Vol 5 - Dumfriesshire & Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian ...

Transactions. 21heirfore, aud we charge you that ye hiuchfullie suinnion, wairn,and chairge the said Thomas Makclellane, allegit takkisman foirsaid,and the Alderman and Baillies of our said burgh of Kirkcudbright,personallie or at their dwelling place, to compeir, &c.The said otheris Lettres wrongously purchased are herebysuspended, ifec. Given under our signet at Edinr., the 22nd ofMarch, and of our reigns the first and twenty-fourth years, 1565." Ex Delib. Dom. Concilii."Our real chartered history of the Bridge begins in the reign ofKing James the First, and the first quarter of the 1 5th centuryThis is, of course, the period when the family of Douglas werealready far advanced in their reign of one hundred years over theLordship of Galloway. King James the First, in 1424, hadcompleted his nineteen years of captivity in England. Betweenthe years 1275 and the chartered year 1425 we learn little ornothing concerning the Bridge in any shape. In the course oftlie first half of the 1 5th century there are a charter and a confirmationcharter of the Bridge Toll or Custom. The first of theseis the still extant charter by the Lady " Margaret, Duchess ofTouraine, Countess of Douglas, and Lady of Galloway andAnnandale " (as she therein styles and describes herself), whereinshe grants to the Friars Minors of Dumfries her own vestedrights in the Bridge of Dumfries, as described in the charter,which is dated, "At the Trief, the 16th of January, 1425." Onthe back, in an almost contemporary hand, is the followingendorsation :" Domine Galwidie de Ponte, 16th January, 1425."The next document we still have is the confirmatory and renewalcharter, dated 4th of January, 1452, whereby "James, Earl ofDouglas and of Avondale, Lord of Galloway, etc." (as he istherestyled), confirms to the said Friars Minors tlie previous chai-ter oftlie Lady Margaret in Anno 1425, in this instance the soui'ce andnature of the toll or custom being more fully described as pertaining"ad pontis de Nyth de Drumfres;" wliile the relativeendorsation of the time is "Carta de Douglas de Custuma Pontis."The real intrinsic position and relativ^e significance of the noblefamily of Douglas generally within the realm of Scotland is bestunderstood by reproducing from "The Douglas Book" the followingsummary and exposition of the learned editoi-, Dr WilliamEraser, C.B., wherein it may be observed that even the widedomain and loi'dship of Galloway formed but a smallitem in thecatalogue of the Douglas family possessions within the realm of