231 On the Name Dumfries. 



Edgar's derivation. " Diinfres " must, consequently, mean the 

 Castle among the Shrubberies or copsewood " he says, after 

 rejecting the Dun as meaning hill, because " there is not any 

 hill." Chalmers' view was approved by William Bennet 

 ■(" History of Dumfries," 1826), Joseph Duncan, the writer of the 

 Account of the Parish ("New Statistical Account," 1834), 

 "William M'Dowall ("History of Dumfries," 1867), and the Rev. 

 R. W. Weir ("Statistical Account of Dumfries Parish," 1876). 



The next effort is a reversion to Baxter's despised derivation. 

 Dr W. F. Skene in his " Celtic Scotland " (1877) took the view 

 that it was the Fort of the Frisians, and the Rev. J. B. Johnstone 

 ("Place Names of Scotland," 1891) and Sir Herbert E. Maxwell 

 (" Scottish Land Names," 1894) add their support to Dr Skene's 

 view, so that this derivation seems to be in a fair way to holding 

 the field. 



Turning to another aspect of the question, the pronunciation 

 of the name, we observe a continuous evolution. It may be 

 taken that at least up to the close of the sixteenth century words 

 were spelt in the main as they were pronounced. A collection of 

 the spellings of the name, though revealing many strange variants, 

 yet divides into three principal versions. The early writers, 

 that is, of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, almost without 

 exception spell the name "Dunfres," pronounced apparently 

 with the accent on the first syllable. About the beginning of the 

 fourteenth century variations become fre(]uent, and the consonant 

 "r" is added, making " Drunfres, Dronfres, and Drumfres." 

 This form settles into Drumfreis or Drumfries, and continues in 

 use until, as the " Encyclopjedia Britannica '"" informed us, about 

 1750. With this spelling the accent seems to have been distri- 

 buted equally between the two syllables. As indicated by Rae, 

 the modern spelling began to be used about the beginning of the 

 eighteenth century, and, however it may be pronounced, we may 

 expect it to remain so as long as the printing press and the school 

 insist upon a uniformity that ignores change. 



At the present time, as far as I can judge, the process of 

 lessening the force of the first syllable still continues, and the 

 .second syllable is expanded. It seems now to be "D'mfriess." 

 The whole evolution of the word appears to indicate a cumulative 

 lengthening and softening of certain vowels by the inhabitants of 

 the district, a feature more noticeable in some other words. 



