KIRCUDBRIGHTSHIRE

KIRCUDBRIGHTSHIRE, a county in Scotland, situated between N. Lat. 54. 43. and 55. 19., and W. Long. 3. 33. and 4. 34. from Greenwich, is bounded on the N. by the shires of Dumfries and Ayr, on the E. and S. by the Solway Frith and the Irish Sea, and on the W. by the county of Wigtown. It derives its name from Caer, a fort, the Anglo-Saxons having erected a fort in honour of St Cuthbert, near the site of the present Kirkcudbright (originally Caer Cuthbert), the county town. It is in length from E. to W. about 48 miles; it varies in breadth from 30 to 40 miles; and it contains 954 square miles, or 610,734 acres. This district is commonly called the stewartry, not the shire, of Kirkcudbright; and its judge, whose powers and duties are the same as those of a sheriff, is called a steward. The appellation of stewartry had its rise in the ancient tenure by which it was held, and the subsequent forfeiture of its lords; but the distinction between stewartry and sherifdom is in this case purely nominal. Kirkcudbright is one of the two counties comprehended under the general name of Galloway; Wigtownshire, on the W., being the other.

About two-thirds of the surface is mountainous. A range of mountains stretches along the whole northern boundary, in the form of a vast amphitheatre, embracing nearly half the county; on the boundary with Ayrshire they are not much inferior in height to any in the South of Scotland. There are also some considerable mountains on the southern extremity, such as Criffel, 1831 feet in height; Cairnsmore, 2597; and Cairnharrow, 1110. The high lands are, for the most part, covered with heath, except on a part of the northern boundary, where a narrow tract of green hills runs out between the counties of Ayr and Dumfries; and many of them are wet and mossy. In the middle of the district, the declivity is so gentle that the River Dee, at 30 miles from its mouth, is only 150 feet above the level of the sea; yet, even in the interior, there is no great extent of level ground, the greater part of the surface being occupied by rocky knolls, steep banks, and hills of a moderate elevation. On the coast, also, hills rise almost everywhere to the height of several hundred feet. The district is studded with a great number of lakes, of which there is one or more in almost every parish, though few of them are considerable. As there is much full-grown wood, the general appearance of the stewartry is that of a varied, rich, and interesting county, on which much capital and labour have been expended; and its natural beauties are in many places very striking.

The soil of the lower grounds is, for the most part, of a hazel colour, sometimes inclining to red, and seems to be chiefly composed of argillaceous schist in a state of decomposition. It is seldom of any great depth, and the rock, often rising above the surface, gives a rugged appearance to much even of the arable land. This soil is, however, in many instances possessed of great natural fertility, not soon injured by wet seasons, and affords plentiful crops and fine natural herbage. Clay is of no great extent, and found chiefly on the banks of the rivers. The smooth round hills accessible to the plough have, for the most part, a close subsoil, here called till, and do not, therefore, admit of being profitably cultivated but after an interval of several years' pasture. Tracts of moss, which once existed, have greatly disappeared, having been converted into rich arable fields.

Much of the mountainous district is composed of granite. According to the Agricultural Survey there are three several districts of this rock, which occupy nearly a fourth

Kirkcudbright-shire. of the surface. Strata of argillaceous schistus prevail in the lower parts. Some of it is of a hard, compact grain, of a blue or grayish-brown colour, for the most part breaking irregularly, but often in parallel plates, of which coarse slates have been made. With these are intermixed layers of a softer argillaceous stone, which readily yields to the weather, and is popularly known by the name of slate band. These rocks, which also occupy a large part of the district, are sometimes traversed by dykes of porphyry, and also by granite. In the neighbourhood of Dumfries the prevailing rock is sandstone. Limestone is found at Kirkbean, the only place in the county where it is wrought; and there are also some promising indications of coal on the estate of Arbigland, near Dumfries. In the parish of Colvend, on the Solway Frith, there is a quarry which affords millstones. Lead mines were wrought in Minnigaff and Anwoth for many years, but have been discontinued. Iron ore abounds, but, from the want of coal and wood, it is of little value. On the estate of Cally, near Gatehouse, copper has lately been discovered, but the yield has not been remunerative.

