158 LOCKERBIE IN ITS ORIGIN. 
stronghold; that there were at the Court of the early Bruces a 
family of the name of Locard ; that that family held a position of 
influence and favour at the Court ; that a considerable portion of 
the community at and prior to the time of the Bruces was Danish ; 
that when these settled in a place the name they gave it was mostly 
a descriptive one; that the affix “by ’’ is Danish, and means a 
settlement or town; that it is most improbable the place ever had 
another name, and consequently that prior to receiving its present 
name of Lockerbie it was not a place of residence. From these 
facts and circumstances we infer that Bruce made a grant of the 
lands round about what is now known as Lockerbie to one 
Lockard ; that Lockard, after selecting a suitable place on an 
elevated piece of ground lying near the great Roman road and 
between two lochs—which have long since been drained—built 
thereon a stronghold sufficient to attract around it for mutual aid 
and protection numerous less fortunate families who would build 
for themselves dwellings; that these settlers called the place 
Lockard’s by, meaning Lockard’s town or settlement ; and that 
these dwellings which arose around the “by’’ of Lockard some 
700 or 800 years ago, and were occupied in a great measure by 
Danes, formed the nucleus of this now neat, prosperous, and thriv- 
ing little town. 
Having got thus far, let us now look for a little at the state 
of civilisation which existed, and the method of husbandry which 
was followed in those far-off byegone days. In the first place 
there would be the residence or “ bi’’ or stronghold of Lockard, 
who would now be installed as Lord of the Manor and the repre- 
sentative in this district of the powerful Bruce. Then there would 
be the necessary place of defence—this would doubtless be in the 
form of a peel, which was the type of stronghold then in use. The 
residence of Lockard would no doubt be within the peel. 
The word peel has long been used to signify a tower or 
stronghold. In fact, the phrase, “ Border peel,’’ is more often 
used to signify a Border tower than the latter phrase itself. 
This use of the word Dr Neilson, in his treatise on the word 
“ Peel—its meaning and derivation,’’ shews to be quite erroneous 
and the outcome of a misconception of its true and _ original 
meaning. He states, “The oldest proper examples of the word 
known to me occur in the accounts of the Scottish Wars of 
