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LINCLUDEN COLLEGE, a great part of which is still remaining, stands upon a romantic and sequestered spot, within a mile and a half north-west from Dumfries. It was founded by Uthered father to Rolland, who was lord of Galloway during the reign of Malcolm IV.; the founder placed here a convent of nuns of the Benedictine order. This religious establishment he endowed with large possessions of land, situated within the baronies of Corse Michael and Drumslith, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright; the names of these lands may be found in Grose's Antiquities of Scotland. It appears, that shortly after the settlement of these Benedictine nuns, the severe and strict injunction imposed upon the order became extremely burdensome to them, and the laxity of discipline was at length so visible, as to occasion the remonstrances of Archibald the Grim, earl of Douglas, who, being a man of singular piety, was greatly incensed at the immorality of their conduct; but finding that his admonitions were disregarded, he expelled them a short time prior to the year 1400. He afterwards established in their room a College, which consisted of a provost and twelve beadsmen; many of the principals of this College were men of consequence and rank, and some of them have held high offices in the adminis.

tration of the Scottish government, especially John Cameron, appointed provost in 1422: he was secretary to Archibald, fourth earl of Douglas, and on the restoration of James I. was made first lord privyseal, and the keeper of the great seal. He was afterwards elected to the bishopric of Glasgow, and passed through many other great offices in church and state; but, upon the murder of his patron James, he was displaced from his chancellorship, and soon after retired to his episcopal see, when he built the tower of the palace, over which his escutcheon and arms were lately to be seen: he died on the eve of Christmas 1446. The first provost was named Elise ; he was succeeded by Alexander Cairns, who was chancellor to earl Archibald the fourth of the other heads Cameron, who has been already noticed, seems to have been the most distinguished. The last provost was John Douglas of Boatford, on whose demise, in the year 1565, Lincluden was made a temporal barony, and formed part of the possessions of the family of Nithsdale. It is at this time the property of William Hagerston Maxwell Constable, esq. by his marriage with lady Winifred Maxwell, heiress of the ancient family of that name. Some judgment may be formed of this College in its prosperous state by an inspection of its present

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remains. The earls of Douglas, when wardens of the west marshes, expended great sums in beautifying and adorning this place; it is finished in the finest style of the florid Gothic architecture; the windows are richly ornamented with tracery work, and though the building is rather low, and built with a reddish stone, it certainly is a specimen of monastic elegance, which, considering its size, has rarely been equalled, and perhaps never exceeded. Its interest is considerably heightened by the beauty of the scenery around it.

"These were thy haunts, thy opulent abodes, O Superstition! hence the dire disease (Balanc'd with which the fam'd Athenian pest Were a short head-ach, were the trivial pain Of transient indigestion) seiz'd mankind.

Long time she rag'd, and scarce a southern gale
Warm'd our chill air, unloaded with the threats
Of tyrant Rome; but futile all, till she,
Rome's abler legate magnify'd their pow'r,
And in a thousand horrid forms attir'd.

Where then was truth to sanctify the page
Of British annals? if a foc expir'd,
The perjur'd monk suborn'd infernal shrieks
And fiends to snatch at the departing soul

With hellish emulation: if a friend,
High o'er his roof exultant angels tune
Their golden lyres, and waft him to the skies."

Within the chapel of Lincluden College, on the wall, is a magnificent monument to the memory of Margaret, daughter of Robert, the third king of Scotland, and wife of Archibald, earl of Douglas and duke of Terouan, son of Archibald the Grim before mentioned. Part of the upper roof is still in existence; the lower one was entirely demolished at the Reformation.

Attached to the College stands the tower, which was formerly the residence of the provost; its erection is of a more recent date than the College itself. This, as well as the rest of the buildings, are so much in ruins as to be no longer tenable. Near the tower an artificial mount has been thrown up, but for no obvious purpose, unless to afford an advantageous prospect of the surrounding scenery. On the road from Dumfries to Moffat these ruins may be seen on the left, and, aided by the circumjacent country, which is well cultivated and watered by the meanderings of the river Clouden, it has a picturesque and pleasing effect.

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THIS Chapel is nearly entire: it is ten yards long and six wide: the west front is divided by buttresses, into compartments, with arches in relief; their spandrils richly flowered, and over each compartment five shorter ones, with historical subjects in bass-relief, which are supposed to allude to the occasion of erecting the Chapel. The first is broken; in the second is a woman reclined, lamenting; a youth at her feet sits wringing his hands; in the third, two youths kneel, praying by the side of a woman in the same attitude; in the fourth, a group of figures, obscure; in the fifth, a man sitting, another standing before him, and an embattled building. The buttresses are beautifully carved, and each was crowned with a rich finial. The north and south windows have rich tracery.

This Chapel, which stands partly on the bridge and partly on the sterlings, was lately a warehouse for hemp, and has been used for various purposes, that have of late years much damaged it. It is said to have been built by Edward IV. in memory of his father; but this king seems to have been rather the repairer, or rebuilder, than the founder of this Chapel; for it appears by the charter of 31 Edward III. dated at Wakefield, that he, by that instrument, settled 10%. per annum on William Kaye and William Bull, and their successors, for ever, to perform divine service in a Chapel of St. Mary, newly built on the bridge at Wakefield. A chantry for two priests in this Chapel was valued, at the suppression, at 14%. 158. Sąd.

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