Dumfries 1920

Page Transcription
dumfries-1920/04-001 [Note] 442 Annexe tr A1.1 IMU (12) [Crown] The Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland Craft ALW Binding AW LUMSDEN Edinburgh 0131-440 0726
dumfries-1920/04-002 Ancient and Historical Monuments - Dumfries. [Photograph inserted] CAERLAVEROCK CASTLE. Frontispiece.
dumfries-1920/04-003 [Coat of Arms] THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL MONVMENTS & CONSTRVCTIONS OF SCOTLAND SEVENTH REPORT WITH INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE COUNTY OF DUMFRIES [Symbol] EDINBURGH 1920 Edinburgh : Published by His Majesty's Stationery Office. To be purchased through any Bookseller or directly from H.M. Stationery Office at the following addresses:- 23 Forth Street, Edinburgh; Imperial House, Kingsway, London, W.C.2, and 28 Abingdon Street, London S.W.1; 37 Peter Street, Manchester; 1 St Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff; or from E. Ponsonby, Ltd., 116 Grafton Street, Dublin. Price Two Pounds Net.
dumfries-1920/04-004 CONTENTS. -- PAGE. SEVENTH REPORT -- iii LIST OF ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL MONUMENTS IN THE COUNTY OF DUMFRIES WHICH THE COMMISSSIONERS DEEM MOST WORTHY OF PRESERVATION -- v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS -- viii LIST OF PARISHES -- xii BIBLIOGRAPHY -- xii INTRODUCTION TO INVENTORY OF ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE COUNTY OF DUMFRIES -- xvii INVENTORY -- 1 APPENDIX : REPORT ON THE RUTHWELL CROSS -- 219 GLOSSARY -- 287 INDEX -- 292 MAP OF THE COUNTY OF DUMFRIES, INDICATING THE POSITION OF MONUMENTS, ETC., BY NUMBERS REFERABLE TO THE INVENTORY -- at end [Stamped] SUPPLIED FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE [Stamped] THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON ANCIENT MONUMENTS SCOTLAND
dumfries-1920/04-005 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL MONUMENTS OF SCOTLAND. TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY, - We, your Majesty's Commissioners, appointed to make an Inventory of the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions connected with or illustrative of the contemporary culture, civilisation and conditions of life of the people in Scotland from the earliest times to the year 1707, and to specify those which seem most worthy of preservation, humbly present to your Majesty this our seventh Report. In doing so, we must refer with deepest regret to the death of our esteemed colleague, Lord Guthrie, upon whose counsel we had become accustomed to rely and whose historical knowledge we have found invaluable in the discharge of our duties. We regret also that we have since lost another colleague in the death of Mr Francis C. Buchanan. Appended to the Report is a list of the monuments and constructions of Dumfries- shire, which, in the opinion of your Commissioners, seem most worthy of preservation, divided into two classes, viz. (a) those which appear to be specially in need of pro- tection, and (b) those worthy of preservation but not in imminent risk of demolition or decay. Your Commissioners have found it desirable to adopt a different format for their Reports and Inventories in order to present the material, and particularly the illustra- tions, in a more adequate manner, and the present volume is the first in this new style. On the eve of its issue, in the early summer of 1916, a fire in the printers' works totally destroyed the whole material, which had to be assembled afresh for publication. Your Commissioners have again to express their thanks to proprietors and others for affording facilities and assistance in the prosecution of their work; particularly to E. J. Brook, Esq., of Hoddom Castle, Dumfriesshire, and to Mr James McKillop, formerly of the Hoddom Estates Office, Ecclefechan, also to Mr G. W. Shirley of the Ewart Public Library, Dumfries. In the preparation of the Inventory they have to thank George Macdonald, Esq., LL.D., C.B., F.B.A., for assistance in the field of Roman antiquities; George Neilson, Esq., LL.D., for a contribution and other material; the Rev. J. King Hewison, D.D., for the use of blocks; the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland for the use of illustrations; and Professor Halliday, Liverpool, for the illustration of the Bruce stone, which stone is in the possession of his family. -- iii Wt. 6209/626-500-3/21.-N. & Co., Ltd. Gp.3.
dumfries-1920/04-006 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. The Report on the Ruthwell Cross occupies a considerable part of this volume, and is so wide in its scope that your Commissioners think it desirable to preface it with a few words of explanation. This famous monument is an object of quite exceptional interest, attracting much attention not only among British but also among Continental and American scholars. In the three years 1912 to 1914, no fewer than three books, and at least nine articles or pamphlets, appeared on the subject in England and the United States, and since then these numbers have been materially increased. In all these publications arguments regarding the date and provenance of the monument were based on the figure and ornamental sculpture and on the inscriptions in Runic and Latin characters, as well as on the historical and geographical probabilities for or against this or that theory of origin. Such being the case, it has seemed to your Commissioners that, while it is the first part of their duty to describe with as much fulness and accuracy as possible the Ruthwell Cross in all its aspects, it is incumbent on them also to supply the available in- formation, archaeological linguistic, and historical, without which no reasoned opinion can be formed as to the date and provenance of this remarkable specimen of medieval art. With this purpose in view, the necessary references have been made to the similar monument at Bewcastle in Cumberland, of which illustrations have been added for comparison. The Commissioners have further availed themselves of the aid of Mr A. Blyth Webster, formerly Lecturer in English in the University of Edinburgh, now Professor of English Literature in the University of St Andrews, who has furnished them with an examination of the language and literary content of the poem inscribed on the Ruthwell Cross. In this connection they desire also to acknowledge the services of Mr Ritchie Girvan, Lecturer on the English Language in the University of Glasgow. During the summer of 1915 the archaeological survey of Skye and the Outer Hebrides was carried through, and considerable progress was made with the archi- tectural Survey of Midlothian, of which county the prehistoric survey had already been completed. The work of the Commission was suspended in March 1916 for the duration of the War, but since its resumption in 1919 the survey of the monuments of East Lothian has been finished and that of Midlothian is expected to be completed in the current year. Your Commissioners regret that many instances have been brought to their notice of the serious decay of historical buildings owing to neglect. The publica- tion of County Inventories, however, having already served to bring some such cases to the attention of proprietors and others, it is hoped that a continuation of the series will not be without further effect in causing more care to be bestowed upon other buildings worthy of preservation. During the War the staff of the Commission was employed in different services relating thereto, both the architects receiving commissions in the Royal Engineers. HERBERT MAXWELL, Chairman. G. BALDWIN BROWN. THOMAS H. BRYCE. W. T. OLDRIEVE. THOMAS ROSS. ALEXR. O. CURLE. W. MACKAY MACKENZIE, Secretary. EDINBURGH, December 1920. -- iv
dumfries-1920/04-007 LIST OF ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE COUNTY OF DUMFRIES WHICH THE COMMISSIONERS DEEM MOST WORTHY OF PRESERVATION. 1. - MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS SPECIALLY IN NEED OF PROTECTION. PARISH. -- ECCLESIASTICAL STRUCTURES. Durisdeer -- Kirkbride Church (No. 155). [PARISH.] -- CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURES. Caerlaverock -- Caerlaverock Castle (No. 33 (2) ). Canonbie -- Hollows Tower (No. 43). Dunscore -- Lag Tower (No. 136). Lochmaben -- Lochmaben Castle (No. 445 (2) ). Moffat -- Frenchland Tower (No. 480). Tinwald -- Amisfield Tower (No. 578). Torthorwald -- Torthorwald Castle (No. 590). [PARISH.] -- FORT. Durisdeer -- Earthwork, Durisdeer (No. 162). [PARISH.] -- STONE CIRCLES. Eskdalemuir -- "Girdle Stanes" (No. 198). Eskdalemuir -- "Loupin' Stanes," near Hartmanor (No. 199). Holywood -- "Twelve Apostles," Holywood (No. 284). Hutton and Corrie -- Whitcastles (No. 307). Tundergarth -- Whiteholm Rig (No. 603). Wamphray -- Kirkhill (No. 625). [PARISH.] -- LONG CAIRNS Canonbie -- Windy Edge (No. 47). Glencairn -- "White Cairn," Fleuchlarg (No. 249) Keir -- Capenoch Moor (No. 329). Kirkpatrick-Juxta -- Stiddrig (No. 415). -- v -- b
dumfries-1920/04-008 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. PARISH. -- MISCELLANEOUS. Canonbie -- Scots Dike (No. 48). Glencairn -- Cross-shaft (portion of), Hastings Hall, Moniaive (No. 250). Gretna -- Roman Altar (No. 266). Kirkconnel -- Cross-Socket, Orchard (No. 333). Penpont -- Cross, Nith Bridge (No. 531). II. - MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS DESERVING PROTECTION BUT NOT IN IMMINENT RISK OF DEMOLITION OR DECAY. PARISH. -- CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURES. Cummertrees -- Repentance Tower (No. 89). Durisdeer -- Tibbers Castle (No. 157). Holywood -- Fourmerkland Tower (No. 280). Kirkmahoe -- Dalswinton Old House (No. 338). Kirkpatrick-Juxta -- Auchen Castle (No. 384). Lochmaben -- Spedlin's Tower (No. 446). Lochmaben -- Elshieshields Tower (No. 447). Morton -- Morton Castle (No. 510). Ruthwell -- Comlongon Castle (No. 537). Sanquhar -- Sanquhar Castle (No. 551). [PARISH.] -- FORTS. Applegarth -- Dalmakethar Burn (No. 20). Canonbie -- Roman Camp, Gilknockie (No. 45). Dalton -- "Range Castle," Holmains (No. 98). Dryfesdale -- Gallaberry, Dryfeholm (No. 115). Dunscore -- Springfield Hill (No. 141). Durisdeer -- Kirk Burn, Durisdeer (No. 163). Eskdalemuir -- Roman Camp, Raeburnfoot (No. 172). Eskdalemuir -- Castle O'er (No. 177). Glencairn -- "Mote," The Orchard, Snade (No. 237). Hoddom -- Fortifications, Birrenswark (No. 272). Hutton and Corrie -- Carthur Hill (No. 291). Kirkmahoe -- Vitrified Fort, Mullach (No. 339). Kirkmahoe -- Stone Fort, the Belt, High Townhead (No. 342). Kirkmichael -- "Wallace's House," Kirkland Hill, Burrance Bridge (No. 358). Lochmaben -- Woodycastle (No. 450). Middlebie -- Roman Camp, Birrens (No. 462). Middlebie -- Birrens Hill, Carruthers (No. 464). Moffat -- Ericstane (No. 486). Sanquhar -- "Kemp's Castle," Euchan Water, Sanquhar (No. 557). Tinwald -- Barr's Hill (No. 581). Tundergarth -- Crawthat Cottage (No. 595). Tynron -- Tynron Doon (No. 609). Westerkirk -- "Bogle Walls" (No. 638). Westerkirk -- Camp Hill, Bailiehill (No. 640). -- vi
dumfries-1920/04-009 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. PARISH. -- MOTES. Closeburn -- Dinning (No. 65). Glencairn -- Lower Mote, Ingleston (No. 238). Glencairn -- Maxwelton (No. 241). Hutton and Corrie -- Mote of Hutton (No. 296). Johnstone -- Lochwood (No. 316). Kirkpatrick-Juxta -- Coats Hill (No. 395). Lochmaben -- Rockhall (No. 448). Moffat -- Auldton, Moffat (No. 483). [PARISH.] -- LAKE DWELLING. Dunscore -- Rough Island, Loch Urr (No. 144). [PARISH.] -- CAIRNS. Closeburn -- Threip Moor (No. 72). Closeburn -- Gawin Moor (No. 75). [PARISH.] -- MISCELLANEOUS. Canonbie -- Spiral-marked Slab, Hollows Tower (No. 43). Sanquhar -- Cross, Mennock Pass (No. 564). Note. - The following monuments, which are under the charge of H.M. Office of Works, are not included in the foregoing lists: Kirkpatrick-Fleming -- Gravestone of Adam Fleming (No. 373). Kirkpatrick-Fleming -- Merkland Cross (No. 378). Ruthwell -- Ruthwell Cross (No. 538). -- vii
dumfries-1920/04-010 ILLUSTRATIONS. INTRODUCTION. FIGURE. -- NAME. -- PAGE. 1 Annan, c. 1560, showing Mote and Tower -- xxxii 2 Spiral-marked slab, Hollows Tower -- l 3 Motes, and Bruce Stone -- lviii 4 Towers -- lxi 5 Castlemilk, c. 1547 -- lxii 6 Map showing the situation of castles and fortified houses in the 16th century (from map in the British Museum) -- lxiii 7 Crosses -- lxvii INVENTORY. PARISH. -- FIGURE. -- NAME. -- NO. IN INVENTORY. Annan -- 8 -- Bonshaw Tower -- 1 Annan -- 9 -- Mote of Annan -- 3 Applegarth -- 10 -- Fort, Dalmakethar Burn -- 20 Caerlaverock -- 11 -- Caerlaverock Castles : block plan -- 33 (1) Caerlaverock -- 12 -- Old Castle of Caerlaverock : plan -- 33 (1) Caerlaverock -- 13 -- Old Castle of Caerlaverock : splayed base -- 33 (1) Frontispiece. Caerlaverock Castle -- 33 (2) 14 -- Caerlaverock Castle : ground and first floor plans -- 33 (2) 15 -- Caerlaverock Castle : north front and Gatehouse -- 33 (2) 16 -- Caerlaverock Castle : east wall -- 33 (2) 17 -- Caerlaverock Castle : sections -- 33 (2) 18 -- Caerlaverock Castle : west curtain and base tower -- 33 (2) 19 -- Caerlaverock Castle : elevations -- 33 (2) 20 -- Caerlaverock Castle : second, third, and fourth floor plans -- 33 (2) 21 -- Caerlaverock Castle : interior from the south -- 33 (2) 22 -- Caerlaverock Castle : fireplaces and details -- 33 (2) 23 -- Caerlaverock Castle : elevation of east wing -- 33 (2) 24 -- Caerlaverock Castle : entrance to hall -- 33 (2) 25 -- Fort, Wardlaw -- 35 Canonbie -- 26 -- Hollows Tower -- 43 Canonbie -- 27 -- Hollows Tower : plan -- 43 Canonbie -- 28 -- Roman Camp, Gilnockie -- 45 Canonbie -- 29 -- Long Cairns, etc., Windy Edge -- 47 Closeburn -- 30 -- Closeburn Castle : plan -- 59 Closeburn -- 31 -- Mote, Dinning -- 65 -- viii
dumfries-1920/04-011 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. PARISH. -- FIGURE. -- NAME. -- NO. IN INVENTORY. Cummertrees -- 32 -- Repentance Tower : plan -- 89 Cummertrees -- 33 -- Hoddom Castle -- 90 Cummertrees -- 34 -- Hoddom Castle : plan -- 90 Dalton -- 35 -- Dalton Church : plan -- 96 Dalton -- 36 -- Little Dalton Church : plan -- 97 Dalton -- 37 -- Little Dalton Church : window -- 97 Dalton -- 38 -- Fort, "Range Castle" -- 98 Dornock -- 39 -- Stapleton Tower : plan -- 106 Dornock -- 40 -- Robgill Tower : plan -- 107 Dornock -- 41 -- Coped Stone, Dornock -- 109 Dornock -- 42 -- Coped Stone, Dornock -- 109 Dumfries -- 43 -- Dumfries Midsteeple -- 127 Dumfries -- 44 -- Dumfries Midsteeple : inscribed stone -- 127 Dumfries -- 45 -- Dumfries Bridge -- 131 Dumfries -- 46 -- Dumfries Bridge : plan -- 131 Dunscore -- 47 -- Lake Dwelling, Loch Urr -- 144 Dunscore -- 48 -- Lake Dwelling, Loch Urr: plan -- 144 Durisdeer -- 49 -- Drumlanrig Castle : plan -- 156 Durisdeer -- 50 -- Drumlanrig Castle : principal entrance -- 156 Durisdeer -- 51 -- Drumlanrig Castle : stairs to garden -- 156 Durisdeer -- 52 -- Drumlanrig Castle : sundials -- 156 Durisdeer -- 53 -- Tibbers Castle : plan -- 157 Durisdeer -- 54 -- Tibbers Castle : plan -- 157 Durisdeer -- 55 -- Fort, Kirk Burn -- 163 Eskdalemuir -- 56 -- Roman Camp, Raeburnfoot -- 172 Eskdalemuir -- 57 -- Fort, "Castle O'er Fort": key sketch -- 177 Eskdalemuir -- 58 -- "Castle O'er Fort" : plan -- 177 Eskdalemuir -- 59 -- "Castle O'er Fort" : Trench -- 177 Eskdalemuir -- 60 -- "Castle O'er Fort" : Ramparts -- 177 Eskdalemuir -- 61 -- "Castle O'er Fort" : Entrance -- 177 Eskdalemuir -- 62 -- Fort, The Knowe -- 178 Eskdalemuir -- 63 -- Stone Circle, "Girdle Stanes" -- 198 Eskdalemuir -- 64 -- Stone Circle, "Loupin' Stanes" -- 199 Glencairn -- 65 -- Old Crawfordton : plan -- 233 Glencairn -- 66 -- "Mote," The Orchard, Snade -- 237 Glencairn -- 66A -- Mote, Ingleston -- 238 Gretna -- 67 -- "Lochmaben Stane" -- 263 Hoddom -- 68 -- Churchyard and Church Foundations, Hoddom Bridge : plan -- 271 Hoddom -- 69 -- Roman Stone in Church Foundations, Hoddom Bridge -- 271 Hoddom -- 70 -- Birrenswark or Burnswork : plan of Fortifications -- 272 Hoddom -- 71 -- Birrenswark or Burnswork : Roman Glandes from -- 272 Hoddom -- 72 -- Birrenswark or Burnswork : South Camp -- 272 Hoddom -- 73 -- Birrenswark or Burnswork : interior of redoubt -- 272 Hoddom -- 74 -- Birrenswark or Burnswork : Bridle-Bit from -- 272 Hoddom -- 75 -- Sculptured fragments of Celtic cross from Knockhill -- 273 Hoddom -- 76 -- Pedestal of Roman Altar from Knockhill -- 273 Hoddom -- 77 -- Other sculptured fragments from Knockhill -- 273 Hoddom -- 78 -- Cross-shaft from Hoddom -- 273 -- ix
dumfries-1920/04-012 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. PARISH. -- FIGURE. -- NAME. -- NO. IN INVENTORY. Hoddom -- 79 -- Crosses, Hoddom Churchyard -- 274 Holywood -- 80 -- Fourmerkland Tower -- 280 Holywood -- 81 -- Fourmerkland Tower : plan -- 280 Holywood -- 82 -- Stone circle, "Twelve Apostles," Holywood -- 284 Hutton and Corrie -- 83 -- Gillesbie Tower : plan -- 287 Johnstone -- 84 -- Lochwood Tower and Mote : plans -- 315 and 316 Kirkmahoe -- 85 -- Isle Tower -- 337 Kirkmahoe -- 86 -- Isle Tower : plan -- 337 Kirkmahoe -- 87 -- Isle Tower : Heraldic panel -- 337 Kirkmahoe -- 88 -- Dalswinton Old House -- 338 Kirkpatrick-Fleming -- 89 -- "Adam Fleming" stone, Kirkconnel Churchyard -- 373 Kirkpatrick-Juxta -- 90 -- Auchencass or Auchen Castle -- 384 Kirkpatrick-Juxta -- 91 -- Structure and Incised Cross, Kinnelhead -- 385 and 386 Kirkpatrick-Juxta -- 92 -- Lochhouse Tower : plan -- 388 Kirkpatrick-Juxta -- 93 -- Mote, Coats Hill -- 395 Kirkpatrick-Juxta -- 94 -- "Camp," Garpol Water -- 396 Kirkpatrick-Juxta -- 95 -- Mote, Garpol Water -- 397 Kirkpatrick-Juxta -- 96 -- Fort, Beattock Hill (summit) -- 401 Kirkpatrick-Juxta -- 97 -- Fort, Stanshiel Rig -- 403 Kirkpatrick-Juxta -- 98 -- Enclosure, Beattock Hill -- 412 Langholm -- 99 -- Barntalloch Mote -- 431 Lochmaben -- 100 -- Lochmaben Old Castle -- 445 (1) Lochmaben -- 101 -- Lochmaben Castle : plan showing outworks -- 445 (2) Lochmaben -- 102 -- Lochmaben Castle : plan -- 445 (2) Lochmaben -- 103 -- Lochmaben Castle : from a sketch by John Clerk of Eldin -- 445 (2) Lochmaben -- 104 -- Lochmaben Castle -- 445 (2) Lochmaben -- 105 -- Spedlin's Tower : plan -- 446 Lochmaben -- 106 -- Spedlin's Tower : prison -- 446 Lochmaben --- 107 --- Elshieshields Tower -- 447 Lochmaben -- 108 -- Elshieshields Tower : plan -- 447 Lochmaben -- 109 -- Fort, Woodycastle -- 450 Middlebie -- 110 -- Blackwood or Blacket House -- 460 Middlebie -- 111 -- Roman Camp, Birrens -- 462 Middlebie -- 112 -- Dedicatory Tablet from Birrens -- 462 Middlebie -- 113 -- Altar to Discipline of Augustus from Birrens -- 462 Middlebie -- 114 -- Altar to Mars, etc., from Birrens -- 462 Middlebie -- 115 -- Altar to Fortune from Birrens -- 462 Middlebie -- 116 -- Dedicatory slab to Brigantia from Birrens -- 462 Middlebie -- 117 -- Altar to Harimella from Birrens -- 462 Middlebie -- 118 -- Fort, Birrens Hill, Carruthers -- 464 Moffat -- 119 -- Breckonside Tower -- 475 Moffat -- 120 -- Frenchland Tower -- 480 Moffat -- 121 -- Mote, Auldton -- 483 Moffat -- 122 -- Fort, Auchencat Burn -- 485 Morton -- 123 -- Morton Castle : plan -- 510 Morton -- 124 -- Morton Castle : Gatehouse tower -- 510 Morton -- 125 -- Morton Castle : interior -- 510 Morton -- 126 -- Morton Castle: doorway at first floor level -- 510 Morton -- 127 -- Cross-shaft, Grierson Museum -- 514 Mouswald -- 128 -- Grave-slabs at Ruthwell U.F. Church -- 518 -- x
dumfries-1920/04-013 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. PARISH. -- FIGURE. -- NAME. -- NO. IN INVENTORY. Penpont -- 129 -- Free-standing Cross, Nith Bridge -- 531 Ruthwell --130 -- Comlongon Castle -- 537 Ruthwell --131 -- Comlongon Castle : plan -- 537 Ruthwell --132 -- Comlongon Castle : S.W. corner of Hall -- 537 Ruthwell --133 -- Comlongon Castle : "yett" -- 537 Ruthwell --134 -- Comlongon Castle : prison -- 537 Sanquhar -- 135 -- Effigy, Sanquhar Church -- 549 Sanquhar -- 136 -- Sanquhar Castle : plan -- 551 Sanquhar -- 137 -- Sanquhar Castle : entrance to inner courtyard -- 551 Sanquhar -- 138 -- Sanquhar Castle : tower -- 551 Sanquhar -- 139 -- Fort, "Kemp's Castle" -- 557 Tinwald -- 140 -- Amisfield Tower : plan, section, and elevation -- 578 Tinwald -- 141 --- Amisfield Tower : north face --- 578 Tinwald --- 142 -- Amisfield Tower : south face -- 578 Tinwald -- 143 -- Amisfield Tower : Coloured plaster frieze in Hall -- 578 Tinwald -- 143A -- Amisfield Tower : Carved oak door in National Museum of Antiquities -- 578 Tinwald -- 144 -- Fort, Barr's Hill -- 581 Torthorwald -- 145 -- Torthorwald Castle -- 590 Torthorwald -- 146 -- Torthorwald Castle : plan -- 590 Tundergarth -- 147 -- Fort, Crawthat Cottage -- 595 Tynron -- 148 -- Tynron Doon -- 609 Wamphray -- 149 -- Sculptured Stone, Wamphray Church -- 628 Westerkirk -- 150 -- Fort, "Bogle Walls" -- 638 Westerkirk -- 151 -- Cist, "King Schaw's Grave" -- 648 APPENDIX. THE RUTHWELL CROSS (NO. 538). FIGURE. -- PAGE. 152. -- The Ruthwell Cross as now set up in the Parish Church -- 219 153. -- The Cross as it stood before its removal to the Parish Church in 1887 -- 222 154. -- The Bewcastle Cross, showing the four sides -- 224 155. -- The Ruthwell Cross, showing the four sides -- 225 156. -- The Christ, on the north face of the Cross -- 227 157. -- The Flight into Egypt -- 228 158. -- Portions of the western and southern faces of the Cross -- 230 159. -- The Annunciation -- 231 160. -- The Upper Arm of the Cross-head -- 232 161. -- Table of Runic Futhorcs -- 236 162. -- Table of Letters -- 243 163. -- Various illustrative pieces -- 246 164. -- Cross-forms -- 247 165. -- Cross-slab at Hoddom -- 248 166. -- Figure of Christ, from Alexandria -- 252 167. -- Map of Bernicia and Strathclyde -- 257 168. -- Runes on the sides of the Cross -- 269 -- xi
dumfries-1920/04-014 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. LIST OF PARISHES. - [Note] 43. PAGE. Annan -- 1 Applegarth -- 3 Caerlaverock -- 10 Canonbie -- 26 Closeburn -- 30 Cummertrees -- 37 Dalton -- 41 Dornock -- 44 Dryfesdale -- 45 Dumfries -- 48 Dunscore -- 55 Durisdeer -- 59 Eskdalemuir -- 68 Ewes -- 80 Glencairn -- 84 Gretna -- 92 Hoddom -- 93 Holywood -- 104 Hutton and Corrie -- 107 Johnstone -- 114 [Note] 22 Keir -- 119 [Note] Half Morton Kirkconnel -- 120 Kirkmahoe -- 121 Kirkmichael -- 126 Kirkpatrick-Fleming -- 128 Kirkpatrick-Juxta -- 131 Langholm -- 146 Lochmaben -- 148 Middlebie -- 159 Moffat -- 169 Morton -- 176 Mouswald -- 180 Penpont -- 182 Ruthwell -- 185 St. Mungo -- 188 Sanquhar -- 189 Tinwald -- 195 Torthorwald -- 200 Tundergarth -- 203 Tynron -- 207 Wamphray -- 209 Westerkirk -- 213 [Note] 43 BIBLIOGRAPHY. -- Abbreviated Reference. Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland. Ancient Cross-Shafts at Bewcastle and Ruthwell, by the Right Rev. G. F. Browne, DD., D.C.L., LL.D. (Cambridge: University Press, 1916). Ancient Scottish Lake Dwellings or Crannogs, by Robert Munro, M.D. (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1879). Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. -- A.S.Chronicle. Annals of the Solway until A.D. 1307, by George Neilson, LL.D. (Glasgow : 1900). Annals of Ulster. (Record publications.) Annandale Family Book of the Johnstones, Earls and Marquises of Annandale, by Sir William Fraser (2 vols. Edinburgh : 1894). Antiquities of Scotland, by Francis Grose, F.A.S. (London: 1789). -- Grose's Antiquities Archæologia Scotica, or Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Armstrong MSS., in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Bede. Historiæ Ecclesiasticæ gentis Anglorum. -- Eccl. Hist., or Bede. -- xii
dumfries-1920/04-015 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. -- Abbreviated Reference. Birrel's Diary (See Fragments of Scottish History). Birrens and its Antiquities by James Macdonald and J. Barbour (Dumfries : 1897). Book of Caerlaverock : Memoirs of the Maxwells, Earls of Nithsdale, Lords Maxwell and Herries, by Sir William Fraser (2 vols. Edinburgh : 1873). Border Laws (See Leges Marchiarum). Buccleuch and Queensberry MSS., Historical MSS. Commission, 15th Report, Appendix, Part VIII. -- Buccleuch, or Bucc. MSS. Caledonia, by George Chalmers, F.R.S., F.S.A. (Paisley : Alexander Gardner. New edition, 1887-1894). Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, edited by Joseph Bain, F.S.A. Scot. -- Bain's Calendar, or Bain. Calendar of Letters and Papers relating to the Affairs of the Borders of England and Scotland, edited by Joseph Bain, F.S.A. Scot. -- Calendar of Border Papers, or Border Papers. Calendar of Papal Registers. Calendar of State Papers relating to Scotland and Mary, Queen of Scots, 1547-1603, edited by (1) Joseph Bain, (2) William K. Boyd. -- Cal. Scottish Papers, or Scottish Papers. Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland, by David Macgibbon and Thomas Ross, Architects (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1887-1892). -- Cast. and Dom. Arch. Celtic Scotland, by W. F. Skene (3 vols. Edinburgh : Edmonston & Douglas, 1876). Chronica Gentis Scotorum, John de Fordun (Edinburgh : 1871). Chronicles of the Picts and Scots, and other early Memorials of Scottish History, edited by William F. Skene, LL.D. (Edinburgh : 1867). -- Chron. P. & S. Closeburn (Dumfriesshire), Reminiscent, Historic, and Traditional. by R. M. F. Watson (Glasgow : 1901). Date of the Ruthwell and Bewcastle Crosses, by Albert S. Cook, Professor of the English Language and Literature in Yale University (Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, 1912). De Origine, Moribus, et Rebus Gestis Scotorum, John Leslie, Rome : 1578. -- De Origine, etc., Scotorum. Documents illustrative of the History of Scotland from the Death of King Alexander the Third to the Accession of Robert Bruce, edited by the Rev. Joseph Stevenson (2 vols. : 1870). -- Stevenson's Documents. Douglas Book, by Sir William Fraser (4 vols. Edinburgh: 1885). Drumlanrig Castle and The Douglases, with the Early History and Ancient Remains of Durisdeer, Closeburn, and Morton, by Crauford Tait Ramage, LL.D. (Dumfries : J. Anderson & Son, 1876). Early Christian Monuments of Scotland, by J. Romilly Allen and Joseph Anderson (Edinburgh : Neill & Co., 1903). -- Early Christ. Mon. Early Fortifications in Scotland, by Dr David Christison (Edinburgh and London : Blackwoods, 1898). -- xiii
dumfries-1920/04-016 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. -- Abbreviated Reference. Early Scottish Charters prior to 1153, collected, with Notes and an Index, by Sir Archibald C. Lawrie (Glasgow: James MacLehose & Sons, 1905). Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland, by David Macgibbon and Thomas Ross, Architects (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1896-1897). -- Eccles. Arch. Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. Fædera, etc., by Thomas Rymer (London : 1704-35). Fragments of Scottish History, by Sir John Graham Dalyell. State of Ancient Scotland - Birrel's Diary - Expedition in Scotland (Edinburgh : 1798). -- Birrel's Diary. Glencairn, Dumfriesshire: The Annals of an Inland Parish, by J. Corrie (Dumfries : 1911). Glenriddell MSS., in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Growth of a Scottish Burgh, by J. W. Shirley (Dumfries: 1915). Hamilton Papers. Letters and Papers illustrating the Political Relations of England and Scotland in the 16th century, edited by Joseph Bain. Historia Ecclesiæ Dunelmensis, by Symeon of Durham (London: 1732). -- Symeon of Durham. Historical Families of Dumfriesshire, and the Border Wars, by C. L. Johnstone, 1889. Historical Manuscripts Commission Reports. -- Hist. MSS. Comm. Historical Memoirs of the Reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a portion of the Reign of King James the Sixth, by Lord Herries, edited by Robert Pitcairn (Edinburgh: 1836). -- Herries' Memoirs. History and Antiquities of the Counties of Westmorland and Cumberland, by Joseph Nicolson and Richard Burn, 2 vols. (London: 1777). -- History of Westmorland, etc History and Antiquities of Scotland from the Earliest Account of Time, etc., by William Maitland (2 vols. London: 1757). -- Maitland. History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland from the beginning of the Reformation in the Reign of King James V. to the Retreat of Queen Mary into England, Anno 1568, by the Rev. Robert Keith, Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Scotland. (Edinburgh: 1734). -- History of Affairs, etc., or Keith. History of the Burgh of Dumfries, with notices of Nithsdale, Annan- dale, and the Western Border, by W. McDowall (Edinburgh: 3rd edition, 1906). History of the Church of Scotland, by John Spottiswoode, Arch- bishop of St Andrews, with Biographical Sketch and Notes by the Right Rev. M. Russell, LL.D., 3 vols. (Edinburgh: 1847-51 - Spottiswoode Society). -- Spottiswoode's History, or Spottiswoode. History of Dumfries and Galloway, by the Right Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart. (Edinburgh and London: Blackwoods, 1896). -- Dumfries and Galloway. History of the House of Douglas, by the Right Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart. (2 vols. London: Fremantle & Co., 1902). -- xiv
dumfries-1920/04-017 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. -- Abbreviated Reference. History of the Johnstones, with descriptions of Border Life, 1191- 1909, by C. L. Johnstone (Edinburgh: 1909). History of the Kirk of Scotland (1514-1625), by the Rev. David Calderwood, A.M., edited from the original MS. preserved in the British Museum by the Rev. Thomas Thomson, 8 vols. - Woodrow Society - (Edinburgh: 1842-49). -- History of the Kirk, or Calderwood. History of Liddesdale, Eskdale, Ewesdale, Wauchopedale, and the Debateable Land, by Robert Bruce Armstrong (Part I. Edin- burgh: 1883). -- Armstrong or Armstrong's Liddesdale. History of Moffat, with frequent notices of Moffatdale and Annan- dale, by W. R. Turnbull (Edinburgh: 1871). History of Sanquhar, by James Brown (Dumfries: J. Anderson & Son, 1891). History of Scotland from the accession of the House of Stewart to that of Mary, with Appendices of original papers, by John Pinkerton, 2 vols. (London: 1797). Itinerarium Septentrionale, by Alexander Gordon (London: 1726-32). -- Gordon. Langholm as it was, by John and Robert Hyslop (Langholm: Robert Scott, 1912). Leges Marchiarum, or Border Laws, by William (Nicolson) Lord Bishop of Carli(s)le (London: 1705). Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII. Liber Gardrobæ, Rolls Series. Lochmaben Five Hundred Years Ago; or Selections, Historical and Antiquarian, from Papers collected by John Parker, by the Rev. William Graham (Edinburgh: 1865). Lord Wardens of the Marches of England and Scotland, by Howard Pease, M.A., F.S.A. (London: Constable & Co., Ltd., 1913). Macfarlane's Geographical Collections, edited by Sir Arthur Mitchell, K.C.B. - Scottish History Society - (Edinburgh: T. & A. Constable, 1906-1908). Manuscripts of J. J. Hope Johnstone, Esq., of Annandale, - Historical Manuscripts Commission - 15th Report, Appendix, Part IX. (London: 1897). -- Johnstone MSS. Memorials of St Michael's Churchyard, Dumfries, by Wm. McDowall (Edinburgh: A. & C. Black, 1876). Military Antiquities of the Romans in North Britain, by Major- General Roy (London: 1793). -- Roy. Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, etc., by Sir Walter Scott (Kelso and Edinburgh: 1802-3). Origines Parochiales Scotiæ, edited by Cosmo Innes - Bannatyne Club - (Edinburgh: 1850-55). -- Orig. Paroch. Peel: its Meaning and Derivation, by George Neilson (Glasgow: 1893). Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. -- Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., or Antiquaries. Register of the Privy Council of Scotland. -- Reg. P. C. Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum. The Register of the Great Seal of Scotland. -- Reg. Mag. Sig. -- xv
dumfries-1920/04-018 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. -- Abbreviated Reference. Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis - Bannatyne Club - 2 vols. (1843). -- Registrum Epis. Glasg. Repentance Tower and its Tradition, by George Neilson (Glasgow: 1895). A Roman Frontier Post and its People: The Fort of Newstead, in the Parish of Melrose, by James Curle, F.S.A. Scot., F.S.A. (Glasgow: James MacLehose & Sons, 1911). Runic Roods of Ruthwell and Bewcastle, by James King Hewison, M.A., D.D., F.S.A. (Scot.) (Glasgow: John Smith & Son, Ltd., 1914). Scotichronicon, edited by W. Goodall (2 vols. Edinburgh: 1759). Scottish Historical Review (Glasgow: MacLehose). -- Scot. Hist. Rev. Scots Lore (Glasgow: 1895). Series of Etchings, chiefly of Views in Scotland, by John Clerk, of Eldin - Bannatyne Club - (Edinburgh: 1855). Siege de Karlaverok, edited by Sir Nicolas Harris Nicolas. State Papers. Henry VIII. - vols. iv. and v. Statistical Account of Scotland (1797). -- Stat. Acct. Statistical Account of Scotland, New (1845). -- New Stat. Acct. Tour in Scotland in 1769 and 1772, by Thomas Pennant. -- Pennant. Tours in Scotland in 1747, 1750, and 1760, by Bishop Pococke, edited by D. W. Kemp - Scottish History Society - (Edinburgh: T. & A. Constable, 1887). -- Pococke. Transactions of the Dumfries and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society. -- Trans. Dumf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. Transactions of the Glasgow Archæological Society. -- Trans. Glasgow Arch. Soc. Vita St Kentigerni. The Historians of Scotland, vol. v. (Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas, 1874). -- Vita St Kentig. Vita Sancti Columbæ - (Adamnan ed. by Reeves) - Bannatyne Club (Dublin: 1857). -- Vita Columbæ Vitruvius Britannicus (Colin Campbell: 1767). Wamphray: Pages from the History and Traditions of a famous parish in Upper Annandale, illus. : by J. Paterson. (Lockerbie: 2nd edition, 1907). -- xvi
dumfries-1920/04-019 INTRODUCTION TO INVENTORY OF ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE COUNTY OF DUMFRIES HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. I. HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY. DUMFRIESSHIRE is virtually the West March ¹ of old Border days, Galloway proper being an outlying district in history as in geography. Its northern region is part of the Silurian upland of southern Scotland, and is deeply trenched on the west side by the valley of the Nith, which valley also marks a division between the more monotonous high land to the east and the massive and boldly outlined hills of Galloway. On the east side, too, a mountainous country extends between the basins of the Esk and the Teviot. Southwards, towards England, Dumfries- shire inclines first to a gently undulating country and then to a great flat, which, along the shores of the Solway, offers a "Merse" or marshy tract, a mere fringe of waste, however, in comparison with its nominal counterpart in Berwickshire. Superficially, indeed, these two counties have much in common. Both pass without serious obstruction into the north of England plain on either side of the Pennine range. Both offer an open road round an extremity of the Cheviots, which so effectually cover the intermediate shire of Roxburgh. But the western gate, if flatter than the eastern, is also narrower. On the other hand, the lower Esk was an even less serious obstacle then the Tweed. It offered no difficulties of fording. In 1745 the Jacobite army in its retreat from England passed across this river in a column one hundred men broad, when "the water was big and took most of the men breast-high." ² At low tide on the Solway there were crossings also far down the channel of the river, where it is subject to overflow by the water of the firth, one below the town of Annan to Bowness in Cumberland - where a railway line is now carried over to the southern shore - and another from Dornock to Drumburgh. The latter was known as the "Sandywathe," ³ while the regular ford on the Esk, the nearest to the mouth and on that account the most important of the river fords, was of old 1 Ewesdale and even Eskdale are sometimes referred to as in the Middle march. Cf. Maxwell's Dumfries and Galloway, p. 158. 2 Lord G. Murray's Journal. 3 Chronicon de Lanercost, Bann. Club, p. 272. -- xvii
dumfries-1920/04-020 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. known as the "Sulwath," a name signifying the "muddy" (sol=mud), in contrast to the "sandy," wath or ford and later transferred, in the form "Solway," to the firth as a whole. ¹ The English chronicler Knighton tells how, in July 1335, Edward III. made a plundering raid upon Scotland from Carlisle, crossing the vadum Sulwath on entry and returning by the vadum Anandiæ. ² In the 14th century, in the days of Caerlaverock's great siege, the firth was known as the "Irish Sea," and it is still so named by Bishop Leslie in the late 16th century. ³ From the latter half of the 12th century the Esk had been the recognised boundary of Scotland. At some date in the first quarter of the 14th century the men of Cumberland and Westmorland, about whose services on the Border there had been dispute, ⁴ represent to Edward III. that "the service due in war to his ancestors" on their part was "that, on his march to Scotland, they should meet him at the Rerecross on Stanemoor and go in his vanguard as far as `la Marche de Solewathe,`"taking the rearguard on the return. ⁵ But the lower Esk was not suffered to remain much longer as the frontier line. So accessible was the land on its northern side as a mere prolongation of the level to the south, and so intermingled and homogenous the population in consequence, that the district between the Esk and the little river Sark became a "debateable land" between the two countries, and its inhabitants even were familiarly referred to in the 16th century as the "Baitablers." This feature had a profound influence on the history of the West March. The fact that there was no clear definition of juris- dictions made it an ideal resort for the more lawless spirits of the Border, who, while the wardens jealously disputed, went their own way. "For neither I will suffer the warden of Scotland to answer for it," Lord Dacre informs the English Privy Council in 1550, "because I will not affirm it to be Scotland, nor will they, on the contrary, consent that it shall be England." ⁶ The usual provision for the Debateable Land in truces between England and Scotland was that it should not be occupied on behalf of either kingdom, "`neither with stub, stake, nor otherwise, but with bit of mouth for pasturing of cattle`from sunrise to sunset, according to old custom." ⁷ The Prior of Canonbie, however, was allowed to enclose and build upon his section, about four square miles in the area. The trading relations of the district with Carlisle formed the basis of the English claim to Canonbie as being really part of England. But in the lengthy diplomatic corre- spondence over the question (cf. p. xxxvi.) the Scots would always furnish a counter- plea to each argument, and in logic no decision was possible. The unsatisfactory condition of the district, however, forced on the question of its delimitation, and in 1552 Commissioners from the two countries apportioned the doubtful territory. After all, it appears the local borderers had preferences in the matter, which preferences were taken as a guide to division. The inhabitants of the eastern part had their inclinations set towards Scotland, those of the western towards England; and it was settled so. Thus the Canonbie part became Scottish, while England had the barony of Kirkandrews, once property of the Rossedals of the 1 Fordum refers to fluvium Esk, quod dicitur Scotiswath sive Sulwath (Chronica Gentis Scotorum, lib. ii., cap. ii.). Cf. p. xxx. 2 Chronicon (R.S.), i. p. 472. 3 See also Neilson's Annals of the Solway, passim; Trans. Dumf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc., 1895-6, p. 156. 4 Bain's Calendar, ii. No. 1134. 5 Ibid., iii. No. 716: la Rerecroiz sus Estaynmor. 6 Letter in Nicolson and Burn's History of Westmorland. etc., i. p. lxxv. 7 Treaty of Berwick, Dec. 1528, Letters and Papers For. and Dom., Henry VIII., vol. iv. part ii. No. 5030; Leges Marchiarum (1549), Nicolson, pp. 80-81. -- xviii
dumfries-1920/04-021 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. lower Esk. The line of division was drawn in the form of a "ditch or furrow" (fossa vel sulco) from a bend of the Sark to another bend on the Esk, the particular spots being marked by squared, pointed stones bearing on the face looking east the Scottish royal arms, and on that looking west those of England. In case of accident, the actual position of these stones was also topographically defined in the deed of division. Henceforward the boundary between the countries is the Sark and the "Scots Dike" or ditch. ¹ It is the rivers that are the determining geographical feature of Dumfriesshire. It is their basins, Nithsdale, Annandale, and Eskdale, that are its historic units. The higher land to the east also gives the chief tributaries of the Esk a definite importance, as Ewesdale and Wauchopedale. The slope of the country is southwards, and the hills send their spurs southwards. Between the vales of Nith and Annan lie the Torthorwald Hills and the Lochar Moss; Annandale, in its upper division, is separated from Eskdale by a high-lying plateau. Of the dales Annandale was easily, from its central position and its extent, pre-eminent in a geographical sense. Its roots spread wide. The original grant to the family of Bruce extends the area from the border of Cumberland on the one side to that of Nithsdale on the other, and in this sense it was generally understood: "The Stewartrie of Annandale from Erickstone (or rather Tweeds Cross which is a mile farther north and the boundary of Tweddale) to Alisonbank the southmost part and outmost limits of the Kingdome will be 27 miles in length from North to South; and from Mortoun town alias Tower of Sark on the east to the Castle of Cockpool alias Cumlongan ² on the west will be about 14 myles in breadth." ³ For this reason it seems sometimes to have been used as equivalent to the present county. ⁴ An early description includes Annandale in the region of Galloway, without specifying the other dales. ⁵ Of much importance, too, were the many patches of morass that anciently distinguished the more level parts of the country, and still characterise these to a conspicuous extent. Between Lochar Moss east of the Nith and "Sollom" Moss by the Esk stretched a chain of such obstructions, of which Hightae Moss and Nutberry Moss are considerable survivals, and which seriously limited the approaches westwards. Lockerbie was surrounded by mosses. But boggy land was not confined to the south. Lochwood Tower stands on the margin of what is still a considerable morass. The Cairn valley in the parish of Glencairn must once have had extensive bogland. But the rivers, as usual in Scotland, in contrast with England, favour advance north and south. The manner in which one railway follows the line of the Nith and the other that of the Annan graphically records this determinant. It is indicated even in the shape of the parishes, which tend to have their longer axis in these directions. The great historic families of Dumfriesshire are apportioned to the dales, and all Dumfriesshire history - economic, administrative, and military - moves along their furrows. 1 The frontier was defined thus: ut in ipso utrius partis discrimine trames linearis rectus transversim ab Esk ad Sark fluvium ducatur, fossa vel sulco vestigium ipsius denotante (Rymer's Fœdera). The "Scots' Dike" now, however, appears as a low mound, with the trace of a shallow ditch on each side, running in a straight line through the middle of the plantation on the boundary, e.g. on each side of the road going south from Glenzierfoot. What remains is in danger of being obliterated. 2 The castles of Cockpool (No. 542) and Comlongon (No. 537) are really different places. 3 Macfarlane's Geographical Collections (Scot. Hist. Soc.), i. pp. 365-6. 4 Cf. Calendar of Border Papers, i. pp. 393-4. 5 Description of Scotland, 1292-6, in Chronicles of the Picts and Scots, p. 215. -- xix
dumfries-1920/04-022 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. The same characteristic also determined the great historical jurisdictions. Dumfries is of the type of shires which take their name from the principal town, that town having achieved its original importance as a military centre. The town of Dumfries had a royal castle and a sheriff about the end of the twelfth century. Later the sheriffdom of Dumfries becomes synonymous with Nithsdale, but in its fullest extent included Galloway east of the river Cree. Annandale, when it became a Crown holding, ranked as a stewartry (see p. xxvi.) having its courts at Loch- maben. The lordship of Eskdale was erected into a regality for the Douglases. These jurisdictions became hereditary, and compensation had to be paid to their owners on their abolition in 1747. II. EARLY HISTORY. The Romans found in Dumfriesshire a people whom they call Selgovæ, a word which may contain the Celtic root selg, "hunting," and so mean "the huntsmen." In Ptolemy's map the Selgovæ are given four towns or fortified sites, of which two are east of Novii ostia or mouth of the Nith: Uxellum meaning "the height," ¹ which has been allotted to the enclosure with ramparts and ditch on Wardlaw Hill (No. 35) and Trimontium "triple hill," identified with the fortified summit of Birrenswark or Burnswork ² (No. 272). But the calculations underlying the map are not likely to be even approximately accurate, and "Trimontium" is generally placed, with all possible plausibility, at the "triple peak" of Eildon. Birrenswark is the best-defined and farthest-seen "height" of southern Dumfriesshire, but identification with Uxellum or of the more inland Corda with Sanquhar is little better than guesswork. That a Roman route went northwards through Dumfriesshire to the limes between the Forth and Clyde is very probable, though to lay it out is another matter. ³ Various indications go to suggest that the station at Birrens was about the last place in Scotland to be held in the clutches of the imperial eagle. There is evidence of an early occupation, and abundant evidence of an occupation in the second half of the 2nd century. The Roman camps at Gilnockie (No. 45) and Raeburnfoot (No. 172) suggest operations in the Esk valley, either as a short route to the Tweed valley at Peebles, where there is another camp, or as the scene of an expedition against the tribes who then occupied this tract of ground and have left so many impressive traces of their presence in the hill forts of Eskdalemuir, particularly in Castle O'er (No. 177) and Bailiehill (No. 640). The first historic figure to be associated with Dumfriesshire was Kentigern or St Mungo. The county was then part of the "Cambrian region," ⁴ which, in its fullest extent, extended from the neighbourhood of the Clyde to the English Channel, and explains the saint's personal connection also with Cumberland and North Wales. Later this continuous strip of land, held by the resisting Britons, was broken up by Saxon intrusion. 1 Cf. "Ochil" Hills: the phonetic change x to ch is Brittonic, not Gaelic. 2 Skene, Celtic Scotland, i. p. 72. Skene suggests that Trimontium represents a native word with the Welsh form Tre or Tref, "town," and so Trefmyndd or "the town on the mountain." 3 On "Roman" and other early roads in Dumfriesshire see articles by Dr. James Macdonald, Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. xxviii. (1893-4). pp. 43-4, 298-320; and Hislop's Langholm As It Was, pp. 113-7. 4 "regionis Cambrensis," Vita St. Kentig., cap. xi. But this use of the name is late (cf. p. xxiii.); Jocelyn wrote the life in the twelfth century. -- xx
