nith

ROBERT BURNS

River Nith

The source of the River Nith is found in the lower slopes of Enoch Hill in the south west corner of the parish of New Cumnock. From here it flows due north before heading east, effectively dividing the parish in two. It is joined by the Afton Water close to New Cumnock's town centre. Indeed the name Cumnock is from the Gaelic comunn ach 'place of the confluence' - the meeting of the Afton Water and the River Nith. A few miles downstream and the River Nith meanders slowly past Corsencon Hill . Robert Burns has captured this eternal relationship between the River Nith and Corsencon in his marvellous 'O Were I on Parnassus Hill' and again in 'Does Haughty Gaul Invasion Threat' where he exclaims that the 'Nith shall run to Corsencon', i.e. run backwards before any Foreign Foe should dare invade these shores!!

The Nith then runs from Corsencon and crosses the county boundary and beautiful Nithsdale beckons, a vale that Burns loved and knew well . The river flows past Ellisland, where Burns and his family moved to from Mauchline in 1788, and then onto the county town of Dumfries om 1791. He died there in 1796 and lies in a mausoleum in the town's St. Michael's Kirkyard, overlooking the River Nith as it continues its journey to the Solway Firth.

Verse 1
Does haughty Gaul invasion threat ?
Then let the louns beware Sir;
There's WOODEN WALLS upon our seas,
And VOLUNTEERS on shore, Sir:
The Nith shall run to Corsincon,
And Criffel sink in Solway,
Ere we permit a Foreign Foe
On British ground to rally !
We'll ne'er permit a Foreign Foe
On British ground to rally !

Verse 4
The wretch that would a tyrant own,
And the wretch, his true-born brother,
Who would set the Mod aboon the Throne.
May they be damn'd together!
Who will not sing 'God save the King'
Shall hang as high's the steeple;
But while we sing 'God save the King,'
We'll ne'er forget THE PEOPLE !
But while we sing 'God save the King,'
We'll ne'er forget THE PEOPLE!