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103-530: After one of the bronze statues was stolen all the statues except the Glenkiln Cross and reclining figures have been removed. It comprised six sculptures placed in a moorland setting around Glenkiln Reservoir. The sculptures were located around 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north-west of Shawhead, and 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) west of the town of Dumfries . Between 1951 and 1976, local landowner Sir William "Tony" Keswick (grandson of William Keswick ) assembled

206-448: A 14th-century manuscript known as Llyfr Taliesin (Book of Taliesin). This manuscript contains a large body of later mystical poetry attributed to the poet, but scholars have recognised twelve poems that belong to the 6th century. They are all poems of praise: one for Cynan Garwyn , king of Powys about 580; two for Gwallawg, king of Elmet , a kingdom based around the modern Leeds ; and nine other poems associated with Urien Rheged ,

309-491: A Guild to protect their professional status, and from time to time their rules were revised and updated. Perhaps the most important such revisions were those concerning patronage and poetic rank made at the Caerwys eisteddfod of 1523. The work of numerous poets of this period survives; some are anonymous, but very many are identified. Here are a few of the most prominent and influential of these: Wales's greatest poet worked during

412-478: A Welshman's head (collected) together"). Not all of the poetry which survives from this period belongs to the tradition of the praise poetry of the nobility. Some groups of poets and genres of poetry stood completely outside that tradition. Women seem to be totally excluded from the Welsh poetic guild, or Order of bards. But we do know that some women did master the Welsh poetic craft and wrote poetry at this time, but only

515-585: 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

618-489: A collection of works by Auguste Rodin , Henry Moore , and Jacob Epstein . Keswick worked with the artists in siting their works in a natural landscape, and commissioned works. On 13 October 2013, the BBC reported that Standing Figure had been stolen. All the sculptures except "Glenkiln Cross" have been removed for security reasons on police advice and are no longer available to view. The sculptures formerly on show are: There

721-586: 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

824-581: 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

927-402: A number of 'kingdoms', each with its own independent ruler; this ensured that there was no shortage of courts available to the travelling professional poet or " bard ". After 1282 the poetic tradition survived by turning to the land-owning nobility to act as patrons, and these included some Norman lords who had successfully integrated themselves with the Welsh. Much of the poetry of this period

1030-424: 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,

1133-458: A ruler of the kingdom of Rheged , located around the Solway Firth , and his son, Owain . Taliesin's verses in praise of Urien and Owain became models for later poets, who turned to him for inspiration as they praised their own patrons in terms that he had used for his. Aneirin , a near-contemporary of Taliesin, wrote a series of poems to create one long poem called Y Gododdin . It records

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1236-618: A social context, several strategies have been proposed by the controlling authorities. Medieval Welsh literature Medieval Welsh literature is the literature written in the Welsh language during the Middle Ages . This includes material starting from the 5th century AD, when Welsh was in the process of becoming distinct from Common Brittonic , and continuing to the works of the 16th century. The Welsh language became distinct from other dialects of Old British sometime between AD 400 and 700;

1339-464: A somewhat later period: the whole of Canu Heledd is generally thought to be from the 9th century; while the earliest parts of Canu Llywarch are probably also 9th century, other parts of the cycle may be as late as the 11th or 12th century. These poems, in the form of monologues, express the sorrow and affliction felt at the loss of the eastern portion of the Kingdom of Powys (present day Shropshire ) to

1442-445: 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

1545-572: 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

1648-689: A town in Pembrokeshire ), probably produced by a court poet in Dyfed to celebrate the New Year (Welsh: Calan ). The book also includes important poems which were probably not composed by Taliesin, including the Armes Prydein ( The Great Prophecy of Britain ) and Preiddeu Annwfn , ( The Spoils of Annwn ), and the Book of Aneirin has preserved an early Welsh nursery rhyme , Peis Dinogat ( Dinogad's Smock ). Much of

