Transactions. 101 



things that rightfully belong to the said Church. Therefore, let no one be 

 allowed in any way to alienate this Church or Chapel, or their revenues, 

 or their privileges, from the occupation of the Church of Kelso and from 

 the proper uses of the monks." * 



The date of these documents cannot be fixed accurately to a 



year. King William reigned from 1165 till 1214, but the year 



of his reign in which these deeds were executed is not specified. 



There is, however, one reference which enables us to limit their 



date to some extent. Mention is made of a Chapel of St. Thomas 



in Dumfries. This Chapel stood on the Plainstones on the site, 



as indicated on the Ordnance Survey Map, now occupied by the 



premises of Mr Adams, bookbindei", and it was dedicated not to 



St. Thomas the Apostle, but to St. Thomas of Canterbui-y, better 



known, perhaps, as Thomas A' Becket. As is well-known, the 



murder of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, by the order, or at 



least with the approval, of the English King, Henry II., caused a 



tremendous sensation in England. The murdered man was at 



once hailed as a martyr and a saint, and, the foundation was laid 



for the unparalleled devotion that was paid to his relics and his 



memory throughout the Middle Ages. One trace of this still 



remains in the popularity of the name Thomas with the English 



speaking people, who are, I believe, the only people in the world 



amongst whom it can be said to be in common use. Becket was 



a favourite saint with William the Lion. He appears to have 



been personally acquainted with him, and there would be a bond 



of union between them in their common hostility to Henry II., 



who had subjected William to the indignity of signing the Treaty 



of Falaise, in which, as King of Scots, he acknowledged the 



overlordship of the English King. To the other great enemy of 



Henry he dedicated the magnificent Abbey of Arbroath, in which 



he was afterwards buried, and it is probable that it was also he 



who dedicated to the same saint the humbler building in Dumfries. 



The murder of Becket took place in 1170 ; Arbroath Abbey was 



dedicated seven years later, and probably about the same time, or 



a little after, the Chapel of St. Thomas at Dumfries was handed 



over to the monks of Kelso. 



It must be noted that tJiese deeds of gift of the Church of 



Dumfries which I have quoted are evidently to be distinguished 



from the original charter of its endowment. It will be noticed 



that the king speaks of lands and teinds as already appropriated 



* Reg. Cart, de Kelso, 13. 



