Why the crocs in Dumfries?

In the very centre of Dumfries, near to Marks and Spencer, there is an ornate historic fountain. This is painted deep red with features picked out in gold. So far as is known, the water no longer runs.

At the top are four herons, below them four dolphins and at the bottom four cherubs each holding a crocodile in his lap.

Crocodiles are an unusual decorative element and one wonders why they should be featured in the Dumfries fountain.

Crocodiles have always been feared and, even today, they remain a problem in several parts of the world. The large salt-water crocodiles of northern Australia take a regular toll on unwary humans. Once these were widely distributed throughout Asia, and it has been suggested that the crocodile is the origin of China's “dragon boats.”

We owe our word “mugger” to the crocodile. The widespread Mugger Crocodile is the most common type in India, and is found in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Iran, Indo-China and perhaps Southern Iraq. “Makara” is the Sanskrit word for sea dragon. From this comes the Urdu “magar.” And it is from that that “mugger” entered the English language for an attacker that sneaks up without warning on its innocent victim.

So, there are four muggers featured prominently on Dumfries' attractive historic fountain.

A thought. J.M. Barrie, who wrote the story of Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, attended Dumfries Academy from 1873 to 1878. While there he and his schoolmates played in the gardens of Moat Brae House, developing a fantasy saga that Barrie is said to have later developed into Peter Pan. Currently, an extensive restoration effort is under way at Moat Brae – see www.moatbrae.org. Barrie's first play, Bandalero the Bandit, was performed by the Dumfries Amateur Dramatic Club in 1877.

The villain of Peter Pan is the evil Captain James Hook – who was terrified of crocodiles. Peter Pan cut off Hook's hand and he wore an iron hook as a replacement. The hand was eaten by a crocodile which so liked the taste that it stalked the captain ever afterwards. Fortunately, the crocodile also swallowed a clock so that Hook knew when it was around.

Could the young Barrie have gained inspiration for the crocodile of Peter Pan from the crocs of the Dumfries Fountain? It would be interesting to know when the fountain was erected.

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Making lime from cockleshells

The soils of Galloway are generally poor and so in the past they were improved by the application of lime. The Rev C.H. Dick, in a book published in 1916, quoted a description of making lime from cockle shells at Baldoon, near Wigtown. He says he is quoting a description of “Symson,” a clergyman, who watched the process “more than 200 years ago.” He comments: “The information might be useful if one were cast away on a desert island.

Symson wrote: “On the banks of this Park, that lyes opposit to the sea, if there be in the winter time any high tides and storms from the South East, the sea casts innumerable and incredible quantities of Cockleshells, which the whole shire makes use of for lime, and it is the onely lime which this countrey affords. The way of making it is thus: Upon an even Area (the circumference they make less or more, according to the quantity of shells they intend to burne,) they set erected peits [peats?], upon which they put a layer of shells a foot thick or more, and then upon them again lay peits, and so, stratum super stratum, till they bring it to a head like a pyramis; but as they put on these layers just in the center, they make a tunnell of peits, like a chimney, hollow in the middest reaching from the bottom to the top (just almost as Evelyn describes in the making of charcoal;) this done, they take a pan full of burning peits, and put them down into this tunnel, or chimney, and so close up all with shells. This fire kindles the whole kilne, and in twentie-four hours space, or thereby, will so burn the shells that they will run together in a hard masse; after this they let it cool a little, and then with an iron spade they bring it down by degrees, and sprinkling water thereon, with a beater they beat it, (or berry it, for that's their terme; this word they also use for threshing, and so call the thresher of their corne the berrier) and then put it so beaten into little heaps, which they press together with the broad side od their spade, after which, in a short time, it will dissolve (they call it melting) into a small white powder, and it is excellent lime.

“I have heard good masons say that, as it is whiter, so also it binds stones together surer and better than stone lime itself.”

This last point makes one think of Saint Ninian, who brought Christianity to the British Isles in the fifth century and who built a church at Whithorn, Galloway. This church was built of stone, at a time when all buildings were made of wood. It shone famously and could be seen for miles, particularly from the sea. Could this brilliant white have been the result of using the cockle shell lime described above?

p 204-205. Highways and Byways in Galloway and Carrick, by the Rev. C.H. Dick. Macmillan and Co Ltd. London. 1916. Illustrations by Hugh Thomson. 1916.