dumfries-1920/04-023 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. Kentigern flourished in the 6th century, when one result of the troubles through which the island had passed was a plain set-back to Christian teaching. Columba was a younger contemporary. It was but a Christian remnant among the northern Britons, though it included the local king, who selected Kentigern, as a young man, for their bishop. His see he fixed in what was to be Glasgow. There arose in time a king of a different persuasion, whose kin finally made it so hard for Kentigern that he had to take refuge in Wales, where he remained till after the battle of Ardderyd in 573. Ardderyd is clearly to be identified with a site on the south side of the River Liddell, a plain "between Lidel and Carwanolow," ¹ the latter a small southern tributary of the Esk. A victory for the Christianising party in British politics, it raised Rederch or Rydderch "Hael" or "Roderec the Liberal" to the throne. His Irish designation - his mother was Irish - was King of Alcluyd, "the rock by the Clyde" or Dumbarton. ² So he and his successors are styled in the Irish annals. Dumfriesshire preserves the name in Carruthers, "the caer (Brittonic) or fort of Rydderch." Rydderch secured the return of the discreet and tactful Kentigern to his kingdom, wherein the Christian religion had well-nigh perished. What thus amounted to a fresh missionary effort had its beginning on the haugh of Hoddom, ³ where King Rydderch and a multitude of the people met the returning apostle, who forthwith addressed the gathering, assuring them that their idols were the work of men's hands, that the elements that they deified were but instruments of their Maker, and that Woden whom they, and especially the Angles, worshipped was probably once merely a mortal king of the Saxons. This adoption of Woden by a Celtic people indicates a change of religion which was a tribute to Saxon success in conquest. An edifying miracle occurred when the flat where Kentigern was placed rose into a not incon- siderable little hill, ⁴ and as such it remained in the days of the narrator, the 12th century, and presumably ever since. Possibly, therefore, Trailtrow Hill overlooking Hoddom, where a graveyard still exists in a not very suitable situation because a chapel once stood there, may mark the place of the preaching of Kentigern: old Hoddom Church was by the river bank (No. 271). For a time, too, "Holdelm" was further honoured by being made the bishop's see, where churches were constituted and clergy ordained. Hoddom was thus an ecclesiastical centre of much importance during a brief period, till circumstances secured the re-establishment of the see in Kentigern's "own city of Glasgow." ⁵ We are told by his biographer that it was the custom of Kentigern to erect a cross - of stone presumably in his opinion, since the two specifically mentioned are of stone - in any place where he had made converts or had lived for some time. ⁶ Certainly the crosses and fragments of crosses in Dumfriesshire make a remarkable group, and those formerly standing at Hoddom are, no doubt, due to the saint's special connection with that neighbourhood, though their date is much later in time. Kentigern's crosses, like that of King Oswald in Bernicia as late as 635, were in all probability of wood. ⁷ And before Oswald's cross there was no outward sign of the Christian faith in that province. 1 Scotichronicon, bk. iii. cap. xxxi. 2 "Petra Cloithe" in Adamnan's Vita Columbæ. 3 "in planitie campi, vocabulo Holdelm," Vita Kentig., cap. xxxii. 4 "monticulum altum," ibid. 5 Ibid., cap. xxxiii. 6 Ibid., cap. xli. 7 Bede, Eccl. Hist., iii. cap.2. But in the 12th-century biography he is credited with a great cross of stone at Glasgow and another miraculously made from sea-sand (de sola arena maris) at "Lothever- werd" (Vita Kentig., cap. xli). -- xxi -- c
dumfries-1920/04-024 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. Kentigern and Rydderch both died in the same year, 601, after which the records of the northern Britons again become scrappy and rare. In 613 the battle of Chester marks the piercing of the British line by the Northumbrian Angles, and the northern Britons are definitely dissociated from those in Wales. The farthest limit of the northern section was the River Derwent in northern Lancashire, which down to the 19th century formed the boundary between the bishoprics of Carlisle and Chester. But in the history of this province boundaries are uncertain. Rydderch seems to have carved out a kingdom based on Alcluyd, and his control certainly extended to the Solway, and perhaps beyond. References to the Rerecross on Stanemoor, now on the boundary between York and Westmorland, suggest that here once ran the line between Cumbria and Northumbria. ¹ But we do not hear of a particular territorial name till we reach a reference to Strathclyde (Stratha- Cluaidhe) in the Annals of Ulster under 873, and another to the people, two years later, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Thereafter Srathclyde is generally used for this variable kingdom. The fortunes of the portion later known as Dumfries cannot, of course, be separated from those of the kingdom as a whole, but certain occurrences have more definite bearing upon that quarter. From the reign of Oswald of Northumbria (634-642), through that of Oswy, and down to the defeat and death of Ecgfrith at the hands of the revolting Picts in the battle of Dunnichen, 685, the Britons were subject to the Northumbrian kingdom. As kings of Alcluyd are nevertheless also mentioned during this time, ² it may be taken that their status was that of vassals, and that the subjection of the people amounted to the payment of a yearly tribute, as in the case of the Picts and Scots. ³ Civil supremacy, however, again as in the Pictish case, would bring with it ecclesiastical control, and this epoch of Northumbrian lordship, extending to about half a century, has been fixed upon as one of the possible occasions on which a cross inscribed with a Northumbrian poem in runes might be erected at Ruthwell (see Appendix). The Northumbrian disaster at Dunnichen restored to "some part" of the Britons their liberty. ⁴ As we find that the Anglian hold continues on the west side, since in 696 Cunningham (Ayrshire) is reckoned Northumbrian, ⁵ while in 731 the Anglian bishopric of Candida Casa, "White House," or Whithorn in Galloway, being in the province of the Bernicians, ⁶ has just been constituted, ⁷ we infer that the base for this and later advances in the west must have been the British lands south of the Solway, that the Britons freed by Dunnichen were therefore north of that firth, that Dumfriesshire, and particularly Nithsdale, afforded the approach to Cunningham, to Edbert's acquisition of Kyle (Cyil) in 750, ⁸ and the attack by that monarch and the Picts on "Alcwith" or Alcluyd in 756, when the Britons were reduced to terms and Edbert's army perished (interiit) on the return, ⁹ that there- fore the free Britons were those of the Clyde valley, and that Northumbrian dominion on the west and south thus particularised them as the "Strathclyde Welsh," which name appears on record in the following century. 1 Cf. reference to boundaries of old Scottish kingdom in Fordun, Chronica Gentis Scotorum, bk. iii. cap. ii., de mora lapidea, "from stone-moor." Modern forms: Rey Cross, Stainmore. 2 e.g. the Annals of Ulster give in 642 "Hoan" (Ewen), King of the Britons, as the slayer of Donald Brec, and in 657 the death of Gureit, King of Alcluyd. 3 Bede, ii. cap. 5. 4 Ibid., iv. 26. 5 Ibid., v. 12. 6 Ibid., iii. 4. 7 Ibid., v. 23. 8 Chronicon, Bede, ed. Stevenson, Eng. Hist. Soc. 9 Symeon of Durham, R.S., ii. pp. 40-41. -- xxii
dumfries-1920/04-025 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. Early in the 9th century the line of Anglian bishops in Whithorn ceased, and there is a blank but probably anarchic time in the south-west, ¹ till the striped sails of the Northmen rose against the sunset, bringing no peace but a sharper sword. In 870 Alcluyd fell after a siege of four months by Danes and Norse from Ireland. Five years later Halfdan with his Danes traversed the country into Northumbria, and is recorded to have wasted the "Strathclyde Welsh," ² or "Strathclydians," ³ or, as in a third place and for the first time, the "Cumbri." ⁴ This was an enterprise of Danes from Ireland, and does not seem to have been more than a foray of ex- ceptional destructiveness. Permanent settlement was the work of the Norse bear- ing elements of Irish culture. Tinwald (Thing-völlr), "field of the meeting," a short way north-east of Dumfries, seems to have been, as its name suggests, the centre of local Norse control. The first serious settlement would be about the year 880, which date would apply also to the settlements in Cumberland. For the Norse as for the Britons the land north and south of the Solway was all one. So much is made clear by the place-names. Certain of these are identical on both sides of the firth, e.g. Eskdale (or Askdale=Ashdale), Dalton, Brydekirk, Ousby (Oseby), Canonbie, etc.; others have identical elements, as in the various compounds with thwaite ("clearing" or "sloping pasture") and by ("settlement") and in Smailholm (smali, small cattle: cf. Cumberland "Smallthwaite"), Closeburn (Kil-Osbjörn), the old Butterthuate or Butterquhat (cf. Buttermere), Langholm etc. Many names belong, however, not to the early settlement but to later times when the latter part of the compound was an established local form, e.g. Lockerby (1198 Locardebi) registers the personal name Locard introduced to Scotland in the 12th century (cf. p. xxiv.). Fell, beck, and gill names, which also occur in Cumberland and Westmorland, occur here as far north as Moffat. Applegarth may be compared with Appleby in Westmorland and Calgarth (i.e. "calf-enclosure") at Windermere. The Dumfriesshire Norse, equally with their British neighbours, might be expected to regard unfavourably the imperial activities of the expanding West Saxon kingdom, and Owen, King of the Cumbrians, is one of the kings allied against Athelstan on the occasion of his great victory at Brunanburgh in 937.⁵ This alliance was in contempt of the arrangement of thirteen years earlier, when the Strathclyde Welsh accepted Edward, the elder brother of Athelstan, as their lord.⁶ Moreover, it was to continue a troublesome district from the English point of view. Its mixture of British and Norse blood did not render it more amenable to outside guidance. Athelstan's brother Edmund in 946 subjected Strathclyde to another wasting, and finally handed over the kingdom to Malcolm I. of Scotland on condi- tion of co-operation by land and sea. Yet in 1018 we again hear of the death of a king of Strathclyde, the last, as it happened, for Malcolm II. of Scotland now placed on the vacant seat his son Duncan, who was to be his own successor. So Strathclyde merges at last into the wider realm of Scotland. Since the beginning of the 10th century, when the royal line of Alba had already supplied an occupant for the throne, Scottish permeation and influence had been growing. Its final outcome was the obliteration not only of the independence of 1Cf. p. xxiv. 2 "Stræcled-Walas," A.S. Chronicle. 3 "Stratcluttenses," Asser (late 9th century), De Rebus Gestis Ælfridi. 4 Ethelwerd (late 10th century), Chronica, bk. iv., in Monumenta Historica Brit., p. 515. 5 A plea has been made for the identification of Brunanburgh with the hill of Birrenswark. See Scot. Hist. Rev., vol. vii. (1909), pp. 37-55. 6 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Florence of Worcester makes it 921. -- xxiii
dumfries-1920/04-026 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. the kingdom but also of its language, with probably the infusion of a fresh Gaelic element in the topography, where appear names such as Dunscore (sgór=a sharp rock), Duncow (coll=hazel), Lag (=hollow), the old Dunberton (i.e. Briton) in Lochmaben parish, Glencairn and the other "glen" compounds. Gaelic ousted Welsh, and was still spoken in Carrick in the 16th century, before it in turn was ousted by Scots. The period of the invasions subsequent to the time of Kentigern and his suc- cessors is painted in very sombre colours in the Inquisition of David concerning the lands of old possessed by the bishopric of Glasgow, the date of which is the first quarter of the 12th century. Insurrections arose, we are told, the Church was destroyed, lands were wasted, and good men driven into exile. Then into the desolate country poured diverse tribes of different nations, unlike in race, language, and customs, among whom paganism prevailed over the Christian faith. Probably in all this there is not only compression of facts but some exaggeration in the interests of the reforms of Prince David. ¹ III. TERRITORIAL FAMILIES. It was David I. who left the deepest mark on Dumfriesshire. Before coming to the throne he held a position in southern Scotland, as "Prince of Cumbria," which cannot be defined in relation to either power or territory. It seems, however, to have been an actual division of the kingdom, though only his brother Alexander was known as king. In 1124 David himself succeeded to the throne, and so reunited the realm. Virtually, by training and preference, David belonged to that international race whom we know as Normans. He did two big things in the south-west. He re- constituted the bishopric of Glasgow, which included the old Strathclyde kingdom, and he settled the Yorkshire family of Bruce in Annandale (c. 1124.) The Bruce domain included "Estrahanent" (Annandale) and all the land from the boundary of Dunegal of Nithsdale to the boundary of Randolph "Meschin" (="the younger"), who possessed Cumberland; that is, as far at least as Gretna. The principal seat of the family at first seems to have been Annan, which was a con- venient centre for communication with their Yorkshire lands, but Lochmaben and probably Moffat were also residences. In the original charter Robert de Brus is, by implication, licensed to erect a "castellum," ² but at what place is not indicated. Round the greater light of Bruce gathered the lesser lights of Annandale, some, like their overlord, Norman immigrants, others apparently of the earlier local stock. Names of witnesses attached to Bruce charters of the end of the 12th and the begin- ning of the 13th century are these, being names which were to be long familiar in the history of the shire: Robert de Hodalmis or Hodelm (Hoddom), Humphrey del Gardine (Jardine), William de Herez (Herries), Edward de Hodalmia (Hoddom), Hugh de Corri, Robert de Crossbi, Roger de Kirkpatrick, Malcolm Loceard, Sir Gilbert de Jonston, David de Torthorwald. Of these the Johnstones rose to greatest importance, but their early family records perished in a burning of Loch- wood by Maxwells in 1585 (see No. 315). "Dunegal of Stranith," who in the 1 Registrum Epis. Glasg., p. 5. Cf. also Scots Lore (1895), p. 36 ff., and Lawrie's Early Scottish Charters, No. 4. 2 See Neilson in Trans. Dumf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc., 1914-15, p. 58. -- xxiv
dumfries-1920/04-027 INVENTORY OF MONUENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. 12th century was lord of the larger part of Nithsdale, clearly represents a survival among the great Celtic landowners then in process of being replaced by Normans. From his eldest son the family took the surname of Randolph, and its best known representative was the Thomas Randolph of the War of Independence, nephew of Robert the Bruce and first Earl of Moray. A junior branch similarly adopted the surname of Edgar, and in the early 14th century was possessed of the castle of Sanquhar and half the barony. ¹ At the southern end of the Nith the family of Maxwell, from the neighbourhood of Kelso in Roxburghshire, probably acquired the barony of Caerlaverock early in the 13th century. ² Above Dumfries are Dalswinton and Duncow, in which there were Comyns. In the immediate neighbourhood was the barony of Tinwald, which appears to have been in possession of the family of Mande- ville since the time a Mandeville married an illegitimate daughter of William the Lion. In part Tinwald Mote (No. 582), original messuage of the barony, still survives. About the middle of the 15th century the line ended in heiresses, of whom one married Edward Maxwell. ³ Maxwell in course of time acquired the other portions of the barony. Eskdale in the 12th and 13th centuries was wholly Norman in lordship. In the upper valley and part of the lower were the Avenels, conspicuous patrons of the Abbey of Melrose. This line ended in heiresses and the Dumfriesshire lands passed to the husband of the elder, a Graeme of Dalkeith. In the middle Esk the barony of Westerkirk (Wathstirker, Watiskirker) was in the possession of the great Liddesdale family of De Soulis. In Ewesdale were Lovels; in Wauchopedale, after 1285, Lindsays, who, with a break extending substantially over the 16th century, continued there till 1707. ⁴ Lower Eskdale was largely owned by the Rossedals (Norse hross-dalr, "horse-dale"), another family almost entirely known for its gener- osity to Jedburgh Abbey (as the Avenels for their connection with Melrose) and its foundation of the Priory at Canonbie for Augustinian canons as a cell of Jedburgh. The Rossedals make a silent and unexplained exit from history. The War of Independence, and the long struggle against England, brought about a partial redistribution of Dumfriesshire lordships. A temporary imposition of some English owners may be neglected. A Bohun or a Percy in Annandale was but a bird of passage. It was the Scottish kings proper who had the final word. As a result, the main territorial feature in the district during more than a century is the steady expansion of the wealth and power of the Douglas family by grant and acquisition. The first of the family to own lands in Dumfriesshire was the "good Lord James," Bruce's friend, when in 1321 he had a grant of lands in the barony of Westerkirk. ⁵ That followed on the elimination of De Soulis, who had been forfeited and executed on a treason charge a year before. About twenty years later, the Lovels, as supporters of England, disappeared from Ewesdale, and their lands too were added to the Douglas holdings, being transferred to William, nephew of Lord James, first Earl of Douglas. ⁶ The most important of the Douglas vassals in this quarter was the knightly family of Glendinning from Roxburghshire in Eskdale- muir. ⁷ In Ewesdale again were a branch of the Teviotdale Frasers, till, on their resignation, the property in 1426 was granted to Simon Lytil or Little, ⁸ with which family it remained for quite two centuries. 1 Reg. Mag. Sig. (new edition), i. p. 8, No. 27. 2 Orig. Paroch., i. p. 446; Book of Caerlaverock, i. p. 40. 3 Exchequer Rolls, vi. p. 168. 4 Armstrong's Liddesdale, p. 168. 5 Reg. Mag. Sig., i. pp. 522, 544. 6 Ibid., p. 565. 7 Armstrong's Liddesdale, p. 160. 8 Reg. Mag. Sig., ii. No. 48. -- xxv
dumfries-1920/04-028 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. By the elevation of the Bruces to the throne Annandale became a Crown hold- ing, and was conferred by Robert I. on his nephew Thomas Randolph, lord of Nithsdale and Earl of Moray. ¹ The Moray line ended in a daughter who married the Earl of March, and when Earl George was forfeited in 1409 Annandale was acquired by the Earl of Douglas, ² from which family it reverted to the King after the tragedy of 1440. James II. conferred the lordship upon his younger son, the Duke of Albany, who forfeited it by rebellion; and in 1487 it was finally annexed to the Crown. Having been granted to Randolph as a free regality - i.e. with a jurisdiction regal in scope, as far as was possible to a vassal, - on reversion to the Crown it ranked as a stewartry, while Lochmaben remained a royal castle under a constable. In later days the two offices of Steward of Annandale and Constable of Lochmaben were usually held by one person (see p. xli.), and from 1410 - first, in the sense of regality-depute, under the Earls of Douglas and then from 1455 under the Crown - till the 17th century the stewardship was hereditary in the Maxwells. ³ The changes in Nithsdale during the 14th century also worked towards an expansion of the Douglas family. The forfeited Comyns went out, and a marriage brought in the Douglases in the person of William the first Earl, who married a daughter of the Earl of Mar, to whom had come the lordship of Nithsdale. The ancient Mar line thus failing, the Earls of Douglas enjoyed both that title and the lordship. ⁴ The second Earl, the James Douglas who fell at Otterburn in 1388, left two sons, both illegitimate, of whom William the elder was provided with the barony of Drumlanrig. ⁵ Archibald, lord of Galloway and third Earl, conferred the lord- ship of Nithsdale upon his second son, who left one daughter as issue. She married the Earl of Orkney, and so brought Nithsdale to the Sinclairs; but in 1455 James II. secured a surrender of the lordship by the Earl, as well as of his hereditary office of sheriff of Dumfries, for compensation elsewhere. The Comyn barony of Dal- swinton fell to Walter Sewart of the Galloway family, ⁶ and Duncow to a Boyd. ⁷ Dalswinton remained with the Stewarts till the 17th century, when it passed from the Earl of Galloway to the Earl of Queensberry. After the forfeiture of the Boyds in the middle of the 15th century Duncow is found in possession of a Maxwell. Another family now came into prominence in upper Nithsdale. William de Crichton, of a Midlothian stock, had married the heiress of the Roos or Ross line who held half the barony of Sanquhar; the other half he acquired by purchase. The seat of these Rosses was probably at Ryehill, by which they were sometimes dis- tinguished, ⁸ and where there is a mote-hill (No. 556). Later there are Crichtons in Ryehill. William de Crichton's great-grandson was in 1485 created Lord Crichton of Sanquhar. The Crichtons, too, benefited by some of the Douglas property when that family came to grief, and continued in Sanquhar Castle and barony till the early part of the 17th century. In 1617 William Crichton entertained James VI. lavishly in the Castle, and in 1633 was created Earl of Dumfries. These succes- sive honours proved too much for the estate, and in 1639 it was sold to the first Earl of Queensberry. The adjacent barony of Morton was in 1440 granted by James II. to James Douglas of Dalkeith, afterwards Earl of Morton, though deriving his title from 1 Reg. Mag. Sig., i., App. i., No. 34. 2 Ibid., No. 920. 3 Johnstone MSS., p. 10 (Hist. MSS. Comm., xv., App. ix.). 4 Reg. Mag. Sig., i. p. 647. 5 Buccleuch and Queensberry MSS., p. 8 (Hist. MSS. Comm., xv., App. viii.). 6 Reg. Mag. Sig., i., App. ii., No. 323. 7 Ibid., Nos. 306, 315. 8 New Stat. Acct., iv. p. 306 n. -- xxvi
dumfries-1920/04-029 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. "Mortoune" in Midlothian. ¹ Another family of upper Nithsdale was that of Menzies in the baronies of Durisdeer and Enoch. About 1322 there is a charter by Robert I. to Alexander Menyers or Menzies of the lands of Durisdeer. ² Later, Durisdeer and the barony of "Enache (No. 167), resigned by Alexander Menzies, are conferred on James Steward, brother of the High Steward, ³ and Durisdeer remained with the Stewarts till near the close of the 17th century. It was otherwise with Enoch. In [Note in margin] 1498 Manor of Crichtone, Lady Ennach - [---] [Dom --- (149- p 277 1376 we have a grant of the barony to Robert, son of John de "Meigners," it having been held and resigned by the said John. ⁴ Thereafter Enoch is possessed by a Menzies till the beginning of the 18th century, when it was sold to James Duke of Queens- berry. ⁵ In the 15th century there was a Menzies in Dalveen, ⁶ and another in Castle- hill of Durisdeer. ⁷ Dalveen was in time also to go to the Douglases. Of the minor families between Annan and Nith, that of Torthorwald suffers eclipse as a result of holding to the losing side. Like its neighbours, including the Bruces, it had attached itself to the English interest in the War of Independence; unlike these, it had remained falsely true. Sir James de Torthorwald had fallen at Bannockburn a "willing adherent" of Edward II., and John de Torthorwald, apparently his eldest son, became a pensioner of Edward III. in 1331. ⁸ Thomas de Torthorwald, however, the other son, who also had served the English interest, fought and died for David II. at Durham (1346), and his daughter and heiress, married to Robert de Corrie and personally enfeoffed by that king in the lands of Collin and Roucan, adjoining Torthorwald, died without issue in 1369. ⁹ Meantime, King Robert I. had passed on the Torthorwald barony to Sir John Soulis, ¹⁰ and, after his forfeiture in 1320, to Humphrey de Kirkpatrick. ¹¹ And with the Kirkpatricks of Closeburn the barony remained till some time at the close of the century, when it appears in the possession of Carlyes. The name of Carlyle - de Karliolo - has place among those familiar as witnesses to early 13th-century charters of the Bruces, such designations as Corrie, Herries, Jardine, Charteris (de Carnoto), Kirkpatrick; all later to become surnames. The original settlement of the Carlyes was at Lockerbie (which they exchanged) and Kinmount (Kynemund). ¹² William of Carlyle is styled "Laird of Los" ¹³ by Thomas Randolph as lord of Annandale. ¹⁴ This William had married Margaret, sister of Robert Bruce. In 1432 we suddenly have record of William of Carlyle of Torthor- wald in a marriage contract with Sir Thomas of Kirkpatrick, lord of "Killosbern." ¹⁵ By what bridge the Carlyles entered upon the Torthorwald barony is not condescended upon. Sir John Carlyle was created Lord Carlyle of Torthorwald about 1475, but the direct male line ended in an heiress who brought the estate into the family of her Douglas husband, Sir James Douglas of Parkhead; her eldest son was Lord Carlyle of Torthorwald in 1609. Finally, the property passed into the hands of the Queens- berry family in 1621-1622. ¹⁶ No name is more common in the train of the Bruce lords of Annandale than that of Herries or de Heriz, and the title of Lord Herries, as a distinction acquired by a 1 Hist. MSS. Comm., xv., App., part viii. p. 36. 2 Reg. Mag. Sig., i. p. 517. 3 Ibid., p. 530. 4 Ibid., No. 585, p. 213. 5 Drumlanrig Castle and the Douglases, p. 93. 6 Reg. Mag. Sig., ii. No. 765. 7 Ibid., No. 3492. 8 Bain's Calendar, iii. Nos. 1020, 958. 9 Reg. Mag. Sig., i. p. 613. 10 Ibid., i. p. 517. 11 Ibid., p. 457. 12 Buccleuch MSS., p. 39. 13 Luce was an old parish now merged in Hoddom. 14 Buccleuch MSS., p. 42. 15 Ibid., p. 44. 16 Ibid., pp. 43-44. -- xxvii
dumfries-1920/04-030 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. branch of the Maxwells, is conspicuous in one disturbed period of later Dumfriesshire history. The name was particularly associated with the estate of Hoddom, but the Herries holdings in the 14th century, when they were conferred, were principally those of Terregles and Kirkgunzeon, on the Kirkcudbright side of the Nith, though in the grants referred to they are included in the Sheriffdom of Dumfries. ¹ Hoddom we first hear of in 1199,when Robert de "Hodelme" is accused of having allied him- self at the siege of Carlisle with the King of Scotland (William the Lion, 1173 or 1174) against King Henry II., his lord for lands in England. ² In the plea over this affair we have mention of Robert's two sons Udard and Randulph de "Hodamme." ³ But heirs male ceased, for in 1257 we find Thomas de Lacelles, the husband of the daughter and heiress of Christiana daughter of "Odard de Hodeholm," in possession of the English property in Cumberland in virtue of his wife's inheritance from her mother. ⁴ In 1292 we have Robert de Brus (the Competitor) in a successful lawsuit over the same English lands in association with his wife Christiana, heiress to her grandfather Odard of Hoddom, ⁵ both married for the second time. Adam de "Hodolm" appears on the Ragman's Roll in 1296, ⁶ so that the Scottish property must have gone a different way. As we have seen above, Annandale came to the Douglases in 1409, and soon after that date Earl Archibald, in a charter now lost, gifted to Simon of Carruthers the lands of Hoddom among others, ⁷ and in 1452 King James II. erected all these possessions of the Carruthers family, including Hoddom, into the barony of Carruthers. ⁸ The cessation of the Carruthers family after the middle of the 16th century brought about a fresh allotment of the Hoddom property. The next great reconstruction of Dumfriesshire territorial ownership followed on the suppression and forfeiture of the main branch of the Douglases in 1455. That family was then planted to a greater or less extent in every dale of the county. But in a country as yet administered almost wholly on territorial lines, through the principal families, the extent of the possessions and power of the Douglas earldom was a menace to the Crown, and the Earls did not trouble to dissemble the fact. Indeed, this house occupied two other earldoms, brothers of the Earl of Douglas being Earls of Moray and Ormond. When the Earl himself was forced into England, these two opposed the forces of the Crown and were defeated at Arkinholm (Langholm) in 1455. The royal army itself was under the command of a Douglas, the Earl of Angus. The loyalists duly had their share of the extensive territorial spoils of the ruined earldom. Angus, among other things, had a gift of the lordship of Eskdale. The Maxwells, who had held for the Earl of Douglas the hereditary office of Steward of Annandale, received it now from the Crown, and likewise supplanted the Douglas in Nithsdale. Of the smaller folk the Beatsons profited most. John and Nicholas "Batysoune," two brothers, had an hereditary grant of the five-mark lands of Dalbeth in upper Eskdale for their services at Arkinholm, while Robert "Batysoune," for the same reason, got Whiteshield. ⁹ Apparently anti-royalist sympathies in Dumfriesshire were confined to the Corries, who suffered accordingly. George Corrie of Corrie backed the Albany- Douglas raid upon Lochmaben in 1484, and was stripped of all his lands and possessions, of some, however, it would seem only for a time. The lands of Corrie 1 Reg. Mag. Sig., i. pp. 98, 615. Cf. p. xx. 2 Bain's Calendar, i. No. 280. 3 Ibid., No.449. 4 Ibid., No. 2101. 5 Ibid., ii. p. 151. 6 Ibid., No. 203. 7 Buccleuch MSS., p. 56. 8 Ibid., p. 58. 9 Exchequer Rolls, vi. p. 557; Reg. Mag. Sig. (1424-1513), Nos. 632, 633. -- xxviii
dumfries-1920/04-031 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. were given to Thomas Carruthers in that year. ¹ But early in the next century we find Corrie in the hands of James Johnstone of Johnstone, who conferred it upon his second son Adam, whence the family of Johnstones of Corrie. ² The "Johnstone grey" ³ was spreading over Annandale. Wamphray in the north, familiar from the ballad of "The lads of Wamphray," was acquired by pur- chase in 1476 and given by Johnstone to a younger son. ⁴ In 1536 we find that Newbie has been sold by George Corrie to William Johnstone of Gretna, ⁵ and Newbie, with other lands, was six years later erected into a free barony in favour of the same Johnstone. ⁶ Carruthers is an old place-name, and the family was in Dumfriesshire as early at least as the 13th century, but Carruthers passed out of their hands at some later period. In the 14th century (1315-21), a son of John of Carruthers received the lands of Mouswald (Musfald) and Applegarth (Appiltretwayt) from Robert Bruce. ⁷ Archibald Earl of Douglas in 1426 conferred Holmains, Little Dalton, etc., upon a son of the laird of Mouswald. Mickle Dalton and Dormount he had granted to his "shield-bearer" Gilbert "Greresoun" some years before. These lands another Gilbert Grierson sold in 1552. ⁸ The Murrays were descended from a sister of Thomas Randolph, and were destined to a peerage (Mansfield) in the 17th century, in which the family disappeared. Their hereditary lands were Cockpool, Comlongon, and Ruthwell, and from the Corrie estates they seem to have acquired Redkirk. The lands of Cockpool, "Ruvale tenement," the tower and fortalice of Comlongon, Rainpatrick, and other estates comprised the barony of Cockpool on its erection in 1508. ⁹ Charteris (de Carnoto) of Amisfield goes back to the close of the 12th century. In September 1298 Edward I. granted to the Earl of Warwick the castle of "Amesfeld" and land of Drungrey belonging to Andrew de Chartres. ¹⁰ The family had lands also in the south of England, which were apparently restored to Andrew de Chartres on submission in 1304. ¹¹ By June 1314 Andrew was dead, and the lands in "Aldredestone in Wilts" had been forfeited by the rebellion of Robert de Chartres, his son and heir. ¹² In the 15th century we have the emergence of the Border clans or "surnames." In the Act of 1587 the clans of the West March are listed as Scotts of Ewesdale, Batesons or Beatsons (Eskdalemuir and Westerkirk), Littles (lower part of Upper Eskdale), Thomsons (Upper Eskdale), Glendinnings (Upper Eskdale, Wauchopedale), Irvings (Lower Annandale to Lower Eskdale), Bells (Kirtle Water), Carruthers (cf. p. xxviii.), Grahams (cf. p. xxxv.), Johnstones (cf. p. xxiv.), Jardines (Lower Annandale), Moffats (Black Esk), and Latimers or Lorimers (Upper Nithsdale). These conditions prevailed generally throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, with such modifications as befell in the natural course of things: as the failure of the line of Carruthers of Mouswald and the acquisition of the property by Douglas of Drumlanrig. In the 15th century, too, a branch of the latter family appears in Dalveen. The 17th century saw many of the old baronies, such as Torthorwald, Closeburn, Enoch, etc., acquired by the Douglases, while the barony of Langholm was sold by the second Earl of Nithsdale to the Duke of Buccleuch. These transactions, however, are outwith our special interests. 1 Reg. Mag. Sig., ii. No. 1590. 2 Annandale Family Book, i., xxx. 3 The family livery. See "Katherine Janfare" in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. 4 History of the Johnstones, p. 9; Annandale Family Book, i., xxiii. 5 Reg. Mag. Sig., iii. No. 1598. 6 Ibid., No. 2570. 7 Ibid., i. No. 92. 8 Hist. MSS. Comm., vi. pp. 710, 712. 9 Reg. Mag. Sig., ii. No. 3194. 10 Bain's Calendar, ii. No. 1009. 11 Ibid., No. 1481. 12 Ibid., iii. No. 366. -- xxix
dumfries-1920/04-032 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. IV. RELATIONS WITH ENGLAND: THE DEBATEABLE LAND. That the relics of the primitive folk should be traceable along the line of the watercourses, and that, to avoid the objectionable features of the forest and bogland on the levels, these pioneers should have occupied the higher and drier flanks, is what might be expected. This applies to peaceful penetration, which is necessarily a leisurely and scattered process. Hostile invasion follows a more beaten track. Whether the Romans made their first entry into Caledonia by the west side is not certain, though usually affirmed. Birrenswark has given us the glandes (or acorn- shaped sling bolts of lead) which are peculiarly associated with Agricola's time. The Antonine Itinerary starts on this side at the station of Blatobulgium or Birrens, though this road-map is not necessarily complete. A prolongation of the road to the western extremity of the Vallum of Forth and Clyde seems inevitable. The camps at Gilnockie and Raeburnfoot by the White Esk raise another problem (see p. xx.). In any case, we are moving along the rivers. Even to-day travelling across country in Dumfriesshire is inconvenient; the very railways reflect the north and south trend of the forces which have moulded the district. The mediæval routes are scarcely in doubt. The main one at least ran from Annan to Lochmaben, thence towards Tinwald way, and so by the side of the Nith to where the road forked, as it still does, between Tibbers and Morton, one fork going up by Durisdeer to the passes through the hills into Clydesdale, the other by Sanquhar into Ayrshire. The upper Annandale route by Moffat was also much used as the most direct way from the capital to the West March. It led to the head waters of the Tweed, and so to Peebles and the way to Edinburgh. ¹ From the succession of fortified sites along both sides we may infer that it was also a well-trodden prehistoric route. In number the sites exceed those in the upper part of the Nith valley. But in later military history, on any scale greater than a parochial feud, the Annan-Lochmaben-Nithsdale road was the main strategical feature of Dumfriesshire. Relatively to England there was also this fact, that on Dumfriesshire opened the western door past the mountain partition of the Cheviots. The Solway Firth on the one side and the hills on the other, with only the Esk as an ineffectual barrier, canalised all advances by land on this side from one country to the other. Thus, from the very outset of hostilities in the War of Independence, the cardinal position of Dumfriesshire became apparent. King John's offensive opened, two days before King Edward crossed the Tweed, with a stroke as far as Carlisle. The Scots issued from Annandale and crossed the "water of Sulewath" at three places. They did a lot of mischief, but had to relinquish the siege of Carlisle and retire to Annandale. ² From the other side Annandale became a favourite raiding ground. Twice in the year of Stirling Bridge (1297) it suffered a foray from Carlisle; the second occasion was a little before Christmas, and an improvised resistance of the natives brought about what is piously remembered as the battle of Annan, a local defeat. More than ten hamlets were burned within the range of a few parishes. Next spring Annan itself was spoiled and burned, church and all. ³ 1 Cf. Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. xviii. part ii. No. 237, for various routes from Carlisle to Edinburgh and Glasgow. 2 Hemingburgh, Chronicon, London, 1849, vol. ii. pp. 95-96. 3 Ibid., pp. 146-7. -- xxx
dumfries-1920/04-033 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. So far Annandale and Annan town had suffered for their proximity to the enemy base at Carlisle, and Annan was the only place worth spoiling till one came to Dumfries. But when the military occupation of the district began, a different use was made of the town. Edward I. returned from his victory at Falkirk through Annandale, coming over from Tibbers, and received the surrender of Lochmaben Castle. From this stage Lochmaben is recognised as the strategic centre of Dumfriesshire, and its accommodation is immediately extended and strengthened. Edward added a peel or palisaded bailey and erected a tower, ¹ which enabled the place to hold out among the very last in the War of Independence. The later stone fortress was accounted, even in the 16th century, to be strong enough to withstand any assailants short of "the hole armye of Scotlande." ² Possession of Lochmaben indeed was of cardinal importance to an enemy. It could be supplied in a short land journey from Annan, which in turn could draw upon the Cumberland ports, particularly Skimburness. It was a nodal point or junction of roads, of that up Annandale and the more prac- ticable route into Nithsdale. For between the lower Annan and the Nith dangerous mosses straitened the ways, particularly the Lochar Moss, the black heart of which still stretches northwards to beyond the town of Dumfries, and which must have been an even more formidable obstacle in olden days than it would prove now. It then effectively covered the approach to either Caerlaverock or the royal castle of Dumfries. To both there were but two possible roads. One was at the southern end of the moss from Annan by Cockpool and Bankend, but between the latter places it was carried over the moss on a narrow artificial bank, which could be cut and rendered impractic- able. ³ The other was by Lochmaben and Locharbriggs, ⁴ and this was clearly the safer and more usual way. The castle of Dumfries was also accessible from the sea by the River Nith. ⁵ Probably the mote of Castledykes on the Dumfries side and that of Troqueer in the Stewartry on the other, mark an ancient ferry, ⁶ as did the twin castles of York. But south and west of Caerlaverock even the sea was held at arm's length by half-drowned and water-logged land. ⁷ Intrinsically the castle thus owed its importance to its strong defensive position, and its consequent capacity for annoy- ance to hostile neighbours. It was within easy striking distance of Lochmaben, and to have Lochmaben garrison in comfort Caerlaverock must be reduced. ⁸ Also a hostile force operating across the Nith in Galloway might be liable to its attentions. It is as an incident in such a campaign that Caerlaverock fell easily to Edward's assault in the summer of 1300. At the port of Annan the oldest defensive post was the 12th-century mote-castle of the Bruces; when a supplement to this was sought, it was found in the steeple of the church, and here, in 1299, Edward I. was having victuals stored against a possible attack by Robert Bruce. ⁹ In 1547 the steeple, which had but one storey above the basement, was regularly besieged, captured, and razed to the ground by an English force. ¹⁰ More elaborate defensive works were undertaken by Lord Herries less than twenty years after. The year 1565 saw Annan equipped with "a fair tower, able to 1 See Art. 443, and Bain's Calendar, ii. No. 1112, p. 535. 2 Armstrong's Liddesdale, App. lxx. p. cxiii. 3 State Papers, Henry Viii., vol. v. part iv. (contd.), p. 554. 4 Armstrong, App. lxx. p. cx. 5 Bain's Calendar, iii. pp. 283-4; Armstrong, App. lxx. p. cx. 6 Cf. Shirley's Growth of a Scottish Burgh, p. 13. 7 State Papers, etc., v. part iv. (contd.), p. 554. 8 Bain's Calendar, ii. p. 535. 9 Ibid., ii. p. 284. 10 Calendar Scottish Papers, i. pp. 19-20. Cf. p. lxiv. -- xxxi
dumfries-1920/04-034 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. receive above a hundred persons 'at ease,' and forty or fifty horses." From the town to the sea a ditch was dug, with but three places of passage, and another ditch landward to a moss, similarly restricted in its approaches. There were also, within two miles of the town, another tower to accommodate twenty-four horsemen, and a high watch-tower with beacon and bell for warning. Such works put effective fetters upon both freebooting exploits from the west and sudden raids from across the Border - at least so far as the western districts were concerned. ¹ The strategic elements of Dumfriesshire, then, are obvious. They attach them- selves primarily to the line of the lower Annan, where the cardinal point was the town of Annan. This is further made clear by the Act of 1481 for the garrisoning on that line of Lochmaben, Castlemilk, Bell's Tower (? Kirkconnel Tower on the Kirtle), and Annan; also by Lord Herrie's recommendation in 1579 (cf. p. xli.) to [Map inserted] The town of Annan FIG. 1. - Annan, c. 1560, showing Mote and Tower. ² "strenthin the keipar dyke that environ- ettis the town of Annan" and "cast and strenthin the fuirds" of the river as had been the "ancient ordour" (cf. also Art. 89). The second but more vital line is that of the Nithsdale fortresses - Caer- laverock, Dumfries, Dalswinton, Tibbers, Durisdeer, and, it may be added, Morton. Connection with England could be main- tained through Dumfries and the estuary of the Nith, or more regularly, through Lochmaben and Annan to Skimburness. Lochmaben was thus the strategic nucleus of the defensive system, a fact abundantly illustrated by its history. The Niths- dale line seems curiously interdependent: it goes down either way as a whole. After his assassination of Comyn in 1306, Bruce seized Dumfries, Caerlaverock, Tibbers, and Durisdeer. The English king promptly set about their recapture. In 1309, out of about twenty-seven castles in English occupation, there are here Caerlaverock, Lochmaben, Dumfries, Dalswinton, Tibbers. By the close of 1313 probably all, and certainly the last three, had fallen to Bruce. Lochmaben was among the very last strongholds in Scotland to hold out for Edward II. Apart from Lochmaben, the most important positions, to judge from garrison figures, were Dumfries and Tibbers; but the numbers in the former, as a base, fluctuate considerably from time to time. Local names crop up in the English accounts as in service on that side: in 1299 Sir Humphrey de Jardine and Sir William de Herez; ³ in the garrisons of 1306 Thomas de Torthorwald, Hugh de Dalswinton, Thomas Bell in command at Tibbers and Robert Bell at Durisdeer. The same general principles characterise the fourth phase of the War of Independ- ence, namely, that of the resistance to Edward III., which covers the reign of David II., and the results of which are prolonged down to the reign of the second James. It includes , however, a definite handing over to Edward III. by that transient king- figure, Edward Balliol, of a huge sector of Lowland Scotland, including the town, castle, and county of Dumfries. As in the earlier stages, too, the action of the local 1 Calendar Scottish Papers, ii. p. 155. 2 See Armstrong, App. lxx. p. cxii. 3 Bain, ii. No. 1115. -- xxxii
dumfries-1920/04-035 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. magnates dislays some instability. Eustace Maxwell of Caerlaverock had been shifty in his loyalties while Robert Bruce was in the field. Now in 1332 he was a consenting witness to the coronation of Edward Balliol, and, when Dumfries became English, Maxwell as Sheriff attended to its royal revenues. But when Robert the Steward initiated the final and successful effort to throw off the English yoke, Maxwell, after receiving English munitions for Caerlaverock, reverted to his own country for a twelvemonth or so, and then returned to activity on the other side. His nephew and successor, Sir Herbert, carried on the tradition, and Caerlaverock, which he surrendered to England in 1347, ¹ remained with that country till it was captured by Sir Roger de Kirkpatrick in 1356. But the times were a hard test for territorial lords in a district so near the enemy. In March 1333 a successful English raiding party was opposed by Scots from Loch- maben garrison on its return "near Dornock at the Sandyford." ² Thus befell the battle of Dornock, which resulted in the capture of the "flower of the knighthood of the whole vale of Annan." ³ Individual flowers were Sir Humphrey Jardine and William Carlyle. Yet was there a gallant remnant which no misfortune could bend to submission, namely, the brothers and other relatives of William de Carruthers, who, scattered and in great straits, lurking and wandering "like wild men" (tanquam silvestres), held out till the Steward in 1338 revived the national cause, and then gathering like a swarm of bees (quasi examen apum congregantes), attached them- selves to that leader. ⁴ Three years later the Earl of Moray, appointed by the Scottish Guardian to the custody of the West March, was able to make himself master of the open country and hold hostile movements in check. ⁵ The defeat at Durham in 1346 and capture of David II. brought to Scotland another hard ten years. But, in 1356, while William Douglas recovered Galloway, Roger Kirkpatrick did a similar service as regards Nithsdale, possessing himself of Caerlaverock and Dalswinton. John, son of the Steward, afterwards Robert III., took the field in Annandale, and there remained till he had brought the whole district back to Scottish Allegiance. ⁶ All this meant the recovery of the castles, and particularly those on the Nithsdale line, which were credited with doing serious mischief to the English. For this reason David, as a condition of his release in 1357, had to promise their destruction, and so threw down Dalswinton, Dumfries, Morton, and Durisdeer, with nine others in Nithsdale. ⁷ Lochmaben, however, as usual, remained last in English hands, and did not fall till 1384 (see p.152). In all these activities the eastern dales make no special figures. They were not, however, indifferent. In the first year of the reign of King Edward Balliol (1332), "Sir John de Lyndesey of Walghope knight" forfeited his lands by "rebellion," that is, by supporting the regency. ⁸ Sir John de Orreton thus occupies Wauchopedale for a term, having his charter confirmed by the English King as late as 1340. ⁹ And Lindsay's example had imitators. In the spring of 1337 Edward III. was ordering investigation by juries of Roxburgh and Dumfries shires for discovery of the persons in "Eskedale, Ledelesdale, Ewithesdale, Walughopdale, and Bretallaughe" (i.e. Canonbie) who assisted "the enemy," that is, the nationalist Scots. ¹⁰ 1 Bain, iii. No. 1507. 2 "juxta villam de Drunnok apud Sandywathe," Chronicon de Lanercost. 3 Scotichronicon, lib. xiii. cap. 27. "The floure . . . off the West March men" is Wyntoun's phrase. According to Bower and Wyntoun, they were captured at Lochmaben. 4 Scotichronicon, xiii. 32. 5 Ibid., xiii. 48. 6 Ibid., xiv. 15. 7 Ibid., xiv. 18. 8 Bain, iii. No. 1354. 9 Ibid., No. 1328. 10 Ibid., No. 1226. -- xxxiii
