30 The Greyfriars' Convent of Dumfries. 



which would seem to be suitable to the abrupt rise of the ground 

 and the space the Friars' steps would occupy. At the east end 

 there would be a space between the east gable of the church and 

 Logan's tenement of thirty-five feet, ami that there was such a 

 space is evidenced by a deed describing the tenement to be 

 bounded on the west by the cemetery. I conclude that the church 

 here did not materiallv differ in length and width from that of 

 Elgin. 



I should mention in regard to the orientation that the choir 

 <lid not point due east, but east twenty-five degrees north. On 

 this subject an old writer says: — " One end of every church dot!i 

 point to such place where the sun did rise at the time the founda- 

 tion thereof was laid, which is the reason why all churches d<i 

 not directly point to the east; for if the foundation was laid in 

 June, it pointed to the north-east, where the sun rises at that 

 time of year ; if it was laid in the spring or autumn it was directed 

 full east ; if in winter, .south-east ; and by the standing of these 

 churches it is known at what time of the year the foundations of 

 them were laid." The church was dedicated to St. Mary the 

 Virgin, and contained several altars. The high altar would 

 occupy a place at the east end of the choir ; there was an altar of 

 St. John the Baptist in the nave immediately west of the prin- 

 cipal door ; an altar of Blessed Mary west of that ; and an altar of 

 St. Salvator, that is the Holy Redeemer, further west, along the 

 south wall. 



Proof of the high veneration in which St. Mary the Virgin 

 was in these times held in Dumfries is furnished by the number 

 -of dedications in her honour. Sir Christopher Seton's Chapel, 

 where St. Mary's Church is now; the Chapel at Castledykes; the 

 Chapel of the Willeis, and the Friary Church were all dedicated 

 to St. Mary, as well as an altar in the Parish Church, and another 

 in the Friary Church. It will be remembered that the Pope's 

 relaxation for the repair of the bridge eml)raced the amplication 

 of the Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin, founded near the said 

 bridge, that is the Friary Church, which is here again bracketed 

 with the bridge, showing that the\ were in some way inter- 

 dependant. It appears probable that a tower or steeple of some 

 kind was attached to the church, it may be at a period subse- 

 (juent to the foundation. A great bell w^as installed in 1535, and 

 there was a "knock" or clock, both of which were regulated 



