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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at |http: //books .google .com/I > He ■ Si- ' THE NEW STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF SCOTLAND. VOL. IV. THE NEW STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF SCOTLAND. BY THE MINISTERS OF THE RESPECTIVE PARISHES, UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF A COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE CLERGY. VOL IV. DUMFRIES-KTBKCUBBIIIGHT-WIGTOK WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH AND LONDON. ^ MDCCCXLV, I • DUMFRIES. CONTENTS. '^ ANNAN, APPLEGARTH AND SIBBALDBIE, CABRLAYEROCK, CANONBIB, CLOSBBURN, CUMMERTRERS, DALTON, DORNOCK, DRYFESDALB, DUMFRIES, DUNSCORE, DDRISDEBR9 ESKDALBJIUIR, EWES, . GLBNCAIRN, . GRAITNET, UODDAM, HOLYWOOD, BUTTON AND ^ORRIE, . JOHNSTONE, KEIR, KIRKCONNELL, KIRKMAHOE, RIRKMICHAEL, KIRKPATRICK- FLEUINO, KIRKPATRICK-JUXTA, JLANGHOLM, LOCBUABBN, MIDDLEBIB, . MOFFAT, MORTON, MOUSWALD, PEN PONT, RUTH WELL, ST MUNOO, SANQUHAR, TINWALD AND TRAILFLAT, TORTHORWALD, TUNDEROARTH, TYNRON, WAMPHRAY, . WBSTERKIRKy PAGE 516 170 349 483 77 244 371 >J56 451 1 336 323 398 437 330 262 289 553 537 151 460 314 53 67 274 164 416 377 363 102 91 442 499 218 203 297 39 29 195 473 137 429 PARISH OF DUMFRIES. PRESBYTERY OF DUMFRIES, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. ROBERT WALLACE, Minister of St Michaels. THE REV. THOMAS T. DUNCAN, D. D. Minister of the New Church. * L Topography and Natural History. Name, Boundaries, Sfc. — Etymologists are somewhat at va- riance respecting the origin of the name which this town and parish bear. The supposition that appears to me the most pro- bable, is that which refers the name to the Gaelic words, ^^ c^un," a mount, and " phreas^^ brushwood or furze,--:implying a rising ground covered with furze. This derivation is supported by the fact, that the soil is of that light sandy nature, on which, in its uncultivated state, whins and brushwood generally abound. The parish is from six to seven miles in length, from two to three in breadth, and contains fourteen square miles and a-half. It is bounded on the north-west and north by the parishes of Kirkmahoe and Tinwald ; on the north-east by that of Torthor- wald ; and on the east and south by the parishes of Mousewald and Caerlaverock ; while the river Nith is the boundary on the west, separating it from Holywood, Terregles, and Troqueer. Topographical Appearances. — The surface of the parish may be considered as almost level, if we except the site of the burgh, and a low ridge of hills, which, rising near its southern extremity, stretches to Caerlaverock, in a direction nearly parallel to the river Nith. These hills slope gradually down towards the south-west, on the side next the river ; but on the north-east side, they are much more abrupt, presenting a bold front and picturesque outline. Rather more than a mile from the town, two precipitous ledges of rock form the face of the hill, rising perpendicularly to a consider- able height. Near the summit of one of these precipices is a sin- * This Account has been drawn up by Mr Joseph Duncan. DUMFRIES. A -tf^ CONTENTS. ANNAN, APPLEOARTR AND SIBBALDBiE, CABRLAYEKOCK, CANONBIE, CLOSEBURN, CUMHBRTRERS, DALTON, DORNOCK, DRYFESDALE, DUMFRIES, DUNSCORE, DURISDEER^ BSKDALEMUIR, EWES, . GLENCAIRN, . GRAITNEY, IIODDAM, HOLYWOOD, BUTTON AND ^ORRIE, . JOHNSTONE, KEIR, KIRKCONNELL, KIRKMAHOB, RIRKMICIIABL, KIRKPATRICK FLEMING, K IRKPATRICK- J UXTA, LANGHOLM, LOCBMABEN, MIDDLEBIB, MOFFAT, MORTON, MOUSWALD, PEN PONT, RUTH WELL, ST MUNOO, SANQUHAR, TINWALD AND TRAILFLAT, TORTHORWALD, TUNDEBOARTH, TYNRON, WAMPHRAY, . WESTERKIRKy PAGE 516 170 483 77 244 371 «56 451 1 336 323 398 437 330 262 289 553 537 151 460 314 53 67 274 164 416 377 363 102 91 442 499 218 203 297 39 29 195 473 137 429 PARISH OF DUMFRIES. PRESBYTERY OF DUMFRIES, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. ROBERT y^'KLLA^C^, Minister of St Michaels. THE REV. THOMAS T. DUNCAN, D. D. Minister of the New Chvrch. * L Topography and Natural History. Namcj Boundariesy Spc. — Etymologists are somewhat at va- riance respecting the origin of the name which this town and parish bear. The supposition that appears to me the most pro- bable> is that which refers the name to the Gaelic words, " dun" a mount, and " phreas^" brushwood or furze,— rimplying a rising ground covered with furze. This derivation is supported by the fact, that the soil is of that light sandy nature, on which, in its uncultivated state, whins and brushwood generally abound. The parish is from six to seven miles in length, from two to three in breadth, and contains fourteen square miles and a-half. It is bounded on the north-west and north by the parishes of Kirkmahoe and Tinwald ; on the north-east by that of Torthor- wald ; and on the east and south by the parishes of Mousewald and Caerlaverock ; while the river Nith is the boundary on the west, separating it from Holywood, Terregles, and Troqueer. Topographical Appearances. — The surface of the parish may be considered as almost level, if we except the site of the burgh, and a low ridge of hills, which, rising near its southern extremity, stretches to Caerlaverock, in a direction nearly parallel to the river Nith. These hills slope gradually down towards the south-west, on the side next the river ; but on the north-east side, they are much more abrupt, presenting a bold front and picturesque outline. Rather more than a mile from the town, two precipitous ledges of rock form the face of the hill, rising perpendicularly to a consider- able height. Near the summit of one of these precipices is a sin- * This Account has been drawn up by Mr Joseph Duncan. DUMFRIES. A 2 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. gular cavity, which seems to have been formed by the hl\ of a frag- ment of the rock from the upper part, leaving a canopy of stone stretching overhead, while a portion of the broken mass rests upon the brink of the ledge that forms the floor. This place is called the ^* Maiden Bower Craiffs,*^ and is reported to have been used by the Druids in the practice of some rites, employed as a test of virginity. Meteorology, — The aurora borealis, which is often observed here, assumed an uncommon appearance for many evenings in the beginning of the winter of 1830, and particularly on one occasion, when the zenith presented a- blood-red appearance, with rays of a pale colour playing across its surface. Suddenly, the fainter rays concentrated themselves into a focus, from which they quickly diverged in every direction, presenting a beautiful eradiation. In connection with the aurora, we must not omit to mention the ap- pearance of two luminous arches, which were that year observed in this parish, as well as in other parts of the kingdom, — the one be- tween eight and nine o'clock on the evening of Friday, the 17th of September, and the other about the same hour on Tuesday, the 5th of October. On the evening of the 17th of September, the polar rays gradually formed themselves into an arch, considerably broader than a rainbow, stretching over from the eastern to the western horizon, and broader towards the former than the latter quarter. The highest part of the arch then passed the zenith, and moved southwards, which gave it the appearance of falling, till it gradual- ly faded from the view. The phenomenon presented on the 5th of October was very similar to the above ; but it is remarkable, that, in this instance, the rays flickering for some time in the east, and darting upwards toward the zenith, did not succeed, till after several seemingly inefiectual attempts, in throwing an arch across the heavens. These two beautiful meteors were of the same pale' colour usually presented by the aurora borealis, in the form which it generally assumes, — stars being distinctly visible through them, even during the period of their greatest brightness. Several phe- nomena of a similar nature were observed in September 1833. The east and north-east winds prevail during spring, and are often very injurious to vegetation. The south-west wind, however, is the most prevalent throughout the year. A lurid appearance in the eastern horizon, called from its direction, a " Carlisle sky," the rolling of the clouds landwards, their gathering about the sum- DUMFRIES. ^ taiit of the mountam CriflTel, and the flight of sea-birds towards the interior, are severally regarded as sure indications of approaching foul weather. The climate is variable, and rather moist ; but the dryness of the soil, and the high winds which prevail, obviate in a great measure the evil effects which might otherwise be produced. Typhus fe- ver frequently appears in the autumn and spring. Sibbens, a dis- ease almost peculiar to Dumfries-shire, Galloway, and the west coast of Scotland, is of frequent occurrence here amongst the dis- sipated and squalid ; and one case resembling yatr^ occurred within the last few years. Hydrography, — There are in the parish a few mineral springs, of which we may here notice one called Crichton's Well, situate in the middle of Lochar Moss, and possessing a pretty strong impregnation of steel ; and another, which was discovered about twenty years ago on the farm of Fountainbleau. It is a strong chalybeate, situate like the former in a moss soil. It has been long resorted to, and held in great repute by invalids. The benevolent proprietor has enclosed it within a stone trough, and liberally per* mits free access to it through his grounds. There are several small lakes in this parish ; in particular the Black, and the Sand Lochs, which are favourite resorts of our curlers during the season of the " roaring play." The parish is watered by the rivers Nith and Lochar. The Nith rises in the parish of New Cunmock, in Ayrshire, and, after a south-east course of about fifty miles in a direct line, and about 100 including its windings, dischai^es itself into the Solway Firth, about nine miles below the town of Dumfries. It receives in its course the tributary waters of the Scaur, the Carron, the Cam- ple, and the Cluden. The Lochar rises in Tinwald parish, and falls into the Solway Firth a few miles east of the mouth of the Nith, — the distance from its source to its mouth being about thir- teen miles. Geology and Mineralogy. — The rocks in the parish are prin- cipally red freestone. The soil in the north and north-east, and partly in the south and south-west, consists of a light reddish sandy earth, upon a freestone bottom ; but the flat lands south-west of the town, and adjacent to the river, are, generally speaking, composed of clay, upon gravel ; the soil in the south-west is a pretty strong clay. 4 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. The eastern and south-eastern district of the parish consists of the extensive morass, called Lochar Moss, lying along the con- fines of Torthorwald and Mousewald. This moss is nearly a dead level of from two to three miles in breadth, and ten miles in length, stretching from the shore of the Solway Firth into the interior of the country. There is a tradition, that this barren waste was, at some remote period, covered with wood, and that afterwards, it was inundated by the sea, which, upon receding, left behind it the decayed vegetable matter in which the moss origi- nated. This tradition has been embodied by the peasantry in the following couplet : << First a wood, and then a sea, " Now a moss, and ever will be.** And its truth is corroborated by the fact, that the moss rests upon a deep stratum of sea-sand, out of which not only are shells and other marine deposits frequently dug, but fragments of ancient vessels of no very inconsiderable size have been repeatedly dis- covered, together with several iron grapples or anchors. Some ancient canoes or boats have also been found, and in particular, one formed out of the trunk of a large oak, hollowed apparently by fire. Between the surface of the moss and the sea-sand immense trunks of trees are found. These, which are principally fir, invariably lie with their tops towards the north-east ; from which it would ap« pear, that their roots having been previously loosened by the inunda- tion of the sea, they had been levelled by the fury of the south-western blast. It has been conceived by some, that the River Nith, at some early period, flowed through Lochar Moss, entering it from the north- east; but this, taking into account the nature of the ground between the head of the moss and the present course of the river, seems ex- ceedingly doubtful. In the dry summer of 1826, the moss having caught fire, burned with great rapidity, advancing in a direction contrary to that of the wind ; when several cottages fell a prey to the flames before these could be extinguished. II. — Civil History. Accounts of the Parish. — A manuscript copy of the Statistical account of this town and parish, drawn up by the late Reverend Dr Bumside for the former Statistical Account, (in which work it is very much abridged,) is preserved in the Society Library here. Historical events, — No historical documents exist, whereby we DUMFRIES. 5 can determine at what precise period the town of Dumfries was founded. From several remains of antiquity, however, we may conjecture that it must have been a place of considerable resort before the end of the eighth century. The earliest historical fact which we find authentically recorded, is the erection of a monastery for Franciscan friars previous to the middle of the thirteenth cen- tury, by Dervorgilla, daughter to Allan, Lord of Galloway, and mother of John Baliol, king of Scotland. The base of the mount upon which this religious house stood, is washed by the waters of the Nith on the north and west It was in the chapel and cloisters of this monastery that the Comyns were slain by Robert the Bruce, aided by Roger de Kirkpatrick and James Lindsay, on the 10th of February 1305. In 1307, the year afterthe Prince's coronation, Edward II. ad- vanced to Dumfries, and received the homage of several Scottish noblemen. The town was burnt by the English previously to the year 1 448, and again in 1 596. This latter injury was amply revenged by the Lord Maxwell, who crossed the border with a small body of retainers, entered the town of Penrith, and reduced it to ashes. About this period a magnificent castle was erected out of the ruins, and almost on the site of the Friary,* by the Maxwells, then a very powerful family. Previously to this, a strong castle had stood near the same spot. This is supposed to have been erected some time in the course of the twelfth century. In 1563, Queen Mary and her privy council were at Dumfries ratifying a peace with Eng- land ; and two years afterwards, the disaffected lords Argyle, Mur- ray, and Rothes, having assembled a force in the neighbourhood, Mary advanced upon the town with an army of 18,000 men. At her approach these nobles fled into England, and Maxwell of Ter- regles having incurred her royal displeasure, was glad to make his peace by surrendering the castle of Dumfries into the hands of his sovereign. The government of this fortress, however, was not with- drawn from the family. In 1570 the castle was taken and sacked, together with the town, by the English, under the Earl of Essex and Lord Scrope. In 1617, James the Sixth, on his return from a tour through his ancient kingdom of Scotland, after his accession to the English throne, passed through Dumfries, where he was re- * It ia said that the monastery of Greyfriars was deserted in consequence of its having been polluted by the slaughter of the Red Comyn before the high altar. Cer- tain it is, that soon after his death, the people resorted for worship to St Michael's chapel, upon the site of which the parish church of St Michael now stands, towards the south-east end of the town. 6 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. ceived with every demonstration of loyalty ; and in return, he pre^ sented the Incorporated Trades of the burgh with a small silver gun, to be awarded from time to time to the best marksman amongst their number. From this date, the annals of the town present nothing worthy of record till the year 1706, when the inhabitants displayed their opposition to the Union with England by burning the Articles, together with the names of the Commissioners, at the market-cross. Upon the breaking out of the rebellion, however, in 1715, they evinced the greatest loyalty towards the reigning family ; for hear- ing that Viscount Kenmore, at the head of a considerable body of insui^nts, purposed to march upon the town, they so completely fortified it by a rampart where it was unprotected by the river, and presented so determined and warlike an attitude, that the rebels judged it most expedient to alter their line of march. But in 1745, a party of Dumfrisians having annoyed the rebel army in its march southwards, the town was severely dealt with upon the return of those lawless intruders, who, not satisfied with levying the excise, im- posed upon the inhabitants a fine of L.2000 Sterling, and 1000 pairs of shoes. Before, however, more than L. 1 100 of the sum had been paid, a false alarm of the approach of the Duke of Cumber- land having been given. Prince Charles and his army hastily aban- doned the town, carrying with them Provost Corbet, and Mr Rid- dell of Glenriddell, as hostages, to ensure payment of the remain- der. Eminent Characters. — The Rev. William Veitch, who suffered much during the struggles betwixt Presbytery and Episcopacy, and of whose life an account has been published by Dr M'Crie, was, for some time after the Revolution, minister of Dumfries. His pulpit Bible is at present in the possession of a relation who resides here. The poet Burns spent the latter part ofhis life in Dumfries, and his ashes rest in the burying-ground attached to St Michael's Church. Cholera. — In 1832, Dumfries was visited with Indian or spas- modic cholera, and experienced its effects with more than ordinary severity ; on which account some notice may here be allowed of the progress of the disease in this place. The first case occurred on the 15th of September, and ter- minated fatally in a few hours. Two other similar cases occur- red next day, although no personal communication had taken place with the individual first attacked. In the course of the en- suing week, several others were seized^ but still the inhabitants DUMFRIES. 7 flattered themselves that the visitation would prove slight. On Sunday the 2dd, however, the malady broke out so generally in the already infected districts of the town, and in the neighbouring burgh of Maxwelltown,-on the opposite bank of the river, as to convince the most sanguine that his hopes were ill founded. From that day, the disorder spread with increasing rapidity, attacking and carrying off, not only the intemperate and the needy, but ulti- mately many of those whose regular habits and comfortable circumstances rendered them apparently less liable to be affected. From the limited nature of society, in a provincial town such as Dumfries, the danger appearing to be in the very midst of it, the alarm of the inhabitants was great A cholera hospital had been provided; and the accommodations were scarcely finished, when its appliances and means were put into requisition, under the able and efficient superintendence of Dr Grieve, and Mr Charles Bell suigeon. The patients were con- veyed thither in palanquins or litters, borne on men's shoulders. The hospital was crowded, but was not large enough to hold one- eighth part of the sick ; and during the few dreadful days in which the disease raged with such uncontrollable fury, our own medical practitioners, although very numerous, were not sufficient for the emergency ; so that the Board of Health was forced to call in as- sistance from Edinburgh and elsewhere. Almost every one of the medical men suffered more or less, either from the effects of ex- treme bodily and mental exhaustion, or from the attacks of the disease itself. Three of them, indeed, were cut off in the midst of their usefulness ; two belonging to this town, (much and deeply regretted,) and the third, one of those who had been called from a distance. * * To enable the reader more easily to judge of the progress of the disorder, we here subjoin aii extract from the official report of the Dumfries Board of Health, to the Central Board in London. From the commencement of the disease on the Idth, to the SMth of September, cases 17, deaths 9, recoveries 0. New Cases. Deaths. Recoveries. September 25» 14 9 26, 9 5 27, 87 5 2 28, 68 19 5 29, 52 13 8 30, 73 14 12 October 1, 56 23 13 2, 55 44 10 3, 62 27 1 8 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. The disease now prevailed in almost every part of the town, but raged with the greatest severity in English Street, St Michael Street, King Street, Queensberry Street, and the closes leading from the High Street The practitioner, as he went his rounds, was often beset by several poor distracted creatures at once, eager- ly seizing him by the clothes, and each imploring a preference in behalf of some suffering relative. Trade of every description was at a stand; and few shops remained open except those of apothecaries, and of some b^ers and grocers ;-— other men of business having, for the most part, retired from the scene of dan- ger. Partly from this cause, and partly from the want of a suffi- cient number of hands to prepare the materials, many who had lost their nearest relations were obliged to dispense with the wearing of mourning. As no inhabitant of the country would willingly brave the influence of the tainted air, the market-day was undistinguished from the other days of the week, overall of which a more than sabbatical stillness seemed to reign. Many families fled with the utmost pre- cipitation to the country, and the houses in the streets occupied by the higher ranks were, with few exceptions, shut up. Flight, however, did not always ensure safety. Many perished by the way, or on reaching their destination, far from medical aid and the com- forts of home. The gentlemen of the Faculty, worn out by incessant toil, were forced to ride even the shortest distances, and theirs were the only vehicles to be seen on the streets, with the exception of hearses, which, without the usual formality of a funeral, hurried the dead to the *^ ever yawning and never satisfied grave." As we have just hinted, the deceased, while the pestilence was at its height, were, for the most part, followed to the place of in- terment by none but their immediate relations, and were often conveyed thither without even a single attendant save the driver of the hearse. When, however, a funeral procession was to be form- ed, the mourners, instead of entering the house of the deceased, were in the habit of assembling in the middle of the street a few hours after the death was known to have taken place, and of pro- ceeding to the churchyard in front of the hearse, or on the weather side of it Such families as possessed burying-grounds of their own, made use of them ; but for the rest, two rows of large pits were dug in the more unoccupied part of the cemetery ; and in these the bo- dies were piled one upon another, — every coffin being surrounded by a layer of quick-lime. Each pit, when the coffins had reached to about two feet from the surface, was filled up with lime and DUMFRIES. 9 earth ; and, finally, when all the pits had been closed, a fresh stratum of about a foot thick was laid over the whole. Owing to the absence of some, and the actual sickness, or fear of others, public worship was for some time very scantily at- tended ; but weekly prayer meetings were held in the establish- ed churches, and in the different dissenting chapels, both for some time previous to the breaking out of the disease, and dur- ing its prevalence. Many private meetings for a similar purpose were likewise constituted at this time, and one or two are still con- tinued, — ^a proof, we trust, that the awful dispensation has produced at least same permanent good effect. From an early period of the disease, by order of the Board of Health, pots of pitch and tar were kept continually burning in the streets and closes, which were profusely strewed with lime, in the hope of purifying the atmosphere ; but all apparently without any good effect. It is worthy of remark, that, up to this date, Dum- fries, whether as viewed from within, or looked down upon from any of the surrounding heights, appeared enveloped in a thick and im- pervious cloud, altogether distinct and different from the smoke, and which retained its station in spite of wind and rain. The in- habitants experienced a raw damp mist, and an atmosphere of a peculiarly depressing nature. In this state matters continued till Thursday the 4th of Oc- tober, which had been appointed by the kirk-session to be kept as a day of humiliation and prayer. That night, a thunder-storm burst over the town, the peals being uncommonly long and loud, and the lightning vivid. The weather had previously been by no means such as to warrant the anticipation of a storm, yet awful and unexpected as it was, the most timorous hailed it with joy, as a means of dispelling the poison with which the atmosphere was con- taminated. From this date the number of cases continued to decrease, till, through the mercy of God, the disease entirely dis- appeared. The total number of cases officially reported, is 837 ; of deaths, 422; and of recoveries, 415. It is certain, however, that many cases were not reported. The last which occurred terminated fa- tally on the 27th of November. It is remarkable that the proportion of females who were seized much exceeded that of males ; and that the greater number, at the period of attack, were either menstruating, pregnant, or nursing. 10 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Children seemed equally susceptible of the disease with adults, but they sooner rallied ; and seemingly their constitutions received less detriment. Another circumstance we must not neglect to men- tion, is one which, so far as we know, has not been noticed as attending cholera in any other place. It is described by Dr Grieve, in his printed report, as ^^ a benumbing or tingling sensation, exactly similar to a slight galvanic shock, felt on applying the hand to the skin of a cho- lera patient, when in the collapsed state, (and more particularly when the body is bedewed with a cold and clanmiy sweat,) which extends from the extremities of the fingers to the elbow, and sometimes even to the shoulder. Occasionally the effect was so powerful, as to de- prive the arm for a few seconds of sensation and motion. Whether or not," continues Dr Grieve, ^ this peculiarity depends upon some extraordinary state of the nervous system, I cannot take upon myself to determine. It may not, however, be uninteresting to state, that not a single individual afflicted with paralysis, partial or confirmed, has been attacked with cholera. The same sensation was experi- enced by several of the practitioners of this town." Parochial Registers. — These consist of twenty-five volumes, including the proceedings of the kirk-session, the record of which commences on the 17th of September 1635. The record of bap- tisms conunences in 1605, of marriages in 1616, and of burials in 1617 ; in all of which the entries are regular. Antiquities, — The ancient castle belonging to the Comyns was romantically situated on a spot which still bears the name of Castledykes, overlooking a beautiful bend of the river, at a short dis- tance south from the town. It is not known at what period this for- tress was erected, and none of its walls are now standing; but notice of its existence is taken in the history of the reign of Edward I. * We have mentioned the erection of a monastery at Dumfries. For the convenience of the inmates of that religious house, its foundress caused a bridge to be constructed across the river Nith. This bridge is said at one time to have been considered, next to that of London, the best in the two kingdoms. It formerly consisted of thirteen arches ; but, having undergone various alterations, has now only seven left, and is used exclusively by foot-passengers. The narrow street which leads from the bridge to the spot where * In the BccouxiU of the comptroller of the wardrobe to King Edward I. there is a charge for a palisade, granted by Edward for this castle, from the forest of Ingle- wood in Cumberland. 