dumfries-1920/04-036 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. In truth, however, war was never to be long a stranger to Border life; if not national war, then the scrimmage of local feud or the foray of needy or robbed neigh- bours. Constant reminders of the possibilities of the situation were the lines of beacon stations for warning the inner country of the approach of invaders, one fol- lowing a succession of heights up Annandale, the other up Nithsdale. ¹ Such a warning in the late autumn of 1448 ² may have brought out the force that stopped a Percy raiding column from Northumberland at Gretna between the Sark and Esk, when Douglas and his brothers the Earls of Moray and Ormond were leaders, and the English were thrust back into the rising tide of the Solway. This failure was an endeavour to inflict reprisals for a Douglas raid as far as Alnwick the year before. Another example of what the border country was specially exposed to suffer is in the raiding activity of English columns for many months after Flodden. In May 1514 Lord Dacre completes his report of destruction thus: "And upon the West Marchies of Scotland, I haif burnt and distroyed the town- shipps of Annand, Dronok, Dronokwod, Tordoff, Fyshegewghe, Stokes, Estrige, Rye- lande, Blawetwood, Foulsyke, Westhill, Berghe, Rigge, Stapilton, Wodhall, Rayn- patrike, Woddishill, Overbrotts, Nethirbrotts, Elistrige, Caluertsholme, Beltemmount, Hole, Kirkpatrike, Hyrdhill, Mossesyde, Stakehughe, Bromeholme, Walghopp, Walghopdale, Baggraye, Murtholme, Langhane, Grymesley, and the Watter of Esk, fro Stabulgorton downe to Cannonby, beyng vi myle in lienth. Where as there was, in all tymes passed, ccccth pleughes, and above; whiche er now clerely waisted, and noo man duelling in any of them, at this daye; saue oonly in the Towrys of Annand, Stephill, and Walghopp." ³ These episodes were connected with national policy as a whole, but Dumfriesshire had a standing source of trouble of its own in the Debateable Land, to which reference has already been made (see p. xviii.). The understanding as to this piece of territory was that there should be nothing that could be interpreted as permanent occupation by subjects of either country. With the special exception of the priory of Canonby and its dependencies, it was to be a Border waste. Settlements upon it might be raided with impunity, but clearly there was here an opening for difference of judgment. Thus, on 23rd June 1517, some leading Dumfriesshire gentry, including the brother of Lord Maxwell the Warden, the lairds of "Hempesfielde" (Charteris of Amisfield), Twnwald (Tinwald, Maxwell), Ross and Holmeendes (Carruthers), and John Irwen 1 Acts Parl. Scot., i. 716, A.D. 1448: "Item it is fundin statut and vsit in tyme of werfar anentis bailis birning and keping for cuming of ane Inglis oist in Scotland, ther sal ane baill be brynt on Trailtrow hill; and ane uther on the Panchnat (Panteth) hill; ane on the Bailze (Bailie) hill, abone the Holmendis; ane on the Coldanis (Cowdens), abone Castelmylk; ane on Quhitwewin (Whitwollin), in Drivisdaill; ane on the Burane Skentoun (see Art. 18), in Apilgarth perochin; ane on the Browane (Brown) hill; and ane on the Bleise, in the tenement of Wamfray; ane on Kyndilknok (Kinnelknock), in the tenement of Johnestoune; ane on the Gallowhill, in Moffet perochin: and syne in Nyddisdaill, ane on the Wardlaw; ane on Rahothtoun (? Trohoughton); ane on Barlouch (Beacon Hill); ane on the Pantwa hill (same as above); ane on the Malowhill (Art. 339); ane on Corswyntoun (Corsincon); ane on Crwfell (Crufell, Sanquhar); ane on the fell abone the Dowlwerk (? Dowlarg); and ane on the Watchfell. And to ger thir balis be kepit and maid the shiref of Nyddisdaill and the stewart of Ananderdaill, and the stewart of Kirkcudbricht, in Gallowai, salbe dettouris, and quhasa kepis nocht the balis ordinance and statut beand maid in tym of werfar sal pay for ilk defalt a merk." Most of these sites can still be identified on the map, as given above from a paper by Dr George Neilson in Trans. Glasgow Arch. Soc. (1889-95), p. 356. The watch tower on Panteth hill (Mouswald) was still identifiable as late s 1845 (New Stat. Acct., iv. p. 445). 2 On the date, see Scot. Hist. Rev., vol. ix. p. 197. 3 Pinkerton's History of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 462; cf. Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., vol. i. p. 806. -- xxxiv
dumfries-1920/04-037 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. (Irving) with his clan, entered the Debateable Land at 11 a.m. and carried off seven hundred English cattle. The retort of Lord Maxwell to an English remonstrance was that the English had "sett stob and staik" in the ground, and so begun an effective occupation for their own country in violation of the above conditions. The case came up again in 1522 for consideration at a meeting of Commissioners representing both countries, when it was denied on behalf of the English that any settlement had been made. Moreover, even if dwellings had been erected, that did not justify the taking of the cattle in the daytime, it being permissible only to burn the houses and take any men or goods within. Everything outside was inviolable except during the night hours. ¹ The case seems to have dragged on with new pleas and no definite result save a suggested division of the masterless territory. More serious was the migration of Grahams and Armstrongs into the Debateable Land. A family of Grahams, banished from Scotland about 1516, settled on the English side of the Esk (cf. p. xxxviii.). Henry VIII., for service done, gave the eldest son "good lands," and the head of the family or "chief" was established at Netherby. They were allied with and favoured by neighbouring great men, associated them- selves with other Grahams on the Sark and Leven and intermarried freely with their neighbours, the Armstrongs. Certain of them in time received lands in Scotland from Lord Maxwell, while others had pensions from noblemen in Scotland "for service done and to be done"; just as certain of the Armstrongs became pensioners of Henry VIII. and got lands in Cumberland. ² The Armstrongs were a Liddesdale clan, with the head of the family at Mangertoun, but apparently had grown too numerous for their share of Liddesdale. Parties of them, during the 16th century, migrated into the neighbouring river valleys of Ewes, Esk, and Wauchope, and one company settled in the northern part of the untenanted Debateable Land, thus becoming neighbours to the Grahams. These two clans were "well matched for a pair of quiet ones"; for both, in view of what is said above, it was a necessity that they should hold their position by force; and their opportunist politics and irregular habits within a disputed territory were a main source of local and international trouble on the West March (cf. p xxxviii.). Now in 1518 we hear that the Armstrongs "ar in the Debateable landis and agreit with Ingland, and kepis there markat daily in Ingland." ³ Ten years later three Armstrongs - John, Simon, and Thomas - each called "the laird," and two others have erected their towers in the district. Lord Dacre, the English Warden, was accused of conniving at the Scots settlements. ⁴ This encroachment, however, was apparently not agreeable to higher quarters, and Dacre undertook an expedi- tion against them. The Armstrongs were warned, and Dacre suffered a humiliating repulse, though he succeeded in burning "ane place called the Holehouse," which was apparently the tower by the river Esk, now called the "Hollows" (No.43). On the same day the Armstrongs made a counterstroke to Netherby and worked their will there. When Dacre demanded compensation for the Netherby raid, Lord Maxwell presented a contra account in the burning of the Hollows. Dacre pointed out that the "Holl house" was an illegal residence, since it was in the Debateable Land: ⁵ Maxwell insisted that it was within the lordship of Eskdale. A second descent by Dacre was more successful. He completed the burning of the houses, 1 Armstrong's Liddesdale, p. 215. 2 Border Papers, ii. Appendix. 3 Act. Dom. Con. cited in Armstrong, p. 211. 4 Letters and Papers, iv. part ii. No. 4420. 5 Ibid., No. 4014. -- xxxv
dumfries-1920/04-038 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. but had to have axes used to cut down Ill Will Armstrong's "strong peel." ¹ Once more Canonbie was left isolated in the waste. These proceedings were followed throughout the year by a series of forays upon the West March of England, in the course of which the land between Esk and Leven was cleared of its inhabitants and made to resemble the Debateable Land. The Armstrongs certainly thought they had grievances. Their appearance in the Debateable Land was not resented by the English Warden, and he allowed them to make use of Carlisle market. Then, under instructions from headquarters, ² he reversed his attitude, and the Armstrongs retaliated in kind. Border politics indeed had special local complexities. It was in the interests of both nations that the rieving practices, the seizure of cattle, the burning of houses and barns, and the slaying of men - though this last normally a regrettable necessity ³ - should cease, and from time to time both Governments addressed themselves rigorously to this cause. No small obstacle was the fact that Lord Maxwell, the Warden on the west, had taken the Armstrongs of Eskdale under his patronage, and had John Armstrong "the laird" as a tenant. Similarly, Lord Dacre on his side had been accused of being too complacent to the same clan. When James V. got rid of the Douglas control, one of his first tasks was to deal with the evil condi- tions on his frontier, urged thereto both by the defiance of all authority and by the complaints of Henry VIII. In 1529 James took a straight course to the seat of trouble; he began by committing to ward the principal Border lords, including Maxwell, Johnstone, and Drumlanrig (Douglas) from Dumfriesshire, and then summarily hanged a company of the leading Armstrongs, who came to meet him, on the trees at Caerlanrig between Hawick and Langholm. Among them was John Armstrong of Gilnockie, the ballad hero of the Debateable Land. Of the Liddesdale Armstrongs it was reported to King James the year before that they had boasted "thay woolde not be ordoured, naither by the King of Scottes thair Soveraine Lorde, nor by the King of Einglande, but after suche maner as thair faders have used before thayme," likewise that they had been the destruction of fifty-two parish churches in Scotland, besides what they had done in England. ⁴ Such sharp lessons, however, proved to be only a pruning of the mischief, not an uprooting. The problem of the Debateable Land as a refuge for "male- factors and trespassers" remained. ⁵ Two years after James's "Jethart justice" on the Armstrongs, Charteris, the Laird of Amisfield, an important figure of the time both locally and about the Court, was approaching Lord Dacre with the proposal that the English Warden should join with Lord Maxwell in "th' distroying of th' inhabitantes of the Debateable ground." ⁶ Further, too, there was difference on the question whether Canonbie ⁷ was debateable or not, which was argued at length between the two kings. ⁸ These and other border difficulties were, however, incidental to the main forces of estrangement developing between James V. and his uncle of England. But when war did come in the autumn of 1542, it was mainly a Border affair of forays great and small. November saw several provocative raids in Dumfriesshire as far as Hutton, some miles beyond Lochmaben, one way, and up to Staplegordon on the other. ⁹ The principal military object in these operations was burning: mere 1 Letters and Papers, iv. part ii. p. 1828. 2 Armstrong, App. xxii. p. 251. 3 See Bishop Leslie, De Origine, etc., Scotorum. 4 State Papers, iv. 4, p. 555. 5 Ibid., v. 4, p. 107. 6 Ibid., iv. 4, p. 608 n. 7 Canaby, Canabe, as so pronounced. 8 State Papers, iv. 4, pp. 579 ff. 9 Hamilton Papers, i. p. lxviii. -- xxxvi
dumfries-1920/04-039 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. miscellaneous looting was not worth specifying in detail. ¹ On 23rd November Lord Wharton, the Warden, burnt Middlebie "standing nere a strenghe" of wood, and on his return "turved houses" and corn along the Kirtle. It was a misty morning and he was unable to carry out his full programme. But he was aware that the very same night a Scottish army lay in two divisions at Langholm and Morton Kirk. ² James himself went on to Lochmaben, and next morning, from the top of Birrens- wark, marked the progress of his army by the burning houses of the Grahams in the Debateable Land. But a force of horse and archers under Wharton kept in touch with the returning Scots until they came to "Artureth myln dam, where a strate ford is which is called Sandyforde, having a grete mosse, a grete standyng water and the rever of Heske was afore theym and the mosse upon there left hande." A fresh onset at this place broke the Scots: twenty were slain, many drowned, and over twelve hundred taken prisoners. Such was the miserable affair of "Sollum," or, as it is adapted, "Solway" Moss. Lord Maxwell was among the prisoners. ³ The success at Solway Moss opened a wider door for Henry's schemes for the reduction of Scotland to the status of a vassal kingdom. But all that belongs to general history; here only the effects on Dumfriesshire are to be considered. These took largely the form of Warden's raids, "which is to goo and cum in a day ande a night." ⁴ The character of these exploits, with burning and the driving of cattle as their chief features, is sufficiently understood. They composed a policy of frightfulness. Annan was accounted in summer a Warden's raid, so that its ashes were rarely allowed to cool for long. In February 1544 it was more "surely burnt" than ever, being, as was said, the "chief town in Anendaill unto Dumfries." ⁵ Torduff, Dornock, and some other places were embers in the local conflagration. Dumfries suffered about the same time. But conquest was not to be made by burning towns and hamlets. To that end it was necessary to secure the principal castles of the dstrict. At Langholm there was now a tower, and as this stood at the junction of Esk, Ewes, and Wauchope, it was of much strategical importance. It was betrayed to the English towards the close of 1544. Even more effective, however, would be the possession of Caer- laverock and Lochmaben; and Lord Maxwell and his eldest son, being captives, were worked on to hand over these places. Lochmaben, which the Maxwells held as constables of the castle, does not seem to have been secured, but in 1545 Maxwell struck his bargain for Caerlaverock, and a small English garrison was thrown into it. The garrison was at once blockaded by the Laird of Johnstone and some Borderers; ⁶ no assistance could be given, and soon after it was again in Scottish hands. Whether really so or not, it was urged by Maxwell that Caerlaverock was a stronger place than Lochmaben, and more suitable for a garrison. Such an opinion was probably intended as a blind. Certainly Caerlaverock had great natural ad- vantages: it took in "a great strenght of crikes and moss and but one way to come to it." ⁷ To take it by force or relieve it was no light matter. The narrow, direct road over Lochar Moss offered too many risks, and could be cut (see p. xxxi.). The only alternative was to go round by Dumfries. The English administration, 1 Hamilton Papers, i. p. lxix. 2 Ibid., p. lxxx. 3 Ibid., p. lxxxv. No. 240. 4 Calendar Scottish Papers, i. No. 44. 5 Hamilton Papers, ii. p. 281. 6 State Papers, v. part iv. p. 552. 7 Ibid., pp. 543, 557. -- xxxvii -- d
dumfries-1920/04-040 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION looking at the map, thought the place could be reached by sea. Wharton had to explain that save in exceptional circumstances this was impossible. But the English method at this stage was not that of the Edwards. It was not to make Dumfriesshire a safe approach for a regular military subjection of Scot- land, but to get astride the district and appropriate it piecemeal. Hence the anxiety for the Maxwell holds, the acquisition of Langholm Tower, whose significance was purely local, and in 1547 the seizure of Lochwood Tower, the seat of the Laird of Johnstone (see No. 315). This year, 1547, indeed saw the culmination of their local success. Dumfries- shire, on paper, seems wholly English. The chief local lairds and the local clans are in sworn allegiance to Edward VI. But Caerlaverock and Lochmaben were still Scottish, though likely to suffer from lack of victuals. ¹ In July Langholm Tower had fallen to the guns of the Scottish regent. Castlemilk, however, had been surrendered to the English by James Stewart, its captain, and a Graham was put in as commander (September). Lochwood, as we have seen, had an English garrison. But there was no permanency in this transformation. In 1550 peace was made, and two years later the constant friction over the Debateable Land was ended by its division. At the time there were still accounted to be "bounde and sworne to serve the Kynges majeste" in Dumfriesshire Beatsons, Thomsons, Glendinnings, and Littles of Eskdale, Ewesdale, and Wauchopedale, "and surnames under them," to the number of 304; Johstones of Gretna, 6; Bells of Middlebie, 104; Jardines and Moffats, 55. ² But soon history, as it affected the two countries, was to have its course violently deflected, and other aims and activities were to come to the surface. V. FORAY AND FEUD: THE WARDENSHIP. ³ By the middle of the 16th century, to the more settled and law-abiding section of the Scottish population, the Borderers in general were simply thieves. No literary glamour had as yet been thrown over their high-handed and irresponsible life. In the nature of the case, too, as time went on and efforts to exercise control over the state of things on the Border continued to take the form merely of spasmodic outbursts of legalised violence, things could only grow worse. Lord Herries in his Discourse and Advise on the Evil Estate present of the West Marches, presented to James VI. in 1579, traces all the trouble to the intrusion of the Grahams on the waste ground of the frontier (cf. p. xxxv.), their support by England, the failure of James V. to suppress them, their consequent increase in wealth and numbers, and their alliance and intermarriages with neighbours of similar character on the Esk, Leven, and Sark. At the time of the death of James V. they were not more than twenty or thirty at most; now with their "assisters" they numbered between three and four hundred ready to take the field on horseback at an hour's warning, and 1 Calendar Scottish Papers, i. p. 20. 2 Ibid., p. 191. 3 The Warden had a deputy, and there was a Captain of Langholm with a company in the castle there (No. 429), who was also known as the Keeper of Annandale, like the Keeper of Liddesdale - another specially troublesome district. There was also a Sheriff at Dumfries with control over certain royal tenants and subject to the Warden's orders; but he was rarely employed. The deputy and the Captain of Langholm were the principal officers. (Border Papers, i. pp. 393-5.) -- xxxviii
dumfries-1920/04-041 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. leading lives of idleness and plundering. These thieves, with the assistance of English thieves, had slain the principal Scottish barons nearest the frontier - Lord Carlyle, and the lairds of Mouswald, Kirkmichael, Kirkconnel, and Logan (Annan- dale), with "many uther sober landit men" - entering upon and occupying the greater parts of their lands, and so reducing the law-abiding part of the population on whom the Warden could call for support. Twenty years later a report by Sir William Bowes views the situation from another angle. And both memoranda, of course, are applicable to a long-standing state of affairs. According to Bowes, that state, along the whole Border, was one of "winter war" by opposite garrisons, the garrisons being the "riding surnames" or clans who lived on other men's goods. Thus "contignuall intercoorse of winninge and losing of goods do ebb and flowe like the sea." The losers had either to steal in turn or fall into poverty. "Wherefore may be gathered this strange conclusion that, where suche an opposite neighbour is founde, nothing is more pernicious to a frontier then is, in the commander, peaceable justice, and, in the obeyer, patient innocencie." ¹ In other words, the whole weight of advantage was upon violence and brigandage. Nor was the course of affairs in the country as a whole during the second half of the century favourable to peaceable occupations. The Reformation was not consummated without blood. The tension did not relax under Queen Mary: intrigue, rebellion, assassination, and finally civil war maintained the atmosphere of disorderliness. Outside the town of Dumfries the ecclesiastical element in the Reformation was scarcely likely to make appeal; on the lay or political side landed leadership determined allegiance. Here the most powerful personality was that of Sir John Maxwell, who in 1566 was created the first Lord Herries, and for the present outshone his nephew, the eighth Lord Maxwell, as yet a minor. At first Sir John showed active favour to the Protestant party; after 1565 he is a Queen's man, and her ablest. In thus identifying himself with the Queen's cause Sir John was bring- ing himself into line with his neighbours, for among those who, at this crisis, had banded themselves for the Queen's support were Lord Sanquhar, the Laird of John- stone and James Johnstone of Corrie, the Kirkpatricks of Closeburn and Kirkmichael, and Jardine of Applegarth. ² Hereafter Dumfriesshire, town and country, is almost wholly on the Queen's side. In the band at Hamilton, after her escape from Loch- leven in 1568, are the names of Lords Herries, Maxwell, and Sanquhar, the barons Johnstone, Closeburn, and Jardine, the Abbot of Holyrood, lairds Johnstone of Torry, Johnstone of Lochmaben, Crichton of Ryehill, and Murray of Cockpool; ³ and the part which Herries played in her flight to England after the defeat at Lang- side is well known. The Regent Murray followed up his success by traversing Dumfriesshire, where so many of the Queen's supporters were to be found. On 18th June he was at Dumfries, and received the surrender of divers Maxwells, Johnstones, Irvings, Grahams, and Bells, besides the strong-house of the Maxwells in the town. He followed a thousand fugitives to Hoddom, where only a show of resistance was made; and he returned by way of Lochwood and Lochhouse, of both of which he took possession. This was known as the "Hoddom Road." ⁴ The Regent could count on only two supporters of standing in the whole district, Douglas of Drumlanrig, 1 Border Papers, ii. No. 508. 2 Keith's History of Affairs, etc., iii. (App., bk. ii.), p. 249. 3 Calendar Scottish Papers, ii. No. 650; Keith, ii. p. 809. 4 Calderwood's History of the Kirk, ii. p. 417. -- xxxix
dumfries-1920/04-042 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. who was made warden in place of Herries, and Jardine of Applegarth. In company with the Earl of Morton, he therefore paid a visit in the following year, in order, by taking hostages, to secure a check upon the Border opposition. The critical period ensuing on the Regent Murray's assassination in 1570 brought about the armed intervention of England, and the spring and early autumn of that year each saw one of those unwelcome visitations. On both occasions the objectives were the lands of the Maxwells and the Murrays, as Mary's conspicuous champions. In the first case, Lord Scrope, having burned Ecclefechan and the hamlets about Hoddom and Ruthwell, seems to have made for Dumfries by the Cockpool route, where he was attacked, unsuccessfully, by the young Lord Maxwell, but later held up at Locharwood a stage farther on. The Earl of Sussex, Lieutanant of the North, himself conducted the August expedition, in which he reported he had "thrown down" the castles of Annan and Hoddom, belonging to Herries, of Dumfries and Caerlaverock, which were Lord Maxwell's, and Tinwald (Tynhill) and Cowhill (Coohill), which were also Maxwell houses. ¹ Sussex considered that, in the circumstances, he had acted with great restraint, having refrained from indiscriminate plunder and burning; but a complaint from the Scottish side to Queen Elizabeth accused him of just the contrary, as well as of the destruction of ten of the principal castles, two of which, Annan and Hoddom, "were most strong." ² But the cause of the exiled Queen was foregone; and, when the temporary union of the magnates in that cause dissolved, the local issues and problems reappeared in even fiercer guise. In the Memorial of 1579 cited above, Lord Herries sketches out roughly the character of the West March of Scotland in comparison with that of England. In the latter country, he says, the West March was planted with strong- holds even to the very frontier, strongholds including stone houses of every sort. Moreover, the soil there was fertile, the corn crops good, and the laws well obeyed; in which last quality Herries is certainly exaggerating. As against this, "Scotland upoun that Marche is ane pastour ground, verray barrane quhill (till) it cum far within the realme, and unproffitabill in a maner to the greit part, bot for bestiale; as it is knawin ane man, to be sustenit honestlie upoun his stoir in lyk maner as his nychbour salbe sustenit with cornis, sall occupy mair ground nor ten tymes he that levis be the cornis dois in boundis; swa that the West Marchis of England is meikle mair populous, and may, be the fertilitie of the ground, sustene mony ma men adjacent to the fronteiris upon that Marche nor Scotland may." ³ That Dumfries was thus so largely a cattle country, made the industry of thieving more feasible; grain is not mobile. It also, as Herries indicates, made particularly difficult the problem of a growng population. In such an atmosphere lordly jealousies and clan feuds flourished handsomely. It has been noted above how under these conditions the freebooting companies on the eastern side of the county had pushed their activities and forcible settlements beyond Annan, and had thus, too, weakened the power of the Government. For the Government here meant the Warden of the West March, an office practically mono- polised by the Maxwells. During the regency, however, they had been in opposition, and so from 1568 to 1573 Douglas of Drumlanrig was Warden. In 1574 the young eighth Lord Maxwell received the office, but the Earl of Angus intervened with a lieutenancy over all the Marches for about a year, 1577-78, when Maxwell was re- 1 Calendar Scottish Papers, iii. No. 436. 2 Ibid., No. 441. 3 Register Privy Council, iii. p. 79. -- xl
dumfries-1920/04-043 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. appointed. But it was increasingly clear that things could not go on in this makeshift way, that some special effort should be made to root out Border lawlessness. It was in this interest that Herries tendered his proposals of 1579. Maxwell had protested to the Privy Council that he could not retain the office of Warden except on terms which would make him a petty sovereign in the district; "he would needs be absolute in these parts," ¹ and with this presented a roll of five hundred names of men deemed disobedient within his bounds. Herries proposed that the Warden should have his official residence at Lochmaben, that local lairds should, in times of disobedience, remain in the country with their households, that there should be a police force of twenty-four horsemen at Annan, and a captain with another force at Langholm, that Lochmaben and Annan should be adequately repaired, Repentance Tower properly equipped, the fortifications of Annan strengthened, the fords on the river provided with defences as formerly, and courts held in the Debateable Land. ² All this Lord Maxwell took very ill. Much of it presented itself to him as an encroachment upon his private rights. The custody of Lochmaben Castle, he pointed out, was a separate office having appropriate fees and duties, to which office he had a preferable claim, both because it had been long in his family and because it was the most convenient place for performing the duties as Steward of Annandale. To impose the keeping of a larger household as garrison at Langholm was to impose a special burden upon himself, who had, like other freeholders of the wardenry, pledged himself to the King for his lands and servants. Trailtrow Tower was a small matter, but, inasmuch as it was his private property, there seemed no reason why it should be put to a public use any more than the houses of others in the neighbourhood. A sug- gestion by Herries as to associating representatives of the Johnstones in certain matters of administration could scarcely be expected to meet with Maxwell's approval; but the mere suggestion shows in what quarter trouble was brewing. The proposals of Lord Herries certainly impressed the Council, and later wardens seem to have been appointed under "the conditionis mentionat in the Lord Hereis buke." ³ Meantime Lord Maxwell refused compromise, and Lord Herries himself resumed the wardenry of the West March, which he had just described as having "bene evir the maist trubilsum part of the realm." In line with his own suggestion, we now find the stewardship of Annandale associated with the office, and thus Lochmaben Castle was used to strengthen the Warden's position. Herries held office only till the end of the summer, when Johnstone took his place. Two years later (1581) Johnstone was removed on the ground that he showed favour and gave protection to persons whom he ought to have punished. ⁴ Maxwell filled his place, but only for about a year, being discharged on the same ground as his predecessor, that of "slothfulness" in punishing offenders. The charge in each case was probably quite true; neither Johnstone nor Maxwell was sufficiently devoted to the common weal to disregard the interests of friends, clansmen, and supporters. But such a charge was possible at any time. It was a Scottish rule in all departments of administration to show favour towards one's kin and friends. Such occasions as these, when the charge was made a reason for the Warden's removal, were no doubt due to political factors arising out of the many changes of Government that kept in turmoil the minority of James VI. Maxwell was certainly unfortunate 1 Spottiswoode's History of the Church of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 263. 2 Register Privy Council, iii. pp. 79-82. 3 Ibid., p. 531. 4 Ibid., p. 374. -- xli
dumfries-1920/04-044 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. in his relations with some of the regents. With the Earl of Morton he quarrelled over matters relating to that earldom, and Morton, who had made him Warden, now unmade him. But the Douglas earl ended his career on the scaffold in 1581, and a few months later the eighth Lord Maxwell became first (and only) Earl of Morton of his line as well as warden. Another change of Government led to his displacement from office, and the appointment of Johnstone in his room (1583). Maxwell's re- sponse was to prohibit "all his adherentes, tenantes and dependers to make him (i.e. Johnstone) answere or service as wardein." ¹ For a time this meant mainly trouble with England, since offenders against that country could rely upon Maxwell protection. Division between the two great groups, the lairds and clans in Nithsdale and Eskdale (Armstrongs) who attached themselves to Maxwell and those in Annan- dale who stood by Johnstone, was still racking the West March in the spring of 1585. Then more active hostilities began, which are typical of what took place under similar conditions at other times, and, as usual, involved almost every surname on the West Border. In April Robert Maxwell, brother of the Earl, with four hundred men struck at the Johnstone heart in Lochwood, slew some Johnstones, took others prisoners, and burnt the house of Lochwood. ² Towards the end of the month the same Robert with his Armstrongs burnt about eighty houses of Johnstone's tenants and friends, after plundering them of cattle and furnishing. ³ Contemporaneously the Johnstones had got to work. They burnt Duncow, but were driven off by Maxwells; whereupon the Earl of Morton (Maxwell) himself did some burning and spoiling as reprisals on the Johnstone bounds. As a separate adventure, on the same day, Robert Maxwell, with Armstrongs, Beatsons, Littles, and Carruthers, harried Dryfesdale and burnt part of Lockerbie, meeting with no resistance. ⁴ Early in May the Earl tried to recover from the Irvings the "stone house" of Kirkconnel which had once been his own, and failing, with the loss of two men, next attacked the two "stone houses" of the Johnstones in Lockerbie, captured them, and hanged four of their defenders. ⁵ Sir John Johnstone (he had been knighted in 1584) was now on his way to Court to seek assistance against the rebel of his wardenry. ⁶ Later in the month Maxwell, with seventeen hundred men, horse and foot, marched rapidly from Dumfries to Moffat, where his horsemen made a sixteen-mile circuit, in which they burnt three hundred houses and carried off one thousand cattle, two thousand sheep, a hundred horses, and a store of household stuff; ⁷ thus sacking the whole barony of Johnstone, where the tenants, we note, were "baith Engless men and Scottis." ⁸ In June Lochmaben Castle and Bonshaw Tower were being besieged by the triumphant Earl, ⁹ while in July Johnstone fell upon the "sheyles" or shielings of some of the Maxwells and brought away two hundred head of cattle and sixty nags, killing but one man; Maxwell's people retorting with a lifting of eighty cattle from Johnstones. ¹⁰ Things continued to go badly with the Johnstones. By August all the stone houses of strength on that border, with one exception, were in Maxwell's possession, the Earl now maintaining in pay "200 horse and 300 'shotte,' besides the whole force of the country at his devotion," while Johnstone was the "late warden" and "straitlye warded" by Maxwell in Caerlaverock. ¹¹ In September the "whole surname of the Johnstons" had yielded themselves to Maxwell, and Sir John was allowed to go free to meditate revenge: by November Maxwell was the new warden. 1 Calendar Border Papers, i. No. 153. 2 Border Papers, i. Nos. 303, 304. 3 Ibid., No. 308. 4 Ibid., No. 311. 5 Ibid., No. 312. 6 Ibid., No. 316. 7 Ibid., No. 317. 8 Hist. MSS. Comm., Rep. XV. App. ix., Johnstone MSS., p. 32. 9 Border Papers, i. No. 321. 10 Ibid., No. 327. 11 Ibid., Nos. 340, 349. -- xlii
dumfries-1920/04-045 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. The Earl was now at the height of his power in the west, but at the same time entangling himself in the net of Catholic intrigue. He was a mark for political as well as personal enemies; and these latter were not given to forgetting. In the spring of 1586 Sir John Johnstone was in the field and threatening the towns of Dumfries and Annan, from which he was beaten off by the weather. ¹ But he raided the powerful and "well-beloved" Sir Alexander Jardine of Applegarth, and subjected his houses and property to the usual outrage. ² This was followed up by burning and spoiling of about a dozen hamlets of Maxwell tenantry, these "poor commons" having "to paye for the sins of others." ³ By May both Maxwell and Johnstone were under detention, but their friends were left to carry on. Thus in the first week of that same month, Herries, Drumlanrig, Amisfield (Empsfield), Apple- garth, and brother Robert Maxwell, with other allies, again harried the Johnstone lands in Annandale, burning Bonshawside and the Johnstone lands along the Nith, the Dryfe, and the upper Annan, killing two tenants only but bearing away a great booty. ⁴ The Maxwells went even greater lengths, for in June Maxwells and Douglases were over the Border in England in order to get at the Grahams, who favoured their rival. ⁵ In June of the following year Johnstone ⁶ died, and Herries replaced Maxwell in the wardenry. ⁷ But Mawell had bigger things to occupy his energies. The plotting of the powerful Catholic group in Scotland with Spain was growing more definite. In order to strengthen his position on the Border for eventualities, Maxwell was even earnest to let bygones be bygones and reconcile himself with the young chief of Johnstone. ⁸ He was preparing to facilitate a Spanish invasion of England through Scotland, and in the course of 1587 was in Spain on this business. The royal dealings with him were tender, because the King himself was not above suspicion of trafficking with the Catholic interest. But his bargain was finally made with England, and when Maxwell returned in the spring of 1588 to complete preparations, King James in person led a force into Dumfriesshire, secured the Maxwell castles, burning those of Langholm, Castlemilk, and Morton, and capturing that Lord himself. Only Lochmaben held out against Sir William Stewart for two days, when the garrison surrendered on promise of their lives. But James had the commander David Maxwell and five of the leaders hanged on the plea that he had made no promise, Sir William having "counterfoote his hand writ." ⁹ After this outburst a pause. King James made it a worthy hobby to reconcile family feuds, and his hand perhaps was behind the friendly approach of Maxwells and Johnstones in 1590. ¹⁰ In 1592 Maxwell was once more Warden, though his activities on behalf of Spain were still proceeding, and on this account he was an object of suspicion to England, where his "unaccustomed kyndnes" to the Laird of Johnstone in 1593 was remarked, also his having two hundred men employed daily in fortifying Caerlaverock. ¹¹ But it was this year which was to change all. About twelve months before, the Wamphray Johnstones had raided the lands of Crichton and Drumlanrig, and there had been a tough struggle, with some loss in the retreat. It took all that time to bring the Crown and the Warden to see the desirability of visiting this offence upon the responsible chief, who was caution for the behaviour of his clan. To encourage Maxwell, the injured lairds, Drumlanrig, Sanquhar, 1 Border Papers, i. No.418. 2 Ibid., No. 419. 3 Ibid., No. 420. 4 Ibid., No. 425. 5 Ibid., No. 432. 6 Annandale Family Book, i. ci. 7 Reg. P.C., iv. p. 188. 8 Border Papers, i. No. 462. 9 Calderwood, iv. p. 679. 10 See Johnstone MSS., No. 68. 11 Border Papers, i. No. 845. -- xliii
dumfries-1920/04-046 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. and Lag, made a personal band with him of mutual support, and Maxwell with two thousand men proceeded towards Lockerbie. Johnstone, however, was aware of what was coming, and had added to his immediate supporters his easterly friends, the Scotts of Ewesdale, the Grahams and Elliots of Esk. Johnstone, having an inferior force, played a common Border ruse. A few horsemen pricked forward and drew a considerable body of Maxwell's men in pursuit. These were received and driven back by a larger Johnstone body, in their retirement throwing their friends into confusion. Immediately Johnstone flung his whole weight on his disordered foes and scattered them in flight with little loss. Such was the battle of Dryfesands, 7th December 1593, the last of the clan battles on the Border. Maxwell, "a tall man and heavy in armour," was killed. ¹ This, of course, was an outrageous defiance of public authority, and no Government could do less than put the offending Johnstone under ban for rebellion; no Scottish Government in the circumstances could do any more. Again, therefore, the old feud blazed out more strongly then ever. There is no need to dwell upon its incidents; a sample of such has been afforded above, and there was little chance of variety. The only notable point is that in these plundering raids the number slain was remarkably small, a fact which bears out Leslie's comment upon such Border affairs; aggressors were out for plunder rather than blood (see p. xxxvi.). Necessarily all the dales were implicated in this civil warfare. Maxwell was supreme in Nithsdale and Eskdale, thus carrying with him the upper Nithsdale lairds, notably Drumlanrig, while his "friends" the Carlyles and Bells and the town of Annan carried his interests into the lower Annan, and in Eskdale the Armstrongs were clients from of old. The John- stones covered Annandale from Lockerbie northwards, and their principal allies were the Irvings along the Sark, while they could draw upon the Moffats and Scotts of upper Eskdale, above the Armstrongs, and the Grahams in the lower portion of the Debateable Land. Meantime the Privy Council postponed decisive action in the Johnstone case, and accordingly in October 1595 that clan added another item to its calendar,when the Warden, Lord Herries, going "to seke some of the John- stones at Lockerbie," was driven off with loss. ² Obviously a Maxwell Warden could not hold his own on the West March, so the whole problem was characteristically solved by the appointment of Johnstone as warden in 1596. For such a course there was already a Maxwell precedent (see p. xliii.), but the step was little likely to mollify the Maxwells. And Johnstone, though not yet thirty years of age, had not less than twenty murders to his credit, both Scots and English. ³ None was so active on the Maxwell side as Drumlanrig, between whom and Johnstone a settlement was struck in 1597, only to be speedily broken, each accusing the other of perjury. A feature of the complaints here illustrates that procedure of forcible settlement referred to above (p. xxxix.). Carlyles and Bells entered upon some 1 Spottiswoode's History, ii. p. 446. "Adieu! Drumlanrig, false wert aye, And Closeburn in a band! The Laird of Lag, frae my father that fled, When the Johnston struck aff his hand." ("Lord Maxwell's Good-night," in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.) As to the allegation that Maxwell's right hand was struck off when raised for quarter, the historian says: "I can affirm nothing." In the Border Papers, i. (No. 918), Scrope explains that the fray was due to Maxwell's attempting to cast down Mungo Johnstone's house in Lockerbie. 2 Calderwood, v. p. 385. 3 Border Papers, ii. No. 485. -- xliv
dumfries-1920/04-047 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. of Johnstone's lands and tilled and sowed them; Bells had "beaten the servants of the goodman of Bonshaw, taken their ploughs and forcibly tilled their land. " John- stone admits retaliatory proceedings, in which some of his "puir folkis hes coft pairt of thair awin geir bak agane." ¹ In a list of Johnstone outrages on Lord Sanquhar's tenants in 1599 is the complaint of Janet M'Millan that they had burnt her house of "twa hous (i.e. rooms) hicht with a laich hall," etc. ² Already, however, despite the King's weakness for him, ³ the Privy Council had in 1598 denounced Sir James Johnstone of Dunskillie (as he is now generally entitled) for detestable slaughters and bloodshed, his slaying of Maxwells and "honest men of the Sanquhar," and his per- sistence in a "maist wyld and bludie cours," for all which he was put under sentence of outlawry, none to hold any communication with him. ⁴ But by August 1600 the wild and bloody Johnstone was Warden again. ⁵ Such being the conditions of life on the West March in the second half of the 16th century, one grasps the significance of its great equipment of all degrees of defensive dwellings from the castle proper to the mere stone house. Every man who could afford it found it incumbent to have some sort of dwelling not easily forced or inflammable from outside. ⁶ So are explained, too, the various reconstructions and rebuilding still in many cases dated upon such of the structures as survive. The next century saw the beginning of the great change which followed on the accession of King James to the throne of England. That a new spirit and a fuller power affected the Government was shown in the last act of the Johnstone-Maxwell feud. In 1607, at a prearranged meeting of the two heads at "Achnanhill," ⁷ which was to prepare a reconciliation, Johnstone was assassinated. but Lord Maxwell could not now outface the consequences. To avoid arrest he had to say "good-night" to Scotland: "Adieu! Dumfries, my proper place, But and Caerlaverock fair!" In 1613 he ventured back to Scotland, was arrested, and suffered the death penalty at Edinburgh. Estates and honours were forfeited, but five years later restoration was initiated in favour of the heir, a younger brother, who, further, in virtue of the loss of the earldom of Morton, was in 1620 created Earl of Nithsdale. The Union of the kingdoms in 1603 obliterated the Borders in a political and administrative sense. They were now "the verie hart of the cuntry." ⁸ Still, much in the way of special measures had to be taken, and it was a long time ere the peculiar features of Border life were completely eliminated. Some years before the Union the Government had come to the conclusion that one origin of Border malpractices was neglect of religion, ⁹ and initiated a movement towards the rebuilding of churches, which seem generally to have been in a ruinous condition. Then it was found that in certain quarters "the povertie of the inhabitantis" was so great that neither could kirks be repaired nor ministers supported unless adjacent parishes were united. Thus came about the uniting in 1609 of groups of parishes, served by a new church in a central position: Little Dalton, serving Meikle and Little Dalton and Mouswald; Cummertrees and Trailtrow having a common church at Cummertrees: Redkirk and Gretna at Gretna; Kirkpatrick and Kirkconnell at Kirkconnell; Middlebie, "Tundersachs," and Carruthers at the first named; St. Mungo and Tundergarth at 1 Johnstone MSS., p. 37. 2 Reg. P.C., vi. p. 115. 3 Border Papers, ii. No. 546. 4 Acta Parl., iv. p. 166; Birrel's Diary, p. 46. 5 Border Papers, ii. No. 1231. 6 See map on p. lxiii.; and cf. note on p. lxii. 7 Spottiswoode, ii. p. 191. 8 Reg. P.C., vi. p. 560. 9 Johnstone MSS., No. 87, p. 40. --xlv
dumfries-1920/04-048 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. Tundergarth; Sibblebie and Applegarth at Applegarth; Hoddom, Ecclefechan, and Luce at Hoddom "near the towne thairof"; Corrie and Hutton at Hutton - that parish still bears the double name. ¹ The town of Annan was so "miserablie impover- ischeit" that it could not build a kirk of any kind as yet, and therefore was granted for that purpose "the hous callit the castell of Annand, the hall and the towre thairof to serve for ane kirk." ² Too often the procedure on the Marches had been the reverse of this: a house of prayer turned into a castle. And not only had churches been neglected, but, in common with a tendency of the time, the more considerable lairds had given up the practice of living at their country-seats, and this too was accounted an encouragement of disorder; wherefore in 1600 they had been instructed to repair and dwell in their residences in order to police the districts more effectually, Herries either at Hoddom or Lockerbie, Charterhouse of Amisfield in the house of Bent, Grierson of Lag either in Rockhall (Rochell) or Mouswald, Jardine of Applegarth in "the hous of Speldingis," etc. ³ More direct measures followed the Union. The office of Warden disappeared, and a Commission of Scots and English Border gentlemen took in hand to compose the unsettled district. They had two companies of horsemen at their service as a police, and one of these was stationed at Hollows, the old Debateable Land and the Grahams there still retaining their character as the heart of the mischief. The Grahams were broken up by deportations. Complementary to the new churches was the novelty of specific gaols. By 1608 it was reported to the King, with reference to the services of the Earl of Dunbar, that he had purged the Borders, as Hercules did "Augeas his escuries, by the cutting off by the sword of justice and your majesty's authority and laws, the Laird of Tynwell, Maxwell, sindry Douglases, Johnstones, Jardines, Armstrongs, Betisons and such other." ⁴ But this jubilation proved premature, and the Commission, modified from time to time, continued till 1625. The methods of "justice" were very similar in kind to those of the lawlessness against which they operated, being fire-raising, destruction of houses, eviction, and summary execution, with the use of the feud feeling and a partiality to friends; and the agents of the Commission found it necessary to secure the protection of frequent indemnities. One main factor in the change was the dissolution of the clan groups, which came as a consequence of the changed conditions. The gap which had opened between chief and clan fully showed itself in the Covenanting troubles, where the people in general, sooner or later, adhered to the cause of revolt; the lairds were royalist. Among the latter the Earl of Nithsdale was leader, and in 1640 Caer- laverock underwent its last siege and dismantling. From persecuting days, or rather later in time, the "tombs of the martyrs" in Nithsdale and Eskdale remain as memorials of a new enthusiasm; among the most prominent of the Council's agents were such familiar March names as Sir James Johnstone of Westerhall, Lieut.-Col. Douglas, brother of Drumlanrig, and Sir Robert Grierson of Lag. Meantime the Drumlanrig family was growing throughout this century in extent of lands and in dignity. Its outward symbol of territorial and political success was the great pile of Drumlanrig Castle, 1689, whose builder was the second Duke of Queensberry, the adroit statesman of the Union of 1707. Its purely domestic character signified that the days of fortified residences had for ever gone by. 1 Acta Parl., iv. p. 441. 2 Ibid., p. 441. 3 Reg. P.C., vi. pp. 154-5. 4 Cited, Hill Burton's History, vol. vi. p. 19. -- xlvi
