Recent (Social)

This article seeks to provide a narrative of the development of the Dumfries and Maxwelltown Co-operative Provision Society (DMCPS) during the 1870s through a detailed reading of the first of the extant minute books of the society held at Dumfries and Galloway Archives, and covering the period from June 1870 to December 1879. Co-operative societies developed in Scotland from the late eighteenth century onwards as attempts by groups of working people to provide good-quality food supplies for themselves at affordable prices. The article shows that, during the 1870s, DMCPS experienced sustained growth in its trading activities, consolidated its membership and moved to enlarged premises. First established in 1847, more than twenty years before the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society, DMCPS survived and prospered in the 1870s at a time when Dumfries itself was enjoying a period of increased prosperity. The article considers this growth in some detail and attempts to place the experience of DMCPS within the wider contexts of Victorian social and economic development, and the contemporary growth of both Dumfries and the wider co-operative movement in Scotland and Britain as a whole.

In 2012–2013 Alastair and Catriona Duncan recorded nineteen audio interviews with over-sixty residents or former residents of the parish of Kirkpatrick Fleming, Dumfries and Galloway, and with four groups: older people, 30-year-olds, new residents, pupils of Primary 6. Kirkpatrick (as the village of Kirkpatrick Fleming is commonly known) lies twelve miles south-east of Lockerbie and three miles north-west of Gretna and the English border. Individual interviews between an hour and three hours long, took the form of life histories. Questions were also asked about the respondents’ sense of local and national identity and about their speech. In the 1930s the village of Kirkpatrick had many shops and there was a vibrant community life based round the Victoria Hall and the church. Some housing conditions were very poor. School discipline was harsh. During the Second World War, the population was expanded by the presence of evacuees, Honduran woodcutters, Canadian air force personnel and prisoners of war. A strong community spirit persisted into the 1950s and 1960s, but communal activities — outings, dances, sports clubs, churchgoing and Sunday School attendance — began to decline. Larger farms have increased in size and modernized mainly into large-scale milk production. An influx of new residents has stabilized the population. Older residents and thirty-year-olds have a strong sense of belonging to Kirkpatrick and of being Scottish, but are unanimously against independence. Speech is the main marker of belonging but differences in speech are fading. All generations share three sites of memory: the school, the river Kirtle and the one remaining shop.

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.

Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society celebrated its 150th year in 2012. To mark the anniversary the Society held a one-day conference on Saturday, 8 September 2012. The President of the Society, Dr Francis Toolis, opened the event with a history of the early days of the Society. He recounted something of the lives of founders such as Dr Gilchrist, the second Physician Superintendent at the Crichton Royal Institution and Dr Grierson of Thornhill, whose remarkable private museum was the inspiration for the African explorer, Joseph Thomson, also a member of the Society, the man after whom the Thomson gazelle is named and the inspiration himself for Sir H. Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines. Sir William Jardine of Applegarth, a true polymath and the author of many books, was the Society’s first President. Among the later members was Samuel Arnott, one-time Provost of Maxwelltown, who wrote extensively for the Society’s Transactions and was recognised in his time as a world authority on snowdrops. This is the text of the President’s opening address.

Today, Andrew Barrie (1798-1866) is long forgotten in his adopted town of Dumfries and fares little better in his home town of Paisley, commemorated only by his grave at Woodside Cemetery and the annual award of ‘Barrie’ Dux Medal at Paisley Grammar School. Yet during his life he was highly regarded by the citizens of both towns for his contribution to civic life and private and public financial support for a wide variety of organisations. He brought to civic life the same drive and determination that had enabled him to rise from relatively modest beginnings to become a wealthy and influential figure. On his death in 1866 the Dumfries Standard and Paisley Herald were fulsome in their praise for his work as a Sheriff Substitute and Justice of the Peace; as a Trustee and Elder of St Mary’s Church in Dumfries; for the numerous public appointments he held; and for his extensive financial support for charities. It is all the more surprising that such importance during his lifetime should be reduced to so little in posterity.