3 DUMFRIES. H the friary formerly stood, is still called the Friars' Vermel The castle of the Maxwells has already been mentioned. In the year 1583, a strong building, called the New Wark, was erected, which served the double purpose of a fortress and a place of safety, where- in the effects of the inhabitants might be secured against the law- less attacks of the borderers. No vestiges, however, of this build- ing, or of either of the castles, or of the friary, now remain. • On a slight eminence at the entrance of the town by English Street, may still be traced the foundation of Saint Christopher's Chapel, which was built by King Robert Bruce as a place where mass might be said for the soul of his father4n-law. Sir Christo- pher Seton, who was hanged on the spot by order of Edward I. On the left bank of the river, just above the town, is another emi- nence, which is designated in the ancient records as the MocU Bracy and which still bears that name. This artificial mount, hke many of a similar description in Galloway, is supposed to have been formed and used by the Saxons as a place where their freeholders met for the administration of justice ; f but, owing partly to the encroach- ment of the river, and partly to the spot on which it stood having been laid out as pleasure ground, it has entirely lost the peculiar features which characterized it as a relic of antiquity. At no great distance, is another mound, seemingly of a similar nature, called the KirkUmd Moat* ^' In fact,'' says Chalmers, in his Caledonia, ^' there was a moat hill in every district of North Britain, during an age when justice was administered to a coarse people in the open air." Near Castledykes above-mentioned, is a field called the King^ holm ; which name may either have been given it by Bruce after * The ancient armorial bearings of the town were a cheveron, with three ./Erar* de lig ; but instead of these, St Michael, the tutelary saint of Dumfries, represented with wings, a pastoral staff in his hand, and clothed in a friar's dress, treading a serpent under his bare feet, has long been used. The motto is '' Aloreburn'* or ** Lore- bum,** — a word of which the precise import has never been ascertained. It is cer- tain, however, that it was the ancient slogan or war-cry of the inhabitants, and is be- lieved to be a corruption of the words hwer buntf having reference to a small rivu- let, the banks of which used to be the rendezvous of the inhabi^nts when they as- sembled in arms on the approach of a hostile force. Accordingly, a street in the im- mediate neighbourhood of the original course of the stream in question, bears the name of " Lorebum Street,'* f Moat or Mote signifies meeting. Thus, the Saxons termed their national coun- cil a Witienagemote (meeting of the wise), and a county court they named a Folkmoie, that is, a meeting of the people. The word mote was transferred from the assembly to the place where the assembly was held, as in the case of the word Church. 12 , DUMFRIES-SHIRE. his accession to the throne, or may be a corruption from ComjpCs holm^ a name which it once bore. Toward the south-east end of the parish, is an eminence called Trohaughton, which Pennant notices as a Roman station. A relic of antiquity, supposed to be a Roman sandal, was found many years ago towards the east end of the parish ; and in the river, nearly opposite to the town mills, was found a gold coin of about the cir- cumference of a sixpence, and the thickness of a half crown, bear- ing the inscription ^^ Augustus" round the impression of a Roman head. Several Roman and Scottish coins also have at different times been discovered in di^ng the foundations of houses in the town. It may be mentioned, that there is still to be seen a small part of a deep track of road which led through the castle garden to the river, where a causeway was formed, by means of which the family at the castle could cross over to their seat at Terregles with- out passing through the town. The buildings in Castle Street, however, have now almost entirely obliterated it A curious relic of antiquity was some time ago discovered by Mr Affleck, iron- founder, while employed in selecting some pieces of old metal to throw into the crucible. It is circular, fully two inches in dia- meter, and about the thickness of a penny. Upon being struck with a hammer a crust of verdigris came off, and on one side of it was discovered engraved a lion rampant in the midst of a shield bordered with fleur des lis, and surrounded, in reversed characters, by the legend " Jacobus Dei gra. Rex Scotorum;" after which is a figure nearly similar to the letter S, which we conclude must have been intended to represent the buckle of the belt on which the inscription is engraved. The seal, for such it appears to be, is formed of a compound of copper with some other metals, and is, with some plausibility, supposed to have been the privy seal of one of the kings of Scotland. It is evidently of con- siderable antiquity, and closely resembles, on the engraved side, a silver groat of the date of James the Fifth. The other side is per- fectly smooth, and no traces are discernable of a handle ever hav- ing been attached to it. The seal remains in possession of Mr Affleck. Modem Buildings^ 8^c. — The county town of Dumfries is beau- tifully situated on the left bank of the river Nith, in 55° 2' 45" north latitude, and 3"* 36' west longitude from Greenwich. It is nearly 4 DUMFRIES. 13 a mile in length, and a quarter of a mile in breadth. It has long possessed the character of being a clean, well built town, and has been improved and considerably enlarged within the last forty years. The streets, and most of the public buildings, are well lighted by gas, wltich was introduced about five years ago,* about which pe- riod also a great improvement took place in the appearance and fitting up of the shops, which are larger and much handsomer than those of most provincial towns. The houses are built of red free- stone; such as are of older date being generally white-washed, and many in the modem part of the town painted in imitation of Port- land stone. There are in Dumfries two parish churches. St Michael's, which is furnished with a tall and handsome spire, was built in 1745, and stands at the south-east end of the town on the site of a place of worship originally Popish, but converted into the Protestant parish church after the Reformation. The other church, which was not founded till 1724^ and is still called the New Church, terminates the High Street to the north-west, and occupies the site of the old castle of Dumfries, out of the ruins of which, materials for its 'erection were obtained. This church was first opened for public worship in 1727. St Michael's, or the Old Church, is surrounded by an extensive and crowded burying-ground, which contmns a vast number and variety of monuments, some of them very ancient We mentioned above that in this cemetery are deposited the remains of our na- tional poet Bums. They were originally interred in the north comer of the churchyard, upon which spot a simple table-stone was raised to his memory; but in 1815 his ashes were removed to a vault beneath an elegant mausoleum, which was erected by subscription as a tribute to his genius, at a cost of L. 1450. This monument contains a hand- some piece of marble sculpture, executed by Turaerelli, representing the genius of Scotland finding the poet at the plough, and throwing ^* her inspiring mantle" over him. This burying-ground also con- tains all that could die of three witnesses for the tmth, who seal- ed their testimony with their blood during the merciless persecu- tions by which the house of Stewart vainly endeavoured to con- taminate the purity of our Presbyterian faith and worship. The graves are marked by plain slabs of freestone, with rude inscrip- * Measures are now (1833) in progress for supplying the town, by means of pipes, with good spring water. IG DUMFRIES*SH1RE. Languagey Customs^ Sfc, — Tlie language Ainiversally spoken by the lower ranks is the lowland Scotch, which has, hbwever, with- in the last forty years, lost much of its national peculiarity, — ^inany words which were then used having now become obsolete. We have already mentioned the '^ siller gun." This royal gift is competed for at least once in seven years, and oftener if the trades think fit Upon such occasions, every member of the in- corporations is bound under a penalty to appear armed with a firelock, and to answer to his name. This done, the whole march in due form to some convenient open ground in the neighbourhood, and there contend for the prize by shooting in rotation at a target. The successful marksman returns to the town in front of the pro- cession, bearing attached to his hat, and adorned with ribbons, the piece of ordnance, of which he is the nominal custodier until the next trial of skill takes place. There are annual races on Tinwald Downs in the month of September, at which period assembUes are held in the town. The theatre is generally open for two or three months in the year. The people have of late made considerable advances in cleanli- ness; and the practice of going barefoot, formerly so common throughout Scotland, is here fast losing ground. The standard articles of food amongst the lower orders are potatoes, porridge, oat- cakes, and milk; salt herrings are also very much used. Al- though a great deal of poverty exists in the obscure parts of the town, the inhabitants in general seem to enjoy in a very considerable degree the comforts and advantages of society, and are. contented with their situation and circumstances. Charojcter of the people. — The people are generally intelligent, and although there are many amongst the labouring classes who can neither read nor write, yet these are, in but a very few in- stances, natives of Scotland. Living in a district where no manu- factures are carried on upon an extensive scale, the inhabitants have not amongst them those exciting motives to discontent and insubordination which exist more or less in all manufacturing towns. They possess the character of being decent in their exter- nal deportment, and respectful to their superiors. Poaching, how- ever, both in game and in the salmon fisheries, prevails to a con- siderable extent. DUMFRIES. 17 IV. — Industry. Agricvlture and Rural Economy, Number of acres cultiyatixi or occasionally in tillage, - > 7930 _^ which have never been cultivated, forming Lochar Moss, and several patches besides, About ----- 1850 -_— _ capable of being cultirated with a profit, probably, - 1900 «— -i— — — in undivided common, ..... under full grown or natural wood, (oak, ash, plane, &c. ) 74 planted, (oak, ash, larch, &c.) - . - 244 Total number of acres in the parish, - . . . 9280 Rent of Land. — The average rent of arable land is from thirty to forty shillings per acre ; except in the immediate neighbourhood of the town, where it is from L. 4 to L. 6. The average rent of grazing for a cow is about L. 4. No sheep are put out to graze in that way. The total estimated rental of the burgh and burgh roods is L. 21,000, and that of the landward part of the parish is L, 8810, — making the rental of the whole parish about L. 29,810. Rate of Waffes, Sfc — The rate of labour, winter and summer, for farm labourers and country artisans, is Is. 6d. per day. The daily hire of a mason, carpenter, and other mechanical workmen in the country, is 2s. with victuals ; 2s. 6d. without In town the rate is from 2s. to 2s. 6d. per day. A joiner or cabinet-tnaker's weekly wages average about 15s. An iron plough costs from L. 3, to L. 3, 10s. A full mounted cart, L. 8. Breeds of Live Stock, — Very few sheep are bred in the parish. The only cattle bred and reared are of the pure Galloway kind ; which, owing to the attention of late bestowed upon the breeding of them, has very much improved. Almost as many Ayrshire as Galloway cows are kept for milk; but none of the former are rear- ed in the parish. Husbandry. — The principal part of the arable land is managed under what is technically termed a, Jive or six yearns shift, viz. in the first year oats ; in the second, turnips or potatoes ; in the third, wheat or barley; in the fourth, generally hay; and in the fifth and sixth, pasture. Within the last forty years, about 250 acres have been reclaimed from Lochar Moss, which have amply repaid the outlay, yielding abundant crops of oats, potatoes, and rye-grass hay. Much more might be brought into cultivation if sufficient encouragement were given by proprietors, such, for instance, as a general drainage of the river Lochar. We may here mention that it has been more than once proposed to carry a canal from the Lochar Bridge Quarry to the sea, a distance of about twelve miles, (in which there is a fall of thirty feet,) having a branch to conununi- DUMFRIES. B 18 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. cate with Dumfries. This, it is considered, would be- of immense local importance. The turnip husbandry is now carried on to the greatest pos- sible extent, and is found to be a valuable improvement [upon the dry sharp sandy soils, of which a large proportion of the arable land in this parish consists. Forty years ago it was a rare thing to see turnips sown ; but for the last five years, 150 acres have been about the average extent of land occupied by that article. Almost all the turnip crops are eaten on the ground by sheep. About one-half of the quantity of turnips is raised by the aid of bone manure, at an expense of from L. 3, 10s. to L. 4, 10s. per acre. The general duration of leases is from fifteen to nineteen years. These leases are decidedly favourable to the tenanti^ who generally prefer the latter period. The farm-buildings, upon the whole, are by no means so com- fortable as they should be, owing chiefly to a large proportion of .the landward part of the parish being entailed property. The fences are in a better condition. Quarries. — Four red sandstone quarries are worked in this parish r and at an annual expense of about L. 1000. Fisheries. — The only fisheries carried on are those of salmon and trout ; the rents of which amount to about L. 500 a-year. Produce. — The average gross amount and value of raw produce raised in the parish may be as follows : Produce of grain of all kinds^ whether cultivated for food of man, or the domestic animals, ..... L. 12,800 Of potatoes, turnips, cabbages, beet, and other plants, cultivated in the fields for food, .... Of hay, whether meadow or cultivated, 1 Of crops cultivated for the arts, as flax, ) ** ~ ~ Of land in pasture, - - Of fisheries, whether sea, river, or lake, ... Of quarries, ..... Total yearly value of raw produce raised, - L. 22,186 Manufactures. — The only manufactures carried on to any great extent in Dumfries are those of hats and stockings. The latter of these does not at present yield a very encouraging remunera- tion. No fewer than 279 frames are employed by the stock- ing-weavers in this place. There are three hat-manufactories; in which together, nearly 200 workmen are employed. Formerly checked cottons were fabricated, but this branch has fallen off; and most of the cotton-spinners who remain are in the employ of Carlisle or Glasgow manufacturers. The trade of tanning is also 4600 1760 1526 500 1000 DUMFRIES. 19 carried on to some extent ; and hides prepared here are disposed of in Glasgow, London, and other parts of the United Kingdom. There are also several breweries in Dumfries, and one very exten- sive basket-making establishment. The manufacture of clogs, or strong shoes with thick wooden soles, the use of which was till late- ly confined to the south of Scotland, affords no inconsiderable pro- fit to those engaged in it. Large quantities of shoes are also ex- ported, and in the manufacture of these articles upwards of 300 in- dividuals are employed. The manufactures carried on are not sufficiently extensive to produce much effect upon either the health, or the morals, of the general population. Trade. — Many thousand carcases of pork are sold here dur- ing the season, which lasts from the end of December to the begin- ning of April, and are sent off to the south to be cured More than 700 are sold weekly; and, in some instances, from L.4000 to L. 5000 worth of pork has been disposed of in one day. A butcher- market was many years ago prepared, and the stalls were oc- cupied ; but it is now entirely deserted, — the " fleshers" finding .it of greater advantage to disperse themselves over the town. In the meal-market, business is transacted under cover. It has been for some time in contemplation to build new markets, somewhat upon the plan of those in Edinburgh ; but nothing has as yet been done towsurds the accomplishment of this design. About eighty years ago, a considerable tobacco trade was car- ried on in Dumfries ; but, in consequence of the detection of some systematic and successful attempts at smuggUng, the traffic in this article came to be discouraged. The only foreign trade is with America, for timber, in which several pretty large vessels are employed. The other vessels are coasters, plying to Liverpool, Whitehaven, Maryport, and other parts. The imports are, principally coal, slate, iron, tallow, timber, hemp, and wine. The annual value of the timber imported can- not be less than from L. 8000 to L. tO,000 Sterling. The ex- ports are wool, freestone, oats, wheat, and barley.* Navigation. — The number of vessels of all burdens belonging to the port of Dumfries, (including the Creek of Annan,) amounts to 84, the total burden of which is 5783 tons. The number of foreign vessels usually trading to this port is from 12 to 18. The range of the Dumfries Custom-house extends from Sark-foot, * Farther particulars of the trade of this parish are given under the head of Pa- rochial Economy. 20 DUMFRIES'SIIIRK. at the head of the Solway Firth, to Glenluce, on the coast of Gal- loway. The gross amount of Customs collected at the port of Dumfries for the year ending 5th January 1832, was L. 5089. A steam-boat plies once a-week during the summer months be- tween Dumfries and Whitehaven, in connection with one from thence to Liverpool ; by which conveyance an immense quantity of goods and live stock, particularly sheep, are exported for the English market Societies for Encouragement of Industry, — The Dumfries and Gralloway Horticultural Society, instituted in 1812, and which meets periodically in Dumfries, has been of great use in stirring up to emulation, industry, and improvement, the gardeners in this district, prizes being awarded to those who produce the best and rarest articles. V. — Parochial Economy. Markets^ Sfc. — Dumfries has long been celebrated for its markets, which are held every Wednesday ; when a great deal of business is done among the cattle-dealers upon the ^^ Sands," an open space by the river side, set apart for the purpose ; but, be- sides these, there are four great annual fairs, viz. one at Whitsun- day and another at Martinmas, when an immense number of black- cattle are sold; and the other two for horses, in October and Fe- bruary. The greatest annual cattle-market held on Dumfries Sands, is that preceding and corresponding with Brough-hill Fair in Cumberland, and usually takes place in the last week of Sep- tember. On each of two occasions, during the last five years, viz. in 1829 and 1830, there have been about 6000 head of cattle exposed, — the majority being aged, or three-year old Galloways and Highlanders ; and on each of these occasions business has been done to an amount exceeding L. 30,000. The numbers usually exposed for sale on that day, however, during the last dozen years, amount to frdm 3500 to 4500 yearly ; and for six weeks about this period, an amount of cattle, varying from 1500 to 2000, are generally exposed on the Sands of Dumfries. Fully one-half of these are drove or heavy cattle. But the business done in the public market gives but an inadequate idea of the magnitude of the trade in general ; for an inunense variety of transactions are effected by the dealers privately throughout Dum- fries-shire and Galloway ; and in a period of ten days, during the droving season, more than 20,000 head of cattle have been known to DUMFRIES. 21 pay toll on the English road, and not one of which had been exposed in the market. Added to the business done in heavy cattle, a very important and bustling trade is carried on by the farmers, graziers, and jobbers,— disposing, on the one hand, of young cattle, which have been grazed or fed on fodder a certain period ; and, on the other, purchasing cattle a stage younger, which are grazed in their turn ; the difference between the original cost and that which is received at the sale constituting the profit, or sum intended for the expenses of keep. Of the horse-market, it is impossible to speak with any thing like accuracy. There, again, an immense part of the business is transacted privately ; and at the fairs of Candlemas and Roodsmass, the number of all kinds exposed may perhaps vary from 400 to 600. A portion of the best draught horses are retained for service in the district in which they have been reared ; and the surplus car- ried by the dealers to Edinburgh, Glasgow, — the west country ge- nerally, and to the north of England. At the fair in February, an incredible quantity of hare-skins is purchased. The average number cannot be under 30,000 ; and one year, no less a sum than L. 6000 is said to have been paid for that one article. Burgh, — Dumfries is a royal burgh, and is entitled to one of five votes for a member of Parliament. The tradesmen are divided into seven incorporations, from each of which a deacon is annually elected ; and of the seven deacons thus elected, one is chosen conve- ner, to assemble and preside over the whole craft, which is composed of, 1^^, the hammermen, consisting of blacksmiths, whitesmiths, tin- smiths, coppersmiths, and saddlers, making in all 100 freemen ; 2 290 ^— — ^_ that might be cultivated with a profitable application of capital (independently of the large tract of Lochar-Moss,) - - 200 — ^^— — — in undivided oonunon, . - . . ■ under wood, ------ 5 Rent ofLand^ 8^e. — The rent of arable land varies according to quality and situation, from L.2 to 7s. 6d. the imperial acre. Leases are commonly for fifteen or nineteen years. The yearly rent of labourers' and cottagers' houses, is from L,l to L. 5. Those at the lowest rent are miserable hovels ; and the rent of the best places them beyond the reach of labourers, or even common tradesmen. It is of great disadvantage that so many of the houses are covered with thatch. Prices of Provisions. — The prices of butter, eggs, and poultry, are regulated by the Dumfries market, of which Reports are published weekly in the Dumfries newspapers ; and the Dumfries markets again are very much affected by those of Edinburgh and Glasgow, there being carriers who make a business of transporting such articles to these more distant markets, whenever a profit can be made by them. Indeed, the very cheap and rapid communication which is now established, and continually improving, between the most distant markets, is fast bringing the prices of articles every where nearly to a level, and thus benefiting all classes ; raising the prices in re- mote parts of the country where the articles are produced ; and lowering them in cities and towns where they are principally con- sumed. Live Stock, — The number of horses kept in the parish, almost all farm work-horses of a middle siae, is 150. Young horses bred by the farmers, dS ; cows kept, 354 ; young black-cattle, 495 ; sheep kept through the year, 284 ; sheep fed on turnips in winter, 1800 ; swine bred and fattened yearly, 388. Bate of Waffes, 8fc. — The wages of day-labourers are at an ave- rage Is. 6d. in summer, and Is. 3d. in winter, without victuals. Most of the farm-servants here are unmarried, and are lodged and fed in the farmers' houses. The wages of men-servants vary from L. 9 to L. 14 a-year, aj)d of women-servants from L. 5 to L. 6 a- year. Doing work by the piece is very general ; such as mowing, DUMFRIES. c 34 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. ditching, and turnip-hoeing. This last costs from 4s. to 5s. the acre. Produce. — The average gross amount and value of raw produce raised in the parish, as nearly as can be ascertained, is as follows : Produce of grain of all kinds, whether cultiTated for food of nuui, or the domestic animals, (deducting teed,) .... L. 7201 > potatoes, turnips, cabbages, beet, and other plants culti- vated in the fields for food, .... 2B9B hay, 2100 land in pasture^ rating it at L. 2 per cow, or ftiU-grown oi, graied, or that may be graied for the season ; at 68. per ewe, or full-grown sheep, pastured, or that may be pastured, for the year, ..... . . |288 Total value of raw produce nused, - L. 13,487 Of the crop of oats, the greater part is used for feeding horsey and swine, and employed as meal for the fanners' famiUes. The po- tatoe crop is almost all used for the same purposes. More than one- half of the artificial hay is used in feeding the farmers' horses ; and almost the whole of the natural hay b used in feeding the farm stock. Manufactures* — In this parish there are no manufactures; but a considerable number of weavers who work in their own houses, some of them country work ; but more of them are employed in weaving cotton for the manufacturers of Carlisle and other places, the prices allowed for which vary exceedingly, and, when very low, are attended with great want and misery to the poor weavers. V. — Parochial Economy. Means of Communication, — Dumfries is the post town of the district; and both a mail-coach, and another coach between it and England, pass t¥dce daily through the parish ; and a foot post also passes twice every day between Dumfries and Lochma- hen, by another turnpike road through this parish. The length of turnpike roads in the parish is about seven miles and a-half ; and they are kept in excellent order, as are also the parish roads, which are about twelve miles long, and are kept up by an assess- ment of L. 1 upon the 100 merks of valued rent, amounting to about L. 36 a-year. At present the assessment is reduced to 15s. per 100 merks, producing only about L. 27 a-year. The roads are now in so good a state that it is thought the annual expendi- ture of this small sum will keep them in proper repair. The sys- 3 TORTHORWALD. * 35 tem of making and repairing the roads with broken stones, as in- troduced by Mr Macadam, prevails universally here* Ecclesiastical State, — The parish church is a substantial commo- dious building, erected in 1782; it affords accommodation for 500 persons, and the sittings are all free. It is conveniently situated near the centre of the parish. The manse has been built at three different periods. The oldest part of it was built about 1730; an addition was made about 1791 ; and another addition in 1809. It is now a large and tolerably convenient house. The stipend is fifteen chal- ders, half barley, half meal, payable at the rate of the county fiars ; and L. 8, 6s. 8d. is given for communion elements. Converted to money at the average of the last seven years, the stipend amounts to L.248, Is. Id. The glebe contains eleven acres of good land, including the garden ground, steads of the manse and offices, and court-yard. There are lio chapels or dissenting meeting-houses of any kind here, though there are in the parish about twenty-eight families of Dissenters, and six poor Irish Roman Catholics. The church is upon the whole well frequented, and is attended by about 224 fa- milies. The average number of communicants is about 335. Education. — There are two schools in the parish. One of these is near the church, where English reading, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, geography, Latin, and Greek, are very well taught by an able, diligent, and successful instructor of youth. His yearly sa- lary is L.31, 6s. 6|d. and the interest of L. 160 of mortified money. The wages paid by the scholars are extremely moderate, — Is. 6d. per quarter for reading, writing, and the four common rules of arith- metic; 3s. per quarter for writing and the higher branches of arith- metic; 5s. per quarter for book-keeping, Latin and GreeL The fees for geography, mathematics, and navigation are generally settled by agreement between the master and scholars. The yearly amount of fees actually received by him may be L.30. There is a good school-house and schoolmaster's house, and small garden. The number of scholars attending the school is in winter about 120, and in summer about 72. The other school is about two miles to the south of this, at the village of Collin. In it are taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and book-keeping. The wages paid by the scholars for these branches are the same as in the other school. The yearly salary is L.20, and the amount of fees received may be L.20 per annum. There is a good school and schoolmaster's house, and about three-fourths of an acre of land, chiefly re- claimed from moss, which is now a considerable advantage to the 36 - DUMFRIES-SHIRE. master. This school is also well attended. The people of this parish are thus amply provided with opportunities of education, and