a royal burgh and parish of Scotland, in the county of Dumfries, on the river of the same name, about two miles above its junction with the Solway Firth. The river is crossed by an elegant bridge of three arches, built in 1824. It has a good harbour, and the highest tides rise 21 feet. In 1851 the population of the town amounted to 3426. The people are chiefly engaged in the coasting trade, ship-building, gingham-weaving, and the curing of bacon and hams for the Newcastle and London markets. A cotton spinning manufactory has been long established in the town, giving employment to between 80 and 100 persons of different ages. The salmon fishery, which in former years was very productive, has much fallen off. Among the public buildings is a handsome academy, built and endowed by the heritors and the town-council: it is conducted by a rector and two masters, and is in a very flourishing state. Annan unites with Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Sanquhar, and Lochmaben, in sending a representative to parliament. The environs are very inviting; and few places are more beautiful than the river and its finely-wooded banks, for eight or ten miles above the town. It had formerly a castle, built by the Bruces after they became lords of Annandale. Distance from Dumfries 14 miles, from Edinburgh 79.

The River Annan, on which the town stands, rises in the Hartfell Mountain on the confines of the counties of Peebles and Dumfries, and flowing southward, falls into the Solway Firth after a course of 30 miles. It abounds with trout and salmon. The stewartry or district of Annandale, of which Lochmaben castle was the chief fortalice, is a fertile vale, 30 miles long and about 16 miles broad. From its vicinity to England, and the continual incursions and predatory wars of the borderers, the greater part of it was uncultivated and common; but since the beginning of the last century all these wastes and commons have been subdivided and brought into culture, and the country has assumed a new appearance, which may be ascribed not only to the division of the commons, but likewise to the improvement made on the roads.

Annandale formed a part of the Roman province of Valentia; and it abounds with Roman stations and antiquities. The Roman camps at Birrens in Middlebie, on the hill of Birrenswork, and at Torwood Muir in Dryfesdale, are still nearly entire, and their form is preserved; and the traces and remains of a military road are yet visible in different parts of the country. The ruins of the house or castle of Auchincass, in the neighbourhood of Moffat, once the seat of that potent baron Thomas Randolph, earl of Murray, lord of Annandale, and regent of Scotland during the minority of David II., cover above an acre of ground, and even now convey an idea of the plan and strength of the building. The ancient castle of Comlongan, formerly belonging to the Murrays, earls of Annandale, and now to the earl of Mansfield, is still in a tolerable state of preservation; but except