The Ievings op Hoddom. 175 



Exhibits. — The Treasurer exhibited, on behalf of Mr James 

 M'Cargo, Kirkpatrick-Durham, a rubbing of a sculptured stone 

 found at Kirkpatrick-Durham. 



Communication. 



" The Irvings of Hoddom." By Mr GEORGE IRVING, Corbridge- 

 on-Tyne. 



There is no accurate account of when the ancestors of the 

 Irvings, called '• The Dukes of Hoddom," first settled there, but 

 it was probably about tlie end of the twelfth or beginning of the 

 thirteenth century. Whether they came from Ayrshire or Nor- 

 mandy is not quite certain. The more g'enerally recognised view 

 is that they migrated from Cunningham in Aj-rshire. When the 

 Irvings were first induced to leave Ayrshire and settle on the 

 Scots border to form a border guard, they planted themselves at 

 Auchenrivock, on the banks of the Irving Burn, near Langholm, 

 where they had a tower, a fragment of which still stands, forming 

 part of the garden wall. They quickly spread from the Esk to 

 Annandale and Nithsdale, where they could watch the fords from 

 the Esk to the Nith. That part of the clan which settled in 

 Hoddom is supposed to have had its first stronghold where the 

 farm of Hall guards now stands. This was near the centre of the 

 ancient village of Hoddom. The site of the Townhead is still 

 known by some cottages of that name. It is believed that the 

 village extended from the Townhead along the river side to 

 below the old churchyard. Another cluster of small farms stood 

 where a solitary cottage now stands, about three-quarters of a 

 mile from Hoddom Bridge on the road to Ecclefecban. 



It is evident that the Irvings were firmly established in 

 Lower Annandale when Robert de Brus fled from Edward Long- 

 shanks, for he took shelter among them for some months. Bruce, 

 as Lord of Annandale, subsequently built castles at Annan, 

 Hoddom, Castlemilk, and Lochmaben, These strongholds show 

 how much importance Bruce attached to Annandale as tlie direct 

 route from England to Scotland. 



It is not known when the chief in Hoddom was first 

 honoured as Duke of Hoddom. The first mention of the title I 

 have come across was in U90 of the " good Duke Ritchie of old," 