scarcely any of them arrive at ten years of age without being able to read and write. Savings Banks^ Sfc. — There are no circulating libraries, norfriendly societies, nor savings banks in this parish ; but its contiguity to the town of Dumfries, where the inhabitants have an opportunity of joining in any or all of these, renders establishing them in this pa- rish unnecessary. Several of the inhabitants do avail themselves of the opportunity of depositing small sums either in the Dumfries savings bank, or in that of Ruthwell, which is only eight miles dis- tant, and for which it is natural to have a partiality, as being the parent institution established by the worthy and patriotic clergyman of that parish, Dr Henry Duncan. Poor. — The average number of poor persons receiving parochial aid is 2 1 . Of these only four are males, and seventeen females, and al- most all are old persons. Among these is divided by the kirk-session about L. 39 annually, arising from collections at the church, and L. 1 9^ 5s., being the interest at dj per cent, of a sum, amounting to L. 550, formed out of bequests made to the poor at different times. A general distribution is made four times in the year; but it is also found ne- cessary to make many partial intermediate disbursements. L. 39 divided among twenty-one persons makes an average of L. 1, 17s. l|d. to each person. But this gives no just idea of the actual state of the distribution, which varies very widely according to the cir- cumstances of the paupers; some getting L.5, 5s. while others not more than L. 1 yearly. The time is past when the poor were asham- ed, or thought it degrading, to apply for parochial aid. Though there is not a single proprietor residing in this parish, the poor have hitherto been maintained by voluntary charity, without recourse being had to assessments of any kind. In 1791, the number of per- sons on the poors' roll was only five ; at present, there are twenty- one. Thus the poor have quadrupled, while the number of inha- bitants has doubled. At the former period there was distributed among the five paupers only L. 5, 9s. yearly. But at that time a considerable quantity of lint was grown in this district, the spinning of which gave profitable employment to many persons, particularly to old women, and enabled them, in a great measure, to maintain themselves ; but the very low price of cotton cloth has now almost entirely supplanted the manufacture of home-made linen, and thus deprived old women of a useful and profitable branch of employ- TORTHORWALD. * 37 meat, for which tliey have no substitute; and they are thus made much more dependent upon the bounty of others. /«iM, ^c. — There are no fewer than five ale, or rather whisky houses, in this parish, while there is really no use for one in a place so near Dumfries ; and nothing is more pernicious to the industry and morals of the people. Fuel. — The parish is well supplied with fuel, consisting chiefly of peats, from Lochar Moss. But an abundant supply of coals also is brought by sea from the opposite English coast to Dumfries, and sold there for about 13s. or 14s. the ton. Miscellaneous Observations. Lochar Moss. — The most obvious and important improvements which are wanted in this parish are, 1^^, the draining and dressing the moss and meadows along Lochar, which, as before-mentioned, are very extensive. There is enough of declivity in this moss to admit of its being sufficiently drained for culture, if a straight wide course were cut for the water of Lochar, and a mill-dam re- moved, which is near the southern end of it in the parish of Car- laverock, and which at present stops up the water, and raises it to the height of six or seven feet This great interruption to the drainage is all for the sake of a small trifling mill, which yields very little rent to the proprietor, and is hardly of any consequence to the tenants. IS this mill-dam were removed, and a proper course cut for the main water all along the moss, with the necessary late- ral drains, — ^improvements which could be done at a very moderate expense, it is not easy to calculate the vast quantity of ground now useless that might be formed into valuable meadows. The prin- cipal proprietors of this great moss are the Marquis of Queensber- ry. Sir Robert Grierson, Bart., Mr Paterson, the Earl of Mans- field, Mr Maxwell of Nithsdale, Mr Douglas of Craigs, Mr Heron, and Mr Johnston of Camsalloch. Where so many proprietors are concerned, it is not easy to induce them to agree and co-operate heartily in any one plan. But the draining and improving of this vast moss, which lies in a low country, in a healthy warm climate, and on the edge of the sea, is evidently so much for the advantage of all concerned, is so plain and simple an operation, and might be completed at so small an expense, in comparison with the return it would make to the proprietors, that it is most wonderful, and much to be regretted, that it has been neglected so long, although it has been in contemplation for seventy or eighty years. About 38 * DUMFRIES-SHIRE. the beginning of that period, Charles Duke of Queensberry, who was then proprietor of a large portion of this moss, and whose memory, for his benevolence and public spirit, is still held in vene- ration by all the inhabitants of this part of the country, employ- ed Smeaton, the most eminent civil engineer of that time, to survey the moss and make a plan and estimate of the expense of draining and improving it The survey, plan, and estimate were made, and are published in Dr Singer's Agricultural Account of Dumfries- shire ; but unfortunately the plan has never been followed out* The work could not be properly carried on unless the whole proprietors were cordially to co-operate, and it is not easy to say when this may happen. The estimated expense when Mr Smeaton made his survey was only L. 2952.* 2^, Much benefit would arise to the parish from the building of more substantial and commodious farm-steadings, and if more at- tention were paid to the rearing and managing thorn hedges for in- closing and subdividing the farms. Sd, It would also be of great advantage, particularly on the higher grounds of this parish, if plantations were to be reared in different places. These would not only beautify the country, but, by the shelter they would afford, render the climate wanner, and contri- bute very much to the comfort and improvement of the cattle, which thrive but very poorly at present on the high grounds, exposed to every cold blast. 4th, The greatest improvement which has lately taken place in agriculture here is the introduction and general adoption of the culture of turnips. It is not more than seven or eight .years since this has become general ; it is of the greatest advantage to the ten- ants, and enables them to pay rents which would otherwise have been ruinous to them. The soil is very much adapted to turnips, the crops are in general good, and the following crops of barley and grass are wonderfully improved by the feeding of sheep on the turnip fields. December 1838. * The method which appears most likely for accomplishing an extensive work of this kind, in which so many proprietors are concerned, is for some skilful and enter- prising individual, with sufficient capital, to obtain a long lease of the whole from the proprietors for a rent very low at first, (but more than it yields at present,) and gra- dually rising, with full right to cut the main course straight, and such other lateral drains as he may find necessary. To enable the proprietors to grant such a lease, an act of Parliament would be required, as great part of the property is under entail. PARISH OF TINWALD AND TRAILFLAT. PRESBYTERY OF DUMFRIES, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. GEORGE GREIG, MINISTER. THE REV. GEORGE GREIG, JUNIOR, ASSISTANT AND SUCCESSOR.* I. — Topography and Natural History. Name and Boundaries. — In the Account formerly given of this parish, the name Tinwald is supposed to be derived from the Gaelic, and to signify the harbour ; or from the Saxon, and to signify the house in the wood. Whatever may be the import of the latter syllable of the word, which in the old presbytery records id spelt weld, the former, viz. Tin or Tinff, appears more probably to have been derived from the Tinffj or court of the ancient Saxons or Scandinavians, who at one time posses- sed a considerable portion of the country. Tings or courts are well known to have been held in the open air ; and immediately adjoining the church here, there is a mound (which a few years ago was perfectly entire, but is now much defaced ^^ Seges est ubi Troja fuit") evidently artificial, and said to bear a striking resem- blance to one bearing the same name in the Isle of Man, upon which local courts were held, until a very recent period. Tingwall in Shetland appears to have derived its name from the same circum- stance. — (See Peveril of the Peak, VoL L ch. v. Note 2d.) Trail- flat is probably from a Gaelic etymon, which signifies a sloping wet side. It was united to Tinwald in 1650. The united parish forms an irregular figure of about 6 miles by 4 in its extreme length and breadth, and contains about 15 square miles. It is bounded by the parish of Kirkmichael upon the north; by that of Lochmaben upon the east; by those of Torthorwald and Dumfries upon the south and south-west; and by that of Kirkmahoe upon the west and north-west. * This Account has been drawn up by the Assistant Minister. 40 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Topographical Appearances. — The only hills in the parish are the northern part of a range which extends to the S. E. through the parishes of Torthorwald and Mousewald, and sinks gradually as it approaches the Solway ; their acclivity is in most cases gentle, «nd with scarcely an exception they admt of cultivation to die tops. The elevation of the highest hill above the level of the sea, accord- ing to barometrical measurement, is 682 feet Hydrography. — There is one lake in the parish, called the Mur- der Loch. It is of small extent, and has been considerably dimi- nished lately by means of draining. It is now only about eighteen feet at its greatest depth. The only streams connected with the parish worth noticing are the Ae and the Lochar; the former of which forms the north- ern boundary of the parish. It has its source from the Queens- berry hill, whence it proceeds in a southern direction, sepa- rating the parish of Kirkmtchael from those of Closebum and Kirkmahoe; then turning to the east, it separates Kirkmichael from Tinwald, joins the Kinnel near its southern extremity, and with it falls into the Annan above Lochmaben. It is a rapid stream, very liable to floods^ which come down from the high grounds with great velocity, and often do considerable damage. Its bed being of a gravelly nature, this stream is conti- nually undermining its banks and changing its course. The Lochar commences near a small village upon the Edinburgh road, called Jericho, where two rivulets of nearly the same size (the one forming for a considerable space the western boundary of the parish) join together, and afterwards assume that name. It separates the parishes of Tinwald and Dumfries so far as they lie contiguous. Geology. — The rocks of which the hills in this parish are com- posed consist entirely of grey wacke and greywacke slate, all of which dip towards the south at almost every degree of inclination, some being nearly vertical, others nearly horizontal. There ^re a few trifling veins (scarcely worthy of the name perhaps) of crystallized felspar, to be met with amongst them. Peat-moss is pretty ex- tensive ; but there is none of any depth, except a small portion upon the eastern boundary of the parish, and that lying contiguous to the Lochar, most of which has been improved. Soil. — There is a considerable variety of soil in the parish. On the south-western boundary of the parish, there is the moss at the side of the Lochar, already mentioned, and extending to about TINWALD AND TRAILFLAT. 41 « oule in length, by a quarter of a mile in breadth, — which has been oooverted into meadow of very superior quality. Next to this, upon the east, and closing round it upon the north, is a range of fields from a quarter to half a mile in breadth, of a sandy gravel : The materials of which these fields are composed have evidently been transported by water. The range now referred to extends ( N. W.) through the parish of Kirkmahoe ; and there is every probabi- lity that the old tradition, of such having once been the course of the Nith, is correct. Above these fields, and farther from the Lochar, is a range of much greater length as well as breadth, extending to about two-thirds of the whole length of the parish, and consisting of a dry clay loam (very much mixed in some places with small stones) of great fertility, and well adapted to every variety of crop. This latter description of soil extends to the top, and (except at one place, where they form a sort of double range, with about a mile by three^fourths of moor and moss intervening,) quite over the hills, until it terminates in a moss upon the eastern side. That towards the east, however, is of a stiffer and more retentive clay, rather spongy, and from its less favourable exposure, not so well adapted for cultivation. The north and north-west portion of the parish, with a small exception immediately upon the banks of the Ae, con- sists of a cold moorish clay, covered in some places by a few inches of peat, and very unproductive. In the middle of Lochar meadow, there is a pretty high ridge, still called the hle^ upwards of half a mile in length) and containing about thirty Scotch acres ; which is entirely composed of sea sand, and evidently shows that at one time the tide must have flowed in this direction. In confirmation of this, it is said to have been found marked upon an old Dutch chart, '^ that the isles of Tinwald afforded the safest and most commodious harbour for shipping in Scotland." — Nearly opposite to the manse, too, at the bottom of what in former times must have been a deep narrow gut^ there is a place called Cottyveat, or Cully veat^ where there is the visible formation of a small bay. There was a ferry, it has been supposed, at this place ; and Cully veat is said to be a corruption of Collin's boat. A much more probable supposition, however, and one rendered doubly so by the circumstance of the Dutch having been acquainted with the Tinwald isles and harbours, is that the name in question signifies the^o^ of the ffully, voet being the low Dutch for foot. According to others it is of Gaelic extraction, and should be spelt cully vaf^ which signifies a liarhourfor boats. Zoology, — The Aphides^ a small green insect, sometimes ap- 42 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. pear, and do very considerable damage, especially to the Swed- ish turnips. They are most destructive in dry hot weather, when there is a deficiency of moisture in the atmosphere for the purposes of vegetation. The eggs are deposited upon the under side of the leaves of the most luxuriant plants, on the juice of which, after having been hatched, they live during the different stages of their progressive existence. Two years ago, I saw a small field of Swedes almost entirely destroyed by these little crea- tures ; the leaves were covered vdth hundreds upon every square inch, and in the course of about three weeks, except the back stem, and one or two of the larger veins, they were almost entirely withered away. In moist or genial weather they are seldom to be met with^ and then, when they do appear, vegetation is so vigorous, that the plants are able to sustain them, without receiving essential injury. Hot lime and salt are sometimes employed to destroy them, but ge- nerally without much effect. The turnip crops, however, are, at an earlier stage, and just as they begin to appear above ground, exposed to the depredations of another very destructive insect, usually, though perhaps improperly, called the turnip fly — the HdUica nemorum of entomologists : whole fields are sometimes so entirely destroyed by it, that it is found necessary to sow them a second time ; which seldom succeeds. Botany, — The rarer plants occurring in the parish are the fol- lowing: Briza medU Festuca Myunis Hippuris vulgaris Circaea Lutetiana Veronica Anagallis montana Utrictilaria vulgaris Lycopus europaeus Valeriana dioica Fedia dentata Phalaris canariensis Milidm eifusum Aira aquatica Mellca uniflora Poa decumbens gigantea elatior Bromus asper Echium vulgare Primula vulgaris* Campanula latifolia Jasione montana^-f' Solanum Dulcamara Rhamnus Frangula Slum verticillatum Cicuta virosa Paris quadrifi>lia Adoxa moschatellina Andromeda polifolia Stellaria nemorum -> 'glauca Arenaria trinervis Prunus Padus insititia Geum urbanum, Var. 0\ Aquilegia vulgaris Ranunculus auricomus § Trollius suropxeus Lepidium campestre * Var. ji Smith's English Flora, having some flower-stalks forming an umbel, and elevated on a common stalk, a few remaining single from the root, -f* Common in this neighbourhood, but not found upon the east coasts X Supposed by Smith to be a hybrid between G. urbanum and G. rivale* § The variety in which the petals are deficient is most prevalent. I am not aware of a single specimen having been found in the parish where more than two were pre- sent, and even of these generally one is imperfectly formed. TINWALD AND TRAILFLAT. 43 Comelina aativa * Eupatorium eannabinum Car«z cuita Cardamine amara Epipactus latifolia fulva Barbarea yulgaris Carex dioica recunra Nasturttum terrestre intennedia Aspidium lobatum Tragopogon prateiuis panicvJata Botrychium Lunaria A large portion of the parish was at one time covered with wood, the greater part of which was cut down by the last Duke of Queensberry ; and now, except a quantity upon the estate of Amis- field, very little remains. The soil seems most congenial to oak and ash. We have also a few small belts of Scotch and larch fir ; but these have all been planted. There is also here and there a tree of the more common descriptions, both of hard and of soft wood. The church and churchyard are surrounded by a thick row, at some places double, of large planes and ashes, upwards of a hundred years old. Of these, however, there are a greater number, and many of them of a greater age, upon the policy at Amisfield. And in the garden there, there is an old holly whose stem below the branches measures nine feet by seven and a-half as its mean girt. Its branches are rather peculiarly formed: for immediately upon the top of the trunk they diverge all around in such a manner as to form a large open space in the middle, where a number of people might conceal themselves. IL — Civil History. Eminent Men, — 1. The first person, in point of date, of any emi- nence connected with the parish appears to be Sir Thomas Charte- ris of Amisfield, who was appointed Lord High Chancellor of Scot- land by Alexander HI. in 1280. He seems to have been the first layman that ever held that office. — (Douglas* Baronage of Scotland, Vol.i.p. 160.) — 2. Sir Thomas Charteris, his great grandson, also connected vdth the parish, was appointed to the same office by King David in 1 134. He was killed at the battle of Durham, where his royal master was taken prisoner. — {Ibid.) 3. We find Sir John Charteris, also of Amisfield, holding, in the reign of James V., the of- fice of Warden of the West Marches, one of the most important un- der the crown : and there is a traditionary story of rather a singu- lar visit having been paid him by the king, which led to consequen- ces by which the family were in a great measure reduced. — fFor^ syth^s Beauties of Scotland, Vol. ii. p. 312.) This family was still farther reduced by the severities directed against it by the govern- * This, wiUi Phalaru canarktuiM, has been found only among young grass, with the seeds of which it may probably have been imported. 44 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. ment of the Protector, in consequence of the active aid lent by Sir John Charteris to Montrose towards the restoration of King Charles. 4. ^* The famous Paterson, too, who planned the Darien scheme, and the Bank of England, &c. was bom at Skipmire, in the old pa- rish of Trailflat, about the year 1660. The same house gave birth to his grand-nephew, Dr James Mounsey, first physician for many years to the Empress of Russia." 5. General Fead, also, was born at Fulton, in this parish, about the year 17t20. He enlisted a pri- vate in the British artillery, and rose from the ranks to be a gene- ral, and a very distinguished officer. Land^cwners* — The chief land-owners in the parish are the Mar- quis of Queensberry, Douglas of Craigs, Charteris of Amisfield, and Dalzell of Glenae. Parochial Register. — The only register in the parish regularly kept for any length of time is that of births ; the earliest entry in which is on April 4, 1762. Antiquities. — There are distinct traces of a camp of considerable size upon the top of Barshell hill, which, from its round form, is supposed to have been British. Hiere are also the visible remains of three smaller forts, one upon the farm of Shielhill, another at Highauchnane, and the third at Amisfield. The last, approaching to a square, may possibly have been a Roman station, where a cohort or two may occasionally have been placed. What renders this more probable is, that the old Roman road from Bumswark by Trailflat passed close by. At Amisfield, also, there is an old baronial tower, stiir perfectly entire, said to be the moSt perfect of the kind now existing in the kingdom. The old place of Tinwald, situated in what was formerly a part of Lochar Moss, and the seat of a branch of the Maxwell family, seems to have been well fitted for a place of defence. Till within a few years, part of the old building remained. It is now entirely demolished, and the materials have been removed. Modem Buildings. — There are three mansion-houses in the parish, — that of Glenae, belonging to Major Dalzell, — that of Tinwald, belonging to the Marquis of Queensberry; and Amis- field, the seat of the old family of Charteris. " The sirname Charteris" (-says Douglas in his Baronage of Scotland,) " is of great antiquity in Scotland. It is the opinion of some antiqua- ries that it is of French extraction, — that William, a son of the Earl of Charteris in France, came to England with William TINWALD AND TRAILTLAT. 45 the Conqueror, — that a sod or grandson of bis came to Scotland with King David the First, and was the progenitor of all of the simame of Charteris in this kingdom ; and certain it is they began to make a figure in the south of Scotland soon after that era." III. — Population. In 1801, the population was - 980 1811, . - - 1204 1821, - - - 1248 1831, - - - 1220 The decrease during the last twelve years has been occasioned by a great many cottages having been thrown down in the progress of improvement. There seems to be a general disposition among the proprietors to continue this practice, as the present cottars die out or remove. Amount of population residing in Tilljiges, ... S6l in the country part of parish, - 854 1. Number of families in the parish, ..... 238 of families chiefl j employed in agriculture^ ... 128 in trade, manufiwtures, or handicraftt 58 2l Number of unmarried men, bachelors or widowers, upwards of 50 years of age, 17 of unmarried women, including widows, upwards of 45, . - 74 8. The average number at births yearly for the last seven years, - - 28 ofdeaths, .... - 11 of marriages,* - ... 8 4. The number of persons at present under 15 years of age, - - 440 upwards of 70, - - - 40 5. The number of proprietors of land of the yearly vahie of L.50 and upwards, 7 The people, with few exceptions, are sober, cleanly, and indus- trious, strictly honest, and abundantly comfortable and contented with their situation and circumstances. Oatmeal pottage, with milk, is the general breakfast of the peasantry, and of the younger portion of every family in the parish. Potatoes among the work« ing-classes commonly occupy a principal place both at dinner and supper. IV. — Industry. Agriculture and Rural Economy, — There are (as nearly as I have been able to ascertain,) 9405 imperial acres in the parish, roads, fences, &c. included; and of these there are about 119 acres under wood, 350 in meadow, and 1647 which never have been cultivated, Of the last there may be a few acres, perhaps, * Returns respecting marriages can scarcely be relied on, as the parties Tcry fre- J quenUy belong to different parishes, and it is probable that in many cases their mar- ' riages may be returned for two parishes. 46 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. upon which the soil is so thin as not to admit of being pared and burnt ; and in this case, when lime and manure must both be driven from a distance, the profits arising from cultivation might not be great But in general the uncultivated land in the parish is either moss, or moor, of sufficient depth, and will eventually pay well for improvement, which is gradually, though slowly, advancing. Pro- bably 1500 acres might, with a profitable application of capital, be added to the cultivated land of the parish. Rent of Lcaid. — Arable land rents from 6s. to L. 2, 86. per acre, averaging about 16s. The average rate of grazing is, per cow, L. 3 ; per ox, K 2 ; and per ewe, or full-grown sheep, for the year, 10s. Rate of Wages. — Farm-servants are commonly hired by the half year; exclusive of board, men-servants receive from L. 5, 10s. to L. 6 ; women, L. 2, ds. to L. 2, 12s. Labourers engaged by the day are paid, in summer, with victuals, — men, from Is. to Is. 2d. ; women, 6d : without victuals during summer, men receive from 1 s. 6d. to Is. 8d.;«women, 9d., except during harvest, when men and women receive the same rates, which are frequently 2s., and sometimes 2s. 6d., according to the demand. In winter, without victuals, men are paid Is. dd. per day; women, 8d. Mason and carpenter-work is commonly done by the piece ; but when employed by the day, which occasionally happens, masons, with victuals, charge ds.; with- out victuals, ds. 6d. : carpenters, with victuals, 2s. ; without victuals, 2s. 6d. Tailors are paid, with victuals, at the rate of Is. 3d. per day. Breeds of Live Stock. — The common breed of cattle is the Gal- loway ; and very considerable attention has been for some time, and is still, paid to its improvement. Of late years, the Ayrshire breed has been introduced, and seems to be gaining ground. Of this latter description only the queys are reared ; and these when near- ly three years old, and in calf, are in great demand in the Eng- lish market. Htisbandry. — Farming is not in greater perfection in any part of Scotland than in this parish. Upon the best dry arable land, what is called the five-shift rotation, is followed, i. e. l«/year, oats ; 2d, potatoes or turnips fed off by sheep ; Sdj wheat or barley, sown down with clover and rye-grass ; 4^A, hay ; and 5/A, pasture. Upon cold land, not fit for wheat and barley, a seven years rota- tion is generally followed, viz. two crops of oats, one rape fed off by TINWALD AND TRAILFLAT. 47 sheep, another oats, sown down with grass seeds, and three years' pasture. Our best farmers plant but few potatoes, and cut only a small portion of their sown hay : even that, however, they never do upon their poor land, but allow it the advantage of an addi- tional year's pasturage. It is only about fifteen years since turnip husbandry a,pd good fanning were introduced into the parish. Previous to this period, the land was much over-cropped, and this seems still the prevailing error into which the less judicious of the tenantry are apt to fall. Most of the brushwood in the parish has been rooted ; and drain- ing, levelling of moss, paring and burning of moor, liming, &c. are carried on to a considerable extent every year. Irrigation is also practised where water can be had conveniently, but not to any great extent. The duration of leases is generally 19 years ; and for land adapt- ed to the Jive^hifi rotation none could be more favourable. Generally the new tenant enters at Whitsunday to the grass and green crop lands, while the old tenant has the white crop then upon the ground. Thus a nineteen years' lease allows five seasons for cleaning and improving, the -whole of which time is required before the farm is got regularly over, and three full rota- tions afterwards, by which time it is sufficiently prepared for a new supply of lime, &c The state of farm-buildings, with three or four exceptions, is far from being good. The advantages of enclosing and subdividing are fully appreciated ; and nearly the whole arable part of the parish has been laid out in fields, sur- rounded by sufficient fences. The principal improvement recently made in the parish is the cultivation of the high grounds ; which the farmers have been able to effect by means of bone manure. These grounds are in general so difficult of access, that nothing bulky can be conveyed to them with- out a trouble and expense far exceeding the profit : and former- ly, when they became fogged, to which they have a tendency, they were commonly broken up ; and after carrying a crop or two, they were again laid out to improve themselves without any farther assist- ance. But now that bruised bones sufficient for a Scotch acre can be taken up in a single cart, (30 imperial bushels being the usual quantity,) we have the most luxuriant crops of turnip, and, con- sequently, of grain, upon the very tops of the hills. Rape dust is also used as a manure, in the proportion of about 10 and 12 cwts. to an acre. L.2147 3 9 1872 18 6 4062 4 2 1914 15 1125 640 1255 5 12d6 1314 534 10 630 260 270 420 10 490 20 20 48 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Produce. — The ayerage gross amount of raw produce raised in the parish, as nearly as can be ascertained, is as follows : Wheat, 6S71 imperial busheb at 6s. 3d. Baxley, 11329 imperial bushels at 38. 