From Dalmellington the River Nith flows southeast across East Ayrshire and Dumfries & Galloway to the Solway Firth. To the Romans it was the Novius Fluvius. It has haaf and stake netting for salmon and sea trout but also has rainbow trout, bream, eels, flounders and minnows. Some of its most important water is not seen, as Dumfries lies above one of the best and most important aquifers in Scotland.
Dumfries takes its name from the Gaelic dun-phries, fort at the copse. It is also the Queen of the South and, to Burns, was Maggie by the Banks of Nith. In 1186 it was created a royal burgh by William the Lion. Burns Square was the site of the Greyfriars’ monastery where Robert the Bruce stabbed Sir John the Red Comyn in 1306 and declared himself king. Sir John was his rival for the throne and a supporter of
