16 Tue GREYFRIARS AND THE Moat Brae. 
that year there were sixteen, including the celebrated John 
Welsh, son-in-law of the great Reformer, John Knox. 
At a meeting of Kirkcudbright Town Council, held on 9th 
December, 1728, it was ordained that the petition of the Honour- - 
able Mr Basil Hamilton anent his room and gallery in the church, 
for himself and his tenants, be recorded in the burgh court books, 
and allow extracts to be given out therefor in common form. 
The petition was in the following terms :— 
_“Unto the Right Honourable the Magistrates and Town 
Council of the Burgh of Kirkcudbright. The petition of the 
Honourable Mr Basil Hamilton of Baldoon showeth that, ‘as 1 
am proprietor of the most considerable part of the landward 
parish of Kirkcudbright, I conceive myself entitled to a pro- 
portionate room in the Church of Kirkcudbright for my own 
family and tenants, and there being no part as yet allowed for 
me, may it please your Honours to allot a certain piece in west 
end of the said church, from top to bottom, where I may erect a 
gallery for my family and seats for my tenants, upon granting 
whereof I hereby engadge to keep the roof and windows of that 
part of the church in good and sufficient condition at my own 
charges, and that my said seats and gallery shall not prejudge 
the light to the other seats in the church. Your answer is waited 
by the subscriber, Basil Hamilton. Kirkcudbright, 7th of 
1728.’ ’’ The Magistrates and Council found the 
request just and reasonable, and gave their consent under certain 
restrictions, but the proposed alterations were never carried out. 
On 14th November, 1729, it is recorded in the Town Council 
books that the Magistrates and Council took into their serious 
consideration the ruinous condition of the church. It had been 
rendered unsafe for the inhabitants of the town and parish to 
meet in for public worship; but in the meantime the Council, 
because of the unseasonable time of the year for repairing the 
church, judged it proper that Lord Kirkcudbright be applied to 
for the use of the castle wherein public worship might be per- 
formed till the church be put in condition for the congregation 
to meet in. (This reference to the castle is rather interesting as 
showing that the castle was still in possession of the family of 
the Lords Kirkcudbright, but that it was not occupied.) Because 
it was thought that the renovation of the church would cast too 
