DUMFRIES, a county in the south of Scotland, is situated between 55. 2. and 55. 31. north latitude, and 3. 53. west longitude. Its greatest length is nearly sixty miles, and its greatest breadth from thirty to thirty-one. The boundaries are Galloway and part of Ayrshire on the south-west; Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Peebles, on the north-east; Lanark on the north-west; and on the south-east the Solway Frith and the county of Cumberland. The principal rivers are the Nith, the Annan, and the Esk, all of which discharge themselves into the Solway Frith. These rivers are fed by numerous tributaries, and the whole of them abound in salmon. The square miles of the county are calculated at 1006, and the acres at 644,385. Like many other Scottish counties, Dumfries-shire is popularly divided into districts. Of these there are three principal; Eskdale on the east, Annandale in the middle, and Nithsdale on the west, each taking its name from the river which traverses it. From these larger divisions diverge smaller vales, which likewise derive their titles from the streams that flow through them, such as Moffatdale, Dryfesdale, and Ewesdale. From various circumstances, the limits of these great divisions are but imperfectly defined, and have recently been abandoned. The Solway Frith waters the base of the county for twenty-four miles, and along its margin the land is generally flat for about ten miles. Beyond this the county expands into a series of hills and valleys, which rise gradually northward till they reach the mountain chain which bounds it in that quarter. The principal elevations are, Lowthers near Wanlockhead, which rises 3150 feet, and Hartfell in Annandale, which rises 2629 feet above the level of the sea. In former times it was said that 86 miles were in general low arable land, lying on the sea-coast, 322 miles chiefly hilly, and 598 mountainous. But the calculation has been disturbed by the steady progress of bone manure and green crop husbandry. Steeps which it was impossible to sharpen by common manure, from the expense and difficulty of transporting it thither, have been brought into excellent heart by ground bones, and improved by at least a hundred per cent. both as crop and pasture land. Many hills which were nearly bare have been covered to their tops with thriving plantations. In the spring of 1833 the Duke
of Buccleuch inclosed and planted nearly three hundred acres, on which are now growing more than a million and a half of trees; and it is his grace's intention to prosecute these improvements a great way further. Still a large proportion of the county is mountainous, and is devoted almost exclusively to sheep farming, which, since the mortality of 1829, has again become very profitable. Judging from the map, nearly a third of the land in the county belongs to the nobleman above mentioned, who possesses a rental of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds yearly, two thirds of which are drawn from Dumfries-shire. In 1811, when the property-tax pressed on the energies of the country, the whole rental of the county was estimated at L.246,001. 12s. 6d.; and although rents have fallen greatly since that period, so marked has been the progress of improvement, that at present (1833) it in all probability exceeds L.300,000 sterling. The principal proprietors are the Duke of Buccleuch, the Marquis of Queensberry, and the Earl of Mansfield; Mr Hope Johnstone of Annandale, General Sharpe of Hoddam, Mr Rogerson of Dumcrieff, Mr Menteath of Closeburn, and Mr M'Alpine Leny of Dalswinton.
The climate of Dumfries-shire is mild and salubrious; much of the land has a southern exposure, and, excepting in very severe winters, the snow speedily disappears. The soils are gravel or sand loam, and clay, with moor and moss in some places, particularly along the bed of the Lochar, with alluvial tracts on the banks of the rivers and the Solway Frith. The farms vary greatly in size; but for years there has been a tendency to uproot almost entirely the pendicle system. On the Buccleuch estates the farms are generally extensive. Many excellent steadings of houses have been built, and subdivisions formed over waste tracts, which for centuries remained unclosed. Since the war the wages of rural labour have been pretty stationary. The usual rate of wages for a ploughman is six pounds per half year, with board and lodging in the case of unmarried men, and a proportionate allowance of meal, potato-land, &c. for hinds with families. House and dairy-maids receive from L.2 to L.2. 10s. per half year; day labourers 1s. 2d. a day in winter, and 1s. 6d. in summer.
At one time the quantity of lime used, or at least worked, in Dumfries-shire, was very great, and it is still far from being inconsiderable. The principal pits are those of Kilhead, Closeburn, and Barjarg; and within the last fifteen years the supply was estimated at 1,200,000 Winchester bushels, valued at L.54,000. The capabilities of the pits are still excellent, but the demand for lime has diminished somewhat, owing to the continued progress of bone dust, a manure which unites to a certain extent the qualities of lime and common dung. Annandale and Nithsdale have profited greatly by this valuable mineral. Mr Menteath of Closeburn is a great land improver, and has converted bogs which were hardly worth five shillings an acre into some of the finest pasture land in the county, by the combined effects of pairing, careful selection of seed, the application of lime, and irrigation. Cattle and sheep are bought at the Falkirk trysts, and fattened during winter and the early part of spring. The latter branch of traffic is yearly extending. The indigenous breed of cattle is still the Galloway, although not always pure and unmixed. Of heavy or drove cattle, about 20,000 head are driven south annually, and their value in good years amounts to nearly L.200,000. Of the sheep fattened no census has yet been given, from the circumstance that they are mostly conveyed in steam-boats. Mutton has risen in price in the home markets; and there can be no doubt that steam navigation is rapidly equalizing prices in town and country. The sheep are of three kinds; black-faced, Cheviots, and half-breds, the latter being a cross between the Leicester and the
Dumfries. Cheviot. Until 1820, hardly a single half-bred appeared at Lockerby Hill; now, however, they are quite common, and appear to be gaining as fast on the Cheviots as the latter are gaining on the black-faced. Pig husbandry is much cultivated in Dumfries-shire and Galloway; and a large proportion of the hogs reared in the steartry are sold in Dumfries, and cured in Annandale and Cumberland. The curing trade lasts for about three months, commencing in December and ending in February. The sales are all paid in ready money, and instances have occurred in which green pork to the amount of £6000 has been sold before breakfast on a Wednesday morning. The curers have good and bad seasons; but the capital required induces caution, and it is a fact that bankruptcy is nearly unknown among the bacon traders of the district. The hams of Dumfries-shire are so much esteemed that they are frequently sold in London under the name of Westphalian. Those who farm pendicles trust mainly to their pigs when rent-day comes round; and the trade every year brings £3000 into Johnstone, which is equal to the landed rental of the parish. Its annual value to the district, including the curer's profit, must be very nearly £100,000 sterling.
