History

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

An Etymological and philological discussion of Historia Brittonum and Arthur's Battle of Tribuit.

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

Description of recent research on the lives of Helen and Isobell Walker from the parish of Kirkpatrick Irongray: Helen Walker was Sir Walter Scott's prototype for Jeannie Deans in his novel 'The Heart of Midlothian.' The research makes extensive use of o

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

Summary of a lecture delivered to the Society on 20th February 2004 by Ian Gow, Senior Curator of the National Trust for Scotland. Mr Gow outlined the history of the Gordon family of Liverpool merchants who moved to the area in the 1870s. After renting ac

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

Summary of a lecture delivered to the Society on 21st November 2003 regarding life and times of Robert Douglas 'Collector' of Customs and Master Smuggler. Douglas married Margaret Corbet, daughter of a Glasgow merchant. He obtained credit on the Isle of m

Review of a publication by Dr J B Wilson. This latest volume is based upon a re-examination of the Minutes of Lochmaben Town Council which run from 1612 to 1974. It refers to a recent publication by the Scottish Record Society of a transcription of the ea

Review of a volume detailing two late eighteenth century visitation rolls of the town of Kirkcudbright. Background to the town is provided against collated lists of the inhabitants and their genealogy.

This volume is literally an alphabetic index of almost every aspect of the life, times and especially the people of Kirkcudbright. Although mainly covering the town of Kirkcudbright it also ranges over the countryside between Ross Island and Tongland.

Extracts and commentary from the Journal of David Gibson a baptist lay missionary who worked all over the south-west of Scotland - centred at Auchencairn. The author has used the volume to provide details of the background to the life and times of Gibson.

A transcript of this volume was published in 2001 by the Scottish Record Society. It covers 221 pages and records 404 meetings. The minutes were written by the clerk of the time, or his deputy, sometimes in a fair, sometimes in an almost indecipherable ha

The distinquished tradition of Scots linguistic scholarship began long before the twentieth century and the advent of modern dialectology and lexicography. By far the greatest reference work on the Scots tongue to appear before this period, namely John Ja

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 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.

According to the Board of Customs in Edinburgh, 'very considerable' quantities of contraband goods were landed in Wigtownshire during the eighteenth century. Only 1.3% of Scotland's population lived here at the time so that the region could not provide cu

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

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

Extracts from a transcript of the customs records for Alisonbank at Gretna for the period 1665 to 1699

Transcript of William Fullarton's 'special expenses' on behalf of the Privy Council regarding his gathering of intelligence, for the period 1689-92, with the war in Ireland - as extracted from the Portpatrick customs' records

Summarises the transcription of the customs, excise and bullion books for Portpatrick in the period 1671 to 1699.

Describes a volume within the Tolbooth at Lochmaben, covering the period 1826 to 1880, which contains records of the charters granted to those who had purchased portions of the Commonty of Lochmaben after the Sequestration of the Burgh in 1824. It provide

Discusses the placename and archaeological evidence for precursors of the mediaeval premonstratenian foundation - particularly in the early mediaeval period.

A review of Andrew McCulloch's 'Galloway - A Land Apart'. This new work assesses the history of Galloway as it affected all social strata, through the fresh and unrestrained eyes of a historian at the end of the 20th century. McCulloch successfully incorp

A revised assessment of the status of the Dumfries Sillar Gun which was gifted to the Dumfries Incorporated Trades in 1617 by James VI. The Trades held a royal injunction to assemble in military array and shoot for the trophy once a year and to encourage