E.J. Cowan | DGNHAS

Articles by this author

E.J. Cowan Agricultural Improvement and the Formation of Early Agricultural Societies in Dumfries and Galloway Recent (Social), Recent, Agriculture, History TDGNHAS Series III, 53 (1977-78), 157(WARNING very large file size: 84.57 MB)
E.J. Cowan The Slaying of the Red Comyn, Dumfries 10th February, 1306 [Lecture to the Society, 3rd February, 2006] Mediaeval, History, Proceedings TDGNHAS Series III, 80 (2006), 179(3.8 MB) Abstract Lecture to the Society, 3rd February, 2006. Mention only.
E.J. Cowan The Founding of Our Society 1862: Contemporary Context and Cultural Climate TDGNHAS Series III, 87 (2013), 15(WARNING large file size: 5.67 MB) Abstract It is truly an honour to be invited to speak on this auspicious occasion, which I see as an opportunity to reflect on some of the great achievements and some of the great achievers in Dumfries and Galloway around the time the Society was founded on 20 November 1862. A secondary theme is the relationship of most of these people with the unique landscape of the region and the influence of the environment upon them. In 1862 most of the population of the three south-western counties still depended upon the land for their material existence. A remarkable number became naturalists, while poets and writers celebrated Nature’s heritage in the beauty of their surroundings. In a Christian era many were concerned with the wonder of Creation rather than with any sense of ‘blood and soil’ or lebensraum, with celebrating the joy of their environs rather than environmental determinism.