Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/835

Rh DUMFRIES. 825 DUMFRIES. it principally sheep, are pastured in the mountainous vision of the county. Pigs are reared in enormous rmbers. The pork is cured and sent as hacon to inland. The coasting trade is insignificant, compared th the importance of the productions of the county. le chief exports are oxen, sheep, pigs, corn, wool, and ins. In the parish of Sanquhar, ginghams, Thibets, d tartans are woven, and coarse ginghams at Dum- es and Annan. Good roads traverse the county. 10 western turnpike from Carlisle to Glasgow tra- he county from Sarkbridge through Annan, imfries, Thornhill, and Sanquhar, and the eastern rough Ecclefechan, Lockerby, and Beattock. The and Edinburgh turnpike passes northward way of Moffat, the Carlisle and Edinburgh along . vales of the Esk and the Ewes, and the Dum- ies and Ayr north-westward through Dunscore and in. The Caledonian railway passes down the if the Annan, and thence to the head of the l-'irth, with stations at Beattock, Wamphray, nwoodie, Nethercleugh, Lockerby, Ecclefechan, Kir- , Kirkpatrick, and Gretna; and the Glasgow 1 Snuth- Western railway traverses the county down valley of the Nith to a junction with the Cale- Jiian railway near Gretna, with stations at Kirk- uncJ, Sanquhar, Carronbridge, Thornhill, Closeburn, .ildgirth, Holywood, Dumfries, Ruthwell, Cummer- imfriesshire are Dumfries, Annan, Lochmaben, and Inquhar. The burghs of barony are Moffat, Lockerby, .ngholm, Eecle fechan, Thornhill, and Minuihive. 'tis county originally comprehended, in addition to its m territory, the stewartry of' Kirkcudbright, and in n of William I. was placed under a sheriff.
 * es, Annan, and Dornock. The royal burghs in
 * om the reign of David I. to that of Robert Bruce the

iiinty consisted strictly of the sheriffship of Nithsdale,
 * stewartry of Annandalc, and the regality of Eskdale.

'10 present jurisdiction of the county was assumed by i Act of Parliament passed in the 20th of George II. 'ie county town ia Dumfries. The sheriff court for 1: county and the commissary court are held there cry Tuesday and Friday during session, the sheriff f all debt court every Friday during session, and on ilinary court days during vacations. The justice of jxce small debt court is held every Monday. The larift small debt courts are held at Annan, Langholm, !kerby, Moffat, Thornhill, and Sanquhar. The (inty returns one member to parliament. Population il851, 78,149; in 1861, 75,904. The synod of Dum- tes not only includes the whole county, but extends tyond its limits. It includes the presbyteries of Jimfries, Lochmaben, Annan, Penpont, and Langholm, uich are themselves composed of 46 parishes. The j.ces of worship in the county are divided between the
 * tablished Church, Free Church, United Presbyterians,

j formed Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Independents, l.ptists, Wesleyan Methodists, Evangelical Union,
 * d Roman Catholics. This county, during the wars

< Bruce and Baliol, was exposed to the most harassing s'uggles of those competitors for the crown, the baronial IBsessions of Bruce being in Annandale, and those of Iliol in Nithsdale. From being situated on the border, itil the union of the English and Scottish crowns ts county was constantly exposed to hostile incursions. '.16 remains of the Romans are numerous, the county uni,' iuany vestiges of fortifications and their con- J^ting roads, which traversed the county in a north- ijsterly direction. There occur also Druidical and ijnastic remains in various places. The principal
 * bient castles are those of Caerlaverock, Torthorwald,

