NITHSDALE

valley of the River Nith, Dumfries and Galloway region, southwestern Scotland. It comprises the western part of the historic county of Dumfriesshire and a small portion of eastern Kirkcudbrightshire. The valley's upper end lies along the border with Ayrshire, where the Nith flows through a gap in the Southern Uplands. Nithsdale broadens southeastward toward the lowland along the Solway Firth. The area is agricultural; sheep are bred in the hills and fattened for market in the lowland. Dumfries, on the Nith, is the region's largest town and commercial and administrative centre.