THE GREYFRIARS AND THE Moat Brae. 13 
friary land, enclosing the well-known Moat Well, which doubt- 
less furnished the water supply for the brethren. Unfortunately, 
the Crown charter to Sir Thomas M‘Clellan gives no indication 
of the ground occupied by the conventual buildings, although 
we are able to locate the position of the orchards. The ground 
I have described may be said, roughly, to be bounded on the 
north by the river, on the east by the harbour creek, on the 
south by the present line of St. Cuthbert Street and Castle 
Gardens, with its out buildings, and on the west by Atkinson’s 
Close and Broughton House and gardens to the river. 
In all, the monastery only existed as such for a little over 
a hundred years, and there are few outstanding incidents in its 
history. Locally, the most important was the making of a tran- 
sumpt of the charter granted by James II. at Perth on 26th 
October, 1455.* 
The charter of foundation has long ago been lost, but the 
Exchequer Rolls preserve the names of the wardens, which are 
given by Moir Bryce, I. 256. It was during the warden- 
ship of Christopher Walker that a tack, dated 11th September, 
1551, was granted, with the consent of the “convent of oure 
Place of Kirkcudbright, to oure luffit friend Niniane Muir- 
head.’’+ This is a very interesting document, showing that the 
Friars, in addition to land, possessed fishings in the river. The 
name Creek Gait subsists to the present day, and there are those 
still living in the burgh who have been told by their forebears 
that, even up to the beginning of the nineteenth century, before 
-the old harbour or St. Cuthbert Street were formed, 
this was the way to the Parish Church, the successor of the 
monastery, when the tide suited, for those who lived in the 
Millburn quarter. I therefore take it that the meadow 
referred to is that part of the town comprised in the north 
part of St. Cuthbert Street from the site of the old creek 
to the Commercial Hotel, and from there to the vicinity of the 
railway station, stretching to the mver by way of St. Cuthbert 
Place at the one end, and by Bridge Street at the other. The 
* See Hist. MSS. Com., 4th Report, p. 539. 
+ Published by Moir Bryce, II., 168. 
