Mediaeval

For at least 600 years, between the tenth and the sixteenth centuries, Galloway was a Gaelic speaking land. Although both the beginning and the end of Gaelic Galloway are uncertain, that Gaelic was the language of the kingdom of Galloway established by Fergus in the early eleventh century, and was still the main language of the Douglas lordship of Galloway at its end in 1455, is indisputable. In addition to the Gaelic personal and place names recorded in medieval charters, the thousands of Gaelic place names which survived to be recorded by the Ordnance Survey in the 1840s bear witness to Galloway’s Gaelic past. Furthermore, despite the language shift to Scots, there is evidence of cultural continuity between the agriculture of Gaelic Galloway and the farming practice of seventeenth and early eighteenth century Galloway. Then, at the end of the eighteenth century, the process of agricultural improvement began, a process which has continued to the present. The cumulative effect of this process in the lowlands, combined with afforestation in the uplands, has been the erasure of Galloway’s past. The Galloway landscape known to the Galloway Levellers and the Covenanters would have been familiar to the medieval Gaelic farmers who named the land, but none would recognise the landscape of the present.

The relationship of the Balliols and Umfravilles of Redcastle and Urr has caused historians problems, even to the extent of the suggestion that there might have been two of the name Enguerrand (Ingelram) de Umfraville. The most recent book3 shows Enguerrand in an altogether different position in the pedigree, without annotation, but obviously as an attempt to make sense of the evidence. I shall show that Sir Enguerrand de Umfraville enjoyed an exceptionally long life, being born about 1245 and dying after 1321, that he was the first cousin and co-heir of Sir Enguerrand de Balliol II (d 1298) son of Sir Eustace (d 1270/76), and that his mother was indeed Eustace’s sister Eva, daughter of Sir Enguerrand de Balliol I (d ca 1244) of Urr and Redcastle. Furthermore I reposition Sir Henry de Balliol of Cavers as the son, not the brother, of Sir Enguerrand de Balliol I, both on chronological grounds, and on the evidence that Sir Enguerrand had a son Henry who also had a son Henry, as did Sir Henry de Balliol of Cavers have a son Henry, so giving two matching pairs of Henrys.

The Gordons of Earlstoun are interesting in that they, probably more than any other family in Galloway, suffered the most extreme vicissitudes of fortune. Senior cadet branch of the Gordons of Lochinvar (later Viscounts Kenmure), they built up such a large landholding that by the mid-1600s they had become one of the most powerful and influential families in Kirkcudbrightshire, and later they acquired a baronetcy. Yet within a century the family were so reduced that they were compelled to dispose of their estates, and for the next seventy-five years they remained landless. However, in the mid-eighteenth century a younger son emigrated to Jamaica where he became involved in the lucrative sugar trade, and established the foundations for a revival in the family’s fortunes. Building on this, and inheriting the baronetcy, his son was adjudged heir of entail to an estate near Borgue. Consequently the family regained much of its former eminence

The death of Alexander 3rd in 1286 threw Scotland into tumult and struggle. When, in the same year, the South West was attacked by the forces of Robert Bruce it gave an unpleasant foretaste of what was to come. The strategic position of the region ensured that it became a transit area, traversed by the participating armies at least 13 times during the period. However, through-transit cannot explain the full-scale invasions, almost 30 battles and serious skirmishes and the very frequent harrying of the region throughout a 70 year period of intermittent warfare. Indeed, only 27 of these 70 years were without significant conflict somewhere in the South West. Thus the South West became pivotal in the wars of this period and often exhibited non-conformist and anti-central authority patterns of allegiance and support. The reasons for this persistent local turbulence are complex.

One of the characteristic archaeological features of the Machars is the series of promontory forts occupying remote headlands projecting out into Wigtown Bay, Luce Bay and the Irish Sea. They are generally characterized by one or more ramparts and ditches that appear to cut the headland off from its hinterland, but little is known about them. Morphologically they are a class of monument typical of the Iron Age and attributed very broadly to the second half of the 1st millennium BC (Armit 1997, 59; Harding 2004, 144-7).