1751-549: 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

1854-710: Is a convenient label for a collection of tales preserved in two manuscripts known as the White Book of Rhydderch and the Red Book of Hergest . They are written in Middle Welsh, the common literary language between the end of the eleventh century and the fourteenth century. They include the four tales that form Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi ("The Four Branches of the Mabinogi "): Two are native tales embodying traditions about King Arthur : Two more are native tales embodying traditions about

1957-657: 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

2060-662: Is also a memorial to commemorate the diamond wedding of Sir William and Lady Keswick and another to Peter Fleming the travel writer and adventurer, friend of the Keswicks, who used to shoot on the estate. 55°05′02″N 3°49′12″W  /  55.083779°N 3.819945°W  / 55.083779; -3.819945 This Scotland -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Dumfries Dumfries ( / d ʌ m ˈ f r iː s / dum- FREESS ; Scots : Dumfries ; from Scottish Gaelic : Dùn Phris [ˌt̪un ˈfɾʲiʃ] )

2163-567: Is believed that the earliest written Welsh is a marginal note of some sixty-four words in Llyfr Teilo ( The Book of St. Teilo ), a gospel book originating in Llandeilo but now in the library of St. Chad's Cathedral, Lichfield , and also known as the Lichfield Gospels , or, The Book of St. Chad . The marginal note, known from its opening (Latin) word as The Surexit memorandum , dates from

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2266-496: Is dated to the 6th, 7th, and 8th centuries it has survived only in 13th- and 14th-century manuscript copies. Some of these early poets' names are known from the 9th-century Historia Brittonum , traditionally ascribed to the historian Nennius . The Historia lists the famous poets from the time of King Ida , AD 547–559: Of the poets named here it is believed that works that can be identified as Aneirin's and Taliesin's have survived. The poetry of Taliesin has been preserved in

2369-531: 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

2472-594: 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

2575-511: Is one of the most significant poets of this period. It is said that he was exiled to south Wales for overstepping the mark in his poetry and spent the rest of his life outside Gwynedd . The 20th-century critic Saunders Lewis saw particular significance in his work. Lewis saw him as a poet of philosophy who praised the ideal ruler as he praised his patrons who saw that within the Welsh tradition all who had privilege and power also had responsibilities towards family, community and nation. Tudur Aled

2678-544: Is praise poetry, in praise of the patron and his family, his ancestors, his house and his generosity; and the cywydd is the most popular poetic metre used. Because of the popularity of the cywydd , this period is also known as the period of the Cywyddwyr (poets who wrote using the cywydd metre). The poetry was very often sung to the accompaniment of the harp. Though praise was the main matter of poetry, satire (Welsh: dychan ) also thrived. The poets organised themselves into

2781-595: 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

2884-410: 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

2987-675: The Battle of Catraeth , fought between the Britons of the kingdom of Gododdin (centred on Eidyn , the modern Edinburgh ) and the Saxon kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia in the north east of England. This battle was fought at Catterick in about the year 598. It has survived in Llyfr Aneirin (The Book of Aneirin), a manuscript dating from c. 1265. The poetry associated with Llywarch Hen , Canu Llywarch Hen and with Heledd, Canu Heledd , dates from

3090-729: 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

3193-543: 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

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3296-596: 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

3399-480: 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

3502-455: 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

3605-414: 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

3708-540: The Welsh Triads , a compendium of mnemonics for poets and storytellers. The stories that have survived are literary compositions based on oral tradition. In the Middle Ages Welsh was used for all sorts of purposes and this is reflected in the type of prose materials that has survived from this period: original material and translations, tales and facts, religious and legal, history and medicine. The name Mabinogion

3811-449: The pencerdd (chief musician). The pencerdd was the top of his profession, and a special chair was set aside for him in the court, in an honoured position next to the heir. When he performed he was expected to sing twice: once in honour of God, and once in honour of the king. The bardd teulu (household poet) was one of the 24 officers of the court and he was responsible for singing for the military retinue before going into battle, and for

