Topography of Dumfries. 107 



started, will occur to anyone who knows the biir^h. Whether 

 we are able to explain these features in detail or not, we may 

 rest assured that they had their origins in reason and sprang 

 forth in conformity with their en\ ironment and the necessities 

 of their time. We do not, in fact, possess the necessary 

 materials to make our enquiry into their causes positive or 

 complete. Prior to the i6th century, after the commence- 

 ment of which we possess records that gi\e us reliable, if 

 not always easily understood data, we are compelled to 

 resort to speculation. Reasonable and well-informed specu- 

 lation is not objectionable, especially if it docs not pretend 

 to be other than it is. Not only facts, but their theoretical 

 interpretation, are leg"itimately comprised in history. Let no 

 one imagine, then, that the theories propounded in the fol- 

 lowing pages are put forward as facts. Based as far as 

 possible on the scanty evidence we possess, they are merely 

 an effort to illumine the existing darkness. Documentary 

 evidence may yet be produced that will demolish them like 

 a house of cards. This paper, then, will fall naturally into 

 two parts — speculative and positive, in accordance with the 

 periods prior to and after the beginning of the i6th century. 

 We trust to be able to reveal some curious details, to recover 

 from the past forgotten names and derelict instances, and 

 to induce suggestive speculations that may prove of extreme 

 interest to many who at present pass by without question or 

 remark. 



Marshes, Lochs, and Burns. 



The many generations of men that have lived in this 

 burgh have not come and gone without leaving their mark 

 upon the district. Digging, building, draining, and improv- 

 ing, they, with persistent industry, have so dealt with the 

 face of the land that even within the last two centuries it 

 has been notably changed. Only by faint signs and slight 

 indications are we now able to re-create in imagination its 

 former state, and that very imperfectly and with doubtful 

 accuracy. In seeking to do so we are forcibly reminded of 

 the passage in Isaiah, " Every valley shall be exalted and 

 every mountain and hill shall I)e made low , and the crooked 



