92-520: Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura , located in Dumfries in Dumfries & Galloway , is the largest museum in the region. The museum has extensive collections relating to local and history from the pre-historic era. The museum also has the world's oldest working Camera Obscura . Admission is free, however a small fee applies for the Camera Obscura. The museum's collections cover all material relating to
184-462: A telescope was purchased from a Mr Morton of Kilmarnock . With its completion in 1836, unfortunately the observatory missed the arrival of Halley's comet ; however, it was used in this role until 1872. The main hall of the museum was built in 1862, and housed the collections of the newly founded Dumfries and Galloway Natural History & Antiquarian Society. In 1981 a major addition of a new gallery, shop, search room and offices for curatorial staff
276-444: A broad labial (for example, lebor /ˈLʲev u r/ "book"; domun /ˈdoṽ u n/ "world"). The phoneme /ə/ occurred in other circumstances. The occurrence of the two phonemes was generally unrelated to the nature of the corresponding Proto-Celtic vowel, which could be any monophthong: long or short. Long vowels also occur in unstressed syllables. However, they rarely reflect Proto-Celtic long vowels, which were shortened prior to
368-585: A castle or fort in the copse or brushwood. Dumfries was once within the borders of the Kingdom of Northumbria. The district around Dumfries was for several centuries ruled over and deemed of much importance by the invading Romans. Many traces of Roman presence in Dumfriesshire are still to be found; coins, weapons, sepulchral remains, military earthworks, and roads being among the relics left by their lengthened sojourn in this part of Scotland. The Caledonian tribes in
460-423: A complex sound system involving grammatically significant consonant mutations to the initial consonant of a word. Apparently, neither characteristic was present in the preceding Primitive Irish period, though initial mutations likely existed in a non-grammaticalised form in the prehistoric era. Contemporary Old Irish scholarship is still greatly influenced by the works of a small number of scholars active in
552-429: A consonant ensures its unmutated sound. While the letter ⟨c⟩ may be voiced / ɡ / at the end of some words, but when it is written double ⟨cc⟩ it is always voiceless / k / in regularised texts; however, even final /ɡ/ was often written "cc", as in bec / becc "small, little" (Modern Irish and Scottish beag , Manx beg ). In later Irish manuscripts, lenited f and s are denoted with
644-586: A mixture of both) considered the most likely. The first element is derived either from the elements drum or dronn- , (meaning "ridge" or "hump", also in Gaelic as druim ), or from Dùn meaning fort. One of the more commonly given etymologies is that the name Dumfries originates from the Scottish Gaelic name Dùn Phris , meaning "Fort of the Thicket". The second element is less obvious, but may be cognate with
736-581: A moment of danger on 25 March 1943, when a German Dornier Do 217 aircraft shot up the airfield beacon, but crashed shortly afterwards. The pilot, Oberleutnant Martin Piscke was later interred in Troqueer Cemetery in Dumfries town, with full military honours. On the night of 3/4 August 1943 a Vickers Wellington bomber with engine problems diverted to but crashed 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (2.4 km) short of
828-424: A reminder of the past. Further local government reform in 1996 abolished Nithsdale district, since when Dumfries has been governed by Dumfries and Galloway Council, which has its headquarters in the town at County Buildings , which had been built in 1914 as the headquarters of Dumfriesshire County Council. Dumfries remains a centre of local government for a much bigger area than just the town itself. But its people,
920-481: A social context, several strategies have been proposed by the controlling authorities. Old Irish Old Irish , also called Old Gaelic ( Old Irish : Goídelc , Ogham script : ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; Irish : Sean-Ghaeilge ; Scottish Gaelic : Seann-Ghàidhlig ; Manx : Shenn Yernish or Shenn Ghaelg ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It
1012-454: A sound / h / and a letter h , there is no consistent relationship between the two. Vowel-initial words are sometimes written with an unpronounced h , especially if they are very short (the Old Irish preposition i "in" was sometimes written hi ) or if they need to be emphasised (the name of Ireland, Ériu , was sometimes written Hériu ). On the other hand, words that begin with
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#17331050060821104-445: A steam engine would work on a boat. Symington went on to become the builder of the first practical steamboat . The first official intimation that RAF Dumfries was to be built was made in late 1938. The site chosen had accommodated light aircraft since about 1914. Work progressed quickly, and on 17 June 1940, the 18 Maintenance Unit was opened at Dumfries. The role of the base during the war also encompassed training. RAF Dumfries had
