Topography of Dumfries. 



177 



broader ends of national policy. It secured so much the 

 better the supply of stores for the garrison; it increased the 

 resources in point of arms and men ; and it tended to the 

 promotion of agriculture, reclaiming- from the waste acre 

 upon acre, with every toft which found its burgess occupant. 

 The lanti was the King's too, its renta.l was increased thus, 

 .and tlie town was a burgh of the King's." 



The Market Place. 



This royal activity, this gathering of men at the Kingly 

 command, meant much to the little \illage that nestled under 

 the brae by the Millburn. We can speculate that behind the 

 soldier came the merchant, that the market on the hill to the 

 north of the town — which had, perhaps, an ancient origin as 



