Old Travel Blog Photograph Woman Fishing River Dee Mossdale Scotland Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of a woman salmon fishing in the River Dee at Mossdale, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The River Dee, Scottish Gaelic: Dè / Uisge Dhè, flows from its source in Loch Dee amongst the Galloway Hills, firstly to Clatteringshaws Loch, then into Loch Ken, where it joins the Water of Ken. From there, the Dee flows 15 miles southwards to Kirkcudbright, and into Kirkcudbright Bay to reach the Solway. Historically the Dee had a good reputation as a productive salmon fishery. Commercial fishing in the river took many forms, with doachs, ladle nets, shoulder nets and draught nets all having been used at various times.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Parish Church Balmaghie Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the Parish Church in Balmaghie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Balmaghie village, from the Scottish Gaelic Baile Mac Aoidh, was the seat of the McGhee family. It is bordered by the River Dee to the north and east. The River Dee is commonly known as the Black Water of Dee on the northern border, the name changes with the meeting of the Water of Ken to the north west and is then known as Loch Ken along the eastern border. Balmaghie parish borders Girthon to the west and Tongland and Twynholm to the south. Balmaghie church was built in 1794 and set on a small hillock in Balmaghie overlooking Loch Ken and opposite Crossmichael Kirk on the far bank. Samuel Rutherford Crockett, a Scottish novelist, was born the son of a farmer at Duchrae. Some of his works are set in the surrounding area. He is buried in Balmaghie churchyard under the family gravestone.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Cross Keys Hotel High Street New Galloway Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of a vintage car and the Cross Keys Hotel on the High Street in New Galloway in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. This village was formally founded in the 17th century by the Viscount of Kenmure and granted Royal Burgh status in 1630, this was to enable it to serve as a market town. However, Kirkcudbright, only 19 miles to the south, was larger and drew more traders. New Galloway thus grew very slowly and is the smallest Royal Burgh in Scotland.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Elizabeth Bow And Her Daughter Govan Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of Elizabeth Bow and her daughter from Govan, Glasgow, Scotland. The surname Bow maybe topographical for someone living near a bridge, the word boga in this case having acquired the meaning of an arch, as in the supposed resemblance of the arch to a drawn bow or locational for somebody who lived at a place called Bow, Bowe, or Bough, or at a house which had as its sign a bough from a tree. An early examples of the name recording is that of Richard atte Bowe in the registers known as the Calender of Letter Books of the City of London, England, in the year 1306, Nicholas atte Boughe in the county of Somerset in 1327, and Elizabeth Bowe, christened at St Mary Lothbury, in the city of London in 1597.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Thomas The Rhymer Glen Melrose Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the Thomas the Rhymer Glen near Melrose, Scottish Borders, Scotland. Legend has it that hundreds of years ago Thomas the Rhymer met the Queen of the Fairies who lives on the Eildon Hills and who frequented this glen. He was seduced and lived with her for seven years until finally her spell broke and he returned to the world of human beings. In July 1831 Joseph Mallord William Turner visited Sir Walter at Abbotsford and the two of them walked to Rhymer's Glen, where Turner made a watercolour which is now in the collection of The National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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