1196-572: A term which in the old British tongue means a port at the mouth of the Nith. Abernithi may have been Dumfries; and therefore it may have existed as a port in the Kingdom of Strathclyde, if not in the Roman days. However, against this argument is that the town is situated eight to nine miles (14 km) distant from the sea, although the River Nith is tidal and navigable all the way into the town itself. Although at
1288-549: A two-tier system of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Dumfries therefore became part of the Nithsdale district in the region of Dumfries and Galloway . Nithsdale District Council took over the Municipal Buildings. Ancient titles associated with Dumfries' history as a royal burgh like provost and bailie were discarded or retained only for ceremonial purposes. Robes and chains often found their way into museums as
1380-469: A word containing it being variably spelled with ⟨au, ai, e, i, u⟩ across attestations. Tulach "hill, mound" is the most commonly cited example of this vowel, with the spelling of its inflections including tulach itself, telaig , telocho , tilchaib , taulich and tailaig . This special vowel also ran rampant in many words starting with the stressed prefix air- (from Proto-Celtic *ɸare ). Archaic Old Irish (before about 750) had
1472-661: Is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway , Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth , 25 miles (40 km) from the Anglo-Scottish border . Dumfries is the county town of the historic county of Dumfriesshire . Before becoming King of Scots , Robert the Bruce killed his rival the Red Comyn at Greyfriars Kirk in the town in 1306. The Young Pretender had his headquarters here towards
1564-531: Is due to strong maritime influence from the Irish Sea cooling down summers due to frequent cloudy weather and cool water temperatures. There are plenty of higher areas to Dumfries' west, but even so those seldom allow warm air to stay untouched. Like the rest of Dumfries and Galloway, of Scotland's three major geographical areas Dumfries lies in the Southern Uplands . The river Nith runs through Dumfries toward
1656-594: Is one of the less snowy locations in Scotland owing to its sheltered, low lying position in the South West of the country. From 2 July 1908 the town held the record for the highest temperature reading in Scotland, 32.8 °C (91.0 °F) until being surpassed in Greycrook on 9 August 2003. Its southerly latitude makes little difference to the average annual temperatures compared to more northerly coastal parts of Scotland. This
1748-595: Is represented by David Mundell , both of the Scottish Conservative Party . For Scottish Parliament elections, Dumfries is in the South Scotland electoral region and split between two constituencies. The western wards of Abbey and North West Dumfries are in the constituency of Galloway and West Dumfries , while the eastern wards of Nith and Lochar are in the constituency of Dumfriesshire . The respective MSPs are Finlay Carson and Oliver Mundell , both of
1840-508: Is shown in the chart below. The complexity of Old Irish phonology is from a four-way split of phonemes inherited from Primitive Irish, with both a fortis–lenis and a "broad–slender" ( velarised vs. palatalised ) distinction arising from historical changes. The sounds /f v θ ð x ɣ h ṽ n l r/ are the broad lenis equivalents of broad fortis /p b t d k ɡ s m N L R/ ; likewise for the slender (palatalised) equivalents. (However, most /f fʲ/ sounds actually derive historically from /w/ , since /p/
1932-431: Is subject to u -affection, becoming ⟨éu⟩ or ⟨íu⟩ , while /e₁ː/ is not. A similar distinction may have existed between /o₁ː/ and /o₂ː/ , both written ⟨ó⟩ , and stemming respectively from former diphthongs (*eu, *au, *ou) and from compensatory lengthening. However, in later Old Irish both sounds appear usually as ⟨úa⟩ , sometimes as ⟨ó⟩ , and it
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#17331050060822024-457: Is the ancestor of all modern Goidelic languages: Modern Irish , Scottish Gaelic and Manx . A still older form of Irish is known as Primitive Irish . Fragments of Primitive Irish, mainly personal names, are known from inscriptions on stone written in the Ogham alphabet. The inscriptions date from about the 4th to the 6th centuries. Primitive Irish appears to have been very close to Common Celtic ,
2116-410: Is the only ward that solely covers areas within the town itself, with the others incorporating outlying areas. In the 2017 council election , these wards elected 6 Labour , 5 Conservative and 4 SNP councillors. Dumfries has a long history as a county town , and as the market town of a surrounding rural hinterland. The North British Rubber Company started manufacturing in 1946 at Heathhall on
