16 Notes on a\ Oi.n Tuadition. 



occasion to look into the Liljer de Meli'os, wliioh is <i collection of 

 all tJie charters of tlie famous abbey on the Tweed, and is one of 

 those splendid volumes edited for the Bannatyne Club by the 

 late Mr Cosmo Innes. Here I came upon the original grant of 

 the lands of Dunscore to Melrose, and as this, besides being of 

 great local interest otlierwise, does seem to throw light on the 

 tradition of which T have been speaking T should like now to 

 quote its words to yon. Tlie granter of the lands is a lady, 

 AfFrica, the daughter of Edgar, and the great-gi'and-daughter of 

 the powerful chieftain Dnnegal, who, in the reign of David I., 

 ruled over Nithsdaki from his seat at Morton Castle. Affrica's 

 charter was granted in tlie reign of Alexander II. (1214-1249). 

 After the nsual beginning, in which she says that she was 

 induced to make this grant for the repose of the souls of the late 

 king and of her own ancestoi's and successors and for the salva- 

 tion of her own soul, Aftrica proceeds to specify the boundaries 

 of the land which she bestoAvs on the monks: — "I have given 

 and conceded to Cod and to St. Mary of Melrose and to the 

 monks serving Cod there in free, pure, and perpetual charity, one- 

 fourth part of tlie land in tlie territory of Dunscore, that, namel)^, 

 which lies between Dercongal and a certain rivulet which is 

 called Pollogan, according to its proper marches. And besitles, 

 from Pollogan, by a rivulet which descends from the moss to the 

 west and so from the moss b}' a rivulet which descends to the 

 ford of the Cairn towards Clenesslan and so by the Cairn 

 towards tlie east as far as the rivulet -which is called Pollo- 

 costertan and so upwards as far as Crossengarriauch, which is the 

 march between the land of the canons of Dercongal and Deren- 

 gorran ascending by tlie road as far as Durreswan, and thence 

 descending by a heap of stones to a certain ditch, and from that 

 ditch descending almost straight to the before-mentioned rivulet, 

 namely, Pollogan." What are we to make of these strange and 

 uncouth names, Avliich have all or nearly all disappeared from the 

 face of the earth and from the memory of man 1 Not very much 

 certainly, but yet perhaps something. The first sentence is plain 

 enough. Affrica gives the land which lies between Dercongal or 

 Holy wood (for this is the old name uf the monastery of 

 Augustinian Canons which had already baen erected there) and 

 the stream called Pollogan. The prefix Pol means (I sui)pose in 

 Caelic) a stream. It is tlie very word that has been corrupted 

 into our Scotch word Pow, which occurs in such names as Pow- 



