Dumfriesshire , alternately the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (), is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county.
In terms of historic counties it borders Kirkcudbrightshire to the west, Ayrshire to the north-west, Lanarkshire, Peeblesshire and Selkirkshire to the north, and Roxburghshire to the east. To the south is the coast of the Solway Firth, and on the other side of the border between Scotland and England the English county of Cumberland.
Dumfriesshire has three traditional subdivisions, based on the three main valleys in the county: Annandale, Eskdale and Nithsdale. These had been independent provinces in medieval times but were gradually superseded as administrative areas by the area controlled by the sheriff of Dumfries, or Dumfriesshire. A Dumfriesshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975.
Since 1975, the area of the historic county has formed part of the Dumfries and Galloway council area for local government purposes.
Geography
The coastline measures . The county slopes very gradually from the mountainous districts of the Southern Uplands in the north, down to the sea; lofty hills alternating in parts with stretches of tableland or rich fertile holms. At various points within a few miles of the Solway are tracts of moss land, like Craigs Moss, Lochar Moss and Longbridge Moor in the west, and Nutberry Moss in the east, all once under water, but since largely reclaimed.
The principal mountains occur near the northern boundaries, the highest being White Coomb (), Hart Fell (), Saddle Yoke (), Swatte Fell (), Lowther Hills (), Queensbury () and Ettrick Pen ().
The three longest rivers are the River Nith, the River Annan and the River Esk, the basins of which form the great dales by which the county is cloven from north to south — Nithsdale, Annandale and Eskdale. From the point where it enters Dumfriesshire, from its source near Enoch Hill in Ayrshire, the course of the Nith is mainly south-easterly until it enters the Solway, a few miles below Dumfries. Its total length is 65 mi., and its chief affluents are, on the right, the Kello Water, Euchan Water, Scaur Water, Cluden Water and River Cargen, Cargen, and — on the left — the River Crawick, Carron Water and River Campie.
The Annan rises near the Devil's Beef Tub, a remarkable chasm in the far north, and after flowing about , mainly in a southerly course, it enters the Solway at Barnkirk Headlands and bays. It receives, on the right, the Kinnel Water (reinforced by the Water of Ae), and — on the left — the Moffat Water, the Dryfe Water and the Water of Milk.
From the confluence of the White Esk (rising near Ettrick Pen) and the Black Esk (rising near Jocks Shoulder, ) the Esk flows in a gradually south-easterly direction until it crosses the Border, whence it sweeps to the southwest through the extreme north-western territory of Cumberland and falls into the Solway. Of its total course of , belong to the White Esk, are of the Esk proper on Scottish soil and are of the stream in its English course. On the right the Wauchope Water is the chief affluent, and on the left it receives the Meggat Water, Ewes Water, Tarras Water, Liddel Water and River Lyne — the last being an English tributary, and the previous forming the border between Roxburghshire and Cumberland.
Other rivers are the Lochar Water (), the Kirtle Water () and the River Sark (), all flowing into the Solway. For of its course the Esk, and for of its course the River Sark, form the boundaries between Dumfriesshire and Cumberland. Between the Esk and Sark lies Scots' Dyke, a man-made berm that forms the Anglo-Scottish border, cutting through the area formerly known as the Debatable Lands.Wickham-Jones, C. R. (2009), The Landscape of Scotland. Stroud : The History Press. . pp. 157 - 158.
Loch Skeen in the north ( above the sea) and the group of lochs around Lochmaben, are the principal lakes. There are few glens so named in the shire, but the passes of Dalveen, Enterkin and Menock, leading up from Nithsdale to the Lowther and other hills, yield to few glens in Scotland in the wild grandeur of their scenery. For part of the way Enterkin Pass runs between mountains rising sheer from the burn to a height of nearly Loch Skene finds an outlet in Tail Burn, the water of which at a short distance from the lake leaps from a height of in a fine waterfall, known as the Grey Mare's Tail. A much smaller but picturesque fall of the same name, also known as Crichope Linn, occurs on the Crichope near Thornhill. Mineral waters are found at Moffat, Hartfell Spa, some farther north, Closeburn and Brow on the Solway.
Geology
The greater portion of the county of Dumfries belongs to the Silurian tableland of the south of Scotland which contains representatives of all the divisions of that system from the Arenig to the Ludlow rocks.
By far the largest area is occupied by strata of Tarannon and Llandovery age which cover a belt of country from across from Drumlanrig Castle in the north to Torthorwald in the south. Consisting of massive grits, sometimes conglomeratic, greywackes, flags and shales, these beds are repeated by innumerable folds frequently inverted, striking northeast and southwest and usually dipping towards the northwest. In the midst of this belt there are lenticular bands of older strata of Arenig, Llandeilo, Caradoc and Llandovery age composed of fine sediments such as cherts, black and grey shales, white clays and flags, which come to the surface along anticlinal folds and yield abundant graptolites characteristic of these divisions.