Summary of a lecture delivered to the Society on 19th November 2004.
Originally a bare tract of crofts and a few trees, dominated by a Tower House, the environment at Culzean changed with the building of the mansion house by Robert Adam and the developme

A review article

A review article

Brief report of the exposure of traces of Kirkcudbright's town-wall in the garden ground at number 62 High Street. The evidence from the excavation supports other similar exposures within the burgh.

In preparation for the last crusade, the Pope ordered that all church-men should pay a tithe towards its cost. This tithe was to be calculated, not on the ancient valuation of their holdings, but on their current value. In about 1275 Master Baiamundus de

The old ruined church and graveyard at Kirkconnel Lea on the Springkell Estate near Eaglesfield (NGR: NY 250753) is best known for its association with ‘Fair Helen’ Irving or Bell and her betrothed Adam Fleming de Kirkpatrick. This connection dominates th

An archaeological excavation carried out by CFA Archaeology at the site of the new Lockerbie Academy identified four concentrations of archaeological features. These consisted of a Neolithic timber hall, a segmented ditched enclosure, an Anglian timber ha

The speaker noted that it is reasonably obvious to many that the two sides of the Firth of Clyde, the coast of Ayrshire on the one hand and Kintyre on the other, are two different worlds. This was not always the case. What is more, the flow of ideas and o

The speaker gave a comprehensive review of all aspects of shipping in Kirkcudbright throughout the period 1300 to 2005. Particular attention has been devoted to identifying the individual vessels and further information will be found in the author's publi

A lecture reporting on excavations in the Manse Field, Whithorn. The excavations revealed features dating from the prehistoric period onwards. Comparisons with other features identified in the Manse Field can be seen at Hoddom where excavations revealed e

Bridgend Bridge at Dundrennan is situated on the branch road to Rerrick Kirk and Orroland and has the appearance of a mediaeval ribbed arch. In order to gain some idea of its age and origin, the writers have examined both the documentary evidence and the

In 2003, during a survey of the collection of decorative carved stones from the ecclesiastical buildings on the site of Whithorn Cathedral Priory, the writer was asked to add a geological annotation to the stonework typologies. Upon analysis, the stonewor

Pennygant is a fell in Roxburghshire/Borders, by the border of Dumfries and Galloway. Its name has been of obscure meaning, but seems to mean ‘hill of the English, summit of the foreigners’ in Cumbric. It would apparently date from the occupation of the D

Lecture to the Society, 3rd February, 2006. Mention only.

Ruth Blakely’s magisterial study of the rise of the Brus family, from its Norman roots, through its acquisition of land in both Scotland and England throughout the 12th and 13th centuries, defines the power base from which its most famous descendant, Robe

The second season of the SWCS Phase 2 was carried out in September 2003 and January 2004 and comprised detailed digital survey of submerged and dry areas of selected crannog sites in Dumfries and Galloway. Small scale underwater excavations at one site, L

Summary of a lecture delivered to the Society on the occasion of Members' Night 4th March 2005.
A concise summary of the excavations at the Old Caerlaverock Castle was given. The talk coincided with the Society’s publication of the monograph ‘Excavations

A summary of the Cormack Lecture for 2004 - delivered to the Society on 3rd December 2004 by Dr Richard Oram of Stirling University.
A great deal of myth has built up around Fergus of Galloway as there is little in the way of definite information about h

Summary of a lecture delivered to the Society on 5th November 2004. The archaeology of the estate at Newbarns, Colvend, is a unique and mysterious monumental record dating back to the Neolithic era, with multi-settlement evidence of occupation through th

The results of an archaeological evaluation of Annan burgh ditch presented in Volume 76 of the Transactions tentatively suggested that the late 16th century appeared the most likely date for the origin of the burgh ditch revealed at Butts Street, Annan. T