3914-557: The Book of Taliesin which sees a coalition of Irish , British , and Scandinavian forces defeating the English and restoring Britain to the Welsh. This period also produced religious poetry, such as the englynion in praise of the Trinity found in the 9th-century Juvencus Manuscript (Cambridge MS Ff. 4.42), which is now at Cambridge University Library . In the Book of Taliesin we find a 9th-century poem Edmyg Dinbych ( In Praise of Tenby ,

4017-605: 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

4120-481: 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

4223-668: 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

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4326-484: The English, but they are also works where nature is an important element in the background, reflecting the main action and feelings of the poetry itself. Though the Anglo-Saxon invaders seem to break Welsh hearts in most of the early poetry, there are some poems of encouragement and the hope of an eventual and decisive defeat that would drive them back into the sea. One such poem is the 10th-century Armes Prydein from

4429-521: 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

4532-455: 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

4635-520: 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 –

4738-649: 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

4841-477: 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

4944-529: 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

5047-513: The birth of the Welsh language until the arrival of the Normans in Wales towards the end of the 11th century. The oldest Welsh literature does not belong to the territory we know as Wales today, but rather to northern England and southern Scotland (collectively Yr Hen Ogledd ), and so could be classified as being composed in Cumbric , a Brythonic dialect closely related to Old Welsh . Though it

5150-607: 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

5253-469: The class of literary creations, but the split into two distinct groups. While the first group, Brut y Tywysogion , tends to stick to historical facts, the second, Brut y Brenhinedd , is the fantastic creation of Geoffrey of Monmouth . Brut y Tywysogion ( Chronicle of the Princes ) consists of variant Welsh translations of Latin original annales telling the history of Wales from the seventh century to

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5356-463: 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

5459-527: The death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282. It is believed that the original and its translation were produced at the Cistercian Strata Florida Abbey . Brut y Brenhinedd ( Chronicle of the Kings ) is the name given to a number of texts that ultimately trace their origins back to translations of Geoffrey of Monmouth 's Historia Regum Britanniae (1136). As such they were key works in shaping how

5562-506: The earliest surviving literature in Welsh is poetry dating from this period. The poetic tradition represented in the work of Y Cynfeirdd ("The Early Poets"), as they are known, then survives for over a thousand years to the work of the Poets of the Nobility in the 16th century. The core tradition was praise poetry; and the poet Taliesin was regarded as the first in the line. The other aspect of

5665-507: The early history of Britain: The final three are the Arthurian Welsh Romances , showing the influence of French poet Chrétien de Troyes : Tradition holds that Hywel Dda summoned a conference at Whitland , Carmarthenshire , in about 945. At this conference Welsh law was codified and set down in writing for posterity. Since the earliest manuscripts containing these legal texts date from about two hundred and fifty years after

5768-413: The elegies his fellow poets wrote in his memory attested to his greatness as a poet. He was renowned as a praise poet of both secular and religious noblemen, and also reflects the changes at the beginning of the 16th century which were threatening the future of the bardic system. A native of Llangollen , Gruffudd Hiraethog was one of the foremost poets of the 16th century to use the cywydd . Though he

5871-548: 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

5974-482: The event they are probably not a record of what was codified there, if such a conference was even convened. In fact, until the annexation of Wales in 1536, native Welsh law grew and developed organically and for that reason many more copies of it have survived than of the native tales. The use of Welsh for legal texts shows that it had the words and the technical terms with definite and exact meanings needed in such circumstances. It also shows that reading and writing Welsh

6077-418: 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

6180-406: 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

6283-420: 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

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6386-399: 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

6489-435: The former tradition, but he was among the first to sing the praises of the nobles and others using the cywydd . One of his main patrons was Ithel ap Robert, archdeacon of St Asaph. Perhaps his most famous work is a cywydd in praise of Owain Glyndŵr's home at Sycharth. Traditionally associated with Breconshire , Siôn Cent is most famous for using his poetry in the service of his Christian beliefs, and standing outside

6592-456: 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

6695-401: The four corners of Wales whose houses he visited on his journeys. He was a master of the praise tradition in poetry. Guto was also a soldier who fought on the Yorkist side during the War of the Roses, but spent his last years as a lay guest at the Cistercian abbey of Valle Crucis , near Llangollen (a short distance from Glyn Ceiriog). Dafydd Nanmor , born at Nanmor (or Nantmor), Gwynedd ,

