Dumfries

A market town and administrative centre of Dumfries and Galloway, Dumfries, also known by the name of its football team, Queen of the South, lies close to the Solway Firth at the mouth of the River Nith, 35 miles northwest of Carlisle and 90 miles southwest of Edinburgh. Devorgilla's Bridge over the Nith was built here in 1432. It has been rebuilt more than once and was shortened from the east in the 1800s. It is one of Scotland's oldest standing bridges and is still used by pedestrians.

Granted a royal burgh in 1186, Dumfries has experienced a turbulent past, including, in 1306, Robert the Bruce’s murder of John Comyn, a rival for the Scottish crown. Robert the Bruce nevertheless went on to become King of Scotland.

The place grew rapidly as a market town and port, and then as a centre of trade. Local merchants took particular advantage of the free trade in tobacco offered by the Union of the Parliaments of Scotland and England in 1707. The livestock trade and textile manufacture developed during the 17th and 18th centuries; hosiery and tweed mills were major employers in the 19th century. While these trades still contribute much today, a large number of light industries have been attracted to the area.

Modern Dumfries is a lively town with a variety of attractive buildings. The Midsteeple in the town centre was completed in 1708 to provide a meeting place for the town council. It also acted as a courtroom and prison. A plaque on the outer wall gives the distances to other towns and cities. A statue of Robert Burns overlooks the High Street and there are plenty of associated places, such as the tavern where he spent much of his time, and his tomb. The Robert Burns Centre in a delightful old sandstone mill building by the river invites the visitor to follow a Burns Heritage Trail round the sites once familiar to him.

As well as the Burns statue, there is a monument to John Law Hume and Thomas Mullin who died on the Titanic. The actor John Laurie (1897–1980) was born in Dumfries, as was Angus Mackay (1813-1859), piper to Queen Victoria.

In the 1990s the former Crichton Hospital complex, established in 1839, was adapted for use as a university campus linked to Paisley and Glasgow Universities as well as Bell College of Hamilton and the Dumfries and Galloway College.

The town is well provided with museums and libraries which help to illuminate its history. A windmill built in 1798 and now a museum was converted into an observatory and camera obscura in 1836 to coincide with an appearance of Halley's Comet. It projects a moving panoramic view of the district.

Dumfries is a good tourist centre, with two golf courses, a swimming pool, parks and nightclubs, as well as good shopping and branches of major stores. The town holds an annual Arts Festival and the Guid Nychburris Festival, with the Crowning of the Queen of the South, a colourful and enjoyable celebration of its warm and friendly ethos.

South of the town near the coast of the Solway Firth, lie the serene red sandstone ruins of Sweetheart Abbey. Founded in 1273, the Cisterian abbey commemorates the enduring relationship between Lady Devorgilla of Galloway and her husband, John Ballliol. Together they had founded Balliol College, Oxford, and their son, John, became king of Scotland in 1292. When she died in 1289, her body was laid to rest before the high altar and a casket containing her husband's embalmed heart, which she always carried with her, was placed beside her. In recognition of this, the Cistercian monks named their abbey Dulce Cor or Sweetheart, in her memory.

Another fascinating nearby place worth a visit is the Glenkiln reservoir where in the open landscape to the west and south stand sculptures by Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore and Sir Jacob Epstein erected by local landowner Sir William Keswick from the early 1950s.