FreLp MEETINGS. 215 
he was killed in the north by his enemies of the national 
party. The castle was iminediately thereafter committed to 
Sir John de Moubray. Unfortunately no plan or picture of 
the castle has been preserved, but the ruins stood till the 
present mansion took their place. The high standing of its 
possessors indicates a place of considerable importance. It 
was compared in one report with the castle of Roxburgh. 
Another report made for the English warden between 1563 
and 1566 mentions ‘“‘ the Ould Castle of Dawswynton, vi 
miles above Dumfries uponn theast syde of the watter of 
Nytht. It haitht been in oulde tymes a notable strength, 
pertyning to the Comyng, whoo of a nobleman of Scotland 
was so trew Yngles. But the ground ys subjett to mynding 
(capable of being mined), and far up in the cuntre. Loug- 
hare Brige is four miles from Dunifries. Above the same is 
a straite (narrow) ground for fortification, and is the second 
passaige in Nythisdale furtht of England to Dumfries.’’ This 
appears to indicate some continuity in the castle’s existence 
from Comyn till it was superseded as a dwelling place by 
another, which may be distinguished as the old House of 
Dalswinton, and was built early in the 17th century, in con- 
formity with more peaceful prospects, on the level ground, 
and of which only the stair turret remains. 
Of the third military incident, a more satisfactory 
description is furnished by the records. It belongs to the 
time of the rough wooing of the infant Queen of Scots, 
fostered by the English party, who, however, spoke of the 
¢ ” 
project as the “‘ godly marriage. Lennox and Wharton, 
assisters of the godly marriage, with many assured Scots, 
including Maxwell of Caerlaverock, set out from Dumfries 
in the early morning of 23rd February, 1548, and brought 
their footmen to a point 8 miles from Dumfries. They are, 
of course, English miles, and the spot should be near Brandy- 
burn Brae, where there is a hollow near the river with the 
suggestive name of the Deadman’s Hole. In advance of 
these, 1200 light horse passed on under young Henry Whar- 
ton and burned Durisdeer, and when dangerously isolated 
from the infantry they were suddenly attacked by Maxwell 
