><2 The Raid at Dumfries ox Lammas Even. 



Ev virtue of his position he was a member of its Council, 

 and mutual oblig'ations were entered into which made, no 

 doubt, for the strength of both. 



Thus on the u th of January, 1518-19, Robert, 5th Lord 

 Maxwell, acted as oversman in a troublesome arbitration 

 between John Maxwell of Carnsalloch and the burgh as to 

 the boundary of the latter at Dalscone and Brounrig. The 

 arbitrators settled this dispute in such a manner that their 

 decision has remained substantially in force to the present 

 day. 13 



More impressive than the foregoing-, however, are the 

 contents of two pages of the Burgh Court Books of Dum- 

 fries, dated the 27th of May, 1523, when Lord Maxw^ell sat 

 with the Secret Council and entered into mutual obligations 

 with them for the better defence and more efficient preser- 

 vation of order in the town, the whole being prefaced with 

 the phrase, " for the common wele of the gude toun. "i** 



The historical narratives we have quoted supply us with 

 neither beginning nor end to our tale, but, before giving as 

 straightforward an account of the whole affair as possible, a 

 word ma}' be said about the Provost of the burgh, who 

 figures prominently in the incident. 



Nicholas M'Brair was a member of that family which, 

 generation after generation, throughout the 15th, i6th, and 

 into the beginning of the 17th century, held the civic head- 

 ship of the community. He was the son of Robert M'Brair, 

 who appears as Provost at various dates between 1453 and 

 1477, and the grandson of Herbert M'Brair, who died prior 

 to June, 1444. Nicholas himself had a long tenure of office, 

 appearing first as Provost in 1484 and continuing so until 

 1512. 



His son and successor was Roger M'Brair, who appears 

 as Provost from 1515 to 1548, and was succeeded by his 

 son, John M'Brair, Provost from 1549 to 1561, in the Feb- 

 ruary of which year he died. His son was Archibald, already 



13 vide Appendix II. 

 1^ ride Appendix III. 



