Tour Scotland photographs and videos from my tours of Scotland. Photography and videography, both old and new, from beautiful Scotland, Scottish castles, seascapes, rivers, islands, landscapes, standing stones, lochs and glens.
Showing posts with label Tour Scotland Dumfries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tour Scotland Dumfries. Show all posts
Old photograph of the Colvin and Hodgson Drapers Shop in Dumfries, Scotland. Draper is the now largely obsolete term for a Scottish wholesaler, or especially retailer, of cloth, mainly for clothing. A would additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. The drapers were an important trade guild.
The surname Draper is of Old French origin, and is an occupational name for a maker or seller of woollen cloth, deriving from the Old French, word drapier. Early examples of the surname include: Robert le Drapier in Lincolnshire in 1181; Auwred le Draper in Cambridgeshire in 1273. Notable bearers of the name include: Sir Christopher Draper, Lord Mayor of London, England, in 1567; and Edward Alured Draper, born 1776, died 1841, page of honour to King George III. An early settler in the New World was Thomas Draper, aged 26, who embarked from London on the ship Paule bound for Virginia, America, in July 1635. The surname Draper is widely recorded in Ireland from the 17th Century, and its early connection with Ulster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hugo Drapier, which was dated 1148.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Tour Scotland Photograph of the Robert Burns statue in Dumfries, Scotland. In May 1877 the town council of Dumfries adopted a proposal to erect a statue to Robert Burns, the town's most illustrious inhabitant. A site was chosen in Church Place, at the junction of the High Street, Castle Street and Buccleuch Street and the local historian William McDowall was appointed secretary of a committee formed to progress the project. The committee approved a model for the statue proposed by the artist Amelia Paton Hill. She had exhibited portrait busts, animal figures and genre groups at the Royal Academy, and all these elements are to be found in her statue of Burns, which is probably her best known work. The statue was carved in Carrara by Italian craftsmen working to Amelia Hill's model. It was unveiled by the Earl of Rosebery on 6th April 1882. In the century since it has been moved on several occasions due to road improvements in the vicinity.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. This Scottish town is also known colloquially as the " Muckle Toon ". The town grew around the textile industry, but is now best known as the birthplace of Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure, Hugh MacDiarmid and Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder, Thomas Telford. The town was an important centre for the Border Reivers. The Border reivers were raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. Their ranks consisted of both Scottish and English families, and they raided the entire Border country without regard to their victims' nationality. Their heyday was perhaps in the last hundred years of their existence, during the time of the Stewart Kings in Scotland and the Tudor dynasty in England.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of Dumfries, Scotland. Dumfries was the hometown of Robert Burns from 1791 until his early death in 1796. The famous poet is now buried in St. Michael’s Churchyard in the Burns Mausoleum. Burns was born in Ayrshire and spent many years there before moving to Dumfriesshire. Robert Burns Mausoleum Dumfries Scotland. Jean Armour Statue Dumfries Scotland.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of cottages, shop and people in Durisdeer, Scotland. Durisdeer is a small village in Dumfries and Galloway, south west Scotland. It is located six miles north of Thornhill, above the Carron Water, a tributary of the Nith. A Roman road once passed through the site of the village, and the remains of a small fort are located to the north-east. The parish church in the village serves Drumlanrig Castle, the 17th century home of the Duke of Queensberry. It was rebuilt by the third Duke in the 1720s, to designs by James Smith. Adjoining the church is the slightly earlier Queensberry Aisle, burial place of the dukes, also by Smith, with a large marble monument to the second Duke, born 1662, died 1711, carved by Jan van Nost. Durisdeer was included in the 1978 version of The Thirty Nine Steps film starring Robert Powell.
Old photograph of the Parish Church Durisdeer, Scotland.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of Lochmaben, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. At some point in the 13th century the Bruces built a castle, probably a Keep, at Lochmaben, the remains of which now lie under a golf course. It is claimed that King Robert I of Scotland was born there, which is why the town adopted the motto " From us is born the liberator king " on its coat of arms. This claim cannot be ruled out, but his birthplace was more likely Turnberry Castle. Bruce certainly battled the English over this area during the Wars of Scottish Independence.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Tour Scotland Winter photograph of St Michaels Churchyard Dumfries, Scotland. St Michael's is the Parish Church of Dumfries and around it is the oldest town graveyard. Greyfriars, built in 1876. Robert Burns attended church here, and is buried in the graveyard.
Tour Scotland Winter photograph of St Michaels Churchyard Dumfries, Scotland.
Tour Scotland Winter photograph of St Michaels Churchyard Dumfries, Scotland.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Tour Scotland Winter photograph of Dumfries, Scotland. Former seaport where Robert Burns lived before his death in 1796. This market town and former royal burgh is situated close to the Solway Firth, near the mouth of the River Nith.
One of the poems that Rober Burns wrote to his wife.
Of a' the airts the wind can blaw,
I dearly like the west,
For there the bonie lassie lives,
The lassie I lo'e best:
There's wild-woods grow, and rivers row,
And mony a hill between:
But day and night my fancys' flight
Is ever wi' my Jean.
