bollis iij furlottis meill by the vicaris pen- 
 sioun / And xlix bollis iij furlottis iij peckis beir as at lenth is contenit 
 in the bulk of the kirkis assignit to the viij chaplanis and the Sacristane 
 Ilk chaipiane xiij bollis and the Sacristane viij bollis and the excrescence 
 to perteyn to the prowest. 
 
 KiRKBEANE iiij chalder and ane half vij bollis iij furlottis of meill 
 the haill consignit to the vicar / and xxx bollis iij furlotis of beir per- 
 tening to myself. 
 
 Prestoun xxxv bollis of beir in my Lord Maxwellis handis vnsett 
 for xx''.b in the yeir. 
 
 CULUEN Kirk- xliij bollis of meill. 
 
 Terreglis Kirk iiij chalder of the quhilk the vicar hes assignit to 
 h}'m iij chalder / and ane chalder in my handis of the Manis of Terreglis. 
 
 LOCHREUTOUN Kirk'' xxH^) of mony. 
 
 1 Carlaverock. ^ Colvend. ^ Lochrutton.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE COLLEGE. 
 
 " The Register Bulk" continued — Functions of the Provost and Prebendars — Regulations 
 as to the College bells and seals — Provision made for the repair of the Church 
 and the vestments of its officials — Prebendar Rig, custodier of the common seal of 
 the brethren, takes action against Provost Douglas for appropriating the seal. 
 
 The second portion of " The Register Buik," which we proceed 
 to notice, specifies the charters granted by the College community, 
 and includes some curious minutes of their proceedings. From it 
 we learn that while John, Lord Maxwell, acted as Bailie of all the 
 Lincluden estates he received remuneration in the form of certain 
 land assigned to him in fee ; that the Provost, or Lord Provost 
 as he is sometimes termed, was not an autocrat (though some who 
 bore the title tried to become so), but that he was required to 
 shape his rule by the advice of his prebendars, they standing in the 
 same relation to him as cabinet ministers to a constitutional 
 monarch ; that they had a seal of their own, without the impress 
 of which the charters had no validity, even though stamped by the 
 Provost's seal ; that " the common seal of the place " was en- 
 trusted to one of the brethren ; that Provost Robert Douglas, who 
 was chargeable with doing many high-handed things in his day, 
 appropriated this seal on one occasion and was brought to book 
 for it by its legal custodier. From the same authoritative docu-
 
 1 1 6 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 ment we learn that the College bells were placed under the care 
 of the prebendars, and that they were duly paid for causing them to 
 be rung at prescribed periods and for finishing the musical " tinti- 
 nabulum " with three strokes, having a pause between each stroke, 
 during which the listeners might interject a prayer or two. Inter- 
 esting references appear in the charters also to the percentage of 
 national taxation levied on the College for carrying on war against 
 "the auld enemies," the English; to the "reparation" of the 
 College buildings ; to a special service called " The Lady of 
 Galloway service;" to the "Herbarium" of the house; to the 
 verdant knoll on the south-west termed Kirk Hill ; and to various 
 other familiar places and objects, such as " The toun of the 
 Bridgend" (Maxwelltown), the Corbyhill (Corbelly), the lands of 
 the Friars Minors in Dumfries, and the mills of Terraughty and 
 Stakeford, which ground provender for the Lincluden brethren 
 and the general population of the district. 
 
 Several of the charters are given pretty full, and the less im- 
 portant ones in a condensed form ; and while many routine sen- 
 tences have been left out for the sake of brevity, sub-headings 
 have been put in that do not appear in the original MSS. 
 
 Charter to Cuthbert Kar — the College Bell-ringers 
 paid out of his rent. 
 
 I. Charter by George, Provost of the Collegiate Church of Lincluden, 
 with consent of the whole chapter, in favour of their lovite servitor, Mr. 
 Cuthbert Kar, of all and whole the croft, toft, tenements, and yards, lying 
 in their barony of Drumsleit, within the lordship of Lincluden, shire of 
 Dumfries and Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, — contiguous and near to the 
 outer gate within the precincts of the said church, on the west side 
 thereof; together with the grass of two soumes of animals, and one horse, 
 in their pasture, within the Grange of Lincluden ; with liberty of turf or
 
 77^1? College. 117 
 
 peat yearly on their muir, and the " sprcd erd " ^ for sustentatioii and 
 use of the dwellers in the said tenements ; which subjects belonged to 
 the deceased Sir John Logan heritably, and were sold to the deceased 
 Andrew Kar, father of the said Mr. Cuthbert, without consent of the 
 granters' predecessors, and therefore became in the hands of the granters, 
 on account of non-payment of three years' rent due to them therefor, and 
 the sale thereof without consent of their predecessors, the lords superiors 
 of the same : To hold to the said Mr. Cuthbert Kar, his heirs and 
 assignees, in feu ferme, heritably, of the granters and their successors, for 
 the yearly rent of 6! 8^, payable to them ; and also i o^ yearly to the 
 prebendars or chaplains of the said church, at the two usual terms of 
 Whitsunday and Martinmas, by equal portions, for causing the bell to be 
 rung nightly about the eighth hour, for the space of one quarter of an 
 hour, or thereby, vulgarly called " the aucht houris bell," in all time 
 coming, with three strokes at the end, so that between each stroke there 
 may be said a Pater Noster, Ave Maria, and Credo in Deum, for the souls 
 of all and sundry predecessors, founders, and of all others dead and living, 
 in name of feu ferme : In witness whereof the seal of the said Provost 
 and the common seal of the chapter were appended, together with his 
 subscription and those of three of the prebendars of the said church, at 
 their church of Lincluden on 5"* June 1547, before these witnesses, Mr. 
 John Stewart, George Maxwell, Herbert Johnston, David Makgee, etc. 
 Signed by G. Marshal Provost of Lincluden, and the following pre- 
 bendars, Thomas Welche, John Brices, James Caruthers, Sir John 
 Lawdar, Sir John Rigg. Attested by David Makgee, notary. 
 
 [Note. — The signatures are merely copied in the register.] 
 
 To Marion Cunynghame and her Son. 
 
 2. Charter by Provost George Marshall in favour of Marion Cunyng- 
 hame, wife of Paul Cunynghame, in liferent, and to William Cunyng- 
 hame, their son, his heirs, etc., of the toft, croft, tenements, etc., described 
 in No. I, — proceeding on resignation by Mr. Cuthbert Kar, and to be 
 held on the same conditions as already noted. Sealed and subscribed 
 Ground on which the peats were spread to dry before being stacked.
 
 ii8 Chronicles of Lin elude n. 
 
 at Edinburgh, i8 August 1547. Subscribed by the Provost and the 
 same prebendars as in preceding charter. 
 
 To James Maxwell — part of the Rent paid as Multure 
 to Stakeford Mill. 
 
 3. Charter by Provost Robert Douglas, with consent of the chapter, 
 in favour of James Maxwell in Troqueir, in liferent, and James Maxwell 
 younger, his grandson, heritably, of 3 .} mercates of the lands of Troqueir, 
 extending in yearly rental to £6 10? S<.' To hold in feu ferme and 
 heritage, with arriage, carriage and other services, and the 1 3* grain of 
 the multure of all grain grown upon the said lands, payable to the mill 
 of Staikfurde, and 20 pence yearly of augmentation of rental. Seals of 
 the granter and the chapter appended, at the said church, on 9* October 
 1563. Subscribed by Provost Douglas and the following prebendars: — 
 Sir John Rig, Archibald Menzies, Sir Mark Carruthers, Sir John Baty, 
 and John Morton. 
 
 « 
 To Herbert Maxwell of Cavens and his Grandson — a portion 
 of the Lands bounded by the Bridge of Dumfries. 
 
 4. Charter to Herbert Maxwell, in Cavennis, in liferent, and Herbert 
 Maxwell, his grandson, heritably, of the lands of Little Diyburgh and 
 Drumjarge, Ernecrago, and Blakpark ; also three roods of land, with the 
 " onsett," at the west end of the bridge of Dumfries : To hold in feu 
 ferme and heritage of the Provosts of Lincluden : rendering for Little 
 Dryburgh and Drumjarge 10 merks yearly; 20? for the Lammas maill, 
 four dozen of poultry, four bolls of multure meal, as the old yearly ferme 
 for the same : and 10 merks for the gressum of the said lands, computing 
 and proportionably dividing the said gressum according to the rate at 
 each triennial setting thereof: For Ernecrago L'^ 6\ 8^}, and 10? for 
 Lammas maills, two dozen poultry, two bolls multure meal, 40 creels of 
 peats, gressum 4 merks, with triennial division as above : For Blakpark, 
 with the moss thereof, 16 bolls of oat meal, six firlots of multure meal, 
 with usual services : and for the three roods and onsett 4^ in name of
 
 Tlic College. 1 1 9 
 
 feu ferme : with 5? in augmentation of the rental of Little Dryburgh, 
 and the other lands above mentioned : providing that the tenants of the 
 lands and barony of Crosmychell be allowed every year to dig and carry 
 away peats in the moss of Blakpark. Sealed i^' April 1564. Sub- 
 scribed by the Provost, Sir John Tailzeour, prebendar, and the others as 
 in No. 3. 
 
 Another Charter to the Same. 
 
 The next charter begins in these terms : — 
 
 5. Be it kend till all men be thir present lettres me Maister Robert 
 Dowglas Provest of Lincloudoun with expres consent and assent of the 
 prebendaris of the college kirk thairof cheptourlie gedderit the utilitie and 
 proffett of ws and our said kirk being alwayis providit and considerit to 
 have sett and to maiU lattin and be thir present lettres settis and to maill 
 lattis to my weilbelouetis Herbert Maxwell in Cavennis and Herbert 
 Maxwell his nevoy [and their heirs. The lands thus conveyed are 
 designated] the ten mark land of Litill Dryburgh and Drumjarg the five 
 mark land of Ernecrago and tvva mark land and ane half of Blakpark 
 with the mos thairof Also thre rudis of land with the onesett Hand at the 
 brigend of Drumfres on the west end thairof for nynetene yeiris frelie 
 quietlie weill and in peace ; the yeirlie rent for Litill Dryburgh and Drum- 
 jarge being ten markis at twa termes in the yeir Witsunday and Merting- 
 mes be equale portionis of maill twenty schillingis lammes maill four 
 dosane pultrie foure bollis multure meill with arragis carragis and vthiris 
 dewteis and dew service at the termes of payment vsit of before togidder 
 with twenty poundis mony forsaid of girsum every thre yeir at termes 
 usit and wount eftir the forme of the rentale And for Ernecrago the 
 sowme of thre poundis sex schillingis viij4 at the saidis twa termes ten 
 . . . lammes maill twa dosane of pultrie twa bollis of multur meill . . . 
 of petis at termes of payment usit of before with aucht poundis of gresum 
 every t[erm] And for Blakpark with the mos thairof and thair perti- 
 nentis . . . bollis meill sufficient stuff of the greit mesure of Nyth sax 
 furlotis meill siclike at termes of payment usit and wount And for the 
 saidis thre rudis and onesett the sowme of foure schillingis at the saidis 
 termes be equale portionis allanerlie.
 
 120 Chronicles of Linchiden. 
 
 The charter closes with a clause reserving the rights of the 
 other tenants of the barony to win peats in Blakpark moss. 
 Signed by the Provost and Prebendaries ist April 1564. 
 
 To Robert Maxwell, Grandson of Herbert. 
 
 6. Charter to Robert Maxwell, grandson of Herbert Maxwell, in 
 Cavennis, and the heirs male of his body : whom failing, to Richard 
 Maxwell, his brother, and the heirs male of his body, etc., of the five 
 merk lands of Crwstanes : To hold for the yearly payment of ;^3 6! 8^ : 
 with "baillie day service," etc., and 44^ 5^^ of gressum, proportioned to 
 the triennial setting : the grain grown on the lands to be carried to the 
 granters' mill of Staikfurde and there ground: Sealed i^t April 1564. 
 Same signatures as in Nos. 3 and 4. 
 
 Bond by Herbert Maxwell for the Protection of the Prebendars. 
 
 7. Bond by Herbert Maxwell, in Cavennis, as principal, and taking 
 burden for Herbert and Robert Maxwell his " ooys " [grandsons], and 
 George Maxwell, of Little Ardre, as his cautioner, to warrant the pre- 
 bendars of Lincluden skaithless at the hands of James Anderson in the 
 Feland, and all others pretending or having right to certain feu lands 19 
 years tacks, lately granted to the said Herbert, and to the deceased 
 William Maxwell's sons, his " ooys," and specially of the five merk land 
 of the Crustanes. At Dumfries i April 1564. Witnesses, Sir William 
 Edgar, James Edgar, George Welche burgess of Edinburgh, and William 
 Thomson burgess of Dumfries ; David Makgee notary signing for the 
 granter, at his command. 
 
 To Roger Lindsay, granted by Prebendar Taylor for sums paid to 
 him by Lindsay for the repair of the Granter's 10 vestments 
 and of the Collegiate Church. 
 
 8. Charter by John Tailzeour, one of the prebendars of "the ladye 
 of Gallovay service," in Lincluden, with consent of the Provost and
 
 The College. 1 2 1 
 
 prebendars chapterly assembled, in favour of Roger Lindsay, for certain 
 sums of money granted by him for the making and repair of the orna- 
 ments and other vestments belonging to the said prebend, and also for 
 the repair of the Collegiate Church, granting to Roger and his heirs male, 
 etc., the lands of the Eastwood of Barscribe, of the Bank of Carborland, 
 of Drummukhed, of the Mains of Suthik and Barmoss, extending annually 
 in the granter's rental to the sum of S 2 merks : To hold in feu ferme and 
 heritage of the granter and his successors, prebends of the said pre- 
 bendary, — for the yearly rent of 52 merks, and 3? 4":l in augmentation. 
 Dated at Paris 6th August 1553. Witnesses, Thomas Campbell com- 
 mendator of Halywod, John Stewart, James Flemyng, William Logan, 
 etc. The chapter signatures are added as before. 
 
 To John Maxwell of The Hills — acknowledgment that he had 
 paid the Grassums beforehand for the reparation, reapparel- 
 ling, and mending of the Church. 
 
 9. Charter by Provost Douglas, with consent of the chapter, in 
 favour of John Maxwell of the Hills, and Katherine Maxwell his wife, 
 the survivor of them, and their heirs, of Blarany and Blakerne — for 
 nineteen years — yearly rent of five merks for each — with 1 0? of Lammas 
 main, two dozen of poultry, 40 laids of peats, with multures and other 
 duties contained in Sir George Marshal's Rental ; with the acknowledg- 
 ment of the Provost and chapter, that they had received beforehand 
 from the said John and Katherine " the haill garsums " of the said lands, 
 for the said term of 19 years, toward the " reparatioun reperreling and 
 mending of the said College Kirk of Lincloudane in thak^ glas ornamentis 
 and otheris necessaris." Sealed with the seal of the Provost, and that of 
 the chapter, at Lincluden 24* April 1556. Witnesses, William Douglas, 
 John Douglas, Sir John Tailzeour, Mungo Douglas, etc. With signatures 
 of the chapter as usual. 
 
 1 The word " thak," as here employed, does not necessarily mean straw ; the 
 covering of a roof with slates being sometimes described in old records as " thatching 
 with slate."
 
 12 2 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 To John MarcellI — of three Roods of the Lands of Corbelly Hill. 
 
 lo. Charter to John Marcell, of three roods of the lands of Corbyhill, 
 on the east side of the said hill, between the lands of the Friars Minors 
 of Dumfries, presently occupied by William Thomson, William Marcell, 
 Patrick Birkmyre, Robert Haliday, and Isabella Asloane relict of David 
 M'^Ouhirk, on the east, by Richard Maxwell on the south, and the lands 
 of the deceased John Asloane, of Corbyhill, on the west, and certain 
 lands of the Friars, occupied by John Marcell, on the north : extending in 
 yearly rental to 3^, with sixpence of augmentation. At the Church of 
 Lincluden 26"^ March 1558. 
 
 To John Lord Maxwell, Bailie of the College. 
 
 11. Charter to John Lord Maxwell, Bailie of the College, of the 
 teind sheaves of Prestoun toun, parish of Kirkbeane, for 19 years, yearly 
 rent /'20. Dated 14'h October 1558. Signatures as in preceding 
 charter. 
 
 To John Bek and his Spouse. 
 
 1 2. Charter to John Bek and Marjory Cunyngham his spouse, and 
 the survivor of them, and their heirs, of a four acre croft in the barony of 
 Drumsleit, bounded by the croft of Paul Cunyngham and Andrew Cun- 
 yngham on the east, the Erisgate on the west, the mill rig on the south, 
 and a certain .... am stretching from the Erisgate to a certain old loch 
 on the north ; yearly rental 1 3^ 4"?, with sixpence of augmentation. 
 Dated 25'h February 1558-9. 
 
 To John Maxwell of the Hills — Rent partly paid in money for 
 repairing the College Church and its ornaments. 
 
 13. Charter to John Maxwell of the Hills, and Katherine Maxwell 
 his spouse, and the longer liver of them, and their heirs male, whom 
 
 1 The name Marcell is given here as in the original, but it is probably meant for 
 either Marshall or Maxwell.
 
 The College. 123 
 
 failing, to Katherine Maxwell their daugher, spouse of Robert Maxwell 
 of Garrore [Garroch], and her heirs male, of the name of Maxwell, of the 
 five merk land of Chepmantoun : the two parts of the five merk land of 
 Nunland, and a merkland of the Nunwodhead, called Cartells land, with 
 the teind sheaves of the kirk and parsonage of Lochrutton ; reserving to 
 the vicar thereof and his successors, their " pension meill " used and wont, 
 — in tack for 1 9 years, — for a sum of money paid by the said John Max- 
 well for repairing the said College Kirk and the ornaments thereof. 
 Yearly rent for Chepmantoun ;^io, of maill and gersum, with multure 
 meal and usual services : For Nunland £i^ 8! 7^, with multure and 
 service, and every third year £i^ 8? 10'? of gersum ; and for Nunwodhead 
 two merks maill gersum, with multures and service. Sealed with the 
 chapter seal, and subscribed 1 8* March 1558 by the Provost and the 
 following prebendaries : — Sir John Rig, Sir John Baty, Sir John Lauder, 
 Sir Mark Caruthers. Witnesses, Sir James Maxwell, parson of Castle- 
 milk, Sir David Wallace, and Sir David Welshe. 
 
 To Edward Maxwell. 
 
 1 4. Charter to Edward Maxwell, brother german of Sir James Max- 
 well, rector of Castlemilk, of six acres of the lands of Mylhill, with 
 tenement and yard, lying between the high way on the east, lands of the 
 late Robert Roreson on the south, the Graystane Croft, occupied by 
 Andrew Palmar, on the west, and the mill lade of Staikfurd mill on 
 the north. Rent 9! yearly, with eightpence of augmentation. Sealed 
 3<J December 1558. Subscribers, the Provost, Sir Thomas Welsh, Sir 
 Archibald Menzies, Sir John Rig, Sir Mark Carruthers, Sir John Lauder, 
 Sir John Bate, and Sir John Morton, prebendars. 
 
 Prebendar Sir John Rig, Custodier of the Common Seal, com- 
 plains to the Brethren that the Seal has been reft from him 
 by Provost Douglas. 
 
 15. Instrument narrating that on the 28'^ day of March (1558-9) 
 Sir John Rig, preband of the Collegiate Church of Lincluden, compeared
 
 124 Chronicles of Linchiden. 
 
 personally in presence of Mr. Robert Douglas, provost of the said college, 
 and the chapter there chapterly assembled, and made the following 
 declaration : — " My lord and brethir, heir I protest that na thyng that ye 
 seill nor subscrive fra this day fourth, may hayf place nor be to na effect 
 vvyth owt my subscrypcion be at the samen, and that nexit to the 
 provestis subscripcione, and that becauis I am the eldest prebendar of 
 this place, and ye my lord hais reft the commoun seill fra me vythe out 
 ony triall ordur for hurte and skayth of this place, and by the awise of 
 the brethir bot alenarly at your awin hand." Done in the chapter, at S 
 o'clock afternoon of the said day, before these witnesses. Sir John Lauder, 
 Sir John Bate, Sir Thomas Welshe, and John Maxwell of Hills. Sir 
 James Maxwell is notary. 
 
 1 6. Instrument narrating that on ist April 1559, the said Sir John 
 Rig compeared before a venerable man Mr. Robert Douglas, Provost of 
 Lincluden, and the prebendars sitting in chapter, and declared to the 
 Provost as follows : — " My lord, your lordship hais reft fra me our com- 
 moun seill of our place, quhilk I have had in kepyng be consent of the 
 prebendaris of this place the space of twenty yen's ; and now desyris of 
 your lordschip ane tryall to be tane before your lordship and the brethir 
 of the cheptour now present, quhairintill I have offendit anentis the suyr 
 keping of the said commoun seill ; and in the meyne tyme the said 
 prowest ansuerit, and said, he had na caus ; bot said he wald nocht 
 thole the said Sir Johne haif the keping of the said seill : and efter 
 the said Provestis answer, the said Sir Johne protestit that quhat evir 
 was selit with the said seill fra that houre furtht, suld have na place nor 
 sail stand till ony effect force or strenth and that because the said seill 
 was reft and wranguisly tane fra him by [without] the consent of the 
 brethir, without ordoure, and as he allegit in hurt and prejudice of the 
 place:" upon which the said Sir John Rig took instruments in the hands 
 of Sir Mark Caruthers and Sir James Maxwell, notaries. Done in the 
 chapter of the said college at 1 1 o'clock forenoon, before Mr. Archibald 
 Menzies, Sir John Bryse, vicar of Dumfries, Sir John Lauder, and Sir 
 John Baty, prebendars.
 
 The College. 1 2 ; 
 
 The Prebendars defending their Rights in opposition 
 to the Provost. 
 
 17. Minute dated 13* May 1559, — to the effect that the prebendars 
 of Lincluden did on that day determine that no charter of feu-ferme, 
 precept, assedation, or other evidents of the lands, tenements, fishings, 
 mill or others pertaining to the provostry of Lincluden, and especially in 
 the baronies of Drumslete and Corsmychell, or of the lands of any 
 vicarage pertaining to the said provostry, shall be sealed with the com- 
 mon seal of the said chapter, and subscribed, to any person whatever, 
 unless the Provost and all and each of the prebendars of Lincluden 
 dwelling in the kingdom of Scotland are assembled together in chapter, 
 and their consent and assent had to the premises, and notifying to all 
 whom it might concern that all and sundry the premises would be 
 inviolably observed by the prebendars, under the pain of perjury. Sub- 
 scribed by Sir John Rig, prebendar, Sir John Lauder, Sir Mark Caruthers, 
 Sir John Baty, Mr. Archibald Menzies, prebendars. 
 
 [This document is crossed with the pen as if cancelled.] 
 
 1 8. [This is a duplicate of the preceding, except that the signatures arc 
 increased by those of Sir John Mortoun and David Gibson, prebendars.] 
 
 To John Adamson, in consideration of Sums advanced by him 
 to pay Taxation levied on the College. 
 
 19. Charter by Provost Dowglas, with consent of the prebendars, in 
 favour of their lovite servitor, John Adamson, in consideration of certain 
 sums of money paid by him to them for their relief of the taxation of 
 the kingdom, setting to him the 10! lands of Maryholme. Yearly rent 
 26= 8^, with sixteenpence in augmentation. Sealed 12"^ August 1559. 
 Signed by Sir John Rig, Sir John Lauder, Archibald Menzies, Sir John 
 Baty, and Sir John Morton.
 
 1 2 6 Chronicles of L incliiden. 
 
 To a College Servitor and his Spouse. 
 
 20. Charter to Paul Cuningham, their servitor, and Marion Cuning- 
 ham, his spouse, and their heirs, lo? worth of the lands of Maryholm, in 
 same terms as in the preceding charter, and of same date. 
 
 To Gilbert Herries of Lands contiguous to the 
 College Herbarium. 
 
 21. Charter to Gilbert Hereis in Barnyhill, of three acres of the 
 mains of Lincluden, lying within the Peis croft towards the herbarium 
 of the college, and contiguous to the highway leading past the herbarium 
 towards the town of the Bridge end of Dumfries, on the east ; in the 
 middle, the Peis croft and other lands of the mains, on the west ; which 
 lands formerly belonged to John Thomson in Terregles, and were resigned 
 by him in favour of the said Gilbert : To hold, together with the pasture 
 of one horse within the bounds of the Grange of Lincluden, to the said 
 Gilbert and his heirs. Yearly rent lo! : reserving the homage and service 
 of the said Gilbert and his heirs, when required, and doubling the rental 
 in the first year of the entry of each heir. Dated and subscribed as 
 usual. October 1559. 
 
 To Adam Halidav. 
 
 22. Charter to Adam Haliday of 22 pennyworths of the lands of 
 Staikefurd, of old extent, formerly belonging to the late David M<^Ouhirk:. 
 Yearly rent 5! 6f Dated 9* September 1559. Witnesses, Sir Thomas 
 Welshe, Sir John Morton, and William Edgar. 
 
