For those of you who might be wondering just what "Dumfries & Galloway" is, I should explain that it is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. We were previously in "The Borders", which is yet another area that borders northern England. Dumfries & Galloway lies to the west of the Borders, and is located in the southwest area of Scotland, north of the Irish Sea.
It seems to be a forgotten area as we've talked with several Scots on our trip who, when asked about visiting this area, will answer that they "have never been". Well, let me just say that they don't know what they are missing!
Robert Burns, a beloved Scottish poet and writer of Scottish folk songs, lived in Dumfries for several years prior to his death. He is buried in a cemetery in the city and the house where he lived for the last few years of his life also exists as it was, and is open to the public to view.
So, of course, I added it on to our "to do" list and we headed there first thing after breakfast. My GPS didn't seem to pick up the Museum (hey....it's free....what more can you ask?), but led us to the Robert Burns Center. There was easy parking, but we soon realized that we were across the river from our intended destination, but it actually turned out to be the best way to see the sights! So we left the car in the lot and headed across the bridge to the center.
We crossed that footbridge, which was actually a timber bridge built in 1280, making this the oldest multi-spanned bridge in Scotland. Once across, we headed to the Robert Burns House which wasn't too difficult to find.
The arrow pointed across the street to the actual house where Robert Burns had lived and died, on Mill Street. (Bet you didn't have too much problem finding Marty in that photo.)
Inside, there were numerous items on display in the house, including original works by Burns himself.
Some of the items of interest were poems that he wrote in letters to people. One of note is in a letter from Burns to his landlord, dated 21 June 1789, and it contains his poem, The Wounded Hare.
The house consisted of basically four rooms: a parlor and kitchen downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs.
He was buried in the nearby cemetery with a simple stone. In 1803, William Wordsworth and his wife looked for his grave and were very surprised to learn that it wasn't easily found. So, in 1813, a number of prominent citizens launched an appeal to build a mausoleum, including the future King George IV.
The structure was completed in 1815, and, you must admit, it certainly is quite a grand structure. In fact, it stands out clearly in the cemetery.
The original stone is set in front.
The center is actually an old mill, and it has a lovely museum upstairs, that tells the story of Robert Burns' connection to Dumfries, and it details his time in the city prior to his death.
There was an interesting diorama set up for the town of Dumfries as it would have looked when Burns lived there.
The details were amazing, with houses all built to scale, featuring miniatures of the actual buildings. It brought to life the everyday existence in the time of Robert Burns. How clever is that?
By now, I was feeling rather pleased that I had directed us to the wrong place! It was time to move on, but before I move forward here, let me post just a couple more photos.
How's that for amazing?
Now, onto the New Abbey Corn Mill.
I know what you are thinking....another mill? But this one is different. This was unique because the miller's residence was actually attached to the mill. We learned that this was rarely the case because the mill itself can be quite volatile, but when this residence was added on, the walls were built nearly 2 ft wide to protect from any type of fire.
But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let me begin by saying that, once again, we were greeted by an enthusiastic guide, and directed upstairs to watch a short film about the mill. The information was quite similar to what we learned at Preston Mill regarding oats and how they are milled, so we already felt like experts in the grinding of grain.
But, one thing that had us confused was why this was called a Corn Mill when it was actually used to grind oats. The guide explained to us that in Scotland, the word corn is used as a generic form for any type of grain. I had never known that, but now the name made perfect sense.
The basic mechanism of the mill was similar to that at Preston. A water wheel, which turned by the flow of water that came from a Mill Pond on the property.
The earliest mill here was built by Cistercian monks in 1273. They were primarily vegetarian and depended upon grains for food. As time went on, mills were extremely important to communities as 90% of what they ate came from the mill.
The farmer collected the grain and gave it to the miller to be ground. As payment, a portion of the grain was given to the miller. The miller, himself, had to pay for his rent with the milled grain, so he was dependent upon the farmers for his living. So you can see why a mill was a valuable asset in the community.
After touring the mill, we walked up to Sweetheart Abbey, where we had stopped in several years ago while driving through. I must say that it does look much more brilliant in the sunshine.
And, don't these white houses add such charm to the village?
The only downside is that they stand on an extremely busy street. I'm not sure that I'd like cars whipping by my front door at such fast speeds all day long. But, you must admit, it sure makes a pretty picture!
Continuing our travels, we made our way south and then turned west to drive along the southern coast, until we reached Rockcliffe.
We parked the car and looked at the trail map, and tried to decide just where we should start. I'm not sure why I haven't caught onto deciphering the trail maps, but I am honestly hopeless. I suppose that I have a fear that I'm going to end up in someone's back yard rather than on the trail. (That actually did happen one time, and the owner wasn't exactly thrilled.) So we now have no shame, and we have no issues just asking someone if they can direct us.
Luckily, today's trail was very busy, so we had no difficulty finding our route. And I'm happy to say that we did not have to share the trail with any furry friends. Well.....almost. There were some Highland cows but they were happy to stay at a distance.
We walked about a mile until we reached the little village of Kippford.
Pretty as a picture for sure!
I could tell that this tower was way off the beaten path. So much so, that when I instructed Marty to turn down a particular road, he said to me, "Are you sure about that?" and I said "yes". (Oh he of little faith.)
The road was barely wider than the car, but, luckily, no one was out and about on it. And, it wasn't difficult to spot in the distance.
This tower is the only round tower house in Scotland, built around 1756.
And guess what? The doors were open! How lucky was that?
We were able to climb right up to the top!
We left very happy that we had decided to make the drive despite the time, as it had certainly played to our advantage.
But now it was time to head to our hotel which is in Castle Douglas. I will admit that it is on a very busy street, but the room is lovely and the staff is exceedingly friendly.