The rivers are,—the Nith, which separates this county from Dumfries-shire for about 12 miles on the N.E.; the Urr, which flows S.E. by the village of Dalbeattie, and is navigable 5 or 6 miles for small vessels; the Dee, the largest river, which enters Loch Ken, a lake almost in the centre of the county, about 8 miles in length, and in some places a mile in breadth, and, giving its name to the river (Ken), which issues from the lake, falls into the Solway Frith about 5 miles below the town of Kirkcudbright. It is navigable for 2 miles above this town for vessels of 200 tons. In spring-tides the water rises about 20 feet at Kirkcudbright, where there is a well-sheltered natural harbour, of easy access. For the last 7 or 8 miles of its course the banks of the Dee are planted. St Mary's Isle, near Kirkcudbright, is a highly ornamented spot; and the Little Ross, a beautiful island, is situated at its mouth. There are other small islands, as those of Fleet, Knockbrex, and Heston, scattered along the coast. The salmon fishery on this river was rented, some years ago, at £900. The Fleet is remarkable for the picturesque scenery on its banks; but as its stream is circuitous towards the end of its course, a canal of about a mile in length has been cut, at the sole expense of the late Mr Murray of Broughton, by means of which the navigation to Gatehouse, about 4 miles from the sea, has been rendered easy and shorter. The Cree, a more considerable river, separates this county from Wigton-shire, and flows into the bay of Wigton, whence it is navigable to the small harbour of Carty, a little below Newton-Stewart. The rivers are nearly equidistant from each other; and the richly wooded valleys through which they flow, combined with the intervening hills or eminences, impart a character of variety and beauty to the county which is very picturesque, and is seldom surpassed. The steartry is everywhere supplied with pure springs and rivulets. Chalybeate springs are also numerous, one of which, Lochenbreck, in the parish of Balmaghie, 7 miles from Gatehouse, is said not to be inferior in medicinal virtues to any in the kingdom.

The landed property is not divided into large estates. The number of proprietors in 1854 was 413; of whom 180 had a valuation not exceeding £50 Scots per annum; 66 not exceeding £100; 65 not exceeding £200; 55 not exceeding £500; 26 not exceeding £1000; 14 not exceeding £2000; 3 not exceeding £5000; 3 not exceeding £10,000; while there was only one (Murray of Broughton) above the last sum. The valued rent, which was taken in 1642, is £114,637, 2s. Scots; the real rent, in 1808, was estimated at £167,125 sterling; and in 1855 at £213,308, exclusive of the burghs of Kirkcudbright, New Galloway, and Maxwellton. Many of the smaller proprie-

tors cultivate their own estates. About half the county is held under deeds of entail, and no disentails have as yet taken place under the Act 11th and 12th Victoria. "The condition of the peasantry, at a period not very remote, seems to have been much depressed, and the state of husbandry rude and barbarous in the extreme." (Smith's Survey.) Referring to the year 1720, John Maxwell of Munshies observes that "the tenants in general lived very meanly, on kail, groats, milk, graddon ground in querns turned by the hand, and the grain dried in a pot, together with a crock ewe now and then about Martinmas. They were clothed very plainly, and their habitations were most uncomfortable. Their general wear was of cloth made of waulked plaiding, black and white wool mixed, very coarse, and the cloth rarely dyed. Their hose were made of white plaiding cloth, sewed together, with single-soled shoes, and a black or blue bonnet, none having hats but the lairds.