 To Hugh Douglas of Dalvene, in consideration of Money paid 
 by him for War Taxes due by the Provostry. 
 
 23. Charter to Hugh Dowglas of Dalwene, in consideration of ;^20oo 
 paid by him, for relief of the provostry from the burdens imposed by
 
 The College. 127 
 
 taxation for defence of the country in the present war against the old 
 enemies, or other invaders, granting to the said Hugh the merk lands of 
 Fuffok, Ernalmery, Lochindolye, Largneane, Ernfillane, Culgruffc, Trod- 
 dale, Ards, Mollance, Hillinton, Clarebrand, Crofts, and Glengoppok. 
 Yearly rent 144 merks 5^ 7<?, at the usual terms, by equal portions, and 
 £\ 2\ 6^ at the feast of St. Peter ad vincula : 180 poultry, 280 creels 
 of peats, 20 laids of peat, 12 capons, 14 bolls oat meal, with the usual 
 services, and five merks in augmentation of rental. Sealed and sub- 
 scribed as usual 7'^ October 1559. Witnesses, Sir James Brice, vicar of 
 Dumfries ; Sir James Maxwell, rector of Castlemilk ; David Welshe, vicar 
 of Drumgrey; John Sinclair, William Edger, and David Wallace, chaplains. 
 
 To the Same, of the College Salmon Fishery. 
 
 24. Charter to the same, of the salmon fishing in the Nyth, belonging 
 to the said provostry. Yearly rent £6 1 3^ 4*? with 6! 8'? in aug- 
 mentation of rental. Same date and witnesses as before. 
 
 To John Maxwell of Conhuith. 
 
 27. Charter to John Maxwell of Conhayth, grandson and heir of 
 Robert Maxwell of Conhayth, of seven acres of land in Cargane. Yearly 
 rent eighteenpence, with multure, homage, and service, and sixpence of 
 augmentation. Dated 13* September 1559. 
 
 To John Lord Maxwell, of the Office of College Bailie. 
 
 26. Charter to John Lord Maxwell, son of the late Robert Lord 
 Maxwell, of the office of bailie of the lands, etc., belonging to the said 
 collegiate church, within the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, and elsewhere in 
 Scotland, with the lands of Nunbellie and Fallorane, in fee and heritage, 
 as for salary for his labours : To hold of the granters, for the yearly 
 payment of one penny of silver. Sealed as usual. Date incomplete, 
 155 . Subscribed by Sir John Rig and Sir Mark Carruthers, prebendars.
 
 128 Chronicles of L incbtden. 
 
 To a Dumfries Provost. 
 
 27. Charter to John M'^Brair of Almygill [Provost of Dumfries in 
 1552] of the lands of Drumganes, and seven acres of the lands of Con- 
 hayth. Yearly rent 12 merks. Sealed 15^^ March 1558-9. Witnesses, 
 Sir William Edgar, chaplain, John M<^Cleewy, Martin Edgar, John Edgar, 
 and Herbert Cuningham, burgesses of Dumfries. 
 
 By the Vicar of Carlaverock to William Maxwell, in consider- 
 ation of Sums paid by him for defending the Ecclesiastical 
 Estate. 
 
 28. Charter by John [torn out], vicar of the parish church of Carlaverok, 
 with consent of the Provost of Lincluden, in favour of William Maxwell, 
 for certain sums of money paid by him for defence of the ecclesiastical 
 estate in Scotland, of three mercates of land in Carlaverok, holding of the 
 granter Yearly rent three pounds, and 6! 84 in augmentation. Sealed 
 with seal of the granter, also that of the Provost of Lincluden, with the 
 common chapter seal, and subscribed by the Provost and prebendars at 
 Lincluden 15* December 1559. 
 
 To John Maxwell. 
 
 29. Charter in favour of John Maxwell, son of the deceased Charles 
 Maxwell, of the half croft called the Pear tree croft. Yearly rent 30 
 pence. Sealed 23*^ December 1559. 
 
 To a Dumfries Burgess. 
 
 30. Charter to John Rig, burgess of Dumfries, of the lands of Mekle 
 Dryburgh. Yearly rent £\2, and 6? 84 in augmentation, with three bolls 
 of meal. Sealed 15"" April 1559. 
 
 Tack of Teind Sheaves to Sir John Maxwell of Terregles. 
 
 31. Tack to John Maxwell of Terregles, knight, of the teind sheaves
 
 The College. 129 
 
 of TciTCgles, for 1 9 years, for i o merks of yearly rent. Sealed by the 
 Provost and chapter 27* January 1559-60. 
 
 Tack to one of the College Chaplains. 
 
 32. Tack to Sir John Brice, chaplain, of the roods of land, lying on 
 
 the billhyl, between the lands of the Friars of Dumfries occupied 
 
 by Richard Maxwell and the relict of John Birkmyre, on the [west] and 
 north parts, and the common street on the south and [east] parts : for 
 19 years. Yearly rent 3! Dated 17"^ February 1559-60. 
 
 Charter to John McMoran. 
 
 33. Charter to John M^Moran in Lochruton, of the third part of 
 Nunlands, marching with Terrauchty on the east. Hills and Kirklands of 
 the vicarage of Lochruton on the south, and the other lands of Hills 
 called Lochfoot on the [north], for payment oi £l 6!, eight capons, mill 
 multures, and other services yearly, and twelvepence of augmentation. 
 Sealed 26* February 1559-60. 
 
 To MuNGO CuNiNGHAM and his Spouse. 
 
 34. Charter to Mungo Cuningham and Marion Gordon, his spouse, in 
 conjunct fee of the 35! land of the Newton of Nunwood. Yearly rent 
 £z, i! 2^, with multures, etc., and carrying the corn grown on the said 
 lands to the mill of Staikfurd. Sealed 30* March 1560. 
 
 To John Rob. 
 
 35. Charter to John Rob in Cluny of the third part of a mcrcate of 
 the lands of Cluny and Skillingholme. Yearly rent 1 2= 4'} : and three 
 firlots of meal as dry multure to the mill of Terrauchty, with eightpence 
 of augmentation. Sealed 28"^ March 1560. 
 
 R
 
 1 20 Chronicles of Lincbideii. 
 
 Sasine for Infefting Isabella Philp in Lands at the Town 
 of Bridgend of Dumfries. 
 
 36. Precept of Sasine for infefting Isabella Philp as heir to the 
 deceased Stephen Philp, her father, of certain portions of land at the 
 town of Brigend of Dumfries, between the mill lade of Staikfurde and 
 the water of Nyth on the north, and the hewch or clewch going down 
 from the gate of the late James Fell towards the water of Nyth on the 
 south : The precept is addressed to James Kellok. Sealed 8^^ March 
 1560-1. 
 
 [A charter accompanies the sasine granting the lands to Isabella 
 Philp and her husband David Makgee. Yearly rent 3s.] 
 
 To James Maxwell of Auchencarne and his Spouse. 
 
 3 7. Charter to James Maxwell of Auchencarne and Janet Asloand 
 his spouse, of Newton of Nunwod, formerly occupied by the late William 
 Scot, and last belonging to Mungo Cuningham and Marion Gordon his 
 wife, and resigned by them : To hold on the same terms. Sealed 26* 
 April I 561. 
 
 To James Makkeppel, of Lands partly bounded by 
 Auld Clouden Burn. 
 
 38. Charter to James Makkeppel, Staikfurde, of the half of the 
 15s land of Staikfurde, which he had from the granter's predecessors 
 in tack, — bounded by the water of Nyth on the east, the mill lade of 
 Staikfurde on the south and west, between the foresaid lands of Staikfurde 
 and the lands of Crunstans running on the south and west parts, and the 
 burn of Maryholme, otherwise called Auld Clouden, running between the 
 said lands of Staikfurd and the mains of Lincluden on the north. 
 Yearly payment 20?, with sixteenpence of augmentation. Sealed 29''^ 
 April 1 561.
 
 The College. 131 
 
 Tack to James Murray. 
 
 39. Tack to James Murray in Erne Almery of Troddell, with the 
 fishing ; Erne Almery, Ernefillane ; extending in whole to a ten merk 
 land of old extent, for 1 9 years. Yearly rent five merks for Troddell, and 
 10! at Lammas; and two bolls of meal for the multures; and every 
 three years ;^io of gersum ; and for Erne Almery 2^- merks at the usual 
 terms, and 5! at Lammas ; with one boll of meal for multure ; 12 poultry, 
 10 creels of peats, and every three years £'^ of gersum ; And for Erne- 
 fillane 2\ merks, S^ at Lammas, one boll of meal multure, etc., as for 
 Ernealmery. Sealed 2'' August 1561. 
 
 Charters to Thomas Pane. 
 
 40. Charter to Thomas Pane, of the half of the five merk land of 
 Troquier. Yearly rent 18?, with 16 pence of augmentation. Sealed 
 30"^ August 1 561. 
 
 41. A second charter to the same of the croft called Fowlemyre, or 
 Bell's Close, with meadow thereof, between the lands of Corbryhill on the 
 north and east, the common way leading to the bridge of Carganc on the 
 south, the lands of Calsalands in the hands of David Magee, and lands 
 of William Howate on the west, all which lands belonged to the late Sir 
 Gilbert Beck, brother-in-law of Thomas Payne. Yearly rent S^ Sealed 
 30* August 1 561. 
 
 To James Cunynghame, of Lands partly bounded by 
 the College Gardens. 
 
 42. Charter to James Cunynghame, dwelling in the mains of Lin- 
 cluden, and Catherine Kennedy his spouse, in liferent, and John Cunyng- 
 hame their son and his heirs, of a croft of land on the west of the highway, 
 between the mains on the south, croft of John Bek on the west, and lands 
 of Gilbert Heries on the north, and the said highway on the east ; also 
 certain lands eastward from said croft, between the croft of the late 
 Stephen Bek, now in the hands of John Newlands, on the south, the 
 highway on the west, the gardens or orchyards, extending in all to six
 
 132 Chronicles of Lincludcn. 
 
 acres, with houses, etc., as formerly occupied by the deceased Paul 
 Cunynghame, father of the said James, with pasturage of eight soumes 
 of cattle in the pasture within the messuage or grange of Lincluden. 
 Yearly rent 20!, and twelvepence of augmentation, with duplicand on the 
 entry of the heirs of the said John Cunynghame. Sealed 4"^ August 
 1562. 
 
 To Sir William Edgar, Chaplain, Lincluden termed a Regality. 
 
 43. Charter in favour of Sir William Edgar of three acres of the 
 meadow lands of Cluny : Two of which bounded thus : — " Begynand at 
 the Hallmyr Hand inlang the watter of Cargane to the cauld well " on 
 the north and east, and by the other part of the said meadow on the west 
 and south ; and the third acre lying in the south land of the said meadow 
 called Carlelis Daywork, having the lands of Archibald Hereis on the 
 south, and the other part of the said meadow on the north, west, and 
 east : Also all and whole the lands called Charterland, bounding with the 
 Kirklands of Terregles on the west, lands of Terregles on the north and 
 east, and the water of Cargane and lands of Archibald Hereis on the 
 south. Yearly rent 27^ for the three acres, and 13! 4'? for the Charter- 
 lands. [The charter narrates that the said Sir William Edgar paid to 
 the granters £60, of which they acknowledge receipt] Sealed at Lin- 
 cluden — date illegible. 
 
 Notwithstanding the premises the said Sir William Edgar compeared 
 before a notary and witnesses, and became bound not to call the pre- 
 bendars of Lincluden before any judge, spiritual or temporal, in regard to 
 a sum of £60 contained in the foresaid charter, because they had not 
 intromitted therewith : and therefore the clause concerning the said 
 money was declared to be null and void. This was done previous to the 
 sealing and subscribing of the said charter, in the chapter house of Lin- 
 cluden, before these witnesses : Andrew Edgar, John Moreson, and others, 
 on 18'^ April 1564, the notary being David M<^Gee. The subscriptions 
 are, Mr, Robert Douglas, provost ; Mark Caruthers, Sir John Rig, . . . 
 Lauder, Sir John Baty, Sir John Morton, Mr. Archibald Menzies, pre- 
 bendars.
 
 The College. 
 
 A tack dated agth March 1558-9 follows the charter, the terms 
 being for 19 years, at an annual rent of 27s. 
 
 To James Maxwell. 
 
 44. Charter to James Maxwell in Troqueir, in liferent, and James 
 Maxwell, his grandson, and his heirs, of 3^^ mercates of the lands of 
 Troqueir. Yearly rent £6 10= 84. Sealed 19'^ October 1563. 
 
 To a Dumfries Burgess. 
 
 45. Charter to John Shortrig, burgess of Dumfries, of the 10! lands 
 of Mareholme, on resignation by John Adamson. Yearly payment 28!, 
 with duplicand on the entry of each heir. Sealed with the chapter seal, 
 and that of the Provost at Drumlangrig [the house of the Provost's father], 
 13* November 1560. Witnesses, John Douglas, John Grierson, William 
 Hunter, Sir John Tailzour, rector of Cummertreis, and Herbert Anderson, 
 notary. 
 
 To John Johnston in Nunholme, the Nith Fishings reserved. 
 
 46. Charter to John Johnston' in Nunholme, and Cristina Mak- 
 Kennand his wife, in conjunct fee, and their heirs, of four mercates of the 
 lands of Nunholme; reserving the fishings on the Nith. Sealed 25'^ 
 January 1564-5, and subscribed by the Provost, Mark Carruthers, Sir 
 John Baty, Sir John Lauder, Mr. Archibald Menzies, John Mortoun, and 
 Sir John Rig, prebendars. 
 
 The written volume from which we have quoted so extensively 
 closes in these terms : — 
 
 " This Bulk contenis threscoir and sewyn leiffis. A leif unwrittin in 
 the begynning and . . . leiffis unwrittin in the ending of this buik." 
 
 1 John Johnston, son of Edward Johnston, a Dumfries burgess, acquired the dues 
 payable at Devorgilla's Bridge when the Minorite Friars of Dumfries, to whom they 
 belonged, feued out their possessions in 1557 on the eve of the Reformation.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE COLLEGE. 
 
 Connection of Sir John Maxwell with the College — Provost Douglas makes an arrange- 
 ment for disposing of its principal mansion — The scheme opposed by the Pre- 
 bendars as being at variance with their vested rights — Provision made for Douglas 
 at the suppression of the College — He takes part with his patron, Lord Herries, 
 in a plot for reinstating Mary Stuart as Queen — Issue of the case against him 
 and the Nithsdale chief — The Act of Annexation, and its effect upon the Lin- 
 cluden endowments. 
 
 A CRITICAL stage in the fortunes of the College had now arrived. 
 It was not to be expected by any of its inmates, however san- 
 guine, that the statute of 1560, which operated destructively on 
 other religious houses, would leave theirs unharmed. Provost 
 Douglas, clearly perceiving that "the beginning of the end" had 
 been reached, resolved to safeguard as far as possible his own 
 selfish interests, even though the security obtained for himself 
 should be at the expense of the prebendars and bedesmen. For 
 this purpose he persuaded the brethren to sign away to him large 
 slices of the Lincluden patrimony, under a promise on his part to 
 look after their worldly concerns ; and he then entered into an 
 arrangement with Sir John Maxwell, according to which, if we 
 understand the matter properly, the young knight of Terregles 
 was to get the Provost's Lodging as a residence, and other good
 
 The College. 135 
 
 things belonging to the community, which Douglas had no right 
 to dispose of without their consent. When the brethren came to 
 know how they had been treated by their superior, they held what 
 in modern times is called an indignation meeting, at which they 
 resolved to remonstrate against his aggressions, and invoke the 
 law, if necessary, for the defence of their rights. The connection 
 of Sir John Maxwell with Lincluden, as thus brought about, is 
 worthy of special notice, owing to the celebrity he soon afterwards 
 acquired when acting as the gallant champion of Queen Mary. 
 He acquired the Terregles estates by his marriage with Agnes 
 Lady Herries, at whose death he also assumed the patrician title 
 which, when worn by him, acquired a lustre unknown to it before. 
 As previously indicated, the College Register Book reveals the 
 transactions entered into between him and the Provost ; and it 
 also furnishes details of the course taken by the Lincluden com- 
 munity to get them set aside. What the brethren thought 01 
 the manifold attacks directed against the establishment is shown 
 by the document we are about to quote. It is their written 
 answer to a written statement that had previously been submitted 
 to them on the subject by Provost Douglas. Some words are 
 missing at the beginning, the opening fragment being " The 
 Proveist desyris all in few and the prebendaris. . . ." Other- 
 wise the declaration of the subscribing parties is very nearly 
 entire. 
 
 " We prebendaris and chaiplanis," they say, " of Lincloudone 
 wnderwrittin beand . . . adwisit be the maist cunnyng and wys 
 men and freyndis that culd be had . . . vthir places rycht 
 humyllie geiffis our ansuer eftir the sobir wit and . . . God hes 
 giffin vs in absens of our tua brethir beand greitlye moir . . . nor 
 our sempill wmderstanding is To yow my lord provest of Lyn- 
 cloudone . . . and desyre of the rycht noble and honorable Johne 
 Maxwell of Terreglis knycht ... lie your wisdomis to stand
 
 136 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 content to heir our ressonable respons vpon the . . . petitionis 
 eftirfollowand, etc. 
 
 " Inprimis geif it mycht stand with your lordschipis plesour to 
 remembir that your lordschip and we prebendaris . . . writtin 
 convenit in our cheptour of Linclouden the first tyme of your 
 cummyng to [rule over us] and thair your lordschip and we the 
 haly ewangeliis twechit gaif our bodely aithis your lordschip to 
 ws and we to yow to defend the libertye and common weltht 
 of our place and [mains] of Lynclouden at all our guidlie powar 
 and that we suld nocht seill and subscryve till ony persona ony 
 chartour lang takkis or ewident to the hurt of the common 
 weltht of the said place provest prebendaris and successouris of 
 the samyn. 
 
 " Secundlie quhair your lordschip desyris ws prebendaris 
 wnderwrittin to seill and subscryve a chartour and precept of few 
 of the principall mansioun place and manis of Lynclouden with 
 the yairdis orchartis and Kirkhill of the samyn My lord geif it 
 mycht stand with your lordschipis plesour we all in ane voce 
 thinkis your lordschipis petitione and desyre wnressonable and 
 nocht to be grantit becaus it war ane owr crewell audacitie till ws 
 that ar subjectis to our provest to consent seill or subscryve ane 
 chartour of few till ony gentillmen of the principall mansioun and 
 place manis yairdis and pertinentis thairof expelland thairthrow 
 yow our provest, that suld mak daily residence with ws, in his 
 principall place and mansioun, quha suld se the service of God 
 daylie dwne And als it war ane ressonable caus to the Prince of 
 this realme beand principall patroun and donatour of bayth 
 provestrye and prebendaris nocht allanerlie to depryve ws of our 
 stallis and prebendariis bat als to punis ws to be example till 
 vtheris offendouris in sic caissis. 
 
 " Thridlie quhair your lordschip desyris ws to seill and sub- 
 scryve ane chartour of the thre millis as contenit in the samyn
 
 The College. 137 
 
 Inlowand ane merk of slluer for ilk boll of meill of the mesour of 
 Nyth My lord answerand thairto we think it may nocht stand 
 with guid fayth and conscience to altir the wittalis quhilkis ar 
 ordanit be the fundaris of this place to be deliverit to the puir 
 beidmen ffor thair sustentatioun and makis na augmentatioun bot 
 diminisis the samyn. 
 
 " Fferdlie Anentis the chartour of few desyrit be your lordschip 
 of the landis of Nunwod Corrowchane Blakpark and Hillintoun to 
 seill and subscryve thaj landis My lord it is [forbidden ?] bayth 
 by Goddis law and mannis to sett takkis or to few ony mannis 
 kyndlie stedyng or landis of thaim quhilkis hais bene in posses- 
 sioun sum xl sum 1 yeris and vtheris past memor of man till ony 
 vthir gentill man quha nevir had kyndnes thairto nor gudwill or 
 favouris of the possessouris thairof quhilk and we grantit thairto 
 it suld be ane deidlie feid to ws be the inhabitouris thairof quhill 
 we leiffit by Goddis caus and brekyng of our bodely aithis. 
 
 " [Fyftlie] Anentis certane clausis in the hyndmast part of your 
 chartouris makand mentioun in the . . . we haif ressavit thre 
 thousand merkis and fyve hundretht pundis fra Hew [Douglas] 
 of Dalwene byndand and oblissand ws prebendaris geif we cum 
 or be hard . . . contrair for the reductioun of the infeftiment of 
 all and syndry the saidis landis place mansioun manis myllis and 
 stedingis with thair pertinentis contenit in the said lettres that we 
 . . . refound and paye to the said Hew his airis and assignais the 
 saidis sowmes abonewrittin agane, quhilkis we nevir ressavit till 
 our utyr distructioun, quhilk war inpossible till ws and all our 
 freindis to pay Heirfor my lord we think thaj claussis unresson- 
 able that thaj thingis done unlauchfullie may nocht lauchfullie be 
 reducit or hard in jugement but sik inconvenience to the reducer 
 of it unlauchfullie done. 
 
 " And concludane thir premissis under protestatioun My lord 
 ye promist to sum of vs prebendaris affoir we subscrivit your fewis 
 
 s
 
 138 Chronicles of Lincludcn. 
 
 of the Greynlaw and syndry vthiris landis and stedingis of Cors- 
 mychell and fisching of the collage pwle that geif the provestry of 
 Lynclouden and landis of the samyn war nocht put in temporall 
 mennis handis be the Prince and magistratis of this realm hot at 
 it stude undisponit apon conforme to the fundatioun in that^cais 
 your lordschip eftir lauchfull warnyng thairto suld produce all and 
 syndry chartouris precejDtis sesingis confirmationis and all vthiris 
 evidentis ye obtenit and gat thairof of all and syndry the saidis 
 landis of Corsmychell and fisching of the collage with thair 
 pertinentis and deliver the samyn till vs prebendaris of the said 
 collage to be rescindit expirit and annullit and of thir premisses we 
 maid ane obligatioun to be subscryvit and selit be your lordschip 
 the quhilk to do ye haif refusit and refus as yit Ouhairfor My 
 lord considerand your lordschip hes nocht selit and subscrivit the 
 said obligatioun to vs conform to your lordschipis promis nor hais 
 as yit geiffin vs ony guid deid or thankis for our consent till your 
 lordschipis desyris, we haif the les plesour to hurt our conscience 
 for your unlefull desyris, bot sayis with the propheit ' Emeiidcvins 
 in melius quia ignoranter peccauiimis.' 
 
 " And finallie quhair your lordschip desyris our utyr answer of 
 your lordschipis petitionis we all concludan in ane voce finallie 
 determis nevir to seill nor subscryve the said fewis becaus of thir 
 our ressonable articlis maid and send to vs be the maist wys and 
 cunning men of law beand riply consultit and advisit in thir 
 premissis quha kennis best the perellus danger that may cum apon 
 vs be the Ouenis Majestie beand now our patroun by Goddis 
 wrayth and indignatioun in breking of our bodely aithis maid for 
 the commone weltht of our place and als the feid of the auld 
 tenentis of the landis abonewrittin ; besekand your lordschip that 
 we be nocht fardar requirit for the fulfilling of thir premissis. 
 
 " Dominus Johannes Rig prebendarius ad premissa manu 
 propria Dominus Marcus Carrutheris prebendarius ad premissa
 
 Tlic College. 139 
 
 manu propria Dominus Johannes Baty prebendarius ad premissa 
 manu propria Magister Archibaldus Menzeis prebendarius ad 
 premissa manu propria Dominus Johannes Mortoun prebendarius 
 ad premissa manu propria Dominus Johannes Lauder pre- 
 bendarius ad premissa manu propria David Gibsone prebendarius 
 manu sua." 
 
 To a large extent the schemes of Provost Douglas were car- 
 ried into effect, though, as we shall see, they were afterwards 
 greatly modified by the Crown and Parliament. Assuming that 
 Sir John INIaxwell occupied the College, he would scarcely 
 do so for a lengthened period. On becoming Lord Herries, 
 if not before that event, he made Terregles Tower his chief place 
 of residence ; and at the beginning of the seventeenth century we 
 find the Provost's Lodging in the occupancy of William Douglas 
 of Pinzerie, feuar of Lincluden by right of his father the laird of 
 Bateford. Meanwhile the titular Provost took up his abode at 
 Greenlaw, a mansion that had belonged to the College, making 
 it his future home, but spending much of his time in Edinburgh 
 on obtaining, with his habitual good luck, a snug appointment as 
 depute collector-general of that share of the sequestrated bene- 
 fices that fell to the lot of the Crown. It was in the memorable 
 year 1568 that the forces of Queen Mary were defeated at Lang- 
 side, and Lord Herries, conveying his unfortunate Sovereign from 
 the disastrous field, took her to Terregles — he having, we pre- 
 sume, vacated his Lincluden mansion a short period before the 
 battle. Coeval with it, or some little time prior to its occurrence, 
 all the brethren had bidden their dearly -loved College home a 
 last adieu. The closing charter recorded in the Rental Book 
 bears date 26th January 1564-65 ; it may possibly have been the 
 final document of that kind to which their seals as a chapter were 
 attached. Their own doom was sealed by the statute of 17th 
 August 1560; and though in the teeth of its provisions they
 
 1 40 Chronicles of L incbiden. 
 
 continued the old religious service for several years afterwards, 
 the certainty is that by the time the Queen's fortunes had 
 become desperate, and the Reformation had been ratified by 
 Parliament in 1567, the brotherhood had ceased to exist as a 
 corporate body, and a silence like that of death had settled dovi^n 
 upon their hallowed fabric. 
 
