DUMFRIES, formerly Drumfries, the chief town.of a county of the same name in the south of Scotland, to which it gives its name, is delightfully situated in the vale of Nith, on the left bank of that beautiful river, and somewhat more than a mile below its confluence with the Cluden. There are no historical documents extant by which we can ascertain at what period this town was founded. From some remains of antiquity, however, particularly from two circular mounds retain ing the Saxon appellation of moat, one of which was lately,to ,be traced on the high ground at the north end of the burgh, and the other of which is _still visible on an eminence to the south-east, we may conjecture that . this was a place of considerable resort before the close of the eighth century. If we are to credit etymologists, who derive Drum-fries from two Gaelic words, Druim phreas, a hill covered with brushwood, this place must •have received its present name before it could boast of a. numerous population. It does not appear that there is any thing on record relative to its history previously to the middle of the 13th century, when a convent was erected, for friars of the Franciscan order, on a sloping bank, at no great distance from the first of the moats just mentioned. The situation of this religious house . must have been very fine. To the north-west, it com manded the rich dale of the Nith, embracing the neigh bouring Abbey of and the more distant cas tle. of Dalswinton, then the chief residence of the Co myns. To the eastward stretches the beautiful range of gently rising hills, on which were erected the strong castle of Torthorwald, and Amisfield the seat of the once powerful clan of Charteris. To the south-east, romantically seate'l in the foreground, at a place still named Castle-dvkes, was another fortress belonging to the with the placid Nith gliding past, and slowly winding through a fine towards the Solway Frith; and in that direction the view is bounded by the distant ? ountam3 of t umberland. Nearly due south, the hu C is the most prominent object, to the ri •ht hick is seen a ridge of more rugged and highly pw_turesque mountains in Galloway; and to the west, upon an extended plain, terminated by the swelling hills cl Irongray, stood Terregles, the residence of the Max %%elk, chiefs of Nithsdale. The base of the mountain nn w hid) the consent stood is washed on the north and west by the Nith, «hick here makes a beautiful sweep to the southward.
To facilitate the communication of Dumfries with Galloway, the munificent foundress of this edifice cans rtl bridges to he built across the river, at the spot nro t eons enient for the inmates of her friary. The narrow street which leads from this bridge to the spot where the convent stood, retains the name of the Friar's rennet.
Dumfries haling never made a conspicuous figure in history, its annals can only be traced by incidental and insulated notices, a few of which it may be proper to specify. It was in the chapel and cloisters of the con vent just named, that the two Comyns were by the patriotic King Robert who was aided on this occasion by Rogers de Kirkpatric, and James Lindsay.
In 13)7, the year after Bruce's coronation, when the ;4 proud usurper" again forced Scotland for a time to bear the English yoke, Edward II. advanced to Dum fries, and there received the reluctant homage of seve ral Scottish noblemen. It is even stated by some histo rians, that he then held a convention of the estates in that town.
From its vicinity to the borders of the rival kingdom, was peculiarly liable to the ravages of inva ders. It was burnt by the English before 1448, when the Lord Maxwell gained the battle of Sark ; and in 1536. it again fell a prey to the flames kindled by these deadly foes. This latter injury did not pass unpunished. It was amply revenged by the Lord Maxwell of the day, who, in the hold spirit of enterprize peculiar to the times, penetrated into England svith a small but chosen body of retainers, and having entered Pcnrith, took the market cross, by way of bravado, in his arms, and his troops dispersing through the town, reduced it in a few hours to ashes. About this period, the Maxwells, having in creased in power, erected a magnificent castle at Dum fries, out of the ruins, and almost occupying the site of the We hear little more of Dumfries till the year 156S, at which date Queen Alary and her privy council wen: there, ratifying a convention of peace with England. Two years after this, her disaffected subjects, having; assembled a force in the neighbourhood, under the Earls of Argyle, Murray, and Rothes, Mary advanced upon the town with an army of 18,000 men. At her approach, thcseobnoxious nobles fled into England; and Maxwell of Terregles, who, on her former visit, had entertained the queen at his house with much hospitality, having now incurred the royal displeasure, was glad to make his peace by surrendering his castle of Dumfries into the hands of his sovereign. The government of this fortress, however, was not withdrawn from the family; for in 1567, we find it vested in the same Maxwell, who, the year before, had by marriage acquired the title of Lord Decries. and was then devoted to the interests of the queen. It was probably in consequence of the deci ded attachment shewn by so powerful a nobleman to the cause of his mistress, that the populace of Duinfrics tore from the market-cross the herald who attempted to proclaim the Lord Murray regent.