The career of David Armstrong was unusual by the standards of the eighteenth-century Scottish bar but at its height it presents a picture that was in some ways a signpost for the future development of the legal profession. Financial problems, consequent to the collapse of the Ayr Bank, reveal the importance to him of his local Dumfries connections and also led him into a scandal by which his career was cut short. This article examines that scandal and draws from Armstrong’s career a number of conclusions about the nature of contemporary legal practice in Scotland that have a wider resonance for the history of the profession generally during the long eighteenth century.

The Truckell Prize is awarded by the Society for the purposes of both commemorating the late A. E. Truckell and his outstanding contribution to local studies in Dumfries and Galloway, and of forging closer links with the Universities of Glasgow and of the West of Scotland on the Crichton Campus, Dumfries. The Prize is awarded annually for the best original research paper by an undergraduate or postgraduate student from the Crichton Campus on a human or natural history topic relating to the geographical area covered by the three former counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire. In 2011, the Truckell Prize was won by Jacky Card for this paper.

This paper uses a variety of original sources on planned settlements in South West Scotland and the local industrial archaeology in order to explore the progress of Gatehouse of Fleet from the early 1760s, focusing first on the early feuars in the settlement established by James Murray of Broughton near his new mansion at Cally. The paper tracks attempts to bring industry such as tanning and brewing to Gatehouse. Using legal papers in particular, evidence shows how James Murray, other landowners, his partners in the new businesses and local tradesmen all became caught up in the rapid rise and subsequent failure of the Ayr Bank in 1772. The lasting effects of the bank’s failure on the local economy due to the financial burden on Murray and others is examined and we see how this led to a lack of new building, followed by the emigration of a number of the Gatehouse feuars. Development began to pick up only in 1777 when Murray promoted the settlement in the press and reduced feu duties for all new building. Cotton manufacture came to Gatehouse in 1785 with the signing of a contract between Murray and the Birtwhistle family, which led to the construction of a substantial mill. The rapid but short lived development and subsequent decline of the cotton industry and its effect on Gatehouse is examined in some detail. Finally we see how Gatehouse returned to its earlier role as a supplier of tradesmen to Cally Estate under Alexander Murray of Broughton.

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 presentation which revealed how the Murray family developed their parks and pleasure grounds at Cally, Gatehouse of Fleet. Although the designed landscape is now largely hidden by forestry planting many historical features are still recognisable and hel

Lecture in Kirkcudbright Town Hall The speaker showed how records from some dozen English and Scottish archives had enabled a picture to be built of the lives of three generations of the Birtwhistle family, possibly the greatest drovers and graziers of th

The illustrated talk was a journey from about 1600 to the late 20th century, showing how communion vessels developed in the Church of Scotland. The earlier cups date from 1617 when the Scottish Parliament passed an act that communion should be dispensed

In an illustrated lecture, the retiring President, David Devereux, Museums Curator for the Stewartry in Dumfries and Galloway Museums Service, presented a wide variety of archaeological and local historical artefacts, fine and decorative art, photographs,

Obituary of Frank Stewart a Life Member of the Society - he contributed a numner of articles to the Transactions on the history of the New Abbey area.

Obituary of Duncan Adamson a former President of the Society - he contributed a significant number of articles to the Transactions on various aspects of the history of the Dumfries and Galloway area. He acted as historian to the Anne Hill Committee.

A review article

A review article

A short article describing the finding of a sock in a recess close to the chimney flue at Mull Cottage, Kirkmaiden. The sock was found to be stuffed with thistles and it is suggested that it may be of 18th century date and concealed to trap spitits: it is

This report has arisen from the production of a management plan for Cally designed landscape for the Gatehouse Development Initiative in 2007. That plan is a practical tool to inform management and maintenance of the landscape and interpretation and enjoy

This article explores the distinctive features of the Accounts for the shires of Dumfries, Kirkcudbright and Wigtown and the changes revealed in the lives of the people and their environments between the First and Second and between the Second and Third A

A genealogical and general history introduction to the Hannah family of Kirkmahoe - and their diverse connections.

Detailed lecture into sailing and navigation within the Solway.

