River Esk, Dumfries and Galloway River Esk, Dumfries and Galloway The River Esk (), also called the Border Esk, is a river in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, that flows into the Solway Firth. It also flows for a small way through the English county of Cumbria before entering the Solway. The river rises in the hills to the east of Moffat and its two main tributaries, the Black Esk and the White Esk, merge at the southern end of Castle O'er Forest. It flows south east through Eskdale past Langholm before merging with Liddel Water (which defines the border between Scotland and England. Before passing
Galloway was taken over by the English kingdom of Bernicia. English dominance was supplanted by Norse-Gaelic () peoples between the 9th and the 11th century. This can be seen in the context of widespread Norse domination of the Irish Sea, including extensive settlement in the Isle of Man and in the now English region of Cumbria immediately south of Galloway. If it had not been for Fergus of Galloway who established himself in Galloway, the region would rapidly have been absorbed by Scotland. This did not happen because Fergus, his sons, grandsons and great-grandson Alan, Lord of Galloway, shifted their allegiance