2d. Oats, 44,315 imperial bushels at Is. lOd. Poutoes, 30,636 cwts. at Is. 3d. Turnips, 375 acres Scotch at L. 3, Meadow hay, 51,200 stones of 24 lbs. at dd. Rye-grass hay, 50,210 stones of 24 lbs. at 6d. Cows grazed, 412 at L. 3, Cattle grazed, 657 at L. 2, Straw eonsumed by the above 1069 cattle at lOs. Pigs, while fed upon grass. 504 at L. 1^5$. Sheep wintered upon grass, 65 scores at L. 4, Sheep grazed during the year, 27 scores at L. 10, Additional cattle wintered upon straw, 841 at lOs. Young horses, 70 at L. 7, Orchards, L. 20, - Annual sales of wood, L. 20, ... Total, - JL. 18,212 6 5 There are 83 pairs of farm-horses constantly employed in agri- cultural labour within the parish ; and there are about 2000 Highland wedders fed off upon turnip annually. The produce or rent of cottages may be about L. 213 per annum. V. — Parochial Economy. Market'T&ums. — ^Dumfries, our principal market-town, lies up- on the S. W. of, and is distant about six miles from, the middle of the parish. There are also occasional markets at Lochmaben and Lockerby, which lie upon the east, — the latter about the same dis- tance as Dumfries, the former three miles nearer. Dumfries and Lochmaben are our post towns. About four miles of the turn- pike road between Dumfries and Edinbuifrh lie within the pa- rish; upon which a mail-coach passes and repasses daily. Our parish roads and bridges are in an excellent state of repair. . Ecclesiastical State. — The church is situated rather inconve- niently upon the western side of the parish, about a mile from the one extremity, and five from the other. It was built in 1763, is a long narrow rectangular house, without either aisle or gallery. It is in a state of good repair, and affords accommodation for about 400 sitters. The seats are all common, except the few which have been attached to the principal farms, and those which are ocQupied by resident proprietors. The manse was built in 1720, and un- derwent considerable repairs in 1790, and also in 1800. The glebe consists of about seventeen Scotch acres, fences, &c. TINWALD AND TRAFLFLAT. 49 included ; it is all arable, and if let might bring of yearly rent from L. 30 to L.35. The stipend is composed of L. 1 14, 4s. 5/jd. money ; 265 stones imperial of oatmeal; 77.676 imperial bushels of barley; and L. 8^ 128. lOd. of Government allowance, — communion elements included. The amount of the stipend in money is L. 150. The parish church is the only place of public worship in the parish ; though occasionally the dissenters make use of a bam as a sort of chapel. There are 22 families, consisting of 87 individuals, who do not attend the Established church. Of these, two families consisting of 9 individuals, are Roman Catholics, and one, con- sisting of 8 individuals, ranks among the Independents. The rest are dissenters and seceders. The Established church, however, has always been well attended : and the people in general have a proper sense of the importance of the public ordinances of religion. The Sacrament is dispensed once in the year, and usually to about 400 communicants. Collections in the church average about L. 30 yearly ; and once in the three years or thereabouts a collection, amounting to L. 12 or L. 15, is made for some religious or charitable purpose, in which the parish is not immediately interested. Education. — There are two schools in the parish, both parochial, at which all the ordinary branches of education are taught The principal schoolmaster has two chalders of oatmeal, and the in- terest of L. 114 of mortified money, for a salary, amounting in whole to Li. 37, 12s. 9d. The other has one chalder, and the in<* terest of L. 77, — in money, L. 19, 8s. 4Jd. Both have the legal accouHnodation ; — the former a great deal more. The wages paid in the parish school may be stated upon an average to amount to L. 30 per annum. Children are commonly sent to school about four and five years of age, and no persons above six years old are unable to read. The people are fully alive to the advantages of instruction, and would much rather deprive themselves of many of the comforts of life than withhold from their children the benefits of a liberal education. Savings Bank, — Some years ago there was a savings bank in the parish, which at first, while the thing was new, and the per centage high, succeeded pretty well. But as soon as the novelty was over, and the rate of interest reduced, it gradually went backwards, and was at last given up as no longer beneficial, — the people generally preferring to go to the larger banks, where they can deposit their DUMFRIES. D 50 DUMFBIES-SHIRE. money, without any one attending, either to what they have or what they have not. Poor and Parochial Funds. — We have 14 individuals upon our poors' roll, who regularly receive parochial relief; but of these there is only one entirely dependent upon the parish, and for his board L. 4 per annum is paid. The others receive from L. 1 to L. 2 yearly, according to their necessities. There are about 6 or 8 more who require a little occasional assistance. The annual amount of contributions for support of the poor are, our church collections, which average about L. 26 in the year, and the interest of L. 300, mortified by various charitable persons. Besides these, the Duke of Quensberry allows six free cottages to poor old women ; and the late Mr Douglas of Craigs was a regular benefactor of the poor, as well as a very generous landlord. The poor in general are at first very averse to seek parochial relief; and there are individuals in the parish who, I believe, would almost rather starve than have recourse to it. This noble spirit of independence I do all in my power to encourage. But when once individuals are fairly upon the roll, they sooiv lose all feeling ^ of delicacy, take their allowance as their right, and in some in- stances, instead of being thankful for the portion they receive, upbraid the members of the session with partiality in the distribu- tion. For the last four years, (the period during which I have had the management of the poors' funds,) not a single name has been ad- ded to the public list I find from experience that 8s. or 10s. given privately (when the people can rely upon the discretion of the donor) will excite more gratitude, and afibrd more true comfort, than a pound given otherwise. Alehouses. — There are at present two small dram-shops in the parish, which we have the prospect of soon getting rid of. They have the worst possible effect upon the morals of the people : and there is scarcely a crime brought before a court that has not origi- nated in, or been somehow connected with, one of these nests of ini- quity. All our toll-keepers have houses of this description, and our country roads are to a considerable extent maintained by the gains of intemperance. We are highly indebted to the Circuit Judges for the severe terms in which they occasionally reprobate the tole- rance of such places. Their reproofs ha^te had a good effect Fuel. — The common fuel used is peat, a great part of which is procured in Lochar Moss, in the parish of Dumfries. In cases TINWALD AND TRAILFLAT. 51 where the material has to be paid for, a single horse load costs from Is. 6d. to 2s.; and when moss is attached to the farm or house, the load costs from Is. to Is. 6d. according to the difficulty of cut^ ting. Coals are beginning to come into more general use. These are brought from the English coast to Dumfries by water, and are sold commonly about 8s. per cart load. They are also to be had at Sanquhar, at about de. per cart load. Miscellaneous Observations. The time of sowing oats and barley is about ten days earlier now, than that stated in the former Statistical Account of the parish; and wheat after turnips is very frequently sown about the end of Decem- ber, and sometimes even later. The average rent, especially of the best arable and meadow land, is fully double of what it seems to have been then. Dry hard land, which formerly was not worth one-third of the holm land per acre, is now (in consequence of the facility with which bone manure, &c. can be procured) fully equal to that in value. There are not now above five scores of stock sheep in the parish. The rental of the parish, which at the time the for- mer Statistical Account was written, is stated to have been L.2559, is now L.6208. The population has increased from 850 to 1215. The weekly church collections have advanced from L. 15 to L. 26 per annum ; and the mortified money from L. 140 to L. 300. The wages of day labourers have been raised from Is. to Is. 6d. ; car- penters from Is. lOd. to 2$. 6d. ; masons from Is. lOd. to ds. 6d. ; tailors from 8d. to Is. dd. And the minister's stipend has been advanced from Lb 77, 4s. to L. 150. Parish roads, then reported to have been bad, are now excellept : all Macadamized. The parish is very properly divided into small and large farms, varying from L. 40 to L. 600 of rental, thus afibrding for sdl classes a sufficient motive to industry. The servant, by frugality and care, raises himself to a small tenant, and the small tenant is, by the same means, raised to a greater. This system of progressive advance- ment, however, can never possibly come into salutary operation, so long as the law of hypothec is permitted to remain. A man who has little or nothing to lose is much less timorous, and much more ready to bind himself for the payment of a large rent, than one possessed of capital. And as the law now is, a proprietor has little interest in being scrupulous about a tenant, for, lose who may, it must be his own fault if he ever do ; while the tenant, if so dis- 52 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. posed, has it in his power to practice the grossest frauds upon his creditors. Nothing, however, would contribute more to promote the com- fort and happiness of the labouring classes in this quarter, than the good government and general improvement of Ireland. We are constantly infested with swarms of Irish vagrants, who, besides being in general superior workers with the spade, have commonly, while they remain, their wives engaged in begging, if not in stealing, and are thus enabled to undertake work at a lower rate than that by which our own countrymen can support themselves. January 1834. PARISH OF KIRKMAHOE. PRESBYTERY OF DUMFRIES, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. JOHN WIGHTM AN, MINISTER. L — Topography and Natural History. Name and Boundaries. — The name of the parish is of doubtful origin, but perhaps it may signify the church in the valley, or in the plain, near or by the river. Indeed, the Nith is still not far from the church, and has left evident proofs of its having, at some former period, run close by the church walls, and passed through Lochar Moss in its way to the Solway Frith. The pa- rish is bounded by Dumfries on the S. and S. E. ; by Holywood on the W. ; by Dunscore on the N. W. ; by Closebum on the N. ; and by Kirkmichael and Tinwald on the N. E. and E. It is 7^ miles in length, and, at its greatest breadth, it is 5^ miles broad. It contains between 18 and 19 square miles. Topographical Appearances. — The hills range from N. to S., with peaks pointing eastward, and the exposure is W. and S. W., — the land rising gradually till it terminates in heights, some of which are 600, and -some 670, feet above the level of the sea. Wardlaw (Guard hill) and Auchengeith hill rise 770 feet above the sea level, and have a declivity southward. Our hill streams have in several places formed ** hermit^fancied caves" for their Naiads out of the living rock, in the most curious style ; and there is a cave at Crofthead of Dalswinton which deserves to be men- tioned. Kirkmahoe is entirely an inland parish, but there is a beautiful view of the sea, from the uplands and hills, especially the Watchman's hill, where in a clear day the Solway is seen in the distance. Meteorology. — The medium temperature is about 47° and the prevailing winds are the W. and the S. W. We, as well as others, have our prognostics of changes in * the weather. Not to men- tion the signs afforded by Criffel, a high hill which overlooks the estuary of the Nith, we may notice that if, during the day, the i 54 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. face of nature be remarkably bland and sweet, and, especially, if in the afternoon, a certain sunny softness seem to sleep on the land- scape, or if the hamlet's smoke rise in long straight |)illars, a very heavy fall of rain is likely to take place before the close of next day. So also at night, when the galaxy is vivid and strongly de- fined, and the stars are twinkling with a sickly lustre, a similar sequence may be expected. The splendid meteor, or Draco volans of 1783, was distinctly seen and carefully observed by the writer of this account, while it sailed in superb majesty over the town and neighbourhood of Dumfries, with a tremendous length of train, (longo tractu, a tergo albes- cente !) and while it moved equably in a S. E. direction, sinking at last from view towards the mouth of the river Annan, when a rumbling noise was heard as if some huge mass of red-hot iron had there fallen into the sea. Hydrography. — The river Nith, though it intersects a small cor- ner of the parish at Isle, may perhaps be said rather to form its west boundary than to be one of its streams. We have several stream- lets or bums, however, which are generally very romantic and pic- turesque in their scenery, and abound in trout* In the Duncow or Newlands burn there are three waterfalls, one of which, (the Whitehall or Glencarrick leap^) when the stream is swollen with heavy rains, presents a sight peculiarly striking. Geology. — On the rocky banks of some of our streams, beds or strata of stone are observable, generally dipping to the west There is a red freestone quarry (wrought with pick and wedges) at Quarrel (Quarry) wood, having its dip in the same direction; and there is at the same place a variety of sandstone impregnated with that variety of red iron ore used by the natives of Southern Africa in painting their bodies and powdering their hair, which has been noticed by geologists. Some white marl has been found in the southern parts of the parish. Near the middle of the parish, in sinking for water, 60 feet of loose watery gravel were found, and beneath the gravel, 12 or 14 feet of very fine sand of a red colour, and soft as brown sugar. The depth of this bed is not known. On the high grounds are often found mossy strata about six inches thick, then a bed of earthy gravel, after that, red tiU^ schist, and decomposed slaty rocks. A gravelly soil, inclining much to sand, intermixed with small round stones, is generally found on the hraes or sloping grounds, while there is on the low lying or hohn land an alluvial soil intimately mingled with clay, and apparently KIBKMAHOE. 55 resting on water. The banks of the Nith, at the fords, are covered with heaps of small stones of almost every shape and colour. Some of them are curiously marked with straight, some with curved lines, some with spots of various hues, and some are graced with red cir- cles. Many' are of a soft and snowy whiteness, and not a few of a creamy paleness. These two last kinds appear to be peculiar to the valley rivers, and are not to be found in our mountain streams, — at least of such fine grain and quality. The strath and the rising ground, also, from the river to the very tops of the dis- tant eminences, are Ml of pebbles and rolling-stones, evidently smoothed and rounded by attrition ; and here and there specimens of farcilite or pudding-stone may be observed, and small stones embodied with larger ones. The Nith, it would appear, at differ- ent periods, and by different tracts respectively, has run through all these undulating grounds before it sunk, in the lapse- of centu- ries, to its now lowly bed, or before they rose to their present va- rious heights. But by what instrumental agency was this depres- sion, or this elevation, effected ? The fresh water of our streams, and the briny surges of the Solway, may have been at work " in old dusky time," with the aid of some electric or elastic auxiliaries, (some subterranean fires, or submarine springs?) forming those high and hollow places which now exhibit the appearance of a swelling sea, converted into grass and corn-fields. Botany, — Under this head there is nothing peculiar to the pa- rish ; but it may be mentioned, that we have many plantations, less or more extensive ; and we have, in various places, a great number of beautiful trees, some of which stand in social clumps, and others in solitary state, on the lands of Dalswinton, Camsalloch, Miln- head, Carzield, Kemyshall, Whitehall, Netherhall, Auchencaim, Glenmaid ; and in other parts of the parish there are planta- tions of various sorts of timber; and new plantations are rising on every hand. The prospect is thus finely diversified, and the grounds exhibit a rich and sheltered appearance. At Dalswinton there are many stately Scots elms, some in graceful ranks, and some in no less agreeable confusion, while others stand majes- tically alone. There are also here fine beeches, some of which measure above, twelve feet in circumference at the height of four feet. A noble ash stands here also, measuring 21 feet in cir- cumference, and containing 300 feet of solid timber. In one of the parks there is a gigantic oak, under the protection of whose knotted arms, it has been said that 1000 armed men might 56 DUMFRIES-SHiRE. easily stand without jostling one another. There are also some large and stately trees on the estate of Carnsalloch. Two noble files of beeches, planted by the late Alexander Johnston, Esq. and which were among the first hedge-rows in this part of the country, form, when they are in leaf, a fine berceau-canopy over the head of the traveller on the public road, and afford him a plea- sant vista on his way to or from Dumfries. Near the mansion- house of Carnsalloch there is a Spanish or sweet chestnut, very remarkable for its size and beauty* At the head of the huge trunk, it branches out into four large arms nearly equal in size, one of which was broken in February 1827 by a high wind, but the other three are almost entire. In August 1826, this tree contained 528 cubic feet of timber. The trunk now (Jan. 8^ 1834,) is 28 feet, each of the three remaining branches 1 1 feet in cir- cumference, and the average diameter of the ground over-canopied by its grandly spreading boughs is 18 paces ! Not far from Carn- salloch gate, on the east side of the road, stands a venerable oak, which contains 282 cubic feet of wood. The trunk itself contains 117 feet of solid timber, and is 9 feet 7 inches high, and 25 paces are the average ground which this gnarled dignitary overhangs with his giant arms. It is not yet twenty years since this tree was seriously believed by some otherwise sensible persons to be haunted by a spirit. IL — Civil History. Historical Notices. — Four large estates, which in former times were much more extensive than they are now, constituted the principal part of this parish ; and a short notice of these will, in some degree, illustrate this head of its statistics. 1. Dalswinton, or the Dale of S win ton. We find this estate first in the possession of the Cumins, and afterwards in that of the Stewarts. " In 1250, Sir John Cumin possessed the manor of Dalswinton, and Duncol, or Duncow, and in that year he gave the monks of Melrose a free passage through the lands of these ma- nors to their granges in Nithsdale," (Dunscore?); but, on the ac- cession of Bruce, Dalswinton was granted to Walter Stewart, third son of Sir John Stewart of Jedworth, and it remained in the pos- session of the Galloway family till 1680, when, with some speci- fied exceptions, the barony of Dalswinton was disponed to the Duke of Queensberry. This estate became afterwards the pro- perty of the Maxwells, and about fifty years ago, it was sold by 4 KIRKMAHOE. 57 them to the late enterprising Patrick Miller, Esq. who made many expensive improvements on it. This fine estate, which contains 5132 imperial acres, and is about a third part of the parish, is now the property of James Macalpine Leny, Esq. whose excellent qua- lities of character have raised him high in public esteem, and se- cured him the affection of all who have the honour of being ac- quainted with him. He has tastefully improved upon some of Mr Miller's arrangements, — rendered the approach to the mansion- house much more convenient, — ^and adorned its precincts with some exquisitely rich and beautiful decorations. 2. Duncow or Duncol, so called from the round hill or doan at the village, and signifying the same thing with cow or colhilL This barony also belonged once to the Cumins. It was forfeited (as well as Dalswinton) on the accession of ^ruce, and was bestowed on Robert Boyd. In August 1550, Robert Lord Maxwell was re- turned to the 20 pound land of Dunkow, in right of his father, of the same name and title. From that time it remained in the possession of the Nithsdale family till about forty years ago, when it was sold to various purchasers, some of whom bought their own farms. So indulgent to their tenantry were the Maxwells of Niths- dale ! It was in this village that King James V. spent the night, and where he left his attendants before he paid his angry visit to Sir John Charteris of Amisfield, as related by Grose. Until about thirty years ago, a large stone marked the site of the cottage where the king slept, near the small doan called the Chapel-hill. 3. Milnhead or Mitthead. In May 1700, Bertha, spouse of Robert Brown of Bishopton, and heiress of Homer Maxwell of Kilbean, was returned as possessing certain lands, specified in the document, with the 4s. land of Milnhead. This estate was possessed by the family of Brown till, some twenty years ago, the late Miss Winefred Brown left it to Frederick Maxwell, Esq. and other heirs of entail. It contains 1061 acres, and is now in the possession of Henry MajLwell, Esq. one of thesa heirs, and third son of the late Marmaduke Constable Maxwell, Esq. of Nithsdale, who was one of the best of landlords, and whose soos, three of whom are extensive proprietors, inherit the liberal views of their father. 4. Camsallochithe ^^ cairn of the willows," as some have supposed, or rather " the cairn of 'the shallow." In 1550, as appears from a return, August 5th of that year, it was in the possession of Robert Lord Maxwell. He gave it to Homer Maxwell, a younger son, 58 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. with Durrisquhin, (now Dalscone,) and a Li 5 property within the liberties of Dumfries, and the estate was possessed by the Max- well family till it was sold to the late Alexander Johnston, Esq. about the year 1750. It is now in the possession of his son, the learned and accomplished Peter Johnston, Esq. who, at the very advanced age of about eighty years, enjoys entire the faculties of his vigorous and cultivated mind, and is the delight and the orna- ment of his social and domestic circle. The Earl of Galloway had formerly a large property in this pa- rish, and there is still a place distinguished by the name of ^^ Gar- lies ;" but the parish is now possessed by a great number of pro- prietors, of whose estates and families the limits prescribed to this survey preclude a particular description. The proprietors of Dals- winton, Carnsalloch, and Milnhead, possess nearly the half of the parish, the other part belongs to forty different land-owners. Eminent Men. — Under this head the late Patrick Miller, Esq. of Dalswinton well deserves to be noticed. His ingenuity and per- severance in applying the wonderful power of steam to the purposes of navigation will transmit his name with honour to posterity. Patrick Miller, Esq. his eldest son, has published an elaborate ** Narrative of Facts" on his claim to the invention and practice of steam navigation, to which the reader is referred for ample and satisfactory information upon this interesting subject The present archdeacon of Calcutta, Daniel Corrie, belongs also to this parish, and received his education at the parochial school. His grand- father was tenant of Duncow mill, and his father was curate at Colsterworth in Lincolnshire. The late Luke Frazer, Esq. of Glen- maid, who was so long an able and zealous instructor of youth in the High School of Edinburgh, was bom at Auchenrath. Mr Al- lan Cunningham, well known for his various literary publications, is a native of this parish. So also, I may add, is Mr Andrew Crichton, author of the Life of Blackadder, History of Arabia, &c. It may be noticed also, that Sir Andrew Halliday, physi- cian, was in early life a candidate for our parish school at Duncow. Parochial Register. — The earliest dake of our parish register, containing baptisms, marriages, discipline, and division of poors' money, is 1725 : it has been always kept with considerable care, except during the last incumbency. For a long time the dissen- ters declined to give their names to be inserted, though they had the offer of registration free of expense. Even now our registers arc not entirely full. KIRKMAHOE. 59 Antiquities. — There are several motes in this parish, but they are of a circular and British, not of a square and Roman form. In the appendix of Dr Singer's Survey of the county, No. 18, there is notice taken of a Roman road, which is described as having passed through the northern part of this parish, and the remains of forts, barrows, and tumuli, are still to be recognized in several parts of it — In a shoemaker's garden at Duncow an urn was lately dug up, with something in it like ashes, but it was broken by the spade. — In digging for a foundation to our new church, the workmen found a human skeleton lying in a different direction from that of other dead bodies in our burying-grounds, with its head towards the south, with an axe, very like a conmion one, and a lamina, apparently of iron or steel, like a sword-blade, deposited by its left side. The axe handle and the bones when touched crumbled into dust, being entirely rotten, and the axe's head, and the sword-like blade, were almost totally consumed with rust, — " exesa rubigine scabra !" Mr Allan Cunningham, who spent his boyish days near the spot where it stood, remembers to have seen the ruins of Cumin's castle at Dalswinton. He says, in a letter to the writer, ^' when Comyn was slain in Dumfries" (when Bruce had given him the '^ perilous gash," and Kirkpatrick *^ had makit sicker") ^' Bruce, it is said, burnt his castle ;" and adds, *' that a part of the walls was standing in 1792." They were, he says, 12, and, in one place, 14, feet thick, and *^ bits of burnt wood" were still cling- ing to them. He notices the old cow-house of Dalswinton as a great curiosity, and says, that he had seen it entire, with its " heavy stone vault," its " outer door of wrought iron," and ** its inner door traced with broad iron bars, fastened with iron rivets." — " Three distinct lines of entrenchment" were seen and carefully traced by Mr Cunningham and his intelligent father, en- compassing ** the summit of Moloch hill," above Dalswinton vil- lage, when they were measuring the land with a chain. These lines were *^ composed of earth and stone, forming room for an ar- my to encamp." He also says, that below, ^* on the south side of the same hill," there had been ^^ defences of the same sort on a much smaller scale." " The Nith," Mr Cunningham remarks, " instead of circling the Scaur of EUisland, and running nigh the Isle, directed its course by Bankfoot, and came close to the castle;" and he remembers *^ a pool near the old house of Dalswinton called Comyn's pool, which 60 DUMFRIE8-SHIRE. belonged to the old water course, and connected itself with the back water in the Willow isle, by the way of the Lady's meadow. Here Cumin is alleged to have sunk his treasure^chest before he went to Dumfries, leaving it in charge of the water sprite. A net, it is said, was fixed in this pool, to which a small bell in the castle was attached, which rang when a salmon was in the snare !" ^^ The golden pippius and honey pears" which were produced in the orchard, on or near the place once occupied by the notable pool, must not be entirely overlooked. The pippins grew on six remarkable trees : the pears on the same number of trees were no less remarkable, and the fruit, for flavour and sweetness, could not then be ^^ equalled in any other garden of the district." III. — Population. The number of parishioners, as far back as the writer can trace it, has never been less than 1000. In 1755, it was 1096 1821, - - - - 1608 1831, ... - ICOI The number of males by the last census was - 776 of females, ... 