Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Dumfries
Dumfries (/dʌmˈfriːs/ ⓘ dum-FREESS; Scots: Dumfries; from Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Phris Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [ˌt̪un ˈfɾʲiʃ]) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, 25 miles (40 km) from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the historic county of Dumfriesshire.
Before becoming King of Scots, Robert the Bruce killed his rival John Comyn III of Badenoch at Greyfriars Kirk in the town in 1306. The Young Pretender had his headquarters here towards the end of 1745. In World War II, the Norwegian armed forces in exile in Britain largely consisted of a brigade in Dumfries.
Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South. This is also the name of the town's football club. People from Dumfries are known colloquially in Scots language as Doonhamers.
There are a number of theories on the etymology of the name, with an ultimately Celtic derivation (either from Brythonic, Gaelic or a mixture of both) considered the most likely.
The first element is derived either from the elements drum or dronn-, (meaning "ridge" or "hump", also in Gaelic as druim), or from Dùn meaning fort. One of the more commonly given etymologies is that the name Dumfries originates from the Scottish Gaelic name Dùn Phris, meaning "Fort of the Thicket".
The second element is less obvious, but may be cognate with the Cumbric prēs, an element common in the Brythonic areas south of the River Forth. As such, Dumfries has been suggested as a possible location of Penprys, the mysterious capital of a land in Medieval Welsh literature, most notably mentioned in the awdl, "Elegy for Gwallawg" by Taliesin.
According to a third theory, the name is a corruption of two Old English or Old Norse words which mean "the Friars' Hill"; those who favour this idea allege the formation of a religious house near the head of what is now the Friars' Vennel. If the name were English or Norse, however, the expected form would have the elements in reversed orientation (compare Clarendon). A Celtic derivation is therefore preferred.
A final theory connects the name with the Anglo-Saxon settlement of England during the fifth century with a meaning of "fortress of the Frisians". This etymology has long been considered unlikely. In 1915 James King Hewison wrote "Of a Frisian settlement in Dumfries, which is supposed by some to mean "the fort of the Frisians", there is no trace, and no record."
Hub AI
Dumfries AI simulator
(@Dumfries_simulator)
Dumfries
Dumfries (/dʌmˈfriːs/ ⓘ dum-FREESS; Scots: Dumfries; from Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Phris Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [ˌt̪un ˈfɾʲiʃ]) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, 25 miles (40 km) from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the historic county of Dumfriesshire.
Before becoming King of Scots, Robert the Bruce killed his rival John Comyn III of Badenoch at Greyfriars Kirk in the town in 1306. The Young Pretender had his headquarters here towards the end of 1745. In World War II, the Norwegian armed forces in exile in Britain largely consisted of a brigade in Dumfries.
Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South. This is also the name of the town's football club. People from Dumfries are known colloquially in Scots language as Doonhamers.
There are a number of theories on the etymology of the name, with an ultimately Celtic derivation (either from Brythonic, Gaelic or a mixture of both) considered the most likely.
The first element is derived either from the elements drum or dronn-, (meaning "ridge" or "hump", also in Gaelic as druim), or from Dùn meaning fort. One of the more commonly given etymologies is that the name Dumfries originates from the Scottish Gaelic name Dùn Phris, meaning "Fort of the Thicket".
The second element is less obvious, but may be cognate with the Cumbric prēs, an element common in the Brythonic areas south of the River Forth. As such, Dumfries has been suggested as a possible location of Penprys, the mysterious capital of a land in Medieval Welsh literature, most notably mentioned in the awdl, "Elegy for Gwallawg" by Taliesin.
According to a third theory, the name is a corruption of two Old English or Old Norse words which mean "the Friars' Hill"; those who favour this idea allege the formation of a religious house near the head of what is now the Friars' Vennel. If the name were English or Norse, however, the expected form would have the elements in reversed orientation (compare Clarendon). A Celtic derivation is therefore preferred.
A final theory connects the name with the Anglo-Saxon settlement of England during the fifth century with a meaning of "fortress of the Frisians". This etymology has long been considered unlikely. In 1915 James King Hewison wrote "Of a Frisian settlement in Dumfries, which is supposed by some to mean "the fort of the Frisians", there is no trace, and no record."