These black shale bands are typically developed in Moffatdale; indeed the three typical sections chosen by Charles Lapworth to illustrate his three great groups: (1) the Glenkill shales (Upper Llandeilo), (2) the Hartfell shales (Caradoc), (3) Birkhill shales (Lower Llandovery) occur respectively in the Glenkill Burn north of Kirkmichael, on Hartfell and in Dobbs Linn near St Mary's Loch in the basin of the river Annan.
In the extreme northwest of the county between Drumlanrig Castle and Dalveen Pass in the south and the Spango and Kello Waters on the north, there is a broad development of Arenig, Liandeilo and Caradoc strata, represented by Radiolarian cherts, black shales, grits, conglomerates, greywackes and shales which rise from underneath the central Tarannon belt and are repeated by innumerable folds, in the cores of the arches of Arenig cherts there are diabase lavas, tuffs and agglomerates which are typically represented on Bail Hill east of Kirkconnel. Along the southern margin of the Tarannon belt, the Wenlock and Ludlow rocks follow in normal order, the boundary between the two being defined by a line extending from the head of the Ewes Water in Eskdale, southwest by Lockerbie to Mouswald. These consist of greywackes, flags and shales with bands of dark graptolite shales, the finer sediments being often well ground. They are likewise repeated by inverted folds, the axial planes being usually inclined to the southeast. The Silurian tableland in the northwest of the county is pierced by intrusive igneous rocks in the form of dikes and bosses, which are regarded as of Lower Old Red Sandstone age. Of these, the granite mass of Spango Water, northeast of Kirkconnel, is an excellent example. Along the northwest margin of the county, on the north side of the fault bounding the Silurian tableland, the Lower Old Red Sandstone occurs, where it consists of sandstones and conglomerates associated with contemporaneous volcanic rocks. The Upper Old Red Sandstone forms a narrow strip on the south side of the Silurian tableland, resting uncomfortably on the Silurian rocks and passing upwards into the Carboniferous formation. It stretches from the county boundary east of the Ewes Water, southwest by Langholm to Birrenswark. Along this line these Upper Red sandstones and shales are overlaid by a thin zone of volcanic rocks which point to contemporaneous volcanic action in this region at the beginning of the Carboniferous period. Some of the vents from which these igneous materials may have been discharged are found along the watershed between Liddesdale and Teviotdale in Roxburghshire.
The strata of Carboniferous age are found in three areas: (1) between Sanquhar and Kirkconnel, (2) at Closeburn near Thornhill, (3) in the district between Liddesdale and Ruthwell.
In the first two instances (Sanquhar and Thornhill) the Carboniferous sediments lie in hollows worn out of the old Silurian tableland. In the Sanquhar basin the strata belong to the Coal Measures, and include several valuable coal-seams which are probably the southern prolongations of the members of this division in Ayrshire. At the S.E. limit of the Sanquhar Coalfield there are patches of the Carboniferous Limestone series, but towards the N. these are overlapped by the Coal Measures which thus rest directly on the Silurian platform. At Closeburn and Barjarg there are beds of marine limestone, associated with sandstones and shales which probably represent marine bands in the Carboniferous Limestone series.
The most important development of Carboniferous strata occurs between Liddesdale and Ruthwell. In the valleys of the Liddel and the Esk the following zones are represented, which are given in ascending order: (1) The Whita Sandstone, (2) the Cementstone group, (3) the Fell Sandstone, (4) the Glencartholm Volcanic Group, (5) Marine limestone group with Coal-seams, (6) Millstone Grit, (7) Rowanburn coal group, (8) Byreburn coal group, (9) Red Sandstones of Canonbie yielding plants characteristic of the Upper Coal Measures.
The coal seams of the Rowanburn field have been chiefly wrought, and in view of their exhaustion bores have been sunk to prove the coals beneath the red sandstone of upper Carboniferous age. From a palaeontological point of view the Glencartholm volcanic zone is of special interest, as the calcareous shale associated with the tuffs has yielded a large number of new species of fishes, decapod crustaceans, phyllopods and scorpions. The Triassic rocks rest uncomfortably on all older formations within the county. In the tract along the Solway Firth they repose on the folded and eroded edges of the Carboniferous strata, and when traced westwards to the Dumfries basin they rest directly on the Silurian platform. They occur in five areas:
(1) between Annan and the mouth of the Esk (the Scottish portion of the Solway Basin), (2) the Dumfries basin (Lower Nithsdale), (3) the Thornhill basin (Middle Nithsdale), (4) the Lochmaben basin (Middle Annandale), (5) Upper Annandale.
The strata consist of breccia, false-bedded sandstones and mans, the sandstones being extensively quarried for building purposes. In the sandstones of Corncockle Moor reptilian footprints have been obtained. In the Thornhill basin there is a thin zone of volcanic rocks at the base of this series which are evidently on-the horizon of the lavas beneath the Mauchline sandstones in Ayrshire. In the Sanquhar basin there are small outliers of lavas probably of this age and several vents filled with agglomerate from which these igneous materials in the Thornhill basin may have been derived. There are several striking examples of basalt dikes of Tertiary age, one having been traced from the Lead Hills south-east by Moffat, across Eskdalemuir to the English border.
Climate and industries