SOLWAY FIRTH

SOLWAY FIRTH, an arm of the Irish Sea, and in its upper part forming the estuary of the river Esk, separating Cumberland from the S. of Scotland (Kirkcudbright and Dumfries); stretches inland from Balcarry Point 36 m., and from 2 to 20 m. broad; receives the Annan, Dee, Nith, Eden, and Derwent, and has valuable salmon-fishings; the spring tides ebb and flow with remarkable rapidity, the "bore" often reaching a speed of from 8 to 10 m. an hour; is spanned near Annan by a railway viaduct 1960 yards long.