The manufactures of the county are dressed leather, hosiery, cloths, and carpets. The cotton mill at Langholm has ceased to work, and such weavers as remain there are supplied with webs by the manufacturers of Carlisle. In Dumfries and other parts of the district the same class of persons derives employment from the city of Glasgow. The hosiery trade exceeds £20,000 per annum, and that of dressed leather is probably double this amount. The carpet and spinning and dyeing manufactory at Crickwick Mill, in the neighbourhood of Sanquhar, employs 150 persons, young and middle aged. It consumes nearly 5000 stones of wool, and produces 70,000 yards of carpeting yearly. The wages average from £180 to £200 monthly.
Although, as we have already remarked, Dumfries-shire is mountainous, its lakes are inferior to those of Galloway, both as to number and extent. We must make an exception, however, in favour of the Castle Loch of Lochmaben. Bruce's castle stood on a promontory on the farther side of the loch; but it is so much dilapidated that such artists as sketch it contrive to hide the nakedness of bare unashlarred walls by the enlivening screen of green trees. In some of the lakes a singular fish is found, which naturalists term the vendace, and which is supposed to be peculiar to this place, if we except, perhaps, the lake of Geneva. At the "four towns of Hightae," in the neighbourhood, King Robert granted fiefs to a class of persons who were known as "the king's kindly tenants." Their possessions are small, but the land is rich, and they sit at almost a nominal rent. They are a peculiar race, who live in a little world of their own, and are beginning to feel the effects of continued isolation and intermarriage among the members of their own tribe. Loch Skene, about ten miles from Moffat, is the only other lake of consequence. It is 1300 feet above the level of the sea; the scenery around is stern and savage in a high degree; and its superfluous waters, in escaping to the strath or valley below, foam and leap from the dizzying heights above, and form the fine cascade called the gray mare's tail.
Considerable quantities of salmon are caught in the Nith, and in the stake-nets at Caerlaverock and Annan Water Foot. The finny tribes push into other streams, such as the Milk, the Esk, the Ewes, and the Wauchope; and in former times were speared in Moffat water. The supply of red fish is augmented by importations from Galloway.
The lower parts of Dumfries-shire consist of various varieties of sandstone, the layers of which generally dip to the Solway. There is a considerable body of limestone, as
we have already observed. Iron in different forms is also found in the strata. Marl abounds in various parts, and of freestone and whinstone there is abundance everywhere. Marble is also procured, and employed for some purposes; a little slate is likewise found. Coal in considerable quantities exists at the two extremities of the county, Sanquhar and Langholm; and, with one or two exceptions, all the pits belong to the Duke of Buccleuch. Lengthened land-carriage prevents the tacks-men from competing with the coal miners of England; and consequently the town of Dumfries and many parts of the county are supplied with fuel from Workington and Maryport. The trade employs a considerable amount of tonnage. The lead mines at Wanlockhead and Leadhills belong to the Duke of Buccleuch and the Earl of Hopetoun. Their capabilities at present are nearly equal, but both have declined greatly, from the importation of Spanish lead, the increased difficulty of working the shafts, and the poverty of the ore. For thirty years previously to 1828 each of the places mentioned produced about 700 tons of smelted lead annually; the price was £23 per ton, and the gross revenue £20,700. The Duke of Buccleuch and the Earl of Hopetoun received a sixth part each of the produce as rent, and netted respectively £3450 per annum. Both have reduced the rent; the first to one twelfth, and the second to one eighth of the produce; and their incomes from this source have fallen to £700 and £1000 annually. Neither mine at present produces more than 650 tons of smelted lead annually, and the price has fallen to £13 per ton. The consequences may be anticipated. Wanlockhead and Leadhills are no longer what they were, whether as regards the numbers, the comfort, or the intelligence of the mining population.
The mineral waters of Moffat are well known, but the spas in other parts of the county are too obscure to require special notice. The chalybeate at Hartfell acts as a powerful tonic, and contains, of sulphate of iron eighty-four grains, sulphate of alumina twelve, oxide of iron fifteen, and five inches of azotic gas, in a wine gallon. This spring was discovered about eighty years ago, but is too remote from the village to be of much use. The other spring, which is much more accessible, is strongest and best at the fountain-head, and probably the walk or ride (about a mile and a half) does as much good to invalids as the water. The Moffat Spa contains, muriate of soda thirty-six grains, sulphuretted hydrogen gas ten cubic inches, azotic gas four inches, carbonic acid gas five inches. More than two centuries have elapsed since this spring was discovered. A few years ago baths, with a pump and reading-room, were erected by subscription in Moffat, at an expense of £2000; an immense improvement, which has greatly increased the annual number of visitors. Annan, Lockerby, and Langholm, are all thriving, well-built towns. The scenery of the latter place is much admired, particularly the ride along the banks of the Esk to Longtown.
The county sends one member to parliament, and the united burghs of Dumfries, Annan, Lochmaben, Sanquhar, and Kirkcudbright, a second. The population amounted in 1821 to 70,878, and in 1831 to 73,770, increase 2692.