825 Upwards of forty persons, old and young, have emigrated to America within the last ten years. About 500 reside in villages, and about 1100 in the other parts of the parish. 1. Number of families in the parish, - - - 938 of families chiefly employed in agriculture, - 152 chiefly employed in trade, manufactures, or handicraft, 102 2. The average number of births yearly is about - - - 50 of deaths, .... 30 of marriages, ... 20 3b The number of persons at present under 15 years of age, - - 600 upwards of 70, - - - 10 There are 4 families who have comparatively large estates; 10 or 12, or even more, who may be said to be " of independ- ent fortune." Twenty-eight landed proprietors receive each L. 50 and upwards of annual rent. Character and Habits of the People, — The people are generally disposed to cleanliness, with respect to dwelling, furniture, food, and clothing. They are neat in their dress, and especially in their Sunday attire. Their clean and comfortable appearance, as well as their devout and becoming deportment in the church on the Sabbath day, has often attracted the notice, and received the ap- plause, of strangers. The ordinary food of the people consists of . the different preparations of oatmeal, of potatoes, milk, and flesh KIRKMAHOE. 61 meat. Tradesmen, such as masons, joiners, black^niths, and tai- lors, when well employed, live and dress in a very comfortable way. Weavers of all kinds of home-made clothing, who were once a pretty numerous class here, but whose occupation is now almost gone, owing to the introduction of the power loom, have, at least many of them, been obliged to fall into the ranks of farm-labour- ers, thus diminishing the comforts of both classes. Our people are in general well-informed, smcerely religious, and morally cor- rect. Few of them are ever guilty of gross offences against jus- tice, charity, or temperance. IV. — Industry. Agricultwre and Rural Economy. — This is properly an agricul- tural parish, and perhaps produces more food for man, according to its extent, than any other parish in the county. The lower part of it has been called ** the trough of Nith" (which may hejreely translated com-chest or granary.) That river, as viewed from the heights above Dalswinton village, presents the form of an immense com sickle, with the back of its crescent, or curve, turned to Clow- hill, and with its handle stretching up towards Isle and EUisland, and may suggest to the imagination of the classical spectator the rich harvests which are yearly reaped on its fertile banks. A thousand acres of arable land lie along the river, and about 10,000 acres of the parish are occasionally under the plough. This was the case, at least, not above five or six years ago ; but some reckon that there are not many more than 8000 acres now of that description, the ground in some parts being considered as paying better in pasture than in tillage. About 500, or perhaps near 600,, acres are in wood, and 400 of these are on the estate of Dalswinton. There are 4000 acres which have never been cultivated; of these, 200 at least might, by the judicious '^ application of capital, be added to the cultivated land of the parish." On the remainder, nature seems to have pronounced her veto, and doomed it to continue under per- petual servitude in her own hand. A considerable portion of ground is occupied by single trees, and by trees standing together, to the number of two or three. Rent of Land. — The average rent is 19s. per acre ; the average rent of grazing is L. 3 per ox, if fed in winter with fodder ; L. 5 per cow; 12s. per sheep, if winter fed; but a sheep may be pas- tured for 6s. per annum. The gross rental of the parish is from L. 9000 to L. 10,000 a year. 62 DUMFRIES-SIIIRE. Rate of Wages* — A man-servant maintained in the family gets from Lb 5 to L. 7 in the half year, and a female from L. 2 to L. 3^ ds. The farm-servant, called a hen/tfit man, has a cottage and kitchen garden, a pint of skimmed milk per day, 30 cwt of po- tatoes, also his fuel led home, and about L. 20 in money. When he maintains himself and his family, he receives from L. 22 to L. 25. A labourer, per day, receives from 1st March to 1st No- vember. Is. Od., and for the remainder of the year. Is. dd., with- out victuals. Mowers, without victuals, receive per day from 2& to 2s. 6d. ; and with victuals, Is. 6d. Joiners get in summer from Is. 6d. to 2s. per day, and masons the same. Smiths generally contract with farmers at L. 2, 10s. per annum, to keep a plough and the iron work of a pair of horses in good order, finding the iron, as well as performing the work, but when there is no contract, each piece of work is charged separately. Breeds of Live Stock. — The common breed of sheep is the Che- viot breed, crossed by Leicester rams. About 70 or 80 scores of lambs are annually raised on the hill grounds ; and in most of the farms, the calves are sold to the fleshers of Dumfries when about six weeks old, at from dOs. to 40s. each, according to the quality of the veal. It is becoming a practice here to buy Highland draught ewes, and bring them to the lower grounds, — to take the lambs from the ewes, and send them to Liverpool, and to fatten the ewes for the same market Husbandry, — The alternate system of husbandry is prevalent with us ; viz. oats from lea ; fallows of potatoes and turnips, the lat- ter fed off by sheep ; wheat or barley, and sown down with grass seeds ; one or more years lying in grass, as the subdivisions of the farm will permit Some tenants prefer a crop of barley after wheat ; but this is generally considered as bad management, and the practice is fast falling into disuse. The following order of hus- bandry has also been obligingly communicated to the writer, and is approved by very competent judges in our parish. For holm land, fifst year, oats ; second year, part potatoes and part turnips, the turnips fed off by sheep; third year, wheat, sown down with grass seeds ; fourth year, grass to be cut for hay. For hard land, the two first years, the same order as for holm hmd; the third year, barley, sown down with grass seeds; the fourth year, grass, part for cutting, and part for pasture. Irrigation is used only to a small extent, but surface draining is much practised, and is found very useful ; but by sending off the water from the pastures, our rivulets are pro- 3 KIRKMAHOE. 63 portionally swelled. The Nith sometimes threatens to break into our fine corn-fields, but they are well defended against ^^ the horn- ed flood" by strong and expensive embankments and fences of va- rious forms and materials, constqjpted and executed with all the skill which science could furnish, and with every auxiliary of art. The general duration of leases is fifteen years, but some (arms are let for nineteen, and some for only seven years. Our proprie- tors appear to take delight in seeing the dwelling-houses on their respective properties neat and comfortable, and even elegantly com- modious, and all their office-houses suitable and substantial The principal improvements of a general nature are, the feeding of sheep with turnips, which is more practised now in this parish than it was in the whole county thirty years ago ; thrashing-machines, intro- duced by the late Mr Miller of DaJswinton, (who also made us ac- quainted with the ruta baga) ; iron ploughs; and the use of bone ma- nure. The most approved plans of husbandry have been eagerly adopted and ardently prosecuted by our agriculturists, who form a numerous and respectable body of the population. It would be dif- ficult to do any thing like justice to those individuals who have re- claimed waste lands, and made the wilderness a com or grass field, or a green wood ; who have thus graced our hills and moors with in- delible memorials of their industry and perseverance. The late Patrick Miller, Esq. of Dalswinton ; the late William Allan, Esq. of Newlands ; James Dinwiddle, Esq. of Whitehall ; Joseph Bell, Esq. of Netherhall ; Joseph Mitchell, Esq. of Whitestanes ; John Morin, Esq. of Carzield, deserve to be particularly noticed. Un- der the animating auspices of our landlords, the parks and fields in the lower grounds have of late assumed an improved appearance, and cultivation has ascended our heights as far as she could urge her way. The moor-cock, with his frighted covey, fled at the start- ling sound of fervent industry, and, from his rocky retreats, crowed defiance to the tyrants that would encroach on his wild domain, or, in moody melody, deplored the abridgement of his ancient bounds ! Produce. — The average gross amount and value of raw* produce yearly raised in the parish, as nearly as can be ascertained, is as follows : — I Grain ©fall kinds, - . - . . L. 13,500 PotatoeSy turnips, &e. with the gross produce of green crop, hay pasture^ and the stock fed thereon, ... 6,.500 L. 20,000 64 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. V. — Parochial Economy. Market'Tawju — Dumfries is the nearest market-town^ and is scarcely two miles distant from the south part of the parish. We have no post-offices ; but a rui^r, or penny-post, to carry letters to and from the town might be useful. A spacious public road runs, almost six miles, in a longitudinal way through the parish. The bridges and fences are kept in good repair. Ecclesiastical State. — It appears from ancient records, that " Da- vid IL granted to the monks of Arbroath the church of St Quin- tin of Kirkmaho, in the diocese of Glasgow." This grant, how- ever, seems never to have been effectual, at least tis to the pa- tronage, for that " continued to belong to the Stewarts," who suc- ceeded the Cumins in the barony ^^ of Dalswinton. In 1429, the rectory of Kirkmaho was constituted one of the prebends of the bishoprick of Glasgow, with the consent, however, of Marion Stew- wart, the heiress of Dalswinton, and of Sir John Forrester, her se- cond husband, and of William Stewart, her son and heir ; she and her heirs continued to be patrons of this rectorial prebend.* At the Reformation, the rectory of Kirkmaho was held by John Stewart, the second son of the patron. Sir Alexander Stewart of Grarlies. In the seventeenth century, the patronage of Kirkmaho passed, with tj^e barony of Dalswinton, from the Earl of Galloway to the Earl of Queensberry. It continued in the Queensberry family through- out the eighteenth century, and in 1810 passed to the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry." f The parish church was built twelve years ago, a little farther to the north than the old church, and stands exactly four miles distant from the cross of Dumfries. It is a comely Gothic structure, and, amidst the trees of the churchyard and vicinity, it makes a very graceful appearance. Its situation, however, is far from being con- venient for a part of the population. It has no seats peculiarly appropriated to the poor. The manse was built in 1799, and has had almost no repair hi- therto. The glebe contains about eight acres of good land. The stipend, by the last augmentation, commencing with crop and year 1825, is 16 chalders, half meal half barley, payable in money, according to the highest fiars prices of the county, yield- ing, upon an average of the last seven years, about L. 275 ; besides L. 8, 6s. 8d. for communion elements. * See the original deed in Crawfunrs Lives of the Officers of State, j- Caledonia, Vol. iii. pp. 161. 162. KIRKMAHOE. 65 At Quarrelwood there is a dissenting meeting-house belonging to the Cameronian Presbyterians ; but, for some years past, di- vine service has been seldom performed in^ as the hearers have a new chapel in Dumfries, where attendance is more convenient for them. There are 1600 parishioners in Kirkmahoe ; and of these perhaps 20 are Cameronians, — ^20 or 30 more, perhaps, attend different meeting-houses in Dumfries ; all the rest profess to at* tend the parish church, and are in that respect, on the whole, very exemplary. The writer records this circumstance with much and heartfelt satisfaction. The average number of communicants may be 600 ; and about 80 conmiunicate for the first time at the cele- bration of the Lord's Supper every summer, on the first Sunday of July. JSdtuuUioiL—sThere are three schools in this parish^ whose mas- ters receive each a part of the parochial salary, — one at the village of Duncow, the master of which school receives an yearly salary ot Lb 25, Ids. 3d.; another in Dalswinton village, whose salary is L. 17 ; and there is a third school in a remote comer of the parish, to which is appropriated the yearly sum of L. 8, Os. 6|d. Besides these there are two or three private schools. Two well-disposed females teach a few young girls to sew and to read. Latin and Greek, and the practical branches of mathematics, are occasionally taught in our schools. The total amount of school fees received at the three parochial schools is probably about K 120. The ac- conunodation of none of the public teachers is so comfortable as could be wished. Liirary.*^A parish library was opened in the school-house of Duncow, under the auspices of the present minister, on the 1st day of January 1800, and for some years the concern flourished ; but by degrees it languished, and at last expired. Books were so nume- rous in private houses, and so easily to be gotten from the pub- lic libraries of Dumfries, that we allowed this parish light to go out The average number of poor on the session-roll is 28. It was 22 fifty years ago. L. 2, on an average, are given yearly to each pauper from the church collections ; and L. 2, 10s. or more, when otber sources are taken into the account. No other methods have yet been employed to provide for the poor, besides the collections and the interest of our mortified money, amounting to L. 500. Within these last few years, some poor persons have been heard saying, in a bold tone, that ^^ the rich are obliged to maintain the DUMFRIES. E 66 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. poor." If absent heritors do not contribute their parts in aiding the parish funds, and if Toluntary contributions are not generally and liberally supported, some legal assessment, it is feared, must soon become more general. Alehouses, — We have four alehouses, where spirits are sold. The half of the number would be sufficient ; but it is right to ad- mit, that the houses are kept in an orderly manner. FueL-^^The fuel generally used is peat and coals ; the latter are brought from the collieries at Sanquhar, Kirkconnel, and Mans- field, and also more frequently from the coal-vessels at Dumfries, which import them in large quantities from the coast of Cumber- land. Miscellaneous Observations. A very general change has taken place in the condition and aspect of this parish within these last forty years. Property has been much divided, and the purchasers of the divisions have been emulously diligent in improving them. New and neat villas have arisen on every side ; polished farms and thriving plantations adorn the prospect ; and the eye is delighted with the most tasteful forms of sylvan decoration, and with all the signs of a highly improved style of rural economy. A survey was made by Mr Smeaton, as far back as 1754, for a canal to commence at the Frith of Solway, and to terminate at the lower end of this parish ; and a railway was projected by an able engineer, to stretch from Sanquhar to the middle, at least, of Kirk- mahoe. These and such like plans, if executed, no doubt would be attended with great advantage not only to this, but also to the neighbouring parishes. A distillery on a judicious and moderate scale has lately been erected at Glencafrick in this parish, above Duncow, and near Whitehall, on the banks of the romantic rivu- let, already noticed as remarkable for its rocky recesses and tiny Niagaras, and is in full and prosperous operation. It furnishes a convenient market for our farm produce and that of the neigh- bourhood, and also generates a very nutritive and agreeable kind of food for fattening cattle. January 1834. PARISH OF KIRKMICHAEL. PRESBYTERY OF LOCHMABEN, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. JAMES SMAIL, MINISTER. THE REV. H. DOBIE, ASSISTANT. • L — Topography and Natural History. Name and Boundaries, — T|IE parish, known by the above title, consists of the original cure of Kirkmichael, and the greater part of the old parish of Garrel,f which were united about 1674. The derivation of the name Kirkipichael is evidently from St Michael, to whom the church was dedicated. Garrel is a vulgar, abbrevia- tion of Garvald or Garwald, signifying in the Scoto-Irish, the reygh rivulet ; an appellation which is very frequent in the North British topography, and which here applies to the rivulet that runs in a very stony channel past the old church. The imited parish is elliptical in form, and extends 9 miles in length, and 4 J in extreme breadth. It is bounded on the north by Kirkpatrick-Juxta; on the north-east and east by Johnstone; on the south by Lochmaben and Tinwald; and on the west by Kirk- mahoe and Closebum. Topographical Appearances. — There are two ranges of moun- tains in this parish, stretching nearly north and south, the one si- tuate between the small river Ae and Glenkiln-burn, and the other between Glenkiln-burn and the lower grounds. The hill of Hole- house, on the northern part of the first range, is about 1500 feet above the level of the sea; Woodhill, on the south, about 1250 ; Knock-craig, at the head of the second range, about 1400; and * This account has been drawn up by Mr Dobie, Assistant Minister. f The lands of Raehills, the elegant seat of J. J. Hope Johnstone, Esq. M. P., the two Minnjgaps, Mollins, Crunzie-town, and Hartfield, now annexed to the pa- riah of Johnstone, formerly belonged to Garrel See Act. Pari. yii. 644, a. d. 1669, entitled, << Ratification in favour of Sir John Dalziel of Glenae, and Robert, his son, of all and haill the lands of Raehills, and others therein mentioned, lyitii^ within Ox parocMn of Garrel.^ 68 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Kirkmichael-fell, at the other extremity, about 1100 feet. The southern part of the parish is, in general, level ; though there are several rising grounds interspersed, which descend, by a gradual declivity, towards the farm of Cumrue, at the southern extremity, about 190 feet above the level of the sea. Climate. — The quality of the soil of this parish, — the conti- guity of the mountains before-mentioned, — and the rivers and burns by which it is bounded and intersected, — render the air in ge- neral rather moist. But from the rapidity of the waters, in conse- quence of the very considerable declivity of the ground, the air is frequently changed, and not permitted to stagnate. The inhabit- ants are in general remarkably healthy. When a severe epidemic disease prevailed last season to a fearful extent in Dumfries, which is only eight miles distant, there was not a single instance of infec- tion in the whole of this parish. Hydrography. — There are several veins of ironstone and ochre in the parish, and consequently many springs of chalybeate water; but none of a strength so remaricable as to deserve particular no- tice. There are two lochs or lakes, the one on the summit of the first mountain range, called Crane Loch,— one acre in extent, and very deep; the other, called Cumrue Loch, on the farm of that name, — four acres in extent, and fourteen feet in depth. This loch formerly comprehended ten or twelve acres, but has been reduced by drain- ing to its present size. There are two or three small cascades in Garrel Water, the largest of which is eighteen feet in height. Geology and Mineralogy. — The general direction of the strata of the transition rocks, which compose the high ranges of this pa- rish, is from north-east to south-west ; and their angle of north- westerly dip with the horizon may be stated at from 45 to 60 de- grees. About half a mile from the manse is a rock of alum-slate» having interspersed through it iron pyrites. The lower part of this parish is of sandstone formation, incumbent on the cropping of the basaltic rocks, and ranging, near their junction, almost parallel. Its strata there dip towards the south-east, having a very consider- able inclination. Two ' miles south of this, at Ross, where it is wrought, this rock dips about one in three south-westward, the beds stretching from south-east towards north-west The colour is red. The several holms on the banks of the different streams appear to have been formed by deposits washed down, in the course of ages, from the higher grounds. KIRKMICHAEL. 69 11. — Civil History. LandHnoners. — The land-owners are his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch; John S. Lyon, Esq. of Kirkmichael; James S. Wight- man, Esq. of Courance ; Robert Kennedy, Esq. of Craigshiels ; John Swan, Esq. of Glenkiln ; William Robson, Esq. of Hazlie- brae; Patrick Campbell, Esq. of Lawers; and Henry Constable Maxwell, Esq. of MUnhead. The Duke of Buccleuch draws L. 150 per annum above the half of the present rentaL Mr Lyon's estate is next in extent and value. The others are stated above in the order which corresponds to the valued rent of their properties. Parochial Beffisters.'^^o parochial registers appear to have been kept prior to the year 1727 ; and those from 1727 to 1759 are very imperfect Since the latter period they have been better attended to, but are confined entirely to births. Antiquities^ — On a bank, which is washed by the rivulet of Gar- rel, may be seen the ruins of the church bearing that name, with its accompanying cemetery. Garvald was rebuilt in 1617 ; but, from the time of its annexation to Kirkmichael, has been allow- ed to fall into decay. The church-yard, however, is surrounded by a stone and lime wall, with a plantation of weeping-birches, and other trees suited to the place. The only Roman work in the parish is a branch of the great road, that led from Netherby, in Cumberland, to the chain of forts, built by LoUius Urbicus, between the Forth and the Clyde. This can still be traced through a moss, and seems to have terminated at a castellum, of which two sides still remain very- distinct, and which now forms the minister's garden. On the farm of Wood is the ruin of the old tower of Glenae, which, in 1666, gave the title of Baronet to a branch of the family of Dalzell, before its succession to the earldom of Carnwath. There are several indistinct remains of ancient fortifications; but DO traditions about any of them, except a small fort, commonly called Wallace's Tower, adjoining Tor-linn, a glen filled with na- tural oak, and stretching westward from Knockwood. This fort commands an extensive view to the south, occupying the summit of an angle formed by the junction of two branches of that steep ravine ; and being protected on its third side by a large fosse, it must have been in former times, before the general use of fire-arms, a strong place of defence. Sir William Wallace, while meditating the capture of the castle of Lochmaben in 1297, is said to have kept sixteen men there, v^ith whom he sallied forth to annoy the English 70 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. garrison under Greystock and Sir Hugh of M oreland. Having taken some of their horses, the Scottish hero was pursued to Tor-head, (a name descriptive of the situation, the Celtic Tor signifying mount,) by Moreland, who, in the encounter which ensued, was slain, with several of his followers. A large stone, named ^^ sax corses," t. e, six corpses, a short way distant, marks the burial place of the vanquished. Greystock, enraged at this defeat, and strengthened by fresh supplies from England, immediately proceeded to attack Wallace Yrith 300 men. Thus overpowered by numbers, he fell back among the hills ; and being joined by Sir John Graham of Dundaff with thirty men, and Kirkpatrick, his kinsman, with twen- ty of his retainers, was overtaken on the north border of the lands of Holehouse, near the bottom of Queensberry, where a general engagement took place. Greystock fell ; the victory was complete ; and the survivors seeking shelter in the wood from which they had pursued the Scots, Wallace reached Lochmaben before them, and took possession of the castle. A cairn, as was then usual, has been raised on the field of battle, where may be seen the long flat stones, set on edge in the form of graves, believed to surround the remains of the dead. A stream runs from the place, called " Dis- comfit Gutter." A moss brow, bearing the name of " Graham's hag," is at a short distance ; as is likewise " Bledy-gill," evi- dently a corruption of Bloody-gill. About the year 1785, there was found, in a small piece of peat- moss near the line of the old Roman road, a pretty large pot, of a sort of base copper, and a decanter of the same metal, of the shape and size of our white stone quart decanters, with 3 feet about \\ inch long. They were both sent by Dr Burgess, then minister of the parish, to the Society of Antiquarians at Edinburgh, and are in their museum. They were thought to be Roman. They might have been thrown into the place where they were found when the Romans left the castellum, perhaps pursued by the na- tives, and obliged to abandon their heavy luggage to expedite their flight. . Last summer, another antique of similar metal, capable of con- taining 13 imperial gills, with 3 feet 2^ inches in length, and al- together 10 inches in height, having a handle and spout, and somewhat resembling in shape a modem coffee-pot, was dug up in a place called Car's moss, near the mains of Ross. In that moss are the vestiges of a small British station, from which it pro- bably takes the ancient British or Celtic etymon of Car or Caer, 3 KIRKMTCHAEL. 71 meaning yor^. Not far from the same spot was found, several years ago, a large round leaden dish, which contained two pieces of iron, much corroded, resembling a mason's trowel and tool. This led to the supposition that it had been used for holding mor- tar. A hole was pierced on each side, to which a handle might have been fastened. A number of small silver coins of Alexander III. of Scotland, and Edward I. of England, were discovered upon the 10th No- vember 1821, in a piece of soft ground, about halfway between Nether-Garrel and Courance. A year or two afterwards, nearly a quarter of a mile from the same place, was found a small silver coin of James I. of Scotland. Several of these coins, and the brazen decanter found lately, as described above, are in possession of one of the heritors. Many of the ancient circular British encampments appear in the parish. Upon some of these being opened, ashes have been found ; likewise several broken querns, or hand-mills, formerly used for grinding com ; and in one of them, upon the farm of Gilrig, with a partition crossing it, and which seems to have been occupied during later times, there was dug out a sword having a basket-hilt, but so much covered with rust, that it was impossible to form any accurate opinion respecting its antiquity. There was also seen a number of pipes of burnt clay, with heads somewhat smaller than that of the tobacco-pipe How in use, swelled at the middle, and straiter at the top. Modem Buildings. — A very handsome and elegant mansion- house has been erected by Mr Lyon, on his estate of Kirkmichael, and is just finished. It is built in the old manorial style, after a plan made by Mr Bum of Edinburgh. It is surrounded by a very considerable extent of fine old timber, and the pleasure-grounds are embellished by beautiful flower-gardens, and two fine artificial pieces of water. Mr Lyon has also made a very excellent walled garden and hot-house. There are two mills in the parish ; one, upon the barony of Ross, for oats, wheat, and barley ; and another, upon the estate of Kirkmichael, adapted merely for oats and barley. I IL — POPULATI ON. The amount of the population of the parish cannot be traced any farther back than 1759. At that time, the number of inha- bitants was 730 : in 1791, it was 930. The increase was supposed 72 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. to be owing to the division and cultivation of a very large common, and the improvement of other lands. In 1801, the population was reduced to 904. The decrease was probably occasioned by a prac- tice, then becoming prevalent, of leading farms, as it was called ; that is, a fanner having one farm, possessed, at the same time, an- other, which was said to be led along with it. By this means, se- veral fSarms, formerly having numerous families residing on them, were, when thus M, along with others, left almost uninhabited. At each census,'since that period, there has been a gradual increase, which would perhaps have been much greater, had it not been for the change which has taken place by the enlargement of many of the farms. In 1831 the population was 1226. 