dumfries-1920/04-049 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. GENERAL INTRODUCTION. I. ARCHÆOLOGICAL . Cairns. - The earliest monuments in this country, as has been frequently pointed out in the Introductions to previous Inventories, are the long cairns. These structures, containing one or more massive cists or chambers, were erected by the early inhabitants for the disposal of their illustrious dead, for it cannot be supposed that such were the burial-places for all and sundry. In treating of the archæology of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, it was pointed out that the people who reared these impressive monuments had evidently, to judge by their distribution, approached the parts of the county to which such evidence of their presence is con- fined, from two directions: either from the Solway, passing up the valley of the Cree, or from the north, crossing what is now the Ayrshire border in the neighbour- hood of Carsphairn. The southern region is remote from Dumfriesshire, and the builders of the long cairns do not seem to have spread, by the evidence of the monuments, farther west than the lower reaches of the Cree. The northern district, however, in which these long cairns occur, lies much nearer to Dumfriesshire, and from it the earliest inhabitants appear to have penetrated into that county by way of Stroanfreggan, thence westward by Moniaive and Thornhill to the moorland region between Queensberry Hill and Annandale. Taking a breadth of a few miles to either side of this line, one will include probably all the cairns, whether long or round, in the county which appear to belong to the Neolithic period. ¹ Of long cairns there are at most four: the "White Cairn" (No. 249) at Fleuchlarg in Glencairn Parish, a cairn on Capenoch Moor (No. 329) in Keir Parish, the wholly reduced remains near Clonfeckle in Kirkmahoe (No. 351), and a cairn of smaller dimensions than any of the others on the moor near Stiddrig (No. 415) in the parish of Kirkpatrick-Juxta. As none of these cairns has been excavated, it is not possible to say what the form of the chamber may be. In this same region are several other cairns which, though not of the long type but circular, are yet of sufficient magnitude to render it probable that they too contain either chambers or megalithic cists of the transitional period between the Stone and Bronze Ages, such as the cairn at Stroanfreggan contained. ² When we turn to consider the cairns which indicate a purely Bronze Age origin we find that they have a wider distribution throughout the county, though they cannot be reckoned numerous in any district. They are sparsely distributed along the south from Mouswald to Robgill and Mossknow; they are more scarce in the central region, and only practically in the tract of country in which are found the few long cairns are these cairns of the Bronze Age comparatively numerous. Towards the east side of the county, in the Eskdale and Ewesdale district, which being largely pastoral has probably suffered less by the dilapidation of its early monuments than the more highly cultivated districts, one is struck by the absence of such remains. There is a cist marking the site of a cairn on Bankhead Hill (No. 648) in the parish of Westerkirk in Eskdale, and the remains of a cairn still exist in a plantation at Sorbie Bridge (No. 222) in Ewes; but beyond these, in 1 The later inclusion in the Inventory of what proved on investigation to be long cairns in the parish of Canonbie (No. 47) does not substantially modify these generalisations. It increases the total to six. 2 Inventory of Monuments in Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, No. 160. -- xlvii
dumfries-1920/04-050 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. the whole region north of Langholm no other significant remains are found. This points to the fact that, in the earlier prehistoric times, these two dales were but sparsely populated. Little recorded exploration has been made on the cairns in the county. Some years ago a cairn was excavated near Auchencairn (No. 75) in Closeburn Parish, and remains of a drinking-cup urn of rather exceptional size, measuring when restored 10 inches in height, were found along with a flint implement of the type formerly designated a "fabricator," but now recognised as an object used with a piece of pyrites for the purpose of producing fire. The urn and the flint are now preserved in the National Museum of Antiquities. Another cairn was excavated at Mossknow (No. 371), in the parish of Kirkpatrick-Fleming, in 1908, and a cist was exposed the joints of which were plastered with clay and the bottom covered with river gravel, and which contained an unburnt burial but no grave goods. Stone Circles. - The one incontestable fact connected with stone circles is that in numerous instances they have been used as places of interment in the Bronze Age, as is proved by the finding of burials of this period within them. We may thus consider briefly the stone circles of Dumfriesshire in sequence to the cairns. The number remaining recognisable in the county is six. Of these not one is to be found in the regions where the Bronze Age cairns abound, and only those in Eskdale, to be afterwards mentioned, have the now recognisable site of a cairn anywhere near them, and that the remains of an isolated example; if their principal purpose was other than sepulchral, it is strange that in this county at all events the remains of stone circles should be most noticeable in regions where evidence of inhabitation in the Bronze Age is least discernible. The most remark- able cirle in the county, both from the massive size of the monoliths which compose it, and the dimensions of the space which they enclose, is that known as the "Twelve Apostles" at Holywood (No. 284). This is situated in an agricultural district, and possibly in the process of clearing the ground and enclosing, existing cairns in the neighbourhood may have been swept away; but the absence of cairns cannot be so easily accounted for in the case of the five remaining circles situated either on moor- land, as the circles at Kirkhill (No. 625) in Wamphray Parish, on Whiteholm Rig (No. 603) in Tundergarth, and Whitcastles (No. 307) in Hutton and Corrie, or on meadowland in a purely pastoral region, as the "Girdle Stanes" (No. 198) and "Loupin Stanes" in Eskdalemuir (No. 199). Another feature in regard to the four last-named circles which is worth consideration is the occurrence of two of them along the line of approach from lower Annandale to the upper waters of Eskdale, followed at the present day by a main turnpike road; while the other pair are situated close together and not far up Eskdale beyond the point where a branch from this road penetrates into the valley. The significance of this statement as indicating the line of approach of these Bronze Age people into Eskdale is increased by the fact that the remains of the only cairn observed in Eskdale, "King Schaw's Grave" (No. 648), lie adjacent to where this road strikes the dale, on the opposite side of the Esk on Bankhead Hill. Though the fact of the lack of association in localities of cairns and stone circles in these cases is deemed worth drawing attention to, it should be stated that in the extreme south-east of the county, adjacent to the upper end of the Solway, there is a site of a stone circle (No.5), some miles to the east of Annan, while the "Lochmaben Stane" (boulders) (No. 263), near where the Kirtle Water joins the Esk, are probably the remains of another. The latter would be within 4 miles of the remains of a group of cairns at Mossknow. --xlviii
dumfries-1920/04-051 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. Small Cairns and Hut Circles. - The recent discovery of the remains of Bronze Age vessels, seemingly of domestic type, in the centre of two hut circles in Ayr- shire, ¹ is irrefutable evidence that such sites were occupied during that period. But it does not follow that such inhabitation was confined to that period, and there can be little doubt that, if none of our hut circles has a Stone Age origin, some of them certainly are the foundations of dwellings of the Iron Age. The association of small cairns, beyond placing the remains in pre-Christian times, does not actually help us, for Iron Age sepulture occasionally took place in cairns; but as more relics of the Bronze Age have been recovered from such erections, there is at least a presumption that the hut circles with associated small cairns belong to the latter epoch. There have been located in the county some thirty-one groups either of small cairns, such as are usually found in association with hut circles, by themselves, or of small cairns with the accompanying hut circles; and the fact that there is not a single one of these groups in Eskdale or Ewesdale supports the inference which the distribution of the larger cairns leads up to, that in early prehistoric times the eastern districts of the county were very sparsely peopled. The groups lie in ten parishes: Closeburn, Dunscore, Glencairn, Keir, Kirkmahoe, Kirkpatrick-Juxta, Kirkmichael, Middlebie, Sanquhar, and Tynron. Eight of these parishes are in Nithsdale. Kirkpatrick-Juxta and Kirkmichael are in Annandale, but the groups in the former parish lie all on the west side of the Annan, and are on the moorland reaching back to Queensberry Hill, a region, as shown above, in which early cairns also occur in considerable numbers, while the two groups in Kirkmichael Parish lie on the high ground between the two dales, and are only a few miles distant from a group near Glenmaid in the Nithsdale parish of Kirkmahoe. There is another point to observe about these groups for which a satisfactory explanation has yet to be discovered, and that is the remarkable uniformity of elevation at which they are found. In the Inventory the approximate height above sea-level is given of twenty-nine out of the thirty-one groups, and an analysis of these statements yields the following results. No less than twenty-three of the groups lie at an altitude of between 800 and 900 feet, four between 700 and 800 feet, and only two below the 700-feet elevation. Many groups formerly existing at lower levels have doubtless been eliminated by the action of the plough, but, if the extension of agriculture in comparatively recent times afforded an explanation, we should expect to find those constructions which still remain situated at the edge of the moorland, which is by no means the case. This may be noticed particularly with regard to the small cairns at Knockespen in Kirkmichael Parish, from the position of which, high up on a long ridge, there stretches below a wide reach of moorland which has never been broken in to the plough. The best-preserved examples of hut circles are those on Whitestanes Moor, Kirkmahoe Parish. They seem for the most part to be oval, and present features which did not occur in the hut circles of Galloway or of the northern counties, in that they have been dug out to such an extent that the present floor- level in the interior is sunk in one case as much as 1 1/2 to 2 feet below the natural surface on the outside. Similar pit dwellings were met with in Lauderdale, but not in association with small cairns. ² Rock Sculptures. - The limitation eastwards of rock sculptures in the Stewartry was remarked on in the Inventory of that county, and it is not surprising therefore, as all the evidence points to the populating of Galloway and western 1 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., xlviii. p. 376. 2 Berwickshire Inventory, p. 122, No. 231. -- xlix
dumfries-1920/04-052 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. Dumfriesshire having been done from the west, to find not a single example of cup- and-ring markings in this county. One stone only was met with on which occur markings probably belonging to this class, and that was a detached slab (fig. 2) form- ing the sill of the doorway into the vaulted basement of Hollows Tower (No. 43) in Canonbie Parish. In place of cup and rings, spirals are traced on it, and it bears a considerable resemblance to a stone from the Island of Eday, Orkney, found in what appears to have been a chambered cairn and now in the National Museum of Anti- quities, Edinburgh. ¹ The provenance of the stone at Hollows Tower is unknown. Defensive Constructions. - The remains in this county which fall to be considered under this heading number 220. These may be separated into two distinct classes, viz. those whose main purpose has been, by choice of situation and construction of defences, the prevention or repulsion of attack, and consequently are "forts"; [Diagram inserted] Fig. 2. - Spiral-marked Slab, Hollows Tower. and others which, though possessing certain features of defence, combine with these elements of conceal- ment such as would in troublous times be applic- able in pastoral districts to shelters for sheep and cattle. These latter not being actu- ally forts have been desig- nated merely "enclosures." To the first class belong 143 constructions; to the second, 77. Taking a sur- vey from the west across the county, and commenc- ing with Nithsdale, we find in that region forts only, numbering 25; in Annan- dale we find 94 forts, but also 37 enclosures; while in Eskdale and Ewesdale we meet with only 24 forts, but as many as 40 enclosures. In one or two cases all over classification may be doubtful. The lack of definite knowledge regarding the period of erection of the forts in this country, owing to the limited amount of excavation which has thus far been done on them, renders the synthesis of these structures in any manner which may be illuminating a matter of no little difficulty. The usual method of consider- ing them mainly according to the physical qualities of the sites they occupy, does not afford much help, for we have no reason to suppose that the people who occupied a promontory, if in their immediate neighbourhood, would not as readily have drawn their lines of defence in a geometrical figure around the crest of some swelling ridge had it been nearer at hand and equally suitable. There are, fortunately, a few out- standing facts which act as guide-posts along the ill-defined track which we have to follow in our endeavour to pick out and set in some order the relations of these constructions to the prehistoric periods. The Roman fort or camp is, with rare exceptions, in form a rectangular oblong with the corners rounded; the camp of 1 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., iv. p. 186. -- l
dumfries-1920/04-053 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. mediæval times, which also intrudes itself to intensify the confusion, is probably likewise straight-sided. the prehistoric fort is, on the other hand, as an invariable rule, curvilinear, either oval or circular or of some irregularly round figure such as the eccentricities of the site demanded. The curvilinear forts, further, may be constructed of stone, with or without entrenchment, or they may be pure earthworks with ram- parts and ditch, or a combination of stone and earthwork; and lastly, their ditches may be entirely excavated in soil, or their construction may have necessitated the cutting of rock. As the rectangular oblong fort, by its shape and certain considera- tions of situation, may, with some degree of certainty be recognised as Roman, if the mediæval element be disregarded, so the curvilinear fort, the trench of which is cut through rock, may be presumed to belong to the Iron Age. We are thus left with stoneworks and simple earthworks to assign to their proper periods. This is probably not possible by the aid of superficial observation, as the builder of an Iron Age fort might be so fortunate as to find no rock to interfere with his entrenchment, or the erection of a stone fortress might be his simplest and most effective contrivance on a particular site which he deemed it necessary to occupy. To lift the veil and indicate the features which may be peculiar to any given period, spade-work is necessary, and until that is forthcoming the chronology of our numerous forts must in large measure remain in doubt. Environment, comparison with excavated examples, and occasional discoveries of associated relics are all factors which may be called in to help, and the cautious use of these may enable us to determine the period to which certain of the Dumfriesshire forts belong. First, as being least open to doubt, let us take the Roman forts into considera- tion. Of these there are four which by plan as well as by the positive evidence afforded by excavation are assuredly of this origin: Birrens (No. 462), two at Birrens- wark (No. 272), and Raeburnfoot (No. 172). Another, Gilnockie (No. 45), by the details of its plan and by analogy with ascertained examples elsewhere, there can be little doubt merits a similar attribution. But, after accounting for these five, we have still a number of rectilinear forts in the county concerning which only the ap- plication of the spade will suffice to determine whether they are mediæval or Roman. Certain of their characteristics may be pointed out. One only of them, the fort at Kirkmahoe Manse (No. 340), is large, and it is in a very fragmentary condition. The site, a plateau flanked on one side by low marshy ground and on the other by a steep bank overlooking haugh-land that stretches to the Nith, is such as a Roman general might well have selected. But when we say that the site alone presents no inherent impossibility to such an attribution, it is as much as we are justified in asserting. Proceeding up Nithsdale for some miles to Durisdeer, in the glen of the Kirkburn, at the entrance to the Well-path, a pass which leads through wild hill country into Clydesdale, we find another small oblong rectangular earthwork of uncertain origin (No. 163). The trench which surrounds it is boldly cut, and for some distance its course has been hewn through rock, which does not suggest that we have here a mere temporary encampment. The entrance is in the middle of one end, and some 24 feet in front of it there has been dug an outer ditch or traverse, a feature quite consonant with Roman methods. Here again the spade alone can decide, but, as in the case of the fort at Kirkmahoe, there is no inherent impossibility of a Roman origin. Passing into Annandale, we find in the parish of Middlebie, at no great distance from Birrens, two constructions which deserve some notice.One at Purdomstown (No.466), adjoining, and partly covered by, the Annan Waterworks, is a quasi- -- li
dumfries-1920/04-054 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. rectangular oblong contained in a loop of the Middlebie Burn, the high banks of which afford a considerable measure of defence. No entrance remains visible. The rampart is very low and not very broad, and beyond the rectilinear shape and something in the situation, there is nothing about the construction suggestive of a Roman origin. The second fort in this character referred to is more remarkable. It is situated near Carruthers on Birrens Hill (No. 464). In form it is oblong and approximately rectangular with rounded angles. The rampart rises boldly from the interior plat, and the covering trench, where it remains uninterfered with by later works, has its scarps smooth and sharply cut. The entrance is through the centre of one end. In front the ground has been much interfered with by quarrying. Here again the features do not suggest a prehistoric origin, but whether this fort is Roman or mediæval, excavation alone can decide. The probability is, however, from its exposed situation, that it belongs to the latter class. Proceeding up Annandale, at Gotterbie Moor (No. 451) in Lochmaben Parish, we find another small oblong quasi-rectangular fort. The entrance in this case is not in the centre but towards one side of the south-east end, and, 20 feet in front of it extending divergently past it, is a deep irregularly excavated hollow, more like a quarry-hole than a trench. The situa- tion of this construction in a depression of the ground, the slightness of its rampart, and the water-holding character of its ditch, all militate against the theory of a Roman origin. Some miles farther north, in the parish of Kirkpatrick-Juxta, is another small oblong rectangular fort, which merits more attention. This fort, near the farm of Milton, is situated on a ridge known as Tassie's Height (No. 411), and is seemingly adjacent to the site of a fort noted by Roy. It has been sur- rounded by a single rampart of earth of very considerable bulk, though now greatly spread by cultivation, and with a trench to the outside. The entrance has been through the centre of one end and has faced the site of an old road which leads up Annandale, and to which a tentative Roman attribution has in the past been assigned. The situation of this fort, commanding an extensive prospect from a moderate elevation, is such as the Roman engineers greatly affected; moreover, the placing of the axis at right angles to that of the trend of the ridge, as if to face on to a road passing along it, is an arrangement quite unlike that adopted in native forts. Here again the spade alone can solve the problem. Turning to a consideration of the curvilinear forts, and commencing with Niths- dale, we cannot in this region recognise any arrangement of defences which we can point to as typical of the district or of any particular period. The principal forts have for the most part multiple defences of ditches and ramparts, and as a rule are earthworks. The most impressive fortress in the dale, and also in the county, is Tynron Doon (No. 609) in Tynron Parish, occupying the summit of an imposing peak. Its bold ramparts of earth and splintered rock, and the abundant evidence of rock-cutting in its lowest trench, indicate for it a late origin, presumably in the Iron Age. A similar characteristic marks the fine fort on Barr's Hill (No. 581) in that part of Tinwald Parish which may be reckoned for our purpose in Nithsdale. An earthwork which shows no resemblance to any other fort in the county is that crowning the Castle Hill (No. 236) above the Dalwhat Glen, some 3 1/2 miles westward of Moniaive. With its defending terraces, however, it distinctly recalls the fort overlooking the Laggan Loch in the parish of Glasserton, Wigtownshire. ¹ Another which displays unusual features is that on Morton Mains Hill (No. 511), Morton Parish. This fort has all the 1 Wigtownshire Inventory, No. 5. --lii
dumfries-1920/04-055 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. appearance of an unfinished work. It is a pure earthwork and consists of various unconnected segments of ditch and rampart around a hill top. Stoneworks are not common among the forts of Nithsdale, but there are two, both in the parish of Kirkmahoe, which call for comment. The one at the Belt, High Townhead (No. 342), on a promontory overlooking the valley, is remarkable for the extent of its defences. It is comparatively small, measuring in the interior 163 feet by 109 feet, and its situation as a strong one. On its more assailable front it has seemingly been protected by three outer walls, and the entrance has been carried through these walls by a passage some 95 feet in length. There is an absence of trenchwork in its defences which may indicate an early period for its origin; and the groups of small cairns and hut circles on Glenmaid Moor (No. 343), Whitestanes Moor (No. 344), and Shaws Moor (No. 345), at no great distance to the north, are evidence of the early occupation of the neigh- bourhood. The other stone fort, the Mullach (No. 339), occupies the summit of a pro- minent hill about 1 1/2 miles to the north-west. It is the only vitrified fort observed in the county. The two walls which enclose the enceinte are at a considerable dis- tance apart, and here also there is no entrenchment. The vitrifaction appears in both walls, and it is noteworthy, as bearing on the question of the production of that condition, that there is no trace of anything of the kind on the rocky summit which forms the centre of the fort, where it might have been expected, had signal fires been the accidental cause of vitrifaction in forts. It lies at a distance of 10 miles from the sea, which is somewhat unusual in the case of a fort of this class. In the valley of the Cairn, a tributary of the Nith, there lies, some seven miles below Moniaive at Snade, an earthwork of unusual character, which is probably late, but which does not fall into any other class of earthwork in the county. This is a circular plat known as "The Orchard," measuring some 116 feet by 103 feet, lying on low ground near the river defended by ditches and ramparts, the former of which are capable of being artificially flooded from the Cairn. The ditches are broad and deep, the ramparts massive, and the situation with its wet ditches seems to indicate a possible mediæval origin. Though this construction is much more imposing, it recalls the so-called Trowdale "Mote" in the parish of Crossmichael in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, ¹ situated in low-lying swampy ground and surrounded by two concentric ditches which appear to have held water. Of the ninety-four ² forts of Annandale, we have already dealt with those of rectilinear plan, which number only seven. The remainder, following the principles which have been adopted in this survey, we may divide in the first case into stoneworks and earthworks. The former, it will be observed on reference to the Inventory, are almost entirely confined to the parish of Kirkpatrick-Juxta, in the stretch of country bounded by the River Annan for a few miles southward from Beattock on the east, and by Queensberry Hill on the west. And as in Nithsdale we found the only two stone-built forts adjacent to the region of the small cairns and hut circles, so here also this class of fort is situated in that portion of the county where large cairns are least scarce, and where in places the small cairns abound. The earthworks are not confined to any particular locality, nor do they exhibit any peculiarities of structure or of plan which distinguish them specially from forts found elsewhere. Considered according to the factors noted in reference to the Nithsdale forts, a considerable number show rock-cutting in their trenches, such, for example, as the forts of Range Castle (No. 98), Dalton Parish, Carthur Hill (No. 291), Hutton and Corrie Parish, 1 Kirkcud. Inv., No. 140. 2 A segment of another is reported at Greenhill plantation, Cummertrees. -- liii -- e
dumfries-1920/04-056 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. and Haggy Hill (No. 596) in Tundergarth Parish. Moreover, on the ramparts of those which show in their trenches what is presumed to be the application of an iron tool, there may also be observed along the crests of some of them the foundations of a stone parapet. Such is the case on the forts of Craighousesteads Hill (No.600) and Haggy Hill (No. 596) in Tundergarth. Certain of the earthworks with bold ramparts and trenches, such as Woody Castle (No. 450) overlooking Lochmaben, or the im- pressive remains of the triply-ramparted fort at Gallaberry, Dryfeholm (No. 115) in Dryfesdale, show no peculiarities of construction that enable the observer to hazard an opinion as to the period to which they are referable; the same may be said of the segmental earthworks at the edge of the banks of the Mollin Burn (No. 320), Johnstone Parish, and Auchencat Burn (No. 485), Moffat Parish. In the Stewartry of Kirkcud- bright a circular fort at Drumcoltran yielded from the bottom of its surrounding trench some years ago a hoard of Bronze Age rapier-blades, and, as far as the characteristics of that fort may be regarded as typical, it affords a definite index for the identifica- tion of other forts of that period. Two forts in Annandale certainly present a superficial resemblance to it: these are the fort on Castlehill, Pilmuir Common (No. 113, in Dryfesdale, and that at Millbank (No. 14) in Applegarth Parish. Both are approximately circular, are surrounded by single ditches with earthen mounds on scarp and counterscarp, and are pure earthworks, features all possessed by the Drum- coltran fort. A peculiarity noticeable in a number of the forts, and almost universal in the enclosures, is the opening of the entrance into a excavated hollow on the interior, so as to be commanded by higher ground all round. This may be seen in the fort in Corncockle Plantation (No. 449), Lochmaben Parish, and in the fort on Newland Hill (No. 599) in Tundergarth Parish, which has previously been quoted as an example with a stone parapet above the rampart. A fort which seems to be unique in this district is that near Crawthat Cottage (No. 595) near the road from Lockerbie to Langholm, and also in Tundergarth Parish, its peculiarity being its division by a cross trench into two separately defensible areas. The Eskdale and Ewesdale region contains only some twenty-four forts, and of these twenty are situated above the junction of the Esk and Ewes. For the most part they lie in the Esk valley, clustering to the north of a point where the Black Esk coming from the west mingles with the White Esk from the north, both streams thereafter flowing on in an easterly direction. The most remarkable of the group is the fine fort of Castle O'er (No. 177). It occupies the crest of a long ridge, also a considerable area of ground below the eminence,and its defences, which are formid- able, combine wall, trenches, and ramparts. Hut circles are evident in the interior, and there is abundant evidence of rock-cutting. In various aspects it recalls the fort on the summit of Bonchester Hill in Roxburghshire, ¹ which shows a similar employment in its defensive system of walls, trenches, and ramparts. A further remarkable arrangement intensifies the analogy, that is the enclosing of an area of ground at the base of the eminence crowned by the fort. A slight excavation on the Bonchester Hill fort produced an iron shouldered pin which, along with the type of querns found, all of the saddle variety, suggested an early Iron Age date for the construction. It seems likely, therefore, without straining the analogy, that the Castle O'er fort originated in the same period. There are three features generally noticeable in these forts which link them to others noted in Annandale, and these are: rock-cutting in the formation of the trenches, 1 See Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., xliv., 1909-10, p. 225. -- liv
dumfries-1920/04-057 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. remains of a stone parapet surmounting the ramparts, and the lowering of the level of the interior by excavation, usually at the entrance. As affording some sort of analogy to the fort at Crawthat Cottage in Tundergarth Parish, attention may be directed to the fort at Over Cassock, Eskdalemuir, which is unlike the generality of the forts in the dale, being formed on a promontory and separated into two divisions by a cross rampart and trench; but in this case the upper enceinte into which the main entrance opens appears to be the more important enclosure, and not, as in the Crawthat Cottage fort, an outer bailey. A fort on the Loch Hill (No. 211) in Ewes Parish, though now much worn away, appears to be distinct from the general type in the neighbourhood. A remarkable construction (No. 175), which, though an earth- work, can hardly be deemed either a fort or an enclosure, is situated on the right bank of the Esk some 3/4 mile above the mansion-house of Castle O'er. It is a plat at the top of a steep bank rising from the river but at the bottom of a semicircular hollow in the hillside, that towers above it, and from which it is overlooked at all points. It has around it certain lines that are of a defensive character, but its purpose is inexplicable. A Roman fort at Raeburnfoot in Eskdale has already been noted, and its presence there may find a likely explanation in the group of forts referred to as indicating a considerable population, which the Romans may have found it necessary thus to overawe. Of stone-walled forts in the region of upper Eskdale or of Ewesdale there is not one. A single specimen, however, crowns the Craig Hill in Westerkirk Parish (No. 637), some 3 miles above Langholm. It now remains to consider those defensive constructions which we have classified under the name of "Enclosures." In form they are as a general rule circular, or oval, protected by a single rampart with a ditch in front of it, and having the entrance giving into an excavated hollow in the interior. But one remarkable feature distinguishes the whole class, that is the hollowing or lowering by excavation of almost the whole interior surface, so that in some cases the floor actually lies at a depth of from 4 to 5 feet below the surface of the surrounding ground. Their close resemblance to certain of the forts, especially to those earthworks which carry the remains of a stone parapet on their respective ramparts, and on the sides of whose trenches rock-cutting is visible, renders it a matter of no small difficulty to distinguish between the two kinds of constructions and also indicates that they are of late date. Not a single example is recorded in Nithsdale, thirty-seven appear in Annandale, being in the proportion of somewhat more than one-third to the number of forts, whereas in the Eskdale and Ewesdale districts they number forty, exceeding the forts by nearly two to one. The situations which many of these enclosures occupy are not in them- selves highly defensible, but, set back from the edge of some high bank which margins the river valley, they are such as would easily escape the notice of marauders on the roadway through the haugh-land below, while the depression of the interior would further tend to the concealment of stock herded within. A small enclosure showing an excavated interior is one of the group of construc- tions which lie on the flanks of Birrenswark Hill. This particular entrenchment is situated at the west end, and was examined by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland when they made a partial exploration of the Roman camps there in 1898. Within it were found a broken quern and a piece of bracelet of opaque glass, ¹ the latter an object whose probable date is in the 1st or 2nd century of our era. Though some of 1 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. xxxiii. p. 235. -- lv
dumfries-1920/04-058 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. these enclosures undoubtedly are, from the uniformity of plan, contemporaneous with certain of the forts, yet others, there can be little doubt, belong to mediæval times, and conceivably some are even later. The name "Birren" applied to them as a class seems to have as its root meaning that of "shelter," A.S. beorgan, found also in "burgh."Its range of application is thus wide, including both stone and earthen constructions, since the "shelter" thought of was apparently with reference to cattle and sheep. In not a few foundations of small rectangular huts, seemingly contemporan- eous, are apparent, and in one at Mosspeeble, Ewes Parish (No. 215), there still stands the shepherd's cottage. It is remarkable that in these eastern dales of the county a "birren" is almost invariably to be found in the neighbourhood of any place with a name which appears in history in the rieving and raiding days, and the proximity of these places to the English border rendered some "corral," in which the cattle could be concealed, an indispensable adjunct. In the foregoing review of the defensive constructions of the county, an attempt has been made to indicate lines of inquiry, through minute observation of detail and comparison, by which it may be possible to reach some sort of conclusion as to the periods to which the numerous classes of forts belong; but while such methods may be interesting, and instructive to some extent, the only sure source of information is scientifically conducted exploration with the spade and the consequent recovery of relics. Years of study have now familiarised archæologists with the art if the potter or of the craftsman in metalwork of the various periods of our prehistory, and the potsherd or the fibula which may be obtained from an excavation is evidence of folk or chronology almost as incontestable as the written word of the historian. The "Deil's Dike" or "Dyke." - In the north-western district of the county are to be found detached examples of the low stony mound and shallow ditch, no doubt much reduced from their original condition, known as the "Deil's" ¹ or "Picts" (Sanquhar) or "Celtic" Dike, and in the north-east, in the parish of Eskdalemuir, are portions of a similar feature, which is there called the "Diel's Jingle" (No. 176). The longest section, running from near the Nith to the boundary of Ayrshire, is in the parish of Sanquhar (No. 566), and stretches, though not continuously, for about ten miles. Other portions, each extending for rather less than a third of this distance, are in the parishes of Durisdeer (No. 163) and Closeburn (No. 80). In every case the "Dike" is sinous rather than straight, generally following a contour line: the 600-feet level south of Sanquhar, where the land as a whole lies high, and up to the 700 to 950 feet line on still higher ground. The portions along the east and west sides of the Carron Water in the parish of Durisdeer are significant. Starting at the Enterkin Water on the 500 contour, 50 feet above the stream, the "Dike" runs due east as far as the line of an old drove road. About a quarter of a mile due north on the road it again appears and passes northwards, first on the 900 and then on the 800-feet level, to end in an eastwards curl at Nether Dalveen. It is next found on the eastern hillslope on the opposite side of the Carron, running south at an elevation of 750 to 800 feet, till above Durisdeer it turns with the salient of the hill and follows the 700-feet contour north-eastwards parallel with the Kirk Burn. An 1 Cf. also Report and Inventory of Wigtown, passim, and of Kirkcudbright, p. xxii., and Art. No. 368. The line of broad mounds west of Hightae and Heck in Lochmaben parish, which is marked on the O.S. 6-inch maps as "Murthat or Deil's Dike," is really a natural formation of stratified sand and gravel (kames) utterly different in size and character from the Dike proper. --lvi
dumfries-1920/04-059 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. isolated portion occurs on the opposite slope of the burn behind Durisdeer, and a much longer section to the south of the Hapland Burn follows the above levels south-west- wards. What is noticeable along this whole stretch is that it almost entirely still marks the boundary between the cultivated land and the moorland. Nor does the nature of the structure anywhere suggest that it ever had any other purpose than that of a boundary or march or head-dike, ¹ though, on the assumption that it was con- tinuous, a strategically defensive purpose has also been claimed for it. The bank is everywhere low and the trench slight, seemingly only what was left when the earth was heaped up to form the bank. In one case at least what was probably a core of unusually large stones has been exposed (No. 80). The service of a typical mediæval march of this sort no doubt varied; south of Sanquhar it strikes across the moor still roughly in line with the river; but a march to all appearance it was. As a defence it could be penetrated anywhere, unless well defended; the population could never be sufficient to defend its whole length, and any local defence could be turned. "Celtic" is obviously a comparatively modern term; and the "Deil" is a favourite engineer all over the country, as also are the Picts in their semi-mythological stage. Another name to which reference may be made is "Kemp's Castle" (No. 557) for a hill fort. In various parts of southern and north-eastern Scotland, from Wigtown to Forfar, the name appears either in this form or as Kemp's Graves, Kemp's Cairn, etc. A gloss accompanying a 13th-century charter of lands in the Registrum Moraviense, App. No. 4, gives for one name the meaning "of the Grett or Kempis men callit Fenis." "Kemp," indeed, occurs sporadically in the literature of both England and Scotland from a very early period in the sense of a "great warrior" or "champion," latterly with a suggestion of something monstrous either in size or acti- vities. Thus, as above, the Gaelic Feinne or Fingalians were "Kemps." The applica- tion to imposing prehistoric structures of unknown origin is obvious. "Bogle Walls" (No. 638) is simply a more eerie version of the same idea. Crannogs. - Crannogs, which are islands in whole or part formed artificially for residence, are not, as a rule, conspicuous structures. Of the four so far located in Dumfriesshire ² the crannog at the Black Loch Sanquhar is noted in Art. No. 568, and described in the Transactions Dumfries and Galloway Soc., 1864-5, pp. 4-5. At the time of its exposure, it was found to rest, apparently directly, upon the subsoil, having only a ring of boulders to strengthen the base. The upright piles were of oak "dressed and sharpened by a metal tool" and "some of them morticed at the head" for the transverse beams, which were "chiefly of birch wood." On this wooden platform was a layer of broken stone from 12 to 18 inches deep, on which had accumulated the vegetable mould covered with vegetation, the surface being 6 to 8 feet above the bottom of the loch. A narrow, curving causeway connected the island with the shore, and in the mud was found a canoe, which was formed from a single oak tree 16 feet in length and tapered from 3 feet at its widest to 1 foot 10 inches at the prow. No other relic was discovered. Here may also be mentioned the relics of a stockade found about 1877 on the farm of Kelloside, Kirkconnel. The stakes, about three feet in length and six inches in diameter, enclosed an area 1 In the parish of Kells, Kirkcudbright, it is known as "the Auld Head Dyke of Scotland" (Chalmers, Caledonia, v. p. 237). 2 Munro's Ancient Scottish Lake Dwellings, p. 245. Of the others included in the list that at Loch Urr is the subject of Art. No. 144, while the references in the list to Lochwood, Closeburn, and Morton apply to the position of the castellated structures at these places described in the Inventory. -- lvii
dumfries-1920/04-060 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. of about half an acre and "in appearance and morticing" - the "mortice holes about one foot from the bottom of each stake" - "were exactly similar to those in the stockade" of the Sanquhar lake dwelling. ¹ There was no vestige of the wood on the hard ground. On the south-west side of the Castle Loch, Lochmaben, is a small artificial island, now several feet under water, from which oak mortised beams have been recovered. ² In 1863 there was exposed in a peat bank in Corncockle, in the parish of Applegarth, a stratum of parallel oak logs with from 6 to 7 feet of peat above and below. The platform of logs was covered with birch twigs on which was a layer of bracken, the latter two together giving a thickness of 10 inches. At one spot was a circular paving of flattish whinstones 6 to 7 feet in diameter, on which were many fragments of burnt wood. Beside it were seven large oak bowls 10 to 12 inches in diameter and an oak mallet. There were no piles, but the ends of the logs, of which the largest was 14 inches in diameter, had obviously been cut, and two had square mortise holes. The portion of the platform uncovered was from 20 to 30 feet wide, while the ends of the logs could be followed on the face of the bank for 150 feet. ³ Near Friar's Carse, in the parish of Dunscore, a small loch, on being partially drained, revealed the presence of an artificial island already noted by Grose. ⁴ The island was slightly oval and was surrounded by piles, while the plat was com- posed of oak beams, the ends of which overlapped or were mortised. Within the piles the space measured some 80 by 70 feet. Near the centre was a circular paving of small stones, and there were also some remains of clay flooring. In the same quarter was a heap of debris 2 to 3 feet thick, which contained ashes, charcoal, some bones, and fragments of pottery. Two of these fragments were "handles of jars with a yellowish glaze, inclining in some parts to a green and in others to a reddish- brown colour" - obviously mediæval. About sixty yards from the island a canoe was found, 22 feet long and 2 feet 10 inches broad, with a flat stern-piece fitted into a groove. From the west side of the loch came a paddle 3 feet 10 inches long and a hammer-head of whinstone 10 inches by 5, which was perforated for a handle. ⁵ A canoe "cut out of one solid piece of wood" was found also, about the beginning of the 18th century, in a moss not far from Morton Castle. ⁶ II. CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURES. The defensive constructions described above are those of communities large or small. The private castle as the residence of a lord and his retainers, for whose defence it was primarily intended, was introduced into this country by the Normans, and the earliest form of such a castle was of the mote-and-bailey type. The mote was a hillock of earth with steep sides surrounded by a deep trench; the bailey was an attached enclosure at a lower level likewise entrenched (fig 3). On both the superficial defences were of wood. On the hillock stood a wooden castle or bretasche within a palisade. An earthen rampart, which was also crowned by a palisade, rose above the scarp of the bailey, while the counterscarp generally bore some form of thorn entanglement or hedge (heriçon). From this general type there were several deviations, some of which are illustrated in Dumfriesshire. 1 Trans. Dumf. and Gall., 1897-8, pp. 32-3. 2 Munro as cited, p. 32; Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vi. p. 60; Archæol. Scot., iii. p. 77, n. 3 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vi. pp. 163-5. 4 Antiquities of Scotland, i. p. 146. 5 Munro as cited, pp. 152-8; Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., xvi. pp. 73-8. 6 New Stat. Acct., iv. p. 96. --lviii
dumfries-1920/04-061 Ancient and Historical Monuments - Dumfries. [Photos Inserted] FIG 3. - MOTES, AND BRUCE STONE FROM ANNAN. To face p. lviii.