An 1858 view on women

An 1858 view on women

One of the joys of visiting the Reading Lasses cafe/bookshop in Wigtown is the opportunity to leaf through the many volumes on the self while enjoying a tasty treat.

Reading Lasses specialises in books about women's issues, history, culture, fiction and related subjects. On a recent visit the book that jumped off the shelf to accompany a cappuccino and a big slice of chocolate cake was “A Woman's Thoughts About Women,” who, surprisingly, or perhaps not so, didn't give her name. The book was published in London in 1858 and the writer ranged over the subject of women, from a viewpoint that would be, ahem, regarded as unusual in these modern times.

“Equally blasphemous, and perhaps even more harmful, is the outcry about 'the equality of the sexes;' the frantic attempt to force women, many of whom are either ignorant of or unequal for their own duties! Who that ever listened for two hours to the verbose and confused inanities of a ladies' committee, would immediately go and give his vote for a female House of Commons? Or who, on the receipt of a lady's letter of business – I speak of the average – would henceforth desire to have our courts of justice stocked with matronly lawyers, and our colleges thronged by 'Sweet girl-graduates with their golden hair?'

“As for finance, in its various branches – if you pause to consider the extreme difficulty there always is in balancing Mrs Smith's housekeeping-book, or Miss Smith's quarterly allowance, I think, my dear Paternal Smith, you need not be much afraid lest this loud acclaim for 'women's rights' should ever end in pushing you from your stools, in counting-house, college or elsewhere.

“No; equality of the sexes is not in the nature of things...”

Later, the Victorian lady author considers the subject of female servants and their damned ingratitude for the favours showered upon them.

“...each is in her station. Providence fixed both where they are; and while there remain, unless either individual is qualified to change, neither has the smallest right to overstep the barrier between them; recognised, perhaps, better tacitly than openly by either, but never by any ridiculous assumption of equality denied or set aside.”

There's nothing more galling than a smart woman: “Why is it that, especially in large towns, a 'clever' servant is almost sure to turn out badly?”

And don't get her started on cooks: “...the servant is often very unjust too. Cook, who has only to dress the dinner, and neither to work nor pay for it, turns up her nose at missis's 'meanness,' i.e displeasure at waste or extravagance – cook, who, if any crash came, has only to look out for another place; while missis has her five children, whose little mouths must be filled, and little bodies must be clothed, and 'master,' whom it breaks her heart to see coming in from the City, haggard, tired, and cross – a crossness he cannot help, poor man! - or sitting down with a pitiful patience, sick and sad, almost wishing, save for her and the children, that he could lay his head on his shoulder and die! What does cook in the kitchen, fat and comfortable, know of all these things – the agonised struggle for position and character – nay, mere bread – which makes the days and nights of thousands of the professional classes one long battle for life?”

Many more such treats await on the shelves of Reading Lasses, not just on the bookshelves but on the shelves of cakes and sweet treats. “...our Galloway cheddar, wild salmon from the River Cree and chicken breasts are all smoked over whisky barrel embers using traditional methods by Marrbury Smokehouse. Our cheese boards combine Marrburry smoked cheese with hand-made organic cheeses from the Locharthur Creamery in Beeswing. Our chutneys and jams re made by a family business in Wigtown. We use Wigwam Bakery bread handmade in Creetown. Our jams, chutneys, award winning Montezuma chocolate and bread are all available for you to buy and enjoy at home. Many of our vegetables and salads are grown for us by Garrochar Market Garden also in Creetown. We include many ingredients from our own organic garden too. We prepare our own soups, cakes and pies in our kitchen from the finest ingredients, organic and locally sourced where ever possible.”

Winter: open 10-5 Monday to Saturday. Open Sunday as well in summer. Reading Lasses, Gerrie, Susan and Bex, 17 South Main Street, Wigtown, Scotland, DG8 9EH. Tel: 01988 403 266. books@reading-lasses.com www.reading-lasses.com.

Lobster storm

Sir Herbert Maxwell lived at his estate at Monreith,near Port William, Galloway. In his book of memories, written at the age of 88 which was published in 1932,he recalled a great storm that produced lobsters.