1. Number of fiunilies in the parish, .... 218 of fiunilies chiefly employed in agriculture, - - 126 chiefly employed in trade, manu&ctures, or handicraft, 44 2. Number of unmarried men, bachelors or widowers, upwards of 50 yean of age, 12 of unmarried women, including widows, upwards of 45> -* 31 S. The arerage number of births yearly, for the last 7 years, • - 96 ofdeaths, ..... 21 of marriages, .... $ 4. The number of persons at present under 15 years of age, - - 478 upwards of 70, - - - 40 Three of the proprietors already named are resident, as also two smaller ones, who possess Li. 10 tenements, without being liable for parochial burdens. IV. — Industry. Agriculture and Rural Economy — The whole of the parish has been surveyed, and plans made of the several farms, at different times, and by different land-measurers. The number of acres standard and imperial measure is as follows. Meadow and arable land, ..... 6700 Acres. Sheep pasture, - - • - ... 9190 Mossy pasture interspersed through the arable lands, partly convertible into meadow, and including the mosses firom which the inhabitants are supplied with peat, ..... 550 Sand-bed pasture, comprehending roads, lakes, and water-courses, - 280 Under wood, natural or planted, ... 850 17070 Probably 300 or 400 acres of this hill land might be advanta- geously broken up, fallowed, and thereafter sown down with grass seeds, to improve the pasture. KIBKMICHAEL. 73 The natural woods consist principally of oak, ash, birch, and elder. The young plantations are composed of Scotch, larch, and spruce firs, with a suflBciency of oak, ash, and elm, for standards. Rent of Land. — The average rent per acre of meadow and arable land is 14s. 6d. ; of sheep pasture, 3s. ; of mossy pasture inter- spersed through the arable lands, partly convertible into meadow, and including the mosses from which the inhabitants are supplied with peat, * 4s. ; of sand-bed pasture which, after deducting 130 acres for roads, lakes, and water-courses, will be reduced to 150 acres, L. 1. The average rent of grazing cattle is at the rate of 25s. for a one year old ; 35s. for a two years old ; and L. 4 for a cow or full- grown ox ; and at the rate of 4s. 9d. for a ewe, or full-grown sheep, pastured for the year. Breeds of Live Stock. — The cattle are all of the Galloway breed. Turnips are cultivated to such an extent, that 2200 Cheviot and Highland wedders, inclusive of several score of half-bred hogs, are annually fattened upon them. Husbandry. — The system of husbandry pursued is, in some cases, a six, and in others a four years' rotation. Smce 1822, when the old leases terminated, very great, judicious, and expensive improvements have been made by the Duke of Buccleuch, on his beautiful and valuable barony of Ross, in this parish, by building very excellent and even elegant farm-steadings, containing every accommodation of the most convenient and substantial kind that a farmer can desire ; planting both for shelter and ornament ; en- closing, partly with stone dikes, but principally with hedges ; mak- ing roads, and giving every encouragement to promote and ex- tend the cultivation of the land. There is no part of the country, through which a traveller can pass, where he will be more delighted with a view of the rapid progress of very spirited and substantial improvements. Such are the invaluable advantages which a dis- trict derives from being blessed with a liberal and patriotic land- lord. The duration of leases is, in some cases, 15, in others 19 years. The greater part of the farm-buildings on the other properties in the parish is new and of a superior description. The hedges that have lately been planted are very extensive ; and are all in a thriving state, being well attended to. * Much uumj land htt already been reckumcd, and now yields good crops of hay. 74 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Produce. — The average gross annual amount of raw produce, raised in the parish, may be thus estimated. Wheat, - 300 imp. acres at L. 6, Ss. per acre, ezclusive of seed, L. 1920 Barley, - 350 do. 4 10 do. do. 1575 Oats, . 1350 do. 3 4 do. do. 4320 Potatoes, - 400 do. 6 8 do. do. 2560 Turnips, - 600 do. 2 10 do. do. 1500 Rye-gMMB hay, 1000 do, 2 6 do. do. 2300 Meadow hay, 700 do. 1 14 do. do. 1190 Cattk Grazed. — Cows, (including the product by calves until weaned,) 460 at L. 4» - - - - L. 1840 One year old cattle or stirks, 460 at L. 1, 56. - 575 Two year old cattle, 580 at L. 1, 15s. - - 1015 L.d430 About 150 three years* old cattle are kept for wintering, but do not require to be taken into account in the consumption of grass, as they are sent south in spring, part of them in a lean state, and part fattened for the market. Sheep, 5720 at 7s. 2002 Gardens and orchards, - - - - - 10000 The greater proportion of woodland consists of plantations under ten years* growth ; but the periodical felling of the natural and full- grown wood taken yearly, is - - - - - 100 L 20997 Rate of Wages. — Men employed in husbandry labour receive Is. 6d. per day in summer and Is. 3d. in winter, and women 9d. per day, without victuals. Men-servants, who are fit for every kind of husbandry work, and are boarded in the house, receive, on an average L. 5 in the half year, and women-servants from L. 2, 10s. to L. 3. Masons and joiners generally charge 2s. 6d. per day. V. — Parochial Economy. Marhet'Towns^ Sfc. — There are no towns or villages in the pa- rish. Lockerby is distant from Cumrue five miles to the south- east ; but Dumfries, which is fully seven miles from the bridge of Ae southward, is the market-town most frequented. The length of turnpike road, crossing the parish, is nearly five miles. The mail-coach from Edinburgh to Dumfries travels along it twice daily. Ecclesiastical State. — The patronage of the old parish of Kirk- michael has belonged to the noble house of Queensberry since the Reformation, and is now held by the Duke of Buccleuch. There belonged to this church, during the reign of Catholicism, KIRRMICHAEL. 75 three merk lands of the old extent, now the property of Mr Lyon. Garvald was of old a mensal church of the bishops of Glasgow ; and Robert Blackadder, the first archbishop of that see, in 1506, assigned this rectory to the college of Glasgow. The patronage thereof at the Reformation belonged to the convent of Red Friars at Failfurd, in the county of Ayr ; was thereafter vested in the Crown ; and, so far as is known, remains so, although it has not for a long period been exercised by the king. The church lands of Garrel, extending to five pound lands of the ancient va- luation, in 1565, exclusive of the glebe united by excambion to that of Kirkmichael, passed from that convent into lay lands, and are now mostly comprehended within the barony of Ross. The present parish church is near the south-western boundary ; a situation not at all convenient for the greater part of the popu- lation, being fully five miles from the opposite side and southern extremity. If was built in 1815, and is in good repair. It con- tains sittings for upwards of 500. The manse was built in 1798, and has since that time undergone several repairs. The glebe is about 18 imperial acres in extent, and may be valued at L. 18 a- year. The stipend is 15 chalders, half meal, and half barley, and L. 8, 6s. 8d. for communion elements, amounting, at the county fiars' price of the seven years preceding the augmentation 5th December 1821, to L.2d2, Os. |d. There being no place of worship in the parish but the Established church, it is attended by all the inhabitants, except about 30, who are dissenters. Divine service is generally well attended. The average number of com- municants is 330. Education. — There are two schools in the parish, the principal one being placed near the centre of the greatest population. The branches of instruction generally taught are English, writing, arith- metic, Latin, Greek, and geometry. The salary of this school is the maximum, viz. L.d4, 4s. 4^d., and the fees amount to about L. 16 per annunL The teacher has considerably more than the legal accommodations with respect to a dwelling-house and garden. No salary is attached to the side-school. The master of it is paid entirely by fees received from the scholars, which are the same as those of the parochial school. The people are in general alive to the benefits of education. There are none above fifteen years of age (idiots excepted) who cannot read. Two sheep-farms on the north-western side of the parish are about six miles distant from these schools. But the po- 76 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. pulation in that quarter is small, and there is access to a side-school in the neighbouring parish of Closeburn. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The average number of persons receiving parochial aid is 20, and the average sum allotted to each per year is L. I, 4s. There are no legacies or mortifications. The annual amount of church collections, with small fines exacted from delinquents, and other dues, is about L. 35, ds. lO^d. Se- veral persons, not on the poors' roll, obtain occasional relief. It is still with reluctance that the necessitous are induced to apply for parochial assistance. But it is easy to perceive that the spirit of independence by which the lower classes in this country have been so long distinguished, is here, as in other places, exhibiting symp- toms of decay. It may be remarked, in concluding, that the rental of the parish, when the former Statistical Account was drawn up, was L. 2500, and that at present it amounts to L. 6475 per annum. January 1834. PARISH OF CLOSEBURN. PRESBTTEttY OF PENPONT, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. ANDREW BENNET, MINISTER- L — Topography and Natural History. Namej Boundaries^ tfc. — Closeburn, to which the extensive pa- rish of Dalgarno was united in the end of the seventeenth century, was anciently called Kilosbern, from Cella Odmmu It is 10 miles in extreme length, and 7^ in extreme breadth. It is bound- ed on the north by Morton and Crawfurd, on the east by Kirk- michael and Kirkpatrick-Juxta, on the south by Kirkmahoe, and on the west by Keir, from which it is separated by the river Nith. From the great quantity of secondary sandstone strata, and water- worn gravel, to the depth in many parts of nearly 20 feet, the valley of Closeburn, comprehending, besides the western part of this parish, portions of other parishes, has in all probability been a lake, the water issuing from its lower level, or south extremity, having in the course of time worn away the restraining barrier. In confirmation of this opinion I may mention, that the rising grounds at the south end of the valley are separated from each other by the channel of the NitL What must have been the bottom of the lake is a fine alluvial or carse soil. The higher le- vel of the parish, before the ascent of the transition hills, is in ge- neral water-worn gravel upon freestone. Topographical Appearances. — The valley of Closeburn is one of the valleys situated in the mountain range, chiefly of transition rock, which runs across the island from the Grerman to the Atlan- tic Ocean. The highest hill in the parish is Queensberry, the summit of which is 2140 feet above the sea. It was called Queens- berry, not, as has been supposed, from a species of berry which grows upon it, but from the Anglo-Saxon, berg^ a hill, which is often formed into berry. It is most appropriately designated the queen of hills, being one of the highest in the south of Scotland. Climate. — It might be supposed that the proximity of this dis- 78 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. trict to the Atlantic Ocean, and the prevalence of the south and south-west winds, would render the climate rainy and variable. Although it be not so dry as some districts of Scotland, the co- pious exhalations from this vast reservoir of water are in some measure intercepted, and the violence of these winds moderated by the interposition of Galloway and the north of Ireland. For mildness of climate, its situation is peculiarly favourable. Besides having a southern aspect, the ranges of hills that environ it on the north and east afford shelter from those cold and piercing winds that predominate in spring, and annoy other parts of the kingdom. The salubrity of the climate may, to a cefrtain extent, be ascribed to the improved system of agriculture and draining introduced a considerable number of years ago. From that cause intermittent fevers have now entirely disappeared. As a proof of the salubrity of the climate I may mention, that of 28 individuals who died in 1831, 20 had attained to upwards of 70 years of age. Pulmonary complaints, however, are not uncommon in this district; and cases of inflammation occasionally occur. Hydrography. — The water is in general extremely pure, as it flows from springs running through freestone, limestone, and tran- sition rock. The only foreign ingredient some of the springs con- tain, is a little iron in solution by carbonic acid. In the imme- diate vicinity of Closebum Castle, a spring issuing from a peat- moss is impregnated with a small quantity of sulphuretted hydro- gen, and has been of signal advantage in cutaneous complaints. The river Nith forms the western boundary; and the Cample forms the northern boundary of the parish. There are several streams, the most remarkable of which is Crickup. By falling over a precipice 90 feet in height, it forms a cascade, known by the name of Grey*8 morels taxL After heavy rains, it has the appear- ance of an unbroken sheet of water, and is seen at the distance of many miles. This stream, possessing some romantic scenery, is visited by strangers. The place of the greatest interest is Crick- up Linn. The water in its passage over a hill of old red sandstone has in the course of ages cut a deep ravine, so narrow at the top, that in many places one may leap across it. The sides of this ravine, overhung by rich foliage, and presenting rocks of the most picturesque forms, the noise and agitation of the water underneath, produce a singularly imposing effect. To this spot covenanters in the times of persecution betook themselves for safety. The author of Waverley has given it additional interest, by describing it as a CL03EBURN. 79 similar scene to the retreat of Balfour of Burleigh, in Lanark- shire. Geology and Mineralogy. — The strata in the parish of Close- burn, forming a part of a considerable basin of strata ten miles in length, and nearly four in breadth, arise in a south-eastern direc- tion, and dip to the north-west and west The prevailing rocks are transition rock or greywacke, transition limestone, a coarse gray quartzy freestone and old red sandstone, of which the moun- tains, hills, and plains are composed. The red sandstone is the uppermost stratum in the low parts of the valley, and is nearly three miles in width from the river Nith, in an eastern direction. From under the red sandstone the gray freestone rises nearly a mile in width in the same direction ; in some places the transition limestone; and last of all, the transition rocks, upon which the foregoing strata are deposited, rise to the height of 1200 feet above the sea. The only genera and species of oi^ganic remains are in the transition limestone ; they consist of comua ammonis, belemnites, and orthoceratitesj and are the largest found in the island. The limestone quarry worked in the parish, chiefly for agricul- tural purposes, consists of two beds. The upper bed is 16 feet thick, and is composed of 40 parts of magnesian limestone, and 60 parts of carbonate of lime, and contains no organic remains. The lower bed is 18 feet thick, and contains 88 parts of carbonate of lime, 8 of clay and sand, and 4 of iron. It is therefore peculiarly well adapted for building, as it takes a strong band^ and hardens under water. This lower bed consists of a number of lamina^ divided by horizontal fissures, between several of which a kind of stone marl is interposed, having impressions of shells, apparently , dissolved. This stone-marl consists of about 10 parts of carbonate of lime, and has been successfully employed as a top dressing upon the light sandy soils in the neighbourhood. None of the upper bed or magnesian limestone is worked, as it is a long time before it loses its caustic qualities, by the absorption of carbonic acid. It is found to heave or loosen the soil when used for the growth of corn, and to produce an abundant crop of day nettle^ fLamium aOmnu) These two beds are separated from each other by about 18 feet of bastard or impure limestone, and indurated clay em- ployed for making bricks, after undergoing the operation of bruis" ^^j by passing between cast iron rollers. The alluvial deposits are sand from the debris of the old red sandstone, and quartzy free- stone and gravel, consisting of water-worn greywacke and basalt, 80 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. brought down from the upper part of the riyer Nith. Large blocks of granite have been found, although there are no granite moun- tains within twenty miles. The soil near the Nith, or lowest extremity of the parish, is sandy loam : upon a higher level it is a sandy gravel, to the depth of upwards of 20 feet, and is well suited for barley and turnip. Above the greywacke it is more tenacious and less sandy, but equally well suited for the same crops. On this soil, composed of the debris of the greywacke, the larch tree arrives at greater perfection than the Scotch fir, which prefers a more sandy soil ; but upon the red sandstone soil or sandy gravel the larch is liable to decay in the heart, and becomes covered with white moss after it is planted only a very few years. On the transition rock it is healthy and vigorous, and evinces no such symptoms of premature disease. The writer is assured by Mr Menteath of Closebum, that the larch tree is found to grow indigenously in Switzerland, but never upon the secondary strata. IL — Civil History. Of the early history of the parish little is known. Of itself the parish of Closeburn seems originally to have been of small extent, while that of Dalgamo comprehended a very considerable terri- tory. The former belonged to the abbey of Holyroodhouse, and the latter to the abbey of Kelso, and formed part of the patrimony and spirituality of these establishments. At the period of the Re- formation in Scotland, each parish was provided with a reader, and in 1576, we find from the register of assignation and modification of ministers' stipends, a minister for the first time established at Closeburn. * The patronage of both churches, as well as most of the territory of these parishes, belonged for a very considerable period to the family of Kirkpatrick of Closebum ; although by a ratification in Parliament 1594, King James VI. confirmed a charter granted by him under the great seal to Sir James Douglas of Drumlangrig, Knight, dated in January 1591, ^< of the advocation and donation * The following are the words of the register : — << Closbeme. — Mr James Ramsay minister, his stipend, L. 75, 2b. 5d. to be pay it out of the third of the iiersonage of Kirkmado, &c. ** John Thomsoune, reidare at Closbeme, hu stipend, L. 20, with the kirk land, to be payit out of the third of Kelso, &c. <( Dalgamo.— Barnes Williamsoun, reidar at Dalgamo, his stipend zyj lib. with the kirk land,** &c. CLOSEBURN. 81 of the paroch kirks and parocbins of Kirkbryd, Durisdeiry Glen- cairn, Penpont, Mortoun, and Dalgartwh ;" but the grant was thus qualified : ^^ Provyding.alwayes that the said Sir James sail re- signe and renunce the advocatioun and donatioun of the said paroch kirkof Dalgamok, to Thomas Kirkpatrikof Cloisbume, his arisand assignayes," * &c. In the year 1606, these churches were united by the General .Assembly held at Linlithgow. f They continued so till the year 1648, when the Presbytery of Penpont, after examining the ren- tals of both parishes, which were produced to them, and after hear- ing the *^ information anent the condition of the united kirkis of Dalgarno and Closebum, wher ther is two standing kirkis, with ther several manses and gleebs," :|: recommended them to be disjoined * Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iv. 90. f On this subject we find in the register quoted above the following entries: — *' 1608. Dalgarno Cloisburne, Mr David Rodger, minister, his stipend, iiiy. > lib. money, to be payit out of the lordship of .Kelso, or onie part therof, be the Lord of Kelso, his airis and successouris, &c. and viij xz, xvij lib. xvys. for the service at the kirk of Dalgarno, be Sir Thomas Kirkpatrik of Cloisburne, Knicht, takisman of Dal- garno, with xxx\} lib. out of the prebendaries of Ivincluden, to be pajrit be the takisman and parocbinaris of Carlaverock.*^ \ From this it^formatUm the following is an extract : — ** Dalgarno is a pendicle of Halyroodhouse. The teinds whereof (the minister being payed) did belong to the Bishop of Edinburch; hot efterabolitioun of episoopacie wer disponed for mantainans of the Castle of Edinburgh. The worth of the lands of this parodiin, in stok and teind personage and vicarage, is about 9000 merkis." '< Closbume is a pendicle of Kelso, the teinds whereof wer a part of the rent of the Bishop of GaIloway% hot Episoopade being now abolished, b assigned to the Col- ledge of Glasgow. The worth of this parochin, stock and teind perK>nage and vicar- age, is about aOOO merkis.*' — " Inde 12000 merkis.** — ** The two parochins upon the supplication of the heritors to the Assemblie at Linlithgow, in anno 1606, wer judged fit to be one oongregatioun, and the union ratified by Parliament.** The following, airong other reasons, are given by the Presbytery for the division of these kirks : " 1 . That the said two kirks wer united in the dayes of corruption and Episcopacie, to the great detriment and hurt of the church. 2. That the two kirks being in rent of stock and teind seventeia thousand merks and upward, may verie convenientlie afibord maintainance to two ministers for serving the cure at the saids kirks. Sb Thenumber of communicants being seven hundreth or thereabout, may be two flocks, sufiicient for two ministers. 4 That the heritours being cited to compeir befor the Fresbytrie, most part of them compeired, and could not object any relevant reason, (in our judgment,) quherfor they might not be di^oyned. 5. That the fiUirickes of both churches are now iiv a gud frame, quhilk will not long continue if tbey should remaine in the present conditiep,** &c. DUMFRIES. F 82 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. forthwith. The parishes continued disunited until the year 1697, when Dalgarno was again annexed to Closeburn. AecomUs of the Parish. — There is a history in manuscript of each parish in the presbytery of Penpont, drawn up, above a cen- tury ago, by a Mr Rae, minister of Kirkconnel. He has unfor- tunately done little more than commence that of Closeburn. Eminent Men^ Sfc. — Among the literati to whom this parish has given birth is the venerable Dr Hunter of St Andrew's, unques-. tionably the first philologist of the age. Few parishes in proportion to their population have furnished a larger number of successful candidates for the ministry, there being at present no less than nine parochial clergymen of our na- tional church to whom this parish has given birth. Lajid-owners. — The chief land-owner is Mr Stuart Menteath, the male representative of the ancient Earls of Menteath. The estate of Closeburn after having been for several centuries in the possession of the family of Kirkpatrick, * well known in history, was purchased by the present family, at the termination of the American war, when agricultural improvements may be said to have commenced in this part of the country. Parochial Registers, — The date of the earliest entry of the pa- rochial registers is 1726. From 1754 to 1777, there appears to have been no register at all. This omission has been in some measure supplied by a register of baptisms, from 1765 to 1776, kept by an individual who was church officer, during that period, for his own use. This little volume is now in the possession of the kirk-session, and in some important cases has furnished the infor^ mation required. At present, the parochial registers are regular- ly kept. There is also an obituary, with a corresponding register of every disease that proves fatal. Antiquities. — Closeburn Castle is a vaulted quadrilateral tower about 50 feet high, 33 J long, and 45 J broad. There is a ground floor, the walls of which are 12 feet thick, and three series of apart- ments, all separated from each other by arched roofs. An arched roof crowns the whole. As it bears no date or inscription, its age cannot be correctly ascertained. From the plan of the building, and the style of the mouldings of the doors, it cannot be less than 800 years old. It is at present occupied by Mr Menteath's land- steward, and is a very comfortable residence. — A few years ago * For an account of this ancient family, sec parish of Kcir. CLOSEBURN. 83 were to be seen the ruins of a chapel, dedicated to St Patrick, which gives the name of Kirkpatrick to the farm on which it stood. — On another farm there are the remains of a vaulted building. — There are several large cairns, but no account of any of them is transmitted to the present times. — Six years ago an urn of coarse earthen-ware, about one foot in depth, and nine inches in width, filled with human bones, considerably decayed, was found in a piece of garden ground belonging to the free school. Beside this urn was a smaller one empty, . and capable of containing about a qXiart. It was raised nearly entire, but the other, in an attempt to raise it, fell to pieces. If they be of Roman manufacture, which is very probable, they must have been under ground above 1400 years. Both of these relicts were deposited in the museum of the antiquaries of Scotland. It may be added, that at a small distance from these urns, two other deposits of human bones were soon after found in a very decayed state. Modem Buildings, — The only modem building is Closeburn Hall, the seat of Mr Stuart Menteath. It is a large building of Grecian architecture, and situated in one of the most beautiful val- leys in the south of Scotland. IIL — Population. One of the reasons in the recommendation of the Presbytery of Penpont for the disjunction of the parishes of Closeburn and Dal- gamo was, that ^^ the number of communicants being 700 or there- about, may be two flocks sufficient for two ministers." I mention this circumstance,- as showing that the united parishes were at least as populous then as at present. In 1755, the population was 999 In 1791, - - 1490 InlSU, - - 1762 In 1821, - - 1682 In 1831, . - 1680 The progressive increase was occasioned partly by extensive lime-works which commenced in 1772, and partly by the improve- ments of the present proprietor : and the decrease, by these improve- ments having been in a great measure completed, which circum- stance rendered it necessary for many day-labourers to go else- where for employment. The number of the population residing in vilbiges is 628^ and in the country 1052, 84 DUMFKIKS-SHIUE. 1. Number of flkinilies in the parish, «. . . . 337 of families chiefly employed in agriculture, - - 69 chiefly employed in trade, manufactures, or handicraft, 48 2. Number of unmarried men, bachelors or widowers, upwards of 50 years of age, 20 of unmarried women, including widows, upwards of 45^ - 43 S. The number of persons at present under 15 years of age, - - 681 « upwards of 70, ... 