Transactions. 45 



on "Archseology, Its Width and Importance." Dr Grierson 

 followed with some very suitable remarks on " The Study of Nature 

 and Its Advantages." The Hall was crowded with visitors during 

 the evening. At the close of the meeting votes of thanks were 

 passed to Provost Lennox and the other speakers, to the Con- 

 tributors to the exhibition, and to the Sub-Committee appointed 

 to carry out the arrangements. 



The Size of the Old Bridge of Dumfries. — Mr M'Dowail read a 

 paper on the above subject at the intermediate meeting on the 

 19th January. The Old Bridge, as you have all heard, was built 

 by the bountiful Devorgilla ; and as she died on the 29th of 

 September, 1289, it must have raised its head above the waters of 

 the Nith some time prior to that date. We may safely conclude 

 that about the year 1283, precisely six centuries ago, the fabric 

 assumed a completed form. A considerable number of years since 

 I applied to the experienced antiquary, Mr Cosmo Innes, to see if 

 he could oblige me with any reliable information as to the circum- 

 stances under which the Bridge had been constructed : his answer 

 was Ijrief and disappointing, to the effect that if the Bridge was so old 

 as the date I had assigned to it, it must have been made of timber, 

 since in the thirteenth century there were no workmen in Scotland 

 capable of bridging a broad tidal river like the Nith with stone. 

 Mr Innes wrote in seeming ignorance of the fact that the Lady 

 Devorgilla had at a vast expense brought foreign architects and 

 masons to this district for other purposes, and that the skill and 

 craft which created the magnificent Abbey of Sweetheart (also 

 founded by Devorgilla) would be amply adequate to link together, 

 by means of a permanent stone erection, the sister shires of Dum- 

 fries and Galloway. It would, doubtless, be a work of consider, 

 able difficulty. The architect would, of course, have to take into 

 account the nature of the shores on each side — high on the west, 

 low on the east, and the tendency of the river when swelled by 

 spate or tide to invade the houses of the Vennel, which had already 

 sprung into existence. If reasonable provision could be made for 

 this latter contingency, by giving six arches to the left or Dum- 

 fries side, against three to the other side, we may feel assured that 

 money and time would not be wasted in building a single additional 

 arch ; and my decided opinion is that all the exigences of the case 

 would be fully met by a nine-arched bridge. That the Bridge 

 actually erected had never more than nine I shall endeavour to 