"We worked together diligently in the garden. In the old ash trees outside the garden there was a populous rookery which accounts for the memory of our joint labour being indelibly associated with the cawing of rooks and the soft, rich blue of grape hyacinths. The ash trees are no more, they were wrecked in the great gales of 1882-3, and the rooks went with them, but founded a strong colony on the west side of the loch.

"There they remained till a fresh calamity overtook them in the most furious storm in my experience of 22nd December 1894. Scores of rooks were blown into the loch and drowned; others were killed or maimed by falling trees, and cripples might be seen weeks later hirpling through the woods. That gale blew at its height from north-west for not more than an hour and a half; but that was long enough for much mischief. It cost me £2000 to repair the damage done to farm buildings. This was the only occasion on which I have known lobsters to be blown ashore. Crabs, starfishes and other fruitti di mare suffer stranding in every storm; but never before or since have I found lobsters among them.

"On the morning after the gale I went down to the shore to inspect a schooner that had got stranded in the night. The beach was strewn with a great variety of jetsam, including small land birds from the other side of the bay. It was intensely cold, so I did not linger long, but before leaving I picked up eight fine lobsters frozen to death, which I carried home, where they were turned to good account. This served me to disprove the cruel doctrine which, I am told, regulates the cooking of lobsters for restaurants and such like, namely that their shells will not turn red unless they are placed in cold water to be boiled alive. Those that I brought home that day turned when cooked to scarlet as lively as ever was set before a Lord Mayor.

Evening Memories, by the Rt Hon Sir Herbert Maxwell of Monreith. Published by Alexander Maclehose and Co, London. 1932.Page 23-24
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What happened to all the trees?

The landscape of Galloway is generally rather bare, although sizeable areas are covered by modern forestry plantations. So, what happened to all the old native trees?

Historian Sir Herbert Maxwell, wrote A History of Dumfries and Galloway, published in 1896. He considered the “crannogs” or fortified settlements in the middle of lochs. These took a lot of timber to construct.

Maxwell wrote [pages 17-19] of the crannogs: “Our knowledge of the mode of life pursued and the degree of civilisation attained by the primitive inhabitants of south-western Scotland would be extremely meagre if it rested on the evidence of such terrestrial remains as have survived the operations of agriculture and the successive replacement of ancient structures by new dwellings occupying the old sites. But during the last thirty years attention has been directed to a class of inhabitants which have been so well preserved by reason of the sites occupied as to remain in much the same condition as when their inhabitants deserted them. The presence, moreover, of articles of Roman manufacture indicate these dwellings were contemporary with the Roman Occupation.

“Antiquitaries knew very little about crannogs or lake-dwellings in Scotland, until the exploration in 1862 of a group of them exposed by the drainage of Dowalton Loch in the parishes of Kirkinner, Sorby, and Glasserton. These have yielded fragments of Roman ware of the kind usually called Samian, and in one instance a large bronze vessel, ornamented with the head of Medusa, and bearing on the handle a Roman maker’s name [Footnote: Found on a crannog in Dowalton in 1863. Now in the National Museum of Antiquitaries, Edinburgh].

“More than a hundred years before the time of Agricola [AD40-93, Roman general who conquered much of Britain] Julius Caesar had described the natives of Britain making use of wooden piles and marshes in their intrenchments. Dr Munro declares his belief that this was a universal practice among the Celts, who brought their knowledge of it in their migration from Central and Southern Europe [Footnote: Lake-Dwellings of Europe. By R. Munro, M.D. London 1890, p 491]. Be this as it may, the interest aroused by the discoveries in Dowalton, following on those in the Swiss lakes, has resulted in finding crannogs prevalent all over Scotland, except in those lakes where natural islets provided ready-mage refuge; and it may be safely assumed that they were in universal use among the Selgovae and Novantae at the time of Agricola’s invasion.

“Certain conclusions may be drawn from their structure as to the aspect of the country, and, from the objects found on them, as to the degree of civilisation attained by the inhabitants, their food, and even their clothing.