2208-594: Is unclear whether /o₂ː/ existed as a separate sound any time in the Old Irish period. /ou/ existed only in early archaic Old Irish ( c. 700 or earlier); afterwards it merged into /au/ . Neither sound occurred before another consonant, and both sounds became ⟨ó⟩ in later Old Irish (often ⟨ú⟩ or ⟨u⟩ before another vowel). The late ⟨ó⟩ does not develop into ⟨úa⟩ , suggesting that ⟨áu⟩ > ⟨ó⟩ postdated ⟨ó⟩ > ⟨úa⟩ . Later Old Irish had
2300-559: The eclipsis consonants also denoted with a superdot: Old Irish digraphs include the lenition consonants: the eclipsis consonants: the geminatives : and the diphthongs : The following table indicates the broad pronunciation of various consonant letters in various environments: When the consonants b, d, g are eclipsed by the preceding word (always from a word-initial position), their spelling and pronunciation change to: ⟨mb⟩ / m / , ⟨nd⟩ /N/ , ⟨ng⟩ / ŋ / Generally, geminating
2392-475: The Book of Leinster , contain texts which are thought to derive from written exemplars in Old Irish now lost and retain enough of their original form to merit classification as Old Irish. The preservation of certain linguistic forms current in the Old Irish period may provide reason to assume that an Old Irish original directly or indirectly underlies the transmitted text or texts. The consonant inventory of Old Irish
2484-729: The Cumbric prēs , an element common in the Brythonic areas south of the River Forth. As such, Dumfries has been suggested as a possible location of Penprys , the mysterious capital of a land in Medieval Welsh literature , most notably mentioned in the awdl , " Elegy for Gwallawg " by Taliesin . According to a third theory, the name is a corruption of two Old English or Old Norse words which mean "the Friars' Hill"; those who favour this idea allege
2576-543: The Duke of Cumberland was approaching, made Bonnie Prince Charlie decide to leave with his army, with only £1,000 and 255 pairs of shoes having been handed over. Robert Burns moved to Dumfriesshire in 1788 and Dumfries itself in 1791, living there until his death on 21 July 1796. Today's Greyfriars Church overlooks the location of a statue of Burns, which was designed by Amelia Robertson Hill , sculpted in Carrara , Italy in 1882, and
2668-596: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 , the burgh of Dumfries was deemed capable of running its own affairs and so was excluded from the jurisdiction of the county council. The burgh of Dumfries was enlarged in 1929 to take in Maxwelltown on the west bank of the Nith, which had previously been a separate burgh in Kirkcudbrightshire . Further local government reform in 1930 brought the burgh of Dumfries within
2760-480: The Nazi occupation in early 1940. Through the summer the number was built up to around 1,500 under the command of General Carl Gustav Fleischer . Within a few miles of Dumfries are the villages of Tinwald , Torthorwald and Mouswald all of which were settled by Vikings . Dumfries has experienced two Boxing Day earthquakes. These were in 1979 (measuring 4.7 M L centred near Longtown ) and 2006 (centred in
2852-455: The Roman occupation of North Great Britain. The Selgovae inhabited Nithsdale at the time and may have raised some military works of a defensive nature on or near the site of Dumfries; and it is more than probable that a castle of some kind formed the nucleus of the town. This is inferred from the etymology of the name, which, according to one theory, is resolvable into two Gaelic terms signifying
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2944-414: The Scottish Conservative Party . In the 2014 Scottish independence referendum , Dumfries and Galloway had the country's third heaviest 'No' vote at more than 65% of the ballots cast. That was more than 10 points higher than the national average pro-union vote. On the Dumfries and Galloway Council, Dumfries is covered by four 4-seat wards: Abbey, Lochar, Nith and North West Dumfries. North West Dumfries
3036-600: The abbey of Reichenau , now in St. Paul in Carinthia (Austria), contains a spell and four Old Irish poems. The Liber Hymnorum and the Stowe Missal date from about 900 to 1050. In addition to contemporary witnesses, the vast majority of Old Irish texts are attested in manuscripts of a variety of later dates. Manuscripts of the later Middle Irish period, such as the Lebor na hUidre and
3128-464: The orthography of Old Irish is not fixed, so the following statements are to be taken as generalisations only. Individual manuscripts may vary greatly from these guidelines. The Old Irish alphabet consists of the following eighteen letters of the Latin alphabet : in addition to the five long vowels , shown by an acute accent (´): the lenited consonants denoted with a superdot (◌̇): and
3220-605: The Doonhamers still retain a pride in their town and distinctive identity. This is never more so than during the week-long Guid Nychburris Festival and its highlight the Riding of the Marches which takes place on the third Saturday in June each year. Dumfries is located in the council area of Dumfries and Galloway . It is the seat of the local council, whose headquarters are located on the edge of