The youngest daughter of Alan, last of the lords of Galloway, may be best known for something she probably did not build: the bridge across the River Nith in Dumfries which bears her name, Dervorguilla. It is hardly surprising that the people of Dumfries

Description and analysis of fragments of a mail garment found during the excavations at the mediaeval church of Barhobble, Wigtownshire

Summary of a lecture delivered to the Society on 16th January 2004 by Derek Hextall of the Kirkconnel Parish Heritage Society. The society was set up in 1997. The society has developed several projects to mark the vast heritage of the parish. Cairn School

In the absence of either any upstanding remains or absolute documentary evidence for the presence of the former Mossknow Towerhouse the Ann Hill Committee commissioned a geophysical survey of two potential locations by GSB Prospection of Bradford. Survey

In an earlier volume of these Transactions, a case has been made for the burgh ditch of Annan not having been dug until the (later) 16th century (Toolis and Cavanagh, 2002, 151-55). The discussion appears in the report on some archaeological evaluation wo

It is frequently stated as fact that Mary Queen of Scots stayed at Dundrennan Abbey on her last night in Scotland. There is no valid evidence that she did so.
Mary escaped from Loch Leven Castle on 2 May 1568 to Niddry Castle and thence to Hamilton, whe

A programme of building recording survey was undertaken in connection with alterations to 53 George Street, Whithorn, a Listed Building. The building lies at the junction of Bruce Street and George Street and forms the north side of the pend that leads up

A re-assessment of the role of the Galwegians at the Battle of the Standard. Based upon an analysis of the various contemporary and later texts relating to the event - with comparative data from other sources.

This paper announces the discovery of a potentially important early historic and mediaeval site, with likely ecclesiastical associations at Chapelton, Haugh of Urr. The previously unrecorded remains were exposed during topsoil stripping associated with th

Obituary of William Fleming Cormack of Lockerbie (1920-2002). Although a practicing lawyer in the family firm in Lockerbie he was associated with local and national archaeology societies for over fifty years. He excavated extensively throughout Dumfries a

Reviews the historical status of the Galloway Pony or Nag. Although now extinct it bears a relationship to the still extant Cumbrian Fell Pony. Shakespearean references are included as also an entry from the Dumfries Weekly Journal of 1801 advertising rac

Glentenmont, Rattra, Tarras and Tinny Hill are all in Dumfries and galloway, with Cumbric names that respectively seem to mean 'fire-river mountain', 'great homestead', 'strong river' and 'hill of (a man called) Tanet'. They are this evidence for the anci

The first phase of the South-West Scotland Crannog Survey, the primary fieldwork for which was carried out in 1989, examined the assumption that submerged crannogs in the south-west were relatively stable while their counterparts on drained land were rapi

This paper presents the results of a survey of promentory forts on the Solway Coast of Dumfries and Galloway. This work was carried out by the author primarily to determine the extent and nature of erosion affecting these sites. The surveying programme al

Review of a thesis for the degree of Licentiate in Archaeology at the Catholic University of leuven which was the result of practical work in the area under the guidance of A E Truckell. Copy available at the Dumfries Archive Centre

Photograph of the excavations at Lochrutton Crannog taken in the summer of 1901 - reproduced for the first time and used to support a review of 'The Excavation of a Scottish Lowland Crannog: Excavations at Buiston, Ayrshire 1989-90 by Anne Crone and other

Review of the publication by Anne Cone and others of 'The Excavation of a Scottish Lowland Crannog: Excavations at Buiston, Ayrshire 1989-90'. Covers all aspects of the archaeology - including a review of Robert Munro's 19th century excavations. Includes

Review of the second edition of John B Wilson's 'The Royal Burgh of Lochmaben' which includes additional material.

In 1998 AOC Archaeology Group conducted an archaeological evaluation on behalf of Safeway Stores plc in advance of the supermarket redevelopment of the livestock market on Butts Street in Annan. Of 18 trenches opened, 12 trenches revealed features cut int