SANQUHAR  , a royal and

police burgh of Dumfriesshire, Scotland . Pop . (1901) 1379 . It is situated on the Nith, 26 m . N.W. of Dumfries by the Glasgow & South-Western railway . It became a burgh of barony in 1484 and a royal burgh in 1596, and was the scene of the exhibition of the Covenanters' Declaration, attached to the market cross in 168o by Richard Cameron and in 1685 by James Renwick . The industries include coal-mining and the making of bricks and tiles, spades and shovels . The coal-field, measuring 7 M. long by 22 M. broad, is the most extensive in the shire and is the main source of supply for Dumfries and other towns . The cattle and sheep fairs are important, and an agricultural show is held every May . Sanquhar Castle, on a hill overlooking the Nith, once belonged to the Crichtons, ancestors of the marquess of Bute, but is now a ruin . Eliock House, in the parish, was the birthplace of James (" the Admirable ") Crichton in 156o .