 The same fate overtook them that befell the Benedictine 
 sisters whom they succeeded, with this difference, however, that the 
 prebendars, unlike the Abbess and nuns, were fairly well provided 
 for in the end. Even as " that venerable man," Provost Robert 
 Douglas, manifested an extreme regard, not to say veneration, 
 for his own dear self when dealing with the goods of the com- 
 munity, so, by rendering a courtier-like homage to the rising sun 
 of the Reformation times. Regent Murray, and yet retaining the 
 favour of the Maxwell family, he managed to acquire a handsome 
 share of the College spoils and to keep it for life, notwithstanding 
 all the changes in ownership to which the patrimony was sub- 
 jected. From " the Queen's third " Mary assigned Douglas an 
 annual pension of ;!^200 Scots for his services in collecting it ; and 
 the office and the pay were enjoyed by him during several years 
 of the succeeding reign. Yet in 1570 we find Douglas, "canny" 
 and prudent though he usually was, engaged with his patron 
 Lord Herries in a conspiracy formed by Arran, Duke of Chalter- 
 hault, Maitland of Lethington, and others, for the recall of the 
 expatriated Queen. With the view of giving a colour of legality to 
 their proceedings, Arran summoned a meeting of the Estates in 
 her name ; but it was so poorly attended that the movement 
 quietly collapsed. The chiefs of the plot were proceeded against 
 by the Government in the following year. When summoned to 
 appear before the Privy Council they made no response. 
 
 As against Douglas the charge was, that in the preceding 
 months of August and September he, together with "James
 
 The College. 141 
 
 sumtyme Duke of Chatellarault, Johnne sumtyme Commendator 
 of Aberbrothok, Claude Hamiltoun, his sonnis George sumtyme 
 Erll of Huntly, William Maitland of Lethington younger, and 
 utheris," had been forfeited and proclaimed a traitor against " our 
 Soveraine Lord and hes authoritie," and certifying that if he failed 
 to present himself "letters should be direct to put him to the 
 home ; " that though often called " the same Maister Robert not 
 compearand, my Lord Regentis Grace with the avise of the 
 Lordis of Secreit Counsall ordains letters to be direct to the 
 officer of armes, Schereffis in that part, chargeing them to pass 
 and denunce the said Maister Robert our Soveraine Lordis rebell 
 and put him to the home ; and to eschet and inbring all hes 
 movabill gudis to his Majesteis use, for his contemption, after the 
 form and tenour of the said letteris." 
 
 Robert Douglas, Provost of Lincluden, and the holder of a 
 Government appointment, subjected to confiscation as a traitor ! 
 If the position he occupied seems anomalous for him, the senti- 
 ment which betrayed him into it relieves him from the imputation 
 of having been through life a sordid time-server. He exjDosed 
 himself to deadly peril by his chivalrous devotedness to Queen 
 Mary, besides laying himself open to the charge of base ingrati- 
 tude to the ruling powers ; but the storm he had provoked blew 
 by, leaving him unharmed. Both he and the Nithsdale chief had 
 friends at Court, by whose influence the ruinous judgment of the 
 Council was rendered null ; arid successful means were taken to 
 transform Herries from being an enemy of the Government into 
 a friend. When the gallant champion of the exiled Queen found 
 at last that her cause was beyond the possibility of redemption, he 
 submitted to the new order of things, and embraced Protestantism ; 
 in which faith he died twelve years after the date of the Arran 
 conspiracy and four years prior to the execution of the Queen. ^ 
 
 1 Calderwood, Appendix to octavo edition, vol. viii. p. 232.
 
 142 Chronicles of Lincludcn. 
 
 Returning for a little to Provost Douglas, we find, from a royal 
 warrant preserved in the records of the Dumfries Sheriff-court, that 
 he was at times somewhat tardy in settling his official accounts. 
 The following memorandum appears on the back of the warrant 
 written by the messenger entrusted with its execution : — 
 
 Copy of Taxt of Lincluden, 2 ist of October 1578. 
 
 Cherge Maister Robert Dowglas, provost of Lynclowden and taxman 
 of Glencarne To mak payment to the Collector Generall within written 
 (that was to say Johne, Commendator of Cambuskenneth), & his officeris 
 for the superplus of the kirk of Glencarne ilk yeir the yeiris within written 
 of i^i 77 : 13 : 4, & for the unplacit Reidars Stipend at Glencarne the 
 saidis yeiris ilk yeir ;^20. And for the haill third of the Meill of the 
 Provostrie of Linclowden ilk yeir the saidis yeiris within written 7 chalders 
 Meill, & for the superplus of the money of the third of the said Provostrie 
 the saidis yeir ilk yeir ;^8 : 6 : 8<^, and sicklyke for the unplacit Ministeris 
 stipend at the Kirk of Carlaverok ilk yeir the saidis yeiris ;^5 3 : 6 : 8<i, & 
 for the haill of the twa prebendaries of Linclowden the yeir 1 5 8 1, the sum 
 of ;^40 within 10 days nixt eftir this charge undir the pane of horning. 
 
 Johne Scherar, Messenger. 
 
 A more serious accusation than lack of business punctuality 
 was brought against Robert Douglas on the 3d of September 
 1588. During an unfortunate affray which occurred in the 
 autumn of the preceding year Sir Robert Maxwell of Dinwiddle 
 was mortally wounded, and Douglas, suspected of having been 
 " airt and pairt" concerned in the crime, was charged to that 
 effect before the same Court that had tried him for treason in 
 1 571. Failing to "compear," Robert Lord Sanquhar "became 
 pledge and securitie that the accused would surrender on the 
 third day of the next Justice-air at Dumfries," or sooner if called 
 upon, " to underly the law." The case against Douglas seems to 
 have been departed from. At the date of the slaughter he must
 
 TJic College. 143 
 
 have been at least threescore years and ten, and it is difficult to 
 beheve that he took any part in it, more especially as in 1587-88 
 he, besides being a tax-collector, was employed as an auditor of 
 the Lord Treasurer's accounts. The picture of the venerable 
 Provost of Lincluden laying aside his business pen to engage in 
 a sanguinary broil seems to us incredible even when we bear in 
 mind how, seventeen years before, he stepped out of his prosaic 
 habitude to engage in a romantic and perilous enterprise for the 
 restoration of Queen Mary. 
 
 Strictly speaking, a person of his position had no claim beyond 
 that of courtesy to be called a lord ; neither had an abbot, 
 though he might be addressed as " My Lord," or described as 
 " Dominus Abbas," and might occasionally use for signature the 
 name of his house, just as if he had been a temporal baron. We 
 have seen how Robert Douglas was termed Lord Provost by his 
 prebendars, and that most of them signed their remonstrance to him 
 with the prefix " dominus," or lord. On other occasions they 
 generally used the equivalent prefix of "Sir." In attesting the 
 Treasury accounts Douglas invariably took the name of the Col- 
 lege for his signature, as in the subjoined facsimile. 
 
 When the prebendars were dispersed they continued to receive 
 the whole or greater portion of their stipends, and at their death 
 the liferents fell to the Crown. In February 1604 John Makgie, 
 one of the brethren, and also Commissary Clerk of Dumfries, 
 obtained a charge of horning against the tenant and feuar of Lin- 
 cluden for the purpose of obtaining payment of his prebendal dues. 
 On the 6th of April following King James bestowed on Umphra
 
 144 Chronicles of Lincludeii. 
 
 Dowie, son of James Dowie, writer in Edinburgh, the liferent of 
 another stall that had been held by Sir John Lauder, deceased. 
 The Inventory of the Herries and Maxwell Muniments, from 
 which these details are taken, supplies others of a similar nature, 
 which show that the sons of the fortunate lawyer just named acquired 
 by royal gift no fewer than five out of the eight prebends^ of Lin- 
 cluden : William obtained, on the 3d of May 1605, the prebend 
 held by the deceased Archibald Menzies ; John, under a Privy 
 Seal order dated the 7th of January 161 1, received one formerly 
 in the possession of his brother James ; while the stall called 
 "Sir John Mortone's prebendary" fell to the lot of George Dowie, 
 but before he could enjoy its "house-rent and profit" he had to 
 take legal proceedings, on the loth of November 161 5, against 
 William Douglas of Drumlanrig, Provost of the College. 
 
 The secularising process begun by Douglas at Lincluden was 
 completed by the Annexation Act passed on the 29th of July 
 1587. Its preamble sets forth that "Our Soveraine Lord and his 
 three Estaites of Parliament, perfitely understanding the greatest 
 part of his proper rent to have been given and disponed of auld, 
 to Abbaies, Monasteries, and utheris persons and Clergie ; quhair- 
 by the Croun hes bene sa greatlie hurt, that there-after his maist 
 noble Progenitours had nocht sufficient meanes to beare foorth the 
 honour of their Estaite, as they had before, quhilk hes bredde 
 sindrie inconvenientes within this Realme. And seeing the causes 
 of the dissolution of the patrimonie of the Croun to the Kirk, 
 after the trueth knawin, ar found nether necessar nor profitable : 
 and that be mony occasiones, through a lang processe of time, 
 the derth hes sa greatlie increased, not only in this Realme, bot 
 in all Cuntries, that the Prince's charges ar not able to be up- 
 
 1 In the Inventory quoted from " prebend " and " prebendary " or prebendar are 
 used as if they were equivalent terms ; sometimes the man is styled the prebendaiy 
 and the office the prebend, and just as often vice versa.
 
 The College. 145 
 
 holden be that part of the patrimonie quhilk now restis in his 
 handes : And his Hienes for the great love and favour quhilk he 
 bearis to his subjectes ; being na waies minded to greeve them 
 with unprofitable taxations, specially for his royall support It is 
 founde maist meete and expedient that he sail have recourse to 
 his awin patrimonie disponed of before (the cause of the disposi- 
 tion now ceasing) as ane help maist honorable in respect of him- 
 selfe, and least grievous to his people and subjects." 
 
 Thus the Government of the day laid it down as a principle 
 that the Church endowments constituted part of the Crown rents, 
 and might lawfully be recalled for the King's use now that the 
 body to which they were disponed had ceased to exist as a 
 national institution. Following upon enacting clauses to that 
 effect, provision is thus made for exceptional cases : " Our 
 Soveraine Lorde, according to the libertie and priviledge saved 
 to himselfe sitting in judgement in plaine Parliament, hes excepted 
 foorth of the said general annexation the Temporalities of the 
 Abbacies of Coldinghame and Kelso, and Celle of Lesmahago : 
 Declaring them as yit to remaine with the saidis Abbaies and 
 Celle, in the samin estaite, quhairin they then were. And that 
 they were not comprehended in the annexation foresaid ; Bot to 
 remaine with them quhil furder ordour be taken. And hes de- 
 clared that it sail be lauchful to his Hienesse to use the superioritie 
 and few - fermes of the landes of Lethame, lyand within the 
 Schireffe-dome of Fiffe ; being a parte of the Patrimonie of the 
 Bishopprick of Saint Andrewes ; all and sindrie the landes and 
 utheris, after specified, quhilkis are ane part of the Patrimonie of 
 Lincluden." Of the subjects thus excepted a list is given, which 
 comprises " Little Dryburgh, Drumjarg, Ernphillane, Ernecrago, 
 Blaronie, Meikle Dryburgh, Chapmantoun, Blackerne, Ernminzie, 
 Culnotrie, the Corne Milne of Cors-Michael, Garrantoun, Black- 
 parke, Staikfurde, New-toun, Clunie, Skellingholme, Carrauchtie 
 
 T
 
 146 Chronicles of Lincludcn. 
 
 (Terrauchtie), Drumganis, Troqueir, Stocholme, None - land, 
 Cruis-stanes, Holme, Marieholme, and None-holme." 
 
 Further, it is enacted that " gif it sail happen Our said Sove- 
 raine Lord to dispone ony of the landes, milnes, and fischinges of 
 the said Provestrie quhilks are comprehended in the said annexa- 
 tion ; Or quhilks ar now excepted and reserved, as said is, and 
 sal be hereafter dimitted in his Hienesse handes, be the Provest 
 and Prebendars theirof; That gif his Hienesse converted the 
 fermes or victual in silver ; The same sail be no diminution of the 
 rentall, or cause of reduction of the saidis infeftments, to be maid 
 therof And als hes declared, and declaris, that it sail be lauchful 
 notwithstanding the said annexation appoynted to take effect in 
 maner foresaid at the Feast of Martine-mes, nixt to cum ; That 
 Maister Robert Douglas, Provest of Lincluden, and [William] 
 Douglas, Sonne to the Laird of Drumlang-rig, his successour, sail 
 bruik [enjoy] the fruites, profiles, and dewties of the said Pro- 
 vestrie, during their life-times, in the same maner as they did 
 before. And alswa ratifies and appreevis the provision maid to 
 [William] Douglas, sonne to the Laird of Drum-langrig, of the 
 Provestrie of Lincluden, And that the act of satisfaction sal be 
 extended in his favour, declaring the same provision to be suffi- 
 cient for bruiking and joysing of the said Provestrie, and haill pro- 
 files thereof: Notwithstanding quhatsumever Actes, constitutiones, 
 or lawes, civil or municipall, maid in the contrair dispensand there- 
 with, and effect theirof" ^ 
 
 So much for the first stages in the process of distributing the 
 College lands ; but the patrimony, as is shown in the following 
 chapter, was subjected to many other changes before being finally 
 disposed of 
 
 1 The extracts are taken from a very rare folio containing the principal Acts passed 
 in the Parliaments held from 1420 till 1672, " imprented at Edinburgh be Robert 
 Walde-grave, prenter to the Kinges Majestic, 15 Martii, Anno Dom. 1597."
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE COLLEGE. 
 
 Memoranda of the College Lands — William Douglas of Pinzerie marries Agnes, sister 
 of the ninth Lord Maxwell — Temporality of the College made over to him — Dowti- 
 ward career of Pinzerie — He is charged with murder, treason, and other crimes — 
 His trial and its results — Subsequent allocation of the Lincluden endowments — 
 Further disposal of the patrimony by Parliament — Connection of the Drumlanrig 
 Douglases with the College — A portion of its lands conveyed to the first Earl of 
 Nithsdale — Report of State Commissioners on the planting of churches in Terregles 
 and elsewhere. 
 
 Twenty-six subjects were comprised in the list of the College 
 lands provisionally reserved by the King. Other fifteen still re- 
 quired to be dealt with, and the mode in which this was done, 
 together with the further allocation of the whole endowments, is 
 described in a legal document^ drawn up six years after the Annex- 
 ation Act was passed. This deed is entitled, " The estait of all 
 the temporal landis, milnis, and fischings pertaining to the bene- 
 fice of the Provestrie of Lincluden : how they have been disponit 
 in few-ferme and utherwayis, and in quhat cais they stand at the 
 dait heirof " The high importance attached to it is thus speci- 
 fied: "To be keipit for ane perpetuall memorial and informatioun 
 concerning all doutis that may arryse anent the landis, milnis, and 
 fischingis foirsaidis." 
 
 1 Preserved in the Register House, Edinburgh.
 
 148 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 The name of Hew Douglas of Dalvene is introduced to us 
 for the first time in the opening clause of the document as a Lin- 
 cluden feuar occupying Fuffok, Ernealmarie, Auchindole, Larg- 
 murane, Ernefillane, Culgruff, Cordell, Airdis, Mollance, Hillinton, 
 Clariebrand, Croftis, Glengopok, the Nith salmon fishings, and the 
 Maynis of Grenelaw, " with the kayne, peitis, and bondaywarkis 
 of the baronie of Corsmichael." Hew Douglas had been infefted 
 in these properties "be Sir Robert Dowglas, Provest of Lin- 
 cluden, with consent of his chaptour ; " the infeftment receiving 
 due confirmation from " Marie, Oueine of Scottis, mother to our 
 soverane lord King James the Sext, under this gryt seal." But it 
 is further stated that the said Hew acquired no proprietary rights 
 thereby. He was just a tenant with a temporary tenure, holding 
 the lands " that they micht be resignit and disponit agane to the 
 Provest as ane particular persone, or quhatsumevir uther he lykit." 
 The lands having been so resigned. Provost Douglas hands them 
 over as a perpetual heritage to " Johne Johnestoun, wretter to the 
 signett, and ane of the clerkis of the counsall as ane familiar friend 
 to the Provest." Unluckily, however, Johnstone's charter of in- 
 feftment falls out of the way ; but the consolation remains that if 
 it does not turn up it may "be renewit be the Provest," and that 
 too without consulting the chapter, seeing " it is na new few, bot 
 the change of ane tennent according to the forme of the auld 
 infeftment." 
 
 Here an ill-disguised legal device is indulged in, according to 
 which the feus that were not heritable when held by Hew Douglas 
 conveniently became so in the hands of John Johnstone, though, 
 as it immediately afterwards appears, it is not the honest writer to 
 the signet, but the intriguing Provost of Lincluden, that is to bene- 
 fit by the disingenuous arrangement. " Maister Robert" receives 
 back the lands from Johnstone, and then, for a consideration of 
 course, assigns them to James Douglas of Baitford, " now callit
 
 The College. 149 
 
 of Pinzerie ; " " and swa the said James was maid to be in the 
 place of the said Sir Robert, as he was ane privat persone 
 and wassail to the said Johne Johnestoun, and be this discours it 
 is certane that at thes tyme the said Johne Johnestoun was fewer 
 and immediat heritable tennent to the Provest of Lincluden, and 
 was immediat superiour to James Dowglas of Pinzerie, to quhome 
 he hade disponit the propertie of the foirsaidis landis." 
 
 In the Parliament of July 1587 "the haill kirklands of the 
 realme were annext to the Croun." Douglas, dreading injury to 
 his interests, obtained a new infeftment, dated at Holyrood the 2d 
 of April 1588, making Pinzerie the King's immediate tenant — this 
 arrangement to continue "till it pleis the Provest to tak farder 
 ordour" in the case. Another stage was reached by placing 
 Pinzerie in the same relationship to the seven other subjects : the 
 Mayns of Lincluden with their manor-place, Crochane, the mill 
 of Staikfurd with its mill-lands, the mill of Tirrauchtie with its 
 mill-lands, Clunie, Ernisbie, and Chapelerne. These lands, it 
 is explained, " albeit they war ane pairt of the patrimonie of Lin- 
 cluden, yit they war nevir sett in few to na person befoir the 
 general annexatione ; " but being now " our Soverane Lordis 
 propertie" to be set in feu by " His Hienes" as freely as before 
 the annexation, they might have been feued out by the Provost 
 and chapter. Not only are all these lands disponed to Pinzerie, 
 but they are united so as to become the barony of Corsmichaell,^ 
 "the sasing to be gewin at Grenelaw as the principal mesuage 
 thairof " Further, it is stated that the kirk, parsonage and vicar- 
 age of Glencarne, which belonged to the canons of Glasgow, had 
 been taken from that see, and the heritable patronage thereof 
 assigned to the said barony. Still another large portion of the 
 
 1 Some of the statements made in the document quoted from are open to question. 
 At least five of the subjects specified above — viz. Lincluden Mains, Carruchan, Stakeford 
 Mill with its mill-lands, and Clunie, were never actually comprehended in llie barony 
 of Crossmichael, but have always belonged to that of Drumsleet.
 
 1 50 Chronicles of Lincltiden. 
 
 Lincluden patrimony — that, namely, which was held in feu by 
 tenants — remained for disposal. It consisted of the twenty-six 
 subjects specified in a preceding chapter as having been exempted 
 from the Annexation Act of 1587. All these farms and mills with 
 their pertinents went the same way as the rest — to enrich, nominally 
 at least, James Douglas of Pinzerie, but Provost Douglas taking 
 good care to provide for his own special aggrandisement by 
 getting the liferents of the College property reserved for himself 
 and his grand-nephew William Douglas. 
 
 The instructive document under notice closes thus : — " It is to 
 be understood that our Sovrane Lord approaching to his age of 
 XXV yeiris, and ane new Parliament being proclamit to be haldin 
 in Junj jm Ixxx tuelff, thair was sundrie opinions takin that the 
 King micht revok at the age of twentie fyve yeiris quhatsumevir 
 thing he hade disponit of befoir ; in the quhilk his Majestie was 
 alswa very instant to have hade it accomplishit. This movit the 
 Provest to tak ane ratificatioun of all the infeftmentis maid before 
 with ane new eift thairof, Ouhilk infeftment is daitit at Halirud 
 hous the XX day of Deccember jm ze fourscoir xj yeiris." 
 
 In the way just explained the family of Douglas of Baitford or 
 Pinzerie, descended from George, third son of Sir William Douglas 
 of Drumlanrig, became connected with Lincluden College. The 
 relationship brought about a melancholy episode in its annals, the 
 particulars of which we must now put on record. On the 2d of 
 April 1 603 a contract of marriage was entered into between Agnes 
 Maxwell and William Douglas, heir-apparent of Baitford, with con- 
 sent of her brother John, the ninth Lord Maxwell, Provost Douglas, 
 liferenter of Lincluden, and James Douglas, feuar thereof, the 
 father of the bridegroom ; they obliging themselves to make over 
 to him, and the heirs born of the marriage, the " haill temporality " 
 of the College. Young Douglas, or Pinzerie as he was usually 
 styled, was no fitting match for a daughter of the house of Max-
 
 The College. 151 
 
 well. Though of high descent and with brilliant worldly prospects 
 before him, he degenerated into a thorough vagabond, figuring at 
 times as a common housebreaker, at others as a treasonable 
 emissary, and filling up his cup of guilt with sundry deeds of 
 blood that brought ruin in their train. 
 
 Only a few years intervened till, on the 6th of September 16 10, 
 Douglas, then feuar of Lincluden in right of his father, was placed 
 before the High Court of Justiciary to answer for some of the 
 many crimes with which he stood chargeable. The " dittay " or 
 indictment in the case reveals a strange career of untempered 
 lawlessness and violence. He was accused in the first instance of 
 having caused the death of Thomas Softlaw, a Dumfries burgess, 
 under the following circumstances: — Conceiving "deidly ffeid, 
 rancour, and malice without ony caus" against Softlaw, the 
 prisoner, in company with John Cunninghame, his servant, and 
 other "deboischet" men, numbering about twenty, "all bodin in 
 feir of weir," that is to say, fully accoutred with swords, lances, 
 hackbuts, and pistols, "prohibeit to be borne or worne," went to 
 the house of their victim in the Brigend of Dumfries. Finding 
 the poor fellow there, they set upon him " fearcellie," though his 
 "quyet and sober maner under Godis peace and the Kingis" 
 ought to have disarmed their rage ; and as a result he " schortlie 
 thaireftir depairtit this life." In the second count Douglas and 
 others were charged with the slaughter of Edward Maxwell of 
 Crostoun, also at Bridgend. Among the accomplices mentioned 
 were John Schillington, his servant ; John Greir, swordslipper ; 
 and John Dempster, in the College of Lincluden — the whole party 
 carrying swords, lances, and other weapons, which were used by 
 them with such murderous effect upon the unfortunate Maxwell 
 that he " nevir convalesced ; bot, lying in extreame and deidlie 
 payne," breathed his last five or six days afterwards. 
 
 Out of this deed of blood arose a subordinate charge, founded
 
 1 5 2 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 on an effort made by Schillington, at the instance of Douglas, to 
 liberate his comrade, Greir the swordslipper, who had been " tane 
 with the bludie hand," and consigned to durance vile in the prison 
 of Dumfries ; the enterprise resembling to some little extent the 
 more heroic deliverance effected eleven years before of Kinmont 
 Willie from Carlisle Castle by the Bold Buccleuch : 
 
 " Then speedily to work we gaed, 
 And raised the slogan one and a'. 
 And cut a hole through a sheet o' lead, 
 And sae we wan to the Castle ha'. 
 
 " Wi' coulters and wi' forehammers. 
 We gaid the bars bang merrilie, 
 Until we cam to the inner prison, 
 Where Willie o' Kinmont he did lie." 
 
