Dalgarnock, Dalgarno, Dalgarnoc [1] was an ancient parish and a once considerable sized village in the Nithsdale area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, south of Sanquhar and north of Dumfries that enclosed the parish of Closeburn but was annexed to Closeburn in 1606 following the Reformation, separated again in 1648 and finally re-united in 1697, as part of the process that established the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

[2] It was a burgh of regality bordering the River Nith and Cample Water and held a popular market-tryst or fair from medieval times until 1601[3] when the Earl of Queensberry had them transferred to Thornhill,[4] commemorated in song by Robert Burns,[5][6] shortly before its demise and now only a remote churchyard remains at a once busy site.

No houses remained in the 1790s according to the 'Statistical Account for Closeburn' of the once sizeable village,[7] however its location was still familiar to locals in the 1950s and some traces of it could be made out to the east of the churchyard in a pasture centred on NX 878 936.

Dalgarnock church (NX 8758 9362) stood about a mile south of Thornhill, dedicated to St Michael and granted to Holyrood Abbey by Edgar, son of Duvenald of Strathnith and confirmed by William the Lion.

[14] After the Reformation Dalgarnock was granted to Sir James Douglas of Drumlanrig who then passed it in 1594 to Thomas Kirkpatrick of Closeburn.

[18] The Category B Listed churchyard contains several 17th and 18th century gravestones[19] and a collective memorial to the Covenanter martyrs of the Nithsdale district.

In addition to the traditional elements a figure is carved with arms that form part of a Green Man on the chest and foliage that reaches to the ground.

Claverhouse known as 'Bloody Clavers'[34] summoned the adult parishioners after the 'Enterkin Raid' near Drumlanrig Castle where in 1684 a short battle took place in the Enterkin Pass' at Glenvalentine when Covenanters ambushed some of Claverhouse's soldiers with the intention of rescuing prisoners on their way to Edinburgh and some troopers were killed with some soon to be martyred Covenanters were released.

A story is related of the marriage of the Covenanter John Porter and Agnes Milligan at Dalgarnock that was disturbed by the sudden arrival of 'Cruel Lag' resulting in the John trying to escape across the Nith that was in flood using stilts, however some floating debris knocked him into the fast flowing waters at which point Agnes dived in to try and save him.

His memorial reads : Here lyes the body of James Harkness in Locherben who died 6th Dec. 1723 aged 72 years Bel o this stone his dust doth ly who in dured 28 years porsecuti on by tiranny :Did him persue with echo & cry through many a lonsome place at last by Clavers he was tane Sentenced for to dy But God who for his soul took care did him from prison bring Because no other cause they had But that he could not give up With Christ his Glorious king, and swear alligence to that beast the duke of york, i mean.

In spite of all there hellish rage a naturel death he died in full asurance of his rest with Christ eternally[42] The Parish of Closeburn and Dalgarnock had to pay "Fines and Losses" of £3,671 18s.

The intention was to publicly commemorate the sacrifice of the Nithsdale Covenanters and an appeal was made for funds to provide a memorial for the martyrs and to restore the kirkyard and its graves.

[46] Burns makes reference to Dalgarnock in the 1795 song "Last May a Braw Wooer" in which the lady singer complains that a man who she was playing hard to get with transferred his affections to her cousin "..up the Gateslack".

"But a' the neist week, as I fretted wi' care, I gaed to the tryst o' Dalgarnock; And wha but my fine fickle lover was there!

"[48][49][50] Many derivations of the name Dalgarnock have been proposed, such as 'field with the short hill' from the Scots Gaelic dail gearr enoc.

[51] The name has been suggested as relating to the sound of the River Nith as 'Holm of the cry' from the Scots Gaelic Dail gair.

At nearby Rosebank is located the cropmark of a round barrow, circular in plan with a central pit and surrounded by a 1.9m ditch.

Elspeth Buchan was the leader of the Buchanites, an extreme religious sect who in the 1780s settled for a time at the nearby farm of New Cample where they built a dwelling known locally as 'Buchan Ha', the ruins of which still survive (datum 2017).

[57] Circa 1785 all forty-six or so of her followers met at a wooden platform they had built on Templand Hill above Dalgarnock, with the hope of ascending to heaven with their leader Luckie Buchan.

The legend is " The ghost was that of a young gentleman of the family of M‘Milligan of Dalgarnock, who had gone to offer his addresses to the daughter of the Laird of Tynron Castle.