I see her in the dewy flowers,
I see her sweet and fair:
I hear her in the tunefu' birds,
I hear her charm the air:
There's not a bonie flower that springs,
By fountain, shaw, or green;
There's not a bonie bird that sings,
But minds me o' my Jean.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Tour Scotland photograph of the Cholera Memorial in the cemetery in Dumfries, Scotland. In memory of the 420 inhabitants of Dumfries who were suddenly swept away by the memorable invasion of Asiatic Cholera in 1832. An early 19th century incidence of asiatic cholera in Europe was recorded in Russia and other continental countries in the spring of 1831. The first occurrence in England was in the Autumn of 1831 when it reached Sunderland, by 1832 it was at Exeter, and it spread rapidly through the British Isles, reaching Kilmarnock in July 1832. Other less severe outbreaks were recorded in 1849 and 1853.[7] In the USA Outbreaks of cholera took place in 1834, 1849, and 1861.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Tour Scotland photograph of St Michaels Churchyard cemetery in Dumfries, Scotland.
Famous Scots born in Dumfries include;
Archibald Gracie, born June 25, 1755, died April 11, 1829, who was a Scottish born shipping magnate and early American businessman and merchant in New York City and Virginia whose spacious home, Gracie Mansion, now serves as the residency of the Mayor of New York City. Gracie was the son of a weaver named William Gracie, of Dumfries, Scotland. In 1776, he moved to Liverpool and clerked for a London shipping firm. He used his earnings to purchase a part interest in a merchant ship.
Ambrose Blacklock, born May 17, 1784, died October 5, 1866, was a Scottish born farmer, physician and political figure in Upper Canada. He was born in Dumfries and studied medicine in Scotland. In 1807, he was commissioned as a surgeon in the Royal Navy. He served on lakes Ontario and Champlain during the War of 1812. Blacklock lived in Cornwall and later St. Andrews. He married Catherine Macdonell. Blacklock served as a justice of the peace and coroner for the Eastern District. He represented Stormont in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada from 1828 to 1830 as a Reformer.
James Edward Tait VC MC, born 27 May 1888, died 11 August 1918, was a Scottish, Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Tait was born on 27 May 1888 in Maxwelltown, Dumfries, to James Bryden Tait and Mary Johnstone. He married Jessie Spiers Aitken from California. He joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in February 1916. Tait was 30 years old, and a lieutenant in the 78th Winnipeg Grenadiers Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, during the First World War. He died in action on 11 August 1918 in Amiens, France. He was awarded the VC for his actions.
Sir John Richardson, born November 1787, died 5 June 1865, was a Scottish naval surgeon, naturalist and Arctic explorer. Richardson was born at Dumfries. He studied medicine at Edinburgh University, and became a surgeon in the navy in 1807. He traveled with John Franklin in search of the Northwest Passage on the Coppermine Expedition of 1819. Richardson wrote the sections on geology, botany and ichthyology for the official account of the expedition. Franklin and Richardson returned to Canada in 1825 and went overland by fur trade routes to the mouth of the Mackenzie River.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Tour Scotland photograph of the site of the original grave of Robert Burns, St Michael's Churchyard, Dumfries, Scotland. Robert Burns died of rheumatic fever in Dumfries on 21 July 1796. He was originally buried in the north east corner of St. Michael's church yard. Burns is famous for his use of the Scottish dialect, writing with great integrity about the people and places he knew.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Tour Scotland photograph of a Celtic Cross gravestone in St Michael's Churchyard cemetery in Dumfries, Scotland. Dumfries is near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth. Dumfries was a civil parish and became the county town of the former county of Dumfriesshire. Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South. People from Dumfries are known colloquially as Doonhamers.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Tour Scotland photograph of the Robert Burns Mausoleum, Dumfries, Scotland. Dumfries was the hometown of Robert Burns from 1791 until his death in 1796. The poet is now buried in St. Michael’s Churchyard in the Burns Mausoleum. Burns was born in Ayrshire and spent many years there before moving to Dumfriesshire. In 1815 his body was transferred from his original grave to the mausoleum which was erected in the south east corner of the churchyard cemetery and paid for by public subscriptions. Even the Prince Regent, later George IV made a contribution. The remains of Jean Armour the wife of Robert Burns were added to the mausoleum in 1834, at which time a cast was taken of Burns' skull.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Tour Scotland photograph of the Devorgilla Bridge, Dumfries, Scotland. The river Nith runs through Dumfries and there are several bridges across the river in the town, including the Devorgilla, which is also known as " The Old Bridge. " The bridge was built around 1270 by the Lady Devorgilla of Galloway, a deeply religious and very influential noblewoman who was the great neice of William the Lion and of King Malcolm IV. Her son, John Balliol, became King of Scotland in 1292. She is best known for the foundation of Balliol College, Oxford England, but in addition she built the Cistercian Sweetheart Abbey, near Dumfries, where in due course she was buried. She also built the convent of Greyfriars in Dumfries, the site of the confrontation between the Red Comyn and Robert the Bruce.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
