Arms ok the Royal Birgh ok SAxgiHAK. 81 



esquires, i8o archers, engaged in the \ alley of the Xitli pur- 

 suing Robert Bruce and his followers. Perhaps it was for 

 assistance granted to him at this time by the Lord of the 

 Barony — probably one of the Rosses — that our hero King 

 gave him the right to ha\e a Burgh of Barony on his land. 

 W'e know that Richard Edgar, son-in-law to the last Ross of 

 Sanquhar, was confirmed in his lands by Bruce, and appears 

 also to ha\e been made Sheriff of Dumfries by him. So we 

 may take it, I think, that from the time of Robert the Bruce 

 Sanquhar had Burghal privileges. 



But would a Burgh of Barony be likely to possess a 

 common seal, which would be the form our arms would first 

 take? A seal would be needed in those days if the Burgh 

 had any corporate life at all. Such towns were, however, 

 often ruled by an official called the Bailie, who was appointed 

 by the Superior, and the seal of the latter was used for any 

 purpose for which a seal was required. It was in this way 

 that in later times the Burgh of New Dalgarno (Thornhill) 

 was governed. But such a rule was not unixersally 

 followed, and some Burghs of Barony were allowed to choose 

 their own magistrates. From the Royal Charter of 1598 

 we learn that the Burgh was previous to that date governed 

 by Bailies and Councillors, which would seem to point to 

 some form of representative government. Burghs of Barony 

 which were so governed appear to have had common seals 

 of their own, and at least one Burgh of Barony in Scotland 

 has continued to use the same seal from the day of its erec- 

 tion until the present time. " Thurso was created a Burgh 

 of Barony by King Charles I. and had as a Burgh of Barony 

 a common seal dating from the foundation of the Burgh and 

 bearing the same device as the present seal, viz., St. Peter 

 vested proper " (Marquis of Bute, Arms of Royal Burphs of 

 Scotland). The city of Glasgow did not come into full 

 possession of the rights of a Royal Burgh until the reign of 

 AVilliam and Mary, yet long before that date a common seal 

 with the burgh arms was in use. A common seal was, as I 

 have said, the earliest form in which armorial bearings would 

 be used by communities. Such were used in Scotland as 

 early as 1140 by the Monks of Holyrood. By statutes of 



