Editing Solway Firth (section)

==History==
[[File:Haaf Net Fishermen, Solway Estuary - geograph.org.uk - 612827.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|[[Haaf net fishing]] in the Solway Firth]]
The name 'Solway' (recorded as ''Sulewad'' in 1218) is of Scandinavian origin,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=A Dictionary of British Place Names |last=Mills |first=A. D. |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |location=Oxford |pages=427 }}</ref> and was originally the name of a ford across the mud flats at [[River Esk (Dumfries and Galloway)|Eskmouth]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |title=The Non-Celtic Place-names of the Scottish Border Counties |last=Williamson |first=May G. |publisher=University of Edinburgh (Unpublished PhD Thesis) |year=1942 |pages=124 |url=http://www.spns.org.uk/MayWilliamsonComplete.pdf#page=173 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821224002/http://www.spns.org.uk/MayWilliamsonComplete.pdf#page=173 |archive-date=21 August 2014 }}</ref> The first element of the name is probably from the Old Norse word {{lang|non|súl}} 'pillar', referring to the [[Lochmaben Stone|Lochmaben Stane]], though it may instead be from  {{lang|non|súla}}, meaning  '[[Northern gannet|solan goose]]'.<ref name=":0" /> {{lang|non|Súl}} and {{lang|non|súla}} both have long vowels, but the early spellings of Solway indicate a short vowel in the first element.<ref name=":1" /> This may be due to the [[middle English phonology#Pre-cluster shortening|shortening]] of an originally long vowel in the [[Middle English]] period but may also represent an original short vowel.<ref name=":1" /> If this is the case, the first element may be {{lang|non|*sulr}}, an unrecorded word cognate with [[Old English]] {{lang|ang|sol}} 'muddy, pool', or a derivative of {{lang|ang|sulla}}, meaning 'to swill'.<ref name=":1" />

The second element of the name is from the [[Old Norse]] {{lang|non|vað}}, meaning 'ford'<ref name=":0" /> (which is [[cognate]] with the modern English word ''wade'').

The area had three fords: the Annan or Bowness Wath, the Dornock Wath (once called the Sandywathe), and the main one —the Solewath (also called the Solewath or the Sulewad).

A wooden lighthouse was built in 1841 at Barnkirk Point ({{gbmapping|NY 1903 6425}}). It was destroyed by fire in 1960.<ref>{{Cite rowlett|sctsw}}</ref>

On 9 March 1876, a 79-ton French [[lugger]] ''St. Pierre'', was stranded - and finally declared lost - on Blackshaw Bank, an ill-defined feature which extends for a considerable distance on both sides of the channel of the River Nith.<ref>Whittaker, I. G. (1998) Off Scotland: a comprehensive record of maritime and aviation losses in Scottish waters. Edinburgh. RCAHMS Shelf Number: E.5.14.WHI</ref>

Between 1869 and 1921, the estuary was crossed by the [[Solway Junction Railway]] on a 1780&nbsp;m (5850&nbsp;ft) iron [[viaduct]].<ref>Edgar, S. and Sinton, J.M. (1990). ''The Solway Junction Railway'', Locomotion Papers No. 176, The Oakwood Press, {{ISBN|0-85361-395-8}}</ref> The line was built to carry iron ore from the [[Whitehaven]] area to [[Lanarkshire]] and was financed and operated by the [[Caledonian Railway]] of Scotland. After the railway, which was not a financial success, ceased operating in 1921, the railway bridge became a popular footpath, enabling residents of Scotland to easily cross into [[England]], where [[alcoholic drink]] was legally available seven days a week. (Scotland was [[prohibition|dry]] on [[blue law|Sundays]] at the time.) The viaduct was demolished between 1931 and 1933.

Margaret Wilson was a Scottish Covenanter who was executed by drowning in the Solway Firth in 1685. She was tied to a stake in the water and left to drown with the incoming tide.  Margaret Wilson lived during a time of great turmoil in Scotland, with the Covenanter movement opposing the episcopalian governance of the Church of Scotland. The Covenanters sought to maintain their Presbyterian faith and resist the authority of the monarch.  

John Everett Millais created an illustration, a wood engraving, depicting the Scottish martyr Margaret Wilson, tied to a stake in the surf at Solway, because, as a Covenanter, refusing to acknowledge James II as head of the church.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/cloudofwitnesses00thom/page/434/mode/2up?view=theater|chapter=Margaret Lauehlane and Margaret Wilson|pages=435–442|title=A cloud of witnesses, for the royal prerogatives of Jesus Christ : being the last speeches and testimonies of those who have suffered for the truth in Scotland, since the year 1680|editor-last=Thomson|editor-first=John Henderson|date=1871|orig-date=1714}}</ref> It was engraved by the workshop of Joseph Swain and published in "Once a Week" (magazine) in 1862.<ref name=onceaweek>{{cite journal|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Once_a_Week_(magazine)/Series_1/Volume_7|journal=Once a Week (Magazine)|volume=7|page=42|number=158|date=July 5, 1862|title=Margaret Wilson}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=April 11, 2025 |title=The Knight Errant Sir John Everett Millais, Bt (1829-1896 |url=https://victorianweb.org/painting/millais/paintings/47.html |access-date=April 11, 2025 |website=The Victorian Web}}</ref> Of further interest is John Everett Millais' painting, The Knight Errant (1871) original section was later sewn into another canvas and exhibited in 1872 as ''The Martyr of The Solway'' (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; plate), which is similar to the woodcut noted here.
[[File:Margaret_Wilson_-_JE_Millais.png|thumb|The martyrdom of Margaret Wilson in the Solway Firth.<ref name=onceaweek/>]]
The [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] had by 1999 fired more than 6,350 [[depleted uranium]] rounds into the Solway Firth from its testing range at [[Dundrennan Range]].<ref>{{cite news| author=Rob Edwards| url=http://www.sundayherald.com/search/display.var.2192940.0.radiation_at_solway_range_hits_new_high.php| title=Radiation at Solway range hits new high| newspaper=[[Sunday Herald]]| access-date=10 August 2009}}</ref>