- ... ...... 



11: I.T). 



D U M 



amount*, on an average of years, to about I. t.'.rto 

 MacCtrlanc and \\ : ..-nltin\il litjiort of Dum- 



( * '') 



town of Scotland, in the county 

 :-th, it pleasantly situated on the banks of the ri- 

 \llan. It. uany good houses, but is prin- 



cipally celebrated for its cathedral, which was founded 

 by King David I. in 1 1U. This venerable edifn-c stands 

 on an eminence on the eastern bank of the river, and 

 x)ks the town. It is tMfj feet long, and 7(1 broad; 

 the height of the'walls is 50 feet, and that of the tower, 

 wliich is a modem building, I'JS feet. The cathedral 

 is unroofed ; but the choir is kept in repair as the pa- 

 rish church. There are 32 prebends stalls at tlu 

 end of the bishop and dean's seats, made of elegantly 

 can ed oak, on the north of the entrance to the cathe- 

 dral. 



The following is an abstract of the population return 

 for the parish in 1811. 



Inhabited houses 173 



Families 639 



Do. employed in agriculture 183 



Do. in trades and manufactures i>f)fj 



Total population in 1H11 2,7 



DUMFRIES, formerly Dram fries, the chief town of 

 u county of the same name in the south of Scotland, to 

 which it gives its name, is delightfully situated in the 

 vale of Nith, on the left bank of that beautiful river, 

 and somewhat more than a mile l>elow its confluence 

 with the Cluden. There are no historical documents 

 extant by which we can ascertain at what period this 

 town was founded. From some remains of antiquity, 

 however, particularly from two circular mounds retain- 

 ing the Saxon appellation of moat, one of which was 

 lately to be traced on the high ground at the north end 

 of the burgh, and the other of wliich is still visible on 

 an eminence to the south-east, we may conjecture that 

 M as a place of considerable resort before the close 

 of the eighth century. If we are to credit etymologists, 

 wlio derive Drum-fries from two Caelic words, Drnim- 

 uhreat, a hill covered with brushwood, this place must 

 nave received its present name before it could boast of a 

 numerous population. It does not appear that there is 

 any thing on record relative to its history previously to 

 the middle of the 1 3th century, when a convent was 

 erected, for friars of the Franciscan order, on a sloping 

 bank, at no great distance from the first of the moats 

 ju-t mentioned. The situation of this religious house 

 must have been very fine. To the north-west, it com- 

 manded the rich dale of the Nith, embracing the neigh- 

 bouring Abbey of Lincluden, ' and the more distant 

 cattle of Dalswinton, then the chief residence of the 



D U M 



tiful range Dumfries. 



_ hills on whii ' - 



of Tortlntrw.iH, and A 

 once powerful clan of Charteri-. To 

 romantically seated in the for, -il.u-e still 



i Castle-dykes. wa-. another fortes bel' 

 the Comyns, with the placid Nith gliding 

 slowly winding through a fine //,-,/ 



in that direction the viev: is bounded 

 by the distant mount Miiberland. Nearly due 



south, the huge Critfel 4 is tin r.io ' .ject, 



to the right of which is seen a ridge of m | and 



highly picturesque mountains in (ial!. I to the 



west, upon an extended plain, terminated by the swel- 

 ling hills of Irongray, stood Terrcglc-. the residence of 

 the Maxwells, chiefs of Nithsdale. The base of the 

 mountain on which the convent stood is washed on tr 

 north and west by the Nith, which here makes a beau- 

 tiful sweep to the southward. 



^ To facilitate the communication of Dumfries with 

 Galloway, the munificent foundr. ju- 



sed a bridge 5 to be built across the river, at the spot 

 most convenient for the inmates of her friary. The 

 narrow street which leads from this bridge to the spot 

 where the convent stood, retains the name of the Friar't 

 I'ennrl. 



Dumfries ha\ ing never made a conspicuous figure in 

 history, its annals can only be traced by incidental and 

 insulated notices, a few of which it may be proper to 

 specify. It was in the chapel and cloisters of the con- 

 vent just named, that the two Comyn ,in by 

 the jwtriotic King Itobert Hruce, ' "who was aided on 

 this occasion by Itogvr 8 tie Kirkpatric, and James 

 Lindsay. 



In 1307, the year after Bruce's coronation, when the 

 " proud usurper" again forced Scotland for a time to 

 U'ar the English yoke, Edward II. advanced to Dum- 

 fries, and there received the reluctant homage of seve- 

 ral Scottish noblemen. It is even stated by some histo- 

 rians, that he then held a convention of the estates in 

 that town. 



From its vicinity to the borders of the rival kingdom, 

 Dumfries was peculiarly liable to the ravages of inva- 

 ders. It was burnt by the English before 1448, when 

 the I-ord Maxwell gained the battle of Sark ; and in 

 1530', it again fell a prey to the flames kindled by these 

 deadly foes. This latter injury did not pass unpunish- 

 ed. It was amply revenged by the Lord Maxwell of 

 the day, who, in the bold spirit of enterprise peculiar 

 to the times, penetrated into England with a small but 

 chosen body of retainers, and having entered I'cnrith, 

 took the market-cross, by way of bravado, in his arms, 

 and his troops dispersing through the town, reduced it 



' I.includcn was built about 100 years before. 



* It is not known at what time this building was erected. There is an item in the accounts of the Comptroller of the Wardrobe 

 to King Edward I. which marks the partiality of the English monarch to his /trorr-,', " and seems at the same time to imply, that the 

 country here described had at that time been deficient in one great ornament, wood. We ulluilc to a charge fur a pftlMiade granted 

 by Ktlwnrd for this castle, from the forest of Inglewood in Cumberland. 



1 Then called Comyn's Holm, now Kingholm. 



1 In a vale at the foot of this conspicuous mountain, rose the beautiful abbey of Sweet-heart, wliich was founded by the same pious 

 individual n the convent at Dumfries; viz. Dervcgild, or Dervorgilla, daughter to Allan, Lord of Galloway, and the mother of John 

 Baliol, King of Scotland. 



'' This structure Is said by some to have consisted originally of thirteen arches, by others of ten ; but the number Is now reduced 

 to eight, which are still in tolerable preservation, unA in consequents of the river having shifted its channel from the right bank, arc 

 quite suiln u M. This bridge is used only by foot pawengers. 



* In consequence of a deed so sacrilegious as the shedding of blood before the very altar, the friary id said to have been interdicted, 

 or at least deserted. Certain it is, that the people began, soon after this period, >o retort in greater numbers tu St Michael's chapel, 

 at the other end of the town, where St Michael's church now stands. 



1 He was son to the couiin^erman of the foundress of thin edi' 



* Mr Hume f rroncouily names this patriot Thomas. The faiml) records bear that he vrts called Roger. 



