RECORDS OF THE BURGH OF LOCHMABEN. 113 
to summons him to appear upon Monday, the 21st curt, at 6 
o’clock at night. 
Mr Dickson ten days afterwards appeared before the Council 
and tendered an apology for his conduct, having been, he stated, 
in a passion when he uttered the expressions complained of. 
An entry in the minutes of 10th June, 1784, is of interest to 
Freemasons, the Magistrates on that date having agreed to feu to 
the Freemasons of St. Magdalen a piece of ground for the erection 
of an “ornamental ’’ lodge at the south end of the High Street, 
where the Parish Church now stands, the feu duty to be one penny 
yearly if asked only, Dr Robert Clapperton, the R.W.M. of the 
Lodge, to hold the feu in name of the grantees. It may be 
noted in passing that the Dr Clapperton here referred to was the 
father of the famous African traveller, Captain Hugh Clapperton. 
The year 1790 proved to be an eventful year in the history 
of the burgh. Party feeling ran very high, and for a time mob 
law held sway. <A meeting of the Magistrates and Town Council 
was convened for 8th July, 1790, for the purpose of electing a 
Commissioner or Delegate to represent the Burgh of Lochmaben 
at the ensuing election for choosing a Burgess to serve in Parlia- 
'ment. The minute of meeting bears that eight members of the 
Council met on the above date in the dwelling-house of Bailie 
Dickson prior to attending a meeting of the whole Council in the 
Town House, when a riotous, tumultuous, and outrageous mob 
assembled within the burgh, and having not only assaulted and 
attacked the Magistrates and Councillors who were assembled in 
the dwelling-house, but forcibly and violently broke into the 
house and carried off Bailie John Bryden by open force and 
violence, and the mob having also again returned to Bailie 
Dickson’s house with the declared intention of seizing and 
carrying off from the election another of the councillors, the other 
Magistrates and Councillors present were not only so much 
intimidated by the threats and outrages of the mob, that they 
were under the necessity of flying from the burgh for the safety 
of their lives. The other Councillors who were not present, 
but intended to be at the meeting, were prevented by the threats 
and outrages of the mob from entering the town, although they 
attempted to do so. They ultimately all met at Townfoot of 
Mouswald, “ finding that to be the first and only place of safety 
where they had hitherto been able to meet for freely and 