 The Dumfries " pledge -chalmer," or jail, of that day had no 
 " castle's strength " to boast of, yet the feat undertaken by Pin- 
 zerie's emissary required the exercise of rare ingenuity, caution, 
 and courage. Having provided himself with levers, crowbars, 
 files, and other tools, he — single-handed, seemingly — set forcibly 
 to work, under cloud of night, upon the vault and pend, or arch, 
 of the prison. Obtaining in this way access to Greir, he found 
 the captive heavily fettered, just as Red Rowan found Kinmont 
 Willie ; but while the Teviotdale trooper had to carry the delivered 
 outlaw on his back, irons and all, which at every step "played 
 clang," the Nithsdale prison-breaker, by the dexterous application 
 of his implements, " shore " off the manacles in which Greir was 
 locked, and then conveyed him, uncumbered and safely, to Lin- 
 cluden College. The indictment against Douglas under this head 
 sets forth that " your servand, at your command and be your 
 speciall convoy and assistance, violentlie and forceablie releisit the 
 said Johnne Grier furth of our Soverane Lordis prisone, and 
 caryreid him to your hous in Lyncluden, wheir ye reset, keiped,
 
 The College. 153 
 
 and interteneid him diverse nychts and oulkis [weeks] thairefter." 
 The next charge against Douglas discloses his illegal intercom- 
 muning with the ninth Lord Maxwell a few months prior to the 
 slaughter of Dunskellie, and which, as we have already seen, was 
 afterwards maintained. From the indictment it appeared, further, 
 that John, the fifth Lord Herries, was directed by the Council to 
 apprehend Pinzerie and "ane" other "nottour rebel and fugitive, 
 Edward Maxwell of Craigtoun," his associate ; but that when 
 Herries attempted to carry out his commission he fared badly at 
 their hands, and the servants who assisted him were beaten off 
 and otherwise grievously maltreated. 
 
 For "commone thift, commone ressett of thift, out putting and 
 in putting of thift fra land to land, fra cuntrie to cuntrie baith 
 auld and new," Douo;las was also arraig^ned ; the black catalogue 
 including the following case, which we quote from the " dittay " 
 in a form slightly modernised and abridged : — Item, You, though 
 "ane landit gentilman," are accused of coming to David Welsche's 
 chalmer in the place of Grenelaw, and " tressonabill breking up of his 
 lettrone [box] thair, and steiling furth thairof xxxv pounds money or 
 thairby, twa half ducats of which perteined to the umquhile Proveist 
 of Lyncluden his maister ; whereof ye soon thair efter exchanged 
 ane half ducat with Alexander Gordon, violer in WIgtoun, for fyve 
 merkis." We are then told that this act of "stouthreif" having 
 been noised abroad, it came at last to the knowledge of Provost 
 Douglas, who was so indignant with you for the same, "that he 
 boistet after to droun you, or at leist put you af the country," which 
 the Provost as Lord of the Regality was legally entitled to have done. 
 
 In the final scene the culprit appears thoroughly crestfallen, 
 occupying an attitude at once degraded and ridiculous ; he, by 
 the advice of the said David Welsche, passing to the Provost's 
 residence at Greenlaw, " quhair he was lyand in his bed, and 
 Penzerie, pulling off his breikis and schankis [or long hose], fell 
 
 u
 
 154 Chronicles of L includen. 
 
 doun upon his bair knees before the Provost, craving God and him 
 for pardoun and forgiveness ; " and swearing that he would never, 
 never do the Hke again. The Provost seems to have dealt leniently 
 with his reprobate kinsman ; but no forbearance was shown to the 
 criminal when placed at the bar before the Justice-Depute. 
 
 Douglas, pleading guilty to all the charges brought against 
 him, threw himself on the clemency of the Court. Thereupon 
 the Lord Advocate generously offered to ignore the plea and 
 allow the panel to get the benefit of any statement that his prolo- 
 cutors might make on his behalf Utterly hopeless of their being 
 able to establish any adequate defence, the miserable man 
 prayed that mercy from the King's Majesty might be extended to 
 him, but without effect. The jury of fifteen,' by their chancellor, 
 William Crichton of Ryhill, having returned a verdict of guilty on 
 all the counts, nothing less than a capital sentence of the most 
 degrading kind could follow ; and that, as pronounced by 
 Alexander Kennedie, dempster of the Court, was in these terms : 
 — " The Justice decernit and ordainit the said William Douglas 
 to be tane to the Mercat-Croce of Edinburgh, and first his richt 
 hand to be struken frome his body, and thairefter the said 
 William to be hangit at the Mercat-Croce upon ane gibet quhill 
 [until] he be deid ; and all his landis, heritages, &c., to be ffor- 
 fattit and escheit to our Soverane Lordis use as giltie and cul- 
 pable of the saidis tressonabill crymes ;" which sentence, it is 
 added, was "pronounced for doom."" 
 
 1 The names of the jurors are thus given : — William Creichtone of Ryhill, Alexander 
 Maxwell of Logane, John Broun of Mullenis [Mollance], James Mairtene in Airdis, Jo° 
 Fairies in Carse of Kynneill, Thomas Hunter in Burne, William Douglas of Lache, 
 James M'Rerik of the Kerne, Johnne Grierson of Inglistoun, John Cormichell elder in 
 Spothe [Spottes], George M'Ne in Lyncluden, Thomas Welche thair, Ninian Myller in 
 Ryhill, Hew Douglas of Bethebocht, and Roger Padzeane of Newtoune. 
 
 " For the details of this extraordinary case we are chiefly indebted to Pitcairn's 
 Criminal Trials, vol. iii. pp. 90-95.
 
 The College. 155 
 
 The unhappy man who perished in this ignominous way had pre- 
 viously disponed part of his lands to Sir Robert Gordon of Loch- 
 invar. On the 28th of May 161 1 such of them as were included 
 within the baronies of Crossmichael and Drumsleet and excepted 
 from the Acts of Annexation, were resigned into the King's hands 
 by James Douglas ; and on the 19th of the following December his 
 Majesty granted them by charter to Sir Robert Gordon and to Sir 
 John Murray of Lochmaben, who, as Groom of the Bedchamber, had 
 won the favour of royalty — the former obtaining the Crossmichael 
 lands, the latter those of Drumsleet ; and both becoming bound 
 to pay the teu mails (money rent) to William Douglas of Drum- 
 lanrig, Provost of Lincluden, during his lifetime, and afterwards to 
 the Crown. As King James could not by the exercise of his 
 own prerogative dispense these munificent favours, the Scottish 
 Estates or Parliament had to be consulted, and various Acts 
 were passed by that body giving full effect to the royal will on the 
 subject. All the details of the way in which the lands that 
 "pertenit of auld to the Provestrie" of Lincluden were allocated 
 are pointed out by an Act bearing date June 161 7. In another 
 Act, passed five years afterwards, ratifying gifts made to John 
 Murray, the motive for the King's generosity to his favourite 
 personal attendant is feelingly specified to have been a desire to 
 recognise "the gude, treu, and thankful service" rendered by 
 Murray when "attending upon His Majestie's sacred persone 
 continewally sen His Majestie's youth." The grants on this 
 occasion included extensive lands in Annandale ; "the tenements, 
 houses, and yards lying beside the Brigend of Dumfreis qlkis 
 pertenit of auld to the sacristers and prebendaris of the College 
 Kirk of Lincluden, lying within the Stewartry of Kircudbright, and 
 all and haill the fyve pundland of Troqueir." 
 
 During the short-lived existence of the Episcopal Establish- 
 ment in Scotland the bishopric of Galloway was revived, Gavin
 
 156 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 Hamilton, who was appointed to the see, receiving a royal grant 
 of Tongland Abbey, Glenluce Abbey, and Whithorn Priory, with 
 all their kirks and revenues. On the abolition of Prelacy in 1689 
 these properties reverted to the Crown. The Drumlanrig family, 
 who got such a goodly share of the temporalities of Lincluden, 
 were presented also by King James with the churches of Terregles 
 and Lochrutton that had belonged to the College. 
 
 At a remote period the barony of Drumlanrig formed a portion 
 of the great earldom of the Douglas line. Prior to 1388 it was 
 conferred by their chief on his son, Sir William de Douglas, the 
 deed of grant being attested, among other witnesses, by Archi- 
 baldo de Douglas Domino Gallovidie, founder of Lincluden Church. 
 As, however, the date of the charter was accidentally omitted, it 
 possessed no legal force ; but full effect was given to its provisions 
 by a holograph letter from King James L, dated the 30th of 
 November 141 2, to his " traiste and wele belofit cosyng Sir 
 William of Douglas."^ From him in a direct line sprang the 
 William Douglas previously mentioned as liferenter of Lincluden,^ 
 and he, the last of its Provosts, was elevated to the peerage as 
 Earl of Queensberry — the first who bore the title. To him the 
 magnificent castle of Drumlanrig owes its existence. His grand- 
 son, the third Earl, received a dukedom in 1684; and it was his 
 son James, the second Duke, who played a leading part in pro- 
 moting the Union of 1707. We thus see that the first of the 
 Queensberry Douglases began his public life as a Provost of 
 Lincluden, and established the connection of another illustrious 
 Scottish family with the College. 
 
 On William, the first Earl, devolved the pleasant duty ot enter- 
 
 1 There were, as the reader has aheady seen, two persons of this name closely 
 associated with Lincluden and nearly related to each other — William Douglas of 
 Pinzerie and William Douglas of Drumlanrig, grand-nephew of Provost Douglas. 
 
 2 Drumlanrig Castle and the Douglases, by Dr. Ramage, p. 5. The royal letter, 
 written on vellum, is preserved in the family charter-chest.
 
 The College. 157 
 
 taining James VI. when the King passed down Nithsdale towards 
 the close of his visit to Scotland in 161 7. His " Sovrane Grace," 
 accompanied by a splendid retinue of courtiers, including his 
 favourite the Duke of Buckingham, spent a day under the roof of 
 old Drumlanrig Tower. He entered Dumfries on the 3d of 
 August ; and before leaving the burgh presented the celebrated 
 Silver Gun to its Incorporated Trades. There is a prevailing 
 belief that James, before crossing the Nith, spent the night of the 
 2d in Lincluden ; and though the tradition to that effect receives 
 no support from " The Muse's Welcome," written to commemorate 
 his Majesty's progress, nothing could have been more natural for 
 his noble host than to conduct him to the place whose history is so 
 intertwined with that of the Douglases, and where the King's own 
 ancestress lies entombed. 
 
 Passing over a few additional years, we find Lincluden and its 
 lands associated once more with the house of Maxwell. When 
 the ninth Lord suffered at Edinburgh his estates and honours 
 were forfeited ; but eventually these, together with the title 01 
 Earl of Nithsdale, were conferred on Robert, his younger brother 
 and heir. In 1627 the barony of Drumsleet, excepting the six 
 merkland of Drungans, was disponed by Murray to Lord Nithsdale, 
 and is now vested in that nobleman's successor. Lord Herries, as 
 superior ; while the lands immediately adjoining belong to Alfred 
 Peter Constable Maxwell, Esquire of Terregles, late captain in 
 the 9 2d Highland Regiment. 
 
 During the year just specified State Commissioners were ap- 
 pointed to facilitate the plantation of parochial churches throughout 
 the land. To this Commission Johne Thomsone, Johne Cunyngham, 
 and George Croket, " nominat electit and sworne for the parochyn 
 of Terregles — Mr. Thomas Melville, minister thairat," gave in the 
 subjoined report : —
 
 1 5 8 Chronicles of L includen. 
 
 "I. In the parochynne thair will be about tua hundredth com- 
 municants. 
 
 "2. The parochin is thrie myll in lenthe, thrie quarteris of ane 
 mylne breid, and the kirk is in the middis of the pariche. 
 
 " 3. The roume of the parochine moist remoitt from the kirk 
 will not be ane myill and ane half. 
 
 "4. It is not united to anie uther kirk. 
 
 " 5. It is ane of the fyve kirkis of the Colledge of Lynclouden, 
 quhilk Colledge is within this parochin. 
 
 "6. It is nocht in laik patronage. 
 
 " 7. The Ministeris present stipend is four hundredth four 
 scoir merkis at the maist, and ewill payit. 
 
 "10. Thair is na schoole nor na provisioune for ane in the 
 paroche, but greit neid of ane. 
 
 "II. There was ane chappell belanging of old to the Colledge 
 Kirk of Lynclouden heaving ane pensioune of threttie pundis or 
 abone, payit out of the landis of Maynis of the parochine of South- 
 wick, and ane yaird within the boundis of the Colledge, in quan- 
 tatie of tua ruidis. The pensioune for the present, sa far as we 
 can understand, is in the possessioune of Johne Young, Schirefif 
 clerk of Drumfreis, and the yaird in the possessioune of Johnne 
 Bowie, indwellar in the Colledge. 
 
 "12. Thair wes in the Colledge, as we are informit, aucht 
 prebendaris and tuentie four headmen. Lyk prebendaris had 
 amangist thame fyftle merkis of feu maille of the barronie of 
 Drumsleit, now in the possessioune of the Erie of Nithisdaill, and 
 everie ane of thame fyftie bowis meill of the teynd bollis of meall 
 of the parochynne of Carlaverock, but now in the possessioune of 
 the Erie of Nithisdaill and Thomas Welshe, Messengir, burges of 
 Drumfreis. The headmen had everie ane of thame aucht bollis 
 meall taine out of the parochine of Corsmichaill and barronie of 
 Drumsleit, but the present possessouris we knaw not.
 
 TIic College. 159 
 
 " 13. Thair is in the parochine kirklandis, viz. the sex merk 
 land of the Colledge of Lynclowden, the fourtie shilling landis 
 quhilk is Viccar landis, callit the Kirklandis, adjacent to the kirk. 
 The Maynis of Lynclowden is in the possessioune of the Erie 
 of Nithisdail. The viccar landis in the possessioun of Johne 
 Thomsone, set to him be the King in few, sa far as we knaw. 
 
 " 14. The sex merk land of the Maynes of the Colledge of 
 Lynclouden in coitt, croftis, and hiefield is estimat in yeirlie rent 
 to thrie hundrethe merkis. The sex merk land of Lynclouden 
 payis moir rent becaus of the multitude of the peopill and houssis. 
 " Mr. Tho. Melvill, Minister of Terreglis." 
 
 This interesting report is signed by Johne Cunyngham "at 
 Drumfreis, the sevint day of May, the yeir of God I™- VI'^- and 
 tuentie sevin yeiris," the said Johne Thomsone of Kirkland and 
 George Crokatt subscribing notarially, " with our hands at the pen, 
 led be the Notar underwrytin at our command, becaus we can not 
 wrytt our selffis."
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PERIOD OF DECAY. 
 
 Petition sent to the Earl of Nithsdale by poverty-stricken relatives from Lincluden — 
 Lord Nithsdale's descendant, Lady Winifred Maxwell, married to William Hag- 
 gerston Constable — Her grandson establishes his claim to the Herries peerage — 
 Lady Winifred and Burns — The College deserted — Its appearance when visited 
 by Pennant and Grose — Steps taken by its proprietor to arrest the progress of its 
 decay — Extensive excavations undertaken which lead to important discoveries — 
 The Abbey and College described through the medium of the new light cast upon 
 their remains. 
 
 The first Earl of Nithsdale restored Carlaverock Castle, and made 
 it his chief place of residence ; and Lincluden, thoroughly secular- 
 ised, continued to be occupied as a mansion by his relatives far 
 into the seventeenth century, and so long perhaps as it remained 
 habitable. Dated from it on the 24th of August 1625 there is 
 still extant a very melancholy letter revealing the straits to which 
 wastino; wars and feuds had reduced the Pollok branch of the 
 family. It is addressed "To the richte noble and verrie guid 
 Lord the Erie of Nithisdaill — these," and proceeds in the follow- 
 ing terms : — " We, your Lordships friends, being upone occasioun 
 of our greit distress conveniet heir at Linclouden, we all in ane 
 voice haif resoluit to wryte to your Lordship to understand your 
 Lordships guid counsall and directioun thairanent ; for seeing 
 your annual rentis is not payit, our landis are not onlie comprysit
 
 Period of Decay. 1 6 1 
 
 bot also we ar denuncet his Majesteis rebellis, and letteris of 
 caption gevin out againis us, so that hardlie we eschapit, nirthillis 
 and not suir how son we sal be apprehendit, nothing douting in the 
 mein tyme bot your Lordship knowes our distress als weill as we 
 can wryte the same, and that your Lordship wil be als cairfull of 
 our releiff as we can desyre." The subscribers go on to entreat 
 the " richt guid " Lord to help them suddenly — at once ; and 
 more especially that he would procure an order from the King's 
 treasurer to stay the legal proceedings directed against them until 
 his Majesty's pleasure in the matter shall have been made known. 
 Because of the urgency of their case the noble Lord is requested 
 to favour them with an answer by a bearer of his own in the 
 event of the ordinary "pakett" being unavailable. Before closing 
 they solemnly commend their chief and all his affairs to the " rest 
 of God." Signed, "Crags; Johne Maxwell of Nether Pollok, 
 Knicht ; S. J. Calderwood ; James Maxwell, Conhaithe ; Archi- 
 bald Maxwell, Cowhill." 
 
 The result of this pressing appeal to Lord Nithsdale is not 
 known, but it would scarcely be unfavourable, seeing that he was 
 naturally liberal and generous. These qualities were more than 
 sufficiently manifested by the noble Earl during the civil war that 
 soon afterwards ensued ; the royal cause finding in him a most 
 devoted supporter, and one who was called upon to suffer heavily 
 for its sake. Like the Provost's Lodging, in which dwelt for a 
 period the fourth Lord Herries and the first Earl of Oueensberry, 
 a palatial mansion built by the first Earl of Nithsdale within the 
 stout walls of Carlaverock Castle, has long been a desolate place, 
 tenanted only by the owls and the bats ; and since the troubles in 
 which the family were involved by their chivalrous devotion to 
 the Jacobite cause, they have had their chief seat on the south 
 side of the Border. After the escape of the last Lord Nithsdale 
 from the Tower, where he lay under sentence of death, passed upon 
 
 X
 
 1 62 Chronicles of Line hide n. 
 
 him for his share in the rising of 171 5, he went to Rome, where 
 he spent the remainder of his Hfe in the service of the Chevalier 
 St. George, for whose sake he had incurred the forfeiture of his 
 estates and the attainder of his title. It having been decided, after 
 much litigation, that the forfeiture only affected his life interest in 
 the estates, his son, William Maxwell, succeeded to them. He 
 appears to have led a quiet, retired life at Terregles, and was 
 succeeded by his daughter Winifred, who married William 
 Haggerston Constable, of Everingham Park, Yorkshire. 
 
 Their only son, Marmaduke Constable Maxwell, inherited the 
 Terregles and Carlaverock estates, as well as that of Everingham. 
 The two latter, Carlaverock and Everingham, were left by him to 
 his eldest son William, who in 1858 made good his claim to the title 
 of Baron Herries of Terregles, the attainder passed upon the family 
 in 1 71 5 having been removed in 1848. His son, the present Lord 
 Herries, succeeded to his title and estates in 1876, and was created 
 a Peer of the United Kingdom in 1884 under the style of " Baron 
 Herries of Carlaverock Castle, and of Everingham Park, Yorkshire." 
 
 The above-mentioned Marmaduke Constable Maxwell left 
 the Terregles estates to his second son and namesake, who pos- 
 sessed them with much honour to himself and benefit to his tenantry 
 until his death in 1872. He died childless, and Terregles estate 
 now belongs to his nephew, Captain Alfred Constable Maxwell, to 
 whom antiquarians and the general public are indebted for the 
 recent extensive improvements carried out at Lincluden. Captain 
 Maxwell, we ought to mention, has also restored the Quire of 
 Terregles, built by his great ancestor John, fourth Lord Herries. 
 
 Robert Burns was on intimate terms with Winifred Max- 
 well. An ardent Jacobite she was, but scarcely more so than 
 the national bard ; the chief bond of sympathy between the warm- 
 hearted gentlewoman and the illustrious peasant being their senti- 
 mental love for the exiled Stuarts, and their sorrow for the fate of
 
 Period of Decay. 1 6 3 
 
 the luckless Prince who vainly sought to redeem their fortunes. 
 When at length the Maxwells came northward to occupy their 
 old residence, Burns tuned his harp and elicited from its strings a 
 strain resembling that of the real Jacobite minstrels. In his ballad, 
 " Nithsdale's Welcome Home," there is a beautiful reference to the 
 happy reverses of fortune experienced by the family — 
 
 " The noble Maxwells and their powers 
 
 Are coming o'er the Border ; 
 And they'll gae big Terregles towers, 
 
 And set them a' in order ; 
 And they declare Terregles fair, 
 
 For their abode they chuse it ; 
 There's no a heart in a' the land, 
 
 But's lighter at the news o't. 
 
 " Tho' stars in skies may disappear, 
 
 And angry tempests gather. 
 The happy hour may soon be near 
 
 That brings us pleasant weather ; 
 The weary night o' care and grief 
 
 May hae a joyfu' morrow ; 
 So dawning day has brought relief — 
 
 Fareweel, our night o' sorrow." 
 
 As in the case of most monastic establishments, a considerable 
 village rose up near Lincluden at an early period of its history. 
 There is some reason for concluding that the village stretched a 
 good long way in a south-easterly direction towards Bridgend, as 
 Maxwelltown was termed, when it too was nothing more than a 
 hamlet on a big scale. Between the two a community of feeling 
 existed, as they were not only locally associated, but both be- 
 longed to the brotherhood of the College. By the Annexation 
 Act Bridgend became Crown property ; but, as has been already 
 stated, James VI., cancelling that arrangement, conferred the 
 village and some acres of land around it on his favourite Murray.
 
 164 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 Occasional references to both villages appear in the College 
 charters ; one of which is worthy of being quoted from here, on 
 account of what it says about the little " town " of Lincluden and 
 its surroundings. This document embodies the narrative of a 
 seisin, dated the 8th February 1678, by John Mitchelson of 
 Jardineton, and Margaret Mackburnie, his spouse, in favour of 
 John Wright, and is to the following effect, as detailed in the 
 text of the relative contract of wadsett of the said lands as ac- 
 quired by their purchaser, viz. — " All and haill that tenement of 
 land, with the yaird and pertinents lyand in the held of the toun or 
 village of Lincluden upon the west part thairof, and also of Eight 
 acres of land of the lands of the Mains of Lincluden, lying con- 
 tiguous to the said tenement upon the North side thairof, and ane 
 aiker of land lyand in the Beircroft of the said Mains of Lincluden 
 going fra the streit callit the Kings Hie Streit, quhilk leidis to 
 the Compterford be the West syde of the Thornraw to the hill 
 callit the Dowcat-hill, and siklyke all and haill ane dark [daurg] of 
 Medow at the held of the Charterland Medow ; and in lyke manner 
 in all and haill the just and equall half of the saidis lands callit 
 the Aikhill, and twa Broomknowes, and with liberty to cast peitis 
 and turris in the Aikiehill Moss, and in all and haill 1 2 sowmes of 
 grass or sowmes of guidis within the common pasturage of the 
 College Mains, together with the haill parts, pendicles, and per- 
 tinents thairoff ; all lying within the parochin of Terregles, regaltie 
 of Lincluden, and Stewartry of Kirkcudbright."^ 
 
 This village ceased to flourish after its fostering Alma Mater 
 fell into decay. Some three or four of its cottages remained standing 
 about a furlong from the College till within the last forty years ; 
 now they are all gone, and two farmhouses, situated nearer the 
 ruins, have risen up in their stead. Another change took place 
 in the aspect of the neighbourhood when the stately mansion of 
 1 SherifFs Court Record, Dumfries.
 
 T £ R "GfiOSE," 1709 
 
 LINCLUDEN TOWARDS THE CLOSE
 
 Period of Decay. \ 6 5 
 
 Lincluden House/ at first termed Youngfield, was erected in 1824 
 by Mr. Gilbert Young. 
 
 But for the protracted absence of the Maxwells Lincluden 
 would probably have suffered less than it did from the decline 
 which began to eat, cancer-like, into its old walls so soon as they 
 ceased to be occupied. The desertion and consequent decadence 
 of the building may be dated from the close of the sixteenth 
 century. It suffered no molestation, so far as can be ascertained, 
 during the troubles of the Reformation period. The outbursts of 
 popular fury, which in 1559 and 1561 overthrew or seriously 
 injured other churches and monasteries in Scotland, left Lincluden 
 unharmed. For at least five years after the latter period its 
 establishment, as we have seen, remained in working order under 
 the rule of Provost Douglas ; and while reference is made in the 
 minutes of the period to repairs put upon the fabric, these were 
 required for injuries due to ordinary wear and tear, and not to 
 the hand of violence. Not only the Maxwell family, but the 
 parishioners of Terregles, few of whom renounced their old faith, 
 would certainly have interposed for the defence of the College if 
 it had been wantonly assailed.^ 
 
 Pennant visited Lincluden in 1775, by which period it had 
 assumed a desolate aspect, as two views he gives of it reveal. 
 The roof of the chancel was gone, the vaulting from which it 
 sprang, however, still remaining entire. Describing Lady Mar- 
 garet's tomb, he states that he found it to be in all parts most 
 
 1 Lincluden House is at present occupied by Lady Anne Ewart, aunt of the pro- 
 prietor. Major Young. 
 
 2 While Protestantism made considerable progress in Nithsdale at an early period, 
 the Town Council of Dumfries, when supplicating the General Assembly in 1602 to pro- 
 vide the parish with an able minister in lieu of Mr. Hew FuUertone, whose services they 
 had lost, backed up their petition by stating that Romanism was still powerful in their 
 midst, their town having become " ane seat of excommunicat Papists and Jesuits." — Book 
 of the Universal Kirk, p. 323.
 
