![Tomb of Mary, wife of the 2nd Duke of Queensberry](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Tomb_of_Mary%2C_wife_of_the_2nd_Duke_of_Queensberry.JPG)
Durisdeer is a small village in
Dumfries and Galloway, south-west
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, and in the historic county of
Dumfries-shire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county.
...
. It lies north of
Thornhill, above the Carron Water, a tributary of the
Nith.
History
A
Roman road once passed through the site of the village as a direct route from Nithsdale to Clydesdale, and the remains of a small, but well preserved Roman fortlet are located about a mile up the Well or Wald Path to the north-east; the defensive ditch and rampart are clearly visible.
Two temporary Roman camps, lying to the right of the lane running up to the village, were identified on RAF aerial photographs, although nothing now remains visible to the naked eye.
Having travelled along the 'Well or Wald Path'
James IV
James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...
stayed at Durisdeer in 1497 whilst on a pilgrimage to
St Ninian
Ninian is a Christian saint, first mentioned in the 8th century as being an early missionary among the Pictish peoples of what is now Scotland. For this reason he is known as the Apostle to the Southern Picts, and there are numerous dedication ...
's Church at
Whithorn
Whithorn ( ʍɪthorn 'HWIT-horn'; ''Taigh Mhàrtainn'' in Gaelic), is a royal burgh in the historic county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, about south of Wigtown. The town was the location of the first recorded Christia ...
.
[Scott, Page 4]
The first recorded minister at Durisdeer is John de Cader in 1394, and the original parish church was probably dedicated to
St. Mary.
[Scott, Page 3] There was a burial aisle for the Menzies family, with their names, arms and mottoes. In 1607 Sir James Douglas of Drumlanrig exhumed the body of William Menzies, the latest burial, and reburied him outside. The Menzies returned the body to the aisle, but Douglas threatened William's father, Adam Menzies of Enoch, and exhumed the body a second time. The
Privy Council of Scotland
The Privy Council of Scotland ( — 1 May 1708) was a body that advised the Scottish monarch. In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of m ...
condemned Douglas's actions in this feud.
The old church is marked as Dursdyire Kirk in a 1654 map. It was demolished to make way for the present-day Georgian church, a
category A listed building
Category, plural categories, may refer to:
Philosophy and general uses
*Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally
*Category of being
* ''Categories'' (Aristotle)
*Category (Kant)
* Categories (Peirce)
* ...
in the village, that also serves
Drumlanrig Castle
Drumlanrig Castle is situated on the Queensberry Estate in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The category A listed castle is the Dumfriesshire home of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry. It is open to the public at set times.
Co ...
, the 17th-century home of the
Duke of Queensberry
The title Duke of Queensberry was created in the Peerage of Scotland on 3 February 1684 along with the subsidiary title Marquess of Dumfriesshire for the 1st Marquess of Queensberry. The Dukedom was held along with the Marquessate of Queensbe ...
. Durisdeer Church was rebuilt by the third Duke in the 1720s, to designs by
James Smith. Adjoining the church is the slightly earlier Queensberry Aisle, burial place of the dukes, also by Smith, with a large marble monument to the
second Duke (1662-1711) and Mary, his duchess, carved by
Jan van Nost. The former manse nearby is now a private dwelling.
In 1732 the parish was enlarged by the addition of roughly half of the suppressed parish of
Kirkbride.
A marked feature of the church complex are the ducal apartments, which were later used as the parish school at the behest of the Duke.
[ These apartments were renovated and in 1968 were opened again for church use.][Scott, Page 9] Hewison records that the stone used to build the new church came from the demolished Durisdeer Castle, ''"..famous in the Wars of Independence."'' The masons were the same men who built Drumlanrig Castle
Drumlanrig Castle is situated on the Queensberry Estate in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The category A listed castle is the Dumfriesshire home of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry. It is open to the public at set times.
Co ...
.
The clock in the church tower was a gift from the Buccleuch Estates to mark the millennium and the tercentenary of Durisdeer Church.[
Durisdeer village mill stands on the Carron Water, some distance away. It is a category B listed building.
Durisdeer was included in the 1978 film version of '' The Thirty Nine Steps'', starring ]Robert Powell
Robert Powell (; born 1 June 1944) is an English actor who is known for the title roles in '' Mahler'' (1974) and ''Jesus of Nazareth'' (1977), and for his portrayal of secret agent Richard Hannay in '' The Thirty Nine Steps'' (1978) and its s ...
and a film of John Galt
John Galt () is a character in Ayn Rand's novel ''Atlas Shrugged'' (1957). Although he is not identified by name until the last third of the novel, he is the object of its often-repeated question "Who is John Galt?" and of the quest to discover ...
's ''Annals of the Parish'' made use of the interior of the church.[Scott, Page 10]
Andrew de Durisdeer was a 15th-century bishop of Glasgow
The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Scottish Episcopal Church, it is now part of th ...
whose name suggests that he came from Durisdeer, possibly with the surname ''Muirhead''.
Toponymy
Durriseer is recorded in the form ''Durrysder'' in 1328. This likely represents Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
''dubhros'' 'a dark wood' and ''doire'' 'an oak copse'. The name would therefore mean "dark wood of the oak copse."
See also
* Skelmorlie Aisle
The Skelmorlie Aisle of Largs Old Kirk is the remains of a church in the town of Largs, Ayrshire, Scotland.
History
The majority of the kirk (church) was demolished in 1802 when the new parish church came into use, but the aisle, a division of ...
* Kirkbride, Durisdeer
Kirkbride, previously Kilbride was an ancient parish close to the village of Enterkinfoot, the lands of which lay on both sides of the River Nith in the old Strathnith area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, about 5 miles south of Sanquhar and ...
* Deil's Dyke - A linear earthwork.
References
;Notes
;Sources
*
*
*
* Hewison, James K. (1912). Cambridge County Geographies ''Dumfrieshire''. Cambridge University Press.
* Scott, Rev. James W. (2000). ''Durisdeer Parish Church. Three Hundred Years of Worship''. Tercentenary Booklet.
External links
Video and commentary on the Queensberry Aisle and Douglas Vault
Video and annotations regarding the church and churchyard
Video and commentary on the Durisdeer Roman Road and Fortlet
{{authority control
Villages in Dumfries and Galloway
Parishes in Dumfries and Galloway