Royalty ok the Burgh of Dumi-ries. J)47 



the Friary included, in addition to possessions within the 

 royalty of the Burg-h itself, certain rights of superiority and 

 property in the parish of Troqueer, which lay entirely outside 

 its bounds. All of these were appropriated by the Crown, on 

 the ground that the purpose for which they were originally 

 gifted to the Friars was a superstitious one, and one that was 

 no longer recognised by the law of the land as lawful, and by 

 a Charter dated 2^rd April, 1569, confirmed after he attained 

 majority by a later writ dated 4th January, 1592, King James 

 V'l. gifted them to the Burgh, under reservation of existing 

 life interests, for the purpose of enabling- the burgesses to 

 support an Hospital and to maintain Devorgilla's Bridge. 



It must be clearly kept in view that this gift in nowise 

 extended the limits of the royalty as defined in the original 

 Charter of Erection — it was a special benefaction for a special 

 purpose ; and, as already explained, burgage holding, accord- 

 ing to the strict view of feudal law, was the appropriate tenure 

 only for tenements within the royalty, and was inapplicable to 

 subjects outwith its limits. Vet here in the case of these 

 Friary subjects in Troqueer we find investiture more burgi^ 

 and the writs recorded in the Burgh Register. The explana- 

 tion is probably to be found not, as is popularly supposed, in 

 the selfish desire of the Town Clerk of the time to extend the 

 sphere of his exclusive conveyancing monopoly, but in the 

 wish of the \ assals themsehes to possess the pri\ileges, 

 immunities, and liberties of freemen of the Burgh, and in the 

 desire of the Magistrates to keep a watchful eye upon all 

 transactions affecting the rights embraced in the royal gift, 

 of the possession of which they were naturally jealous. 



Any title deeds of tenements in Maxwelltown that bear to 

 be held by burgage tenure relate to these Friary subjects, 

 which, as explained, were entirely outwith the limits of the 

 original Charter of Erection. This paper will have served its 

 object if it has made clear the proper marches of the royalty, 

 the original limit of the ;£'^ Land of Moat within its bounds — 

 portions of which are still held by feudal tenure, and the reason 

 how in all probability it came about that the infeftments of the 

 subsequent owners of the Friars lands in Maxwelltown were 

 erroneously completed more burgi, and have since been con- 

 sistently recorded in the Burgh Register of Sasines. 