“In the first place, the immense of material required to build a crannog, which was a framework of massive oak logs mortised together, filled with huge bundles of brushwood secured by innumerable piles of oak, Scots fir, or ash, and decked with solid oak planking, implies the presence of dense forest in a country subsequently wholly denuded of wood. It was estimated that in building a simple crannog which was exposed on the drainage of Barhapple Loch, a very small sheet of water near Glenluce, upwards of 3000 large trees had been employed, besides those used in the erection of dwellings on the island, and the construction of causeways to the shore, an invariable feature in latchstring habitations. This crannog and the buildings on it had been destroyed by fire, as was shown by several large beams partially burnt. Not only were trees abundant where now there are artificial plantations, but they were of great size. Canoes hollowed out of solid oak-trunks are commonly found near crannogs; for although these islands are connected with the shore by causeways, these are always interrupted at the end farthest from the shore, for the purposes of defence. Five such canoes were found among the Dowalton group, varying in length from 25 to 31 feet. It might seem impossible to find in the whole of Wigtownshire living oaks of equal magnitude to these, unless one bears in mind the methods still employed by primitive boat-builders, who wedge out a tree-stem during the process of hollowing, so as to make the breadth of the boat considerably greater than the original diameter of the trunk.

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A hero's Christening robe

There is a wonderful local museum at the town of Dalbeattie which is crammed with fascinating items.

The small museum is a key part of local life and there so many exhibits that there is always something to catch the eye.

In one case there is a beautiful lace Christening robe. This bears a card: “Lady Blantyre's eldest son was Christened in this robe in 1775.”

If there is a mistake in the date, then a story unfolds.

The title of Lord Balantyre was created in 1600 in the Peerage of Scotland for Walter Stewart, who was educated with King James VI of Scotland, who also became James I, King of England and Ireland on the Union in 1707. He was the first monarch to describe himself as King of Great Britain. Walter Stewart was closely involved in arranging the Union. He died on November 5, 1604.

Fast forward ,and we find Robert Walter Stuart (spelling of name had changed) as 11th Lord Balantyre. He was born on June 10, 1777. Perhaps this is the person whose Christening robe is displayed in Dalbeattie museum. The 11th Lord became a distinguished soldier who saw many battles and campaigns, and served all over Europe and also in Egypt and New Zealand. He entered the 3rd Regiment of the Foot Guards at the age of 18. Then he became a captain of the 32nd regiment of Foot, then Lieutenant Colonel of the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment – an ancestor of the Black Watch (now an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.) The 42nd fought with great distinction at the Battle of Quatre Bras in 1816, where it was Mentioned in Despatches by Wellington and it also fought at the Battle of Waterloo.

Could the Christening robe at Dalbeattie Museum actually have been used for the 11th Lord Balantyre?

The last Lord Balantyre, the 12th, was born in 1818 and died in 1900 when the title became extinct as there was no heir. Lots of land obviously went with the title. In 1830 he possessed no less than 4,100 acres, which add up to about 57 square kilometres.

Dalbeattie Museum, 81 High Street, Dalbeattie, DG5 4BS. Open April to October: Monday to Saturday 11am to 4pm; Sundays 2pm to 4pm. Entry free. Private viewings can be arranged. Full wheelchair access. Telephone: 01556 611 657. email: info@dalbeattiemuseum.co.uk. Website: www.dalbeattiemuseum.co.uk.

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More mysterious cups and rings

Throughout Galloway there are many ancient stones bearing round indentations and rings. No-one knows what these represent and one expert says he has counted about a hundred possible explanations advanced by enthusiasts over the years.

What is agreed is that the stones and their “cup and ring markings” "cup and ball markings" are of great age, dating back thousands of years.

Outside the Stewartry Museum, in Castle Douglas, plaster casts of some of these baffling stones are on display. A hand-held board which can be collected inside the museum is written in elegant copperplate handwriting and gives the following information:

“The originals are on an outcrop of rock at the farm at Highbanks, Kirkudbright.

“Cup and Ring markings were man's first attempt at stone sculpture. They were carved at various dates from 3200BC to 700AD. Those shown here were probably made about 1600BC. No-one is certain of the meaning of the Cup and Ring markings but it was probably mystic or religious and in this case may have been made by early copper prospectors to invoke the help of the sun in their search.”

What's your theory?

Also, see earlier post "Cup and Ball markings baffle experts."