Although this appears to be a great distance from the area of his birth the idea merits some further investigation.
He then moved on to Dumfries where his Uncle Elias was Guardian and Vicar General of the newly formed Conventual Province of Scotland. It was there at Dumfries that the young John was received into the Franciscan Conventual Order about the year 1281.

He was ordained to the priesthood on 17th March, 1291 by Oliver Sutton, Bishop of Lincoln, at Northampton, England and continued his studies at Oxford. He later lectured in Oxford, Cambridge and was sent to Paris where he eventually became Master of Theology in 1305. He was always on the move, going back and forth between Paris and Oxford.

The then King, Philip the Fair, was in dispute with Pope Boniface VIII. The French king imposed taxes on church property without informing the Pope. The monarch, whilst at variance with the Holy See, sought approval from the clergy in France. It might have been the Celt in him - and their dislike of landlords seeking rent increases - but John could not side with King Philip and he, along with other dissenters were given three days to leave France. Scotus was to return to take up his post again at the University of Paris.

It was in the beginning of 1308 that Scotus was to leave Paris again, this time for Germany, not for political reasons but possibly for his doctrinal teaching on the Immaculate Conception which he defended against leading theologians in Paris. Anyway, through holy obedience and on recommendation by a superior of the Order, John ended up lecturing in Cologne in the Franciscan house of studies and died there in 1308 at the age of 43.
Although an obvious scholar he won great admiration from his fellow friars, and from the people he served, for his fervent devotion to his chosen way of life. He was known to preach in bare feet and had great love for the poor.

Scotus defended the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception at Cologne and Paris, and a disputation which he held in Paris persuaded that University to adopt that doctrine, and won for John Duns Scotus the title of the "Subtle Doctor". Events which happened in 1387, nearly 80 years after his death, show how rapidly the Scotist opinion had spread and how deeply it had taken root, at least in France.

A Dominican doctor, John Montesono, had publicly denied the Immaculate Conception, whereupon he was condemned by the University and by the Bishop of Paris. Blessed John’s opinion on the Immaculate Conception finally prevailed, but it was not declared to be Catholic dogma until 1854 (by Pope Pius IX). Until then it had caused great controversy for five centuries, particularly between Franciscan and Dominican theologians. Scotus’s differences from St. Thomas Aquinas served the useful purpose of maintaining intellectual life and debate in the Church.

Blessed John Duns Scotus is also known for being the theologian of the love of God. "God wills to love. God wills to be loved. God wills to have co-lovers of himself." - Opus Parisiense.  
His teaching and all his studies flow from the beautiful but simple message of St. John’s first letter "God is love. He who lives in love, lives in God and God in him." (1 John 4:16). To Scotus God "loves himself" in his creation and seeks love from "every human being who is able to love him." 
We can choose not to love God, not to co-operate, this happens when we sin but God is always there willing to love us. 
John Duns Scotus also taught that the Incarnation would have occurred, that Christ would’ve become man, even if there had been no ‘fall’ and Man had not sinned.
God loved his creation so much.

At the end of his tomb is a saying "Schottland hat mich geboren, England hat mich aufgenommen, Gallien hat mich gelehrt, Koln besitzt mich."    
Roughly translated (by me) is "Scotland gave me birth, England adopted me, France was my place of study and Cologne possesses me."   
I was fortunate enough to visit Cologne last June and made a pilgrimage to his shrine in the Franciscan Church.   
Despite the building being in the middle of a very busy German City there was a sense of peace and calm pervading the chapel.