'sseburn, Morton, and Sanquhar, in Nithsdale; Achin- <. s, Hoddam, Comlongan, and Lochwood, in Annan- t e ; and Wauchope and Langholm in Eskdale. DUMFRIES, a par. in the district of Nithsdale, in the , of Dumfries, Scotland. It includes the royal burgh ijggs, and Lochthorn, and part of the vil. of Kelton. n is bounded on the W. by the co. of Kirkcudbright, a on the other sides by the pars, of Caerlaverock, Torthorwald, Tinwald, Kirkmahoo, and Holywood. It extends 8 miles in length in a southward direction, with an extreme breadth of 3 miles. The surface is for the most part flat, the parish being part of a level plain, surrounded on the W., N., and E. by well-wooded and picturesque hills. The Nith constitutes the western boundary, and the Lochar separates the parish from Tinwald and Torthorwald. The soil in the northern and western parts is a reddish earth, in the southern section it is a clay, and the eastern part is a strip of Lochar Moss, much of which is, however, reclaimed. Plantations, gardens, nursery-grounds, and mansions surround the town on all sides. The Black and Sand lochs add to the scenery of the parish, and when frozen are much frequented by curlers. There are several quarries of red sandstone and salmon fisheries of con- siderable value. A chalybeate spring on the farm of Fountainbleau is much resorted to by invalids. This par. is the seat both of a presb. and of a synod. The present church was built in 1745, when the old church of St. Michael was taken down. A second church, called the New church, was erected in 1727, and a third in 1838. The crown is the pat. both of St. Michael's and of the New Church. The minister of the former has a stipend of 332, and the minister of the latter, 232. There are also a Free church, three United Presbyterian churches, a Reformed Presbyterian church, and chapels belonging to the Episcopalians, the Independents, the Wesleyan Methodists, the Roman Catholics, and the Baptists. There are four endowed schools, under the patronage of the magistrates, which are united under the name of the Dumfries Academy, and in which Greek, Latin, French, English, mathe- matics, arithmetic, &c., are taught. DUMFRIES, the county, assize, and sessions town of the co. of Dumfries, Scotland. It is situated on a slight elevation on the E. bank of the Nith, about 9 miles above its junction with the Solway Firth, 33 miles N.W. of Carlisle, 60 S.E. of Ayr, and some 70 miles distant from Edinburgh and Glasgow. It is the metropolis of the S.W. of Scotland, and is a place of great antiquity, elegance, and importance, being a royal burgh, bonding port, and the seat of a presbytery and of a synod. The town is built of a dark-coloured freestone, and pleases the eye by the picturesque manner in which the houses are located along the river. The suburb of Maxwelltown on the W., or Kirkcudbright side of the river, appears to the eye to be part of Dumfries, and adds to the features of the latter town. Two bridges connect these two towns, but only the more northern, built in 1794, is available for carriages. The older, consisting of six arches, was built in the 13th century. The streets arc clean, well paved, and lighted with gas. Among the principal buildings are the county gaol, built in 1807 ; the county court house, which was originally the tabernacle, built by the Haldanes during their missionary operations in Scotland ; the town council chamber, in the middle of the High-street, and surmounted by the mid-steeple, built by Inigo Jones. In the middle of Queensberry-square, in which the weekly market is held, there is a Doric column, erected in 1780, to the memory of Charles Duke of Queens- berry. Opposite the council chamber is the trades' hall. There are assembly-rooms and a high school. The Crichton Royal Institution is a large and hand- some asylum, founded by the bequest of upwards of 100,000 by the late Dr. Crichton of Friars' Carse. The Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, founded in 1776, and maintained by contributions of various sorts from the counties of Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, and Wigton, is a commodious structure, and has greatly benefited the district. The Commercial Inn, on the S. side of the High-street, was the head-quarters of Prince Charles Edward Stuart in December, 1745, on his retreat from England. The poet Burns died in a house of two stories in Burns-street, in 1796. It was purchased in 1850 by his son, Lieut.-Col. William Burns. The remains of the poet repose under a splendid mauso- leum, erected in 1815 in the cemetery adjoining the old
 * Dumfries, the vils. of Georgetown, Gaston, Lochar-