Dumfries

Administrative headquarters of Dumfries and Galloway unitary authority, Scotland; population (2001) 31,150. It is situated on the River Nith, 53 km/33 mi northwest of Carlisle. Industries include plastics, light engineering, and textiles. The Scottish poet Robert Burns is buried in the graveyard of St Michael's church.

The site of a Franciscan friary where Robert (I) the Bruce killed the Red Comyn is now built on; a stone marks the site of the old castle of Dumfries which Robert captured after Comyn's death. This death started the long war of independence. Greyfriars church (1867) stands on the site of the old castle of the Maxwells.

Sweetheart Abbey, southwest of Dumfries, was founded in 1273 by Devorgilla Balliol in memory of her husband. Devorgilla Balliol, with her husband, also founded Balliol College, Oxford. Caerlaverock Castle (1290) is situated nearby.

Scotland's national bard Robert Burns worked at Ellisland Farm, 10 km/6 mi north of the town, from 1788 until 1791, when he moved to Dumfries, where he worked as an exciseman until he died in 1796. The playwright JM Barrie was educated at the town's academy and is understood to have conceived Peter Pan at this time.

Two foot bridges and four traffic bridges span the river. Devorgilla's Bridge (1426) is the oldest and is now reserved for pedestrians.

Dumfries

Town in Prince William County, northeast Virginia; population (1990) 4,300. It is situated and Quantico Creek, 35 km/22 mi southwest of Alexandria. The town is a residential suburb with many mobile-home parks. An important 18th-century trading centre, it lost importance when the creek silted up. Mason Locke Weems, the fanciful biographer of George Washington, kept a bookshop here, which is now a museum.