Horse Wynd in early days formed almost the only communication between the Murraygait and the Seagait. It is of unrecorded antiquity. Within the range of written documents it is found so early as 1449, when it was described as being built on both sides, which would carry its date very far back. Indirectly its date is shown by a charter of 1465, in which it is referred to as “the King‘s Vennel, anciently called the Horse Wynd“. At that time the property on the west side belonged to Robert Graham of Fintry, Provost of Dundee; and many of the principal burgesses had mansions in the Horse Wynd.
As the first Cross of Dundee stood in the Seagait, this passage would afford a ready access thither from the centre of the burgh. Immediately opposite to it, on the south side of the Seagait, was the Sea Vennel, which ran to the river precisely on the course of the present Candle Lane.
Source: ‘Glimpses of Old and New Dundee’ – A.H. Millar, January 1925