168 Topography of Dumfries. 



shall be made straight, and the rough places plain;" for 

 these things very literally have been, and are still being, 

 brought about. To so great a degree is this the case with 

 regard to the valleys, that not one of the ancient burns 

 within the town, landmarks for centuries, is now above 

 ground. The Loreburn, the Millburn, the Poindfield Burn,i 

 and the Catstrand^ are no longer visible, and to many their 

 underground courses are unknown ; while the marshes — the 

 Watslacks, the Braidmyre, the Gallowsmyre,^^' the Raffel- 

 dubs or Goosedubs,3 the Kyrnyngbog,^ the Lochans,^ the 

 Creynlarimoss,^ the Craneberrie Moss,^^ and the Laripots'^ 

 have disappeared, and even their names have been for- 

 gotten. 



The Black Loch, between Marchhill and the Lockerbie 

 Road ; the Sand Loch, at the Burnt Firs ;8 the Gill Loch, on 

 the west of Lochside Farm; and Reid's Dub,^ near the 

 Bankend Road, north-west of Ellangowan House, most of 

 them visible until the middle of last century, i° have either 

 totally disappeared or are undergoing a rapid process of 

 absorption. 



It is evident, therefore, that if we are to succeed in 

 visualising the district before it held a town we must accen- 

 tuate all the natural features that remain. We must deepen 

 our valleys, heighten our hills, remove artificial impleteraents'"! 

 and embankments. All . our contours will assume very dif- 

 ferent lines from those we know to-day. 



Dumfries almost an Island. 



It may well be that the site of Dumfries was an in- 

 habited place from very early times. Our primitive ancestor's 

 first care was protection from enemies, both animal and 

 human. He consequently sought the hilltops above the 

 forests, the caves easily defended, and ere long he discovered 

 that islands were natural fortresses. The latter he found so 

 suitable to his needs that he built artificial islands, remains 

 of which have been noted in many lochs in Dumfriesshire 

 and Galloway. Dumfries, he would discover, was almost 

 an island. On the west and north lay the Nith,i2 and on the 

 east, south, and north were a series of deep bogs, while 