59 There are 5 landed proprietors of the yearly value of L. 50 and upwards. The average number of children in each family is 4* There are 2 insane, and 3 fatuous persons. Character of the People. — The people in general are sober, cleanly, frugal, and industrious ; decent and exemplary in their at- tendance on religious ordinances ; peaceable and friendly. They enjoy in a reasonable degree the comforts and advantages of so- ciety, and are contented with their situation and circumstances. IV. — Industry. Agriculture and Rural Ecorwmy. — The number of acres in the parish under tillage is 5683, and in pasture 23,006, — 4428 of which are arable. Although the greater proportion of the ground between the river Nith, or western boundary, and the moun- tains on the eastern boundary, which fifty years ago was in a state of nature and covered with stunted heath, is brought nnto culti- vation, either for grass or corn, — ^a considerable extent, perhaps not less than 2000 acres, of the higher ground might yet be improved permanently for pasture, by means of lime, and would probably yield an additional rent of five per cent for the outlay. There arc about 1500 acres of natural woods and plantations. The natural woods consist of oak, ash, alder and birch ; and the plantations, of oak, ash, elm, beech, Scotch fir, spruce fir, and larch. As more attention is paid to thinning the plantations in the early stages of their growth than is usual in Scotland they are in a very thriving condition. About 1200 of these acres un- der wood belong to the chief land-owner. He lately finished cut- ting down a plantation of 90 acres of Scotch fir sixty years old, which he disposed of for L. 10,000. It grew on the poorest sandy soil, not worth sixpence per acre, when the trees were planted. Rent ofLand^ Sfc. — The average rent of arable land per acre is L. 1, 5s. and of grazing, is L. 4 per cow grazed, L. 2 per ox, and 4s. 6d per ewe, or full-grown sheep. Rate of Wages. — The wages of a farm male-servant, board in- cluded, are L. 20 ; and female-servant L. 13 for the year. When 4 CLOSEBURN. 85 there is no contract by piece-work the rate of mason, carpenter, and other mechanical work, is 2s. 6d. for the day. A day-labourer receives Is. 8d. in summer, and Is. 4d. in winter. The price of coarse black faced wool is 7s., and of Cheviot wool 15s. per stone of 24 lbs. BreedSf S^c, — The common breeds of cattle are the Galloway and Ayrshire, to the improvement of which great attention has been paid. Huthandry. — The approved course of agriculture followed in this parish is, the first year, oats upon newly broken up pasture ; second year, potatoes, or turnips, consumed by sheep where they grow ; third year, barley and grass seeds ; fourth, hay ; the two successive years, pasture. Bone-manure is now much used in the drill husbsmdry. It enables the farmer to raise turnips on ground, of which he could not otherwise avail himself. Till within these ten years, this highly beneficial crop was comparatively little cul- tivated in Nithsdale : and perhaps no part of Scotland is better adapted for it, and for its being consumed where it grows. The soil being porous soon becomes dry after the heaviest rains. Steam navigation has given a great stimulus to this branch of agriculture in this part of the country. Fat stock can now be conveyed in six- teen or eighteen hours to Liverpool, where there is always a ready market. Before this cheap and easy mode of conveyance was prac- tised, Edinburgh and Glasgow were the only markets of which the fanner could avail himself, and these were attended with many ob- vious disadvantages. The common method adopted in the im- provement of waste land is to spread 120 bushels of lime on each acre ; then, at the distance of two or three years, to plough it for a crop of oats; then to prepare it with manure for fallow or green crop. Sometimes two or three crops are taken from the moorish Foils. There being a considerable extent of poor moorish land on the estate of Closebum, the proprietor had recourse to the follow- ing method of improving it, which was attended with complete suc- cess : Unwilling to deprive the richer grounds of manure, he com- menced operations on a sterile district, by paring and burning tlie surface the first season ; he ploughed it in the autumn and winter, and spread on it lime at the rate of 200 bushels per acre in the foK lowing spring; in the month of July he sowed grass seeds (York- shire fog) at the rate of five bushels per acre. This land has re- mainM in pasture for twenty years, and is let annually at from 12s. to 15s. per acre. In its unimproved state it was not worth 28. 6d. The expense of this improvement was about L. 6 per acre. Top- 86 DUMPRIES-SHIRE. dressing with lime is found to nearly double the value of land in pasture, both in quality and quantity, and is much practised in this parish by Mr Menteath. The duration of leases is for 13, 15, or 19 yeau^s, according to the condition of the farm. Half a century ago the farm-houses of this parish were cottages built of rough stone and clay mortar, and containing generally two, sometimes three apartments, one of which was the kitchen. The floors were paved with mud, and the roofs destitute of ceiling. Such miserable buildings have been succeed- ed by comfortable and commodious dwelling-houses, generally of two stories, and in every way fitted for the convenience and accom- modation of the respectable tenantry that inhabit them. The cot- tages of the peasantry are, with scarcely an exception, superior to the dwelling-houses fifty years ago, on farms now let at L. 500 a- year. The chief land-owner, by draining, liming, and enclosing, with stone walls, the whole arable part of his estate, amounting to 6550 acres, has expended more than double the sum for which the estate was purchased in 1783^ In the very centre of the richest portions of it, a number of small peat mosses were deposited in ba« sins of 150 acres in extent. It was a very expensive operation to fill up the numerous holes made by the parishioners, who had been for a long course of time in the habit of digging their supply of fuel from them. The liming, draining, and levelling, sometimes cost L. 40 an acre. They are now rich irrigated meadows, and yield an ample return for the outlay. The average quantity of hay is from 300 to 400 stones on each Scotch acre. On these meadows hay harvest commences about the beginning of July. What is cut down in one day, if the weather continue favourable, is housed on the evening of the next. This method preserves the saccharine juices which, by exposure to the weather, are evaporated^ and the quality of the hay thereby deteriorated. ' These moss meadows being very unproductive in dry seasons, the proprietor has availed himself of the conmiand of water, which the more elevated parts of his property afforded. Several streams, many miles distant, have been diverted from their channels, and are employed most advantageously in irrigating these meadows in the months of April, May, and June. Quarries. — There are several quarries of freestone, chiefly of old red sandstone, and one of limestone. The former are worked by removing the cover, and afford an excellent material for building and flooring. The lamina or plates are capable of being separated CLOSEBURN. 87 SO thin as to become an economical substitute for blue slate. When brushed over with coal tar, they are impervious to water. Advan- tage has been taken of a riviilet in the immediate vicinity of one of these quarries, to put in motion pumps, by a water-wheel, to drain it Limestone is found in almost inexhaustible abundance. The cover being deep, it is extracted from the quarry by means of excavations. In proceeding with these operations, the miners leave pillars of six square yards in thickness, at the distance of 30 feet, to support the roof, which, together with the floor, is worked into a regular form. The rock being very compact, they avail them- selves of the aid of gunpowder. The mode of raising the limestone from this quarry is rather ingenious. From the centre of the ex- cavations an iron railway on an inclined plane, 200 yards long, ex- tends to the top of the kiln, up which loaded waggons ascend with the utmost facility, by means of a water-wheel put in motion by a stream of water brought six miles for the purpose. This stream is appropriated to other purposes. Descending to a lower level, it falls on another wheel, which puts in motion fanners to throw air into the bottom of lime-kilns, to facilitate the burning of limestone, and diminish the fuel necessary for driving off the carbonic acid ; to move pumps to drain the lime quarry, and also machinery for sawing timber. This stream is then conveyed away for irrigation. The kilns here mentioned are of the most improved construction for burning lime with the smallest quantity of fuel. Produce. — The gross amount and value of raw produce yearly raised in the parish, as nearly as can be ascertained, is as follows : Produce of grain of all kinds, - ... L. 14,8U0 of potatoes and turnips, - . . . 7000 of hay, meadow and cultivated, ... 50OO of land in pasture, rating it at L. 2 per ox, and 4s. 6d. per cwc, - 8000 of the annual thinning and periodical felling of wood, plantations, and copse, and hark, - ... 2000 Lime quarry, - - . ... 3500 Total yearly value of raw produce, - - L. 40,300 V. — Parochial Economy. Marketsy %c. — The nearest market-town is Dumfries, 12 miles distant. There are four small villages in the parish. There are two turnpike roads ; the one connects Ahnandale with Nithsdale, and is about eight miles long ; the other is six miles long, and forms a part of the great road from Carlisle to Glasgow by Dum- fries. About four miles northward it sends off a branch to Edin^- 88 DUMFRIES' saiR£. burgh. On this road two coaches travel ; the one from Carliiyle to Glasgow daily, and the other from Dumfries to Edinbuigh thrice a-week. These and the district roads are well supplied with bridges, and in excellent condition. All the arable and pas- ture lands in the parish are inclosed with dry-stone fences. Eccksiastieal State. — The church is very conveniently situated for the greater part of the population. It was built in I74I9 and is distant about three miles from the western, and eight from the eastern, extremity of the parish. Having undergone lately a tho- rough repair, it is one of the handsomest in this part of the coun- try, and contains sittings for 650 people. Six of the seats are free^ and capable of accommodating 80 people. The free sittings are uniformly the first occupied, and the most crowded. The manse was built in 1760, and repaired in 1816, when a large addition was made to it, which has rendered it both comfortable and com- modious. The glebe is 10 acres in extent, and about L. 20 in value. The stipend is 16 chalders of meal and barley, in equal proportions, and L. 8^ 6s. 8d. for communion elements. The Established church is the only place of worship in the parish. The number of Presbyterian dissenters of all ages, including five Catholics, is 137. The remainder of the population adhere to the Establishment. When the weather is favourable, the church is remarkably well attended, and by people from every quarter of the parish. The average number of communicants is 500. EduccUion. — There are five schools; but no legal salary is at- tached to any of them. The principal one is a free school, which was amply endowed in 1723 by John Wallace, a native of the pa- rish, who had realized a considerable fortune in Glasgow by mer- cantile pursuits. The sum he bequeathed for carrying his bene- volent intentions into effect was L. 1600, the greater part of which, in terms of the deed of endowment, was to be invested in land ; the remainder to be appropriated to the erection of a school and dwelling-house for the rector, and the purchase of a contiguous field of five acres. The management of the fund was committed to the Presbytery of Penpont, who were authorized to watch over the interests of the seminary, and to judge of the qualifica- tions of the rector and the assistant teacher. In this seminary the children of the parish, but not those who attend from other parishes, are entitled to be taught English, writing, arith- metic, book-keeping, Greek, and Latin, free of expense. Other branches also are taught. Irregular attendance on the part of CLOSEBDRN. 89 the scholars generally, — a circumsttoce over which the rector has no control, — ^tends much to impede their progress. This defect might have been in a great measure remedied, had he been per- mitted to exact a small fee from each. It is, however, a great blessing to the parish, and has been the means of rescuing many from obscurity who have risen to eminence and adorned the situa- tions they occupied. The present rector has expended a conside- rable sum in building a lai^e and commodious dwelling-house, and otherwise improving the endowment. His annual income, after deducting public burdens, and the salary of the assistant, is L. 356. About a quarter of a mile from the free school, there is a female school, at which are taught needle-work, sewing, reading, writ- ing, arithmetic, and geography. Mr Menteath pays a handsome salary to the teacher. He has fitted up and furnished a commo- dious dwelling-house for her. The fees are very moderate, and suited to the circumstances of the parents. There are other three schools situated in districts too distant to reap advantage from the free school, at which the same branches are taught as in the free school, with the exception of the Greek and Latin. The school of Wallace-hall being in the centre of the parish, renders a legal one unnecessary. There being no parochial school, the heritors voluntarily assess themselves in the sum of L. 35 annually, which, with the addition of L. 5 paid by the rector of the free school in terms of the deed of endowment, affords to each of the teachers a salary of about L. 13 a-year. The general expense of education at these schools varies from 6s. to 12s. a-year, according to the attainments of the children. The annual amount of school fees does not exceed L. 24. There is not an individual in the parish, so far as I know, who has not received the elements of a common education. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The average number of persons receiving parochial aid is 21, and the average sum allotted to each is L. 3 a-year. A few indigent famiUes get an occasional supply. The sum at the disposal of the kirk-session for behoof of the poor is L. 71 annually. This arises from the interest of L. 225, be- queathed at different times, and lent at four per cent, the weekly collections at the church door, amounting to L. 52, mortcloth and marriage dues. In general, none apply for parochial aid until for- ced to do so by necessity. Such is the feeling of independence on the part of the people generally, that, did their age and infir- 90 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. mities permit, they would much rather support themselves by their own exertions. FueU S^c, — The high grounds afford an inexhaustible supply of peat This substance requiring much time and labour, and like- wise a dry season to prepare it for domestic purposes, has in a great measure been superseded by coal. The nearest coal field is that of Sanquhar, at the distance of 14 miles. Excellent San- quhar coal can be purchased at lis. per ton, carriage included. Mansfield coal, in Ayrshire, at the distance of 25 miles, and not inferior in quality to any in Scotland, is also much used, and can be procured at Ids. per ton, carriage included. English coal, ship- borne, can be purchased at 21s. per ton. Th^ extensive woods furnish the poor with a pretty regular supply of fuel. It is now a prevalent opinion that peat is more expensive than coal. Miscellaneous Observations. When the former Statistical Account was written, the number of arable acres was about 2400, and the rental of the parish L. 3500. There were very few enclosures, and the farm-houses and offices were miserable hovels. At present the number of arable acres is 9000, all well enclosed ; the rental is above L. 12,000 ; and the farm-houses and offices substantially built, and neatly finished. Closebum, which half a century ago was one of the bleakest and most uncultivated, is now one of the most improved, beautiful, and richly wooded parishes in the south of Scotland. January 1834. PARISH OF MORTON. PRESBYTERY OF PENPONT, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES* THE REV. DAVID SMITH, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name, Boundaries. — Morton, an ADglo-Saxon word, signi- fies the stronghold or dweUing on the moor. On the north-west extremity of an extensive moor, and at the bottom of a beau- tiful green hill, from which it is separated by a deep glen, stands the old castle or strongliold of Morton, from which the parish seems to have taken its name. The boundaries and figure of the parish are very irregular. On the north-west and west it is bounded by the parish of Durrisdeer, from which it is separated by the Shielhouse rivulet and the river Carron; on the south-west, by the river Nith, which divides it from the parish of Penpont, with the exception of about 120 acres called Morton-holm, lying on the south bank of that river ; on the south- east and east, by the united parishes of Closeburn and Dalgamo, from which it is separated by the Cample; and on the north and north-west, it is bounded by Crawford parish in Lanarkshire. The march runs from the north-eastward along the waterfall of a mountain called Glenleith. The extent of the parish from south to north is about seven imperial miles, and its mean breadth about four; and it contains about twenty-eight square miles. Topographical Appearances. — The external surface of this parish is varied, being diversified by ridge and valley. Along the banks of the rivers, especially the Nith and Cample, it is low and level, and the soil rich and productive. To the north of the Nith, there is a con- siderable ridge of rising ground, the soil of which is light, but kindly and fertile, and lies on a gravelly bottom. On the most elevated part of this ridge Thornhill is situated, a clean, healthy, and populous village; through which the high roads from Dumfries and from Gal- loway, by Minihive and Penpont, pass to Edinburgh and Glasgow, and separate again to each of these cities at Carron-bridge, the boun- 92 DUMFRIES-SHIKE. dary of Morton with Durrisdeer. A little farther to the northward from Thornhill, other two ridges run across the parish, rising gently the one above the other. Here the soil is damp and wettish, lying oh a clayey bottom. Of these, extensive tracts are still in a state of nature, though capable of cultivation ; and will, we trust, soon be improved, from the great encouragement given by the present Noble and spirited proprietor. Beyond this, again, the sur- face inclines with a gentle depression ; and, on the other side of this valley, the remainder of the parish rises into hills and moun- tains, some of which are of considerable height, especially one, which is about 2500 feet above the level of the sea. At the bottom of these hills and mountains, there is a considerable extent of arable and meadow land, of a rich alluvial soil, and very productive. The ranges of the ridges and rising grounds of the hills and mountains run across the parish from south-east to north-west The greater part of the arable land lies on a free red sandstone bottom, under the clay or gravel ; and the mountains rest on the primitive and whinstone rocks. Meteorology. — The soil in this parish and district being in ge- neral dry, without fens, bogs, or morasses, and the air pure, mild, and temperate, the climate is good, and the people healthy. The prevailing winds here are from the westward, perhaps nearly two- thirds of the year. Our heaviest rains are from the south-west, and settled dry weather chiefly from the north-west. In the spring months of March and April, indeed, we have often very high, cold, and stormy winds from the east. Sometimes also, at this season, there are very drenching and heavj- rains from the south-east Hydrography. — This parish is well supplied with water by the rivers Carron and Cample, as above stated, on its western and eastern boundaries; on the south, by the Nith, which, running south-east, flows into the Solway Firth about four miles south-west from Dumfries ; and the interior part is abundantly supplied by burns, rivulets, and perennial springs. There is also a strong chalybeate spring or spa, from which many are said to have de- rived great benefit in bilious and bowel complaints. Zoology. — The zoology of this parish is not at present distin- guished by any of the rarer species of animals. Under this head, however, the writer may take occasion to notice, that the Nith and all its tributary streams close on the 25th September, and open on the 10th March ; and that to these terms there are very strong and not unfounded objections. The general opinion and MORTON. 93 >visl] seem to be, that the rivers of this county, the Esk, the An- nan, and the Nith, should close and open at the same time as the Tweed, and in this respect be under the same reflations. The Nith and all its branches are poached without interruption during the whole of the close season, and to such extent that, in the general opinion, for every salmon taken in the open or legal season, more than thirty are destroyed in the close period, — a prac- tice which ruins the health, destroys the industry, corrupts the nM>rals, and, familiarizing the mind to habitual and open violations of law, seldom fails to terminate in atrocious and daring acts of wickedness ; while by the toleration of such irregular deeds, thou* sands of parent fishes are destroyed in the breeding season. The season when every other animal is not only spared, but pro* tected and watched with care, is to the finny tribe the season of insecurity, danger, and destruction. And the breeding fishes, impelled by an instinct or feeling common to all animated nature, the provident and wise inspiration of its Author, when in the very act of bringing forth or providing a place of security wherein to de- posit their fry, are barbarously destroyed with millions of their young, destined by Heaven, but for the improvident cruelty of man, to minister to his comforts, and feed the hungry in coming years. Nor is there any likelihood of the practice being put a stop to, until some regulation shall take place, respecting an embankment or barrier across the river Nith at Dumfries. By this embank- ment the course or run of the fishes is impeded, almost entirely prevented, and the fishing properties of the river and its branches are greatly deteriorated and rendered of very little value in the upper districts ; and hence the proprietors refuse to give their aid, or be at any expense, to suppress the practice, unless such a run shall be opened and protected as to render their fishing properties valuable. It is only when the river is large and swelled by the autumnal and winter rains, the very time when the river is closed, that any salmon can overleap the embankment and find their way up the streams. At other times, and when the river is small, as is the case during the greater part of the open season, hardly is there a salmon to be seen in the upper districts, and fishings which formerly were of great value are at present worth little or nothing. II. — Civil History. Historical Events, — About the centre nearly of the parish stand the ruins of the old castle or stronghold of Morton, erected, it is 94 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. believed, by a Norman chief of the name of De Moreville, whose family settled in Scotland in the tenth century, became connected with some of the chief families of the kingdom, and rose to great power, wealth, and eminence. He obtained extensive grants of territory in this and other parts of the country, and was appoint- ed hereditary Lord High Constable of Scotland. His grandson, Hugo De Moreville, appears a witness to various royal charters granted in the reigns of Alexander and David L In the year 1 140, he founded the monastery of Kilwinning in Ayrshire, and in 1 144, the Abbey of Dryburgh in Teviotdale. A short time afterwards he gave a portion of land called the Park to the Abbey of Melrose, which, with the church of Morton, was afterwards bestowed on the monks of Kelso. When these monks formed an estimate of their property in the fourteenth century, they stated that they possessed the church of Morton in rectorial, which used to render by the year L. 10. He was succeeded by his son Richard De Moreville, who also appears as a witness to various royal charters in the reigns of David and Malcolm IV. Richard was succeeded by his son Wil- liam De Moreville, who died without issue ; and Rolland Lord of Galloway, who had married Emma, daughter of Richard, and the sister of William De Moreville, succeeded to the office of Lord High Constable of Scotland, the castle of Morton, and all the pos- sessions and wealth of the family. Allan, RoUand's son, married Mar- garet, the eldest daughter of David Earl of Huntington, by whom he had three daughters, the eldest of whom married John Baliol, the father of John Baliol, who for seven years was king of Scotland. After the Baliol and English party were overthrown, and Robert Bruce firmly seated on the Scottish throne, the lands and fortunes of the former and their adherents were bestowed as rewards of ser^ vice on the friends of Bruce; and of these Randolph, the king's ne- phew, obtained extensive grants of lands in Annandale, and the lands and castle of Morton, which he held when Regent, during the minority of David Bruce. By a secret article of the treaty for the restoration of David II. it is said, the Scots agreed to dismantle the castles of Dumfries, Dalswinton, Morton, and Durrisdeer. In the reign of Robert II. the king bestowed his daughter Egidia, the loveliest woman of the age, on William Douglas, natural son of Archibald Douglas Lord of Galloway, then the most distinguished of the Scottish youth for dignified and graceful appearance, for mo- desty, bravery, and every mental and corporeal endowment, — and with her, the castle of Morton and county of Nithsdale next to GaK MORTON. 95 \oway, as a dowry. In 1390, William Douglas of Nithsdale, his country being at peace, and he not willing to languish in indolence at home, set out to Prussia to the Holy war, and was assassinated at Dantzic, on the Vistula, by assassins hired by Clifford, an English-* man, formerly his rival, and now envious of his honour and pro- motion. Ever since this period, the castle and lands of Morton have been in the possession of one or other of the family of Douglas.* Antiquities. — Of these the old castle, with its appendages of for- tification and means of defence, is most worthy of notice. Though not more than one-half of the original structure now exists, it is, not- withstanding, the most perfect ruin of the kind in this part of the country. Situated on the brink of a deep glen, extending to a considerable distance south-east and north-west, and in which the water being stopt by large dams, and strong embankments at each extremity, must have collected to the depth of several fathoms, — the place must have been proof against assault or surprise on this side. The present remains extend to upwards of 100 feet in lengthy by nearly 30 in width ; but, to judge from the vestiges of the foun- dation, the Castle must have occupied, when entire, a much larger space. The wall of the south front is yet entire ; from the foun- dation, it is about 40 feet high; and on the top, at each comer, it has a large round tower about 12 feet in diameter. The walb at the foundation are about 8, in some places 10, feet thick. At a short distance north-west of the castle, and on the other side of the glen, are the remains of a strong fortification, with entrench- ments, which seem to have been a Roman fort or castellum, still called by the name of Deer Camp ; it is about two miles north of Tibbers, Tiberii Coitra, — the great Roman station in the parish of Penpont, a station well chosen to watch and guard against in- * This parish gives the title of Earl to ^ouglas Earl of Morton. Morton Castle, it is said, was at one time his place of residence. He was proprietor of the whole parish, with the exception of the Mains of Morton, lying north-west of the castle, which belonged to James Douglas, laird of Morton, whose son, Malcolm Douglas of Mains, was distinguished for bravery in the border history. The last of this fa« mily was Captain James Douglas, who died at Bratford, in the parish of Penpont, about the beginning of last century. The Earl of Morton, who possessed large estates and castles in different part of the country, sold his whole property and interest in this parish to Sir William Douglas Cashoggle, who erected a house a little south of Thornhill, called the Red-House, where he sometimes resided ; but the Earl of Queenafoerry having obtained from Cashoggle all his lands, as well as the lands of Morton Mains irom the other family, and being lord of the regality of Hawick, he obtained authority to translate that regality to Thornhill in 1610, and called it New Dalgamoch. 