Dumfriesshire
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Dumfriesshire
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(Click on the picture to see a larger one) The burgh of Dumfries is within sight of England and, as might be anticipated, both it and the county featured largely in Scotland's wars of independence. In 1306 Robert the Bruce met John (the Red) Comyn, in Greyfriars Church, Dumfries, and after a quarrel Bruce infamously stabbed Comyn to death, allegedly in front of the High Altar. Many of the county's castles, e.g. the magnificent fortress of Caerlaverock (built by the Maxwells in the 13th century), saw considerable action between the 13th and 17th centuries, often changing hand several times between the Scots and English. In the 18th century the county was home to Scotland's best known poet, Rabbie Burns, who moved from Ayrshire to Dumfriesshire in 1788, initially as a tenant farmer and later as an excise officer. Dunscore Church, where Burns and his family used to worship, is featured on our map. Just over 100 years later, in 1892, Hugh MacDiarmid (real name Christopher Murray Grieve), later to be acknowledged as Scotland's greatest 20th century poet, was born in Langholm A less well known fact about the county is that William Paterson, founder of the Bank of England, was born in the Dumfriesshire village of Tinwald in 1658. Engineer Thomas Telford was also a Dumfriesshire man, having been born the son of a shepherd at Westerkirk in 1757. He served his apprenticeship as a stonemason in the town of Langholm where he worked on the bridge over the River Esk. Family names associated with the county include Maxwell, Johnstone, Carruthers, Carlyle, Irvine, Murray, Charteris, Douglas and Kirkpatrick. This design has a stich count of 204 x 166 and, when stitched on the recommended 27-count material, measures 15� x 12� inches (385 x 312 mm). It has 20 buildings, sailing boat, place names, compass and crest.
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