 1 66 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 beautifully carved, and that " her effigy at full length lay on the 
 stone, her head restuig on two cushions, but the figure is now 
 mutilated;" and he adds the all but incredible statement that "the 
 bones of the deceased had been scattered about the floor of the 
 choir by some wretches who broke open the repository in search 
 of treasure."^ The tourist states further that behind the house 
 "are vestiges of a flower-garden, with the parterres and scrolls 
 very visible." Referring to Kirkhill, he says, near the garden 
 there is "a great artificial mount, with a spiral walk to the top, 
 which is hollowed, and has a turf seat to command the beautiful 
 views ;" "so that," he quaintly adds, "the Provost and his bedes- 
 men seem to have consulted the luxuries as well as the necessaries 
 of life." Fourteen years afterwards Grose paid a visit to the Col- 
 lege, and as a result a description of its condition and two illus- 
 trative engravings appear in his well-known work, these showing 
 that no great change for the worse had taken place since i775' 
 When, about the beginning of the current century, the chancel roof 
 gave way, falling into the interior, and leaving it quite exposed to 
 the elements, the wreckage of the ancient fane was further 
 accelerated ; and it was rendered still more nearly complete in 
 1 85 1 by the fall of the heptagonal tower, as already recorded. 
 " Time's effacing fingers," and still more mischievous human hands, 
 have sadly manipulated the carved work of the chancel, especially 
 that by which the doorway and rood screen were enriched ; some 
 figures and scrolls which were pretty entire so recently as fifty years 
 ago having now almost lost both their meaning and their beauty. 
 
 Not many years ago the question was mooted of restoring 
 Lincluden in connection with the educational settlement of the 
 Marist Brothers, who, however, obtained accommodation elsewhere 
 at Dumfries. More recently a rumour prevailed that from the ruins 
 of the house of Uchtred another nunnery might possibly arise, to 
 1 Pennant's Tour, vol. iii. p. 105.
 
 Period of Decay. 1 6 7 
 
 be peopled anew with the monastic descendants of the Benedic- 
 tine sisterhood who were ejected from the Abbey by the Black 
 Douglas. It having become known that the Dowager Lady 
 Herries, mother of the present Baron, intended to erect a house 
 for female celibates somewhere in the locality, it was thought by 
 many of her co-religionists that no fitter site for it could be found 
 than the pleasant nook occupied by the relics of the previous 
 building. But there were strong practical difficulties in the way 
 of this romantic scheme, and probably it was never seriously en- 
 tertained. In due course, however, the projected nunnery was 
 erected on Corbelly Hill, which, as we have already seen, origin- 
 ally belonged to the community of Lincluden. History repeated 
 itself when, after the lapse of 700 years, the daughters of St. 
 Benedict renewed their connection with Nithsdale, and when 
 France, which is believed to have sent the first band of Black 
 Nuns for the old house in 11 64, performed a similar service for 
 the new house in 1884; with this important difference, that the 
 Abbey of Lincluden accorded well with the spirit of its age, while 
 the Nunnery of the Sacred Heart on Corbelly Hill is a pheno- 
 menon that seems at strange variance with all its surroundings, 
 social and physical. 
 
 In 1877 the condition of the College was brought under the 
 notice of Captain Maxwell by a deputation who waited upon him 
 for that purpose at the instance of the Dumfries and Galloway 
 Natural History and Antiquarian Society.^ His own views agreed 
 thoroughly with theirs ; and indeed since the time he acquired the 
 property he had felt that the state of the Abbey and College was a 
 reproach to their owner, and would have begun to repair them 
 immediately, had it not been that the land round the ruins was in 
 the tenancy of Major Young. An opportunity for resuming pos- 
 
 1 The deputation consisted of Mr. J. Gibson Starke of Troqueer Holm, an able and 
 devoted antiquarian, and of the author of the present work.
 
 1 68 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 session having arisen in 1882, Captain Maxwell at once embraced 
 it, put the remains of the venerable fabric in good order at great 
 expense, and having succeeded in getting a suitable person to act 
 as their custodier,' he built a neat cottage near by for his residence. 
 As already mentioned, Mr. Barbour read two papers on the subject 
 to the members of the Society just named, embodying a detailed 
 account of the discoveries that had been made during the excava- 
 tions, and showing how much the building had profited by these 
 and the other works so liberally undertaken for its benefit by 
 Captain Maxwell. We subjoin a summary of the valuable in- 
 formation communicated by Mr. Barbour. 
 
 He expresses his belief that the College had been a completed 
 building, though possibly the masonry may have been erected in 
 sections, beginning with the chancel and proceeding westward. 
 The plan was not cruciform, the part occupying the position and 
 projecting in the form of a transept being in this case a side chapel, 
 which, with the aisle, had been roofed with groined and ribbed 
 vaulting at a uniform height ; and there had been a room over the 
 chapel, lighted by a small double window in the top of the gable, 
 and approached by a circular staircase in the angle between the 
 transept and the chapel. There are a few instances of buildings 
 in which rooms somewhat similar are found, but the purpose of the 
 apartments is matter of dispute. Upon the walls of the aisle and 
 chapel remain the vaulting shafts and parts of the moulded ribs of 
 the vaulting supported upon sculptured corbels. A little of the 
 vaulting itself also remains, showing that it has been constructed 
 of rag-work — that is, small flat-bedded stones, in this case half an 
 inch to three inches in thickness, and entirely unhewn, set in thick 
 beds of mortar. The chancel itself had been roofed by groined 
 and ribbed vaulting in three divisions, vaulting shafts and part of 
 the ribs being still left upon the walls. Over this vaulting, as was 
 
 1 Mr. Jardine, dairyman.

 
 Period of Decay. 1 69 
 
 the case with that of the side chapel, there had been an apartment 
 roofed by a cyHndrical stone vault, and reached by the circular 
 stair that adjoins the entrance into the chancel.' 
 
 Referring to the figures on the west side of the rood screen, 
 Mr. Barbour says they are arranged in rows one over another ; 
 the middle row consisting of about twenty figures, winged, and 
 their hands crossed over their breasts ; the upper row represent- 
 ing heads filling in the triangular spaces between the upper parts 
 of the wings of the figures below them ; and the lower row repre- 
 senting the birth of our Saviour and scenes in His life, but so 
 mutilated that the groups can scarcely be traced. As showing 
 the unstinted care of the sculptor, it may be mentioned that the 
 lower parts of the limbs of some of the figures are perfectly formed, 
 although when the sculpture was complete they would not be 
 visible. The westmost remaining vaulting shaft of the aisle is 
 supported by a figure ; at the angle formed by the walls of the 
 aisle and side chapel the vault ribs sprang from a pair of figures ; 
 and the image bracket in the side chapel is upheld by a figure, 
 winged, and holding a scroll uninscribed. Within the chancel 
 there are six figures, supporting vaulting shafts, all winged. The 
 attitudes of these sculptured figures can yet be observed, and 
 through all the mutilation and almost obliteration of detail some- 
 thing of their power is still visible. 
 
 Another piece of sculpture recovered during the clearing of the 
 ruins is a slab, evidently a fragment of the breast or parapet of the 
 
 1 At a meeting of the Dumfries and Galloway Antiquarian Society, held on the yth 
 of December 1877, an interesting paper was read on Lincluden by Mr. Glover Ander- 
 son, architect, who has paid great attention to the subject. Mr. Anderson, in describing 
 the chancel roof, remarks that " the excessive care shown by the double vaulting sug- 
 gests the use of the upper as a store for valuables, or library." Respecting the Church he 
 says : " It was undoubtedly the richest work of architecture ever erected in the district ; 
 for lofty solemn grandeur it may not have been able to compare with Sweetheart, but 
 for pure yet lavish decoration there must have been few buildings in the south of Scot- 
 land worthy of comparison." 
 
 Y
 
 170 Chronicles of Lincliidcn. 
 
 rood loft. It is about two feet nine inches hisfh, and the remains 
 consist of three pieces, the larger one containing four panels, one 
 of the smaller the upper part of two panels, and the other the lower 
 part of two ; in every panel showing a figure in low relief. The 
 panelling consists of an ogee pointed arcade, the framing chamfered 
 only, and without cusps. Beginning at the left side of the larger 
 piece, the upper part of the figure on the first panel is destroyed, 
 but the lower part shows a long dress and the feet of a figure 
 unshod, a sword being also visible on which the vanished hands 
 must have rested — the weapon indicating that the figure represents 
 St. Paul. The second figure, holding a chalice in the left hand 
 and pointing to it with the right, is recognised by its emblem as 
 that of St. John the Evangelist. The face is bearded, and the 
 hair of the head is disposed of in a number of small oval balls. 
 The third figure holds a book in the left hand, and what may have 
 represented a scroll in the right one. It is, we think, a delineation 
 of our Lord, as the visage and accessories resemble those usually 
 assigned in sculptured work to the Saviour. In this case the hair 
 is fallinof, and on the face is a beard divided. The fourth figure 
 holds a book in the left hand and a staff in the right ; the beard 
 and hair being similar to those of the second figure. 
 
 One of the smaller pieces of the table shows a head and the 
 upper part of a figure, holding in the right hand a book and in the 
 left a staff, the hair falling and the face bearded. The vestments of 
 the figures are disposed in many and graceful folds. The broken 
 trunk of another figure was found, bearing the impress of good 
 workmanship, but leaving no trace by which it can be identified. 
 Had it not been seemingly of feminine type, the speculation might 
 have been hazarded that the mysterious fragment is the torso of 
 the monument raised by the founder of the College in honour of 
 his father. Sir James Douglas. The sculptured figure of Lady 
 Margaret, which was in a mutilated condition when seen by
 
 ft R M i: I . i - >, '. ■; L U D E N 
 
 I DOUGLAS. 2 ROYAL ARMS OF SCOTLAND '■ 5TEW4RI 4 00U6LAS AND GA'.LOWAy 
 
 DOUGLAS AND Ma-
 
 Period of Decay. 1 7 1 
 
 Pennant, and had been lost sight of for a century, was recovered 
 by the explorers, and is justly looked upon as one of the chief 
 prizes of their search. But it is such a wreck that the sculptor 
 of the effigy, had he been alive, could scarcely have recognised 
 his own handiwork. "It is," says Mr. Barbour, "broken into 
 two pieces, and so disfigured that it is with difficulty the details 
 of it can be followed. The head of the recumbent figure, which 
 appears to have been crowned, rests on two cushions ; the hair 
 hangs down in long ringlets, one on each side, and the hands 
 are crossed upon the breast. The lower of the two cushions is 
 oblong and lies crossways, the upper one is square and lies upon 
 the other diagonally, and both are tasselled. Upon the lower part 
 of the dress is still a small portion of ornamental detail ; the 
 cushions exhibit corded seams, and on one of them is represented 
 minute and beautiful braiding, the whole leading to the conclusion 
 that the figure, instead of being, as it seems on a casual inspection, 
 rude, has been executed in all its parts with the utmost minuteness 
 and care, and without doubt it has been a work of high art, fitted 
 to cover the remains of a princess and adorn this beautiful Church." 
 
 Of the genuineness of the relic no doubt is entertained, and, 
 dreadfully marred and mangled though the figure is, we are not 
 without hope of seeing it restored and placed in its original position. 
 There is much carved leaf work also on the building, as on the 
 cornice of the south wall of the chancel, the sedilia, piscina, tomb, 
 priest's door, east corbelling of the rood loft, the capitals of vaulting 
 shafts, the caps of mullion rolls of the chancel windows, the imposts 
 of the chancel arch, and west respond of the arcade, and in con- 
 nection with a number of the shields. It is mostly adapted after 
 nature, some of it very closely, and in design and execution it is 
 admirably suited to the material of which it is wrought. 
 
 Mr. Barbour, in describing the heraldry, states that it is in 
 better preservation than the sculpture, and seems on that account to
 
 172 Chronicles of Linchidcn. 
 
 be the more prominent adjunct of the two. He notices the shields 
 upon the tomb in the chancel, and also one on its south wall bear- 
 ing: on a bend three mascles, and in the sinister canton a buckle 
 of the first, the arms of the Haly burtons, scroll-encircled, with the 
 monogram J. H., the scroll bearing the words Loyal and Haly- 
 burton, and other two words difficult to decipher. Pennant states, 
 it is thought erroneously, that this shield displays the arms of John 
 Stewart, Earl of Athol, with the motto, " Furth fortune and fill 
 the fetters." 
 
 The Provost's Lodging is described as follows by Mr. Bar- 
 bour : — " It extends northwards from the sacristy, and has con- 
 tained one apartment in its width, and an octagonal projecting 
 staircase near the centre of its west front. The basement consists 
 of five vaulted cellars. The first floor appears to have contained 
 a square apartment at the north end, and the remainder of the 
 floor formed probably the great hall. The second floor contained 
 a north room, and the space over the hall would be divided into 
 several rooms. The north part of the building only was carried 
 up a third floor, forming a square tower with crowstepped gables. 
 The entrance door opened upon the octagonal staircase, and the 
 staircase gave access to the first and second floors ; the third floor 
 of the tower being reached by a small stair within the north-east 
 angle of the wall, starting from the room below. One of the 
 cellars was entered from the staircase, and the other four by out- 
 side doors in the west wall. The windows of the rooms have 
 been principally in the east wall, and would overlook the well- 
 formed gardens and scarped mound attached to the place, the 
 meeting of the waters, and an extensive tract of country beyond. 
 The polygonal tower,^ most of the walls of the square tower, and 
 the quarter part of the west wall between the square tower and 
 the Church, existed in 1805. Now only the lower parts of the 
 
 1 This is the tower previously mentioned as being heptagonal.
 
 Period of Decay. i 7 3 
 
 walls of the many-sided tower, the cellars, and the square tower 
 to about half its height' with a piece of one corner of it rising to a 
 greater height, remain. The two cellars adjoining the sacristy 
 were erected, it is believed, at the same time as the Church ; the 
 hewing being similar, and the vaulting being also of rag- work. 
 The workmanship exhibited in the other portions of this part of 
 the ruins is different and inferior ; and quantities of slates and other 
 material, which evidently belonged to some former building, are 
 found embedded in the walls. The mouldings also are dissimilar 
 to, and of later date than, those of the Church. The work was 
 probably erected about 1530 by William Stewart, who was then 
 Provost. His arms, which have been recovered, appeared upon 
 the polygonal tower ; and a carved corbel has been found bear- 
 ing the initials of his name, V.S., upon it." 
 
 Before Lincluden was vacated by its living tenants it had a 
 vault for the reception of the dead ; and long afterwards, down 
 till a comparatively recent period, it was used to a limited extent 
 as a burial-place. During the recent excavations some fragments 
 of a stone coffin were turned up, together with a stone on which 
 are incised a scroll, and in old English letters the words " De 
 Douglas;" the letters "IE" also appearing upon it, this being 
 possibly a relic of the memorial in honour of Sir James Douglas, 
 erected by his son Archibald the Grim. A highly -interesting 
 tombstone, broken into three pieces, was recovered from the 
 stratum of rubbish four feet deep that had accumulated on the 
 floor of the Lady Margaret's Chapel. It had been placed there 
 to mark the spot where the remains of Provost Carnys were laid. 
 It is a massive oblong slab of red sandstone, measuring eight feet by 
 four. Round its four sides runs an inscribed border, the figure of 
 a tree appearing in the centre, above which there is a shield bear- 
 ing a fesse and an inscribed scroll all incised. The inscription on 
 the border is much defaced ; the legible portion, in old English
 
 174 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 characters, being " hic jacet magister Alexander de carnys." 
 Not being able to make out the legend, Mr. Barbour sent a 
 rubbing of it to the author of The Book of Carlaverock, Dr. 
 Fraser, whose reading of it is, "qui me calcatis pedibus prece 
 suBVENiATis " — " You who tread on me with your feet remember 
 me with your prayers," — this touching appeal being, no doubt, 
 specially addressed to the chaplain and bedesmen of the College. 
 
 Another stone was laid bare, lying west of the chapel, with faint 
 traces of lettering that cannot be interpreted. Neighbouring the 
 Provost's gravestone two others were unearthed, each with border 
 inscriptions, these being respectively — "Here lyis ane honest 
 man, Alexander Cooper, mason, 1588;" and "Here lyis Robert 
 Cowper, mearsome, Burgis of Drownfreis, 161 " — the last figure of 
 the date being obliterated. It is supposed that the word " mear- 
 some " here employed was meant for mason ; but no such barbar- 
 ous piece of spelling, during even an unlettered period, have we 
 ever met with elsewhere. Still another memorial of the dead was 
 discovered — one in the nave, so deformed that its significance is lost. 
 
 When drawing his second paper to a close, Mr. Barbour 
 describes an interesting relic of the stalls of the Church. His 
 remarks respecting it are subjoined in a slightly abridged form : — 
 "In the quire attached to the parish church of Terregles, erected 
 in 1583 by John Lord Herries as a place of sepulture for himself 
 and his family, is a piece of furniture long known as the Provosts' 
 Chair of Lincluden. Any one acquainted with church furniture 
 will not hesitate to pronounce this piece of furniture to be part of 
 the stalls of some important pre- Reformation church, and the 
 ornate character of the work and its architectonic style are such 
 as would be in keeping with the Church of Lincluden. The 
 Terregles family being connected with Lincluden at the Reforma- 
 tion, would, it may be presumed, when the Church was dismantled, 
 carry away this piece of furniture to Terregles, and deposit it in
 
 Period of Decay. 1 7 5 
 
 the new burial-place, where it now remains. Two of the stalls are 
 nearly complete, except that the back boards and the canopies are 
 wanting ; and there are parts of a third stall. The work is of oak. 
 The seat-boards turn up in the usual way, and have the usual carved 
 miserere, allowed by the Church as a sort of rest for relief to the 
 infirm during the long services that were required to be performed 
 in a standing posture. The points of the elbows are carved, and 
 the back framing rises in a series of buttresses and pinnacles richly 
 decorated with carved crotchets and finials. Parts of carved pieces 
 of the canopies also remain. A unique circumstance came to light 
 a few years ago respecting this so-called Provosts' Chair of Lin- 
 cluden. Captain Maxwell had undertaken the re-edification of 
 the place of sepulture within which, against one of the walls, it 
 stood ; and on its being removed from that position, on some of 
 the remaining boards forming the back were discovered traces of 
 paintings. The paintings appear to be in tempera. The more 
 complete one is upon two boards, a third board upon which a 
 small part of it had extended being wanting. This painting repre- 
 sents a female figure in a standing posture, the left arm crossed 
 upon the right one. The features of the face are obliterated ; the 
 face itself is oval ; the hair is yellow and long, hanging down upon 
 the shoulders. Upon the head is a crown with alternate y?t'z^r-rt?i?- 
 lys and short points. The inner garment is of a reddish-brown 
 colour ; and the outer mantle, which depends from the shoulders 
 and arms in graceful folds, has a yellow border ornamented with 
 lines and roundlets. I cannot make out the colour of the mantle, 
 but I think it may have been blue ; the inner lining is white, prob- 
 ably representing a fur. The cloak is secured about the neck by 
 a yellow band and a ring, through which the band passes. Of the 
 second painting only a small portion remains. The head and the 
 hair, which is yellow, can be made out ; but the face is obliterated. 
 The cloak has been of a reddish-brown colour with yellow border ;
 
 176 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 the left hand holds a chalice, and the right one is represented 
 pointing over it. It was customary in ancient times to paint on 
 the backs of the stalls the founders and benefactors of the Church, 
 and saints also were common subjects of representation. The 
 female figure in this case is doubtless intended to represent St. 
 Mary, to whom it is believed the Church was dedicated, and the 
 companion picture St. John the Evangelist." 
 
 Some small fragments were recovered of the glass used in the 
 windows of the Church, and of the lead in which the quarries 
 were set ; the pieces, though corroded and discoloured, sufficing to 
 show that the windows were varied in hue, and fitted to enhance 
 the effect of the solar radiance when it streamed through upon the 
 rich architecture and rare sculptured decorations of the fabric. 
 
 Mr. Barbour finishes his paper with the emphatic remark — 
 " Every circumstance revealed during the recent excavations goes 
 to show that the building had been complete ; and every accessory 
 of it — the painted windows, the richly-carved stalls overlaid with 
 painted imagery — enhances the splendour exhibited by its more 
 structural parts."
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A HISTORICAL PANORAMA. 
 
 "The Poet's Dream" at Lincluden — Suggested parallel to it of a Historical Panorama 
 depicting the chief personages connected with the building, from Uchtred, its 
 founder, to Burns, its poet laureate, and the leading scenes that have occurred 
 under its roof or around its walls. 
 
 What a grand processional array the descendants of Dovenald 
 and the other leading characters connected with Lincluden would 
 make, were they summoned to pass before us by the wand of fancy ! 
 Since the beautiful Abbey, built by one of them, fell into decay, it 
 has frequently been the object and the scene of poetical and 
 artistic inspiration. Burns himself often wooed the muse when 
 meditating under the pensive shadow of its ruined walls ; and it 
 was while thus employed, as he tells us, that the genius of 
 " Libertie " rose up before his eye and poured such strains into his 
 ear as he did not dare (in that undemocratic day) to repeat in his 
 rhymes. Another bard, comparatively unknown, Mr. W. Joseph 
 Walter, who was tutor at Terregles House for three years ending 
 in 1815, published a fine poem that is often erroneously attributed 
 to Burns, entitled, " An Evening View of the Ruins of Lincluden 
 Abbey," in which he vividly recalls its pristine condition, peoples 
 it anew with the vestal sisterhood, and gives voice anew to their 
 
 z
 
 178 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 chanted song. An accomplished artist, Mr. D. O. Hill, whose 
 no less gifted widow produced the Dumfries statue of Burns, 
 drew a most ingenious picture, tributary to the national bard, 
 which he termed "The Poet's Dream." In this work Burns is 
 represented reposing on a verdant knoll near the relics of the 
 Provost's Lodging, during a happily-haunted gloaming hour, and 
 descrying in his slumbers many of the scenes he had glorified and 
 the characters he had immortalised ; all the animated figures 
 crowding around him in a diversified series of spiritual tableaux. 
 To these visions, associated with Lincluden, there might be added 
 a historical panorama, of the nature already hinted at, which would 
 bear upon its fanciful canvas the principal figures and incidents 
 introduced in these pages to the reader. 
 
 Were such a work to be undertaken the van would have to be 
 led by Galvus, the bold Scoto-Irish adventurer, shadowy as one 
 of Fingal's heroes, followed, falchion in hand, by the two stalwart 
 leaders of the wild Galwegian Scots who fought and fell at the 
 battle of the Standard. Next to these semi-barbarous warriors 
 might pass Fergus, the first Galloway lord of his line, sage-like, 
 refined, and melancholy. Then his not less gentle son Uchtred, 
 disturbed, it may be, in his pious meditations by the clangour of 
 battle, and agonised as he perceives his remorseless brother 
 appearing on the scene to shed his blood. As a matter of course 
 the Countess Marjory would have to be introduced,- — masculine, 
 yet not unwinsome, though in order to win a husband she had to 
 rely more upon physical force than the fascination of her personal 
 charms. A good group could be made out of the Carrick lady 
 apparelled for the chase and the graceful cavalier whom if she did 
 not captivate she made captive, and by so doing ail-unconsciously 
 pioneered the way for the liberation of Scotland when it lay cap- 
 tive under the galling English yoke. For the glorious Liberator 
 himself a prominent place would have to be assigned as slaying
 
 A Historical Pano7'ama. 1 79 
 
 the Red Comyn in the Dumfries monastery erected by Uchtred's 
 Hneal representative Devorgilla, or, better still, breaking the 
 oppressor's rod on the field of Bannockburn. John Baliol, the 
 representative of the rival house, might, on account of his connec- 
 tion with Uchtred's family, get a place in the pageant, companioned 
 by his bride, " The Fair Maid of Fotheringay ; " or she might be 
 introduced afterwards in widow's weeds, though still young, " rycht 
 pleasant of bewtie," as depicted by Wynton, but inconsolable for 
 the loss of her departed lord. 
 
