Scotland > 1837 - Pigot and Co.'s national commercial directory for the whole of Scotland and of the Isle of Man

DUMFRIES-SHIRE.
J. HIS Is a large and important shire, in the south of Scotland; bounded on the east by the counties
of Roxburgh, Selkirk, and part of Cumberland; on the north-west by Ayrshire; on the south-west
by the stewartry (or county) of Kirkcudbright ; on the north by the counties of Lanark, Peebles, and
part of Selkirk; and its south and south-eastern boundary is washed by the Sol way Frith. The
length of the county, from north-west to south-east, is nearly fifty-five miles; and its extreme breadth,
from the south to where it touches Peebles-shire on the north, is nearly thirty miles. According to the
latest and best surveys, it embraces an area of 1,228 square miles; or 785,920 statute acres of land,
and about ten square miles of lakes. At the epoch of the Roman invasion under Agricola, in the
year 80, this part of Scotland was inhabited by a race called the Selgovce, who spread themselves as
far as the banks of the Dee, in Galloway: these people continued independent till the year 875, when
they were overpowered by the Northumbrian Saxons, who retained the ascendancy for two centuries;
during the lapse of this time, however, immense swarms of adventurers from Ireland and Cantyre
effected a settlement ; and from these intermixtures sprung the Picts, who progressively acquired the
paramount sway. At this period Dumfries-shire is understood to have formed part of Cumbria, which
district Edgar bequeathed to his youngest brother David, who encouraged the cupidity of many
opulent Anglo-Norman barons, and the country was then divided into extensive baronies. The
almost interminable border warfare was a frightful calamity to the inhabitants of Dumfries-shire and
Cumberland, who for centuries were subjected to all the horrors attendant upon barbarous incursion
and reckless feudal hostility. The whole county is now popularly apportioned into three districts,
namely — Eskdale on the east, Annandale in the middle, and Nithsdale on the west.
Soil, produce, manufactures, &c. — The lower parts of Dumfries-shire are based with brown,
red, yellow or white sandstone, which dips generally to the Sol way ; a considerable body of limestone
also lies in this quarter, and beds of ironstone are occasionally found to accompany the other strata.
Coal prevails in great plenty in the upper portions of Nithsdale and lower parts of Eskdale, the two
extreme points of the county. The limestone of the shire has been of great value in improving the
lands ; marl likewise abounds in various tracts, and of freestone and whinstone there is a sufficiency
in all directions : marble is also procured for different useful and ornamental purposes ; and near the
northern confines of the county, at Wanloch head, there are inexhaustible mines of lead. As in most
districts of the south of Scotland, there is a very general mixture of arable and pasture land. The
upper part of the shire, or Annandale, Eskdale and Ewesdaie, is principally devoted to sheep-feeding;
in the lower portion the farms are larger, and more adapted to agriculture ; the plantations and
pleasure-grounds are consequently more numerous, and are remarkable for their beauty and richness.
In Annandale the improvement of the breed of cattle has been most apparent; in 1829, at the High-
land Society's meeting, some of the choicest specimens of the pure breed of Galloway cows, heifers,
and bullocks, that were ever reared in the country, were exhibited by J. J. Hope Johnstone, Esq.
The number of oxen, sheep and pigs nurtured in this county are invariably more than adequate to
the demands of its population ; an exportation, therefore, of the excess product takes place — and the
same may be observed of corn, wool, hides and skins. The condition of the county is represented as
having been greatly improved within the last thirty years, and at present its afl'airs may be considered
in as prosperous a state as those of any other district in Scotland. Dumfries shire cannot be ranked
as a manufacturing county : the principal branches under this head of commercial industry are the
manufacture of hosiery goods and cotton-spinning; the chief seat of the former is limited to the capital
of the county — the latter to the town of Annan.
Rivers, &c. — The chief, indeed the only rivers of consequence, are the Nith, the Annan, and
the EsK: from these streams the principal divisions of the county obtain their names; from each of
these greater divisions diverge vales, which likewise have denominations taken from the waters that
are poured through them, such as Moft'atdale, Dryfesdale, and Ewesdaie. The Nith rises in the
eastern hills of Ayrshire, enters Nithsdale by the foot of Carsoncone hill, in the parish of Kirkconnel,
and descends into the valley of Sanquhar; having forced its way through the hills which surround
this valley, it receives the Crawick water from the north, and the Euchan from the south. The river
Cairn, which forms the western boundary of the county, unites its stream with the Nith a little above
Dumfries, a short distance southward from which the latter river empties itself into the Solway
Frith. Near to Jarborough castle, on the banks of the river Cairn, are to be seen those earthen
mounds, called ' Bow-butts,' where the barons of Glencairn, with their vassals, used to pi'actise
archery. The river Annan (as well as the Tweed and Clyde), takes its rise in the mountains above
Moffat, and runs through the flat part of Annandale for upwards of twenty-three miles ; in this course
it receives the Evan and Moff"at waters, and the Wamphray stream, which irrigates a pleasant valley
of that name : passing Johnstone, some other tributary rivulets increase its volume ; at Loch Maven it
is enlarged by the Ae, and a little lower by the Dryfe, which courses thi'ough the vale of Dryfesdale,
or Drysdale : at length, approaching the kirk of St. Mungo, it flows over a rocky bed, which may be
considered the termination of the vale of Annan. The higher part of Eskdale, for nearly twenty
miles, is mountainous : the Esk, in its progress through this district, is joined by the Black Esk, the
Meggot, the Ewes, and the Wauchope — (almost the whole of this division belongs to the noble family
of Buccleugh) : after reaching Broomholm, the river traverses a flat country, and a part of Cumber-
land, before it reaches the Solway Frith ; during this portion of its course it receives the Liddal from
Roxburghshire, and the Line water from the county of Cumberland: the entire length of its race is
about thirty-eight miles, thirty of which are in the shire of Dumfries. The Solway differs very
materially from other estuaries receiving in Scotland the appellation of 'Firths:' its waters are.
shallow, and have long sandy reaches at the ebbing of the tide. The ebbs and flows of the Solway are
proverbial for the rapidity of their action, and this is particularly the case during spring tides and
the prevalence of gales from the south-west: the borderers, though well mounted, have, in numerous
melancholy instances, been overwhelmed and drowned, when returning from the Cumberland lairs,
in crossing the bed of this estuary; even the most experienced persons are liable to be overtaken by
the tides, when they have the best expectation of fording it in safety : on one occasion, within these
few years, a gentleman who had been thus engulphed was preserved by the sagacity and courage of
his horse, which swam with him right across the Firth.
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