Transactions. 21 
heirfore, and we charge you that ye lauchfullie summon, wairn, 
and chairge the said Thomas Makclellane, allegit takkisman foir- 
said, and the Alderman and Baillies of our said burgh of Kirk- 
cudbright, personallie or at their dwelling place, to compeir, &e. 
The said otheris Lettres wrongously purchased are hereby 
suspended, &c. Given under our signet at Edinr., the 22nd of 
March, and of our reigns the first and twenty-fourth years, 1565. 
“ Bx Delib. Dom. Concilir.” 
Our real chartered history of the Bridge begins in the reign of 
King James the First, and the first quarter of the 15th century 
This is, of course, the period when the family of Douglas were 
already far advanced in their reign of one hundred years over the 
Lordship of Galloway. King James the First, in 1424, had 
completed his nineteen years of captivity in England. Between 
the years 1275 and the chartered year 1425 we learn little or 
nothing concerning the Bridge in any shape. In the course of 
the first half of the 15th century there are a charter and a confir- 
mation charter of the Bridge Toll or Custom. The first of these 
is the still extant charter by the Lady “Margaret, Duchess of 
Touraine, Countess of Douglas, and Lady of Galloway and 
Annandale” (as she therein styles and describes herself), wherein 
she grants to the Friars Minors of Dumfries her own vested 
rights in the Bridge of Dumfries, as described in the charter, 
which is dated, “ At the Trief, the 16th of January, 1425.” On 
the back, in an almost contemporary hand, is the following 
endorsation : ‘ Domine Galwidie de Ponte, 16th January, 1425.” 
The next document we still have is the confirmatory and renewal 
charter, dated 4th of January, 1452, whereby “James, Earl] of 
Douglas and of Avondale, Lord of Galloway, etc.” (as he is there 
styled), confirms to the said Friars Minors the previous charter of 
the Lady Margaret in Anno 1425, in this instance the source and 
nature of the toll or custom being more fully described as’ per- 
taining “ad pontis de Nyth de Drumfres ;” while the relative 
endorsation of the time is ‘Carta de Douglas de Custuma Pontis.” 
The real intrinsic position and relative significance of the noble 
family of Douglas generally within the realm of Scotland is best 
understood by reproducing from “The Douglas Book” the follow- 
ing summary and exposition of the learned editor, Dr William 
Fraser, C.B., wherein it may be observed that even the wide 
domain and lordship of Galloway formed but a small item in the 
catalogue of the Douglas family possessions within the realm of 