In 1725 potatoes were first introduced into this steartry by William Hyland, from Ireland, who carried them on horses' backs to Edinburgh, where he sold them by pounds and ounces. During these times, when potatoes were not generally used in this country, there was for the most part a great want of food, bordering on famine; for in the steartry of Kirkcudbright there was not as much corn produced as was necessary for supplying the inhabitants. The produce of the country in general was gray oats; and you might have travelled from Dumfries to Kirkcudbright, which is 27 miles, without seeing any other grain, except in a gentleman's croft, which in general produced here or bigger for one-third part, another third in white oats, and the remaining third in gray oats. At that period there was no wheat raised in the country; what was used was brought from Teviot, and it was believed that the soil would not produce wheat. In the year 1735 there was no mill for grinding that sort of grain; and the first flour-mill that was constructed within these bounds was built at Clou-den, in the parish of Irongray, some years after that date." (Murray's Literary History of Galloway, 2d edition, 1832, pp. 337-9.) Yet it was in this county that the improvements of modern husbandry were adopted, at a time when they were entirely unknown in the greater part of the kingdom. As early as the year 1750, Mr Crask of Arbigland practised the drilling and horse-hoeing of the celebrated Tull, which he ever afterwards continued to follow in the culture of beans and turnips. He enclosed and drained his estate, cleaned his fields by fallowing, applied calcareous manures, introduced sown grasses into his course of crops, and worked his plough with two horses. A few of the other proprietors followed in his steps, but their efforts were not seconded by the tenantry at large. It is only since the end of last century that modern husbandry has made any considerable progress, but it is now quite general. The following is the proportion of crops, according to the agricultural statistics procured in 1856 by the Highland Society. The total acreage under rotation of crops was 120,792; of which the constituent crops were,—wheat, 2441; barley, 1464; oats, 33,753; rye, 58; here, 55; beans, 503; peas, 2; tares, 84; turnips, 15,154; potatoes, 3112; mangold, 100; carrots, 46; cabbage, 10; rape, 153; flax, 9; turnip-seed, 26; bare fallow, 287; grass and hay under rotation, 63,707. Total stock, 353,869—being, horses for agriculture, 5190; other horses, 793; milch cows, 9107; other cattle, 24,012; calves, 6731; sheep, 301,603; swine, 6433.

A great impetus has lately been communicated to agriculture in this county by the regular and cheap communication with Liverpool by means of steam navigation. The farmers have thus a ready outlet for their disposable produce, corn, cattle, and sheep, and receive cash payments. Instead of being, as formerly, far from a market, and forced, in consequence, to sell to corn-dealers, a class of men with whom bankruptcy was anything but uncommon; the far-

mers are now, as it were, placed in the very vicinity of the best market, and are freed from all risk of non-payment. By these favourable circumstances, a spirit of improvement and enterprise has been roused which has changed the face and character of the county. Nothing, indeed, has ever effected so important a change in the circumstances of this county as the introduction of steam navigation. The first steam-boat seen on its shores was in 1830; and there are now six that ply regularly between it and the English coast, particularly Whitehaven and Liverpool. Their decks are covered with sheep and black cattle, whilst their holds are filled with corn. Nor is this all. These vessels have opened up channels of industry before unknown. Poultry, eggs, and butter, by being sent to the ready market of England, form a new and pretty productive source of income. Salmon, instead of being sent, as formerly, round to England by the expensive mail-carriage, is now transmitted thither by steam more directly, and at much less expense; whilst commodities required from England are obtained under the most favourable circumstances. Railways are about to be introduced. A bill has been got for forming a line between Dumfries and Castle-Douglas, a distance of 18 miles; and application is to be made in the ensuing session of parliament for a line from the latter place to Portpatrick, a farther distance of 56 miles. This railway accommodation, combined with the steam navigation already referred to, will thoroughly open up this otherwise remote county, and connect it with the most important marts of commerce.

Unlike other hilly tracts in Scotland, the land is almost universally enclosed, chiefly with stone walls, called Galloway Dykes. These dykes are built close, or double, as it is called, for part of their height, and afterwards single, the stones in the latter part being laid in such a manner as to allow the passage of the light through the wall. But it is now becoming a common practice to build the whole of the wall double, and, after laying a course of stones that project a little beyond its breadth on both sides, it is completed by a coping of stones laid on edge, and closely pinned.

This county is chiefly celebrated for its cattle, which form by far the most important part of its agricultural produce. They are known in every part of Britain by the name of Galloway cattle. Sheep are confined to the mountainous districts, where they are kept in great numbers. They are of the heath or black-faced variety, with coarse wool. A small, hardy, and active race of horses, called Galloways, was formerly reared here and in Wigtonshire, the other division of Galloway; but a larger breed being required for the labours of modern husbandry, the old race is very rarely to be found in a pure state. The name, however, is frequently applied to horses below full size, wherever they may have been reared.