You needn't tell me that I look tired. But hey.....after all of today's activities...wouldn't you?
Until tomorrow!
It seems to be a forgotten area as we've talked with several Scots on our trip who, when asked about visiting this area, will answer that they "have never been". Well, let me just say that they don't know what they are missing!
Robert Burns, a beloved Scottish poet and writer of Scottish folk songs, lived in Dumfries for several years prior to his death. He is buried in a cemetery in the city and the house where he lived for the last few years of his life also exists as it was, and is open to the public to view.
So, of course, I added it on to our "to do" list and we headed there first thing after breakfast. My GPS didn't seem to pick up the Museum (hey....it's free....what more can you ask?), but led us to the Robert Burns Center. There was easy parking, but we soon realized that we were across the river from our intended destination, but it actually turned out to be the best way to see the sights! So we left the car in the lot and headed across the bridge to the center.
The house consisted of basically four rooms: a parlor and kitchen downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs.
It was in this room where Robert Burns died at the very young age of 37, from what is believed to have been a weak heart.
He was buried in the nearby cemetery with a simple stone. In 1803, William Wordsworth and his wife looked for his grave and were very surprised to learn that it wasn't easily found. So, in 1813, a number of prominent citizens launched an appeal to build a mausoleum, including the future King George IV.
The structure was completed in 1815, and, you must admit, it certainly is quite a grand structure. In fact, it stands out clearly in the cemetery.
Inside of this monument lies the graves of Robert Burns and his wife.
There is certainly a wealth of things to do in Dumfries, but we had visited here several years ago, and I planned this trip to take in some different sights, so we headed back to the car.
But, on the return route, we took this pedestrian bridge over the river.
Just look at this view from the bridge!
Walking back to the car, we found ourselves at the Robert Burns Center, which is where the GPS had originally directed us. We decided that we might as well pop in.
The center is actually an old mill, and it has a lovely museum upstairs, that tells the story of Robert Burns' connection to Dumfries, and it details his time in the city prior to his death.
There was an interesting diorama set up for the town of Dumfries as it would have looked when Burns lived there.
By now, I was feeling rather pleased that I had directed us to the wrong place! It was time to move on, but before I move forward here, let me post just a couple more photos.
Now, onto the New Abbey Corn Mill.
I know what you are thinking....another mill? But this one is different. This was unique because the miller's residence was actually attached to the mill. We learned that this was rarely the case because the mill itself can be quite volatile, but when this residence was added on, the walls were built nearly 2 ft wide to protect from any type of fire.
But, one thing that had us confused was why this was called a Corn Mill when it was actually used to grind oats. The guide explained to us that in Scotland, the word corn is used as a generic form for any type of grain. I had never known that, but now the name made perfect sense.
The basic mechanism of the mill was similar to that at Preston. A water wheel, which turned by the flow of water that came from a Mill Pond on the property.
The top floor had the pulley mechanism to pull the bags of grain to the top where they were loaded into shoots.
The shoots then fed the grain into the grinders.
The ground product was put through a sieve so that the larger pieces would be separated to go through the process all over again.
Behind the grinders, in a separate room, stands the feed for the coke to heat up the grain for drying.
Above that furnace is the grain, about 3 inches thick, and stirred on occasion in order to assure complete drying prior to grinding.
The farmer collected the grain and gave it to the miller to be ground. As payment, a portion of the grain was given to the miller. The miller, himself, had to pay for his rent with the milled grain, so he was dependent upon the farmers for his living. So you can see why a mill was a valuable asset in the community.
After touring the mill, we walked up to Sweetheart Abbey, where we had stopped in several years ago while driving through. I must say that it does look much more brilliant in the sunshine.
Continuing our travels, we made our way south and then turned west to drive along the southern coast, until we reached Rockcliffe.
We parked the car and looked at the trail map, and tried to decide just where we should start. I'm not sure why I haven't caught onto deciphering the trail maps, but I am honestly hopeless. I suppose that I have a fear that I'm going to end up in someone's back yard rather than on the trail. (That actually did happen one time, and the owner wasn't exactly thrilled.) So we now have no shame, and we have no issues just asking someone if they can direct us.
Luckily, today's trail was very busy, so we had no difficulty finding our route. And I'm happy to say that we did not have to share the trail with any furry friends. Well.....almost. There were some Highland cows but they were happy to stay at a distance.
When we finally reached the water, the views were quite stunning.
Right on the edge of town stands a little tea shop, called The Ark, and what a clever spot for them to have set up a business. The place was hopping!
So, we decided to stop in and have our usual afternoon treat: Tea and Scones with jam and cream.
Let me just say, this place did not disappoint.
We left smiling as we decided to retrace our steps rather than make the circular route because the views were so beautiful.
When we finally made it back to the car it was 3:20. I had originally planned for us to drive to Orchardton Tower, but had noted that it had its last entry at 3:30 and closed at 4:00. It would be impossible to make the entry time, but we decided to make the drive and just look at the tower from a distance since that option is always available.
If anything, the drive was very scenic. Sheep scattered about on hillsides, separated by rows and rows of rock walls.
I could tell that this tower was way off the beaten path. So much so, that when I instructed Marty to turn down a particular road, he said to me, "Are you sure about that?" and I said "yes". (Oh he of little faith.)
The road was barely wider than the car, but, luckily, no one was out and about on it. And, it wasn't difficult to spot in the distance.
This tower is the only round tower house in Scotland, built around 1756.
We were able to climb right up to the top!
The views were magnificent!
And it was just a wee bit breezy up there.
But now it was time to head to our hotel which is in Castle Douglas. I will admit that it is on a very busy street, but the room is lovely and the staff is exceedingly friendly.
We checked in and headed to the restaurant for some relaxation.
Until tomorrow!
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