Topography of Dumfries. 189 



merits. No reference to the bridge, an important and costly 

 work, has been found earher than 1426, when Princess 

 Margaret, daughter of Robert III., the widow of Archibald 

 4th Earl of Douglas, Duke of Touraine and Lord of Ciallo- 

 way, granted the Bridge Customs to the Grey Friars of Dum- 

 fries.^ Margaret's endowment is dated i6th January, 

 1425-6. The terms of this charter bear no evidence, as has 

 been claimed, of its being a confirmation of an earlier one; 

 Margaret in fact held the Lordship of Galloway by special 

 grant of the Crown, for her lifetime only and not as heiress.* 

 From James the glh and last Earl of Douglas the Grey Friars 

 obtained a new charter (4th January, 1452-3) of the Bridge 

 Customs. This was in similar terms to that of Margaret. He 

 did not, however, confirm Margaret's charter for it had lapsed. 

 In Margaret's charter it is stated that the Bridge Custom was 

 one which " our ancestors and us were wont to receive at 

 the end of the bridge of Drumfres. " This was in all pro- 

 bability a wooden one. Stone bridges began to be built in 

 ^Scotland in the beginning of the 15th century, and the Dum- 

 fries structure " recently begun " in 1432 furnishes an 

 example of creditably early date. 



It is interesting to note that the Lordship of Galloway 

 by the terms of the charter of 26th January, 1450, was held by 

 the Douglases by blench tenure of a red rose payable at the 

 Bridge of Dumfries. '^0 This specification would give the pre- 

 sumption that the bridge was then Crown property. The 

 Douglases fell in 1455, and James II. on his way to Threave 

 appears to have taken up the question of the Bridge, for he 

 appointed a Master of Works and payments were made from 

 the Treasury towards the works until 1465. The burgh, at 

 the beginning of the i6th century, was in possession of half 

 of the bridge custom and appointed a master of works 

 annually. It would appear, therefore, that by a definite 

 arrangement the burgh became responsible for the fabric of 

 the bridge, the Crown withdrawing its support. 



Friars' Vennel: Whitesands. 



Let us now sec how the topography of the vicinity affects 

 the question of date. If the bridge was built in the 13th cen- 