dumfries-1920/04-062 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. In many cases the mound alone survives, and there is no trace of a court or bailey, which may indeed have disappeared in certain instances through agricultural opera- tions; in others we are not justified in believing it ever existed. At Lochmaben (No. 445 (1)) there is only the great mound with its encircling ditch and evidence of other ditches on one side. The dimensions of this mound are unusually large for a mote, but may be compared with those of Troqueer in Kirkcudbright, and of similar mounds in England. What was the mote-hill at Tibbers (No. 157), too, was also of exceptional size. While at Coats Hill (No. 395) cultivation may well have encroached upon the further defences of the mound, there is more doubt with regard to the Mote of Hutton (No. 296), where cultivation seems unlikely and where there is no sign of a bailey. Good standard examples of the complete mote and bailey are Auldton Mote at Moffat (No. 483), the Mote of Rockhall (No. 448), and the Mote of Ingleston (No. 238), while Dinning Mote (No. 65), too, is normal in plan, save that there is no ditch intervening between the mote and bailey. In each of these cases, and indeed in almost every case in the county, defences have been carved out of natural ridges, though no doubt work was done in heightening the mound and sloping the scarps. Hutton Mote appears to be entirely artificial, though placed upon a naturally lofty site, where the upcast earth has been used to gave additional height to the mound. Thus, in most cases - Dinning, Rockhall, Maxwelton (No. 241) are good examples - the slope of the hillside augments the defences of both bailey and mound. A notable feature in some of the motes is the presence of terracing on the scarp, of which examples also occur in the neighbouring county of Kirkcudbright. Here may be noted the two terraces on the mound at Lochwood (No. 316); at Garpol Water (No. 397) the terrace round the mound is a prolongation of the bailey court, but the ditch also is continued below. In both examples there are traces of drystone parapet walls on the terrace, and at Garpol even round the bailey court. Though the standard plan of mote is that of the round hillock, and the bailey is fitted to it with a curvilinear outline, the shape of both is generally determined by the nature of the high ground which has been utilised. Thus at Annan (No. 3) the mote is pear-shaped, and the bailey very long in comparison with its breadth, while at Dinning (No.65) the bailey is rectangular. As might be expected, no signs of the wooden defences are now discernible on the surface, and no proper excavation of these sites has been made, but this type of wooden defence persisted in Scotland generally till a comparatively late period. Similar in principle were the characteristic "peels" or palisaded enclosures erected during the War of Independence by Edward I., of which Lochmaben Peel (see No. 445) was an example; while the fact that Edward Bruce in 1313 could capture thirteen castles in Galloway in one year suggests that these were still the small castella of the mote-and-bailey type, of which so many traces survive. The peel, indeed, as the simplest and cheapest form of defensive structure, persisted right through Border history (cf. p. lxii.). The position of these Dumfriesshire motes was apparently dependent upon different considerations. That at Castledykes, Dumfries (No. 128), was of course a royal construction; with Troqueer Mote on the opposite side of the river it probably covered a ferry crossing, as in the parallel case at York. Others, such as Annan, were manorial residences or the head places of baronies. Annan, Lochmaben, and Moffat motes were the work of the Bruces, the dominant family in Annandale. Of the more outlying examples nothing very definite can be said. Many are in the neighbourhood of fords; Garpol Mote (No. 397) is a conspicuous example of this position. Hutton Mote is on a retired but lofty site with a wide view of the surrounding country; it was --lix
dumfries-1920/04-063 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. the head of a barony. In size. too, these structures vary greatly, and in most cases the number of occupants must have been small, as the motes represent, at least in the main, the incoming of Norman settlers and their planting a fixed footing in the country. Necessarily their quarters, however strong, cannot have been of great dimensions. Some examples may well be due to local lords in imitation of the master- ful incomers. Chronologically the type at least must be assigned to the 12th century as the time of its introduction. Noteworthy in their relation to these places is the occurrence of such names as "Boreland" and "Ingleston" (i.e. English-town) in the vicinity. The former stands for the "bordland," that is the land provisioning the "board" or "table" of the lord, while the latter represents a settlement of retainers or followers. ¹ Of the earlier type of Norman stone castle, the tower and courtyard which re- peated in stone the features of the mote-and-bailey wooden castle, no contemporary example exists or is likely ever to have existed in Dumfriesshire, though this type of residence never died out, and examples of a late date are plentiful in Scotland and in England. The form of stone castle which immediately succeeded the timber type in Scotland is that of the wall of enceinte with flanking towers exampled at Tibbers (No. 157), where it crowns the original mote, Auchencass (No.384), and the first Caelaverock (No. 33 (1)). We have perhaps evidence of the planting of such castles of a new type towards the end of the 13th century in references to Clifford's "house" at Tibbers "just begun" in 1298, ² and the new place of "Seneware" (Sanquhar) in 1296. ³ If not the main work, these are at least buildings within it. The examples cited follow the contemporary form of the English late 13th-century castle. The earlier Caerlaverock, however, though apparently belonging to the same class, must have been older than the others, if it was the place besieged and captured by Edward I. in 1300. These late 13th-century structures are not upon lofty sites, with the exception of Tibbers, where the original mound was strong enough to bear the heavier structure, but depend for strength of situation upon surrounding marshy land. Within this structure of wall and towers, and apart from the residential facilities afforded by the towers, all buildings of a domestic or service character would probably, in the first instance at least, be substantially of wood, for which, however, in general, at a later stage, buildings of stone less massive in character than the defensive walls and towers were substituted. It will be observed that in none of these 13th-century examples is there any dominating tower or donjon as the main defence and final refuge of the garrison. This feature had for the time gone out of military fashion in France and England, owing partly to the development of siege craft, partly to the desire of occupants to have more space and more comfortable quarters in which to stand a siege. By the rounded towers at corners of the enclosure a flanking fire was secured for the curtain walls, while a marshy site or broad wet ditch on the level, or a spit of land in a lake, inter- posed an effective obstacle to the mining operations of a besieging force. Caerlaverock (No. 33 (2)), Auchencass (No. 384), Morton (No. 510), and Lochmaben (No.445 (2)) are all in their degree examples of this class. Special attention is given to the gateway as the vulnerable place in the structure. Its outer opening is flanked with round towers and is continued in a vaulted passage. At Auchencass, however, there is the simpler feature of an entrance past the corner tower turning upon itself at right angles, a donjon type. At Caerlaverock additions and elaborations from time to 1 But cf. reference to "Engless men" on p. xlii. 2 Bain's Calendar, ii. No. 1005. 3 Ibid., ii. p. 206. -- lx
dumfries-1920/04-064 Ancient and Historical Monuments - Dumfries. [Photos inserted] FIG. 4. - TOWERS To face p. lxi.
dumfries-1920/04-065 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. time made the original entrance more formidable. Morton is probably the latest of these enceinte castles; its defences are concentrated on the one way of approach, where, too, the lower part of the curtain wall shows a pronounced batter, which forced into fuller exposure assailants attempting to undermine the foundations. Here, as also at Lochmaben, three sides of the building are flanked by the water of the loch. In the case of Lochmaben the entrance between half-round towers and over the canal- like ditch - the last of three ditches - comes immediately upon the mass of the main building, behind which extend successive rectangular wards. Several circumstances, however, brought the square tower back to favour in England, and it was at this stage that the tower residence properly took root in Scot- land. On the borders of both countries it figures in isolation as an independent structure (fig.4). Where it is incorporated in more extensive wards, as at Lochwood (No. 315) and Sanquhar (No. 551), it will be found that these added wards are of much later date, are mainly domestic in character - so far as the distinction can be made - and bear witness to the growing fortunes of the families concerned. These two are probably 15th-century towers. Certain examples, such as Closeburn (No. 59), Tor- thorwald (No. 590), and Spedlin's (No. 446) are of earlier type, and accordingly more massive. Comlongon (No. 537) alone supplies examples of chambers in the mass of its 11-feet-thick walls. The latest examples of free-standing towers, which are also the most numerous, display an increasing fondness for ornament. Repentance Tower (No. 89) was purely a watch-tower. The fact is that in these towers we do not see a fortress in the strict sense of the term, in which everything is subordinated to military purposes, but the residence of a local magnate or laird which was also fortified. "The houses of the Grames that were," writes a traveller of 1629, "are but one little stone tower garretted and slated or thatched, some of the form of a little tower not garretted; such be all the leards' houses in Scotland." ¹ They were not expected to withstand a regular siege, but with a small garrison offered quite effective protection against a raid. In their external features the towers thus display a progressive insistence upon residential conveniences, of which Caerlaverock, in a different class, affords an impressive illustra- tion in the extension and adornment of the domestic buildings within the curtain walls. In the case of the towers such additions and reconstructions from century to century make it difficult to give them a strict chronological sequence. As a type, however, this form of residence may be described as a square-angled tower varying in dimensions and rising to a height of 40 to 50 feet at the wall head. The walls are generally about 5 feet thick, but, while some are rather less, the lower parts of Lochwood Tower are 9 feet thick, of Hoddom 9 1/2 feet and nowhere less than 8 feet, of Closeburn 10 feet, and of Stapleton 12 feet, thinning above to less than 6 feet. The lower stages were, of course, the more vulnerable, but fire seems to have been the enemy most feared. Still, in the 16th century, the "viii foote" walls of Lochmaben were accounted of "small thyknes" - probably with respect to artillery. ² The walls of Castlemilk Tower were 11 feet thick, and of Cockpool 14. ³ We might expect a tower to be surrounded by a boundary wall, within which, or in the line of which, minor enclosures would be found. A late 18th-century illustration of Hoddom Tower (No. 90) shows it standing with such a close. When the enclosing wall was of stone it was known as a barmkin or barnekin (cf. p. lxv.); in certain cases it might be a palisade 1 Hist. MSS. Comm. xiii., App., part vii. 2 Armstrong's Liddesdale, App. lxx. p. cxiii. 3 Ibid. -- lxi
dumfries-1920/04-066 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. of timber known as a peel. ¹ In days when the palisade no longer existed, the word survived, and the peel tower continued to be known as the peel, a descriptive name loosely extended to all such towers whether originally they possessed a peel proper or not. Internally the tower contained at least two floors above the basement, and in most cases more than two. The first floor was the hall or main living-room of the tower. The only feature common to every important example, with one exception, is that the basement should be vaulted in stone. But Elshieshields (No. 447), which is among the latest, has its basement roofed with oak-beams. This basement was always a storeroom, and it might be a stable. The upper part of the vault was usually floored at the springing of the arch to gave further accommoda- tion. In the logic of the building there should be no direct access from the basement [Diagram inserted] FIG.5. - Castlemilk from the "Plat of Milk Castle," c. 1547 (Hatfield). From tracing in Armstrong MSS. to the upper floors, save perhaps by a hatch, but this cannot be predicated of the Dumfriesshire examples. Nor are there many cases of the corresponding feature that the main entrance of the tower should be on the first floor. This is true of Lochwood, Sanquhar and Closeburn, was probably true of Spedlin's, and possibly of many others in their earlier forms. The an- nexed illustration shows this characteristic in the case of the old tower of Castlemilk (fig. 5), with the usual mode of approach - a wooden ladder. The upper rooms were floored with wood, and numbered two or more, probably according to the age of the tower. Thus Torthorwald has two vaulted storeys, which was also originally the con- dition of Closeburn and Spedlin's. The later demand for greater comfort increased the accommodation in the provision of upper rooms and by adding to the height of the building, as also by the projection of turrets at the angles, till in the late structure of Amisfield we find the upper part of the square block opening out in such excrescences like a flower. We find, further, the circular stair or vice, which had generally been tucked into a corner of the building, as at Closeburn, Lochhouse (No. 388), Robgill (No. 107), Lag (No. 136), etc., and even in the much later towers of Hollows (No. 43), Stapleton (No. 106), etc., and so, as in the latter examples, had frequently encroached upon the internal space, removed, as at Amisfield, to a corner turret rising from the first-floor level, or, as in Elshieshields and Blacket House (No. 460), wholly confined to a separate wing. At 1 Peel or pele is for Old French pel, from the Latin accusative palum, a stake. In 1544 we have a note of the burning, among other things, of "peel houses, corn and steads in Hodholme ... and all the peels in Myddleby and Middleby Woods" (Letters and Papers, Henry VIII., Foreign and Domestic, vol. xix. part ii. p. 373). An Act of 1535 ordered every man dwelling in the inland or border having land to the annual value of £100 to build in a convenient place a "barmekyn" of stone and lime 60 feet square, with walls an ell thick and 6 ells (Scots ell = 34 1/2 English inches) high, as a refuge to himself and his tenants in troublous times, with a tower in the same for himself, if thought expedient. Those having a smaller rental were to construct peels or great strengths, as they pleased, for saving themselves, tenants, and goods. -- lxii
dumfries-1920/04-067 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. Barjarg (No. 327) the tower containing the stair and basement entrance had been at the re-entering angle formed by the junction of the tower with its original wing. In Frenchland Tower (No. 480), where there was a good deal of reconstruction, we have the common arrangement of a stair to the first floor provided in the new wing, the upper part of which, however, was laid out in rooms, while the old wheel-staircase still served all above the first-floor level. One sign of a late period of construction is the presence of ornament based on military features; Hollows thus displaying its late 16th-century character in the ornamental corbelling and cable ornament of its parapet, which projects so slightly [Map inserted] FIG. 6. - Map showing the situation of Castles and Fortified Houses "in the Debateable Land," 1590. From map in British Museum (Bib. Reg., 18 D iii.). as to be of little military effectiveness. In Isle Tower (No. 337), too, as in Elshie- shields, we see the total disappearance of the defensive wall-head, the sides passing immediately into the gabled crow-stepped roof. At Spedlin's, however, where the same construction appears, the upper floors have been imposed on an older as much more massive portion. Ornamental detail is most conspicuous in the case of Amisfield, where Renaissance pilasters on the dormer outface Gothic dog-tooth ornament on other windows and string courses of both early and late design. In the articles on Amisfield and Elshieshields reasons are given for the belief that both places are due to the same designer. A feature of these defensible Border houses was the iron "yett" or gate , of which a few examples survive (see fig. 133 and Index), and which was placed just within the wooden door (cf. p. lxv.). That these iron gates were both formidable and -- lxiii
dumfries-1920/04-068 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. numerous is indicated by the decree of the Privy Council in 1606 ordering their destruction in all "houssis and strenthis" in the Borders save those of "answerable baronis." The reason given was that their presence made it difficult, in case of trouble, "to wyn and recover the saidis houssis and to apprehend the lymmairis being thairintill." The "yettis" were accordingly to be removed and "turnit in plew (plough) irnis or sic other necessar werk." ¹ This measure was part of the general policy for the establishment of peaceful conditions on the Borders, but the "yetts" are known as defensive features that were common throughout the country. ² In every case their manner of construction is similar and apparently peculiar to Scotland: the bars penetrate mutually and alternatively in alternate compartments. As suggested by the map (fig.6), most of these ancient structures have been swept away, mainly, it would appear, within the last hundred years or so. For example, at the close of the eighteenth century there were still the remains of five towers in Mouswald parish, ³ where now is but the fragment of one. Even fifty years later, in the parish of Kirkpatrick-Fleming, there were seven similar towers within four miles of the one at Woodhouse, ⁴ the solitary and ruinous survivor. A few in greater or less degree still serve as dwelling-places. Bonshaw (No. 1), Stapleton, Lochhouse, and Isle have lost little of their original character and are inhabited. Robgill, Breckonside (No. 475), and Sundaywell (No. 137) have been incorporated in modern structures; but the chief example in this connection is Hoddom Tower (No. 90), the central feature of the present mansion. Fourmerkland Tower (No. 280) was occupied till comparatively lately; two storeys of Bogrie Tower (No. 138) make a shepherd's house. On the Borders, indeed, any stone building might have on occasion to serve as a fortress. The map (fig. 6) of strong places on the West March in the 16th century thus includes all types from the castles proper of Lochmaben and Caerlaverock to the humblest of residential towers. Thus, too, Annan Church steeple could attain the rank of a fortress, and suffer siege (see p. xxxi.); a process reversed in the case of the later castle proper, which was adapted as a church (see p. xlvi). What probably was the ordinary type of town house of the poorer sort is described by the traveller of 1629 already cited. At Langholm he lodged "in a poor thatched house the wall of it being one course of stones, another of sods of earth, it had a door of wicker rods." The story of the successful attack upon the steeple at Annan by an English column in September 1547 illustrates the method of such operations upon the Borders. "And we having in ordenaunce but a facon, a faconett, and foure quarter facons, for that ther is no baterie peice at Carlisle, divised that night (i.e. Sunday, September 4) howe we shulde maik warr agaynst the house on the morowe. At viijth of the clok in the mornying, we laid those sex peices to beit the battailling, and appoyntid certane archers and hagbutters to maik warre also untill a paveis (i.e. large shield) of tymbre might be drawn to the sidde of the steplee, under whiche sexe pyoners might work to have undermyened the sam; and in putting these to effectes, they in the house maid sharpe warre, and slewe foure of our men and hurt divers others. And with grett stones from the steple toppe, brooke the paveis after it was sett, and being in that extrymytie, lakking ordenaunce for that purpose, we caused certane pyoners cutt the walle of the east end of the quere, overthuart abone the earthe, and caused the hooll ende to falle, wherwith the rooff and tymbre falling inward, slewe vij Scotes- 1 Reg. P.C. vii. p. 271. 2 Cf. Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., xvii. pp. 98 ff. 3 Stat. Acct., vii. p. 298. 4 New Stat. Acct., iv. p. 279. --lxiv
dumfries-1920/04-069 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. men. And after that we caused the pieces to be laid to shoot at the doore of the steplee which was a house hight (i.e. one "room" or "house" above the ground floor), and that house hight rampered with earthe, and caused them further to myen." And then the captain about 4 p.m. took down his "pensall (flag) of defyaunce" and he and his men "cried for marcie." So they surrendered without conditions, and the captain, "a tall gentleman," with his fifty-seven men came out and delivered the "kies." On Tuesday morning we "cutt and raiced down the churche wallis and steplee, and brent the towne, not leving any thing therin unbrent; which was the best town in Anderdaill." ¹ The capture of Lochwood (No. 315) in the same year was a more humiliating affair, but the account contains several references of structural interest:- "We came there about an hour before day; and the greater part of us lay close without the barnekin: But about a dozen of the men got over the barnekin wall, and stole close into the house within the barnekin, and took the wenches and kept them secure in the house till daylight. And at sun-rising, two men and a woman being in the tower, one of the men rising in his shirt, and going to the tower head, and seeing nothing stir about, he called on the wench that lay in the tower, and bade her rise and open the tower door and call up them that lay beneath. She so doing and opening the iron door, and a wood door without it, our men with the barnekin brake a little too soon to the door; for the wench perceiving them, leaped back into the tower, and had gotten almost the wood door to, but one got hold of it that she could not get it close to; so the skirmish rose, and we over the barnekin and broke open the wood door, and she being troubled with the wood door left the iron door open, and so we entred and wan the Loghwood; where we found truly the house well purveyed for beef salted, malt, big (i.e. barley), havermeal (i.e. oatmeal, cf. German hafer, oats), butter and cheese." ² Of the furniture of these residences only the structural constituents remain in ornate chimney pieces, such as the early one at Comlongon and the Renaissance examples at Spedlin's, Amisfield, and Caerlaverock; the stone-silled recess - buffet or cupboard - at Amisfield, and the late Gothic stone cupboard or buffet, which was shelved, at Comlongon; as well as various smaller aumbries and lamp-recesses throughout. The cutting off of one end of the hall at Comlongon to form a kitchen is a feature paralleled in Elphinstone Castle, East Lothian, and the towers of Law and Fairlie on the Firth of Clyde. At Spedlin's are indications of the position of a screen and gallery in the hall, and in the second floor at Amisfield are the last crumbling traces of the brightly coloured design which formed a frieze below the patterned corbels, while the room below still bears some of its plaster cornice. It happens, however, that an inventory of the contents of Caerlaverock Castle was made after its surrender in 1640, the main features of which may be briefly described. The bulk of the furnishing is in beds, many of them "canaby" or canopy beds, trunks and chests, some having locks, cupboards - apparently of various types, as one was "lead our with gould lace," - chairs and stools. Besides those in other rooms there were three beds in the "hich wardrop" and three in the new "wardrope," four in "Sanders" chamber, a canopy bed in a drawing ("draing") room, and a falling bed as well as a "burd" or table in the "daning (dining) rume before my lady's camber." In fact there were taken ³ from the castle five beds richly equipped 1 Scottish Papers, i. No. 42. 2 Cited in the History of Westmorland and Cumberland, Nicolson and Burn, vol. i. p. liv. 3 "Intromettit with" by Lieut.-Col. Home on the plea that the conditions of surrender had been broken. --lxv
dumfries-1920/04-070 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. with curtains edged with heavy silk fringes and lace, each having its proper bed- clothes "with chairs and stools ansuerabillie," and each bed with its furniture and "bedsteid of timber" valued at £110 sterling; ¹ ten lesser beds with furnishings each at £15 "owerheid"; and twenty other beds for servants with equipment at £7 each. There were also taken two dozen chairs and stools covered with red velvet fringed with crimson silk and studded with gilt nails, the whole estimated at £60; and five dozen of Turkey, i.e. tapestry work, each chair worth fifteen shillings and each stool nine shillings. Added to these was a large spoil of napery of all kinds, tablecloths, napkins, towels, sheets - part of damask, part "cowrse," - and eight suits of apparel in a trunk, some of velvet, some of satin and some of cloth. The furniture of "ane drawing rowme" was in cloth of silver and included "ane cutche bed" (i.e. a bed without canopy or tester), a great chair with a cushion and footstool, six other chairs with backs and six stools, all garnished with silk and silver fringe. In the New Hall were a "leid" and "a maskin fatt," both being large vats or vessels for brewing; in the Long Hall six cases of windows, 22 pikes and 13 lances; and in my Lord's Hall two "burds" or tables and six tapestry stools. Special articles were a painted board "in the round chamber without my Lords chamber," "my lord and my lady's pictures" in another room with various articles of convenience, a table cloth valued at £20, two red window curtains, a pair of virginals, ² a long cushion of black and white stuff, some chairs and stools covered with brown cloth embroidered in yellow (passementet "yealow") or red cloth with black embroidery, five suits of hangings (i.e. for the walls of rooms) of eight pieces each, and each suit worth £60, forty carpets (table-covers or bed-covers) ³ large and small, averaged at forty shillings each, 22 curtain rods, and a library of books which had cost £200. It is evident from the general character of the furnishing - the number of chairs, cupboards, and of beds per room, and the abundance and richness of coverings and drapery of all sorts, which were taking the place of the earlier elaborate carving - that it was of comparatively recent origin, probably contemporaneous with the building of the new wing before 1620. The richer stuffs, such as damasks, velvets, etc., must have come from either Italy or England, more probably the former. III. ECCLESIASTICAL REMAINS. Dumfries, as part of the old Strathclyde kingdom, was included in the diocese of Glasgow on its re-constitution by King David, while still Prince of Cumbria, in the first quarter of the 12th century. The earlier connection with St Kentigern has been noticed above (p. xxi.). A later ecclesiastical link with Yorkshire was established by the grants to the Augustinian Priory of Gyseburn (Guisbrough) of Annandale churches by the Bruces, who had been founders of the priory (c. 1124). Thus, in the late 12th century, and down to the final breach caused by the War of Independ- ence, we find Gyseburn in possession of the churches of Annan, Lochmaben, Kirk- patrick with Logan Chapel, Cummertrees, Rainpatrick, and Gretna. Of regular foundations there were three within the county: Canonbie in Eskdale as a cell of 1 All values are in sterling money. 2 A keyed musical instrument of the pianoforte type. There was only one instrument, "pair" being descriptive, not numeral. 3 Some may have been used as "foot-carpets," but the exclusive use of the word in this sense is not established before the middle of the next century. -- lxvi
dumfries-1920/04-071 Ancient and Historical Monuments - Dumfries. [Photographs inserted] FIG. 7. - CROSSES. To face p. lxvii.
dumfries-1920/04-072 INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. Canons Regular of Jedburgh, the Abbey of Holywood (de sacro nemore; Saint Boyse) or Dercongal ("oak of Congal") for Premonstratensians in Nithsdale, and the house of Franciscan Friars in the town of Dumfries. Of these only a site or vague relics remain. What still survived of Holywood was used in 1779 as a quarry for the new parish church. ¹ The two bells of the abbey also have found refuge in the church. The same general condition applies to the hospitals at Sanquhar (No. 572), How- Spital (Annan), and Spital (Dumfries), the latter two preserving the name, ² and to the chapelry at Trailtrow. But churches on the West March had a hard time like everything else. It has been shown how Annan Church became a fortress, and how the new fortress became a church (p. xlvi.). Also how the vocation of the Armstrongs and their like was inimical even to sacred buildings, so that by the beginning of the 17th century many mediæval fabrics were in a ruinous condition (pp. xxxvi., xlv.). The thrifty combination of parishes in the course of the same century, with the provision of one new church in place of two or three older ones, further contributed to the disappearance of the original structures. There was thus a fresh building period early in the 17th century, and there is evidence of another about a hundred years later. Garvald Church (No. 355) was a reconstruction of 1617, and is now a ruin. Durisdeer Church (No. 152) is a large composite Renaissance building of the late 17th century, and still in use. The older church of Mickle Dalton (No. 96) is of a few years later, but has been abandoned for the modern edifice. The earliest fragments of mediæval building are St Cuthbert's Chapel at Moffat (No. 383), some part, perhaps, of the late church at Glencairn (No. 229), and an arched recess within Canonbie Churchyard (No. 42), all probably of the 13th century. To these must now be added, as the result of excavation in the course of the summer of 1915, the foundations and part of the walls of Old Hoddom Church beside the Annan (No. 271). The Roman streets and buildings at Birrens provided its stones. The chancel is rectangular, inside and out; the chancel arch is comparatively narrow; and the dimensions of the building correspond very closely to those of St Helen's, Cockburnspath. ³ One or two minute portions of painted glass were found, of the type known from Coldingham Priory, ⁴ which are of a date at the close of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century. Certain of the cross-slabs found beside the church also appear to be of the 13th-century date. Crosses. - The sculptured crosses are few in number, and some are represented only by fragments. All are overshadowed by the magnificent monument of the Ruthwell Cross, which is unique as furnishing also the text of a fragment of an early poem now lost in this linguistic form. The whole subject of the Ruthwell Cross, however, occupies a special place in the Appendix. The only other complete examples are the much-worn one at Thornhill beside the Nith (No. 531), and the late mediæval cross at Merkland (No. 378). With the exception of this last, and that at Thornhill, in which the decoration is wholly zoӧmorphic, all the examples, whether whole or fragmentary, are of the Northumbrian or Anglian type, many displaying the char- acteristic decoration of scroll foliage involving birds and other creatures. Among the very numerous cross-slabs of north-eastern Scotland three only display this motive - the Hilton and Tarbet cross-slabs at Invergordon, and the one at Mugdrum, Fife - 1 Buccleuch MSS., p. 69. 2 Chalmers, Caledonia, v. p. 154; Spittalriddinghill is north-west of Annan. 3 Berwickshire Inventory, No. 46. 4 Ibid., p. 40, No. 74. -- lxvii
dumfries-1920/04-073 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. all of later date; while it is not found in Scotland outside these limits. In the skill of the relief work, too, these southern crosses are distinguished from similar cases beyond the Forth. The fragments from Knockhill (No. 273), now described in detail for the first time, have suffered most severely. They apparently represent a small group of crosses, and also have their own special features. On the Ruthwell Cross the subjects re scriptural or saintly narrative, or are symbolic in a straightforward way noticeable also at Knockhill, where, however, the other surviving subjects appear to be allegorical or representative. On the principal specimen in the Grierson Museum, Thornhill (No. 514), the figures are of a symbolism that hitherto has withstood explanation. Bells. - Of the bells in the county the oldest is that still in use in the Parish Church of Lochmaben (No. 452), which may be of the early 14th century. Its companion is much later. A 15th-century bell survives in the Maxwelltown Museum, Dumfries (No. 134). The bells of the vanished Abbey of Holywood (No. 285) are, one certainly and probably both, of the early 16th century. The 17th century has left a few examples: one at Closeburn Church (No. 58), another on a tree at Ewes (No. 227), and one in Moffat (No. 496). The bell at Closeburn is a Potterrow (Edinburgh) casting, and the handsome 18th-century bell at Mickle Dalton (No. 96) is also from Edinburgh. -- lxviii
dumfries-1920/04-074 INVENTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE COUNTY OF DUMFRIES. ANNAN. CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURES. 1. Bonshaw Tower. - Bonshaw Tower (fig. 4 of Introduction), dating from the 16th century, lies less than 1/2 a mile south- south-east of Kirtlebridge Station, on the [Plan inserted] Fig. 8. - Bonshaw Tower (No. 1). western bank of the Kirtle Water, which washes the eastern base of the declivity on the summit of which the tower is set. To the south is a ravine traversed by a burn; to the north and west there are no defences visible, a walled courtyard, which extended eastwards from the tower to the cliff and through which the tower was reached, being deemed sufficient. The entrance to the tower is in the east wall; over it is carved in raised characters the motto SOLI · DEO · HONOR · ET · GLORIA. The door opens on a passage admitting to the basement and the wheel-stair in the north-eastern angle. From the stone roof of the vestibule hangs a pendant, on which is carved IHS in monogram, as at Robgill Tower (No. 107). The building measures exteriorly some 36 feet 6 inches by 27 feet 1 inch; the walls terminate at a height of 39 feet 9 inches from the ground in a parapet and walk carried on corbels of simple design; a splayed base- ment-course returns along the walls at a height of 2 feet 6 inches from the ground. The basement, measuring 15 feet 9 inches by 25 feet, has a vaulted ceiling fitted with a hatch, and is provided with a gunloop in each wall at the level of the basement-course and a small window in the south wall high up in the vault. A stone bin, possibly for storage of provisions, is built against the east wall. A prison, measuring 8 feet 2 inches by 4 feet 4 inches, is formed in the south-west angle. This apartment has no window, but a flue for ventilation is provided in the vaulted ceiling. The upper floors are three in number. The hall occupies the first floor; it measures 27 feet 2 inches by 17 feet 8 inches and is lit by a window 2 feet 6 inches wide, with modern mullions, in each wall. Those in the east and west walls have an aumbry set in the jamb, and against the jambs of the south window are stone seats. Projecting some 2 feet from -- 1-- 1
dumfries-1920/04-075 ANNAN.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [ANNAN. the south gable is a fine stone fireplace measur- ing 9 feet over the moulded jambs and some 7 feet high. An aumbry 3 feet 6 inches wide, with an ogival-arched head, is set in the east wall. The second floor resembles the hall in general arrangement, with the addition of a garde-robe in the north-western angle. the third floor consists of a garret within the roof, but the roof itself is modern and less steeply pitched than the original. The parapet, which appears to have been recently restored, has a machicolation over each gunloop. The building is cnnected with the mansion by a covered passage, and is in excellent repair. Bonshaw estate appears to have been ac- quired by the Irvings from the Corries after the suppression of the Douglases (see Introd., p. xxviii.). the tower became one of the principal places of the clan in the latter part of the 16th century. It was burned by Wharton, the English Warden of the West March, in the raid of Sept. 1544. ¹ In June 1585, being then in possession of Edward "Yrwen," and reported "one of the strongest howses of that border," it was besieged by Lord Maxwell. ² In July, Maxwell had again placed his forces round Bonshaw, ³ which seems to have been successfully defended. Early in the next year the Johnstones fell upon Captain Richard Maxwell and his royal police force and carried him off, wounded, to confinement in "the Bonshaw," Edward Irving being their accomplice. ⁴ 1 Hamilton Papers, ii. p. 456; 2 Calendar of Border Papers, i. No. 321; 3 ibid., No. 327; 4 Register Privy Council, iv. pp. 56-7. lviii. -- S.W. -- 25 July 1912. * 2. St. Bryde's Tower, Brydekirk Mains. - Of this tower, which lay 1/2 a mile north of Bryde- kirk village, only a fragment of the north wall survives, surrounded by the out-buildings of Brydekirk Mains farm. The wall is 15 feet long, 3 feet broad, and terminates at a height of 25 feet from the ground in a frag- mentary corbel course. * The reference throughout is to the Ordnance Survey maps, 6-inch scale, for Dumfriesshire. The date is that on which the structure was visited. "Habye Carlile of Brydekirk" is among the landlorda ordered in 1590 to find surety under the Act of 1587. (Reg. Privy Council, iv. p. 790). lvii. -- S. E. -- 28 may 1912. DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTION. 3. Mote of Annan. - This mote (fig. 9) is in the garden of a villa known as "Moat House" on the west side of the town of Annan. A low meadow, from which it rises with a steep scar, intervenes for a distance of 100 yards or thereby between it and the River Annan. [Diagram inserted] FIG. 9. - Mote of Annan (No. 3). The mote proper forms the northern extremity of the construction, rising to an elevation of some 50 feet and measuring 22 feet across its level summit by 50 feet lengthwise. A broad trench separates it from the base-court, which extends southward for a distance of 270 feet in an irregular oblong, expanding from a breadth of 50 feet at its northern end to 110 feet at the south and rising to an eleva- tion of 60 feet above the meadow on the west -- 2
dumfries-1920/04-076 ANNAN.] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. [APPLEGARTH. and 35 feet above the higher levels on the east and south. The mote has been sur- rounded on the sides away from the river by a trench, as also probably was the base- court, but the lines of the whole construction have been seriously interfered with in the formation of the villa garden. (See Introd., pp. xxxi.-ii.) lxii. -- N.E. -- 4 October 1912. MISCELLANEOUS. 4. Inscribed Stone, Annan. - An inscribed stone, said to have come from the ruins of a castle or building at or beside The Moat, was seen and copied by the travellers Pococke and Pennant. In 1760 Pococke described it as "a stone taken from the old building." In the Caledonia Chalmers wrote of it as "built into the wall of a gentleman's garden." In the New Statistical Account it is stated to have been "built into the wall of a small vintage-house in a garden in the town." Sub- sequently acquired by an antiquarian resident in the town, it was taken away by him on his removal to the south of England. The in- scription is in well-formed lettering of Lom- bardic capitals, but the Arabic numerals forming the date "1300" are obviously not original and are not cut with either the depth or breadth of the lettering. The stone is decayed and damaged in parts. The inscrip- tion is as follows:- ROBERT · DE · BRVS · COUNTE · DE · CA [RRIK] · ET · SENƺ [N] U R] · DU · VAL · D [E · AN] N AND · 1300 At the end of the third line the ƺ alone offers difficulty. Pennant, with some justification, read the word as SENTEUR, against which, apart from the sense, there is only to be said that the fourth letter has a straight hori- zontal top, while every T in the inscription has a curving top. In all likelihood the word is, as has always been supposed, a corrupt rendering of SEIGNEUR, perhaps in some such form as SENGNUR * or SENYOUR. The date * "Seingneur" is found, e.g., in Berne MS. See facsimile in Acts Parl. Scot., vol. i. 1300 was a shrewd enough computation: such an inscription could not correctly date in any case earlier then 1292 or later than 1306. See Pococke's Tours in Scotland (Scottish History Society, 1887), p. 35, where the bishop's transcription is reproduced in fac- simile; Pennant'sTour in Scotland, ii. p. 96; Chalmer's Caledonia, iii. p.139; Neilson in Trans. Dumf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc., 1915- 16, p. 69 ff. 5. Stone Circle and St. Marjory's Cross (re- mains of), Woodhead. - On the boundary of the parishes of Dornock and Annan, between two plantations and about 1/4 mile west by south of Woodhead cottage, the O.S. map marks "Stone Circle and St. Marjory's Cross (re- mains of)." These now consist of two granitic boulders about 11 feet 6 inches apart, the largest of which is some 3 feet in height above ground. lxiii. -- N.W. -- 6 October 1912. SITES. 6. St Bryde's Kirk and Well, Brydekirk Mains. lvii. S.E. 7. Newbie Castle, Newbie Mains. lxii. S.E. 8. "Cairn of Creca," Creca. lviii. S.W. APPLEGARTH. DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS. 9. Fort, Whitecastle Knowe. - This fort occu- pies the summit of an oval hillock, known as the Whitecastle Knowe, which crowns the western slope of the watershed between the Dryfe and the Annan, 1/2 mile to the west of the farm of Newbigging. The hillock stands at an altitude of 734 feet above sea-level, and, except for two adjacent heights which obstruct the view to the south-east and north-north-west, commands an extensive panorama. On the north and west it rises abruptly for some 30 to 40 feet, while on the south, and still more on the east, the gradient from the surrounding level is easy. The enciente is oval in form, with its longest axis north and south, along which it measures some 455 feet by 260 feet. It has been surrounded by a rampart of compacted -- 3
dumfries-1920/04-077 APPLEGARTH] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [APPLEGARTH. clay immixed with stones, rising now at no point more than 2 feet above the level of the interior. This has been supplemented by a trench arounfd the south extremity and along the eastern flank, which has a width from crest to crest of about 25 feet and lies some 8 feet down from the crest of the mound. From north to south along the western side the rampart follows the line of the summit, but on the east and more assailable sides it is carried along the flank some 8 to 10 feet below the highest level of the interior, with a slight parallel depression in rear of it. Into this lower level the entrance opens on the east, with a width of some 10 feet, crossing the trench and passing through the rampart, whence a track is observable leading up to the higher level. This construction differs essentially from any in the Langholm district, in that the interior at all points is at a higher level than the land outside, and that, except perhaps in rear of the rampart, where there may have been slight excavation, it shows no hollowing out. xxxiv. -- S.W. -- 23 July 1912. 10. Fort, Broomhill Bank Hill. - Situated on the west side of the south end of the summit of Broomhill Bank Hill, at an elevation of more than 700 feet over sea-level, is a fort commanding an extensive view of Annandale. The ground rises very steeply to the level of the fort from the east, but elsewhere from below and towards the actual summit on the north-east it mounts by easy gradients. The enceinte, which is approximately circular, measuring some 230 feet in diameter, is surrounded, except above the east declivity, by two concentric ramparts of earth and stone, the inner 18 feet wide at base and the outer 22 feet, which are separated by a trench some 18 feet wide and 4 feet in depth. Some 70 feet beyond the outer rampart lies a third of low elevation, 16 feet broad at base, which runs concentrically from the north-east, and, as it passes from south to south-west, gradually converges with the intermediate rampart, meeting it 106 feet from its termina- tion on the south-west. At the termination of the ramparts on the south-west, a hollow, evidently the entrance, is observable passing into the enceinte at its lowest part: beyond it the outline of what has been a slighter rampart is discernible for a few feet trending along the east face.The interior surface appears to be at its natural level and un- excavated, as also is the space within the outer and middle rampart, except towards the point of contact, where it is hollowed to a trench. 11. Fort, Broomhill Bank Hill. - Some 260 yards to the north-east of the last is another fort on the summit of the hill, at an eleva- tion of some 871 feet over sea-level, not visible from its neighbour and commanding a great prospect in all directions. The in- clination from the direction of the last fort is slight, but on the west and north the hill falls sharply away. The enceinte is oval in form, lying with its main axis north and south, measures in diameter 190 feet by 170 feet, and is surrounded by a slight parapet mound and a trench partially cut through rock, at most soe 6 feet deep and 8 feet wide, with a mound on the counterscarp varying in height as the level beyond rises or falls. There are two entrances, one on the east side of indefinite width overlooking the steep slope to the base of the hill, and the other on the west side, some 10 feet wide, from the direction of the other fort. The interior, which has not been hol- lowed, rises at the centre 5 to 6 feet above the level of the entrances. xxxiv. -- S.W. -- 23 July 1912. 12. Fort, Blindhillbush Hill. - This fort is situated on the summit of Blindhillbush Hill, at an elevation of 618 feet over sea-level, in an impenetrable fir plantation. It is shown on the O.S. map as oval, with its longest axis north and south, measuring 215 feet by 160 feet. It is surrounded by a rampart of earth and stone rising at most barely 3 feet above the interior, and, in general, having a scarp to the outside some 6 feet in height. At the south-west a bank passes outward from the scarp, with a slight divergence in a south- easterly direction, but is soon lost in the cultivated land beyond the wood. xxxiv. -- S.W. -- 23 July 1912. 13. Mote, Applegarth. - The Mote of Apple- garth rises on the termination of a steep bank, -- 4
dumfries-1920/04-078 APPLEGARTH.] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. [APPLEGARTH. which was no doubt in former days washed at its base on the west by the Annan, though that river now flows through meadow land more than 100 yards away. It is situated to the south of the parish church and within the grounds of the manse, the kitchen garden of which lies on its summit. From the base of the bank on the west the mound rises to a height of 29 feet with a steep scarp, the elevation diminishing as it passes round by the south to the east side to 14 feet, while to the north the height of the summit above a lawn formed on the top of the bank is only some 6 feet. In the latter direction the levels have probably been interfered with, and there is now no trace of the trench which, no doubt, existed here, nor is it possible to say whether a base-court existed on this higher level. Along the east side and round to south, some 6 feet below the summit and 8 feet above the base, is a 6-foot terrace gradually descending to the base level on the north face. This terrace on the east and south appears to be an original feature, but beneath it the mound is faced with a modern retaining wall, and it is possible that the profile has been altered in comparatively recent times. The summit of the mote is circular, measuring in diameter 105 feet from north to south by 116 feet from east to west. xlii. -- S.E. -- 2 August 1912. 14. Fort, Millbank. - This fort, which ap- pears to be a pure earthwork, is situated on a gentle undulation about 1/4 mile west-south- west of Millbank Farm, some 2 miles to the north of Lockerbie, and is enclosed and planted with trees. In plan it is circular, with a diameter of some 208 feet, surrounded by a single trench, 35 feet in width and with a depth, where best preserved, of 8 feet below the crests of the scarp and counterscarp. Crowning the scarp is a parapet mound some 18 feet in thickness at base and 3 to 4 feet in height on the interior, while a similar mound surmounts the counterscarp. Near the centre of the north side there is an entrance by a gangway 5 feet wide, crossing the trench at an elevation of 4 feet above the bottom level and carried through the parapet mound by a gap of equal width; there appears to have been a second entrance from the west, passing inwards at the level of the ground outside into a hollow at the lowest point of the interior. The inner circle of the enceinte has been preserved com- plete, but, except towards the north, the trench has passed into land now under cultiva- tion and has suffered in consequence. The site, though at an elevation of only 250 feet, commands a fine prospect up Annandale. xliii. -- S.W. -- 6 August 1912. 15. Fort, Cumstone Burn. - Some 200 yards west by north of Cumstone farmhouse, on the top of the steep right bank of the Cumstone Burn and some 25 feet above the level of the stream, is an oval enclosure with its longest axis north by west and south by east and measuring interiorly 179 feet by 157 feet. It is surrounded by a rampart of earth and stone some 22 feet broad at base, rising from 3 to 5 feet above the level of the interior, with a concentric trench to the outside carried to the face of the bank of the burn at either end, 22 feet wide and 5 feet below the crest of the ramparts. The situation is at the base of the Bow Hill, and has no great outlook. xliii. -- N.E. -- 6 August 1912. 16. Fort, Fir Tree Hill. - This fort is situated on a plateau on the western slope of Fir Tree Hill, at an elevation of 740 feet or thereby above sea-level. It is an oblong enclosure lying with its longest axis north-north-west and south-south-east, measuring interiorly 154 feet by 97 feet, surrounded by a rampart of earth and stone rising some 4 feet above the interior level, with a trench beyond, 26 feet broad and 3 to 4 feet deep below the crest of the scarp, and with a mound on the counterscarp which, on the north-east or higher side, rises 7 feet above the bottom of the trench. The entrance, 5 feet in width, has been from the east, where it passes through the inner mound. It presents a peculiar arrangement. The mound which crowns the counterscarp as it comes round from the north is returned across the trench straight towards the opening through the inner rampart, and stops a few feet distant from it, leaving a passage into the trench to the north as well as to the interior. The space left between the return of the mound, where it leaves its regular curve, and the end of the outer -- 5
dumfries-1920/04-079 APPLEGARTH.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [APPLEGARTH. mound at its continuance is only some 2 feet. Above the fort, some 50 feet back from the entrance, a broad earthen bank 16 feet wide at base and 3 feet high passes along the hillside and turns away in a south-westerly direction. it is unusually massive for a feal dyke, but it is impossible to say whether it is contem- poraneous with the fort, though it is with enclosures, obviously folds, farther to the north. xliii. -- N.E. -- 9 August 1912. 17. Fort, Roseburrain. - This enclosure is situated on a plateau somewhat less than 1/4 mile to the south-west of the Fir Tree Hill Fort (No. 16). The ground in front of it on the east is level and marshy, while on the south also it is flat. To the north it falls away in a steep gradient for some 60 feet, and to the west, declining gradually for about 40 yards, it drops thereafter sharply to the bed of a burn. The enclosure appears to have been oblong with rounded ends, but the defences to the north and north-west have entirely disap- peared, if any permanent rampart ever existed there, while along the west side they are now very slight. Along the south and east there exists a massive mound of earth and stone, with a scarp to the exterior at a very regular height of from 6 to 8 feet and rising from 2 to 4 feet in height on the interior. Where the ground rises towards the enclosure from the outside it is cut through to form a trench. The entrance, which has been wide, is on the east side, somewhat to the north of the centre. At the base of the glacis, leading up to it on the exterior, is an oblong hut foundation, apparently of turf, measuring interiorly 22 feet by 11 feet; and in the interior to the right of the entrance is another similar foundation measuring 25 feet by 16 feet. No part of the interior appears to have been hollowed by excavation. xliii. -- N.W. -- 9 August 1912. 18. Fort, "Burrain Skelton," Cleuchheads Hill. - This fort is placed some 600 feet above sea-level on the top of Cleuchheads Hill and on the west side of the Dryfe valley. It is overgrown with a dense plantation of young fir trees, which makes a survey impossible. The O.S. map shows it on plan to be a long oval with its main axis north and south, measuring some 380 feet by 215 feet. It is scarped apparently all round to a height of from 6 to 8 feet; as far as observable it does not appear to be hollowed by excavation in the interior. This was a beacon hill (see p. xxxiv.). xliii. -- N.W. -- 12 August 1912. 19. Fort, near Dalmakethar. - This fort is situated at an elevation of 369 feet above sea- level, about 1/2 mile west-north-west of Dalma- kethar farm, on the crest of a long grassy round-backed ridge, which lies parallel with the Annan on the east side of the dale and commands an extensive prospect both up and down. On the west the ground declines steeply for some 30 feet, sinking thereafter by an easier gradient to the river; to the north and south the ridge extends, running level for 1/2 mile in the latter direction and dipping to a lower level in the former; while on the east the surface slopes downwards by an easy gradient. The fort is oval in form, lying with its longest axis north and south, and measures over all some 225 by 175 feet. It has been surrounded by a massive rampart, now greatly reduced and probably much spread, measuring some 40 to 45 feet in width on the south and east. At the north end the mound covers an area 53 feet in breadth, on the top of which is a slight depression; but whether this is a raised platform within the outer rampart, or a double rampart levelled down, it is not possible to tell without ex- cavation. It is unlikely, however, that the defences would be duplicated towards the lower side of the fort and not on the higher. The entrance has been on the east side, con- siderably to the north of the centre. The extension of the mound at the north end has reduced the interior to somewhat of a shield form, measuring 132 feet from north to south by 93 feet from east to west. An old road with, locally, a Roman attribu- tion, is said to pass near the entrance of this fort and has a place on the O.S. map. The fort itself does not show any features suggestive of Roman castrametation. xxxiii. -- N.E. -- 14 August 1912. 20. Fort, Dalmakethar Burn. - About 1/4 mile east by north of Dalmakethar farm is another -- 6