3312-481: The Dumfries locality measuring 3.6 M L ). There were no serious consequences of either. There was also an earthquake on 16 February 1984 and a further earthquake on 7 June 2010. The National Records for Scotland mid 2012 estimated population of Dumfries was reported as 33,280. As with the rest of the British Isles , Dumfries experiences a maritime climate ( Cfb ) with cool summers and mild winters. It
3404-668: The Dumfries runway. During the Second World War , the bulk of the Norwegian Army during their years in exile in Britain consisted of a brigade in Dumfries. When the army High Command took over, there were 70 officers and about 760 privates in the camp. The camp was established in June 1940 and named Norwegian Reception Camp , consisting of some 500 men and women, mainly foreign-Norwegian who had volunteered for war duty in Norway during
3496-521: The Lion granted the charter to raise Dumfries to the rank of a royal burgh in 1186. Dumfries was very much on the frontier during its first 50 years as a burgh and it grew rapidly as a market town and port. Alexander III visited Dumfries in 1264 to plan an expedition against the Isle of Man , previously Scots but for 180 years subjected by the crown of Norway. Identified with the conquest of Man, Dumfries shared in
3588-455: The Marches maintains the tradition of an occasion that was, in its day, of great importance. Dumfries has been a Royal Burgh since 1186, its charter being granted by King William the Lion in a move that ensured the loyalty of its citizens to the Monarch. Although far from the centre of power in Scotland, Dumfries had obvious strategic significance sitting as it does on the edge of Galloway and being
3680-571: The Modern Irish and Scottish dialects that still possess a four-way distinction in the coronal nasals and laterals . /Nʲ/ and /Lʲ/ may have been pronounced [ɲ] and [ʎ] respectively. The difference between /R(ʲ)/ and /r(ʲ)/ may have been that the former were trills while the latter were flaps . /m(ʲ)/ and /ṽ(ʲ)/ were derived from an original fortis–lenis pair. Old Irish had distinctive vowel length in both monophthongs and diphthongs . Short diphthongs were monomoraic , taking up
3772-461: The Old Irish period, but merged with /u/ later on and in many instances was replaced with /o/ due to paradigmatic levelling. It is attested once in the phrase i r ou th by the prima manus of the Würzburg Glosses . /æ ~ œ/ arose from the u-infection of stressed /a/ by a /u/ that preceded a palatalized consonant. This vowel faced much inconsistency in spelling, often detectable by
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3864-520: The Roman departure the area around Dumfries had various forms of visit by Picts , Anglo-Saxons , Scots and Norse culminating in a decisive victory for Gregory, King of Scots at what is now Lochmaben over the native Britons in 890. When, in 1069, Malcolm Canmore and William the Conqueror held a conference regarding the claims of Edgar Ætheling to the English Crown, they met at Abernithi –
3956-649: The Solway Firth in a southwards direction splitting the town into East and West. At low tide, the sea recedes to such an extent on the shallow sloping sands of the Solway that the length of the Nith is extended by 13 km to 113.8 km (70.7 mi). This makes the Nith Scotland's seventh longest river. There are several bridges across the river within the town. In between the Devorgilla (also known as 'The Old Bridge') and
4048-601: The ancestor of all Celtic languages , and it had a lot of the characteristics of other archaic Indo-European languages. Relatively little survives in the way of strictly contemporary sources. They are represented mainly by shorter or longer glosses on the margins or between the lines of religious Latin manuscripts , most of them preserved in monasteries in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France and Austria, having been taken there by early Irish missionaries . Whereas in Ireland, many of
4140-477: The ancient historian Nennius , the name Caer Peris occurs, which some modern antiquarians suppose to have been transmuted, by a change of dialect, into Dumfries. Twelve of King Arthur 's battles were recorded by Nennius in Historia Brittonum . The Battle of Tribruit (the tenth battle), has been suggested as having possibly been near Dumfries or near the mouth of the river Avon near Bo'ness . After
4232-529: The area controlled by Dumfriesshire County Council, but classed as a large burgh which allowed the town to continue to run many local services itself. The town council was based at Municipal Buildings in Buccleuch Street, built in 1932 on the site of an earlier council building. In 1975 local government across Scotland was reformed under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 . The burghs and counties were abolished as administrative areas, replaced with