 With a visage that nobody could mistake, the stern suppresser 
 of the Abbey would have to figure on the canvas. Yet, harsh and 
 covetous though the Black Douglas was, he could be exceedingly 
 bountiful at times, otherwise the College Church, by which the 
 Abbey was replaced, would have had no existence. To his heroic 
 mould and bravery Froissart, the French historian, bears witness, 
 the grim Earl appearing on his page as " a worthie knight " with 
 a sword two ells long that was "light in his terrible hand," though 
 "scarcely another man could raise it from the ground."^ Pity it 
 is that his connection with our subject requires that he should be 
 portrayed less as a great warrior than as a ruthless autocrat. 
 The face of his daughter-in-law, the Princess Margaret, if truth- 
 fully drawn, would present a pleasant contrast ; and a unique 
 figure might be supplied of the half-mythical Abbess seeking an 
 asylum at Dundrennan, after bidding a last adieu to her own 
 desolated home. If the artist wished to grace his picture still 
 more, he might do so legitimately by introducing another lady not 
 less forlorn and of matchless beauty — Mary Queen of Scots, as 
 led away from dolorous Langside by the noble tenant of Lin- 
 cluden. Lord Herries. A prominent place would have to be 
 given to another Maxwell, the eighth Lord, as daringly defying 
 the Protestant Government by holding a prohibited religious ser- 
 
 1 Chronicle Book, vol. ii. p. 17.
 
 1 80 Chronicles of Lincluden. 
 
 vice in the College Church ; or, terrible transition, slaughtered and 
 barbarously mangled in battle by his feudal enemies — the hair of 
 the dissevered head dappled with blood, it may be, but not gray 
 as described by Scott — the luckless chief having been cut down 
 in the very flower of his days. A scene sadder still would have 
 to follow, representing the fatal tryst at which the ninth Lord 
 Maxwell avenged his father's death by shooting the Laird of 
 Johnstone, or another depicting the hurried flight of the homicide 
 and his emissary, red-handed, to Lincluden. That "venerable 
 man," Provost Robert Douglas, with a face betokening less re- 
 spectable qualities than those expressed by the epithet, and 
 Pinzerie, as the unmitigated knave of our narrative, might be 
 seen looming out of the far background among the unheroic 
 actors in the pictured drama. 
 
 Among other groups suitable for its illustration one might be 
 given representing the lofty Lord William Douglas laying aside 
 his usual haughty air when, standing at the College gates, he bids 
 the Border barons welcome as they come trooping along to hold 
 conference with him under its roof Another, the memorable 
 meeting within its walls of the fugitive English Queen with her 
 warm-hearted royal hostess, just newly made a widow — their 
 youthful sons in the happy carelessness of childhood frolicking by 
 their side ; the artist taking care not to paint the heroic Margaret 
 too much of an Amazon, remembering what Suffolk is made to say 
 of her by Shakspeare : 
 
 "She's beautiful, and therefore to be wooed; 
 She is a woman, therefore to be won." 
 
 By a pardonable stretch of fancy a trio might follow, consisting 
 of William Douglas of Drumlanrig, showing the mausoleum of 
 Margaret Bruce to her descendant the British Solomon, and the 
 handsome, dashing Duke of Buckingham, on whom he doated.
 
 m
 
 A Historical Panorama. 1 8 1 
 
 Coming down to a more modern day, Captain Grose, the "fat 
 fodjel " wight, might appear " takin' notes" of Lincluden as 
 he did in 1789, or, grouped with his friend Burns, surveying the 
 "houlet- haunted biggin." Better still, the manly figure of the 
 great minstrel, whose visits to the old ruins gave them a fresh 
 renown, might form by itself the finale of the phantom gathering, 
 as listening to 
 
 " The mavis' sang 
 Sounding Clouden's woods amang ; " 
 
 or as himself entranced, inspired, singing 
 
 " At his task 
 So clear, we know not if it is 
 The laverock's song we hear, or his, 
 Nor care to ask." 
 
 Here we may let the curtain fall a second time, and finally, on 
 the scenes which render this venerable pile dear to the antiquarian 
 and poetic eye ; and which of itself, time-worn and forlorn, appeals 
 pathetically to the hearts of all beholders. Consecrated in a rude 
 age to a devotional purpose ; made famous by its connection with 
 great national events ; borrowing lustre from many celebrities to 
 whom it stands related ; and receiving superadded glory from the 
 genius of Burns; hoary House of Uchtred and the M'Dowalls, of 
 Margaret Bruce and the Douglases, of Herries and the Maxwells ; 
 severely simple in its conventual years, richly apparelled in its 
 collegiate prime, and dowered with a new beauty in its desolate 
 old age — farewell. The task of its Chronicler, imperfecdy per- 
 formed, he fears, is finished. He accompanies his parting word 
 with the expression of a hope that the affectionate care lately 
 bestowed upon Lincluden will be continued, so that it may 
 remain for many coming generations an ornament to Nithsdaie, 
 and an object of endearment to pilgrims from every land.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The Abbey as a sanctuary or place of refuge — Its subterranean passage — Proceedings 
 of the Lincluden conference on Border warfare— Acts relating to the disposal of 
 the College property — Names of its present owners — Bums and Lincluden ; his 
 " Vision of Libertie," his " Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes " — Walter's poem, " A 
 Moonlight Visit to the Ruins of Lincluden" — "The Fir Tree on Lincluden" 
 Abbey, from The Man of the Woods. 
 
 A. 
 
 Lincluden as a Sanctuary. 
 
 This and the next note illustrate statements that appear in chapters 
 first and sixth. 
 
 Quite in accordance with the facts of history Lincluden Abbey 
 receives prominent notice as a place of refuge in the well-known romance, 
 Douglas, or the Field of Otterburn. Its author was Mr. Patrick Miller 
 M'Clatchie, a young writer's clerk in Dumfries. When published more 
 than sixty years ago it occasioned a great sensation. Since then two 
 editions of the work have been issued ; and it still retains a large amount 
 of local popularity. Many persons, grown-up people as well as boys, owe 
 nearly all the knowledge they possess of the Abbey to the pages of 
 Douglas. Even when the characters and incidents depicted by the author 
 are less real than imaginary, they are wonderfully truthful in spirit ; and 
 he is entitled to the credit of having by his genius cast an additional spell 
 over the mouldering walls of Lincluden. We have seen how it became 
 a sanctuary to Margaret of Anjou ; and though Mr. M'Clatchie probably
 
 1 84 Appendix. 
 
 never heard of the incident, he has described the similar service rendered 
 by the Abbey to two of his sorely-troubled heroines in language that is 
 not inapplicable to the case of the unfortunate Queen. For other reasons 
 besides this the following passage ' is, we think, worthy of being quoted : — 
 
 " Lord Mervine's sister [Elizabeth] enjoyed within the sacred fane of 
 Lincluden all the peace which a mind torn by anxiety for the fate of her 
 brother, and harrowed to agony by the situation of her female friend 
 [Matilda], could be susceptible of Lady Helen Douglas, the Abbess of 
 the holy retreat, was a woman of noble birth, lineally descended from the 
 immortal supporter of Bruce's rights, ' the Good Sir James,' as he was 
 justly styled. This lady inherited all her house's pride, which she some- 
 times carried to a degree scarcely credible ; but mingling it, at the same 
 time, with sentiments of benevolence and humanity. Under her suprem- 
 acy the Abbey became a refuge for the female unfortunate of every class." 
 " Aided by the skilful as well as soothing attentions paid to her in 
 Lincluden, Matilda (whose mind had given way under her sufferings) 
 gradually recovered, till she was able to take walks almost daily with her 
 friend along the romantic banks of Cluden. In one of these the 
 unusual beauty of a spring evening tempted them to prolong their 
 ramble to a greater distance from the Abbey than was ordinary with 
 them. They stopt upon a grassy bank, overhung with wild-flowers and 
 shrubs, at the foot of which the Nith majestically rolled, and from 
 whence were seen the lofty spires and irregular house-tops of the neigh- 
 bouring city, overhung as it were with a canopy of smoke. They seated 
 themselves here, and united in contemplating the vast expanse of varied 
 scenery which stretched before their eyes to the farthest extremity of 
 the horizon — the blue hills of England. In the middle view many a 
 turreted castle proudly reared its head in the waning rays of the sun, 
 which, sinking in the west, spread its glorious refulgence over dale and 
 down. 
 
 " The shades of ' sober evening ' were fast closing when our fair 
 wanderers arose to retrace their steps to the Abbey. A sudden re- 
 echoing noise from the town riveted them once more to the spot. Men 
 were seen through the twilight moving to and fro in great numbers on 
 
 1 Chap. x.Kxvi.
 
 Appendix. 185 
 
 the battlements of the Castle ; the bells of St. Michael's began to toll ; 
 and distant shouts as of warriors advancing reverberated in the air. The 
 lovely inmates of Lincluden, although at a considerable distance from the 
 portentous scene, could not repress a multitude of terrors as the dreadful 
 jarring increased. The brother of the one and the lover of the other 
 might be there, while they, in ignorance of his destiny, were surveying 
 the tumult. As the noise grew louder the last beams of the orb of day 
 finally sank behind the western hills, and the new moon arose in brilliant 
 majesty. Nothing, however, was discernible in the distance by her light ; 
 yet they still lingered, when suddenly the vesper bell pealing mournfully 
 through the woods warned them to retire. The horrid din of war became 
 every moment more audible ; between the intermitting shouts the clang 
 of arms or the thunder of battle-axes upon the gates was distinctly heard ; 
 and the hearts of Elizabeth and Matilda almost sank within them ere 
 they regained the sanctuarj\ The Lady Abbess, who had been alarmed 
 at their stay, perceived their return with tremulous joy. 
 
 " The gates were instantly locked for the night, and the nuns endea- 
 voured to forget in their evening devotions the dread which had filled their 
 bosoms. The fear of Elizabeth that her brother was among the combat- 
 ants would not allow her rest, and as soon as vespers were over she 
 ascended to the summit of a lofty turret, from whence she cast her eyes 
 towards the town, vainly endeavouring to pierce the gloom that over- 
 shadowed it. All she could do was to listen with a palpitating heart to 
 the dreadful sounds of battle as they rose, swelled, or decreased ; and in 
 this lonely occupation she remained till midnight. During all this time 
 the noise ceased not ; but just as the turret clock struck twelve it sud- 
 denly swelled into a louder burst than ever, and then as suddenly sub- 
 sided. 'The town is taken!' she sighed as she descended from the 
 tower and hastened to her chamber. Her hasty surmise was soon veri- 
 fied, for ere she could compose herself to rest a soldier on horseback rang 
 at the front portal, and on being asked his errand by the Abbess he 
 replied, ' Open not your gates to-morrow ; Dumfries is in the hands of 
 the English I' and setting spurs to his horse he immediately rode off" 
 
 2 A
 
 1 86 Appendix. 
 
 B. 
 
 The Subterranean Passage. 
 
 The vaulted tunnel with which tradition links Lincluden to the Castle 
 of Dumfries figures to great advantage in the romance just quoted from. 
 Though the town is represented as having been captured by an English 
 force led by Lord Edringham and Sir Thomas Edelstone, a recreant Scot, 
 who is the villain of the tale, the Castle still offered a brave resistance to 
 the enemy ; but as many hundreds of the citizens retreated within its 
 walls in order to avoid destruction, the provisions of the garrison became 
 exhausted, and both the refugees and the soldiers were reduced to the 
 utmost extremity. Whilst Lord Mervine, the defender of the fortress 
 (who has already been introduced to the reader), was on the point of 
 capitulating he was startled by a shout from the inner court, and, turning 
 his eyes thither, he beheld with amazement Fergus and others of his 
 vassals whom he had not seen for a long while emerging from a low door 
 at one end of the court which was supposed only to lead into a vaulted 
 cellar under one of the towers. The faithful retainer, startled by the 
 famine-stricken aspect of his lord, inquired into its cause. What follows 
 is abridged from the romance.^ 
 
 " ' Fergus,' replied Mervine, ' we have defended this place until our 
 whole provision is expended ; and, after three dreadful days of want, we 
 were about to surrender.' — ' What ! surrender to Edelstone ? — three days 
 without food ? Oh, my lord, had I but dreamt of this ! Comrades, let 
 us quickly return for provisions ! Yield not yet, my lord ; we will return 
 in half an hour.' So saying, he dashed into the vault from whence he 
 had made his appearance, and was followed by his companions, the last 
 of whom vanished from his sight ere the astonished baron could suffi- 
 ciently recollect himself to inquire whither the passage led. Their reced- 
 ing footsteps were heard for a short space, and then died away. ' Can 
 this vault communicate with the Priory?' said one of the soldiers. 'Or 
 with the Castle of Comyn?' said another. 'That, at present, is a 
 matter of minor consequence,' said the baron. ' Let us be grateful to 
 Heaven for the prospect of relief now opened to us.' 
 
 1 Chaps, xlv. and xlvi.
 
 Appendix. 187 
 
 " On returning into the court of the Castle the anxious baron found 
 that several of Fergus's companions had reappeared, loaded with bread, 
 milk, and wine, on which the famished people were beginning to feed with 
 avidity. For many hours Lord Mcrvine was so intensely busied in the 
 happy occupation of allotting to each individual a share of food that he 
 found no leisure to inquire from whence it came. Ere the task was 
 finished, however, a busy whisper was circulated around, purporting that 
 the passage communicated with Lincluden. The sound instantly arrested 
 his attention : the name of this adjacent Nunnery called up a host of 
 tender sympathies, which the wild alarms of war had stilled but not 
 crushed : and he flew to Fergus, with an eager inquiry if he had indeed 
 been there and seen his sister — and her friend. He answered in the 
 affirmative. ' 'Tis by the zeal and activity of Lady Elizabeth that these 
 have been so speedily supplied.' The baron, after listening to this re- 
 cital, next desired Fergus to satisfy his curiosity respecting the passage 
 by which he and his companions had entered the Castle. ' It seems to 
 have been known only to the Lady Abbess,' replied he, ' who now, un- 
 happily, lies at the point of death. A rumour had reached the Abbey 
 that you were about to yield up the fortress ; and, fearing that lack of 
 soldiers was the cause, she gave your sister instructions, on our appear- 
 ance, to conduct us into the passage, directing us to proceed boldly on 
 until we came to the outlet, which we were assured was here. When I 
 flew back with the dreadful tidings of your actual condition the lady, 
 though on a sick-bed, instantly ordered every one of the peasants on the 
 Abbey grounds to be called thither, and her command was given that 
 they should each furnish as much provision of every kind as they were 
 possessed of, supplying us in the meantime with the bread and wine from 
 her own refectory. Elizabeth and her friend directed these proceedings 
 personally. She would have come with me to the Castle on my return, 
 but by my persuasions she was withheld, for this scene of danger, my 
 lord, is no place for ladies to visit.' 
 
 " ' You are right, Fergus ; but did Matilda signify no wish to see me 
 along with Elizabeth ?' asked Mervine in a tone of feigned indifference. 
 ' Both showed equal anxiety for your fate,' replied Fergus. ' I will 
 go directly to Lincluden, then,' said Mervine, 'by this way. To you I
 
 1 88 Appe7idix. 
 
 commit the direction of affairs here till I return.' — ' I fear you will not 
 obtain admittance, my lord,' said Fergus, ' for 'tis only on the most 
 extraordinary occasions that men are permitted to appear within the 
 walls of the Convent' — ' I know that my appearance there would, by the 
 fastidious disciplinarian, be deemed a serious infringement of the rules of 
 their order,' replied Mervine ; ' yet, surely, such an errand as mine may 
 be deemed harmless.' 
 
 " Fergus was beginning a series of dissuasives when one of his vassals 
 hastily approached and informed him that footsteps were heard at a dis- 
 tance in the mysterious passage. The prying curiosity of the people was 
 so great that hundreds crowded round it, and some were even venturing 
 in a little way, when they were thus alarmed. Lord Mervine immediately 
 hastened to the spot ; the sounds indicative of some person approaching 
 became every moment more distinct, and in a few minutes the baron's 
 sister emerged from the door and sprang into his arms. 
 
 " To her entreaties that he would leave the defence of the Castle to 
 other hands he returned a resolute negative. ' I will urge you no more, 
 then,' replied Elizabeth ; ' yet let me ask why you maintain so many 
 people here besides your soldiers?' — 'These townsmen and their families 
 fled hither for protection from the cruel foe,' said he ; ' and now the 
 Southron will not allow them to quit the walls, doubting not that starva- 
 tion will compel us to yield to him. But stay — surely it would be pos- 
 sible to convey them away in the night by this passage ? They might 
 find shelter from the enemy in various parts of Galloway, and our situa- 
 tion here will not be a little amended by their absence. None of the 
 English, I believe, have yet passed the river.' — ' This scheme is undoubt- 
 edly practicable, brother,' replied Elizabeth ; ' and if the Abbess con- 
 sents ' — ' Pardon me, but we cannot stand upon ceremony in such 
 
 a matter,' interrupted the baron. ' The Abbess must consent to let 
 them pass. I have resolved they shall this night leave the Castle. No- 
 thing would induce me to abandon them to the merciless foe ; but by 
 this way they may escape unharmed.' — ' Permit me, then, to unfold your 
 resolution to her,' said Elizabeth. ' She lies at present on a sick-bed, 
 and cannot bear much agitation.' 
 
 " Lord Mervine waited anxiously for his sister's return, but the hours
 
 Appendix. 1 89 
 
 passed away, and she came not. He paced about the hall until sunset, 
 by which time his impatience had arisen so high that he resolved to go 
 to Lincluden himself, and prepare the way for the exit of the people. 
 
 " Taking a lighted torch in his hand he descended into the vault, to 
 explore his way to the Abbey. The passage, which was at first wide 
 and spacious, soon contracted into a narrow pathway, which could not 
 admit three persons abreast. The air, too, soon became humid and 
 oppressive ; but to these obstacles Lord Mervine attended little. In a 
 short time he breathed more freely ; a refreshing current blew in his face, 
 and a few moments' walk brought him to the end of the passage. A 
 short flight of stairs appeared by the light of the torch, which want of 
 air had caused hitherto to burn dimly. The voices of a choir were heard 
 above, betokening that the nuns were in the midst of vespers ; and, in 
 spite of his resolution, he felt considerable reluctance to appear suddenly 
 in the midst of a group of females whose seclusion from the world 
 rendered them averse to any communication with its inhabitants in the 
 busy sphere, and with whom the admission of a male stranger was deemed 
 a profanation of their sanctity. In this state of agitation he stood, with- 
 out attempting to call, until the evening service appeared to be con- 
 cluded. He then ascended, and, finding the outlet covered with a large 
 trap-door of stone, which it was impossible for him to raise, he called 
 loudly for admission. A female voice, in a tone of alarm, demanded his 
 name ; he declared it ; the door was raised, and he found himself in the 
 chancel. His sister instantly obeyed, and descended hastily into the 
 passage. He continued in the chancel until Elizabeth returned, followed 
 by Fergus and the glad town's people, by whom the prospect of release 
 in any shape was gratefully welcomed. The Convent gates were instantly 
 thrown open, and the whole of them set at liberty as quickly as the 
 narrow dimensions of the passage would admit, one meal of provisions 
 being previously given to each. As soon as Lord Mervine had seen this 
 important business performed to his entire satisfaction he returned with 
 Fergus to the Castle, after desiring Elizabeth to convey his thanks to the 
 Abbess. 
 
 " During his absence from the Castle a number of his vassals, eager to 
 annihilate the hopes which their enemies might have built upon their
 
 1 90 Appendix. 
 
 want of provisions, had triumphantly suspended the carcasses of a dozen 
 sheep from the battlements, in the same order as they would have 
 appeared in the stall of a knight of the cleaver. This singular display 
 had the desired effect. Edringham on this very day received the first 
 intelligence of the defeat of his countrymen at Otterburn and the capture 
 of Percy. The news had spread an alarm through his ranks which his 
 utmost exertion could scarcely repress. To Edelstone they were doubly 
 terrible, for he doubted not that the victorious army would immediately 
 bend its route to the part of its native land which the enemy had 
 overrun." 
 
 c. 
 
 The Lincluden Border Ordinances. 
 
 Subjoined is a full account of the proceedings described in chapter 
 sixth. 
 
 Be it remembered, that on the iSth of December 1448, Earl William 
 Douglas assembled the whole Lords, Freeholders, and eldest Borderers, 
 that best knowledge had, at the College of Lincluden ; and there he 
 caused those Lords and Borderers bodily to be sworn, the holy gospel 
 touched, that they justly and truly, after their cunning, should decrete, 
 decern, deliver, and put in order and writing, the statutes, ordinances, and 
 uses of Marche, that were ordained in Black Archibald of Douglas' days, 
 and Archibald his son's days, in time of warfare : and they came to him 
 advisedly, with these statutes and ordinances, which were in time of war- 
 fare before. The said Earl William, seeing the statutes in writing de- 
 livered by the said Lords and Borderers, thought them right speedful and 
 profitable to the Borderers ; which statutes, ordinances, and points of war- 
 fare he took, and the whole Lords and Borderers he caused bodily to be 
 sworn, that they should maintain and supply him, at their goodly power, 
 to do the law upon those that should break the statutes underwritten. 
 Also the said Earl William, and Lords, and eldest Borderers made certain 
 points to be treason in time of warfare to be used, which were not treason 
 before his time, but to be treason in his time, and in all time coming.
 
 Appendix. 191 
 
 I. IntcrcomiHoning tvith Englishincn. 
 
 It is founded and ordained by the law of Marches, that no manner of 
 person, man nor woman, of any degree, shall intercommon with any 
 English man or woman either in Scotland or in England, except the 
 prisoners shall come in Scotland, without the special licence of the warden 
 or his deputy asked and obtained in time of warfare, under the pain of 
 treason. 
 
 2. Of him zvho passcth from his company. 
 
 It is statute and ordained, that when it happens that the warden or 
 his lieutenant, with any fellowship, do pass in England, that what person, 
 for covetise of goods, or singular profit to himself, departs and passes from 
 his fellowship, all goods that he happens to take shall be taken from him, 
 and be escheat, and by the governor of the host or company shall be 
 disposed among the fellowship as to him shall seem speedful ; and he 
 shall be noted as a traytor for his deed, and punished for open treasons. 
 
 3. That all men fight on foot. 
 
 It is ordained, that what time it is seen speedful that the host light 
 down and array themselves, that each man light down at commandment, 
 and no man bide on horse, but as many as are ordained by the chieftain ; 
 and whoso does not, to be punished in like manner as is beforesaid ; and 
 if he happens to win any prisoner or goods, that bides on horse without 
 commandment, two parts shall be his Majesty's, and the third part the 
 chieftain's of the host. 
 
 4. Arraying the host. 
 
 Item, That no man make obstacle or letting to them that are 
 ordained to array the host, and that each man shall answer and obey 
 under the same pain. 
 
 5. Taking another mans horse. 
 
 Item, It is statute and ordained, that if there happens any chase, 
 either fleeing or following, whatever he be that takes his fellow's horse, il
 
 192 Appendix. 
 
 he wins any goods on him, either prisoner or other goods, he that owed 
 the horse shall have the half of it, and he shall bring the horse again to 
 the stake ; and failing thereof he shall be noted as a traytor, and punished. 
 And if it happens him to fly on that horse, as soon as he comes home he 
 shall pass to the market of the shire, and proclaim him, and immediately 
 deliver him to the sheriff or Stewart of the land ; and if he does not this 
 he shall be punished as a traytor. 
 
 6. Taking of prisoners. 
 
 Item, When it shall happen us to win any field, whoever he be that 
 arrests any prisoner, and then follows off the field, and he will swear, 
 when he comes home, that he did that for safety of his prisoner's life, 
 that condition shall be of no avail ; and whoever he be that slays his 
 fellow's prisoner, after he be arrested, shall pay his ransom to his taker, if 
 he be of power ; and if he be not of power, he shall die therefore. 
 
 Also, it is found statute and use of Marche, that it is lawful to any 
 man to take as many prisoners as he may, both on foot and horse, so that 
 he lead them with the strength of Scotsmen ; and to take a token of his 
 prisoner with him, that he may be sufficiently known, and to leave his token 
 with his prisoner. And so many as he takes in suchlike manner to be his 
 prisoners ; and the determination thereof to be decided by the warden or 
 his deputy, if there be any complaints. 
 
 7. Rieving of other men's prisoners. 
 
 Item, It is found, statute, and ordained, that any man being com- 
 plainant of reif of his prisoner or his goods, shall find a borgh [pledge] in 
 the hands of the warden-serjeant upon the party that he is plaintiff of, 
 which party shall be arrested to bring the prisoner or the goods to the 
 next warden court ; and the prisoner there to be challenged by his party, 
 and both their witnesses shall be heard and examined. And it shall be 
 at the will and discretion of the judge and his sworn counsel, when both 
 the parties are heard, to give his decree, who has reason to the prisoner 
 or the goods ; and the party found in the wrong shall pay ;^io to the 
 judges. And if it happens any man to complain in the field to the chief-
 
 Appendix. 193 
 
 tain that his prisoner is reft from him, as soon as he may be gotten, he 
 shall be delivered to the warden or lieutenant, to be put in even hands, 
 that neither of the parties induce him to their will, that it may be deter- 
 mined and judged who has most reason to him. 
 