dumfries-1920/04-080 APPLEGARTH.] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. [APPLEGARTH. fort (fig. 10) at an elevation of nearly 400 feet above sea-level and at the edge of a steep bank overhanging the Dalmakethar Burn, which flows by on the north some 50 feet below. East of the fort the ground rise by an easy gradient to the skyline some 300 or 400 yards distant; to the south it falls away, trending westward; while on the west it has a rather steep declivity for some 50 feet to a hollow in the cultivated land below. The interior area of the fort is oval, with its longest axis north-north-east and south-south west, measures 126 feet by 98 [Diagram inserted] FIG.10. - Fort, Dalmakethar Burn (No 20). feet, and is entirely surrounded by a rampart of earth and stone. From the edge of the ravine of the burn on the north-east a double trench passes along the east side and the south end, with an intervening rampart broadest and deepest on the south, which diverges from the central enceinte as it passes westward on to the face of the steep slope. Thence it is said to have been continued obliquely to the edge of the ravine. The inner trench on the east has a breadth of 30 feet, and a depth of 4 feet and 5 feet respectively below the crests of scarp and counterscarp; while on the south it measures 45 feet in breadth, 9 feet in depth below the scarp, and 6 feet below the counter- scarp. The outer trench is 23 feet wide on the east and of slight depth, while on the south it has a breadth of 34 feet and depth of 6 feet. The entrances have been from the north- north-east and south-south-east and are 4 to 5 feet wide. The former has been approached over a narrow space flanked by the rampart and the edge of the ravine; the latter directly through the defences. At both entrances the inner rampart broadens as it approaches the opening from either side. There appears to be a spring in the outer trench at its south- west termination. xxxiv. -- N.W. -- 14 August 1912. 21. Fort, Dalmakethar. - This fort crosses the neck of a low promontory which projects on the 400-feet contour line on the west of Longerhallis Hill, about 1/2 mile south- south-east of Dalmakethar. On the north it overlooks the deep ravine of a burn, and on the south and west it is protected by steep natural slopes. It is now covered by a young plantation, and the only defences traceable are an outer trench 28 feet wide and 5 feet and 3 feet deep below the crests of scarp and counterscarp respectively, running from the edge of the ravine across the neck, with a convex outline to the east; a rampart some 5 feet in height; a slighter mound 40 feet in rear of it; and, separated by a shallow trench 17 feet in width, another low mound. The two inner mounds are very slight and noticeable only towards the edge of the ravine. xxxiv. -- S.W. -- 14 August 1912. ENCLOSURES. 22. Enclosure, Howthat Burn. - This en- closure lies on the lowest slope of the brae, just where it merges into the level ground on the east side of the glen of the Howthat Burn, about 1/3 mile east-north-east of Newbigging. It is elliptical in shape, measuring in diameter interiorly 140 feet by 110 feet, and is surrounded by a mound of earth and stone. There are two entrances 26 feet apart, each about 9 feet wide, which open on the lowest level from the direction of the burn. The interior has been hollowed out to a depth of from 3 to 4 feet on the upper side below the level of the sur- rounding ground. At the north end of the -- 7
dumfries-1920/04-081 APPLEGARTH.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [APPLEGARTH. upper side there is a small hut-like recess in the bank, and to the west of it there are low indefinite mounds suggestive of small en- closures. The rampart has been broad on the lower slopes, but is much spread, and above the scarp on the upper side is hardly traceable. xxxiv. -- S.W. -- 23 July 1912. 23. Enclosure, Ryecastle. - Situated on the crest of a low ridge some 374 feet above sea- level and 1/3 mile east of Ryecastle is an oval enclosure. It lies on the south side of an old road running north-east from Perchhall, and is partially within and partially without a large wood. With its longest axis north-west and south-east, it measures some 225 feet by 170 feet interiorly, and has been surrounded by a stony bank some 20 feet broad at base, on the sides and crest of which large blocks of stone are in places exposed. The interior has been slightly hollowed by excavation. On the north-east, across an intervening area, is a bank some 15 feet in height overlooking a burn, and from the north face of the enclosure an outer bank covered by a trench 20 feet wide and 3 to 4 feet deep runs to it. Where it impinges on the bank there is a circular de- pression measuring 15 feet in diameter, sunk some 3 feet below the natural level and sur- rounded by a broad mound, on the face of which are remains of walling. From this hollow a channel, increasing from 3 to 5 feet in width, leads eastward straight down the bank to the edge of the burn, taking a course too steep for a pathway. On the other hand, there is no water channel into the hollow. The periphery is complete at a height of from 3 to 5 feet above the present floor level; the steep gradient of the channel seems to preclude the idea of the construction having been a lime- kiln. It bears a resemblance to the hollow outside the enclosure on the Pyatshaws Rig (No. 304). xliii. -- N.W. ("Fort"). -- 8 August 1912. 24. Enclosure, Hangingshaw. - On the west slope of a low round-topped ridge some 1/2 mile to the east of Hangingshaw is a circular enclosure in an old pasture field, measuring about 100 feet in diameter. It is surrounded by a bank, much spread out by ploughing, some 24 feet broad at base and not above 2 feet in elevation. The entrance is from the west. xxxiii. -- S.E. ("Fort"). -- 8 August 1912. 25. Enclosure, Dinwoodie. - An oval en- closure is situated on the east side of the valley, at an elevation of some 370 feet above sea-level and about 1/4 mile east-north- east of Dinwoodie railway station. It lies with its longest axis north and south, measures from crest to crest 134 feet by 97 feet, and has been surrounded by a stony bank, which is scarcely perceptible on the upper or east side but has an elevation of about 2 feet on the west. The interior has been hollowed by excavation, and lies some 2 feet below the surrounding ground. The entrance, 6 feet wide, has been from the west, and opens on the lowest part of the interior. The site com- mands a considerable prospect over Annan- dale. It rests on a deep linn to the south. xxxiii. -- S.E. ("Fort"). -- 14 August 1912. 26. Enclosure, Mid Hill. - In the hollow which lies between the Mid Hill and Fir Tree Hill are a number of bughts and other ancient enclosures. One of the latter is a circular bowl- shaped enclosure hollowed out to a depth of about 4 feet and surrounded by a slight bank. A number of old turf walls run around the base of Fir Tree Hill, connected in some cases with enclosures. xliii. -- N.W. and N.E. (unnoted). -- 9 August 1912. MISCELLANEOUS. 27. Construction, Balgray Cleuchheads. - Along the east and south sides of a wooded ravine, 200 yards to the west of Balgray Cleuchheads, runs a bank of earth and stone, making a return northward at its eastern extremity. The construction is noted as a "fort" on the O.S. map, but the remains are fragmentary and the designation doubtful. xliii. -- N.W. ("Fort"). -- 6 August 1912. 28. Heraldic Stone, Dinwoodie Mains. - Built into the front of the porch of Dinwoodie Mains farmhouse is a panel containing in the centre a shield surrounded by strap-work enrichment and bearing in chief two mullets -- 8
dumfries-1920/04-082 [Plan inserted] FIG. 11. - Caerlaverock Castles (No. 33 (I) ). -- 9
dumfries-1920/04-083 APPLEGARTH.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [CAERLAVEROCK. with a human head inverted and suspended by a "woodie" or rope of withies passed through the mouth. Above are the initias R.M. (Robert Maxwell), ¹ and, beneath, the date 1631. The stone, according to local infor- mation, came from Dinwoodie Castle, which formerly stood near the spot. [Plan inserted] FIG. 12. - Old Caerlaverock (No. 33 (I) ). 1 Johnstone MSS., p. 42. xxxiii. -- S.E. -- 14 August 1912. SITES. The O.S. maps indicate sites as under:- 29. Sibbaldie Church, Sibbaldie. xliii. N.W. 30. Monastery, Applegarth Town. xlii. S.E. 31. Market Cross, Applegarth Town. xlii. S.E. 32. Fort, Kirkholm Hill. xxxiii. S.E. CAERLAVEROCK. CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURES. 33 (I). Old Caerlaverock Castle. - The ruins of the old stronghold of the Maxwells at Caer- laverock and the remains of another castle, apparently its predecessor, are situated on the marshy flats of the Solway, at the mouth of the River Nith, some 9 miles south-south-east of the town of Dumfries (fig.II). The older site lies within the Castle wood, 200 yards south-south-east of the other and 500 yards north of high-water mark, and is formed in a bed of clay, while the later building stands on an outcrop of rock. The buildings and walls on the older site are demolished, and such foundations as -- 10
dumfries-1920/04-084 CAERLAVEROCK.] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. [CAERLAVEROCK. remain lie below ground. Many of the stones would be re-used in the later fabric, and even within living memory the site served as a convenient quarry for the neighbourhood. According to Grose (1789) "the site and founda- tions" were in his time "still very conspicu- ous." The foundations were again exposed a few years before 1868 (Trans. Dumf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc., 1868-9, p. 12), but no proper record of the work then done can be traced. M'Dowall, however, reports (History of Dum- fries, 1873, p. 74 and note) that they showed the building to have had "a quadrilateral form," and therefore contests the suggestion that this was the site of the castle besieged in 1300, which was triangular (cf. p. 23). He adds that the walls exposed were of "unsub- stantial build," and possibly those of "an outwork, erected to defend the dam of the fortress," and so prevent the draining of the moat. But even in an outwork - which, more- over, covers an area nearly as great as that of the castle - "unsubstantial" walls would be unsuitable, whatever may be the precise mean- ing here of so indefinite a description. The enceinte is now so overgrown with trees and littered with fallen stone and the débris of the excavation, that little save the general arrange- ment of the castle can be traced. On plan (fig. 12) the enceinte is roughly a parallelogram set with the angles to the cardinal points of the compass, and measuring 86 feet from north-east to south-west and 97 feet from north-west to south-east. The scarp was apparently crowned by a curtain wall, slight traces of which are visible on the south- west side. At the north angle is a mass of masonry, which slight excavation revealed as the lower stage of a rectangular tower, 17 feet 6 inches [Diagram inserted] FIG. 13. - Splayed Base (No. 33 (I) ). broad, projecting 11 feet 6 inches from the face of the curtain walls which it flanked. The masonry is of fine ashlar work, averag- ing 12 inches long on face, and is built in courses 8 inches high, which are care- fully bedded in clay. A splayed member (possibly the uppermost of a heavy basement course) was found return- ing along the face and east side of the tower (fig. 13). The conformation of the débris at the remaining angles of the enceinte indicates towers at these points. Within the eastern angle of the curtain, but clear of the walls, are the remains of a rectangular structure with walls some 3 feet 6 inches thick. An eye-witness of the excavations reported from recollection that the buildings were found to be supported on oak piles driven into the clay solum. and that broken pottery was unearthed and replaced at a point marked X on Plan. OUTWORKS. - The moat has silted up some 2 feet; under the silt the clay bottom is found to be some 10 feet below the level of the enceinte. The width at base varies from 6 feet on the north to 50 feet on the south. A burn on the east drains the moat and, when dammed, would fill it. The outer rampart, on the summit of which to the north and east is a modern roadway, follows the contour of the enceinte and rises to its level. The outer scarp terminates in a ditch some 15 feet in width. An enclosure an acre and a quarter in extent lies immediately to the north-east and is defined by a continuation of the outer ditch and the burn. The masonry exposed in the north tower and the whole arrangement of the castle in- dicate its erection in the early 13th century. 33 (2). Caerlaverock Castle. - The enceinte of the later stronghold, hereafter called by its usual appellation Caerlaverock Castle, is tri- angular on plan (fig. 14), with the apex set to the north. The sides and base are enclosed by curtain walls which terminate at the basal angles in a drum tower and at the apex in a gatehouse flanked by drum towers. Between these towers is the entrance. This northern façade gives an impression of great strength and is one of the finest examples of early 15th- century military architecture in Scotland (fig. 15). The entrance - the outer portion of which is a mid 15th-century addition, as will be ex- plained later - is arched and sheltered within an arch-headed recess so formed that the drawbridge when raised would become an extra barrier to the portal. Withi this recess, and above the entrance, is a badly weathered oblong panel of 17th-century date -- 11
dumfries-1920/04-085 [Plans inserted] FIG. 14. - Caerlaverock Castle (No. 33 (2) ). -- 12
dumfries-1920/04-086 Ancient and Historical Monuments - Dumfries. [Photograph inserted] FIG. 15. - Caerlaverock Castle: North Front and Gatehouse (No. 33 (2) ). To face p.12.
dumfries-1920/04-087 Ancient and Historical Monuments - Dumfries. [Photograph Inserted] FIG. 16. - Caerlaverock Castle: East Wall (No. 33 (2) ). To face p. 13.
dumfries-1920/04-088 CAERLAVEROCK.] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. [CAERLAVEROCK. enclosed by a heavy border. The panel has an escutcheon at each angle, and these are connected by a floral enrichment of oak leaves wreathed. The escutcheons contain armorial bearings as under:- DEXTER CHIEF:- The shield ensigned with a crown bears a lion rampant within a royal tressure for Scotland. SINISTER CHIEF:- A double-headed eagle displayed beneath an imperial crown - a charge first used by John, 8th Lord Maxwell, Earl of Morton. DEXTER BASE:- A saltire for Maxwell, impaling a bend between six cross-crosslets fitchy for Mar. SINISTER BASE:- A fess chequy surmounted of a bend engrailed, for Stewart of Dal- swinton. On the panel is a stag, couchant before a holly bush and supporting between its forelegs a shield charged with a saltire, for Maxwell. At the top of the panel are the initials R.M. - Robert Maxwell, first Earl of Nithsdale (1620) - and at the foot, on an escroll within the border, the motto, I BID YE FAIR. Above the panel is an aperture, slanting upwards as it penetrates the wall, through which passed the chain or rope which raised the drawbridge. It has been much worn by the friction. Over the entrance is a forework of two storeys, beneath which a chamber has been added from which to work the drawbridge and a pair of portcullises. The outer wall of this chamber and the piers supporting it are angled as they near the towers. The piers have two splayed offsets, the lower returning along the face and angles, the upper on the face alone. The beam hole on either side of the entrance immediately over this latter offset, and the raggle on the east jamb of the recess, were formed at a later period. The approach could be enfiladed from tiers of gunloops in the massy flanking towers which rise vertically from a batter at base to a ponderous corbel course - 52 feet above the level of the moat - surmounting the gatehouse and bearing the fragments of a machicolated parapet walk. From it was entered a cap house, now ruinous, with turrets corbelled out over the four angles, which command an extensive prospect. The chimney-flues of the tower apartments are conducted into high stalks set on the inner portion of the wall within the parapet walk (fig. 16). The corbelling is carried along the east wall at the same level as on the north to a point 4 feet 6 inches south of the gatehouse. The wall is evidently thus prolonged to protect and cover the south-east angle of the main building. On the first and second floors of the easter flanking tower are windows of considerable size with a south-east aspect. In the other directions there are gunloops. The east wall of the gatehouse is pierced on each of the four floors by a window close to the junction of this building with the tower. South of the gatehouse a range of 17th- century buildings (fig. 17), embodying the curtain and possibly an older building in the same position, runs southward to the extremity of the site where the east wall terminated in a drum tower, now demolished. These 17th-century buildings, of which the northern portion exists in entirety, contain three storeys beneath the wall-head, and ter- minate at this level in a cornice of pseudo- corbelling 9 feet below the corbelling of the gatehouse (frontispiece). The greater part of the south curtain wall has been demolished to within 3 feet of the ground. One portion, however, east of the centre, still stands to a height of 25 feet. There has been a postern in this wall at its junction with the west tower. The west tower of the base is contempor- aneous with those of the gatehouse. It is entire to the wall head, and is surmounted at a height of 40 feet above the moat by a corbel course similar to that of the gatehouse. Be- neath this there are four storeys, illumined by small windows; those on the first floor, set to the north and east aligning the curtains, have drains in their sills, consisting of open chases splayed at the bottom, to cast sewage into the moat. On the second floor a window is corbelled out over the angle formed by the junction of the tower and west curtain (fig. 18). The west curtain shows indications of alterations. The lower part of the wall to a height of 21 feet is excellent ashlar work, at -- 13
dumfries-1920/04-089 CAERLAVEROCK.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [CAERLAVEROCK. [Diagrams Inserted] FIG 17. - Caerlaverock Castle (No. 33 (2) ). -- 14
dumfries-1920/04-090 Ancient and Historical Monuments - Dumfries. [Photograph Inserted] FIG. 18. - Caerlaverock Castle: West Curtain and Base Tower (No.33 (2) ). To face p. 15.
dumfries-1920/04-091 CAERLAVEROCK.] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. [CAERLAVEROCK. least contemporaneous with the towers, and bears indications of openings filled in at some later period. The upper part, five feet higher, is inferior work of rubble, similar to that employed in the east wall of the late 15th- century range of buildings built against and incorporating this curtain. The curtain was originally finished with a parapet walk borne on corbels, as the third floor of the west basal tower can only be entered from a doorway set on the line of the curtain with a sill 30 feet above the moat. There is a projecting flue, borne on corbels 6 feet north of the west tower, which conducted sewage to the moat from a garderobe on the parapet. The south-west angle of the gatehouse is pro- tected, as on the south-east, by an extension of the lateral wall southward, surmounted by corbelling similar to that on the north and east. A drain from the garderobes situated on the upper floors of the gatehouse is corbelled out over the angle at the junction of the west flanking tower and the main building. The west flanking tower is slightly greater in diameter than that on the east. The batter at base is almost imperceptible and 1 foot 7 inches lower. INTERIOR. - The ward is entered by a stone- roofed pend or trance which passes under the gatehouse, giving access en route, through a doorway on either side, to guardrooms com- municating with the basement of the flanking towers (fig. 19). The pend was originally defended at the outer end by a portcullis and door, and terminated in an archway in the south wall of the gatehouse. When the out- most portcullis room was inserted (cf. p. 13), c. 1450, additional defences, consisting of - in order from the north - an iron gate, a port- cullis, an inner door, and a second portcullis, were provided in front of the original entrance. At a later period, c. 1500, the archway at the inner end of the trance was contracted and a rear room or gallery with portcullis erected over it at the level of the parapet. In this way the gatehouse could be isolated - there being no internal communication between the base- ment and upper floors - in the event of a besieg- ing party gaining the ward through the postern or a breach in the curtain. The guardrooms are irregularly shaped and are lit by slits in the south wall of the gate- house. The east chamber has an additional and larger window in the east wall. Both are provided with fireplaces in the lateral walls. These chambers on the basement floor have stone vaulted ceilings; in the tower rooms the vaults have fallen in, but were apparently shaped like a bee-hive and groined, where necessary, at the doors and windows. The first, and the three upper floors (fig. 20) of the main body of the gatehouse contained originally one large apartment on each floor, but were divided in the 16th century by a partition wall in which additional fireplaces were inserted. On the first floor an archway in the north wall, now built up, gave access to a recess over the earlier entrance, within which the mechanism for working the original port- cullis was placed. In the north wall of this recess is a narrow loophole or chase some 4 inches wide and 9 feet long, widening to a spade-like shape at the sharply-splayed base, through which quicklime or other offensive material could be poured on intruders, should they attack the portcullis. In the south-west angle of the gatehouse a small wheel-stair - originally the only access - communicates with the upper floors and the parapet walk. There is a shelved recess in the west wall for the purpose of containing two wooden lockers or cupboards, and a smaller one in the north wall. The windows and doors of the south wall of the gatehouse have been altered or inserted, as the details of their jambs show, when the gallery and its piers were built. it is not clear how access from the basement to the first floor was obtained before the later wheel-stairs outwith the gatehouse were built. In all probability there was a moveable wooden stair or ladder to the west against the south wall.In this wall, near the angle formed by it and the west wall, is a semicircular relieving arch, subsequently filled in, which suggests that such a stair may have led to an entrance within this arch. In each of the towers, at this level, is a chamber with windows anterior in date to the forebuilding, as the openings commanding the entrance are obscured by the later work. The east chamber has a fireplace and garderobe on the east side and the west chamber a garderobe in the thickness of the wall at the south-west angle. The second floor and the storeys above in the main building of the gatehouse had -- 15
dumfries-1920/04-092 [Diagram Inserted] FIG. 19. - Caerlaverock Castle (No. 33 (2) ). -- 16
dumfries-1920/04-093 CAERLAVEROCK.] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. [CAERLAVEROCK. [Plan Inserted] FIG. 20. - Caerlaverock Castle (No. 33 (2) ). -- 17
dumfries-1920/04-094 CAERLAVEROCK.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [CAERLAVEROCK. floors of wood carried on beams borne on corbels projecting from the north and south walls. On the second floor the general arrange- ments are similar. An access is provided through the original north wall to a chamber beneath the forework, from which the later portcullises and the drawbridge were worked. The grooves for the windlasses and beams by means of which these were hoisted still survive on the reveals of the small window illuminat- ing the chamber and in the lateral walls. The chambers on this floor in the towers have domed ceilings of stone - the western furnished with ribs of early 15th-century type, meeting at a central boss shaped as a shield. On the third floor there are no rooms in the towers. Access to the forework is obtained by an angled passage contrived within the west wall and proceeding over the haunch of the vault of the west tower. The fourth floor, at the level of the parapet walk, appears to have been renewed when the rear gallery was built. This structure, within which the mechanism of the south portcullis is placed, is entered from the west apartment in the main building. These apartments com- municated with rooms which were situated in the roofs of the towers. Above the forework is a cap-house two storeys high, entered from the parapet walk, which returns along the north façade and the southward extensions of the lateral walls. It was also carried across the south wall of the gatehouse until the later west staircase and the rear bartizan intervened. The west drum tower of the base is known as "Murdoch's" Tower, as therein Murdoch, Duke of Albany, is said to have been incar- cerated before his execution at Stirling in 1425. Although of smaller dimensions, it is evidently contemporaneous with the gate- house towers. There is only one apartment in each of the four storeys. The basement would be used as a lodge for the porters of the postern, and was entered through the southmost chamber of a coeval range of buildings against the west curtain. This apartment and the two storeys above alone were retained when the present block on the west was built. The first and second floors of the towers were entered from the floor above this apartment and the third floor from the parapet walk along the curtain. These floors were of wood, and have long been demolished. The block of building against the west curtain (fig. 21) was erected towards the end of the 15th century, replacing an older range in the same position. The only traces left of these older buildings are sundry openings in the curtain now built up and the beam-holes and corbels for the floor joists of the southmost apartments. The present range contains two storeys beneath the wall-head; there are traces of a garret within the roof, reached from the first floor by a wheel-stair, now demolished, at the south-east angle. On the ground floor there were three apartments, each with its entrance from the ward, and on the upper floor two. The windows, with the exception of one on the first floor, which has been inserted in the west curtain, look out eastward to the ward. These have, like the doorways, moulded jambs and lintels. The first-floor windows are of considerable size, and were divided by mullions and transoms. The wall-head is surmounted by a narrow cornice, and from this level there rise massive chimney- stacks terminating in moulded copes; on the north skew-put is a shield charged with a [crossed out "bend sinister", replaced with handwritten] saltire. The fireplaces are of a type common in this period (fig. 22) ; the jambs consist of three filleted rolls with hollow interspaces terminat- ing in moulded bases and capitals following the contour of the jambs under a high lintel sur- mounted by a narrow cornice. In one example the jamb is enriched with a continuous floral ornament. There being no internal communication between the ground and first floors, the latter was apparently entered from the ward by a wooden stair at the north end leading to a fine doorway with moulded jambs and lintel, now obscured by the later 16th-century stair- case built between this wing and the gate- house. This staircase is wide and well lit. It gave communication from the ground to the parapet walk and to each of the floors of the keep through doorways which, like the win- dows, have jambs and lintels ornamented with a quirked bead-and-hollow moulding of the period. The little court formed by this staircase, the gatehouse, and the curtain, was at this time provided with galleries, sheltered -- 18
dumfries-1920/04-095 Ancient and Historical Monuments - Dumfries. [Photograph Inserted] FIG. 21. - Caerlaverock Castle: Interior from the South (No.33 (2) ). To face p. 18.
dumfries-1920/04-096 [Plan Inserted] FIG. 22. - Fireplaces and details, Caerlaverock (No. 33 (2) ). -- 19
dumfries-1920/04-097 CAERLAVEROCK.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [CAERLAVEROCK. by a pent-house roof, which were entered from doorways in the staircase. The gallery which adjoins this stair is con- temporaneous. it projects over the pend, and is borne on a segmental arch set on lofty piers. On the ingoing of the west pier a date, apparently 1595, is roughly incised some 4 feet 6 inches above the ground. The soffit of the arch is moulded and is pierced by the slot in which ran the portcullis, which was worked from the gallery. The mouldings of this arch and of the windows inserted in the south wall of the gatehouse, within the recess formed by the piers, are of a common early 16th-century type. Against the east and south curtains were probably subsidiary buildings, which were converted in the early 17th century into the principal residential apartments in accordance with the enhanced requirements of that age (fig. 23). The courtyard façades of these two wings must in their entirety have formed an ex- quisite little Renaissance composition, so admirable is the proportion and grouping of the surviving architectural detail. Un- fortunately only a small portion - that abut- ting against the gatehouse - stands complete to the wall-head. The remainder is less than one storey high. The setting out is symmetrical; the small windows at the northern end of the east wing being repeated on the south. Be- neath the wall-head, which is surmounted by a moulded cornice, were three storeys, and an attic was contained within the steeply-pitched roof. The chimney-flues are taken into high square stacks set diagonally on their seating. The windows are extremely ornate; those on the ground floor have moulded and fluted architraves. On the upper floors the jambs have slight rusticated engaged shafts, which rest on little corbel bases and terminate in Ionic capitals beneath cornices and pediments, segmental and triangular, containing heraldic achievements and representations of subjects from classical mythology. The hall occupied the eastern portion of the south wing, and is reached from the courtyard by an arched entrance projecting slightly from the face of the wall. The doorway (fig. 24) has splayed jambs, daintily moulded, termina- ting in stops at the step and in foliaceous carving under heavy imposts from which the arch springs. The mouldings of the arch are slight, but are enriched with the egg-and- dart, bead-and-spinnel, and other motifs. A recessed circular panel occupies each spandrel. The rude pilasters on each side of the door- way are modern; the bases and east capital have apparently been taken from some other portion of the building. The keystone of the arch is incomplete. The original keystone would be shaped as a console, bear- ing the projection of the architrave, frieze, and cornice, which occurs here and over the pilasters. There are two windows east of the entrance. The nearer is incomplete and has fluted archi- traves. The farther, a blind window, is more elaborate and has fluted jambs and a moulded architrave and cornice, between which is sculptured, on the frieze, a cherub's head with widely distended wings. The hall has been a noble apartment 17 feet high, as a moulded cornice on the east wall shows. The jambs of the doorways and windows were ornamented with bead-and- hollow mouldings. A partition on the west separated the hall from a withdrawing-room. A doorway in the south-east angle opens on a wheel-stair, through which the east basal tower was entered. The fireplace is situated in the north wall, in front of the blind window. The protecting jambs, shaped like trusses or consoles , are almost buried beneath the ground. East of the fireplace a lofty archway gives access to the main staircase, which is con- tained within the east wing, communicating with the first-floor apartments of that and the south wing. A doorway beside the entrance to the staircase leads under the upper flight of steps to the kitchen offices in the basement of the east wing.These consist of a well- room and bakery, a kitchen and a servery, all with barrrel-vaulted ceilings. The two former chambers had separate entrances from the courtyard. A service wheel-stair is contained within the angle of the gatehouse and the east pier supporting the gallery, and communi- cates with the upper floors of the east wing and, by doors inserted in the south wall, with the gatehouse. The first floor is entered from a doorway off the main staircase leading through the well of a wheel-stair which ascends to the floors above. -- 20
dumfries-1920/04-098 [Plan Inserted] FIG. 23. - Caerlaverock Castle (No. 33 (2) ). -- 21
dumfries-1920/04-099 CAERLAVEROCK.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [CAERLAVEROCK. It contains two large apartments, lit by windows to the courtyard and others in- serted in the east curtain. The fireplaces of these chambers have projecting jambs, which are shaped like consoles. The fronts are moulded and in one fireplace ornamented towards the base with a fleur-de-lys. A wide lintel spans the jambs, and over it is a slight moulded cornice. The upper floor is similarly arranged. DIMENSIONS. - The enceinte measures 130 feet from north to south; the basal curtain is 137 feet long and the lateral curtains are 111 feet - all measured between the towers. These curtain walls vary in thickness from 4 feet 9 inches at the sides to 7 feet at the base. The gatehouse measures 60 feet along the south wall and 38 feet from north to south. The flanking towers have an ex- ternal diameter of some 25 feet, with walls averaging 4 feet 9 inches thick. The external diameter of Murdoch's Tower at the south- west angle is 20 feet, and the wall is 5 feet in thickness. The west wing projects 19 feet from the west curtain and is 64 feet long. The wall is 3 feet thick and the partitions rather less. The west staircase has an internal diameter of 10 feet. The east wing projects 20 feet from the east curtain , and the wall is 3 feet 6 inches thick. The hall was 66 feet long and 25 feet 6 inches broad. CHRONOLOGY. - The gatehouse, flanking towers, basal towers, and curtain walls are contemporary, and were erected in the early 15th century; the room under the forework is later, probably mid-15th century. The west wheel-stair, the rear gallery, the mid- partition, the floor above the parapet walk, and the windows in the south wall of the gate- house all date from the early 16th century. The buildings on the west side of the enclosure date from the end of the 15th century, and those on the east and south sides from the early 17th century. CONDITION. - Although of late years a con- siderable amount of gradual repairing has been undertaken, the present condition of the buildings is most unsatisfactory. The easter flanking tower is seiously rent, and calls for immediate repair. The wall-heads of the buildings, and in particular of the gatehouse, are covered with vegetation, under which the masonry must be in an extremely bad state. The circular staircases are bereft of the majority of their steps, and in the absence of these ties must ere long collapse. The west wing is slowly disintegrating; the safe-lintels are falling in. The 17th-century buildings are fairly sound, and, if the cornices were denuded of vegetation, re-pointed, and weather-proofed, little else would be required. A serious fissure in the south gable, which latterly threatened the stability of the structure, is now tied in, and the vault under the gable supported by a pier at the south end of the kitchen. OUTWORKS. - The enceinte is surrounded by a moat 42 feet wide at the north and 80 feet at the south, which is girt by a rampart 30 to 40 feet thick at base and 10 feet 6 inches at highest above the moat, which is 10 feet deep. On the south the rampart broadens and encloses a terrace 30 feet wide. The moat is drained by a sluice at the south-west angle. The swampy nature of the ground to the east, west and south obviates the need of outer defences in these quarters. To the north, however, the ground rises and is firm. On this front there is an outer ditch and scarp, terminating at either end in the swamp and traversed by the pathway to the castle, which leads through a base-court, 3 acres in area, to a wide semicircular arched gateway of the 16th century, 10 feet 4 inches wide and 11 feet 9 inches high, with chamfered jambs. HISTORICAL NOTE. - The record of Caer- laverock Castle is complicated by the fact that no distinction is made or suggested between the present ruins and the buildings which must have stood on the strongly en- trenched site some hundred yards to the south. Yet, if the latter site is not that of an earlier castle of the same name, of what castle is it the site? The earliest reference of importance to Caerlaverock seems to be of October 1299, when it is reported to King Edward I., from Loch- maben, that "There is a castle near them, called Carlaverock, which has done and does great damages every day to the King's castle (Lochmaben) and people." They had, how- ever, scored a success, and the head of the -- 2
dumfries-1920/04-100 Ancient and Historical Monuments - Dumfries. [Photograph Inserted] FIG. 24. - Caerlaverock Castle: Entrance to Hall (No. 33 (2) ). To face p. 22.
dumfries-1920/04-101 CAERLAVEROCK.] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. [CAERLAVEROCK. Constable of Carlaverock "was now set on the great tower at Lochmaben." This experience just precedes what constitutes the best known and most remarkable episode of the castle's existence - the siege of July 10-11, 1300, directed by Edward I. in person. This episode was made the subject of a contem- porary poem, Le Siege de Karlaverok, in which details are given of the blazoning of arms of each of the 87 English "companions" or leading knights. This number of knights- banneret implies something under 2000 lances; the poem gives 3000; but even the smaller number is probably over the mark. The army was, of course, a field army for a cam- paign and the siege merely an incident in the operations. Edward arrived before the place on the 10th July, to find that the garrison were in mind to offer a stout resistance. He had to summon his siege-engines, some by ship, some from Lochmaben Castle, and with their battering the castle was reduced. The garri- son numbered only sixty survivors, but they had inflicted severe losses in men and horses upon their assailants, with apparently small loss to themselves. Walter Benechafe, the constable, and "eleven other Scots, his fellows," were sent to prison at Newcastle. Edward was back at Dumfries on the 16th. The chief interest is in the description of the castle and its position. In shape the building was like a shield (Com uns escus estoit de taille); that is, triangular, like the "heater" shield of the time, for, it is ex- plained, "it had only three sides round about, and in each angle a tower; but one of these (towers) was double, so high, so long, and so large that underneath was the gate with a drawbridge well-made and strong, and other defences in sufficiency. it had good walls and good ditches, quite full to the brink of water." On the situation of the castle, there is this: It was beautiful, "for on one side, towards the west, could be seen the Irish sea (the Solway), and to the north a fair country surrounded by an arm of the sea, so that on two sides no creature living could approach it without putting himself in danger of the sea. Nor is it easy to the south, for the many ways are made difficult by wood, by marsh, and by trenches filled by the sea where it is wont to meet the river (trenchies La ou la mere les a cerchies Ou seult la riviere encontrer); and, therefore, it was necessary for the army to come towards the east, where the hill slopes." This description of the site is fairly general, and, as the castles are but a few hundred yards apart, is thus applicable to either. Similarly the description of the castle itself quite suits the present building, but that may have been constructed on the lines of the older one, the site of which is lozenge-shaped. The tests are not decisive: the first requisite is excavation of the site to determine the ground plan of the structure; the work on it alluded to above (p. 11) appears to have been of a random nature. Another contemporary chronicler, describ- ing this campaign, speaks of its only result as the capture of a "poor little castle" (povere chastelet, Langtoft). Caerlaverock was one of the castles seized by Robert Bruce after the murder of Comyn in February 1306, but soon recovered by the English. At the close of May in that year there was a garrison in the castle of eight men-at-arms and twenty foot archers. In 1312 the castle is still in English possession, with Sir Eustace Maxwell as keeper. Caer- laverock was the principal seat of that family. Sir Eustace turned to the national side, with the result that the castle had again to suffer a short siege, which, however, was unsuccess- ful. In the end the castle suffered the fate which Bruce had determined upon for such fortresses; it was levelled to the ground (pro fractione et pro prostratione castri de Carlaverok ad terram), and its owner, Eustace Maxwell, received compensation in reduction of the annual of £22 sterling, due to the Crown for these lands, to £12. ¹ This is the first destruc- tion, but how far these destructions went is problematical. Caerlaverock was probably reconstructed, with other important castles in Scotland, during the English occupation under Edward III. The Maxwell of the time, Sir Herbert, a nephew of Sir Eustace, made his submission to that King, and surrendered the castle to English keeping in 1347; but early in 1356 it was besieged and captured for the Scots by Sir Roger de Kirkpatrick, who levelled it to the ground (ad solum prostravit). ² This is the second destruction. Apparently in the early part of the 15th -- 23
dumfries-1920/04-102 CAERLAVEROCK.] -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. -- [CAERLAVEROCK. century a new Caerlaverock was being raised. A little after the middle of the century, Robert, second Lord Maxwell, is credited with having "completed the bartizan * of Car- laverock." ³ Thus, in the conflicts of the 16th century the castle is again a place of interest. In the autumn of 1545 negotiations were being carried on with lord Maxwell for its transference to English hands, which ulti- mately occurred. For the purposes of Henry VIII. the castle was regarded as having the advantage of being accessible by sea. The Scots again recovered it, but Maxwell's support of Queen Mary brought an English force in 1570 under the Earl of Sussex to harry the district, and Caerlaverock is included in the list of castles which that Earl reported he "threw down." ⁴ But in 1593 we find that the Catholic Maxwell has "many men work- ing at his house, five miles from Dumfries." ⁵ So repairs were in hand again. The final reconstruction dates from the time of Robert, first Earl of Nithsdale, in the first quarter of the next century, when the Renaissance wing to the east and the southern work were added. In 1640 the place was beset by the Covenanters, and, after the longest siege on its record - three months and a week - fell for the last time and was dismantled. Le Siège de Karlaverok (Harris); Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, vols. ii., iii.; The Book of Caerlaverock, vol. i.; Grose's Anti- quities, vol. i.; ¹ Reg. Mag. Sig., i. (1912), p. 456; ² Scotichronicon, Lib. XIV. cap. [X Inserted in pencil] V.; ³ Book of Caerlaverock, i. p. 56; ⁴ Cal. Scot. Papers, ii. p. 327; ⁵ Calendar of Border Papers, i. p. 470 lxi. S.W. -- October 1914 34. Bankend or Isle Castle. - This ruined castle occupies a spit of marshland on the west bank of the Lochar Water, by which it is almost surrounded on three sides, while indica- tions of a ditch remain on the south-western side. The site is near the south-eastern ex- tremity of the Lochar Moss, distant some 5 1/2 miles by road from Dumfries and about 2 miles to the north of Caerlaverock Castle. The building is of the type known as the T plan * Apparently the battlementing, "bartizan" or "bertisene" being, by metathesis, for "bratticing"; but sometimes, in the 17th century, applied to a high castle wall. consisting of an oblong, measuring some 2 1/2 feet by 15 1/2 feet, within walls fully 3 feet in thickness, and a staircase wing in the centre of the north-west wall with a projection of 9 feet 6 inches and a width of about 11 feet. The doorway is on the ground level at the eastern re-entering angle, and has a deep bar-hole formed in the north-western jamb, also a lamp- recess adjoining it at the stair-foot. The ground floor appears to have been vaulted and defended on three sides by circular loopholes widely splayed to the exterior and square within, while on the north-east side facing the Lochar Water is a window measuring about 18 inches in width. The castle is now a complete ruin; almost the whole of the south-east and south -west wall has fallen, but the remaining fragments of the staircase wing and of the north-west wall indicate that it was originally four storeys in height. The entrance doorway appears to have been defended by a bretasche supported by moulded corbels placed near the level of the wall- head. On the north-eastern wall of the staircase wing is a panel containing the arms and initials of Edward Maxwell and Helen Douglas, his wife, with the date 1622 carved in relief. "The Bank Ende" was selected in the Military Report of some date between 1563 and 1566 as one of the places which would strengthen an English occupation of the district. ¹ "It will havand Annande forti- fyed -- may (make) that way to Drum- freis for Englande to be free, and bring all Nythisdale in subjection. It is a straite passage, and may be well kept being ones fortifyed." So important was its position considered that Caerlaverock was to be relegated to the position of "a garrisone assistant." 1 Armstrong's Liddesdale, App. lxx. p. cix. lxi. N.W. -- August 1913. DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS. 35. Fort, Ward Law. - The Wardlaw Hill, which rises to a height of 313 feet over sea- level, overlooks the Castle of Caerlaverock, from which it is distant about 1 mile, and commands also a prospect over a great extent of surrounding country. It is surmounted by -- 24
dumfries-1920/04-103 CAERLAVEROCK.] -- INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. -- [CAERLAVEROCK. an oval fort (fig. 25) surrounded by a rampart of stone and earth, with a terrace or trench now filled in, before it, some 18 feet broad, having a mound on the outer edge or counterscarp. The enceinte has its longest axis north and south, measures some 210 feet by 180 feet, and rises in elevation towards the north. The rampart along the north arc at the edge of the interior is scarcely perceptible, but around the lower part of the periphery it [Plan Inserted] FIG. 25. - Fort, Ward Law Hill (No. 35). [Written in pencil] see Antiquity 1939 plate IV 4 a height of 3 feet 6 inches or thereby on the inner side, and a ramp some 8 feet in height to the terrace, which lies at a general level of 6 feet above the ground outside. There is an entrance from the west some 5 feet in width. On the north arc, in front of the highest point of the fort, and where the parapet is not observable, a slight mound is carried along the terrace some 15 feet out and 4 to 5 feet back from the edge, is brought forward to the edge as it passes eastward, and eventually merges in the inner mound beyond the pro- minence to the north on the east side. lxi. N.W. -- 24 July 1912. 36. Fort, Craig Wood, Highmains Hill. - On Highmains Hill, and within the Craig Wood, to the south of Craig and some 3/4 mile to west by south of Bankend, are the remains of a curvilinear fort. The hill rises abruptly from the north, and slopes away from its highest level on the south-east by an easy gradient to the north-west. From a point adjacent to the steep face on the north a bold rampart, some 20 feet wide at base, curves segmentally across the summit where the ground commences to decline towards the west, thence disappear- ing in the slope. To the outside the rampart has a height of from 4 to 5 feet, and is covered by a slight trench. On the inner side it merges gradually into the natural slope of the ground. lxi. N.W. -- 24 July 1912. 37. Kelwood "Mote," Bailie Knowe. - Situ- ated immediately to the south of the glen of Kelwoodburn, and some 200 yards east of Kelwoodburn cottage, are the remains of a small circular fort. It lies on cultivated land, and appears to have been surrounded by a single rampart and trench. The interior, which is on falling ground, is somewhat basin-shaped, dipping towards the centre from the surrounding rampart. The contour of the rampart is now rather indefinite, but the diameter of the enclosure appears to have been some 150 feet. lvi. S.W. -- 25 April 1913. SITES. 38. Earthwork, Ward Law. - About 300 yards north by west of Wardlaw Fort (No. 35) is the site of an earthwork. It has been almost entirely obliterated by the plough, and only at the north end does any trace of it remain, and that a short ill-defined stretch of straight rampart with a slight depression in front of it to indicate a trench. Were it not for a dip in the field dyke this fragment might escape observance. lxi. N.W. -- 25 April 1913. 39. "Earthwork," Blackshaw. - The O.S. map marks an earthwork on the south side of a farm road and about 1/4 mile east of Blackshaw. -- 25
dumfries-1920/04-104 CAERLAVEROCK.] -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. -- [CANONBIE. No trace of this is to be found. The field in which it is situated lies behind the farm of Newfield. lxi. S.W. -- 24 July 1912. The O.S. maps also indicate sites as under:- 40. St Columba's Chapel and Well, about 1/2 mile south of Glencaple. -- lx. N.E. 41. Kilblain," South Kilblain. -- lxi. N.W. CANONBIE. ECCLESIASTICAL STRUCTURE. 42. Tomb, Churchyard, Canonbie. - A frag- ment of 13th-century ecclesiastical work is preserved within the churchyard of Canonbie Parish. It lies to the south of the modern church and within recent years has been utilised in the construction of a tomb en- closure - that of the Rev. James Donaldson, late minister of Canonbie. It consists of a recess, 4 feet 8 inches wide and 4 feet 4 inches high, with a segmental arch of roll-and-hollow mouldings enriched with a dog-tooth ornament. These mould- ings are carried down the jambs to a stop at a sill; above is a hood-moulding terminat- ing at either side in label-stops - one knotted and zoömorphic, the other floriated. The back appears to be modern. From its posi- tion in a portion of the south wall of the old parish church it has been suggested that this fragment was the sedilia, although the design is unusual for such a construction. Several graveslabs of no great interest, dating from the end of the 16th century, are built into the north wall of the churchyard near the entrance. liii. S.E. -- Visited 27 March 1915. CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURES. 43. Hollows Tower. - This tower (fig. 26) is situated on the right bank of the River Esk, midway between Langholm and Canonbie. It has been completely defended by the river bank to the north and partly by the sloping marsh- land to the west. On the eastern side, where the ground is level and unprotected by nature, the tower was probably enclosed originally by the walls of an outer courtyard. On plan (fig. 27) the building is oblong and measures some 23 feet 2 inches by 15 feet 3 inches within walls averaging 6 feet in thickness, and the total height from the step at the entrance to the top of the corbel-course measures nearly 40 feet. The doorway is at the south end of the west wall and gives access to the wheel-stair, which has com- municated directly with the upper floors and with the parapet walk. Originally it was equipped with a strong outer door and an iron yett, neither of which now remains. The wheel-staircase projects on the interior floor space. the ground floor is vaulted and [Plan Inserted] FIG. 27. - Hollows Tower (No. 43). lighted by narrow shot-holes, the north wall having two such openings, one above the other. On the first-floor level is the hall, measuring about 24 feet 2 inches by 16 feet 3 inches and having a window with stone seats in the east and west walls. A wide fireplace with moulded jambs is formed in the north wall, with an aumbry on each side, and there is a narrow opening to the south. The two upper floors and the attics have each also consisted of a single apartment. The stone corbels for carrying the floors remain. There are no fireplaces above the level of the second floor. The corbel-table, which has supported the stone parapet, is of the ornate type charac- teristic of the 16th century. The upper member consists of a bold cable-moulding, returned at intervals where gargoyles have occurred. Below this is a continuous band, -- 26
dumfries-1920/04-105 Ancient and Historical Monuments - Dumfries. [Photograph Inserted] FIG. 26. - Hollows Tower (No. 43). To face p. 26.