6798-422: 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

6901-480: 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

7004-449: The lives of the native saints were composed in Latin originally, and that a long time after the saint's actual life and so of little or no interest to those looking for actual historical information. Perhaps the two most important is Buchedd Dewi ("The life of Dewi , or, David") written by Rhygyfarch in about 1094, and Buchedd Cadog ("Life of Cadog ") written by Lifris of Llancarfan in c. 1100. The Welsh medieval history texts belong to

7107-405: 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

7210-433: 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

7313-426: The nature poetry, gnomic poetry , prophetic poetry, and religious poetry in the Black Book of Carmarthen and the Red Book of Hergest is also believed to date from this period. From c. 1100 to 1600 Welsh poetry can be divided roughly into two distinct periods: the period of the Poets of the Princes who worked before the loss of Welsh independence in 1282, and the Poets of the Nobility who worked from 1282 until

7416-423: The ninth century, or even earlier, and is a record of a legal case over land. The native Welsh storyteller, known as the cyfarwydd ("the one who knows") was an official of the court. He was expected to know the traditional knowledge and the tales. But the storytelling tradition was basically oral, and only a few remnants suggest the wealth of that tradition. Amongst the most important are Trioedd Ynys Prydain , or

7519-448: 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

7622-506: The payment a poet could expect for his work. These payments varied according to how long a poet had been in training and also the demand for poetry at particular times during the year. Alongside the court poet, kings, princes and nobles patronised an official storyteller (Welsh: cyfarwydd ). Like poets, the storytellers were also professionals; but unlike the poets, little of their work has survived. What has survived are literary creations based on native Welsh tales which would have been told by

7725-644: The period of the English incorporation of Wales in the 16th century. In Welsh this period is known as Beirdd y Tywysogion (Poets of the Princes) or Y Gogynfeirdd (The Less Early Poets). The main source for the poetry of the 12th and 13th centuries is the Hendregadredd manuscript , an anthology of court poetry brought together at the Cistercian Strata Florida Abbey from about 1282 until 1350. The poets of this period were professionals who worked in

7828-505: The period of the Poets of the Nobility. He is known for such poems as " The Girls of Llanbadarn ", " Trouble at a Tavern ", " The Wind " and " The Seagull ". For more information about his life and work, see Dafydd ap Gwilym . From the Vale of Clwyd , Iolo Goch (English: "Red Iolo") bridged between the periods of the Poets of the Princes and Poets of the Nobility. Early in his career he composed in

7931-400: The queen in the privacy of her chamber. The lowest ranking poets were the cerddorion (musicians). The poetry praises the military prowess of the prince in a language that is deliberately antiquarian and obscure, echoing the earlier praise poetry tradition of Taliesin. There is also some religious poems and poetry in praise of women. With the death of the last native prince of Wales in 1282,

8034-476: 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

8137-618: 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

8240-469: 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,

8343-516: The storytellers. The bulk of this material is found in the collection known today as the Mabinogion . Medieval Welsh prose was not confined to the story tradition but also included a large body of both religious and practical works, in addition to a large amount translated from other languages. In Welsh literature the period before 1100 is known as the period of Y Cynfeirdd ("The Early Poets") or Yr Hengerdd ("The Old Poetry"). It roughly dates from

8446-448: 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

8549-443: 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

8652-570: 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

8755-448: 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

8858-457: 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

8961-566: The tradition gradually disappears. In fact, Gruffudd ab yr Ynad Coch's ( fl. 1277–83) elegy on the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd , is one of the most notable poems of the era. Other prominent poets of this period include: A rather different poet of this period was Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd (d. 1170) who as the son of Prince Owain Gwynedd , was not a professional poet. The poetic tradition thrived in Wales as long as there were patrons available to welcome its practitioners. Until 1282, Wales consisted of

