Comprising The Growth of a Scottish Burgh: a study in the early history of Dumfries (1915)by George William Shirley, and Maxwelltown: Some memories of an old Scotch Burgh (1897) by J.S.Elder. This book brings together for the first time two little volumes which provide an insight into life on either bank of the River Nith. Each author has a widely different style, and each takes his own approach to history; the formal rigour of antiquarian Shirley contrasts with the dominie's personal reminiscences of the town over the bridge.