The first road act for the stewarty of Kirkcudbright was obtained in 1779. At that period there was scarcely anything that deserved the name, except the military road from Dumfries to Portpatrick, which had been made about fifteen years before; but at present very few districts are better provided in this respect. The first good roads were made on the estate of the Earl of Selkirk, under the direction of his son Basil William Lord Daer, to whom this county owes many other improvements. In 1796, by another act of parliament, the assessments were allowed to be increased, and tolls erected; and soon afterwards a new road was made from Dumfries to Castle-Douglas, a distance of 18 miles, through a hilly, broken country, with so much attention to preserve the level, that it has seldom a rise of more than one foot in forty, and much of it is nearly a perfect level. All the principal roads made since have been done with equal judgment. The turnpike roads extend to nearly 300 miles; and the annual income obtained from tolls amount to about £3200. The district is also well

accommodated with bridges, of which the most considerable is one over the Dee at Tongland, about 2 miles above Kirkcudbright, which has an arch of 110 feet span. It is built of sandstone, brought partly from Annan in Dumfries-shire, and partly from the Isle of Arran. It was finished in 1808, and cost upwards of £7000.

Kirkcudbright, the county town, which was erected into a royal burgh in 1455, contained, in 1851 (including the parish), a population of 3555. It is pleasantly situated on the Dee, and is noted for the information and urbanity of its inhabitants. Societies have been formed here for a purpose rather unusual, namely, the building of houses, not for sale, but for the use of the members who compose them. Every member makes a small monthly payment into a general fund, which is employed in erecting the houses, and these, as they are finished, are assigned to the members by lot, those to whom they fall paying five per cent. on the money which their houses have cost in addition to their monthly payments; and this arrangement continues till all the members are supplied, and the societies dissolved. New Galloway, which was erected into a royal burgh in 1633, is situated at the head of Loch Ken, and contains only about 400 inhabitants. The principal villages are Creetown, at the mouth of the River Cree, on the bay of Wigton; Gatehouse, 12 miles E. from the former, on the River Fleet; and Castle-Douglas, formerly called Carlinwark, an inland place, about 9 miles NE. of Kirkcudbright. The others are Dalbeattie, on the River Urr; Keltonhill, noted for its cattle fairs in June and November; and Maxwellton, on the Nith, which, though in this county, belongs by its situation to the town of Dumfries, from which it is separated only by the bridge over that river. By the Reform Act, indeed, it is included within the parliamentary boundaries of that town. Previously to the passing of the Poor-law Act in 1844, the poor were supported solely by church collections, occasionally supplemented by voluntary contributions, chiefly on the part of the heritors. Legal assessments have now been introduced in every parish, except five; and the number of registered poor is 1549; that of casual poor, 712; total, 2261. The total expense for the former is £18228; for the latter £440; making an aggregate of £18668; a fraction more, both as to number of paupers and amount of assessment, than the general average of Scotland. There is a poorhouse combination, comprising 14 parishes.

The inhabitants of the stewarty have few traits of character peculiar to themselves. Living remote from the capital, or any large town, they are a simple unsophisticated people, feudal and superstitious in their sentiments. A belief in witchcraft, and in the more popular superstitions, obtained till recently. They think no character superior to the minister or the laird. These peculiarities, however, are beginning to give way. Education has attained a most respectable footing; and the collision of sentiment which the people experience by the intercourse now opened up by the facilities of communication with strangers, has had a most salutary and liberalizing influence. They are an enterprising people. They send, on an average of the last ten years, about thirty young men to the university yearly; and the number of those who annually cross over to England to push their fortune, or emigrate either to our own colonies or to foreign states, is extremely great. Of these, not a few, after experiencing success in life, return to their native country with a respectable competency; and thus, by their example, stimulate others to follow their steps. Of the extent to which emigration from this county is carried, a correct estimate may be framed from the fact that, though the number of males born is about five per cent. above that of females, the latter in the stewarty exceed the former by 2674. A great number of Irish, of the lowest grade, are settled here.

Kirkcudbright. Education, as mentioned above, is in an efficient state. Some of the schools are excellent; none of them are bad; and when a vacancy now takes place the utmost pains are taken to get the best teacher to fill it. Several sums have been bequeathed by individuals for the support of schools, particularly in the parishes of Balmaclellan, Dalry, and Borgue. In addition to the parish schools, there are many voluntary seminaries, about 6½ per cent of the whole population being at school.