9064-505: The tradition of praise of patron. He uses the cywydd for his work, to attack the sins of this world. Perhaps his most famous poem is I wagedd ac oferedd y byd (English: "[In praise of] the vanity and dissipation of the world"). He turns his back on the praise of nobles, which he sees as flattery and falsehood, and sets his eyes on the blessedness of heaven. Guto'r Glyn is associated with Glyn Ceiriog , Denbighshire , where many of his patrons lived. He also wrote poems for other patrons in

9167-415: The tradition was the professionalism of the poets and their reliance on patronage from kings, princes and nobles for their living, similar to the way Irish bards and Norse skalds were patronized for the production of complex, often highly alliterative forms of verse. The fall of the Kingdom of Gwynedd and the loss of Welsh independence in any form in 1282 proved a crisis in the tradition, but one that

9270-477: The various princely courts in Wales. They were members of a Guild of poets whose rights and responsibilities were enshrined in native Welsh law; and as such, they worked within a developed literary culture and with inflexible traditions. Bardic families were still common—the poet Meilyr Brydydd had a poet son and at least two poet grandsons—but it was becoming more and more usual for the craft of poetry to be taught formally, in bardic schools which might only be run by

9373-421: The victory of the 'Welshman' Henry VII in 1485 at the battle of Bosworth the poets believed that the prophecies had been fulfilled and the tradition comes to an end. Satire poetry (Welsh: canu dychan ) was part of the 'official' poets' repertoire and sparingly used within the praise tradition to chastise a miserly patron. But it was in private poetic bouts with fellow poets that the satire tradition flourished. It

9476-412: 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

9579-453: 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

9682-459: The work of one woman has survived in significant numbers, that of Gwerful Mechain . The prophetic poetry (Welsh: canu brud ) was a means of reacting to and commenting upon political situations and happenings. This poetry is intentionally ambiguous and difficult to understand. But at its heart it prophesies victory for the Welsh over their enemies, the English. This poetry looked towards a man of destiny who would free them from their oppressors. With

9785-539: The works of unknown monks and priests. The works themselves reflect the tastes and fashions of Christendom at the time: apocryphal narratives, dreams or visions, theological treatises and exegesis, and mystical works. About thirty lives of the saints , both native ones like Beuno, Curig, and Gwenfrewi and the more general such as the Mary, the mother of Jesus , Mary Magdalene , Martin of Tours , and Catherine of Alexandria survive, all translations into Welsh from Latin . Even

9888-408: Was a member of the medieval guild of poets and a notable upholder of that tradition, he was also closely associated with William Salesbury , Wales' leading Renaissance scholar. In fact one of the first Welsh literature to be published in print was Gruffudd's collection of proverbs in 1547, Oll synnwyr pen Kembero ygyd (Modern Welsh spelling: Holl synnwyr pen Cymro i gyd ; English:"All the wisdom of

9991-504: 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

10094-458: Was eventually overcome. It led to the innovation of the development of the cywydd meter , a looser definition of praise, and a reliance on the nobility for patronage. The professionalism of the poetic tradition was sustained by a Guild of Poets, or Order of Bards, with its own "rule book" emphasising the making of poetry as a craft. Under its rules poets undertook an apprenticeship of nine years to become fully qualified. The rules also set out

10197-707: Was himself a nobleman and one of the greatest of the Poets of the Nobility. Born in Llansannan, Denbighshire , his most important patrons were the Salisbury family of Dyffryn Clwyd . He was one of the instigators of the Caerwys eisteddfod of 1523. In his final illness he took the habit of the Order of St. Francis and died in Carmarthen , where he was buried in the Brothers' Court. At his death

10300-523: 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

10403-482: Was not confined to priests and monks, but that there were also lawyers "whose skill is directed not to administrating the law (there were judges for that), but to writing it, to giving it permanence in words, to ordering words and sentences in such a way that what was stated should be quite clear" (Thomas Parry (1955), p. 68). The vast majority of Welsh religious texts from the Middle Ages are translations and mostly

10506-409: 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

10609-621: 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

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