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
Dumfries and Galloway (UK Parliament constituency) and Caerlaverock wards, as they were when the constituency was created, were excluded from the constituency. Ward boundaries changed in 2007. Dumfries and Galloway's predecessor seats, Galloway and Upper Nithsdale (1983-2005) and Galloway (1918–83), had been represented by Conservative MPs in all but two parliaments since 1931. Galloway and Upper Nithsdale was won by the Scottish National Party in 1997 but became the only Scottish seat to return a Conservative MP at the 2001 general election. Boundary changes for the 2005 election saw the new seat have a very slim Labour majority over the Conservatives, and the SNP were in