 8. Contention for a prisoner. 
 
 Item, If it happens a prisoner to be taken, and divers persons con- 
 tend about him, he shall be, at the command of the warden, delivered m 
 even hands, or else in the warden's hands, at the will of the parties which 
 they had rather ; and the warden shall cause the prisoner to be brought 
 to the warden court, and there the parties shall challenge, and he that is 
 found arrester shall challenge first : and if he has any Scotsmen to wit- 
 ness that he took him prisoner, and first arrested him, the witnesses of the 
 first arrester shall be of value, what Scotsmen that ever they be ; the 
 arrester and his witnesses being bodily sworn, that they shall truth say, 
 without dread or favour of any person. And failing of this, the action of 
 any other claimer shall be put to the oath of the Englishman, he being 
 bodily sworn, and in even hands, that he shall truth say, without regard 
 to profit or loss to himself, and without fraud or favour of any other 
 parties. 
 
 9. Ransoming officers. 
 
 Item, It is statute, and found use of Marche, whatever he be that 
 takes any prisoner who may lead a hundred men, he shall not be by him 
 letten to pledge, nor yet ransomed for fifteen days in time of war unless 
 he have leave of the warden. 
 
 10. Proportioning of rmisoni. 
 
 Item, It is statute, and found use of Marche, whatever he be that 
 strikes down a man off horseback in the chase, suppose he be yielded 
 thereafter to another man, or that strikes him down through justing of 
 war, he that strikes him down shall have half his ransom, so that it be 
 proved. 
 
 2 B
 
 194 Appendix. 
 
 1 1 . Takers or concealers of tray tors. 
 
 Item, It is statute, and found use of Marche, that whatever he be 
 that brings a traytor to the warden or his deputy, he shall have for his 
 reward an hundred shillings ; and he that puts him away fraudfully, shall 
 underlie the pain of death for his so doing, like as the traytor should have 
 done. 
 
 12. Beacons to be sustained. 
 
 Item, It is found statute, and used in time of warfare, with respect 
 to bails burning and keeping, for coming of an English host into Scot- 
 land, there shall a bail be burned on Trailtrow Hill, and another on 
 Penchat-hill, and on the Bail -hill above the Hame-ends, one on the 
 Cowdens above Castlemilk, one on Quitsoun, one on Drysdail, and on 
 the Burraw Skenton in Applegarth parish, one on the Browan-hill, and 
 one on the Bleis, in the tenement of Wamphray, one on the Kindol-knok, 
 in the tenement of Johnstoun, one on the Gallow-hill of Moffat parish, 
 and five in Nithisdale, one on the Wardlaw, one on the Rahochtoun, 
 one on Barloch, one on Pittarra-hill, one on the Malow-hill, one on Cor- 
 swincon, one on the Corsell, one on the fell above Dowlbark, and one on the 
 Watchfell ; and to cause these bails to be kept and made, the sheriff ot 
 Nithisdale, the Stewart of Annandale, and the Stewart of Kirkudbright in 
 Galloway shall be debtors ; and whoso keepeth not the bails, shall pay 
 for each default one mark. 
 
 I 3. Pursuit on firing the beacons. 
 
 Whoever he be, an host of Englishmen coming in the countiy, the 
 bails being burned, that follows not the host on horse or on foot, ever till 
 the Englishmen be passed off Scotland, and that they have sufficient wit- 
 nesses thereof, all their goods shall be escheat, and their bodies at the 
 warden's will, unless they have lawful excuse for them. 
 
 1 4. Prisoners not to pass without safe conduct. 
 Item, It is ordained, if there be any Englishmen taken in Scotland
 
 Appendix. \ 9 5 
 
 they shall have no freedom to pass in the country farther than the place 
 of their entry, and the streight way from England to the place, on no 
 man's conduct, save only our sovereign lord's or the warden's proper self; 
 and that they shall come on another conduct to the very day and place 
 of their entry and payment. And if they happen to be without conduct, 
 or any Scotsman with them in name of their taker, he shall be prisoner to 
 any Scotsman that may get him. 
 
 I 5 ■ Suffering prisoners to escape. 
 
 Item, That no Scotsman, after any host be ridden, or ready to ride, 
 in England, let his prisoner pass home, or that an host of English be 
 come in Scotland, Scotsmen gathering against them, under the pain of 
 treason. 
 
 1 6. Parting of goods. 
 
 Item, Whoever he be that comes to the host without bow or spear, 
 and there be any parting of goods, two of them shall be to one bow part. 
 
 I 7. Deserting. 
 
 Item, Whoever he be, after that they come in the field, that flees 
 from the lord his master, and his fellows, and bides not to the uttermost, 
 all his goods shall be escheat, and his person punished as a traytor at the 
 next warden court thereafter to be holden. 
 
 I 8. Rieving of prisoners or goods. 
 
 Item, Whoever he be that rieves from any man his horse, prisoner, 
 or goods, after that they be known unto him, he shall restore them 
 again, and his person punished therefore, as for open treason. 
 
 Here end the laws and constitutions made by the Earl Douglas. — 
 Harleian MSS., vol. 4700, British Museum.
 
 1 96 Appendix. 
 
 D. 
 
 The College Patrimony — Act of Parliament (June 16 17) dis- 
 poning THE Lands to Sir Robert Gordon and John Murray. 
 
 This and the following note supplement information given in chapters 
 seventh and ninth. 
 
 After the annexation of the Kirklands, His Majesty gave, granted, 
 and disponed to James Douglas of Pinzerie, the following lands : — The 
 two merk and half merk land of Fuffok ; the five merk land of Erneal- 
 merie ; the five merk land of Achindolie ; the five merk land of Largue 
 [Largneane] ; " ane the tua merk land with the halff merk land of Erne- 
 fillane ;" the five merk land of Culgruff ; the five merk land of Crodell ; 
 the five merk land of Airdis ; the five merk land of Mollance ; the five 
 merk land of Hillintoun ; the five merk land of Clarybrand ; the ten 
 merk land of Croftis ; the five merk land of Glengopoke : all lying within 
 the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright ; the salmon fishing in the water of Nith 
 belonging to the Provostry of Lincluden, lying within the barony of Drum- 
 sleit and Stewartry foresaid ; the Manis of Grenelaw, " with the cayne 
 peittis, the bonday warkis of the Baronie of Crocemichaell, with due 
 services of the same barony, and with all their pertinents lying in the 
 same barony and Stewartiy foresaid ;" the six merk land of the Manis 
 of Lincluden, with the manor-place, woods, yards, meadow of the same, 
 and all their pertinents ; the six merk land of Trochane ; the mill of 
 Staikfurde, with the mill lands and their pertinents ; the mill of Terauchtie, 
 with the mill lands and pertinents of the same ; the meadow of Clunye, 
 lying within the barony of Drumsleit and Stewartry of Kirkcudbright ; the 
 five merk land of Drinsbie ; the ten merk land of Chapelerne, lying within 
 the barony of Crosemichaell and Stewartry aforesaid ; together w^ith all 
 and sundry towers, fortalices, manor-places, mills, woods, fishings, yards, 
 orchards, " pairtis, pendicles, annexis, connexis, tennentis, tenandries, 
 fernices of frie tennentis," of all and sundry the foresaid lands, mills, and 
 meadows, with their pertinents : " together with the advocatioun, dona- 
 tioun, and right of patronage of the Kirk of Glencarne, personage and 
 vicarage thereof: " " Qlkis all and sindrie the landis and utheris abonespeit
 
 Appendix. 197 
 
 ar be vertew of the said infeftment unite, creat, and incorporat in anc 
 haill and frie baronie callit the baronye of Crocemichcll : " To be haldin 
 of our said Sovereign Lord and his successors in feu-farm, heritage, and 
 free barony for ever, for payment yearly to His Highness and his suc- 
 cessors of the feu-mails and other duties contained in the said infeftment 
 granted to the said James Douglas and his foresaids thereupon, by which 
 infeftment the feu-mails and duties of the lands and others foresaid were 
 reserved to umqle Maister Robert Douglas, then Provost of Lincluden, 
 during all the days of his lifetime, and after his decease to William 
 Douglas, now of Drumlangrig, as successor to the said umqle Mr. Robert 
 Douglas in the said Provostry of Lincluden ; so that the first term's pay- 
 ment of the said feu-mails and duties of the lands and others foresaid to 
 His Majesty and his successors was appointed to begin at the term of 
 Whitsunday or Martinmas next and immediately following the day of 
 the decease of the said umqle Mr. Robert Douglas and of the said 
 William Douglas of Drumlangrig, "and of the langest levar off thame tua, 
 quhen it suld happin allanerlie," as the said infeftment of the date at 
 Halierudhous, the second day of April the year of God " J™ v<= fourscore 
 audit yearis at mair Len?. proportis :" And siclyke His Majesty and 
 Estates aforesaid, understanding that His Highness, by virtue of his other 
 infeftment under the great seal, after his said lawful and perfect age 
 "guall revoca°ne" and making of the said Act of Annexation, with 
 advice and consent of His Highness' officers of estate for the time, gave, 
 granted, and disponed to the said James Douglas of Pingzeric, his heirs 
 and assignees whatsoever, all and sundry the lands and uthers particu- 
 larly after-specified, viz. : the five merk land of Lytle Dryburgh ; the five 
 merk land of Drumjarg ; the five merk land of Earncphillan ; the five 
 merk land of Emecraig ; the five merk land of Blaironye ; the five 
 merk land of Mekle Dryburgh ; the five merk land of Chapmantoun ; 
 the five merk land of Blakerne ; the five merk land of Ernemunzie ; 
 the five merk land of Culnotrie ; the corn mill of Crocemichacll ; the 
 five merk land of Garrintoun ; the two merk with the half merk land 
 of Blakpark ; all lying within the barony of Crocemichell and Stewartry 
 of Kirkcudbright : the fifteen shilling land of Staikfurde ; the forty 
 shilling land of Newtoun ; the merk land of Clunye and Skellingholme ;
 
 igS Appendix. 
 
 the six merk land of Terrauchtie ; the six merk land of Drumganis ; 
 the five merk land of Troqueir ; the merk land of Stotholme ; the 
 five merk land of Nuneland ; the five merk land of Crusestanes ; the 
 six merk land of Holme ; the twenty shilling land of Marieholme ; the 
 four merk land of Nuneholme : all lying within the foresaid barony of 
 Drumsleit and Stewartry above-written, etc. ; " to be halden off our said 
 soverane Lord and his successoures in frie blenche for the yearlie payment 
 of the soume of ane hundereth merkis money foirsaid at tua termes 
 in the yeir, Witsonday and Mertimes in winter, be equall portiounes, 
 in name of blenche ferme allanerlie," with express reservation of all 
 feu-farms, mails, duties, services, and other casualties of the whole fore- 
 said lands, etc., to Robert Douglas, Provost of Lincluden, and William 
 Douglas, his successor in the Provostry, during their lives, and to the 
 longest liver of the two : 
 
 " And likwayis his Matie and Estaittis foirsaidis," understanding that 
 his Majesty, by His Highness' infeftment under the great seal, with con- 
 sent of umqle Sir Jhonne Arnote of Bersuick, knight, general receiver for 
 the time depute by His Majesty of his Highness' rents and casualties of 
 the kingdom of Scotland, and of the Lords of His Highness' Secret 
 Council of the same kingdom. His Highness' commissioners gave, granted, 
 and- disponed to His Highness' trusty and well-beloved Sir Robert Gor- 
 done of Lochinwar, knight, and Jhonne Murray of Lochmaben, one of 
 the grooms of His Majesty's bed-chamber, equally between them, their 
 heirs and assignees, the lands and others particularly above specified, con- 
 tained in the infeftments above mentioned, with their castles, towers, 
 fortalices, manor-places, houses, etc., pertaining to His Highness through 
 the process and doom of forfeiture orderly led and deduced against 
 William Douglas, son and apparent heir of the said James Douglas of 
 Pingzerie, who was also designed of Beatfurd, who was " prowydit " by 
 the said James Douglas of Pingzerie to the heritable rights of the lands 
 and others foresaid ; and likewise pertaining to His Majestic, and become 
 in His Highness' hands, through the resignation made by the said James 
 Douglas of Pingzerie, also Beatfurde, of the lands and others above 
 specified, in the hands of the said Lords of His Highness' Secret Council 
 of the said kingdom of Scotland, His Majesty's commissioners in favour
 
 Appendix. 1 99 
 
 of the said Sir Robert Gordone and Jhonne Murray, and for the said new 
 infeftment made and granted to them of the same by His Majesty, under 
 His Highness' great seal : To be held of His Highness and his successors 
 in fee and heritage, for payment of the feu-farms, mails, duties, rights, and 
 services of the lands and others foresaid, with the pertinents, wont and 
 used to his Majesty and his predecessors before the said resignation, as 
 the said infeftment, of the date at Edinburgh, the nineteenth day of 
 December, the year of God "J"}} vj?. and ellevin yeiris mair fuUelie pro- 
 portis." And in like manner, His Majesty and Estates foresaid, under- 
 standing that His Highness, by his Majesty's infeftments under His 
 Highness' great seal, with consent of His Highness' trusty and well- 
 beloved counsellor. Sir Gedeoun Murray of Elibank, knight. His High- 
 ness' controller, collector, and treasurer of His Highness' new augmenta- 
 tions depute by his Majesty, of the said kingdom of Scotland, and of the 
 remanent Lords of His Highness' Secret Council of the same kingdom, 
 His Majesty's commissioners, gave, granted, and disponed to the said Sir 
 Robert Gordon of Lochinvar and John Murray of Lochmaben, their heirs 
 and assignees, the five merk land of Little Dryburgh, and others con- 
 tained in the second list given above, pertaining to His Majesty and 
 being at His Highness' gift and disposition, through the resignation and 
 demission of the same made by the said Williame Douglas of Drumlang- 
 rig as Provost of the said Provostry of Lincluden, with consent of the 
 prebendaries of the said College Kirk of Lincluden for their interest : to 
 be held of His Highness and his successors " in frie blenche for payment 
 yeirlie of the soume of ane hundereth merkis money," at the feast of 
 Whitsunday, as the said infeftment, dated " at Theoballis, in England, 
 the nyntene day of September, the yeir of God J"!] vj^. and sextene yeiris, 
 at mair lenth beiris : " 
 
 And also his Majesty and Estates, understanding that the said Sir 
 Robert Gordon of Lochinvar and John Murray of Lochmaben, by their 
 letters obligatory, are bound and obliged to resign and surrender all and 
 sundry the lands and others above specified, except the five merk land of 
 Airds, together with the advocation, donation, and right of patronage of 
 the Parish Kirk of Glencairn, which were disponed by them before in 
 favour of the said William Douglas of Drumlanrig and his heirs, in the
 
 200 Appendix. 
 
 hands of our Sovereign Lord and his successors, or in the hands of His 
 Highness' Secret Council, His Majesty's commissioners for new infeftment 
 of the same, to be made and granted by his Majesty, under his highness' 
 great seal, to the said Sir Robert Gordon, his heirs male and assignees 
 heritable : 
 
 Therefore our Sovereign Lord and Estates of this present Parliament, 
 for the good, true, and thankful service done to his Majesty and his most 
 noble progenitors by the said Sir Robert Gordoun of Lochinvar, knyt., 
 and Jon. Murray of Lochmaben, and their predecessors, " notourelie 
 knawin " to His Majesty and the Estates, ratify and approve the foresaid 
 infeftments, dissolve the lands and others rehearsed from His Highness' 
 crown and patrimony, to the effect that his Majesty may of new give, 
 grant, and dispone to the said Sir Robert Gordon the two mark land and 
 half merk land of Fuffok, the five merk land of Emealmerie, the five merk 
 land of Achindolie, the five merk land of Largneane, the two merk land 
 and one merk land of Ernephillane, the five merk land of Culgruff, the 
 five merk land of Crodell, the five merk land of Mollance, the five merk 
 land of Hillingtoun, the five merk land of Clarybrand, the ten merk land 
 of Croftis, the five merk land of Glengopook, and Maniss of Grenelaw, 
 " with the kayne, peittis, and bonday warkis of the said haill baronie of 
 Crocemichaell, and dew services of the sam baronie and all thair perti- 
 nents," the five merk land of Ernisbie ; the ten merk land of Chapell- 
 arne ; the two merk and one half merk land of Clariebrand, to be held 
 of our said Sovereign Lord and his successors in feu-farm for the yearly 
 payment of the sum of ;^2 1 3 : 6 : 8, usual money of the realm of Scot- 
 land, at the two terms of Whitsunday and Martinmas, in equal portions, 
 in name of feu-farm, heirs to pay double this sum in the first year of 
 their entry, according to custom ; and that his Majesty might also grant 
 and dispone to the said Sir Robert Gordon the five merk land of Litle 
 Dryburgh ; the five merk land of Drumjarg ; the five merk land of Erne- 
 phillane ; the five merk land of Ernecraig ; the five merk land of Blair- 
 onye ; the five merk land of Mekle Dryburgh ; the five merk land of 
 Chapmantoun ; the five merk land of Blackerne ; the five merk land of 
 Ernemunzie ; the five merk land of Culnotrie ; the corn mill of Croce- 
 michaell ; the five merk land of Gerrantoun ; the two merk and one merk
 
 Appendix. 20 1 
 
 land of Blakpark ; together with the advocation, donation, and right of 
 patronage of the Paroche Kirk of Crocemichell, personage and viccarage 
 thereof, to be held of our said sovereign lord and his successors in free 
 blenche for payment of the sum of £ifO more yearly, at the feast of 
 Whitsunday : 
 
 And likewise to the effect that his Majesty may of new give, grant, 
 and dispone to the said Jhonne Murray, his heirs and assignees heritable, 
 the six merk land of the Maniss of Lincluden, with the manor-place, 
 woods, yards, meadow, and their pertinents ; the six merk land of Trochan, 
 alias Carnihane ; with the mill of Staikfurde, mill lands, and pertinents 
 thereof ; the mill of Tarraughtie, with the mill lands and pertinents ; 
 the meadow of Clunye ; the salmon fishing upon the water of Neth, per- 
 taining to the said Provostry of Lincluden, to be held of our sovereign 
 lord and his successors in feu -farm for the yearly payment for the lands 
 immediately above specified of the sum of £i\o, and for the said fishing 
 the sum of ten merks more, to be paid in equal portions at the terms of 
 Whitsunday and Martinmas ; successors to pay double in the first year of 
 their entry : And siclyik to the effect that his Majesty may give, grant, 
 and dispone to the said John Murray and his heirs and assignees the 
 fifteen shilling land of Staikfurde ; the forty shilling land of Newtoun ; 
 the merk land of Clunye and Skellingholme ; the six merk land of 
 Tarrauchtie ; the six merk land of Drumganis ; the five merk land of 
 Troqueir ; the five merk land of Stotholme ; the five merk land of Nune- 
 land; the five merk land of Crusestanis; the six merk land of Holme ; the 
 twenty shilling land of Marieholme; the four merk land of Nunholme: to be 
 held of our sovereign lord and his successors in free blenche for payment of 
 the sum of forty merks yearly, at the feast of Whitsunday : And because, 
 by virtue of the Act of Annexation of the Kirklands to the Crown, the 
 said Williame Douglas, now of Drumlangrig, has right reserved to him 
 during all the days of his life, as being " prowydit " to the said Provostry 
 of Lincluden, in and to the whole farms, mails, kaynes, and other duties, 
 of all and sundry the lands and others abonexpremit, \v\ pertained to the 
 said Provostry, as part of the temporality and patrimony thereof, our 
 sovereign lord and the estates declare, decern, and ordain that the said 
 Sir Robert Gordon and John Murray, their heirs and successors, are and 
 
 2 C
 
 202 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 shall be exonerated and discharged of all and sundry the feu -farms, 
 mails, and other duties above contained in their infeftments, of the lands 
 and others " abone expremit," with their pertinents, during all the days of 
 the lifetime of the said Williame Douglas of Drumlangrig, as Provost of 
 the said Colledge Kirk of Lincluden. 
 
 Present Owners of Lincluden Property. 
 
 Some of the farms that belonged to Lincluden have been changed in 
 name since they fell into private hands, so that it is difficult to identify 
 them at the present day. As respects a few others, they have been altered 
 in size or absorbed in neighbouring holdings ; but the greater number 
 retain their original designation (chiefly Celtic) and acreage. We need 
 scarcely add that since the Annexation Act was passed all the landed 
 property has vastly increased in value : at present, roughly speaking, the 
 yearly rental cannot be less than ^^9000, and two or three of the principal 
 farms probably yield as much, when taken together, as the whole of them 
 did 300 years ago. Subjoined is a list of the existing owners, so far as 
 has been ascertained, the farms being given in the same order as they 
 appear in the Register Buik, chapter seventh. 
 
 MoUance — John L. Scott of Mollance. 
 
 Garrantown, now Gerranton — John L. Scott. 
 
 Ffuffok, absorbed in Dunmuir, near Castle Douglas — Miss Clark. 
 
 Hillyntoun, now Hillowtown — Mrs. Jane Bell. 
 
 Clairbrand — Trustees of the late Rev. Dr. Andrew Bell, for Madras 
 
 Academy, Cupar. 
 Auchyndoly — Archibald Hume of Auchendolly. 
 Largneane — Archibald Hume. 
 Little Dryburgh — J. L. Scott of Mollance. 
 
 Drumjarge, now Dunjarg — Trustees of Mrs. Jane Bowstead, Gloucester 
 Blak Park — Sir R. J. Abercrombie, Bart. 
 Erncrago — Earl of Moray.
 
 Appendix. 203 
 
 Glengopok, now Glenroan — Francis Maxwell of Gribton. 
 
 Culcrufe, now Culgruff — Robert Stewart of Culgruff. 
 
 Blaryuny, now Blairinnie — Francis Maxwell of Gribton. 
 
 Mekle Dryburgh — J. L. Scott. 
 
 Chapmantoun — James Craig of Chapmanton. 
 
 Trodale, now Trowdale — A. Hume of Auchendolly. 
 
 Crofftis, now Crofts — William Duncan of Danevale. 
 
 Ardis, now Airds — Samuel Moffat of Airds. 
 
 Blaikerne, now Blackerne — Trustees of Mrs. Jane Bowstead. 
 
 Ernemyne, now Ernmenzie — Lieut-Col. Sprot Tait. 
 
 Emannydy — Meikle Ernambrie — Capt. Clark Kennedy of Knockgray ; 
 
 Little Ernambrie — Trustees of the late Dr. A. Bell. 
 Manis of Grenelaw — Greenlaw Mansion and Policy — John Ross Coul- 
 
 thart; Mains of Greenlaw forming part of Culvennan and Cairnley. 
 Culnotiy, now Kilnotry — Capt. Clark Kennedy of Knockgray. 
 Staikfurde, now Nithside — -Robert K. Walker of Nithside. 
 Marieholm — Robert Maxwell. 
 Cluny and Skilling Holme, now Cluny and Hynd's Cluny — Capt. A. 
 
 P. Constable Maxwell of Terregles. 
 Terrauchty — W. H. Maxwell of Munches. 
 
 Dronganis, now Drungans— R. E. Robertson Ramsay, barrister. 
 Troqueer, now Troqueerholm — J. Gibson Starke of Troqueerholm. 
 College Mains — Capt. A. P. Constable Maxwell of Terregles. 
 Nunland — James Kifsock. 
 Crustanis, now Curriestanes — Thomas Irving. 
 The Holm, now Goldielea — Walter Scott of Broomlands. 
 Nunholme — George Henderson of Nunholm. 
 
 F. 
 
 Burns and Lincluden. 
 
 With Robert Burns, as mentioned in the thirteenth chapter, the ruins 
 of Lincluden Abbey were a favourite resort. His eldest son Robert 
 retained a vivid recollection of having, when quite a boy, been led by
 
 204 Appendix. 
 
 him to this cherished haunt ; and often the poet repaired thither alone, 
 when on solitary musings bent. It was on one of these latter occasions 
 that he wrote, or was inspired to write, the following beautiful lyric : — 
 
 THE VISION OF LIBERTIE. 
 
 As I stood by yon roofless tower, 
 
 Where the wa'-flower scents the dewy air, 
 
 Where the houlet mourns in her ivy bower. 
 And tells the midnight moon her care ; 
 
 Chortcs. 
 A lassie all alone was making her moan. 
 
 Lamenting our lads beyond the sea ; 
 In the bluidy wars they fa', and our honour's gane and a', 
 
 And broken-hearted we maun die. 
 
 The winds were laid, the air was still. 
 
 The stars they shot along the sky ; 
 The tod was howling on the hill, 
 
 And the distant-echoing glens reply. 
 A lassie all alone, etc. 
 
 The burn, adown its hazelly path, 
 
 Was rushing by the ruin'd wa', 
 Hasting to join the sweeping Nith, 
 
 Whose roarings seem'd to rise and fa'. 
 A lassie all alone, etc. 
 
 The cauld blue North was streaming forth 
 
 Her lights, wi' hissing, eerie din : 
 Athort the lift they start and shift. 
 
 Like Fortune's favours, tint as win. 
 A lassie all alone, etc. 
 
 Now looking over firth and fauld, 
 
 Her horn the pale-faced Cynthia rear'd ; 
 When, lo ! in fomi of minstrel auld, 
 
 A stern and stalwart ghaist appear'd. 
 A lassie all alone, etc. 
 