4324-607: The centre of control for the south west of Scotland. With the River Nith on two sides and the Lochar Moss on another, Dumfries was a town with good natural defences. Consequently, it was never completely walled. A careful eye still had to be kept on the clearly defined boundaries of the burgh, a task that had to be taken each year by the Provost, Baillies, Burgesses and others within the town. Neighbouring landowners might try to encroach on
4416-596: The complexities of PIE verbal conjugation are also maintained, and there are new complexities introduced by various sound changes (see below ). Old Irish was the only known member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages , which is, in turn, a subfamily of the wider Indo-European language family that also includes the Slavonic , Italic / Romance , Indo-Aryan and Germanic subfamilies, along with several others. Old Irish
4508-511: The day Bruce and his supporters were victorious. He was crowned King of Scots barely seven weeks after. Bruce later triumphed at the Battle of Bannockburn and led Scotland to independence. Once Edward received word of the revolution that had started in Dumfries, he again raised an army and invaded Scotland. Dumfries was again subjected to the control of Bruce's enemies. Sir Christopher Seton (Bruce's brother in law) had been captured at Loch Doon and
4600-468: The deletion (syncope) of inner syllables. Rather, they originate in one of the following ways: Stress is generally on the first syllable of a word. However, in verbs it occurs on the second syllable when the first syllable is a clitic (the verbal prefix as- in as·beir /asˈberʲ/ "he says"). In such cases, the unstressed prefix is indicated in grammatical works with a following centre dot ( ⟨·⟩ ). As with most medieval languages ,
4692-687: The early 9th century. Important Continental collections of glosses from the 8th and 9th century include the Würzburg Glosses (mainly) on the Pauline Epistles , the Milan Glosses on a commentary to the Psalms and the St Gall Glosses on Priscian 's Grammar. Further examples are found at Karlsruhe (Germany), Paris (France), Milan, Florence and Turin (Italy). A late 9th-century manuscript from
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#17331050060824784-548: The end of 1745. In the Second World War , the Norwegian Army in exile in Britain largely consisted of a brigade in Dumfries. Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South . This is also the name of the town's football club . People from Dumfries are known colloquially in Scots language as Doonhamers . There are a number of theories on the etymology of the name, with an ultimately Celtic derivation (either from Brythonic , Gaelic or
4876-418: The factory closed in 2013. Dumfries is a relatively prosperous community but the town centre has been exposed to the centrifugal forces that have seen retail, business, educational, residential and other uses gravitate towards the town's urban fringe. This was started in the 1980s with the building of the Dumfries bypass. The immediate effect of this was as intended the diversion of transiting traffic away from
4968-433: The following consonant (in certain clusters) or a directly following vowel in hiatus . It is generally thought that /e₁ː/ was higher than /e₂ː/ . Perhaps /e₁ː/ was [eː] while /e₂ː/ was [ɛː] . They are clearly distinguished in later Old Irish, in which /e₁ː/ becomes ⟨ía⟩ (but ⟨é⟩ before a palatal consonant). /e₂ː/ becomes ⟨é⟩ in all circumstances. Furthermore, /e₂ː/
5060-409: The following inventory of long vowels: Both /e₁ː/ and /e₂ː/ were normally written ⟨é⟩ but must have been pronounced differently because they have different origins and distinct outcomes in later Old Irish. /e₁ː/ stems from Proto-Celtic *ē (< PIE *ei), or from ē in words borrowed from Latin. /e₂ː/ generally stems from compensatory lengthening of short *e because of loss of
5152-470: The following inventory of long vowels: Early Old Irish /ai/ and /oi/ merged in later Old Irish. It is unclear what the resulting sound was, as scribes continued to use both ⟨aí⟩ and ⟨oí⟩ to indicate the merged sound. The choice of /oi/ in the table above is somewhat arbitrary. The distribution of short vowels in unstressed syllables is a little complicated. All short vowels may appear in absolutely final position (at
5244-454: The following year. Before becoming King of Scots , Robert the Bruce stabbed his rival the Red Comyn at Greyfriars Kirk in the town on 10 February 1306. Bruce's uncertainty about the fatality of the stabbing caused one of his followers, Roger de Kirkpatrick , to utter the famous, "I mak siccar" ("I make sure") and finish the Comyn off. Bruce was subsequently excommunicated as a result, less for
5336-420: The formation of a religious house near the head of what is now the Friars' Vennel. If the name were English or Norse, however, the expected form would have the elements in reversed orientation (compare Clarendon ). A Celtic derivation is therefore preferred. There is no definite record about the time and manner of Dumfries's founding. Some writers hold that Dumfries flourished as a place of distinction during
