The Historical Families Of Dumfriesshire and The Border Wars 1889

Superb history of the Dumfriesshire families of the era.
"IN a previous edition, I alluded too briefly to the
important Border war of the reigns of Robert Bruce
and Edward I., but as the three claimants to the Scottish
throne possessed lands in Dumfriesshire, who naturally
took much share in it, I have added a Chapter on the
subject. In describing the different families celebrated in
past ages, I have given greater prominence to those whose
history has never been published before, and who are still
represented in the legitimate male line. Owing to the
custom of the sons of heiresses inheriting their mother's
name, and of lands being rarely entailed exclusively on
male heirs, it is a very unusual circumstance to find two
branches of one family claiming unbroken male descent
from the 15th century, as is the case with the Johnstones,
who numbered nine lairds (more than any other house in
Dumfriesshire), in 1581, and a tenth laird in Lanarkshire.
Family details help to illustrate the manners of a period,
and assist in elucidating some obscure points of national
history. The list of Members of ancient Scottish Parliaments
will, it is hoped, be found interesting, as well as the
pictures of ancient Castles, for which I am indebted to the
kindness of a proficient in Scottish archaeology and antiquities,
Richard Gardiner, Esq., M.D."