130 Transactions. 
Street of the burgh of Dumfries, bounded by the tenoment of 
houses, yeard, and barn formerly belonging to John Crosbie, late 
Deacon of the Wrights in Dumfries, now to Joseph Johnston, 
Chyrurgeon there, on the south ; the Irishgate on the west ; the 
tenement of houses, yeard, and barn pertaining to me on the 
north ; and the King’s High Street on the east parts.” This 
tenement was described as “ partly timber and slated ” in a policy 
of fire insurance effected by Mr Sharp with the Sun Fire Office 
in London on 30th March, 1736, in which it is insured for £100, 
and looking to the price paid for it, I have no doubt it was in this 
position when purchased by Mr Lowthian, and that he immediately 
afterwards rebuilt it, because we know that in 1745 it was a stone 
house pretty much in the same condition as it is at present, with 
the exception of the two top storeys. As showing the improve- 
ment effected by Mr Lowthian upon this property, I may mention 
that it was sold in 1800 by his heirs for £1420. If you will 
allow me to digress for a minute, I would like to add that Mr 
Sharp’s tenement to the north of it was known, and is mentioned 
in several records, as ‘‘Hoddom’s stone house ”—not I think 
because stone houses were very peculiar in Dumfries at the time, 
but to distinguish it from his house, “partly timber and slated,” 
with which we are dealing. This ‘stone house” was afterwards 
known as “The Turnpike house,” on account of the various flats 
being reached by a circular stair in front of the house entering off 
the street, but which I think did not form part of the original 
structure. Part of this house was let to Sir Robert Grierson of 
Lag in 1720, and it was from it that his funeral took place, 
regarding which there are so many weird but not very authentic 
stories. Mr Lowthian was, I have said, a man of means, and his 
new house was in the best style, so that Mr Chambers, in his 
history, describes it as “the best house in Dumfries ” at the time. 
No doubt there was a pend through the old house giving access 
from the High Street to the yard behind, and the house itself 
would enter off the pend according to ancient custom. Mr 
Lowthian did away with this pend, and very probably his new 
house was among the first houses in Dumfries which had a direct 
entrance of the main street. The entrance was into a fairly wide 
lobby, off which entered four rooms on the first or ground storey. 
Of these rooms the two larger were to the front, and though they 
have now only one large window, they probably had originally 
each two smaller windows exactly under the corresponding 
