S9 



LUMSDEN. 



By Charles S. Romanes, Edinburgh. 



These lands are situated about three miles from the village 

 of Coldingham, and at the extreme north of the Parish. They 

 are frequently referred to in the earliest Scottish Records. 

 They first appear in a Charter granted by King Edgar when 

 he re-established the Monastery of Coldingham in 1095, and 

 granted to God and St. Cuthbert and the Church of Durham 

 his "mansionem de Goldingaham" and certain other "Mansiones" 

 including " Lummesdene." ^ This Charter is reproduced in 

 Anderson's " Selectus Diplomatum et Numismatum Scoti?e 

 Thesaurus," Plate 6. 



It is followed by two other Charters hj the same King, 

 in which the lands are again referred to. These and other 

 lands were confirmed to the Monks of St. Cuthbert at 

 Durham by David I. in 1126.'- 



We next find Gillem and Cren de Lumesdene as witnesses 

 to a Charter of Earl Waldeve,^ giving two carucates of land 

 in Reningtoun (Renton) to the Piiory of Coldingham. It 

 must have been granted between 1166, when he executed 

 the immediately preceding Charter,^ and 1182, when he died.^ 

 A facsimile of this Charter appears in the new History of 

 Northumherlaiid, vol. 7, p. 48. Though originally one grant, 

 the lands came to be divided into two por-tions, known as 

 Greater or Wester Lumsden, afterwards Dulaw or Dovelaw, 

 and Lumsden or Easter Lumsden, separated from each other 

 by a deep ravine. Difficulty has been experienced in ascer- 

 taining which portion of the lands are referred to in some 

 of the Charters when only "Lumsden" is mentioned. 



' Raine's North Dnrham, Appendix, p. 1, No. 2. 



■^ Do. do. p. 4, Nos. 15 and 16. 



» Do. do. p. 26, No. 115. 



^ Do. do. p. 26, No. 114. Douglas Peerage, 



Earl of Dunbar. 13 acres = 1 oxgang ; 4 oxgangs «= 1 carqcate, 

 •> Chronicle de Mailros, p. 92, 

 M 



