Dumfriesshire is a hilly county between Kirkcudbrightshire and Cumberland, with Lanarkshire in the north. It lies along the shore of the Solway Firth.
Dumfriesshire’s town and villages lie mainly in the great valleys running south into the Solway Firth; Liddlesdale easternmost, then Eskdale, Annandale, Annandale and Nithsdale, which marks the border with Kirkcudbrightshire. Each dale has its own character. Liddlesdale was once a part of the Debateable Lands, and a haunt of the most lawless reivers. (It is somewhat more polite these days.) Annandale forms much of the main route from Glasgow to the south and by the towns, old inns and even Roman forts along its length it seems to have served that purpose for millennia.
Dumfries itself, on the Nith, stands on the border with Kirkcudbrightshire. It has not outgrown the charm which caused Robert Burns to choose it as his final home.
The many rivers and lochs of Dumfriesshire produce a most beautiful landscape, and are rich in fish, attracting trout and salmon fishing in season.
County Facts
County Town: Dumfries
Main Towns: Annan, Ecclefechan, Dumfries, Gretna, Lockerbie, Moffat, Langholm, Sanquhar.
Main Rivers: Nith, Annan, Esk.
Highlights: Caerlaverock Castle; Birrens hill fort; Blacksmith’s shop, Gretna Green; Gretna Hall; Grey Mail’s Tail waterfall.
Highest Point: White Coomb, 2,695 feet.
Area: 1,063 sq miles
County Flower: Harebell