5428-634: The former site of the Arrol-Johnston Motor Company which was said to be the most advanced light engineering factory of its day in Scotland. It became Uniroyal Ltd in the 1960s and was where the Hunter Boot and Powergrip engine timing belts were manufactured. In 1987 it changed name to the British subsidiary of the Gates Rubber Company and later was known as Interfloor from 2002 until
5520-456: The foundation of the country's system of local government for centuries. Burgh status conferred on its citizens the right to elect their own town councils, run their own affairs and raise their own local taxes or rates. Dumfries also became the administrative centre for the shire of Dumfries, or Dumfriesshire , which was probably created in the twelfth century and certainly existed by 1305. When elected county councils were created in 1890 under
5612-476: The gates of Dumfries Castle that remained firmly closed in their presence. With a body of the town's people joining Wallace and his fellow pursuers when they arrived, the fleeing English met their end at Cockpool on the Solway Coast . After resting at Caerlaverock Castle a few miles away from the bloodletting, Wallace again passed through Dumfries the day after as he returned north to Sanquhar Castle . During
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#17331050060825704-417: The instrument it is only operated during the summer months and on days when weather conditions are clear. The museums photographic expert for thirty years was Werner Kissling who donated his photos to the museum when he died. Dumfries Dumfries ( / d ʌ m ˈ f r iː s / dum- FREESS ; Scots : Dumfries ; from Scottish Gaelic : Dùn Phris [ˌt̪un ˈfɾʲiʃ] )
5796-638: The invasion of 1300, Edward I of England lodged for a few days in June with the Minorite Friars of the Vennel, before he laid siege to Caerlaverock Castle at the head of the then greatest invasion force to attack Scotland. After Caerlaverock eventually succumbed, Edward passed through Dumfries again as he crossed the Nith to take his invasion into Galloway . With the Scottish nobility having requested Vatican support for their cause, Edward on his return to Caerlaverock
5888-643: The late 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Rudolf Thurneysen (1857–1940) and Osborn Bergin (1873–1950). Notable characteristics of Old Irish compared with other old Indo-European languages , are: Old Irish also preserves most aspects of the complicated Proto-Indo-European (PIE) system of morphology. Nouns and adjectives are declined in three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter); three numbers (singular, dual, plural); and five cases (nominative, vocative, accusative, dative and genitive). Most PIE noun stem classes are maintained ( o -, yo -, ā -, yā -, i -, u -, r -, n -, s -, and consonant stems). Most of
5980-422: The letter h ⟨fh⟩ , ⟨sh⟩ , instead of using a superdot ⟨ḟ⟩ , ⟨ṡ⟩ . When initial s stemmed from Primitive Irish *sw- , its lenited version is ⟨f⟩ [ ɸ ] . The slender ( palatalised ) variants of the 13 consonants are denoted with / ʲ / marking the letter. They occur in the following environments: Although Old Irish has both
6072-458: The murder than for its location in a church. Regardless, for Bruce the die was cast at the moment in Greyfriars and so began his campaign by force for the independence of Scotland. Swords were drawn by supporters of both sides, the burial ground of the monastery becoming the theatre of battle. Bruce and his party then attacked Dumfries Castle. The English garrison surrendered and for the third time in
6164-481: The name is a corruption of two words which mean the Friars' Hill; those who favour this idea allege that St. Ninian , by planting a religious house near the head of what is now the Friars' Vennel, at the close of the fourth century, became the virtual founder of the Burgh; however Ninian, so far as is known, did not originate any monastic establishments anywhere and was simply a missionary. In the list of British towns given by
6256-474: The natural history and human pre-history of the region, from geology to dress, folk material, archaeology and early photographs. Notable artefacts include: Originally built as a four-storey windmill on Corbelly hill, the highest point in Maxwelltown , in 1798, the site was purchased by Dumfries and Maxwellton Astronomical Society in 1834. Over a two-year period the tower was converted into an Observatory , and with advice from polar explorer Sir John Ross ,
6348-518: The older manuscripts appear to have been worn out through extended and heavy use, their counterparts on the Continent were much less prone to the same risk because once they ceased to be understood, they were rarely consulted. The earliest Old Irish passages may be the transcripts found in the Cambrai Homily , which is thought to belong to the early 8th century. The Book of Armagh contains texts from
6440-448: The overmantels at either end of the room and can still be seen as the upstairs showroom of the book shop. The Young Pretender had his headquarters here during a 3-day sojourn in Dumfries towards the end of 1745. £2,000 was demanded by the Prince, together with 1,000 pairs of brogues for his kilted Jacobite rebel army, which was camping in a field not one hundred yards distant. A rumour that