Railways in Scotland began with the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway, built by the Duke of Portland and opened in 1812. The first main line in the south west was the Glasgow and South Western Railway. This company came to dominate the south west, although alw

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

An illustrated talk on the Dumfries Hannahfield estate c.1829-1928 was given by a local military enthusiast who, having discovered by chance two War Department Boundary Stones near the Kingholm completed some months of on site investigations and research

Review article

Review article

This short Addenda contribution provides additional information on church provision at Beeswing and Lochend in the light of Richard Smith's article 'Presbyterian Divisions and Edifice Rivalry in Galloway, 1743-1900' which appeared in volume 80 of these Tr

This paper is based on the script of a lecture entitled ‘E A Hornel Citizen of Kirkcudbright’ presented by the author as a contribution to a study day arranged by the National Trust for Scotland, which took place in Kirkcudbright, on May 13 2006.

In the 1790s Kirkcudbright was developed by an initiative inaugurated and overseen by the
Burgh Council and inspired by a touch of personal design imparted by the interaction of
the Burgh Council and the local lairds, the Dunbar family.(1) Thus there em

Patrick McMaster was born on March 19, 1741, at Currochtrie in Kirkmaiden parish. This article describes the various vissisitudes that befell him while in business in Colonial Boston at the time of the American War of Independence. The article aims to con

The notices and advertisements in this article were taken from The Edinburgh Gazette (1699-1708), The Edinburgh Courant (1705-06) and 1708-10), The Scots Courant (1710-20), The Edinburgh Evening Courant (1718-22), The Caledonian Mercury (1720), and The We

Lecture to the Society, 20th January, 2006. This talk related that Dumfries and Galloway has some of the finest gardens in the country which reflect the climate, topography and history of the area. There is a range of gardens that are right on the sea goi

Summary of a lecture given to the Society, on 18th November, 2005.
The illustrated talk on the Glenkens Schools covered all the recorded schools that were opened in this remote area of the Northern Stewartry starting back in around 1660. The Glenkens co

Summary of a lecture given to the Society on 4th November 2005. The talk unearthed fragments of the rich tradition of publication participation in natural science by re-visiting the enthusiastic and idiosyncratic world of popular natural history in Victor

Review of Ian Devlin's booklet 'We Will Remember Them - Kirkcudbright's Sons 1914-18' produced by the Stewartry Museum.
One of the most spectacular War memorials in Galloway is the memorial in Kirkcudbright. It stands in front of MacLellan’s Castle and

A review of the Stewartry Museum booklet 'Kirkcudbright Pont-Aven: Artists in Search of Inspiration' by David Devereux, John Hudson and Catherine Paget. For those who enjoyed the ‘Kirkcudbright-Pont Aven’ exhibition at the Tolbooth in 2004 this beautifull

An extensive review of the Stewartry Museum publication 'Dorothy L Sayers in Galloway' by Christopher Dean. The reviewer provides additional notes on Sayers, her local connections and explanations of local practices and background.

A seclection of notes on Torthorwald Kirk Session, 1696-1882; the Baronie of Cluden papers, 1712-31 and Dumfries Burgh Treasurer's Accounts for 1708-10. The notes and observations were made during the course of the transciption of these records held on mi

During the course of a Field Study Meeting in Galloway, centred on Newton Stewart, the Institute of Sociology heard a lecture on 9th August, 1939. The talk had been prepared by Alexander S Morton but to his incapacity because of illness the talk was read

Between 1st and 15th August 1939 the Institute of Sociology, Le Play House, 35 Gordon Square, London held a field study meeting in Galloway. Centred on Newton Stewart the group set out to investigate the natural history, history and social science of the

Undeniably, old (parish and other) churches of any given area, particularly a rural region like Galloway, figure prominently in the historic and aesthetic landscape. Yet as ‘active’ components in their communities, for decades they have been facing an ong

The eighteenth century was a period of considerable agricultural, social and economic change across Scotland, the era of Enlightenment. Many changes that took place then, agricultural enclosure, the development of new mansion houses with landscaped pleas

The difficulty of inland communication had long encouraged the proliferation of ports along the Scottish coastline, with little to choose between them before the expansion and reorientation of trade in the decades following the Restoration. In common with