Bannatyne Club > Origines parochiales Scotiae > Volume 1

158 ORIGINES [doi'gi.as.
crown.' A subsequent charter bestowed still higher privileges on the good Sir James and the
wide domains which he acquired from the bounty of King Robert;^ and his successors of the
house of Angus obtained the proud right of bearing the King's crown in parliament, of leading the
vanguard of the King's army in battle, and of sitting in the foremost place, and giving the first
vote in the parliaments and councils of the realm.^
The Douglasses had vassals in their territory. Thomas Dickson, for his memorable service on
the day of the Douglas Larder,* is said to have received a grant from the good Sir James, of the
lands of Hisleside, about two miles to the south-west of the church and castle.^ He obtained
from King Robert I. a charter of the barony of Symonton,^ and is believed to have been the
progenitor of a family which took their name from that land.^ In the year 1605, John Symon-
ton of that Ilk was served heir to William, his grandfather, in the constabulary of the castle of
Douglas, and the office of bailie of Douglasdale, and in the lands of Hessilsyde, Kenok, Little
Blantagart, and Polmukisheid, in the lordship of Douglas ;^ and in the year 1612, John Symon-
ton of that Ilk was served heir to his father John, in the lands and barony of Symouton, with the
office of bailie of the barony of Douglas, and captain of its castle.^
In the year 1348, William of Douglas, lord of that Ilk, grants to his esquire, James of Sandy-
landyis, the lands of the Sandylandyis, and the Rydmire, in the lordship of Douglasdale, ' with the
east part of Pollynfegh (Poufech,) as the water of Douglas runs, upwards to the two trees of
Byrks, on the west part of Halleford over against Haynyngschaw, which is in the barony of Les-
mahago.'i" In the year 1370, King David II. confirmed a grant by William earl of Douglas to
Laurence of Govane, of the lands of Pollynfeych in the earldom of Douglas-^'
The village of Douglas, erected into a burgh of barony at an uncertain date,!^ stiU shows some
tokens of antiquity. An eminence at no great distance, towards the east, is called the GallowshilL'^
The castle of the lords of Douglas appears on record before the end of the thirteenth century.
In the year 1288, Sir William of Abernethy, one of the murderers of Duncan earl of Fife, a war-
den of the realm, was seized by Sir Andrew of Murray, at Colbantoun in Clydesdale, and thrown
into prison in Douglas castle, where the Chronicles say that he lay until the day of his death.^*
In June 1291, King Edward I., as overlord of Scotland, commands that William of Douglas shall
deliver up to the King, the person of Hugh of Abernethy, accused of the slaughter of Duncan
earl of Fife, because, ' according to the law and custom of Scotland, no baron or other person of
that realm, the King alone excepted, may or ought to keep in his prison a felon accused of a felony
done without the lord's own barony, much more a felon who was also taken beyond the lord'.s
barony.'i* In the parliament of King John Balliol, which met at Stirling in August 1293, the Knight
' Regist. Mag. Sig., p. 15, no. 77 ; Godscroft's Hist. ' Godscroft's Hist, of Doug., p. 18.
of Doug., p. 38. ^ R«tour, no. 56. ^ Retour, no. 478.
' Robertson s Index, p. 10, no. 26. '" Chart, at Torphichen, apud Hay's Vindie. Eliz. More,
' Riddell's Rem. ou Scotch Peerage Law. pp. 109- p. 67 ; M'Farlan's Coll., vol. ii., p. 482.
111. Riddell's Peerage and Consist. Law of Scot., vol. i., " Reg. Mag. Sig., p. 76, no. 269.
pp. 155-161. ^2 Hamilt. Descript. Lanark., p. 65.
■* Barbour's Bruce, book iv., 11. 279-372, ^^ New Stat. Acct.
5 Godscroft's Hist, of Doug., p. 18. '■> J. Forduni Scotiehronicon, lib. xl., cap. xi. Wyntownis
" Reg. Mag. Sig., p. 15, no. 78. Cronykil, book viii., cap. ix. ■= Rotuli Scotiae, vol. i., p. 2.