Brow on the Solway

Brow is a hamlet on the banks of the Solway Firth not far from Dumfries. A spring there - Brow Well, was thought to have medicinal properties. As Burns' health deteriorated, his doctor advised that he go to Brow to drink the spring water and wade in the water of the Solway. Sadly this was probably very harmful to Burns who was infact suffering from an undiagnosed heart condition.   This is 1 of 12 etchings by George Houston which form a series entitled Burns Country. The series depicts different sites around Ayrshire with which Burns was associated at various stages in his life. The series was published in May 1915 and was accompanied by text written by Houston's friend Neil Munro.   Munro wrote the following text to accompany this print:   Nith swept him finally to its estuary that strays at ebb through the great sands of the Solway. Broken in health, and doomed, he was at the end of June, 1796, advised to try sea-baths and the mineral well at Brow, ten miles from Dumfries. He spent some weeks there, gradually sinking, in what was surely the most melancholy sea resort to which an invalid could go, and yet in keeping with the tragic story of his life and with its end. On 18th July, he was taken home, and three days later died.