32 The Greyfriars" Convent of Dumfries. 



were of two types, liaronial and ecclesiastical. Of the latter 

 there are jamb mouli lings, some of them of two orders of bold 

 chamfers, others of two orders, the tirst a large roll deeply under- 

 cut, the second a chamfer. Arch stones of lancet windows are 

 moulded and hooded, and enriched with bold dogtooth, the char- 

 acteristic ornament of the period. There is also a fragment of 

 the canopy of the sedilia, a recessed seat in the south wall near 

 the high altar. On the occasion of a short visit of Dr Thomas 

 Ross, architect, who may be said to have handled every baronial 

 and ecclesiastical moulding in Scotland, I called his attention to 

 some of the stones in question. He unhesitatingly pronounced 

 them fragments of an ancient ecclesiastical edifice of about the 

 middle of the thirteenth century. Earlier than Xewabbey, they 

 are as conclusive of the period of erection, although not of a 

 definite date, as a charter of foundation might have been. 



Piecing together the foregoing details, it may be possible to 

 present something approaching a picture of this interesting land- 

 mark of the history of religion and civilisation in its pristine form. 

 A carefullv chosen site is displayed, situated at some consider- 

 able distance north of the eld town. It is the summit of a gentle 

 slope rising from the banks of the Xith, which affords a view not 

 often equalled of the broken, purple-tinted hills of Galloway. 

 On such a site the Friar\ buildings were distributed. The 

 church was oriented east, 25 degrees north, and the .south or 

 front Avail stood 46 feet on an average back from Friars' Vennel, 

 the distance being greater at the west than at the east, and a 

 passage from the Vennel across the front garden led up to the 

 principal door which was in the south wall. The church con- 

 sisted of a na\e and a choir, west and east of the door respec- 

 tively. On the north side of the church was the cloister and 

 conventual offices, the great dormitory on the west side, which 

 was reached by an inner door at the head of a stair called the 

 Friai's steps, starting from a passage now represented by St. 

 David Street. Within the church there were several altars — of 

 St. John the Baptist, the Blessed Mary, of St. Salvator, and the 

 High Altar, near which in the south wall was the sedilia. 



There remains something to be said of the ending of the 

 fabric. The building Avas old, the friars were poor, and very 

 likely dilapidation had progressed towards insecurity, but in 1563 

 the church was still in use although not as a Friary. A minute 

 of the Town Council of 16th Xovember, 1563, ordains " Charles 