6532-476: The river. Queensberry Square and High Street are the central focal points of the town and this area hosts many of the historical, social and commercial enterprises and events of Dumfries. During the 1990s, these areas enjoyed various aesthetic recognitions from organisations including Britain in Bloom . Scottish communities granted Royal Burgh status by the monarch guarded the honour jealously and with vigour. Riding
6624-563: The same amount of time as short vowels, while long diphthongs were bimoraic, the same as long vowels. (This is much like the situation in Old English but different from Ancient Greek whose shorter and longer diphthongs were bimoraic and trimoraic, respectively: /ai/ vs. /aːi/ .) The inventory of Old Irish long vowels changed significantly over the Old Irish period, but the short vowels changed much less. The following short vowels existed: The short diphthong ŏu likely existed very early in
6716-618: The several articles of witchcraft and on 13 April between 2 pm and 4 pm they were taken to the Whitesands, strangled at stakes and their bodies burnt to ashes. The Midsteeple in the centre of the High Street was completed in 1707. Opposite the fountain in the High Street, adjacent to the present Marks & Spencer , was the Commercial and later the County Hotel. Although the latter
6808-408: The sound /h/ are usually written without it: a ór /a hoːr/ "her gold". If the sound and the spelling co-occur , it is by coincidence, as ní hed /Nʲiː heð/ "it is not". The voiceless stops of Old Irish are c, p, t . They contrast with the voiced stops g, b, d . Additionally, the letter m can behave similarly to a stop following vowels. These seven consonants often mutate when not in
6900-469: The south of Scotland were invested with the same rights by an edict of Antoninus Pius . The Romanized natives received freedom (the burrows, cairns, and remains of stone temples still to be seen in the district tell of a time when Druidism was the prevailing religion) as well as civilisation from their conquerors. Late in the fourth century, the Romans bade farewell to the country. According to another theory,
6992-448: The suspension bridge is a weir colloquially known as 'The Caul'. In wetter months of the year the Nith can flood the surrounding streets. The Whitesands has flooded on average once a year since 1827. Dumfries has numerous suburbs including Summerhill , Summerville, Troqueer, Georgetown, Cresswell, Larchfield, Calside, Lochside, Lincluden, Newbridge Drive , Sandside, Heathhall , Locharbriggs , Noblehill and Marchmount. Maxwelltown to
7084-443: The time 1 mile (1.6 km) upstream and on the opposite bank of the Nith from Dumfries, Lincluden Abbey was founded circa 1160. The abbey ruins are on the site of the bailey of the very early Lincluden Castle, as are those of the later Lincluden Tower. This religious house was used for various purposes, until its abandonment around 1700. Lincluden Abbey and its grounds are now within the Dumfries urban conurbation boundary. William
7176-570: The town boundaries, or the Marches as they were known, moving them back 100 yards or so to their own benefit. It had to be made clear to anyone thinking of or trying to encroach that they dare not do so. In return for the Royal status of the town and the favour of the King, the Provost and his council, along with other worthies of the town had to be diligent in ensuring the boundaries were strictly observed. Although steeped in history, Scotland's burghs remained
7268-448: The town centre. This brought with it an accompanying reduction in economic input to the town centre. The second effect of this has been more pronounced. Sites close to the bypass have attracted development to utilise the bypass as a high speed urban highway without the bottlenecks of the town centre and without the constraining limited town centre parking. In a bid to re-stimulate development in Dumfries town centre, both economically and in
7360-457: The town centre. Until 1995 Dumfries was also home to the council for the local district of Nithsdale . Dumfries also lends its name to the lieutenancy area of Dumfries, which is similar in boundaries to the former Dumfriesshire county. Dumfries is split into two UK Parliament constituencies: Dumfries and Galloway which is represented by current Secretary of State for Scotland , John Cooper and Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale which
7452-431: The very end of a word) after both broad and slender consonants. The front vowels /e/ and /i/ are often spelled ⟨ae⟩ and ⟨ai⟩ after broad consonants, which might indicate a retracted pronunciation here, perhaps something like [ɘ] and [ɨ] . All ten possibilities are shown in the following examples: The distribution of short vowels in unstressed syllables, other than when absolutely final,
