Battlefields›Battle of Dryfe Sands 1593
Tudor

Battle of Dryfe Sands 1593

1593
Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Also known as: Dryfe Sands 1593 · Maxwells versus Johnstones 1593
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Maxwell clan
Forces
Maxwells c.300–500.
VS
Victor
Johnstone clan
Forces
Johnstones c.400–600
Outcome
Johnstones defeat and kill Lord Maxwell and many of his Maxwells in a pitched battle on the Dryfe Sands near Lockerbie
The Battle

History & Significance

Dryfe Sands was the bloodiest single inter-clan engagement of the Scottish border reiving era and perpetuated a Maxwell-Johnstone feud that lasted into the seventeenth century.

Casualties & Losses

Lord Maxwell and c.700 Maxwells killed

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Dryfe Sands 1593

Castle Hill, motte-and-bailey castle
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~0.5 miles
Woody Castle, fort, Lochbank, Lochmaben
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~0.7 miles
Lochmaben Peel and Castle
Scheduled monument · ~1.3 miles
Applegarth House, motte 65m S of
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~2 miles
Greenhillhead,fort
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~2.1 miles
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