Durisdeer is a small village in
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...
, south-west
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, and in the historic county of
Dumfries-shire. It lies north of
Thornhill, above the Carron Water, a tributary of the
Nith.
History
A
Roman road
Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...
once passed through the site of the village as a direct route from Nithsdale to Clydesdale. 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 dedicatio ...
's Church at
Whithorn
Whithorn (; ), 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 Christian church in Scotland, "White/Shining House", built by ...
.
[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
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
.
[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. During its existence, the Privy Council of Scotland was essentially considered as the government of the Kingdom of Scotland, and was seen as the most ...
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 church built in 1699, a
category A listed building
Category, plural categories, may refer to:
General uses
*Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy
* Category of being
* ''Categories'' (Aristotle)
* Category (Kant)
* Categories (Peirce)
*Category (V ...
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 of Buccleuch and Queensberry. As of September 2023, the castle itself is open to t ...
, 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 William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry, 1st Marquess of Queensberry. The Dukedom was he ...
. 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 1727 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 of Buccleuch and Queensberry. As of September 2023, the castle itself is open to t ...
.
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 Thomas 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 a film of John Galt'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 Catholic Church, the title was restored by Pope ...
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 (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to:
Languages
* Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...
''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
* 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