dumfries-1920/04-106 CANONBIE.] -- INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. -- [CANONBIE. decorated with a series of projecting and sunk enrichments, and the lowest member takes the form of a simple double roll. A circular turret, resting on corbelled projections, is constructed at each angle. A feature of this tower is a watch or beacon stand corbelled out at the apex of the south gable: cf. the analogous structure at Elshie- shields (p. 155). A house was built at Hollows (Hole-house, Hollace, Hollas, Hollis, are some other forms) in or soon after 1518 by one of the migrating Armstrongs (see Introd., p. xxxv.), and burnt by Dacre in 1528. The present building, how- ever, in its upper portion at least, seems to be of later date. it requires only a roof to assure its preservation. SPIRAL-MARKED SLAB. - The sill of the doorway into the vaulted chamber in the basement of Hollows Tower is a slab of sandstone (illustrated in the Introduction, fig. 2), measuring 3 feet in length by 1 foot 7 inches in breadth at the centre, which is incised on its surface with spiral and other markings. At the upper and slightly narrower end of the stone, and towards the outside, is a spiral figure, consisting of two complete turns and half of a third, the line thereafter passing divergently across the stone to the other side, being surmounted near the middle of its course by a single key-like symbol or ornament. Between the free end and the spiral is a single incised line which may have been connected with it. Immediately below the spiral there is visible a semi- circular incised line, and at the lower end of the stone, partially hidden by the architrave of the door, is another and smaller spiral with certain indefinite markings springing from it at one side. The stone is much worn, and the figures are now probably incomplete. The marks on the lower corner, opposite to that on which the spiral appears, are natural inequalities of the surface. liii. S.E. ("Gilnockie Tower"). -- 18 July 1912. 44. Auchenrivock Castle. - This fragment stands at a considerable elevation on the south side of the main road to Canonbie and some 3 miles from Langholm. It is built of irregular boulders and now forms part of the garden wall to the north of the adjoining farm-buildings. It measures 33 feet 3 inches from north to south over walls averaging 4 feet in thickness and 7 feet in height. The north and south walls are respectively 13 feet 6 inches and 10 feet in length. shot-holes, one in the north wall and another in the west wall, with splayed outer and inner jambs and with circular openings some 4 1/2 inches in diameter, are the only features now remaining. the inner surface of the western wall is very indefinite, but it seems probable that the basement was vaulted. This place, near the Irvine Burn where it falls into the Esk, was of old known as Stakeheugh, ¹ and was the original seat of the Irving family. In October 1513 Sir Christopher Dacre burned "the Stakehugh, the manor place of Irewyn, and the hamlets down Irewyn Burn." ² 1 Langholm as It Was, p. 353; 2 Letters and Papers, For. and Dom. Henry VIII., i. No. 4529. liii. N.E. -- 4 July 1912. DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTION. 45. Roman Camp, Gilnockie. - Immediately in rear of the frm cottages at New Wood- head, and about 1/2 mile due north of Gilnockie railway station, is a large rectangular oblong enclosure with rounded angles, lying partly on grass land and partly within a wood, which presents characteristics of Roman castrameta- tion (fig. 28). The site is a plateau rising gently on all sides to an elevation of some 390 feet above sea-level, not in itself very prominent or greatly exposed, but commanding an ex- tensive prospect over a wide area of country in all directions. The fort lies with its main axis north-east and south-west, and has measured within its defences some 1450 feet by 750 feet, or about 25 acres. It has apparently been surrounded by a single ditch and ram- part, the former having now from crest to crest a width of some 18 feet and the latter a breadth at base varying from 20 to 30 feet. Along the north-east end the vallum across the grass field, though much ploughed down, is easily traceable. On the south-east flank from the east angle for a distance of 220 feet it is no longer to be seen; but there after across an adjacent meadow through a young plantation and an old wood it can be -- 27
dumfries-1920/04-107 CANONBIE.] -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. -- [CANONBIE. followed with ease, till it makes a return in a north-westerly direction close to the railway from Riddings Junction to Langholm. With the railway line it gradually converges, and is eventually lost beneath it. On the north- west flank it has been greatly interfered with in the formation of a road, ditch, and hedge, which more or less occupy its position, leaving [Plan Inserted] FIG. 28. - Roman Camp, Gilnockie (No. 45). it only partially and intermittently recog- nisable. On the south-east side, at 520 feet from the east angle, is a well-defined entrance some 72 feet in width, which is covered at a distance of 36 feet in front by a traverse, a mound 56 feet in length and 22 feet in breadth at base of centre, tapering slighly to each end and 3 feet 7 inches in elevation, with a ditch ai its base on the outer face. At 126 feet to the north-east of this entrance is a gap in the vallum 10 feet wide, which, if not original, does not seem to be modern. At 400 feet further to the southward, and 478 feet from the south angle, is another entrance 40 feet wide, which is likewise covered 30 feet in front by a traverse 50 feet long and 33 feet broad at the centre, tapering slightly to either end and 3 feet 6 inches in elevation. Any entrance which may have formerly existed through the south-west end does not seem now to be recognisable, the rampart being destroyed at a number of places and the ditch much filled in. Near the centre of the north-east end, immediately in rear of the cottages, a slight break is apparent in the rampart; and some 25 feet in front lies a circular area, measuring in diameter some 33 feet by 27 feet, on which the vegetation is markedly poorer than elsewhere in its vicinity - a condition which may possibly be due to the former existence of a traverse on the spot, the clay from which has deteriorated the soil. The greatest existing height of the rampart above the ditch is about 5 feet. There are no indications of any foundations in the enceinte; and, though the woodland area has been trenched in all directions for drainage, there is no record or tradition of any traces of buildings having been observed or of relics recovered. liii. N.E. ("Earthwork"). -- 16 July 1012. ENCLOSURE. 46. Enclosure, Macrieholm Knowe. - Cut through by the old road which, traversing the moorland, leads from Old Irviine to solway- bank, is a circular enclosure measuring some 120 feet in diameter, surrounded by a trench 20 feet wide and 3 feet deep, without any conspicuous mound on scarp or counterscarp, though on the north-west there is a slight swelling on the outside, and along the north half the level of the crest of the counterscarp is higher then that of the scarp and interior. The site is the west end of a hillock dropping some 20 feet on the north face to boggy ground. There are numerous excavated hollows be- tween the construction and the edge of the bank on the north, probably made however for the purpose of obtaining soil or gravel for the road. liii. N.W. -- 17 July 1912. 47. Long Cairns, Small Cairns, and Standing- Stones, Windy Edge. - This group of monu- --28
dumfries-1920/04-108 CANONBIE.] -- INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. -- [CANONBIE. ments is situated just within the fence that forms the boundary between Dumfriesshire and Roxburghshire, about 2 miles east-south- east of Peterburn farm and the same distance north-east of Bruntshielbog. At 999 feet above sea-level the position commands a wide pros- pect extending from Criffel at the mouth of the Nith on the west to Carter Fell in the Cheviots on the east. LONG CAIRNS. - The main constituent of the group is a regular but much disturbed line of heaped stones of fair size, which stretches, over all, for 248 feet from east to west and does not anywhere exceed 5 feet in height. First, from the west, comes a long cairn measuring 115 feet with a breadth varying from 25 to [Plan Inserted] FIG. 29. - Long Cairns, etc., Windy Edge (No. 47). 30 feet, which is rounded at the west end and at the east passes into a circular foundation about 4 feet 6 inches wide where sufficiently preserved. A passage inwards is indicated at the western extremity by slabs set on end, between which it measures 2 feet 8 inches. A surveyors' cairn has been raised above this and blocks further examination. On the north side, however, are the inner halves of two round built chambers, and the same portion of another is obvious, opposite one of these, about half-way along the south side. the latter measures 6 feet 6 inches across the mouth and 5 feet 8 inches from front to back, while the built interior is 4 feet high; it would appear to have been roofed beehive fashion, as there is no sign of large roofing slabs. These chambers were not entered from the inner passage, but apparently directly from the outside of the structure, and may thus be of secondary origin. Some at least must have projected beyond the outer edge of the cairn. (Cf. "Cairn na Gath," Balmurrie Fell, No. 281, in Inventory of Monuments, Wigtown). The circular expansion shows no stones larger than the average of those in the cairn proper, but much of the material has been removed. The circle is 45 to 47 feet in diameter, and the interior is marshy. About 5 feet of clear space intervenes between this structure and that to the east, which seems to consist of two circular heaps, some 30 feet in diameter, connected by a belt of building, on the north of which one chamber is clearly distinguished, while on the south there is a deep bend inwards. This may indicate the position of another chamber enlarged by destruction. An entrance from the east end is suggested by the position of certain upright flat stones. SMALL ROUND CAIRNS. - Rather less than 50 feet south of either extremity is the site of a round cairn, marked by a smooth grassy sward, a slight rise above the level, and some scattered stones. That on the east measures about 20 feet in diameter, and that on the west about 13 feet. STANDING-STONES. - Some 90 feet to the east of the long cairns is a large flat stone lying over at an angle of about 30 degrees and 4 feet 2 inches out of the ground on its southern face, which is 3 feet 6 inches wide at most, with a few smaller stones scattered on a slight grassy rise 30 feet in diameter. -- 29
dumfries-1920/04-109 CANONBIE.] -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. -- [CLOSEBURN. Another similar lumpish stone lies 130 feet to the south-south-east of the first in a water- holding hole which is partly filled in with smaller stones. It lies over to the north at an angle of 45 degrees, and its longer face is 7 feet 9 inches above ground, while it measures 4 feet 2 inches across and averages about half this in thickness. The writer of the Statistical Account, 1795 (vol. xvi. p. 85), speaks of one stone near the south end of the large cairns "standing perpendicular -- 7 feet above the moss," and states that he found "five other stones, nearly of an equal size with the former, all inclining to, or lying on the ground, forming a circle, the diameter of which is 45 yards." This is just about the distance between the two stones already described. The writer treats the group as being in Roxburghshire. The stones in all cases are of hard sandstone, and, as the moor is entirely boggy with tussock grass and has no scattered stones upon it, these must have been brought from some distance. For the same reason the cairns have been subjected to much spoliation probably on behalf of a dry-stone dyke less than a mile away. xlvi. -- S.W. and S.E. -- 4 June 1920. MISCELLANEOUS. 48. Scots Dike. - See p. xix. lix. -- N.W. and N.E. -- 5 June 1920. SITES. 49. Cairn, "The Haunches." - On the S.W. corner of "The Haunches" (1002 feet) a rush-grown rise of green sward appears to mark the site of a cairn, the remaining stones of which have been gathered into a surveyors' cairn, with the exception of a few still left here and there round the base. It is roughly 23 feet in diameter. xlvi. -- S.W. and N.E. (unnoted). -- 4 June 1920. 50. Mound and Ditch, Gilnockie Bridge. - At the east end of Gilnockie Bridge is a high mound running from the road in a northerly direction. Midway there is an entrance, and a fosse runs parallel to the whole front. The inner scarp of the mound has been faced with stones. The enclosure so cut off is a pro- montory with precipitous sides to the river and narrowing just in the line of mound and ditch. the prolongation of these to the south bank has been destroyed in making the road at a lower level, but the construction clearly suggests a promontory fort of familiar type. The O.S. map indicates "Gilnockie Castle (site)" E. of No. 50. liii. -- S.E. ("Moat"). -- 27 March 1915. The O.S. maps also indicate sites as under;- 51. Priory (Canonbie), Hallgreen. - Of the Augustinian Priory of Canonbie ("Canons' hamlet"), founded in the 12th century and subsequently a cell of Jedburgh, no part now remains. The site is 1/2 mile south-south-east of the parish church. -- liii. -- S.E. 51a. Chapel, near Pingle Bridge. -- liii. -- S.W. 52. Morton Church, Tower of Sark. -- lix. -- N.W. 53. Tower, Tower of Sark. -- lix. -- N.W. 54. Mumbie Tower. -- liii. -- N.E. 55. Kinmont Tower. -- lix. -- N.E. 56. Harelaw Tower, Harelawgate. -- liv. -- N.W. 57. Tower, Outer Woodhead. -- liv. -- N.W. CLOSEBURN. ECCLESIASTICAL STRUCTURE. 58. Old Church. - The old church, according to the Statistical Account, was rebuilt in 1740 with a north transept: of this building little more than the east gable remains, its place having been taken by a new church built on the south side of the old churchyard in the 19th century. The remaining east gable of the old church is 30 feet wide and the wall is 3 feet thick. It contains a doorway 4 feet wide, and has a semicircular arched head, with moulded archivolt, keystone, and imposts. In the upper part of the wall is a circular window, as at Morton and Dalton, and on the top is a belfry. The remains of the north and south walls are 2 feet 6 inches thick. BELL. - The bell still remains in the belfry, and is inscribed:- + TREGINTA + DE + AGVST + APVD · POTERRAW + ANNO + DOMINI + 1606 On waist a crown, with hammer below, and letter G on one side, H on the other. Diameter 15 1/2 inches. -- 30
dumfries-1920/04-110 CLOSEBURN.] -- INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. -- [CLOSEBURN. The inscription is in two lines, as shown: there are single rims above, below, and between these lines. The lower line has smaller lettering. The lettering is very rude and irregular, the n's and the s are reversed, and all the letters, figures, and ornaments appear to have been made by marking the mould with a sharp instrument instead of by the use of stamps. The initials are those of George Hog, who cast several bells during the earlier part of the 17th century, including one at Keith Marischal, Haddingtonshire. The hammer and crown are the insignia of the Incorporation of Hammermen of Edinburgh, and "APUD POTERRAW" in the inscription evidently refers to the street of that name. BRASS ALMS DISH. - In the manse is pre- served a brass alms dish 13 inches in diameter, bearing in the centre, in repoussée work, a representation of the Annunciation. it is German work, of probably the 15th century. FONT FROM DALGARNOCK. - In the porch, beneath the tower of the modern church, is the basin of the font of the old church of Dalgarnock. It is a plain octagonal basin, with a drain in the bottom, 2 feet 3 inches in diameter over all. 1 foot 9 inches in diameter across the actual basin, 1 foot 3 inches in depth outside and 8 inches inside. The name "Dalgarno" has been cut on the edge in modern lettering. CROSS-SHAFT, ETC. - Beside the font lies a fragment of a cross-shaft, with two vertical panels of interlaced work formed from a four-cord plait, A fine beak-head, evidently from the cornice of a church of the later Norman period, is also preserved here. xxxi. -- S.E. -- 24 May and 12 June 1912. CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURES. 59. Closeburn Castle. - This tower (fig. 4 of Introduction), dating from the end of the 14th century, stands in what is now one of the fertile and wooded parks of Nithsdale, some 12 miles by road north-north-west of Dumfries. The site has been originally a peninsula at the south-east end of what once was Closeburn loch, and the approach to the castle from the east or landward side has been defended by a wide moat cut across the neck of the peninsula, which would in this way be converted into an island, as it is shown in Grose's Antiquities of Scotland even as late as 1789. On plan (fig. 30) the tower is of the simple rectangular type, measuring, on the ground floor, some 27 feet 6 inches by 15 feet 6 inches within walls nearly 10 feet in thickness. The total height from the ground to the level of the parapet measures some 50 feet. The building com- prises four storeys and an attic, the two lower [Plan Inserted] FIG. 30. - Closeburn Castle (No. 59). storeys, including the basement, and the attic being vaulted. A doorway in the west wall gives access to the basement, which is now subdivided into three dark cellars. No windows appear to have been formed in its massive walls, probably with a view to greater security, nor has there been any internal com- munication with the upper floors. The main entrance is situated at the north end of the west wall at the first-floor level, some 10 feet from the ground; access to the tower would be gained originally by a move- able ladder, which has been replaced in later times by the present forestair of stone. The doorway measures 4 feet 6 inches in width, has splayed outer jambs and a semicircular arch-head, and is still secured by an excep- tionally well-preserved iron "yett." There is also a bar-hole in the south jamb, some 6 feet in depth. Originally the first floor would serve as the hall, measuring about 30 by 18 feet within walls averaging 8 feet in thickness; but it has been subsequently divided by a central partition some 3 feet in thickness, which contains two fireplaces. The windows have been enlarged to suit modern requirements. A wheel-stair in the north wall adjoining the entrance gives access to the upper floors and to the parapet walk. the -- 31
dumfries-1920/04-111 CLOSEBURN.] -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. -- [CLOSEBURN. upper floors have been altered and adapted for convenience of occupation, and an attic has been formed within the uppermost vault. The crenellated parapets of the main building and of the cap-house are evidently of recent date. The castle is still inhabited, and is in excellent repair. A charter by Alexander II., of the period 1231-1232, confirms a grant of the lands of Closeburn to Ivo de Kilpatrick. It is copied into the Glenriddell MSS. ¹ In 1296 William de Kilpatryk of the valley of Annan is a prisoner at Windsor; ² and in 1299 Ivo, son of Stephen de "Killeosborne," died a hostage at Carlisle. ³ ¹ Cf. C. Kirkpatrick Sharpe's Correspondence, vol. i. p. 552; Grose's Antiquities of Scotland, i.p. 150; ² Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, iv. p. 358; ³ ibid., ii. No. 1179. xxxi. S.E. -- 6 June 1912. 60. Low Auldgirth. - Adjacent to the farm of Low Auldgirth are the ruins of a small keep, consisting of portions of two contiguous walls some 3 feet 6 inches in thickness. The base- ment has been vaulted with a simple barrrel- vault. xl. N.E. (unnoted). -- 1 May 1913. DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS. 61. Fort, Townfoot. - On the western slope of the moorland, about 1/2 mile to the south- east of Townfoot farm, is a fort. It is elliptical in form, lying north-north-wesy and south-south-east, and shows a broad stony rampart rising to a height of some 5 feet above an encircling trench, now scarcely apparent except at the ends. The rampart has been considerably despoiled for stones along the west side, and there are several gaps in it. The principal entrance, however, has evidently been at the north end of the west side, opening on a slight hollow in the interior. A stony bank faces the gap and passes southward, flanking if for some 40 feet, thereafter passing across the interior towards the rampart on the east side. On the south side of the entrance a low stony mound runs outward as a traverse for a distance of some 30 ffet across the front of it. The length of the interior is some 230 feet and the breadth at the centre 175 feet: the rempart at base 0has a breadth of 20 feet where prominent at the south-east angle, and the trench a width of 25 feet from cres to crest. The width of the entrance at ground level is about 7 feet. The interior is very uneven and stony, showing in one or two places evident remains of divi- sional banks or walls, and rushes growing in several spots suggest the presence of water. The elevation of the site above sea-level is 800 feet. a section of the "Deil's Dyke" runs parallel with the west face o the fort, some 60 feet distant (see No. 80). xxii. S.E. -- 7 June 1912. 62. Fort, Trigony Wood. - At the end of a ridge which rises steeply from the northward, overlooking Trigony House, are the remains of an oval earthwork. It is situated within a thick fir wood, so that its outline is now difficult to follow, while measurements are almost unobtainable. According to the O.S. map, the dimensions are approximately 240 by 200 feet. the defence consists of a single trench, where best preserved some 13 feet in breadth and now nowhere of greater depth than 2 feet, with a slight mound above the scarp, and probably the same above the counterscarp. along the east side the trench is barely traceable, and on the north-west there appears to be a gap of some 60 feet, where it has disappeared entirely. xxxi. N.E. -- 12 June 1912. 63. Fort, Crichope Linn. - In the field on the north and near the head of Crochope Linn, are the remains of a fort. With its base resting on the precipitous bank of the Linn about 80 feet in height, it extends to the north-east with two straight sides some 136 feet apart, formed of a trench and inner rampart, now imperfect on the north-west side, which are connected by a segmental curve towards the north-east. The lan appears to be an irre- gular ellipse, with its major axis from north- east to south-west. along this axis it measures to the stony dyke which cuts across it at the side of the Linn 212 feet, and where widest it extends some 40 feet farther to the edge of the bank. The surrounding trench has had a width of about 28 feet from crest to crest, and, on either side of the entrance, where it is -- 32
dumfries-1920/04-112 CLOSEBURN.] -- INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. -- [CLOSEBURN. now best preserved, it has a depth of 10 feet below the top of the scarp and 7 feet below that of the counter-scarp. The rampart at greatest height rises to about 3 feet above the interior level and is very stony. On the west there is a considerable gap in the defences at a point where the ground on the interior rises sharply to a height of 7 feet, and the trench, less deep at this point, may have been filled in and obliterated by cultivation. The en- trance, 12 feet wide, has been from the east, passing across the trench on unexcavated ground and through the rampart. Immedi- ately on the right of it, in the interior, on slightly elevated ground, is a circular area enclosed by a bank and measuring 41 feet in diameter. It is entered from the west dia- metrically opposite to the entrance to the fort. xxxi. N.E. (unnoted). -- 20 June 1912. 64. Fort, Benthead. - About 1/4 mile north- north-east of Benthead, on the south-east bank of the Linn and some 60 yards down from the fine waterfall known as the "Grey Mare's Tail," is a small circular entrenchment. The ground falls from the southward towards the edge of the Linn, and directly overlooks the con- struction, which forms a small plateau above the precipitous bank 60 to 70 feet in height. The mound is encircled by a horse- shoe trench, some 20 feet wide, the ends of which rest on the bank, and it has nowhere a height of more than 5 feet above it, while on the upper side it does not exceed 3 feet 6 inches. The summit area measures 40 feet in diameter, and is not very level. On the south- west face is a depression some 12 feet across which gradually falls to a depth of 4 feet be- low the summit level. This appears to be secondary, and the soil from it has seemingly been used to level a platform at the edge of the bank of the Linn and partly to close the end of the trench in that direction. This construction is very similar to that on the Wanlock Water up the Crawick Pass, in Sanquhar parish (No. 553). xxii. S.E. (unnoted). -- 20 June 1912. 65. Mote, Dinning. - This mote (fig. 31) lies some 200 yards north of the farm of Dinning, and with its base-court or bailey is fashioned on a long natural hillock lying north-west and south-east, which rises out of a stretch of haugh- land reaching to the Nith, about 1/4 mile to the westward. The east slope of the valley com- mences to rise sharply some 50 yards distant from the base of the hillock. From the south- east end the knoll rises gradually to its north- west extremity, on which the mote itself has been erected. With the base-court lying at the south-east end, the whole construction occu- pies about half the length of the hillock. In form the mote is a simple truncated cone, [Plan Inserted] FIG. 31. - Mote, Dinning (No.65). composed, as far as it is possible to tell, of earth, and rising to a height of some 14 feet above the level of the base-court, while a steep gradient with a vertical height of 45 feet reaches to the base of the hillock on front and sides. On the terminal slope, some 20 feet up from the base, is a slight terrace which is possibly artificial. The plat of the mote has been circular with a diameter of some 20 feet, and shows a shallow bowl-shaped hollow, the wall of which has been slightly broken down on the north-west. The base-court is oblong on plan, measuring 66 feet in length by 57 feet in breadth, and is enclosed by an earthen rampart, somewhat slight on the sides but massive to the front, which impinges directly on the sides of the mote hill, uninterrupted by any intervening trench. The entrance to the court has been through the centre of the south- east front. A trench 34 feet in width, 12 feet in depth below the crest of the scarp, and some 4 feet below that of the counterscarp, has been dug across the hillock from side to side in front of the rampart. There is no gangway across -- 33 -- 3
dumfries-1920/04-113 CLOSEBURN.] -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. -- [CLOSEBURN. the trench, which has probably been covered by a bridge or drawbridge. xxxi S.E. ("Earthwork"). -- 7 May 1913. HUT-CIRCLES. 66. Hut-Circle, Townhead. - About 1/2 mile due east of Townhead farm buildings, and some 40 yards down from the road to Fellend, is a well-defined hut-circle. It is a small circular enclosure, surrounded by a turf bank measur- ing interiorly 7 feet 6 inches by 6 feet 6 inches, with its longer axis towards the entrance, which, with a width of about 2 feet 6 inches, faces south by west. The bank has a thick- ness of about 3 feet 6 inches and, at most, an elevation of 1 foot. The structure has been placed within a larger circle, the stony founda- tion of which is just traceable, measuring in diameter some 26 feet, close to the back but against the wall - presuming the front of this outer circle to have been in the same direction as that of the interior construction. Though no small cairns are actually adjacent, there are a number sparsely scattered to the west and south. xxii. S.E. (unnoted). -- 20 June 1912. 67. Hut-Circle, Townhead. - On a natural terrace on the hillside to the east-north- east of Townhead farm, and some 400 yards distant, is a small hut-circle excavated by a former tenant of the farm. It measures in- teriorly 8 feet by 6 feet, the longer axis being towards the entrance, which has been from the south-south-east. The floor was sunk about 1 foot below the adjacent natural level, and a low stony bank surrounded the edge. A small hearth was found in the centre of the hut, formed of thin stones set obliquely in the soil, as well as wood ashes, but no relics were recovered. The hut-circle is within a large oval waled enclosure in an extreme state of ruin, which, however, may be of later date. In one of the fields at a lower elevation to the south of the farm, it is said that numerous hut sites - recognisable by the charred deposits - were disturbed in a deep ploughing some years ago. Numbers of flint flakes have been found in the vicinity. xxii S.E. (unnoted). -- 20 June 1912. CAIRNS. 68. Small Cairns, Nether Dod. - At the south-east end of Nether Dod, on the lower end of the haunch of the hill overlooking the Capel Water, is a small group of cairns measuring some 12 feet in diameter and very low in elevation. They are at an altitude of some 850 feet above sea-level. xxxii N.E. -- 7 June 1912. 69. Small Cairn, fellend. - On the upper side of the road fromTownhead to Mitchellslacks, about 350 yards to the east by south of Fellend, is a small cairn with a diameter of 24 feet and an elevation of 2 feet. It has not been excavated. It lies at an altitude of nearly 1000 feet over sea-level. xxiii. S.W. -- 7 June 1912. 70. Small Cairns, Knockbrack. - On the west side and around the summit of Knockbrack, a green grassy hillock, which rises up from the moorland about 1/2 mile to the south-east of Townfoot Loch, is a large number of small cairns, which measure from 10 to 20 feet in diameter, are overgrown with grass and low in height. They are situated at an elevation above sea-level of about 900 feet. One near the summit, measuring some 20 feet in diameter, was opened some ten years ago by the tenant in Townhead, who found two flint chips, a round thin disc of stone about the size of a penny with a small depression in the centre on one side, and some charred wood. xxiii. S.W. -- 7 June 1912. 71. Cairn, Capel Glen. - About 3/4 mile to the north-east of the farm of Locherben, on a plateau which interposes between the slope of the high land to the westward and the precipitous right bank of the Capel Burn which flows by 100 feet below, lies a cairn, measuring some 5 feet in diameter and low in elevation, formed of large stones, considerably overgrown. It does not appear to have been excavated. A number of large slabs, lying flat on the surface or set upright and just protruding between the cairn and the top of the bank of -- 34
dumfries-1920/04-114 CLOSEBURN.] -- INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. -- [CLOSEBURN. the burn, are suggestive of a ruined cist. The altitude is about 900 feet. xxiii. S.W. -- 7 June 1912. 72. Cairn, Threip Moor. - This cairn is situ- ated on the crest of the watershed between the Poldivan Burn and the Capel Water, about 1/4 mile west of the confluence of the streams and nearly 1/2 mile east-north-east of where the road running southward from Mitchellslacks crosses the former. It has not been excavated, and measures some 50 feet in diameter and 6 feet in elevation. xxxii. N.W. -- 7 June 1912. 73. Cairn, Nether Dod. - On the southern end of the long grassy hill which lies to the east of Mitchellslacks and bears the name of Nether Dod, at an elevation of some 950 feet over sea-level, are two cairns within 150 yards of each other. The one measures 39 feet in diameter and 4 feet in elevation, while the other measures 30 feet in diameter and 4 1/2 feet in elevation. xxxii. N.E. -- 8 June 1912. 74. Cairn, (remains of), Auchencairn. - In a grass park about 1/4 mile to the north of Auchen- cairn farm house are the remains of a very large circular cairn. Only a small segment remains, and the site of the remainder has been covered with gathered stones from the field. The interment has probably long since been disturbed. The field is known as the "Witches Wa's." xxxii. S.W. (unnoted). -- 12 June 1912. 75. Cairns, Gawin Moor. - Situated on Gawin Moor, rather more than a mile to the north- east of Auchencairn, is a group of eight or nine small cairns. The largest, which has measured some 18 feet in diameter, has been excavated. Some 300 yards to the southward, on a slight ridge overlooking a stretch of boggy moorland to the west, is a much larger cairn, measuring in diameter 62 feet and in elevation 8 feet. At one or two places excavations have been made in it, but no cist or chamber has been reached. To the north and north-west of it lie several small cairns measuring in diameter from 12 feet to 14 feet. Some 200 yards to the southward, and near the edge of the boggy land, lie the remains of another circular cairn which has been ex- cavated, and the remains of a short cist lie exposed in the bottom of it. The cairn has measured some 44 feet in diameter. The ex- cavation, which was conducted in 1894, re- vealed three cists: one, measuring 3 feet 6 inches in length by 1 foot 9 inches in width, contained burnt earth and ashes; the second, of which no dimensions are recorded, contained similar remains; the third, which is said to have measured only 2 feet by 1 1/2 feet, yielded fragments of a beaker urn and a flint implement. No osseous remains were found (Dumfries Standard, 5th July 1894). Sixty yards or thereby to the north are the remains of another and much smaller cairn, also excavated. The "Mid Cairn" is a large circular cairn, on the crest of the moorland, 1 mile due east of Auchencairn and 80 yards or thereby to the east of the Drove Road. It measures some 54 feet in diameter and about 9 feet in eleva- tion. Though it has been dug into to a small extent it still remains unexcavated. On the moorland, to the east of the Drove Road, and about 3/4 mile north-east from Auchencairn, is a cairn which has been excavated. It has measured about 20 feet in diameter. xxxii. S.W.-- 12 June 1912. 76. Cairn, Gufhill Rig, Knockenshang. - Some 200 yards south-south-east of the summit of the hill which overlooks the road from Annan- dale into Nithsdale by Loch Ettrick, 1/2 mile west of the farm of Knockenshang, and just under an altitude of 900 feet over sea- level, there is a large oval cairn overgrown with grass except at the north end, where the stones are exposed. It measures 93 feet from north to south by 84 feet from east to west, and rises to a height of 5 feet. Though a slight excavation has been made in it at the north end, the interment does not appear to have been disturbed. xxxii. N.W. -- 2 May 1913. -- 35
dumfries-1920/04-115 CLOSEBURN.] -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. -- [CLOSEBURN. 77. Gravestones, Closeburn. - At the east side of the churchyard is a slab heavily carved along one side, with a pillar-like figure enriched with festoons and terminating in a human head. Incised is an inscription: HERE LYETH THE CORP OF JOHN KIRKPATRIC IN BARNMILL WHO DIED JAN. 1696. AGED 76. At the foot of the slab, in relief, within a car- touche, is a shield bearing a saltire and chief, the latter charged with three cushions, all surmounted by a helmet and mantling. These are Kirkpatrick arms. xxxi. S.E. -- 12 June 1912. 78. Gravestones, etc., Dalgarnock Church- yard. - Within the churchyard at Dalgarnock are one or two late 17th-century gravestones of no particular interest, and two dating from the first half of the 18th century, which show figures in contemporary costume carved in relief - one commemorating a schoolmaster from Glencairn and the other a "Chirurgeon" from Thornhill. On the left of the entrance stands the socket-stone of a cross, measuring 2 feet 2 1/2 inches by 1 foot 9 inches by 1 foot 4 inches, with a rectangular sinking in the centre. xxxi. N.E. -- 12 June 1912. 79. Mound, Knockhill. - At the west end of the wall which comes down by the south side of the Knockhill, forming the boundary between Townhead and Townfoot, is a grass-covered mound, evidently artificial, lying with its longest axis east-south-east and west-north west, and measuring in diameter 24 feet by 15 feet. Without excavation its character cannot be determined. xxii. S.E. -- 20 June 1912. 80. "Deil's Dyke." - Running parallel with the west face of the fort (No. 61), some 60 feet distant, but at an elevation about 20 feet lower, is a section of the "Deil's Dyke." It is here an earthen mound some 12 feet wide at base, with a certain amount of stone protrud- ing at places through the top, rising to a height of from 2 to 3 feet, and with a slight and narrow trench some 7 feet wide on the upper side. It runs in an irrregular line along the face of a steepish slope some 20 feet down from the crest. The Dyke passes along the lower slope of the hillside, just above the enclosed land, some 200 yards to the north of Townhead farm. In appearance it is an earthen bank, with a trench on the upper side, running irregularly across the brae face, measuring some 8 feet broad at base, narrowing upwards, and some 2 feet in height, while the trench has a breadth of about 7 feet and is now shallow. Where the bank has been broken by sheep it is shown to be formed with a core of boulders laid horizontally. The stony structure of the rampart becomes much more pronounced as it turns down the slope above Burn farm. Here, indeed, it has the appearance of being wholly formed of slabs, generally about 2 to 3 feet long by 18 inches wide, while in the usual earthy structure the stones are mostly such as may be carried in the hand. xxii. S.E. -- 7 and 20 June 1912. A section of the Dyke is also to be seen crossing the field between Benthead and Crichope Linn. It is an earthen bank, 3 feet 6 inches in height and 12 feet wide at base, with a trench on the east some 14 feet wide, from which the soil has been upcast. xxxi. N.E. (unnoted). -- 20 June 1912. 81. Standing-Stone, Kirkbog. - On the crest of a broad-backed ridge, 1/4 mile east of the farm of Kirkbog, stands a single upright whinstone bouder in the middle of a cultivated field. It measures 4 feet 3 inches in height, and about half of its thickness has been broken off at no distant date. There is nothing in the character of the stone, nor in its situation, to contradict the statement in the History of Closeburn, that originally there was a stone circle here. xxxi. N.E. (unnoted). -- 7 May 1913. SITES. 82. "Cairn," Benthead. - About 1/4 mile north-north-east of the Grey Mare's Tail waterfall, near Benthead, on a slight eminence towards the crest of a ridge, is the site of a dilapidated construction, probably a large -- 36
dumfries-1920/04-116 CLOSEBURN.] -- INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. --[CUMMERTREES. circular cairn, from which the larger stones have been removed. xxiii. S.W. (unnoted). -- 20 June 1912. 83. Cairn, Auchencairn Height. - The cairn on the top of Auchencairn Hill is a mere site; the interment has probably been removed long ago. xxxii. S.W. -- 12 June 1912. 84. Tumulus, M'Mount, Knockenshang. - The "tumulus" noted on the O.S. map on the summit of the hill across the valley to the west-south-west from the Gufhill Rig is now a low, stony mound, with a diameter of some 8 feet, and with a few large stones lying on the surface. xxxii. N.W. -- 2 May 1913. Sites are also indicated on the O.S. maps as under:- 85. Dalgarnock Church and St Ninian's Well, about 700 yards north-west of Kirklands cottage. -- xxxi. N.E. 86. Chapel, Nether Mains. - xxxi. S.E. 87. St Patrick's Chapel, Kirkpatrick. - xxxi. S.E. 88. Royach Cairn. - xxxii. S.W. CUMMERTREES. CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURES. 89. Repentance Tower. - This tower (fig 4 of Introduction) stands on rock within an old graveyard on the summit of a small hill (350 feet), which is about half a mile to the south of Hoddom Castle, and commands an extensive view on all sides. It dates from about the middle of the 16th century, but has evidently been repaired in later times. The walls are built of a local pinkish sandstone set in courses with dressed margins and jambs. On plan (fig. 32) the tower is oblong, measuring externally 24 by 21 feet. It is three-storeyed and terminates at a height of 30 feet above ground level in a parapet walk, within which rises a roof covered with over- lapping flagstones and surmounted at the apex by a central chimney. The entrance is at the east end of the north wall, at the level of the first floor, 3 feet above the ground. On the door lintel is the word REPENTENCE, executed in raised Gothic lettering and flanked on the dexter by a carving of a bird and on the sinister by a scroll. The ground floor has evidently been entered through the first floor but is at present in- accessible; from outside can be seen two [Plan Inserted] FIG. 32. - Repentance Tower (No. 89). built-up gunloops on each wall. The windows are small, with rounded jambs, save where these have been reconstructed with rect- angular rybats. At first-floor level a large window checked for outer shutters has been inserted in the south wall, probably in the 18th century, and in its turn is now built up. The lower member of the continuous corbel course is original, the upper member and the projecting gargoyles are later, if not modern. The parapet has been reconstructed in the early 18th century and has ashlar quoins with channelled joints. The chimney is similarly jointed, as is the doorway opening from a staircase to the parapet walk, and the south-west angle of the tower has been repaired at ground level with channelled quoins. the entrance is reached from the exterior by five modern steps and has been closed by two doors. The interior of the first floor is lighted by several narrow windows or loopholes and by the later window in the south wal. within the south-east angle is a recess, its stone sill raised about 2 feet above the floor level. The -- 37
dumfries-1920/04-117 CUMMERTREES.] -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. -- [CUMMERTREES. upper floor has been reached by a ladder. This room, measuring 14 feet by 10 feet 8 inches, is now fitted up as a dovecot. It is lighted by a narrow loophole in each wall, and a fireplace is formed in the north-west angle; the upper part is enclosed with a semicircular stone vault below the flagged roof. From the level of the second floor a stone stair, starting on a corbelled projec- tion intruding on the room below and resting partly on the east wall, leads to the low doorway which gives access to the parapet walk. The origin of the superscription REPENTENCE has been connected with a certain chain of episodes in the career of John, Master of Max- well, afterwards Lord Herries, about the middle of the 16th century. ¹ The same person seems to have built Hoddom Castle. One of his proposals in 1579 to the king for the proper rule of the Borders definitely fixes the character of the building: "The wache toure upoun Trailtrow, callit Repentance, mon be mendit of the litill diffaceing the Englische army maid of it (? 1570); and, according to the formar devise, the greit bell and the fyir pan put on it; and ane trew man haiff ane husband land adjacent for the keping of the continuall wache thairupoun." ² At this time tower and lands were the property of Lord Maxwell, who had purchased the feu from Lord Herries. ³ The "devise" in question was no doubt that engrossed in the Border Laws, which enjoined "ever in Weir and in Peace, the Watch to be keeped on the House-head; and in the Weir the Beaken in the Fire-pan to be keeped, and never faill burning, so long as the Englishmen remain in Scotland; and with ane Bell to be on the Head of the Fire- pan, which shall ring whenever the Fray is, or that the Watchman seeing the Thieves dis- obedient come over the Water of Annand, or thereabout, and knowes them to be Enemies; And whosoever bydes fra the Fray, or turns again so long as the Beaken burns, or the Bell rings, shall be holden as Partakers to the Enemies, and used as Traitors to the Head-Burgh of the Shyre, upon ane Court-day." ⁴ 1 Transactions, Glasgow Archæol. Society, 1896; Repentance Tower and its Tradition, by George Neilson, p. 340 ff.; -- 2 Register of Privy Council, iii. p. 81; -- 3 ibid., p. 84; -- 4 Leges Mar- chiarum, p. 198. lvii. S.W. -- 14 August 1914. 90. Hoddom or Hoddam Castle. - This castle (fig. 33) stands on the eastern edge of a plateau on the right bank of the River Annan, 6 miles south of Lockerbie. The buildings are en- closed on west and south by a courtyard wall, much modernised but showing traces of 17th- century detail.Outside the south wall is a deep artificial ditch. The castle is built of reddish ashlar and towers above the modern additions which encompass it on all sides save the north and east. It is built on an L plan (fig. 34), the shorter wing lying to the west. Externally it measures 51 feet from north to south and the same from east to west; the longer wing is 36 feet broad, the shorter 29 feet. The former contains four storeys beneath the wall head, where it terminates 52 feet above the ground in a parapet walk, within which rises a slated roof containing a garret; the other wing is carried up to a height of 72 feet, where it terminates in a flat roof within a parapet; it contains the main staircase. The parapet of the larger wing is borne on a continuous moulded corbel course of a late decorative type, with moulded interspaces and corbels, which breaks upward and returns around the staircase wing at a higher level; rounds are set at the angles of the lower parapet, and turrets of slight projection rise at the western angles of the higher corbel course to above the flat roof covering the staircase wing, where they terminate in conical roofs. Around this flat roof runs a parapet, largely modern but pro- vided with embrasures and with rounds at the eastern angles, as on the main tower. The entrance to the castle is in the short arm of the re-entering angle by a doorway with an arched head of segmental form; on the jambs and head is wrought a bold quirked edge-roll moulding with a fillet; the label takes the form of a monstrous cable with knotted stops, now mutilated. The lower storey is unlit save by two gun-loops in the east wall; the other floors are lit by windows of moderate size, some of which have been heightened; the edge-roll moulding is repeated on the jambs and lintels. -- 38
dumfries-1920/04-118 Ancient and Historical Monuments - Dumfries. [Photograph inserted] FIG. 33. - Hoddom Castle (No. 90). To face p. 38.
