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

—Trnnsacticvc 23approximate estimate of the extent of such fund might be verydithcult. On the other hand, the following stray reference seemsto stand alone in the record, although it serves to remind us ofthe liabilities to w^hich tlie Bridge, the Mill, the great grange, or" Barnsbuith," and their surroundings of " the Brigend of Dumfries,"were constantly exposed in the nature of things :At Drumfries the 28th of May, 1521." The Alderman, Baillies, and Community of Drumfries hasset to Thom Cunynghame in heritage ane Mylshed with aneWatergang distrinzeand fra the Moit to the Barnsbuith of theSandbeddis, payand thairfore zeirly 20s. If the Myll-stob doesony skaith to the Sandbeddies, or to the Willies, the said Mill(of the Sandbed) sail be distrenzit (for the damage)."As we understand this entry, we suppose the place-name ofthe " Staikfuird " had been descriptive of some ford of stakes ormill-dam barrier of the river Nith in that locality. The StaikfuirdMill, as one of the Mills of the College and Barony ofLincluden, must once have been of no small importance. Of oldthe eastern foreshore and bank of the river Nith, from the marchof the College lands of Nunholm downwai'ds to the Bridge ofNith, seem to have been in general described, in whole or in part,as the ancient ecclesiastical lands of Dumfries : the haughs of thevicinity of the river-bed and as far as the Staikfuird and Greensandsbeing comprehended within the limits of " the Moitlands "and "the Over-Haughs" as descriptive of such pasture grounds.To the haughs there succeeded a general eastern foreshore ofsand and gravel levels of river bank, reaching beyond the bridgeand mill. This flat region, in virtue of its nature, was collectivelyknown as " The Sandbeds," which were singled out again distinctivelyas the Upper and Lower Sandbeds ; or, later, as theGreen and the White Sands. Between the Friervennel and"the Moit," and beyond, riverwards, there seems to have beenlittle else than orchards, fields, and open spaces, with occasionalgranges, or barns. At or about the northern verge of the Greensandbeds,and by the Staikfuird ford, the " water-gang " of the" Old Sandbed Mill " had its origin in the Nith, flowing onwardthrough the said sandbeds until it supplied the mill and tanneries,regaining the Nith somewhere beyond " the Newtown " quarterof the burgh. Beyond the Brigend the mill-stream, or " watergang,"intersected the great high road to Galloway as it crossed