20 The Greyfriars' Convent of Dumfries. 



Passing to the sixteenth century, in the earlv part of it the 

 Friars were in the full enjoyment of the goodwill of the town, 

 and there appeared at this time no grounds for disquietude on 

 their part. Of this state of affairs an interesting piece of 

 e^•idence is afforded in a Town Council minute of 15th March, 

 1535, relati^•e to the casting of a great hell for the Friarv: — 

 " Quo die," it runs, " Mungall hynd and Mertin blakstok ar maid 

 fre burgesses and suorn yrto, ffrelie gevin to the warden and 

 qwent (convent) of the freyr minors of Drumfress to qtent (con- 

 tent) and pay the workmen for yair grate ibell custvn, and the said 

 warden and qwent and burgesses forsaid can aggre." This 

 ])eculiar method of payment by the Council is of frequent occur- 

 rence. Probably the Friary was already furnished with a bell or 

 bells, but this Avas a special bell — a great bell. 



Darker times were, however, at hand. The Phiglish in 1547 

 overran a great part of Scotland, laid the Borders waste, and 

 devastated and burned the town of Dumfries. They threatened 

 to destroy the conventual buildings and the adjacent house of the 

 Maxwells of Nithsdale in order to obtain a .sufficiencv of building 

 material for the erection of a fort overlooking the Xith. The 

 warden and two of his friars were summoned to Carlisle to sur- 

 render the Friary ; but in the course of the following spring the 

 English .suffered discomfiture, and their plan was frustrated-. 

 The warden was, however, detained as one of the hostages for the 

 town of Dumfries, and for some reason on the 17th March, 1549, 

 he was hanged. After the departure of the English in 1549 the 

 friars returned to their house, and were fa\'oured with a short 

 respite prior to the Reformation. The ' change of religious 

 thought which culminated in the abolition of the Monastic Orders 

 throughout the countr}' being in actiA'e development, it was in- 

 cumbent on the friars to de\'ise means for the protection of their 

 slender revenues. Accordingly, during the years 1557-59 they 

 proceeded to relinqui.sh actual possession of their lands, and to 

 dispone them to their tenants in feu, acquiring in return the rights 

 of feudal superiors ; and in this process the grants to the several 

 feuars were confirmed by charter. We now arrive at the starting 

 point of our theme. It is to the feu charters so granted that we 

 have now to look for enlightenment regarding the friary lands and 

 buildings, and, although the information may fall short of what 

 could be desired, it is safe and reliable. 