dumfries-1920/04-119 CUMMERTREES.] -- INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. -- [CUMMERTREES. Just within the entrance a doorway on the right admits to a small lobby, formed in the thickness of the intermediate wall, which gives [Plans Inserted] FIG. 34. - Hoddom Castle (No. 90). access to the northern of two intercommunica- ting chambers contained within the main wing. These are ceiled with a semicircular barrel- vault, and a mural closet is formed within the east gable. The mid-partition between these chambers is carried up through all the storeys to the roof, forming two apartments on each floor. The main staircase is spacious and of easy ascent; from it is entered at first-floor level a lobby formed within the intermediate wall, which contains on the south a mural -- 39
dumfries-1920/04-205 HUTTON AND CORRIE.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [JOHNSTONE. relief as follows :- In the centre, occupying almost the entire depth by 1 foot in breadth, is a shield bearing arms: A lion rampant within a bordure flory counter-flory, the Royal Arms of Scotland: on the dexter side a holly leaf, and beyond it a saltire: on the sinister side, at the extreme end, in Gothic form, the letters A.B., separated by a scroll or reversed S. The top of the shield, hidden by the iron gutter at the edge of the cottage roof, is partly damaged on the sinister side. This stone is said to have been found in 1783, underground, in the remains of an ancient building at Westside, on the Black Esk, in the parish of Eskdalemuir, and in that year it was transferred to Berryscaur and used as a lintel. The saltire and holly leaf are respectively the arms and badge of the Lords Maxwell; the letters A.B. are probably the initials of a member of the Beatty family, one of whom, in 1532, was King's sergeant and officer in Eskdale. On the map of 1590 the tower of Ally Battie is marked at a place correspond- ing with Westside, and the O.S. map marks a spot as "Sergeant Know," within 2 miles of it. xxxiv. S.W. 12 August 1912. 309. Gravestone, Corrie Churchyard. - At the north-east angle of Corrie Churchyard, outside a railed enclosure, which forms the burial-place of the Grahams of Dunnabie, is an upright slab commemorating PETER GRAHAM IN BARNSDEL WHO DEPERTED THIS LIFE OCT. 21ST 1753 AGED 12 YEARS. On the front is a figure of a man dressed in a long skirted coat with deep cuffs, holding in his right hand a crown and in his left a sceptre. On his left a skeleton stands on a skull grasping a spear in his left hand. Above the man's head is an hour-glass, and at the apex of the stone an angel with outspread wings. xxxiv. S.E. 26 July 1912. 310. Cross-slab, Corrie Old Churchyard. - On a mound in the centre of the churchyard, evidently covering the ruins of the old church, lies a squared block of sandstone, measuring 6 feet 5 1/2 inches in length, 9 inches in thickness, 1 foot 11 inches in breadth at the head, diminishing to 1 foot 6 inches at the foot, whereon is carved a foliated cross in the form of a cross-potent with a lozenge- shaped boss in the centre, having a long shaft set on a calvary mound. A broad- bladed symmetrically pointed sword is incised on one side of the shaft, the handle of which is entirely worn away. The cross is carved in relief, but is much weathered. The edge of the stone has a border of projecting dog- toothed bosses, 6 inches apart, rising from a 4-inch chamfer, the interspaces on the chamfer decorated with a leaf-and-bead ornament. xliii. S.E. 6 August 1912. SITES. The O.S. maps indicate sites as under :- 311. Corrie Church, Corriehills. xliii. S.E. 312. Chapel, near Carterton. xxxiv. S.E. 313. "Mosskesso," about 500 yards north-east of Closs. xxxiv. N.E. (Cf. No. 287.) 314. "Covernanters' Graves," Caldwell Burn. xxxiv. N.W. JOHNSTONE. CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURE. 315. Lochwood Tower. - This tower occupies a naturally strong site some 6 miles south of Moffat, which is defended to the north by broken and wooded ground and by the Loch- wood Moss - once an almost impenetrable morass - in other directions. The tower is placed at the southern end of the site, with a range of outbuildings extending 160 feet northwards, where it abuts on the southern defence of a circular mote-hill - Lochwood Mount (No. 316). The buildings are in a ruinous state, the main building being com- paratively complete to the level of the first floor, while the south-eastern angle stands some 20 feet higher; the outbuildings are mere shells. On plan (fig. 84) the tower is L-shaped, and was entered at the first-floor level. There appears to have been no external opening to the basement, an unusual feature. The larger wing, with its main axis running east and west, measures 43 feet 5 inches by 34 feet exteriorly, with walls 6 to 9 feet thick. Internally, the basement, entered from a [Page] 114
dumfries-1920/04-206 [Plans inserted - Block and Ground] Fig. 84. - Lochwood Tower and Mote (Nos. 315 and 316). [Page] 115
dumfries-1920/04-207 JOHNSTONE.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [JOHNSTONE. wheel-stair contained within the short wing, is divided into two vaulted compartments, each furnished with a ceiling hatch and lit by long narrow windows with jambs widely splayed to the interior. Beneath the easter[n] cellar is a prison 21 feet 4 inches long and 5 feet 7 inches wide; access to this is gained by a straight stair entered from the short passage between the wheel-stair in the smaller wing and the eastern cellar. The door in the passage appears to have folded vertically in leaves, for a recess and groove 1 inch deep, in which such a door might slide, are worked on the lintel. There is no window, but a ventilation outlet is provided in the east wall. A bulkhead is formed in the cellar above to obtain the necessary headroom in the dungeon. From the general arrange- ment of the plan the tower appears to have been built in the 15th century. The outbuildings to the north, which were apparently erected at a later period, formed the eastern boundary of a courtyard, while traces of a smaller courtyard to the west are evident. Lochwood was the principal seat of the Johnstones. As described by its English captors in 1547, "It was a fair large tower, able to lodge all our company safely, with a barnekin, hall, kitchen, and stables, all within the barnekin, and was but kept with two or three fellows and as many wenches." [Footnote] 1 In April 1585 Robert Maxwell with his friends and some Armstrongs attacked and burnt Lochwood, " the Lardes (i.e. Johnstone's) owne howse," and its provision of victuals. [Footnote] 2 Cf. further Introd., p. lxv. 1 Cited in History of Westmorland and Cum- berland, Nicolson and Burn, vol. i., p. liv. ; 2 Border Papers, i. No. 303. xxiv. S.E. 10 May 1912. DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS. 316. Mote, Lochwood. - This mote, com- monly called " The Mount," is situated in a wood of aged oak trees, just to the north of the ruins of Lochwood Castle, and looks out to the eastward over the plain of Upper Annandale. It is formed from a natural hillock crowning a slope rising from the east and mounting from a hollow on the west. From the latter direction it has a vertical elevation of some 22 feet; but from its base on the east, along which runs the roadway, it rises to a height of 44 feet or thereby. Two terraces encircle it: the upper one on the west side, at some 10 feet below the summit level, dipping on the longer western slope to 20 feet, and the lower one varying from 8 to 10 feet further down. On the east side and round by the north, both terraces show a parapet, and on the south the lower takes a trench-like aspect with a bold rampart cutting it off from the ground beyond, on which the later castle has stood. On the north the hillock does not slope directly to its base from the parapet of the lower terrace, but presents a narrow bench crowned at its edge with a rampart, from which there is a scarp some 5 to 6 feet in height to the lowest level. To the eastward this bench gradually merges with the narrow terrace above it, and to westward it slopes away to a lower level, leaving the rampart extend- ing onwards in that direction, and containing within it an area too low lying to have formed a base-court. Towards the south-east the upper terrace forms a salient angle; and directly below it there is a gap, which has probably been an entrance through the outer mound, some 7 feet in width, towards which, between two parallel mounds, what may have been a roadway may be seen approaching directly to it on the opposite side of the present road. Westward from this supposed approach, and facing the south, there is a space, some 12 to 14 feet in breadth, reach- ing downward from the edge of the summit, interrupting the upper terrace and scarped at a flatter angle than the rest of the mound, up the west side of which there is a distinct suggestion of a track, which makes a sharp turn to the eastward at the highest level before entering on to the summit at its south-east point. On the east side of this space, stretching from the summit to the trench-like hollow of the lower terrace, there is visible a stony artificial ridge. The summit is oval, measuring superficially some 24 feet by 16 feet, and has been hollowed to a depth of some 18 inches, with a wall formed in part of natural rock left around the edge. xxiv. S.E. (unnoted). 14 September 1912. [Page] 116
dumfries-1920/04-208 JOHNSTONE.] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. [JOHNSTONE. 317. Mound behind Lochwood Tower. - To the south of the ruins of Lochwood Tower lies a green level meadow, probably the garden, and near its centre there rises an artificial- looking earthen mound surmounted by four ancient gean trees, some 9 feet in height with a diameter at base of 36 to 40 feet, fallen away somewhat towards the east, and measuring across its level circular summit some 10 feet. Around its base is a shallow trench with a width of 12 feet. This mound in character and situa- tion bears a resemblance to that which rises from the centre of the garden at Logan in Gallo- way, similarly within sight of the old castle. xxiv. S.E. (unnoted). 14 September 1912. 318. Fort, Mote Cottage. - On the east bank of Kinnell Water, about 1/4 mile east by south of the farm of Ross Mains, rises a grassy hillock marked as a mote on the O.S. map. It is a natural gravel mound, lying with its longest axis north and south, with an eleva- tion rising from 18 feet at the north end to 26 feet at the south, steeply sloped on the north and west and falling by an easier gradient to its base on the south and east. The ground around is low-lying meadow land; and, while the Kinnell Water at the present day flows by some 150 yards to the westward, an old channel marked by pools of stagnant water lies at its base. The summit has been surrounded by a bank of earth and stone enclosing an area measuring some 100 feet by 40 feet. It slopes from west to east as well as from north to south, and at no point has been levelled, as would be the case in a mote-hill. At the lowest point on the east side, towards the north end, there is an entrance 8 feet wide approached up the slope from the base; and on the right of it, against the bank, there appears to be an oblong foundation, probably of turf, at the east end of which, at a level some 5 feet lower, is a circular hollow dug out of the face of the bank, measuring 11 feet in diameter. On the highest point of the hillock, in the line of the enclosing bank, is a small oblong depression measuring superficially 7 feet 6 inches by 5 feet 6 inches and sunk some 2 feet below the surface; while on the east edge, also on the line of the mound, is another hollow, which may mark the site of a hut. xlii. N.E. (" Mote "). 8 August 1912. 319. Fort (remains), Kirkhill Cottage. - This cottage, in an angle between two roads about 1 mile to the north of Johnstone Church, apparently occupies the site of a fort, of which a small portion of a rampart remains on the north. xxxiii. N.E. 14 August 1912. 320. Fort, Tanner's Linn, Mollin. - This is a small semi-oval fort about 1/2 mile south- east of the farm of Mollin, the oval bisected obliquely, and in its periphery, exclusive of the chord, presenting four distinct facets of vary- ing dimensions. It rests on the edge of the precipitous left bank of the Linn, which flows through a wooded ravine some 50 feet below. The main axis of the oval, if complete, would have been north and south, and the basal line of the fort lies from north-east to south-west, measuring 93 feet in the latter direction from crest to crest with a bisectional diameter of 60 feet. The defences consist of an inner rampart of earth and stone, a deep regularly formed concentric trench, and an outer rampart. The inner mound has an elevation of some 5 feet above the portion of the interior directly behind it, and has a scarp at the highest point of 7 to 8 feet in height above the floor of the trench, but along the north-east arc of only some 3 feet 6 inches: the trench from crest to crest measures 30 feet, except on the north-east face, where it measures 25 feet, and has a depth below the counterscarp of 7 feet where deepest, near the centre of the curve on the north, and diminishes in depth towards the edge of the ravine at either end. At either extremity the outer rampart has a height of from 5 to 6 feet on the exterior, where the ground level declines to the edge of the ravine. There is much stone at places in the interior, especially at the north-east end, but no distinct foundation is traceable. The entrance has probably been from the north-east, past the end of the rampart, and flanked by the precipitous side of the linn - an arrangement frequently observed in this class of fort. From the west there is a slight filling of the trench, to form a gangway to the interior; and thence southward to the edge of the ravine the inner rampart has an eleva- tion some 2 to 3 feet lower than to north- [Page] 117
dumfries-1920/04-209 JOHNSTONE.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [JOHNSTONE. ward. It is doubtful, however, if this is original, as there is no break in the continuity of the outer mound as it passes it. xxxiii. N.W. 21 August 1912. 321. Fort, Mollin. - This fort is situated on the crest of a ridge, at an elevation of 600 feet over sea-level and about 1/2 mile north by east of the farm of Mollin. It appears to have been an oval enclosure, with its longest axis north and south, measuring interiorly 156 feet by 140 feet, divided by a cross rampart or wall in such a way as to cut off a semi-lunar segment, amounting to about one-third of the interior area at the north end. The whole enclosure has been surrounded by a stony rampart, now of low elevation and completely eradicated for a distance of some 80 or 90 feet on the south-east. xxxiii. N.W. 21 August 1912. ENCLOSURES. 322. Enclosure, Crunzierton Wood, Raehills. - Situated on a shelf on the steeply sloping ground within the Crunzierton Wood in the policies of Raehills, a short distance from the gamekeeper's cottage, is a circular en- closure, measuring 102 feet in diameter, surrounded by a wall or stony mound, now of low elevation and some 13 feet in thick- ness. The interior has been hollowed by ex- cavation on the upper side to a depth of from 3 to 4 feet and is completely overlooked by the rising ground to the west of it. There is a wet spot, which is probably a spring, at the west end, and there is an indication of a cross-wall cutting off a segment towards the north, as in the last-mentioned enclosure. It lies at an elevation of 600 feet over sea- level and some 30 to 40 feet above the road which passes along the base of the slope. In its position it bears a strong resemblance to the hollowed enclosures in Eskdale. xxxiii. N.W. (" Fort "). 21 August 1912. 323. Enclosure, Duff Kinnel Bank, Raehills. - Situated on a level plateau on the western slope of the valley of the Kinnel Water, about 1/2 mile north-north-west of Raehills House, is a fort at an elevation of 600 feet [Note] 500 over sea-level and some 30 feet above the roadway. It is a circular construction, measur- ing interiorly some 114 feet in diameter, and has been surrounded by a massive wall or rampart of stones, now structureless, measur- ing at most 19 feet across and 5 feet in height. Towards the edge of the slope to the roadway the mound of stone is much more massive than on the opposite side of the enceinte, which is overlooked by the slope rising steeply above it; nor is there any indication that the defence has originally been so great on this side. The entrance from the south-east is clearly defined and measures 7 feet in width. xxxiii. N.W. (" Fort "). 2 324. Enclosure, Duff Kinnel Bank, Raehills. - Higher up, just on the brow of the hill and some 200 yards distant from the last, is an oval construction, lying with its longest axis north and south and measuring 130 feet by 111 feet, also surrounded by a ruined wall or stony rampart, of much slighter dimensions, however, than that of the last enclosure, measuring some 9 feet over all. About one- third of the interior area at the south end has been cut off by a cross-wall, and there are indications of hollowing by excavation. The wall of a later construction, probably enclosing a wood now blown down, is partially super- imposed. xxxiii. N.W. 1 21 August 1912. 325. Enclosure, Edgemoor. - This enclosure is situated by the edge of the steep east bank of the Kinnel Water, about 1/2 mile to the south- west of the farm of Edgemoor. It has been oval in form, lying with its longest axis east by north and west by south, measuring 150 feet by 130 feet or thereby. Its north-west arc has been destroyed in the formation of a road, and the rest of its defence has been greatly pillaged for stones. It has been surrounded by a massive stone wall, of which only a small section, some 40 feet in length, remains on the north-west, adjacent to the hedge bounding the road. The large blocks which have formed the lower course on the outer face still remain in situ, indicating a breadth for the wall of some 10 feet. The interior is lower by 2 or 3 feet than the sur- rounding ground and is wet and overgrown with rushes. [Page] 118
dumfries-1920/04-223 KIRKPATRICK-] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. [-JUXTA. on his victorious march home, " mistook his general for the King "; (2) Lord Crosbie here slew an English commander who had plundered his property and burnt his castle in his absence, a fact of which he was first apprised in a dream; (3) John, Master of Maxwell, after the fight against Albany and Douglas on July 22, 1484, while faint from wounds, was assassinated in revenge for an act of justice as Steward of Annandale (Riddell MSS., vol. vi. p. 28ff.; Stat. Acct., xiii. p. 274, note; Macfarlane's Geographical Collections, vol. i. p. 372). Of these, 1 and 2 may be set aside; of 3, there is no corroborative evidence. A cross-head of similar trefoil pattern is preserved at Bury- thorpe in East Yorkshire. lviii. S.W. 22 July 1912. SITES. 379. Cairn, Mossknow. - About 100 yards to the north-west of the sawmill at Mossknow is the foundation of a cairn. lviii. S.E. (unnoted). 1 October 1912. The O.S. maps also indicate sites as under :- 380. Kirkconnell, Springkell. lviii. N.W. 381. Tower, Kirkpatrick House. lviii. S.E. 382. Redhall Castle, Redhall. lviii. S.E. The attribution in the O.S. map to the 13th century is unwarranted. The story in the Stat. Acct., vol. xiii. pp. 271-2, applies to the Red Hall of the Flemings in the town of Berwick at the siege of 1296. The writer says that the tower was destroyed at the beginning of the 18th century. There is no other record of the place, but " James Johnne- stoun in Reidhall " appears in the list of John- stones in 1594 (Book of Caerlaverock, vol. ii. p. 498). KIRKPATRICK-JUXTA. ECCLESIASTICAL STRUCTURE. 383. St Cuthbert's Chapel. - On the farm of Chapel, which lies less than 1/2 a mile west of Moffat, are the ruins of the chapel of St Cuthbert, traditionally supposed to have been erected by the Knights Templar. The building dates from the 13th century and has apparently been oblong on plan, measuring exteriorly 21 feet 6 inches by 44 feet 9 inches. Only the west gable, on which abuts a modern cottage, and a fragment of the east gable remain. The west gable contains a pointed arched doorway, 3 feet wide and 9 feet 6 inches high; on the edge of the jamb and intrados a splay is worked. In the east gable, which is 2 feet 7 1/2 inches thick, is a pointed window, containing three lights with acutely-pointed heads, each running up to the arch; the jamb has two splays on its in-going, and the in-filling is also splayed. The tracery is incomplete; the southern half and the sill are wanting. xvi. N.E. 10 May 1912. CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURES. 384. Auchencass or Auchen Castle. - Auch- encass or Auchen Castle (fig. 90) is situated 1 3/4 miles south-west of Moffat, west of the railway, on a marshy plateau, at an elevation of 500 feet above sea-level, overlooking the valley of the River Annan to the east and a deep- wooded ravine formed by the Garpol Burn to the south. In its entirety the castle, with its elaborate system of outworks, must have presented an imposing appearance and would be well-nigh impregnable in days before artillery was in use. It is built on a late 13th-century plan and com- prises, within a great ditch and embankment, a quadrilateral enceinte, which measures some 50 yards either way and is surrounded by a wall 15 to 20 feet thick with cylindrical flank- ing towers projecting from the four angles. The approach is from the north, crossing an outer ditch and the embankment, whence access to the enceinte would probably be gained by a drawbridge over the inner ditch leading to a forework at the western end of the north wall. The interior arrangement of the courtyard can only be determined by excavation. A walk 5 to 9 feet broad runs along the interior of the curtain wall at a height of some 5 feet from the courtyard level. From this walk a stair in the east wall led probably to a parapet walk round the walls. Under the stair is a chamber in the thickness of the wall, 9 feet 3 inches by 4 feet 1 1/2 inches, with a recess, probably for a lantern, formed in the east wall. In the floor is a pit draining to a ditch. [Page] 131
dumfries-1920/04-224 KIRKPATRICK-] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [-JUXTA. The south-eastern tower is much later than the others. The wall is only 3 feet thick, and is built of crude masonry. East of the castle the embankment widens [Plan inserted] FIG. 90. - Auchencass or Auchen Castle (No. 384). to a plateau, surrounded by marshy ground to the north, east, and south. At its southern end is placed, underground, a vaulted passage, running north and south, apparently ter- minating to the north in a ruinous poly- hedronal apartment, now filled with débris. Whether any means of communication existed between this apartment and the courtyard is problematical. The entrance to the passage is secreted at its southern end; adjacent to it is a chamber, doubtless used as a guard chamber if the passage served the purpose of a sally port. The passage is well built, and is 5 to 7 feet high from the present floor-level. [Page] 132
dumfries-1920/04-225 KIRKPATRICK-] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. [-JUXTA. In December 1306 Roger de Kirkpatrick, " Chevaler," is Seigneur of " Haughencas," at which time he loans money to Sir Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex and Seigneur of Annandale. [Footnote] 1 The place after- wards belonged to Randolph, Earl of Moray, and later on to the Douglases of Morton. [Footnote] 2 1 Bain's Calendar, iv. No. 1823; 2 New Stat. Acct., iv. p. 127. xvi. S.W. 12 May 1912. 385. Structure, Kinnelhead. - On the north- eastern shoulder of Peat Hill, towards the base and adjacent to Kinnelhead farm, 4 miles west- south-west of Moffat, is a ruinous structure of indeterminate date. The hillside is covered with outcrops of rock, some of which are of considerable size. A cleft in one of these has been artificially extended and incorporated [Plan inserted] FIG. 91. - Structure, Kinnelhead, and Incised Cross (Nos. 385 and 386). in a building. This cleft runs approximately north and south; across the northern end a gable wall has been erected, and traces of a similar wall at the southern end can be seen. A vaulted roof has been thrown across from the rock face on the east to that on the west. There has been at least one other storey above the vault. The building measures 50 feet from north to south and 23 feet 2 inches from east to west (over-all measure- ments); the walls are 4 feet thick. It is much longer than the usual domestic or domestic- and-defensive building, and this, along with the fact that an ecclesiastical symbol is carved on the rock, would seem to suggest an ecclesi- astical purpose. This, however, can only be ascertained by excavation. Some 34 feet to the west is an outbuilding running parallel to the main structure. It is built in drystone masonry; some of the stones in the walls weigh over a ton. To the north and east are traces of other buildings. 386. Incised Cross, Kinnelhead. - On the rock to the west of the building is incised a Cross Calvary. It measures 3 1/4 inches across the arms, and is 10 1/2 inches high. The workman- ship is crude. xxiv. N.W. ("Kinnelhead Tower"). 9 May 1912. 387. Tower (remains), Boreland. - On the estate of Raehills, about 1 3/4 mile north of St Ann's Bridge, is the ruin of a tower. Only a portion of the vaulted ground floor now stands. From north to south the tower has measured 30 feet 9 inches and from east to west 21 feet 6 inches. The walls are 3 feet 6 inches thick. The ruin is used for storage of agricultural implements. It is in a bad state of repair. xxiv. S.W. 16 May 1912. 388. Lochhouse Tower. - Lochhouse Tower (fig. 4 of Introduction), a Border tower of the 16th century, lies 1 1/4 miles south of Moffat, on the east side of the Beattock road, on a slight knoll which appears to have been sur- rounded by water. [Plan inserted FIG. 92. - Lochhouse Tower (No. 388). The building is oblong on plan (fig. 92) with rounded corners, and measures from north to south 37 feet and 27 feet 6 inches from east to west. There are three floors, with a garret in what was a steeply pitched roof: the basement is vaulted. A parapet walk carried on corbels ran round the build- ing. Two external offsets run right round the tower : one below the sills of the loop- holes on the ground floor, the other below the sills of the second-floor windows. The entrance is in the east wall. The doorway has a bead-and-hollow moulded architrave carried round the jambs and lintel. To the left of the doorway in the thickness of the wall is a small chamber, while to the [Page] 133
dumfries-1920/04-226 KIRKPATRICK-] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [-JUXTA. right is the now disused newel stair. The windows on the ground floor are looped for musketry. The ground floor to the south of the partition is used as a byre, with an entrance slapped through the south wall. The building has been recently re-pointed and is in a fairly satisfactory state of pre- servation. Lochhouse was a residence of the John- stones of Corehead (New Stat. Acct., iv. pp. 127, 133). " James Jonstoune of Lochehous " is noticed in 1609 (Buccleuch MSS., p. 31). It was the property of James Johnstone of Corehead in the middle of the 17th century (Reg. Mag. Sig., s.d.). xvi. S.E. 15 May 1912. DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS. 389. Fort, Holehouse Linn. - This fort rests on the edge of a precipitous bank which, with a height of from 60 to 80 feet, forms the south side of the woody dell down which there flows the Bushel Beck Burn, forming the boundary between the parishes of Kirk- patrick-Juxta and Moffat. Its elevation is some 650 feet above sea-level. The region in which it is situated is one of billowy ridges and hillocks, dropping gradually to the valley of the Annan, the fort itself occupying a small level plateau, separated on the west and south-west from rapidly mounting heights by a natural hollow and protected on the east by a steepish declivity. The enceinte is an irregular semi-circle, sur- rounded, except along the edge of the ravine, by a massive grass-grown but stony mound. The elevation of this mound is increased on the inside by the excavation of the ground in rear of it, giving it a height of some 4 feet, while on the exterior it appears to have been raised some 4 to 5 feet, attaining to a height of some 6 or 7 feet above the bottom of the natural hollow. On the west, towards the edge of the glen where the foreground has been higher the rampart has been covered by a trench with an artificial mound forming the counterscarp. The interior has a chord of 164 feet and a bisectional diameter of 135 feet. About two-thirds around the periphery from the west end, and facing the south-east, there is a well-defined entrance some 6 to 7 feet wide, carried up from the trench-like hollow in front and passing by a covered way into the interior, flanked on the west by a slight inward return of the rampart on that side. It opens on to the lowest part of the interior, a somewhat circular area about 40 feet in diameter with higher ground around it. Against the edge of the bank, at the back of the enceinte, are the remains of a rude circular enclosure, measuring interiorly some 16 feet by 15 feet and surrounded by a wall some 2 feet in thickness, which has been formed of rather small stones and is probably secondary. Just beyond the rampart, towards the south-west, there appears to be a spring. ix. S.W. 13 September 1912. 390. Fort, Campknowe, Gardenholm. - On the east side of the road from Moffat to Edin- burgh, and 150 yards or thereby to the north of the glen that runs down to the farm of Gardenholm, are the remains of a fort sub- oval in form, with its longest axis east and west and measuring interiorly 154 feet by 147 feet. It occupies a spur known as Camp Knowe, projecting from the west wall of the Annan valley, and lies at an altitude of 700 feet over sea-level and 300 feet above the bottom of the dale. The road has obliterated whatever defences may have formerly existed towards the higher ground on the west, and around the rest of the periphery a low stony mound is only just recognisable. The interior has not been levelled, but rises towards the east, overlooking the valley to a height of 5 or 6 feet above the floor-level to the west, where there has been considerable hollowing by excavation. On the north-west a hollow in rear of the rampart suggests the site of a hut, and there are one or two similarly suggestive hollows on the sides of the higher ground. The entrance appears to have been from the north. xvi. N.W. 13 September 1912. 391. Fort, Gardenholm. - On the right bank of the Annan, about 1/3 mile below Gardenholm, are the remains of a small fort. Its site is a slight promontory formed on the river bank by the bed of a stream flowing into the Annan on the north and by a trench-like hollow opening across the face of the bank on the south. The elevation above the river is some 12 to 15 feet and above the burn a few [Page] 134
dumfries-1920/04-227 KIRKPATRICK-] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. [-JUXTA. feet less. The fort, sub-oval [i]n form, measur- ing in diameter 80 feet by 76 feet, has been surrounded by a single stony rampart, now at no point more than 18 inches in height and some 6 to 7 feet in breadth. Sheepfolds now occupy the interior, and a roadway appears to have been cut through it. xvi. N.E. 24 September 1912. 392. Fort, Gardenholm Plantation. - This fort is situated close to the road, on the south side of the Gardenholm Plantation, about 2 miles north-north-west of Moffat. It lies within a blown-down plantation, so that a survey of it was quite impossible. The 25-inch O.S. map shows it to be a circular enclosure, with a diameter of 160 feet, surrounded by a single rampart. xvi. N.E. 13 September 1912. 393. Fort, Camp Knowe, Chapel Hill. - This fort is situated on a rocky eminence, at an elevation of 800 feet above sea-level, on the crest of the Chapel Hill, the watershed between the Annan and the Evan Water, which rises steeply on the west from the bed of the latter and slopes away by more easy gradients in all other directions. The hillock rises by a gradual slope from the northward to an elevation of some 20 feet, but at its southern extremity offers a steep rocky slope. The summit, which is very uneven and shows no signs of having been levelled, lies with its longest axis north-east and south-west and measures 163 feet by 111 feet. Except on the north arc, where the defences have been obliterated, there runs round the hillock, maintaining a fairly regular level in its course, a trench some 21 feet in width at the level of the counterscarp, with a mound to the outside, having, as the ground falls away, a scarp from 7 to 11 feet in height. A hollow leads to the summit from the north-east, and opposite it the trench ter- minates. At 45 feet south of its termination there is an opening through the outer mound into the trench, and the entrance to the interior has been either directly up the hollow, below which there appear indications of flanking walls, or else by the opening along the trench and thence into the hollow. On the face of the hillock, overlooking the section of the trench between the opening and the hollow, there lies a mass of stones. There appears to have been a parapet mound around the summit. It was noted in 1890 that a break in the rampart towards the Evan showed carefully-built masonry of small stones without mortar (Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., 1890-91, p. 226). This fort appears to be very similar in character to Range Castle Hill fort (No. 290), [Margin] 98! which had a similar trench along the base of the eminence. xvi. N.W. 18 September 1912. 394. Fort, Coats Hill. - On the south-west flank of Coats Hill, 600 feet in elevation above the sea-level and 74 feet below the summit of the hill, is an oval construction, lying with its longest axis north and south. It measures 121 feet by 91 feet and is surrounded by a broad and very stony rampart, possibly a wall, some 10 to 12 feet in thickness at base, with a height of from 2 to 3 feet, except on the north, where the interior of the enclosure has been hollowed by excavation, giving the bank a height of some 5 feet on the interior and 2 feet to the outside. The entrance, with an approximate width of 7 feet, has been from the west and shows on its south side several large boulders in situ and displaced. xvi. S.E. 18 September 1912. 395. Mote, Coats Hill. - On the south-west slope of Coats Hill, At an elevation of about [Plan inserted] FIG. 93. - Mote, Coats Hill (No. 395). 600 feet above sea-level, overlooking the valley of the Evan, which flows by at the base of the hill on the south-east, is a mote-hill (fig. 93) [Page] 135
dumfries-1920/04-228 KIRKPATRICK-] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [- JUXTA. commanding a distant prospect over Upper Annandale. It appears to be to some extent an artificial mound of earth and small stones, as far as its composition is ascertainable from surface breaks; but as the ground around rises towards it, it has doubtless a natural eminence as its core. In form it is oblong, lying with its main axis east by north and west by south, and rises to a height of 16 feet at either end, [Plan inserted] FIG. 94. - "Camp," Garpol Water (No. 396). measuring over its level summit some 40 feet by 35 feet, with a projection to the west at a slightly lower level for some 24 feet. Extending past both ends at base, but not carried along the sides farther than, on the east side, the length of the projecting spur, is a trench, some 30 feet in width, very shallow at the west end and some 6 feet in depth at the east. On the flanks, where there is no trench, there are indications of dry stone work, which continue round on the crest of the outer bank of the trench. There is a slight parapet on the edge of the summit at the east end. xvi. S.E. 27 September 1912. 396. "Camp," Garpol Water. - On the low haugh-land by the left bank of the Garpol Water, close by the footbridge on the road from Egypt to Holmshaw, and about 1 1/2 miles directly north-west of Beattock, are the remains of a rectangular enclosure (fig. 94), to which a Roman origin has been attributed. Except for its rectangular oblong form, there seem no grounds for such an assumption: the site is overlooked in all directions, commands no prospect, and has an elevation above the summer level of the Garpol Water varying from 8 feet at the north-west to about 4 feet at the lower end. The enceinte is oblong, with the angles very slightly rounded, lying with its main axis north-west and south-east, and has, when complete, measured some 277 feet by 172 feet, the south angle having apparently been entirely washed away by the stream. It has been surrounded by a stony rampart, some 3 feet high on the interior, with a trench in front, not now continuously recognisable in [Page] 136
dumfries-1920/04-229 KIRKPATRICK-] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE. [-JUXTA. the wet ground about the north angle but very distinct in the neighbourhood of the east corner, where it measures 27 feet in breadth and 5 feet and 3 feet in depth below scarp and counterscarp respectively. Along the north- west it has a breadth of 21 feet and a depth, as above, of 3 feet and 4 feet respectively. There is a gap some 9 feet broad in the north-west face, about 18 feet in from the angle by the burn, but the large stones cropping out on the roadway suggest that it is not an original entrance. Just within the rampart on the east side are the remains of a stony mound or cairn, some 20 feet in diameter, which appears to have been excavated.* xvi. S.W. 18 September 1912. 397. Mote, Garpol Water. - Some 80 feet back from the right bank of the Garpol Water, in the moorland and by the side of the [Plan inserted] FIG. 95. - Mote, Garpol Water (No. 397). road which leads over the hills from Egypt to Holmshaw, is a prominent flat-topped hillock, which has been fashioned by art into a mote and bailey (fig. 3 of Introduc- tion, and fig. 95). It is oval, lying with its main axis north-west and south-east, and its level summit of the same form measures 107 feet by 36 feet in diameter. The level of the surrounding ground falls towards the Garpol Water on the north, so that the greatest elevation of the mote is on that side, its altitude being 30 feet on the north side and 15 feet on the south. Around the base, except where destroyed by the roadway on the south-east, is a well- defined trench, having a breadth varying from 22 to 30 feet and a depth at the level of the counterscarp of from 4 feet to 6 feet 6 inches, except for a short distance at the north- west where it has a depth of 11 feet before dropping over the brow to the lower level on the north. Some 7 feet above the bottom of the trench, on the south side, is a narrow terrace about 5 feet in breadth, furnished with a stony parapet. This terrace continues of narrow breadth all along the south-west side; but, after passing round both ends, it broadens out into a small base-court, shaped like the human ear, which forms a projecting shoulder towards the north-east. The length of this base-court is 117 feet and its breadth at centre 36 feet. At its south-east end its floor lies at a level some 2 to 3 feet below the north-west portion and is further pro- tected at its edge by a parapet mound. Above the base-court and the terrace the summit eminence rises to a height of 17 feet and 8 feet respectively. Like a true mote-hill it shows no pathway leading to the summit; but across the trench, at the north-west end, where there is a sudden change in levels, there appears to have been a gangway leading by a steep path into the base-court. Where the trench passes along the north-east face, over the low ground by the burn, an outer mound, some 3 feet in height, forms the counterscarp, through which, near the centre, where the ground is lowest in level and wet, there is a gap some 30 feet wide. xvi. S.W. 18 September 1912. 398. Fort, Beattock Hill. - [Note] 3 Occupying the summit of a bluff which projects from the eastern slope of Beattock Hill, at an elevation of some 550 feet above sea-level, is a pear- shaped enclosure, lying with its longest axis south-west to north-east and having its narrower extremity towards the rising slope of the hill on the south-west. It measures interiorly 133 feet by 70 feet across the centre, * In a communication to the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1886, vol. xx. pp. 331-5, the writer refers to this mound as a circular building, partially destroyed, with com- paratively thin walls. Its character is not now apparent on superficial examination. [Page] 137
dumfries-1920/04-268 MOFFAT.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [MOFFAT. ing by excavation, especially at the upper or south-east end, where the floor lies some 6 feet below the natural ground-level outside. At the extreme point within the rampart, near the highest part of the defences, there is an oblong enclosure measuring 44 feet by 22 feet, the inner wall of which appears to be a bank of unexcavated soil and rock now surmounted by a modern stone dyke, and which is pierced at no visible point by an entrance to the larger enclosure. The main entrance has been from the east-north-east into the lowest area of the interior. Crossing the interior diagonally to- wards the entrance, and cutting the area into two divisions, is a broad bank, which seems to have been formed of natural ground left by excavation on either side. xvii. N.W. (" Fort "). 16 September 1912. 490. Enclosure, Hunterheck. - This enclosure occupies the summit of a plateau in an angle formed by a bend of the Frenchland Burn, as it changes its course from a westerly to a southerly direction to the north of Hunter- heck cottages, and appears to have been irregu- larly circular in form, measuring 183 feet by 164 feet in diameter. With its north arc rest- ing on the glen of the burn it has been sur- rounded, except at the north-east, as after- mentioned, by a broad stony mound rising at most some 3 or 4 feet on either face. On the north-east this mound, instead of being carried forward to the edge of the glen to complete the circle, is turned away sharply to the eastward for a distance of some 66 feet, terminating at 23 feet back from a steep bank lying parallel and falling in the direction of the burn. The interior has been to some extent hollowed by excavation, the floor level on the south being some 3 feet below that of the ground immediately outside. It has been crossed by a broad bank from east-south-east to west-north-west, cutting off about 3/8 against the south arc, at the west end of which a circular hollow appears to have been formed, measuring some 60 feet by 52 feet in diameter. Another cross-wall runs in a north-easterly direction from a point somewhat to the east of the centre of the main divisional bank and forms a triangular enclosure, against the east arc of which, however, the north angle is unclosed. The entrance, 6 feet wide, has been from the south-west, flanked on the left by an inward return of the rampart for a distance of some 12 feet: from it to the French- land Burn on the west a roadway is traceable, where its course has been cut through oppos- ing rock and down the bank of the burn. Beyond the enclosure, on the point of the plateau to the north-west, is an area which appears to have been hollowed; and some 250 yards to the eastward, at the base of the rising ground, towards the upper end of the field and close by the bank of the burn, are a number of indeterminate foundations. xvi. N.E. (" Fort "). 16 September 1912. 491. Enclosure, Auldton. - On a bench on the hillside, about 1/4 mile due east of Auldton and 100 feet above it, are the remains of a cir- cular enclosure, which has been surrounded by a stony rampart or wall and measures, with its longest axis north and south, 96 feet by 78 feet in diameter. The position is completely commanded by the hill rising abruptly behind it. The inner face of the bank on the east has been formed by excava- ting the interior to a depth of 5 feet. xvi. N.E. (" Fort "). 20 September 1912. 492. Enclosure, Corehead. - On the brow of a ridge which forms the end of the watershed between two burns coming down from Cock- law Knowe and Spout Craig respectively, at an elevation of 900 feet over sea-level and about 1/2 mile to the south-east of Corehead, is a circular enclosure, measuring interiorly 152 feet by 138 feet, formed with a single rampart, composed of small stones, now reduced to a low level towards the exterior, but, owing to the hollowing of the interior, having an eleva- tion on the inside towards the higher level of from 3 feet to 4 feet. Against the south-east arc on the interior lie some low heaps of stones, irregularly circular, suggestive of hut foundations; and on the north-north-west there is an elevated circular platform with a diameter of some 40 feet, to the south of which appears to have been the entrance coming from the west. ix. N.E. (" Fort "). 17 September 1912. 493. Enclosure, Meikleholmside. - On a plateau on the western slope of the Annan [Page] 174
dumfries-1920/04-417 SHEET 31 (PARTS OF 32, 34). ROYAL COMMISSION ON ANCIENT & HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND). MAP SHOWING THE POSITION OF THE PRINCIPAL MONUMENTS IN THE COUNTY OF DUMFRIES. Note 1. - The numbers refer to the articles of the Inventory. Note 2. - Enclos. = Enclosures, defensive, but scarcely Forts. Ordnance Survey. 1921.
dumfries-1920/04-418 [Inv] Jahrbruck, Tower at, near Ingleston (Bow butts)