Editing Dumfries (section)

==Toponymy==
There are a number of theories on the etymology of the name, with an ultimately [[Common Celtic|Celtic]] derivation (either from [[Common Brittonic|Brythonic]], [[Old Irish|Gaelic]] or a mixture of both) considered the most likely.

The first element is derived either from the elements ''drum'' or ''dronn-'',<ref name="bliton" /> (meaning "ridge" or "hump", also in [[Old Irish|Gaelic]] as ''druim''<ref name="bliton" />), or from ''Dùn'' meaning fort. One of the more commonly given etymologies is that the name ''Dumfries'' originates from the [[Scottish Gaelic]] name ''Dùn Phris'', meaning "Fort of the Thicket".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.parliament.scot/Gaelic/placenamesC-E.pdf|title=Parliament Scotland – Placenames – Gaelic – C-E|access-date=5 July 2018|archive-date=13 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013215200/http://www.parliament.scot/Gaelic/placenamesC-E.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The second element is less obvious, but may be cognate with the [[Cumbric]] ''prēs'', an element common in the [[Common Brittonic|Brythonic]] areas south of the River Forth.<ref name="bliton">{{Cite web |last=James |first=Alan |title=A Guide to the Place-Name Evidence |url=http://spns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Alan_James_Brittonic_Language_in_the_Old_North_BLITON_Volume_II_Dictionary.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813011121/http://spns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Alan_James_Brittonic_Language_in_the_Old_North_BLITON_Volume_II_Dictionary.pdf |archive-date=13 August 2017 |access-date=25 November 2018 |website=SPNS – The Brittonic Language in the Old North}}</ref> As such, Dumfries has been suggested as a possible location of ''Penprys'', the mysterious capital of a land in [[Medieval Welsh literature]], most notably mentioned in the [[awdl]], "''Elegy for Gwallawg''" by [[Taliesin]].<ref name="bliton" />

According to a third theory, the name is a corruption of two [[Old English]] or [[Old Norse]] words which mean "the Friars' Hill"; those who favour this idea allege the formation of a religious house near the head of what is now the Friars' Vennel.<ref name=autogeneratedhist /> If the name were English or Norse, however, the expected form would have the elements in reversed orientation (compare [[Clarendon Palace|Clarendon]]). A Celtic derivation is therefore preferred.

A final theory connects the name with the [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of England]] during the fifth century with a meaning of "fortress of the Frisians".<ref>An elaborate version of this theory is in {{cite book |author1=[[John Morris (historian)|John Morris]] |title=The Age of Arthur: A History of the British Isles from 350 to 650 |date=1973 |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |location=London, UK |isbn=978-0-684-13313-3 |pages=61-62, 68 |url=https://archive.org/details/ageofarthurhisto0000morr_y6x5/page/61/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=29 March 2025}}</ref>  This etymology has long been considered unlikely. In 1915 [[James King Hewison]] wrote "Of a Frisian settlement in Dumfries, which is supposed by some to mean "the fort of the Frisians", there is no trace, and no record."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hewison |first1=James King |title=Dumfriesshire |date=1915 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |page=67 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hwc7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA67 |access-date=29 March 2025 |language=en}}</ref>