 Had I a statue been o' stane. 
 
 His darin' look had daunted me ; 
 And on his bonnet grav'd was plain. 
 
 The sacred posy — " Libertie !" 
 A lassie all alone, etc.
 
 Appendix. 205 
 
 And frae his harp sic strains did flow, 
 
 Might rous'd the slumbering Dead to hear ; 
 
 But, oh ! it was a tale of woe. 
 
 As ever met a Briton's ear. 
 
 A lassie all alone, etc. 
 
 He sang wi' joy his former day, 
 
 He, weeping, wail'd his latter times ; 
 But what he said it was nae play, 
 
 I winna venture't in my rhymes. 
 
 Chorus. 
 A lassie all alone was making her moan. 
 
 Lamenting our lads beyond the sea. 
 In the bluidy wars they fa', and our honour's gane and a'. 
 
 And broken-hearted we maun die. 
 
 In a more cheerful mood Burns produced his fine pastoral love-song, 
 
 CA' THE YOWES TO THE KNOWES. 
 
 C/ionis. 
 Ca' the yowes to the knowes, 
 Ca' them whare the heather grows, 
 Ca' them whare the burnie rowes. 
 My bonnie dearie. 
 
 Hark the mavis' evening sang 
 Sounding Clouden's woods amang ! 
 Then a faulding let us gang. 
 My bonnie dearie. 
 
 Ca' the yowes, etc. 
 
 We'll gae down by Clouden side, 
 Thro' the hazels spreading wide, 
 O'er the waves that sweetly glide. 
 To the moon sae clearly. 
 Ca' the yowes, etc. 
 
 Yonder Clouden's silent towers, 
 Where at moonshine midnight hours, 
 O'er the dewy bending flowers. 
 Fairies dance sae cheerie. 
 Ca' the yowes, etc.
 
 2o6 Appendix. 
 
 Ghaist nor bogle shall thou fear ; 
 Thou'rt to love and heaven sae dear, 
 Nocht of ill may come thee near, 
 My bonnie dearie. 
 
 Ca' the yovves, etc. 
 
 Fair and lovely as thou art, 
 Thou hast stown my very heart ; 
 I can die — but canna part, 
 My bonnie dearie. 
 
 Chorus. 
 Ca' the yowes to the knowes, 
 Ca' them whare the heather grows, 
 Ca' them whare the burnie rowes, 
 My bonnie dearie. 
 
 G. 
 
 Walter's Poem on the Ruins of Lincluden. 
 
 A reference to the fine poem subjoined and its author is made in 
 chapter thirteenth. The piece is entitled, " Verses on an Evening View of 
 the Ruins of Lincluden Abbey," and was first published, with numerous 
 other beautiful products of Mr. Walter's pen, in the Nithsdale Minstrel 
 (date 1815), edited by the late Rev. William Dunbar of Applegarth, and 
 published by Preacher and Dunbar, Dumfries. 
 
 Ye holy walls, that still sublime 
 Resist the crumbling touch of time ; 
 How strongly still your view displays 
 The piety of ancient days ; 
 As through your ruins, hoar and gray- 
 Ruins yet beauteous in decay — 
 The silver moonbeams trembling play. 
 The forms of ages long gone by 
 Crowd thick on fancy's wondering eye, 
 And wake the soul to musings high. 
 
 E'en now, as, lost in thought profound, 
 I view the solemn scene around,
 
 Appendix. 207 
 
 And pensive gaze with wistful eye, 
 
 The past returns, the present flics ; 
 Again the dome, in pristine pride. 
 Lifts high its roof and arches wide, 
 That, knit with curious tracer^', 
 The Gothic ornaments display. 
 The high-arched windows, painted fair, 
 Sliow many a saint and martyr there ; 
 As on their slender forms I gaze, 
 Methinks they brighten to a blaze ! 
 With noiseless step and taper bright. 
 What are yon forms that meet my sight ? 
 Slowly they move while every eye 
 Is heavenward raised in ecstasy. 
 'Tis the soft spotless vestal train. 
 That seek in prayer the midnight fane. 
 
 And hark ! what more than mortal sound 
 Of music breathes the pile around ? 
 'Tis the soft chanted choral song, 
 Whose tones the echoing aisles prolong ; 
 Till, thence returned, they softly stray 
 O'er Cluden's wave with fond delay — 
 Now on the rising gale swell high, 
 And now in fainting murmurs die ! 
 The boatmen on Nith's gentle stream. 
 That glistens on the pale moonbeam, 
 Suspend their dashing oars to hear 
 The holy anthem loud and clear, 
 Each worldly thought a while forbear, 
 And mutter forth a half-heard prayer. 
 
 But as I gaze the vision fails. 
 
 Like frost-work touched by southern gales. 
 
 The altar sinks, the tapers fade. 
 
 And all the splendid scene's decayed ! 
 
 In windows fair the painted pane 
 
 No longer glows with holy stain ; 
 
 But through the broken space the gale 
 
 Blows chilly from the misty vale ; 
 
 The bird of eve flits sullen by — 
 
 Her home these aisles and arches high ;
 
 2o8 Appendix. 
 
 The choral hymn, that erst so clear 
 Broke softly sweet on fancy's ear, 
 Is drowned amid the mournful scream 
 That breaks the magic of my dream. 
 Roused by the sound I start and see 
 The ruined sad reality. 
 
 H. 
 
 Fir Tree on Lincluden Abbey. 
 
 For several years a sort of natural banner was displayed by the 
 heptagonal tower of the ruined building, in the form of a large fir tree. 
 It was still flourishing in 1845, and must have been removed soon after 
 that date. The tower fell with a crash in 1851, but whether this cata- 
 strophe was occasioned or accelerated by the presence of the tree upon 
 its crest we are unable to say. To this tree some verses are devoted in 
 77^1? Man of the Woods, written forty years ago, which we venture to 
 reproduce. " Herbert," the moralising sage, companioned by his youthful 
 friend, proceeds along the right bank of the Nith, and on reaching the 
 ruins he addresses the tree in the following terms : — 
 
 Sore crumbled seem those turrets gray. 
 
 And fastly hun-ying to decay ; 
 
 A dread and downcast air is thrown 
 
 Upon each time-disfigured stone. 
 
 How desolate the scene appears ! 
 
 And, dimly seen through dropping tears, 
 
 Methinks I mark, from yonder wall, 
 
 Stern Ruin fling his dusky pall ; 
 
 And fancy hears him hoarsely cry, 
 
 " No rival to my reign have I !" 
 
 That sound is but the babbling gale ; 
 That sign portends not waste or wail. 
 How should a thing so green and free 
 The dark destroyer's emblem be .? 
 Though Ruin's hand has sore defaced 
 Whate'er the skilful chisel traced,
 
 Appendix. 209 
 
 And tried with too successful wile 
 To mar the consecrated pile — 
 Yet rules he not in reckless pride, 
 His baleful influence undefied ; 
 For, 'hove the spoiler's sceptre springs 
 A form which sense of gladness brings — 
 This thing of life which lifts its head 
 As rose leaves o'er a coffin lid, 
 Regardless of the wreck below — 
 Joy's symbol 'midst a scene of woe. 
 
 Green stripling of the forest tribe, 
 Which from dead walls dost life imbibe ! 
 What pity that a fane so fair 
 Should first dismantled be, and bare, 
 Ere thou, so late a humble cone. 
 Upon its tender mercies thrown. 
 Could rear aloft thy youthful crest. 
 In ever-verdant beauty drest ! 
 But thou of this parental aid 
 Hast mindful been, and payment made. 
 Stay, nourishment and strength are thine ; 
 And gratefully the nursling Pine 
 Admits his mural mother's claim. 
 And, all to soothe her hour of shame, 
 Now twines a wreath of bud and bough, 
 To deck her deeply-furrowed brow. 
 
 Furrowed, alas ! forlorn, defaced. 
 Though once with costly splendour graced ; 
 Despoiled, deserted, and defiled. 
 Though long a holy dwelling styled. 
 Where do thy sainted inmates roam, 
 Thou scathed and solitary dome .' — 
 No neophyte the world resigns 
 Unwept, to worship at thy shrines. 
 Earth's pleasures may be poor indeed ; 
 But what hast thou to give instead ? 
 No lingerer lifts the hand to bless ; — 
 No pageant crowds the void abyss. 
 Why rises not the chaunted hymn, 
 To cheer thy courts so dread and dim ? 
 (And why thus warble, sweetest bird, 
 
 2 D
 
 2 1 o Appendix. 
 
 As if the long-sealed fount were stirred ?) 
 
 The altar and the offering fled — 
 
 The odour which the censer shed ; 
 
 A silence reigns in every cell, 
 
 Which to the inner ear can tell 
 
 More truthfully than loudest tone, 
 
 Thy glory is for ever gone ; 
 
 Nor hope the faintest sign can see 
 
 At variance with the stern decree. 
 
 From this grave scene now turn the eye 
 
 To mark the gay green Tree on high. 
 
 See how its matted foliage waves, 
 
 How well the brawling wind it braves, 
 
 How haughtily its arms are cast, 
 
 How careless of the sweeping blast — 
 
 The cynosure of neighbouring pines. 
 
 To whom each fellow-fir resigns 
 
 Its claim to notice or renown, 
 
 Meek vassal of its verdant crown. 
 
 But, would'st thou hear, young woodland chief, 
 
 I'd ask, in language blunt and brief, 
 
 If thou wast raised by right of worth 
 
 Thus far above the common earth ? 
 
 True, thou dost straight and greenly grow — 
 
 So do thy brethren here below ; 
 
 In graceful folds thy tresses twine. 
 
 But theirs are beautiful as thine ; 
 
 Nor do thy princely weeds exhale 
 
 More fragrance to the vesper gale 
 
 Than these plebeian pines bequeath, 
 
 Who droop their heads thy heel beneath. 
 
 So, if thou wilt but answer sooth, 
 
 With that uncourtly virtue — truth, 
 
 Nor for thy seat a tenure find 
 
 Scarce known to kings of human kind. 
 
 Confess, no merit of thy own 
 
 Has given thee this aerial throne. 
 
 Fair Tree ! I would not wish to wrest 
 One leaflet from thy honoured crest. 
 Long to thy spreading boughs be given 
 The sun, the shower, the dew of heaven ;
 
 Appendix. 2 1 1 
 
 May no insidious blight consume 
 
 Thy being's source, thy beauty's bloom, 
 
 Lest Nature's self should rue the void 
 
 Her sweet supremacy destroyed. 
 
 And Art should cry in triumph thus : — ■ 
 
 " Hast thou become as one of us ? 
 
 Thou that didst flaunt thy flowery pride 
 
 My desecrated fane beside : 
 
 Thy works are mutable as mine — 
 
 This hallowed house, that precious Pine, 
 
 Alike the spoiler's influence own. 
 
 No longer shall I mourn alone." 
 
 But such dread doom thou need'st not fear, 
 If Wisdom's voice thou wilt but hear — 
 
 Live with thy state content ! 
 Take warning from yon wilful Tree, 
 Whom thou but yesterday didst see. 
 Prone from the verdant woodland lea, 
 
 To dark perdition sent. 
 Nor seek, with selfish aims elate, 
 To reach, like him, a dangerous height. 
 Lest ruin by the roots await. 
 
 Or 'mong thy branches rave : 
 For sure and great would be thy fall. 
 With none to help or heed thy call. 
 When rends the over-burthened wall 
 
 To form the Fir Tree's grave ; 
 Then thou, among its fragments laid, 
 Would'st mourn in darkness, disarrayed, 
 Crushed in the wreck thyself had made. 
 
 May sweet Diana save 
 Thy empire from so foul an end. 
 That thou may'st long thy verdure lend 
 To grace these turrets dread and grim ; 
 To prompt the heart's untutored hymn 
 
 To that Almighty Power, 
 Who summons with creative breath, 
 Life, beauty, from the dust of death. 
 
 And bids the desert flower.
 
 CORRECTIONS. 
 
 Page 21, second line from foot, /or "frankal moigne" read 
 " frank almoigne." 
 
 The statement "say masses," made near the foot of page 29, 
 is scarcely correct ; better to read, " offer petitions."
 
 INDEX 
 
 Alan, Lord of Galloway, 35. 
 Alianore, Abbess of Lincluden, pays homage 
 to Edward I., 41. 
 
 Battle of the Standard, 10. 
 Bedesmen of Lincluden, their services and 
 fare, 70 ; Thomas Dumvie, bedesman, 
 
 75- 
 
 Blanche, Lady, supposed Abbess of Lin- 
 cluden, 48. 
 
 Border Conference held in Lincluden, 81 ; 
 laws of warfare regulated, 8 1 ; beacon 
 fires to be lighted, 82. 
 
 Bridgend (Maxwelltown) a dependency of 
 Lincluden, 155. 
 
 Bruce, King Robert, descended from Fer- 
 gus, father of the founder of the Abbey, 
 39 ; Bruce's descendant, the Princess 
 Margaret, buried in Lincluden, 63, 
 
 Burns and Lady Winifred Maxwell, 162; 
 the poet at Lincluden, 181, 203. 
 
 Candida Casa, built by St. Ninian, 10 ; 
 its bishopric the oldest in Scotland, 1 1. 
 
 Carrick given by RoUand, son of Uchtred, 
 to his cousin, Duncan, son of Gilbert the 
 fratricide, 33 ; Duncan renders service in 
 Irelandto Henry II., 38; Duncan's daugh- 
 ter mother of Scotland's Hero-King, 39. 
 
 Devorgilla, great granddaughter of 
 Uchtred, 35. 
 
 Discoveries in the ruins of Lincluden — 
 relics of the rood screen, 1 69 ; fragment 
 of the Princess Margaret's effigy, 1 70 ; 
 tombstone of Provost Cairns, and other 
 memorials of the dead, 173. 
 
 Douglas family succeed the M'Dowalls in 
 the Lordship of Galloway, 42; Archibald 
 the Grim suppresses the Abbey, 45 ; 
 expels the nuns and takes possession of 
 their property, 47 ; he adds a Collegiate 
 Church to the Abbey buildings, 52 ; 
 Archibald Tyneman, his son, marries 
 Margaret, daughter of Robert III., 56; 
 Tyneman takes part in the revolt of 
 Hotspur against Henry IV., and is made 
 prisoner, 57 ; during his captivity he 
 obtains a writ of protection for the 
 College from the King, 58 ; aids the 
 King of France in his wars with the 
 English, 61 ; is rewarded with the 
 Dukedom of Touraine, 62 ; slain in 
 battle, 62 ; William, grandson of Tyne- 
 man, holds a Conference in Lincluden 
 to revise the laws of Border warfare, 
 81; downfall of the Douglases, 84; 
 Lordship of Galloway anne.\ed to the 
 Crown, 84.
 
 214 
 
 Index. 
 
 Douglases of Drumlanrig, their connection 
 with the College, 145, 155, 156. 
 
 Douglas of Pinzerie, feuar of Lincluden, 
 150; he marries the sister of Lord 
 Maxwell, I 50 ; his criminal career, i 5 1 ; 
 trial and sentence, 1 54. 
 
 Douglas, or the Field oj Otterburn, 
 Romance of, 183-190. 
 
 Dumfries prison broken into at the instance 
 of Pinzerie, 152. 
 
 Fergus, Lord of Galloway, founds religious 
 houses in the province, 10 ; becomes 
 a recluse in Holyrood Abbey, 1 1 ; 
 curious legend about his admission as 
 a canon regular, 1 1 ; his two sons, 
 Uchtred and Gilbert, become joint Lords 
 of Galloway, 1 3. 
 
 Fir Tree on Lincluden, poetical address to, 
 208-21 1. 
 
 Galloway Celtic when the Abbey was 
 built, 10; its semi-independence, 10; 
 takes the side of Baliol against Bruce, 
 40 ; its Lordship annexed to the Crown, 
 
 84. 
 
 Galloway, See of, 76 ; rental in 1561, 76. 
 
 Gilbert, son of Fergus and brother of 
 Uchtred, 14; murders Uchtred, 30; 
 obtains the protection of Henry IL on 
 agreeing to give the King " a benevo- 
 lence," 31. 
 
 " Grete Mesour of Nyth," standard of 
 capacity used in the College, 107. 
 
 Henry IL of England grants land in 
 Ireland to Uchtred's descendants, 37. 
 
 Henry III. permits the monastic com- 
 munities of Galloway to buy com, meal, 
 and other victuals in Ireland, 22. 
 
 Henry IV. grants a writ of protection to 
 Provost Cairns and the College com- 
 munity, 58. 
 
 Herries, Sir John, created Baron of Ter- 
 regles, 1 7 ; William Lord Herries 
 superintends the obsequies of the eighth 
 Lord Maxwell in Lincluden Church, 97 ; 
 connection of John, the fourth Lord 
 Herries, with the College, 135; his 
 devotedness to Mary Queen of Scots, 
 139, 140; Baron Herries of Terregles 
 made a Peer of the United Kingdom, 
 162. 
 
 Herries, George, of Terraughty, curator of 
 the College, 74 ; his business transac- 
 tions, 74, 75. 
 
 Historical Panorama of leading characters 
 and events, 177. 
 
 James I. of Scotland confirms charter of a 
 chapel to the College granted by his 
 sister the Duchess of Touraine, 67. 
 
 James III. visits the College, 88. 
 
 James IV. makes a halt at the College 
 when going on pilgrimage, 92. 
 
 James VI. and his favourites, Gordon and 
 Murray, 155, 200; his journey through 
 Nithsdale and probable visit to Lin- 
 cluden, 157. 
 
 Johnstone, Sir James, defeats the Maxwells 
 at Dryfe Sands, 97 ; he is assassinated 
 by the ninth Lord Maxwell, 102. 
 
 Lincluden Abbey erected by Uchtred, 
 15; its site at " the meeting of the 
 waters," 1 6 ; etymology of the term, 1 6 ; 
 date of the foundation, 17; its aixhi- 
 tectural style, 17; its ecclesiastical order, 
 19; its endowments, 21, 50; rules of the 
 Order, 24 ; daily life of the inmates, 26; 
 they are expelled by Archibald the 
 Grim, Lord of Galloway, 45 ; he sup- 
 presses the Abbey, 48 ; probable fate of 
 the last Abbess, 49. 
 
 Lincluden College erected by the sup- 
 presser of the Abbey, 52 ; he adds a
 
 Index. 
 
 215 
 
 magnificent Church to the original build- 
 ing, 52 ; object of the new foundation, 
 52 ; description of the College, 52 ; 
 chapel founded in it by the Princess 
 Margaret, 67 ; burial of the Princess 
 in the College Church, 63 ; earliest Col- 
 lege charters, 76; rental in 1561, 77; 
 Conference of Border magnates held in 
 the College, 81, 190 ; supplies an 
 asylum to Queen Margaret of Anjou 
 and the Prince of Wales, 86 ; visited 
 there by the Oueen-Dowager of Scotland 
 and her son James III., 88 ; James VI. 
 calls at the College when going on 
 pilgrimage to St. Ninian's, 92 ; influence 
 of the Reformation on Lincluden, 95 ; 
 mass celebrated in it illegally by the 
 eighth Lord Maxwell, 96 ; he is defeated 
 and slain by the Annandale Johnstones 
 at the battle of Drj'fe Sands, 97 ; buried 
 in the College, 98 ; the ninth Lord vows 
 vengeance against Sir James Johnstone, 
 99 ; the assassination of Johnstone 
 planned in the College, 99 ; carried into 
 effect with the aid of Charles Maxwell, 
 loi ; Maxwell receives a charter of 
 land, dated at Lincluden, for "good 
 services " rendered to the granter, 102 ; 
 widow of the eighth Lord Maxwell buried 
 in the College, 103 ; College Register 
 Book, its contents given in Chapter 
 VIII., 106; and following Chapter, 116; 
 its five kirks, 114, 153; its bells, 116; 
 its herbarium, 126; its salmon fishery, 
 127; its gardens, 131 ; suppression of 
 the establishment, 140; disposal of its 
 property, 144, 196-202 ; legal memor- 
 anda respecting it, 147 ; description of 
 the ruins by Pennant and Grose as they 
 appeared towards the close of last cen- 
 tury', 165, 166 ; recent excavations and 
 discoveries, 167; aspect of the ruins in 
 1885, 168; the Provost's Chair, 174. 
 
 Margaret, Princess of Scotland, married 
 to Archibald Tyneman, son of the 
 founder of the College, 56 ; rules over 
 Galloway after his death, 62 ; she dies 
 in Thrieve Castle, and her remains are 
 laid in the College Church, 63 ; her 
 tomb described, 64, 165 ; its probable 
 date inquired into, 65 ; inscription on 
 the tomb, 66. 
 
 Margaret of Anjou married to Henry VI. 
 of England, 86 ; after the defeat of his 
 forces by the Yorkist party she and her 
 son obtain refuge in Lincluden, 86 ; 
 visitedtherebythewidowof JamesII., 88; 
 receives supplies of wine from Falkland 
 Palace, and bed furnishings from Dum- 
 fries, 89 ; after fortunes of the English 
 Queen, 90. 
 
 Maxwell, the eighth Lord, opposes the 
 Reformation, 96 ; he celebrates mass in 
 Lincluden, 96 ; burial of his remains in 
 the College, 98 ; the ninth Lord assassi- 
 nates Sir James Johnstone, loi ; con- 
 nection of Sir John Maxwell of Terregles 
 with the College, 134; Robert, brother 
 of the ninth Lord, created Earl of Niths- 
 dale, 157; barony of Drumsleet acquired 
 by him, 157 ; the barony vested in his 
 successor, Lord Herries, 157; " Niths- 
 dale's Welcome Home," 163. 
 
 Maxwell, Captain, inherits Terregles estate, 
 162 ; he causes extensive excavations 
 and preservative work to be carried on 
 at the ruins, 168. 
 
 M'Dowall the patronymic of Uchtred's 
 family, 14. 
 
 N INI AN, St., builds Candida Casa, 1 1 ; his 
 shrine visited by James IV., 92. 
 
 Prebendars, or Prebendaries, of the 
 College, their duties and emoluments.
 
 i6 
 
 Index. 
 
 70 ; they defend their rights when en- 
 croached upon by Provost Douglas, 
 125, 135 ; provision for them when the 
 College was suppressed, 140, 143 ; pre- 
 bends possessed by the Dowie family, 
 
 144- 
 Provosts of the College, their powers and 
 privileges, 69, 70 ; Elias the first 
 Provost, 54, 71 ; succeeding Provosts — 
 Carnys or Cairns, 58, 7 1, 1 73 ; Cameron, 
 
 71 ; M'Gilhauck, 72 ; Halyburton, 72 ; 
 Winchester, 73, 85 ; Methven, 73, 81 ; 
 Lindsay, 73, 86; Livingstone, 73; 
 Stewart (Andrew), T>, ; Hepburn, 73 ; 
 Stewart (William), 73 ; Marshall, 73, 
 74 ; Douglas (Robert), 74 ; Douglas 
 (William), 145, 155, 156. 
 
 Provost Robert Douglas arranges for the 
 surrender of his Lodging to a member of 
 the Maxwell family, 135 ; the scheme 
 opposed by the Prebendars, 135 ; he 
 takes up his abode at Greenlaw, 139 ; 
 is involved in a conspiracy against the 
 Government, 140 ; life interest in the 
 provostry secured to him, 140 ; receives 
 a Crown appointment, 1 40 ; charged 
 with having been concerned in the 
 slaughter of Sir Robert Maxwell, 142 ; 
 his duties as a tax-collector and auditor 
 of accounts, 142. 
 
 Register Book of the College, 106 ; 
 names, extent, and rental of its feus, 
 107; its tacks and charters, 116; the 
 
 bellringers paid out of feu-rents, 116; 
 the same applied in payment of pre- 
 bendars' vestments, 1 20 ; and in repairing 
 and re-appareUing the Church, 120, 121, 
 122. 
 Rolland, son of Uchtred, defeats the 
 Gilbert faction, and becomes Lord of 
 Galloway, 33. 
 
 St. Bennet, or Benedict, 24 ; the rules 
 of his Order, 25. 
 
 Terregles, Parish of, 17; plantation of 
 
 church in, i 58. 
 Thrieve Castle, the stronghold of the 
 
 Douglases, 44, 62. 
 Touraine, Archibald Tyneman made Duke 
 
 of, 61. 
 
 Uchtred, son of Fergus, earliest notice 
 of, 14; builds and endows Lincluden 
 Abbey, 1 5 ; gives benefactions to St. 
 Peter's Hospital, York, 21 ; retires to 
 the ancestral castle of Loch Fergus, 23 ; 
 is murdered there by his brother Gilbert, 
 29. 
 
 Walter's poem on the ruins of Lincluden, 
 206. 
 
 William, Abbot of Dundrennan, chamber- 
 lain of Galloway, 89 ; his charges for 
 expenses at Lincluden when occupied 
 by Margaret of Anjou, 89. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 HISTORY OF THE BURGH OF DUMFRIES, 
 
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