7544-412: The well-being of Scotland for the next 22 years until Alexander's accidental death brought an Augustan era in the town's history to an abrupt finish. A royal castle, which no longer exists, was built in the 13th century on the site of the present Castledykes Park. In the latter part of the century William Wallace chased a fleeing English force southward through the Nith valley. The English fugitives met
7636-453: The west of the river Nith, was formerly a burgh in its own right within Kirkcudbrightshire until its incorporation into Dumfries in 1929; Summerhill, Troqueer, Lochside, Lincluden, Sandside are among other suburbs located on the Maxwelltown side of the river. Palmerston Park , home to the town's senior football team Queen of the South , is on Terregles Street, also on the Maxwelltown side of
7728-567: The word-initial position. In non-initial positions, the single-letter voiceless stops c, p, and t become the voiced stops / ɡ / , / b / , and / d / respectively unless they are written double. Ambiguity in these letters' pronunciations arises when a single consonant follows an l, n, or r . The lenited stops ch, ph, and th become / x / , / f / , and / θ / respectively. The voiced stops b, d, and g become fricative / v / , / ð / , and / ɣ / , respectively—identical sounds to their word-initial lenitions. In non-initial positions,
7820-436: Was added. In 2011 the exterior of the windmill tower was refurbished. The camera obscura is currently the oldest working example in the world, and has been in continuous operation since 1836. The instrument, based in the top level of the windmill tower, offers a complete 360° panorama of the surrounding landscape. The image is projected onto a focusing table below, and operated using a simple rope mechanism. In order to protect
7912-504: Was demolished in 1984–85, the original facade of the building was retained and incorporated into new retail premises. The building now houses a Waterstones Bookshop. Room No. 6 of the hotel was known as Bonnie Prince Charlie 's Room and appropriately carpeted in the Royal Stewart tartan . The timber panelling of "Prince Charlie's room" was largely reinstated and painted complete with the oil painted landscapes by Robert Norie (1720–1766) in
8004-523: Was hurried to Dumfries to be tried for treason in general and more specifically for being present at Comyn's killing. Still in 1306 and along with two companions, Seton was condemned and executed by hanging and then beheading at the site of what is now St Mary's Church. In 1659 ten women were accused of diverse acts of witchcraft by Dumfries Kirk Session although the Kirk Session minutes itself records nine witches. The Justiciary Court found them guilty of
8096-409: Was presented with a missive directed to him by Pope Boniface VIII . Edward held court in Dumfries at which he grudgingly agreed to an armistice. On 30 October, the truce solicited by Pope Boniface was signed by Edward at Dumfries. Letters from Edward, dated at Dumfries, were sent to his subordinates throughout Scotland, ordering them to give effect to the treaty. The peace was to last until Whitsunday in
8188-482: Was quite restricted. It is usually thought that there were only two allowed phonemes: /ə/ (written ⟨a, ai, e, i⟩ depending on the quality of surrounding consonants) and /u/ (written ⟨u⟩ or ⟨o⟩ ). The phoneme /u/ tended to occur when the following syllable contained an *ū in Proto-Celtic (for example, dligud /ˈdʲlʲiɣ u ð/ "law" (dat.) < PC * dligedū ), or after
8280-519: Was relatively rare in Old Irish, being a recent import from other languages such as Latin.) Some details of Old Irish phonetics are not known. /sʲ/ may have been pronounced [ɕ] or [ʃ] , as in Modern Irish. /hʲ/ may have been the same sound as /h/ or /xʲ/ . The precise articulation of the fortis sonorants /N/, /Nʲ/, /L/, /Lʲ/, /R/, /Rʲ/ is unknown, but they were probably longer, tenser and generally more strongly articulated than their lenis counterparts /n/, /nʲ/, /l/, /lʲ/, /r/, /rʲ/ , as in
8372-621: Was unveiled by future Prime Minister , Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery on 6 April 1882. Today, it features on the 2007 series of £5 notes issued by the Bank of Scotland, alongside the Brig o' Doon . After working with Patrick Miller of Dalswinton , inventor William Symington intended to carry out a trial in order to show than an engine would work on a boat without the boat catching fire. The trial finally took place on Dalswinton Loch near Dumfries on 14 October 1788. The experiment demonstrated that
8464-570: Was used from c. 600 to c. 900. The main contemporary texts are dated c. 700–850; by 900 the language had already transitioned into early Middle Irish . Some Old Irish texts date from the 10th century, although these are presumably copies of texts written at an earlier time. Old Irish is forebear to Modern Irish , Manx and Scottish Gaelic . Old Irish is known for having a particularly complex system of morphology and especially of allomorphy (more or less unpredictable variations in stems and suffixes in differing circumstances), as well as
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