The people are distinguished for their religious character. The Reformation began here at a peculiarly early date, namely, the beginning of the fifteenth century (Literary History of Galloway, p. 61), and some of the most eminent reformers and covenanters were connected with this county. The persecution in the times of Charles I. and his son Charles II. raged most hotly here. The graves of martyrs are to be found, not only in almost every churchyard, but even in many of the wildest moors. Presbyterianism still continues predominant. In addition to twenty-eight parish churches, there are three chapels of ease belonging to the establishment; seven churches in connection with the United Presbyterian Synod; thirteen Free Churches; one belonging to the Reformed Presbyterian Synod (Cameronians); one Episcopal place of worship, and four Roman Catholic chapels.

The stewartry could boast of a greater number of monasteries than any other county in Scotland. These were Dundrennan, St Mary's Isle, and Tongland, founded in the twelfth century by Fergus, Lord of Galloway; Lincluden, by his son Uchtred; and Sweetheart, or New Abbey, founded in the thirteenth century, by Dervorgille, daughter of Alan, last Lord of Galloway, and mother of John Baliol, the competitor for the throne. Of Dundrennan, Lincluden, and New Abbey, the remains are comparatively entire; while the vestiges of the other two have nearly disappeared.

The bishopric of Galloway (Candida Casa), both in Catholic and in Protestant times, comprehended the stewartry and Wigtonshire. It formed the most ancient see in Scotland; and in dignity was inferior only to the archbishopric of St Andrew's and Glasgow, till, in 1633, when Edinburgh was erected into a bishopric, and obtained the preference over Galloway. The bishops of Galloway were ex officio deans of the chapel royal of Stirling.

Some eminent men have been connected with the stewartry, as Thomas Gordon, the translator of Toecitus; Robert Heron, author of a History of Scotland in six vols.; Dr Alexander Murray, the celebrated linguist; and Dr Thomas Brown.

The occupations of the people are mainly agricultural, as there are now, properly speaking, no manufactures; the cotton mills at Gatehouse, though many years in operation, having been discontinued. Exclusive of the landed gentry, there are fully two hundred capitalists not employed in any business. The rest of the population are engaged in such retail trades and handicrafts as are needful to supply the provincial demand. In the beginning of the present century there was only one bank (then recently introduced) in the county. Now there are no fewer than a dozen. At the same date there were only four lawyers; now there are fourteen, and one messenger-at-arms. The harbours in the stewartry belong to the customs ports either of Dumfries or Wigton; and the dues levied last year on ships, or on goods carried in ships, were as follows:—Kirkcudbright, L.340; Dalbeattie, L.28; Barlochan or Palnackie, L.25; Gatehouse, L.20. It may be remarked, that a considerable portion of the shipping trade of the stewartry (as also of its banking business) centres in Dumfries. The chief exports are grain, black cattle, sheep, and wool; the principal imports are coal, lime, timber, and iron.

It has already been stated, that the mountainous districts of the stewartry are composed of granite. A granite quarry

was opened in 1830, on the estate of Cassencarric, in the parish of Kirkmabreck, by the Liverpool Dock Company. This is at present the most important work of the kind carried on in Scotland. About 300 workmen are daily employed in it; machinery of a kind previously unknown in Galloway has been introduced; a railway has been constructed connecting the quarry with Wigton Bay, a distance of about half a mile; and a new harbour has been built at the expense of the company, the vessels belonging to which transport the stone from thence to Liverpool. Besides defraying surface damage for the line of the railway, the company pay to the landlord a sum proportional to the produce of the quarry; and thus a piece of land, which was previously covered with rock or heath, and literally worth nothing, certainly not twenty shillings, now realizes an annual rent of about L.400.

The stewartry sends one member to parliament, the constituency in 1855 amounting to 1277. In the election for the burghs, Kirkcudbright (which contains 99 electors) joins with Dumfries, Sanquhar, Annan, and Lochmaben; and New Galloway (which contains 12 electors) with Wigton, Stranraer, and Whithorn. (π. m.)