DUMFRIES
& GALLOWAY
ROBERT BURNS STATUE TAKES PRIDE OF PLACE IN DUMFRIES.
All
too many visitors to Scotland rush through Dumfries and Galloway on
their way to other destinations: Edinburgh or Glasgow, the Highlands
or the Western Isles. But this region which includes the the whole south
-western corner of Scotland in an area of great variety, interest and
natural beauty.
Its southern fringe is the Solway Coast, with its old fishing
harbours, sandy beaches and one-time smugglers' inlets. Around Auchencairn,
Rockcliffe and Kippford there is some of the finest coastal scenery
in Scotland. Inland, farms and forests, as well as the wooded grounds
of castles and stately homes, take over. Then the landscape rises to
remote mountains and hill lochs. Visitors are often surprised to learn
that Scotland's highest village is not in the Highlands, but at Wanlockhead,
where almost the whole village is a fascinating museum of the lead-mining
days.
Dumfries is the principal town, on the River Nith, featuring
a fine array of museums. Several of these are connected with Robert
Burns, who, towards the end of his life, was a popular townsman here.
The Globe Inn, where he yarned and drank with his cronies, has a room
preserved almost exactly as he knew it.
Langholm, over on the eastern border, is a wool town. Kilcudbrighshire
retains its Georgian layout and elegantly proportioned houses. Dalbeattie's
granite was once highly prized for major civil engineering projects
like London's Thames Embankment. Newtown Stewart is the gateway to the
great forests in and around Glentrool. Wigtown is an old country
capital, and the Wigtownshire ports of Stranraer and Cairnryan provide
ferry services to Northern Ireland.
