64 Transactions. 



than in some of the public mercats within this county, 

 without a license for that purpose under the hands of two 

 Justices of the Peace for the county, except it be in small 

 quantities not exceeding four stones at a time for the sup- 

 port of labouring persons or the poor in their neighbourhood, 

 and the constables and all other officers of the law are 

 hereby strictly enjoined to give notice of any persons that 

 shall presume to contravene the premises : and that no 

 person may pretend ignorance they appoint a copy hereof 

 to be sent to the minister of every parish within the shire of 

 Dumfries, who is hereby required to read the same immedi- 

 ately after divine service on the first Sunday after it shall be 

 delivered to liim before dismissing of the congregation, and 

 further appoint copies of this Act to be affixed upon the 

 mercat crosses of the burghs of Dumfries, Annan, Loch- 

 maben, and Sanquhar, and of the mercat towns of Thornhill, 

 Minnyhive, Moffat, Lockerby, and Ecclefechan. 



At the next meeting on the 11th of the following Janu- 

 ary, it was found that this Act was likely to become a hard- 

 ship upon persons who have bear to sell for payment of their 

 rents, and upon the maltsters in the country who used to 

 buy, in regard bear has never been in use to be sold in 

 public mercat except for seed only. It was therefor declared 

 lawful for farmers to sell bear at their own houses to malt- 

 sters. 



In a paper which was read at the last meeting of the 

 Society regarding the condition of servants, it w^s shown 

 that one of the qualifications of female servants was ability 

 to brew, indicating a common use of home-brewed ale. The 

 passage just read shows that there was a considerable manu- 

 facture of ale in the county in addition to the home-brewed. 

 About this time an Act (29th G. II.) came into operation in 

 Scotland levying a duty upon licenses for retailing ale, beer, 

 and other exciseable liquors, which licenses were granted by 

 the Justices. The number of licenses may be taken as some 

 measure of the consumption of ale. There were 18 licenses 

 granted for Moffat, 7 for Dryfesdale, and 10 for Hoddam. 