96 DUMFRIES-SUIRE. cursions from recesses of the mountains on the north and north'- east. At a small distance from this fort, stood a venerable tree, which, a considerable number of years ago, was overthrown and uprooted by a tremendous gust of wind, and which, according to the tradition of the country, was for generations known by the name of the Judgment Thorn ; and at about a mile south of this seat of Judgment, is a field still distinguished by the name of Gal* liflat, or Gallow's Flat, where it is said, judgment was carried into execution; and about 300 yards south from the old castle, and on a rising ground, is the vestige of a small station or camp, called Watchman Knowe. In the beginning of last century, there was a boat cut out of one solid piece of wood, in the form of an Indian canoe, dug out of the bottom of a moss not far from the old castle, — a proof that, at one time, it must have been a loch. A short time after this, there was dug out of the same moss a small copper camp«-kettle ; and in the year 1728, a fine copper cast tea-pot stroop, quite entire. It is said also, that not long ago a large massy piece of pure solid gold, in the form of a circle or ring, such as is used on the handle of a sword, for ornament or defence for the hand, was found by a man casting turf, who sold it for one guinea, and that it was sold again for upwards of twenty guineas. Near this same place, stood two lofty columns or pillars of hewn stone, and about a mile south of these, stood another of the same description, — ^both, probably, memorials of the brave who had fallen in battle. Another cross or column stood a little to the west of the church, — said to have been originally surrounded by a large circle of coarse blocks of stone, at equal and regular distances, and which were gradually removed in the progress of improvement. This column must have been British, — probably a Druidical fane. These columns, about fifty years ago, were very improperly allowed to be removed and carried off from the parish by a gentleman, who then sought to signalize himself as an antiquarian, though he seems not to have known or reflected, that monuments of antiquity lose all their value by removal from the place where they have long stood, and were originally erected. In this parish I have seen two or three tumuli, which, some years ago, were removed to make or repair roads, by persons who were incompetent either to examine the contents, or to give an ac- count of what was discovered. They could only report that in the centre, were found a few flag-stones set together, but nothing MORTON. 97 else worthy of notice. About thirty-six years ago, the writer was present at the opening of two tumuli in Annandale, in every re- spect similar to the two above mentioned, in external form and ap- peamnce. In the centre of the first, was found a red flag laid level on the earth, on which were placed two other flags of equal sise, parallel to each other ; and other two, one at each end ; another was laid on the top as a cover. In the interior of this, wa$ an uni containing ashes, with a few very thin plates of iron in the form of rings, so completely corroded with rust, that, when exposed to the air, they instantly crumbled into dust. The other likewise con- tained an um ; but, from want of care in forming the tumulus, or from some other cause, both the flags and um were crushed and broken in pieces, and no discovery could be made; but, from what was observed in the former, it seemed probable, that they were Bri* tisfa. Caesar informs us, when he invaded Britain, that the Bri- tish used iron for money,-*^^ Annulis ferreis pro nummis utuntur." III. — Population. 1. PopuktMm in 1801, - . - - 1255 in 1811, . - - - - 1570 in 1821, . - ... 1806 in 1881, - - - . - 2140 Number of nuUes, - .... 1059 offemalcs, ..... i^^ 2. Number in village of ThornhiU, .... 1378 of Carronbridge, - • . . 197 in the country, .... 570 5. ATcnge of children registered for 7 years, ... 40 ofmairiogea, ..... Ig of deaths, uncertain, not above ... 20 4. Persons under 15 years of age, .... 892 upwards of 70, • • • . . 87 5b Number of unmarried men, bachelors and widowera^ above 50 years of ag^ 48 of unmarried women, above 45, - - 58 of fiunilies, .... . 433 6. Number of inhabited houses, .... 959 of uninhabited houses, .... 4 7. The number of families in the parish is - - ^ 488 employed in agriculture, as occupiers or laboui:ers, is 41 employed in manufactures, retail trade, and handicraft, 1 70 The increase of the population lately has been very striking. Since the beginning of June, when the last census began to be taken, to the b^mnng of the following month of October, I Imptized 16 children, besides those that may have been baptized DUMFRIES. G 98 DUMFRIES-SHIUK. by dissenting clergymen ; and in the whole parish there have been altogether within these two periods only three deaths. The Duke of Buccleuch, who succeeded to the dukedom of Queensberry in 1810, is now sole proprietor of the parish of Mor- ton, with the exception of the farm of Ridings, which is the pro- perty of Robert Kennedy, Esq, of Dalwhat, who resides in this parish on his property. IV. — Industry. Agriculture and Rural Economy. — The parish contains about 9000 imperial acres ; and the gross rental is L. 8060, which, on an average, will be between 6s. and 7s. per acre. Of the above, as nearly as can be ascertained, 2600 acres have been cultivated, and are occasionally in tillage, or in meadow, and of which the rent, ac- cording to its situation, quality, or state of cultivation, does not exceed at present 8s. 10s. or 16s. per acre. About 3500 acres must remain waste or in pasture ; and I have no doubt that 1000 or 1200 acres more may, with a profitable application of capital, be added to the cultivated land, — either for meadow, occasional til- ■ lage, or permanent pasture. About 480 imperial acres are under wood, 90 acres of which is natural, and consists chiefly of British oak from 45 to 50 years old, with a few withered birches. 100 acres more are now in the course of being planted. There are no undivided lands or commons in this parish. Breeds^ Sfc. — Of the kinds of sheep, the black-faced are consi- dered the best suited for this parish, being a more hardy, sound, and healthy stock, and better suited to the climate and pasture ; yet, in an adjoining farm in the parish of Closeburn, the Cheviot breed has been introduced with success. Upon the farms adapted for cattle, especially where the young are reared, the stock select- ed is of the Galloway breed. By the farmers whose attention is directed to the dairy system, the Ayrshire cows are preferred, as giving milk in larger quantities ; yet there are some who prefer the Galloway cow; though the milk be less in quantity, it is sure to be richer, and of superior quality. And, with regard to horses, attention is here chiefly given to the breed of work-horses, which, of late years, has been much improved. Hushandrt/. — New leases of 19 years' endurance have been en- tered into, and commenced at Whitsunday 1832, on terms highly advantageous to the tenants ; the good eflects of which already ap- pear. Large tracts of wild uncultivated land, hitherto of little va- MORTON- 99 lue, have already been reclaimed, and will this year be under white crop ; and if the present spirit does not greatly relax, there is every reason to believe, that in the course of a few seasons, an addition of more than a third will be made to the improved arable, meadow, and pasture grounds. Inclosures and plantations are advancing with astonishing rapidity. New erections of houses and farming establishments for the accommodation of tenants are rising in every direction, as comfortable and convenient, substantial and useful, to the occupiers, as ornamental to the country, which al- ready begins to assume a new aspect. Nor is the change for the better less observable in the village of Thornhill, where the bene-* volent proprietor, the Duke of Buccleuch, with great judgment and propriety, is at present expending very considerable sums in levelling and paving the streets, in forming common sewers, remov* ing nuisances, providing a supply of good water, and making other improvements tending to promote the comfort, the cleanliness, the health, morality, and virtue of the inhabitants. Rate ofWages^ — The wages of farm-servants, labourers, artisan^ and others connected with husbandry, are various, but are nearly as follows, yearly. For a man-servant living in the family, L. 12, 12s.; qualified ploughman, L. 16, 16s.; farm female-servant, L. 6, 6s. ; dairy-maid or byre-woman, L. 7, 7s. Farm-labourers receive per day. Is. 6d. ; hay, turnip, and potatoe-labourers. Is. 2d. ; a mower to cut or mow hay, 3s. ; a carpenter or joiner, 2s* 6d ; a mason Ss. Id autumn the rates are higher, -and vary almost every day, being sometimes as high as 28» 6d. with maintenance in the farmer's fa- mily. Produce. — The average gross amount of raw produce raised yearly in the parish, as nearly as can be ascertained, is as follows: 120 acres poUtocs, . at JU 6 10 per acre, . L. 720 80 do. turnip, - - 300 do. - - 24000 280 do. oats, - - 4 10 do. . . 1260 170 do. barley, - - 6 6 do. 1071 100 do. meadow hay, - 8 10 do. - - 350 170 do. cultiTated hay, - 6 do. - - 1020 1680 do. arable pairture, . 10 do. - - 840 110 scores iheep, - 7 10 - - 825 00 250 cows, - -.640- - 1562 10 350 youog cattle, - 3 10 - - 1225 L. 9113 10 100 DIMFRIKS-SHIRE. V. — Parochial fk;oNOMY. Markets, Sfc. — The village of Thornhill was at first intended to be a market^town, and authority was obtained to hold a market in it every Tuesday. But though a weekly market estaUished in this village would be a great public benefit conferred upon this part of the country, as well as the village, it has never yet succeeded. It is supposed, however, that it could be easily made to succeed by the present Noble proprietor, who would thereby merit the public gratitude. Ecdesiastical State. — The church was built in 1781, and is not inconveniently situate for the parish in general. At present it is not in a good state of repair,— the repairs having been delayed in the prospect of its being soon removed to a situation more conve- nient for the inhabitants of the village. It affords accommodation for between 500 and 600 persons, and is too small for the present population ; but, by the erection of galleries, may be made to accom- modate 200 more, and be sufficiently large : the seats are all free. The manse was built about the middle of last century, was repair- ed lately, and though small, is comfortable. The glebe is about twenty acres in extent, and is worth about L. 25 yearly. The stipend is 16 chalders, half meal, half barley, with L. 10 for conununion elements ; it was augmented on the 27th January 1830. Since which time the stipend, converted to money, has averaged L. 247, 9s. 2|d. per annum. Divine service at the Established church is regularly attended by about 350 families, and the average number of communicants is about 500. There is a dissenting chapel in the village, former- ly of the Antiburgher persuasion, now of the United Associate Synod. There are besides, a few Cameronians, and several of the Relief persuasion attached to these two congregations, in the ad- joining parish of Penpont. The number of families belonging to the Secession Associate Synod, Relief, and Cameronians, is 133. Only 15 individuals are Cameronians. Of late many of the young in the families of Seceders have been returning to the Established church. Education, — There is only one established parochial teacher in this parish. The salary enjoyed by him amounts to L. 34, 4s. 4Jd. with a house and garden, and a park of land of about two acres or upwards, which he possesses rent free. The average amount of fees is about L.30 yearly. Besides the parochial, there are four schools unendowed in the parish. MORTON. 101 Library. — Though we have not yet readied the establishment of a public reading-room, there are several clubs or societies for the purchase of newspapers and other periodical publications, to be read and perused in their own dwellings. The desire for reading and information of every description has of late years much in- creased, and seems still increasing. A subscription library was established in Thornhill in 1814, which is doing well; and the sub- scribers are numerous. Charitable Institutions,, S^c. — There are three men's and one women's Society ; two of the men's are stock societies, and one what is called a penny society. One of the stock societies has ex- isted for upwards of 30 years ; one 22 years ; the penny society about 10 years ; and the women's society 25 years. It is impos- sible to speak too highly of their benevolent object ; and the good they have accomplished here is inexpressible. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The average number of poor receiv- ing parish aid has of late been about 30, and is rapidly increasing, — the aversion to make application, and be put on the poors' roll, though still in some degree felt, gradually wearing away. Our only regular source of supply for their relief is from the weekly collections in the church, which amount to L.40 yearly, with the in- terest of L.60 ; and from occasional collections and contributions from the heritors and others, which may amount to as much. There are two general distributions in the year, at Whitsunday and Mar- tinmas, besides almost weekly private disbursements to those whose necessities require it. The yearly sum to those on the roll is va- rious, from ,L. 1, 4s. to Lb 6 ; but besides the above, I believe more is given by individuals in private alms, in clothing, in articles of food, and also in money. No regular assessment of poors' rate has yet been had recourse to in this parish. Innsj Sfc — There are two very respectable inns in the village, which are sufficient for the parish ; though there are eight or ten inferior lodging and dram-houses in the same place, besides three in Carronbridge. FueL — The fuel used here is peat and coal; of the former, there is still a moderate supply within the bounds of the parish, though now wearing fast away: and the nearest coal is at Sanquhar^ about twelve miles distant. January 1834, PARISH OF MOFFAT. PRESBYTERY OF LOCHMABEN, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. ALEXANDER JOHNSTONE, MINISTER. ♦ ,• • • • « • L — Topography and Natural. History. . Name^ Boundaries^ Sfc. — The name is ancient, and applies to the village, to the parish, and to the principal stream and vale. When the deep and romantic pastoral valley of MoflFat Water was densely wooded, it must have well suited the name it bore in the Gaelic language, ** Chm-vat^** which is said to signify *' a long deep mountain hollow." The greatest length of the parish is about 15 miles, and the greatest breadth from 8 to 9 miles. The contents, according to the county map, are 56 J square miles ; but including Hart- hope and Raecleugh in Lanarkshire, they must be 60 square miles, or 38,400 English acres. It is bounded on the north by Tweedsmuir parish with part of Lyne and Megget; by Esk- dale-muir and Hatton on the east ; by Wamphray and Kirkpa- trick-Juxta on the south ; and by the latter parish, and that of Crawford on the west. The figure is irregular, projecting con- siderably to the N. E., between the counties of Peebles and Sel- kirk, but is deeply indented on the east by a part of Selkirk- shire, and on the S. W. by the parish of Kirkpatrick-Juxta. In the line of the boundaries are the summits of Hartfell and Loch- craig, on the north ; Birkhill pass, and the tops of Bodisbeck and Lochfell on the N. E. ; the Bell Craig linn bum on the south ; on the west, the river Annan from Woodfoot to Bridgend, and thence by the Meiklfe holm side burn, the Blacklaw hill, — a small part of Middlegill bum, — and the grain of Garpel Water head; then on the N. W. are the hills whose water-shed is into the Daer and the Clyde. Topographical Appearances. — Parallel ranges of hills of moderate elevation form the waterfalls of Evan on the N. W., and of Annan * This Account was written, at the request of the minister when indisposed, by the Kev. Dr Singer, Minister of Kirkpatrick-Juxta. 3 MOFFAT. 103 in the northern central parts ; and steeper and higher lands range along Moffat Water ; the goi^ges of these three vales and the three rivers uniting below Moffat ; and the united streams afterwards pas- sing under the name of the river Annan. Although the village of Moffat is situated at an elevation of about 370 feet above the sea^ and the meeting of the three rivers below must be at an elevation of about d50 feet above sea level, to this point of junction they all descend briskly in their courses : Annan Water running southward about se^ ven miles : Moffat Water descending to the south-west about ten miles ; and only about four or five miles of the upper part of Evan Water being in this parish, moving to the south by east. The beds of Annan and Moffat Waters are mostly formed of gravel and sand with rounded stones; the course of Evan is over ahnost vertical rocks. The hills and mountains ranging along these rivers are generally steep, in some instances almost inaccessible ; but though the water- fall is brisk, it is distributed over long spaces, and excellent public roads have been long open in the direction of these rivers ; the well-known Evandale road, affording a safe and easy communica- tion as part of the mail-coach road from Carlisle to Glasgow, and the improved line in the direction of Annan Water being part of the mail-coach road from Dumfries to Edinburgh ; while up Mof- fat Water carriages pass without any difficulty or danger by the lakes and Yarrow to Selkirk, the access being good and safe in all these directions; and very easy to the burgh of Annan on the south, distant 27 miles. The vales formed along Annan and Moffat Waters are narrow, but of a dry and fertile soil; that of Evan W^ater is not only more confined, but less fertile, and more heathy. All these water-courses are well adapted for pasturage ; and in the vales of Annan and Moffat W^aters there is also a proportion of land in cultivation and planted with trees. It is believed that the passes at the upper parts of these rivers, when the greatest ascent along the road from Moffat has been gained, may rise generally to near a thousand feet in all, which, if distributed over a space of ten miles, would make an ascent as easy as necessary. But, of course, part of the roads are steeper. The group of mountains called after HartfeUj and forming the highest land in Scotland lying south of. the Forth, contains the fol- lowing, viz. Hartfeli^vfhose height above the sea at low water is 2635 feet ; fVkitecoom, looking down on the basin of Lochskeen, 2685 feet; Broadlaw in Peeblei»-shireand Tweedsmuir parish, 2741 feet; Ettrick Pen^ whose height is 2256 feet ; and Queensberry to the 104 DUMFIUES-SHIRE. S. W. whose elevation is 2259 feet ; and the summit whereof is in latitude 65^ 17' 2^ N. ; and longitude 8° 84' 47*' west The heights of Saddleback and Lochcraig have not yet been correctly ascertained. The position of Queensberry was correctly laid down, and the precise elevations, in so far as above stated, have been certified from the great Ordnance survey, and by the highest authority. * The Hartfell group of mountains includes LoehfelU nearly equal in height to the rest ; together with BodAeck and some others, whose elevation is not correctly known. The Fells in the south of Scotland and north of England are generally soft green hills of considerable elevation, and easy curved outline. If the word ** meaoV* or rea^/, as it is often pronounced, and which in Gaelic is said to signify a lump or Jlattish hill, be the true etymon of these fells, it seems not inappropriate to their description. The Hopes are nqt uncommon terms as parts of mountain scenery in the pastoral regions of the south of Scotland, and they occur most frequently where the bases of mountains meet each other without leaving any level, as a vale. It is this line of meeting and ascent from it that Is commonly called a hope^ and with the name of the hill or farm superadded. Hartfell may be ascended nearly all the way on horseback ; and from its green flat summit may be seen, in fine weather, the Che- viots in Northumberland, Skiddaw, and other mountains of Cum- berland ; Criffell in Galloway, Queensberry, and the other moun- tains on the west ; Corsoncone in Nithsdale, Blacklarg in Ayrshire, and, at sunset, also Benlomond in Stirlingshire. Meteorology, — The temperature of Moffat parish varies, of course, very considerably over the vales and mountains. But the aspect is to the southward, and the soil is commonly either natu- rally dry, or it has been drained where it was damp ; and the com- bined effect of these two causes has been felt to advantage in im- proving the climate throughout the parish. Snow is frequently attracted in showers to the mountains, and is seen lying there, white on the summits, when there is none below in the vales. * It may be interesting, for the purpose of comparison, to notice here the elevations of some higher mountains in England, on the south, and partly in sight of the above group. Skiddaw in Cumberland, above sea level, 3022 feet ; Helvellyn, in the same county, 8055 feet ; Cheviot, in Northumberland, 2665 feet. The elevations of some of the Scottish mountains in the north are as follows : Bennachie, in Aberdeenshire, above sea level, 2856 feet ; Lochnagarr in the same, 3777 feet ; BenmachdowU, in the same, 4305 feet ; CruccHan in Argyleshire, 3654 feet ; Benncvis, in Inverness shire, 4366 feet. MOFFAT. 105 The great elevation of the Hartfell group of mountains may account for occasionally deep falls of snow, attended by storms of wind and snow drift, of which very serious instances have occurred in this parish; but after all, the fact is not denied, that on these mountains the losses in sheep are not so great as in the less favourably situated hill pastures in the counties of Lanark, Peebles, and Selkirkshire, lying near them ; and in the greener and lower, but softer failk of Eskdalemuir in Dumfries-shire, with a less fa- vourable soil and aspect. The climate and temperature of the vil- lage of Moffat may be stated most intelligibly by comparison, being neither so cold as in Edinburgh, nor so wet as in Glasgow ; and not so warm as in Dumfries and Annan ; but all observation and experience concur in assigning to MoSbt a mild temperature, and a healthy climate. The town is built on, and surrounded by, lands of a dry and gravelly description, so that the streets and roads around the village are soon dried after falls of rain. It has a gentle declivity to the south, and a noble screen of lofty moun- tains protecting it from north and east, and frequently attract- ing showers which otherwise must have fallen in the vale. There is here no eastern fog or hoar (as it is called in Edinburgh) when there is an east wind, nor is Moffat exposed to the dense fogs that visit and hang over Dumfries and Annan from the Solway Firth, and from the vast mass of spongy peat still undrained in Lochar Moss. There is no furnace to cause a nuisance and con- taminate the pure air, as in the vicinity of many populous and ma- nu&cturing towns. The centre of Moffat has been cleared and widened to the dimensions of a moderate square. It may be added, as connected with salubrity at least, that a full supply of the very best and purest spring water has lately been introduced in lead pipes from the parish of Kirkpatrick-Juxta, and carried below the bed of the An- nan Water into Moffat; that in all directions the intercourse is easy and regular; that an elegant set of baths, and a long-room for the purposes of reading and assemblies, have been lately constructed on a superior plan ; and that the habits of early rising, in order to visit the well, to which also there is a good walking and car- riage road, have been thought materially to contribute to health. It may be added, that there is hardly any clay-bog undrained in the parish; that peat-bogs are not known to cause marsh fever; and that most of these are now drained for the benefit of the sheep, or for the purpose of being cut into peats, or im- proved and laid down in meadow grass ; and, accordingly, among 106 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. the residenters in Moffat, there are very few instances of ague. Typhus has often prevailed in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Carlisle, and other cities, when there was no such distemper in Moffat. Pro- vidence averted even the cholera, though severe in Glasgow, and especially in Dumfries, with which there was daily intercourse, — only two or three doubtful cases having occurred, and among strangers affected before they reached Moffat. If the climate be the cause of any local distempers, the writer has never heard of it, nor the medical friends he has consulted on the point. The prevailing winds are from the west, and these are also the most powerful. The north wind is dry, and so also, for the most part, is the east wind. The south wind is warm, and inclines to moisture. About 40 shepherds reside in the parish, all observant enough of the prognostics of weather from so many mountain summits, — store-masters and farmers being also generally provided with barome- ters. The dreadful snow fall and blast of the 24th January 1794 was indicated by an uncommon fall in the barometer. A wet season is not so much dreaded here, because the soil of the mountains and the vales is mostly dry, and the sheep are not liable to the distemper called tlie rot, so fatal in some of the most fertile parts of England. The dry summer of 1826 threatened famine to the flocks and folds, and suffering to the poor ; but the wheat crop of that year was very superior. One of the most alarming conse- quences of the droughts in 1826 and in 1832 was the failure of springs and of the smaller burns, which in some places occasioned a want of good water ; and, on the whole, in such a soil as the mountains and vales of Moffat consist of, the frequent recurrence of showers is beneficial. Hydrography — Moffat Well BXiA Hartfell Spa. — As to common springs, they are numerous and pure, arising out of the gravelly soil. But with respect to medicinal springs, there are two, which have long been well known, and have attained great celebrity; one of which is called Moffat Well, and is of a sulphureous character ; the other, a chalybeate, rising at the distance of four miles from the village, and known by the name of the Hartfell Spa. This chalybeate spring issues out of a deep ravine on the west side of the mountain, whose name it bears, about four miles N. W. from the village of Moffat. The ground all around having been deeply exposed, masses of con- glomerate appear, containing rotinded stones cemented by ferrugi- nous and aluminous earths, of the properties of both which the spring partakes. John Williamson, who discovered this water, MOFFAT. 107 had a monument erected to his memory in 1769. The water, as analyzed by Dr Garnet, contains 5 cubic inches azotic gas per wine gallon ; 84 grains of sulphate of iron in the same ; 12 grains of sulphate of alumina ; 15 grains oxide of iron. The taste is not unpleasant. The water is richest immediately after heavy falls of rain ; and it keeps long, and may be sent to distant places when the bottles are well-corked and sealed. A large wine-glassful is the common dose of the Hartfell Spa, taken twice or thrice a-day. The Well, as it is called, was discovered nearly 200 years ago, and continues to maintain its character as a slow but sure and safe re- medy in the complaints to which waters of this description are ap- plied* It sparkles like champagne when taken from the foun- tain, and becomes pleasant by habitual use ; some at last pre- ferring to drink it before the purest spring-water: and, being light, it is taken in very large quantities. Dr Garnet's analysis gives 4 cubic inches of nitrogen gas in the wine gallon ; 5 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas ; 10 cubic inches of sulphuretted hy- drogen gas; 36 grains of muriate of soda. This water is now conveyed in pipes to Mofiat, for the use of persons inclined to have it there for warm-baths ; but those who drink the water, of course, find it purest and most pleasant at the fountain, about a mile from Moffat, where a woman attends in an apartment for the use of visitants. Lochskeen. — The only lake of importance is Lochskeen, formed in an elevated mountain basin, rather mossy, 'and having one or two rocky islets within its waters. Lochskeen is about three-quarters of a mile in length, aiid one quarter in breadth. Its elevated situation is thought to be above 1000 feet above sea level, and yet it con- tains the finest trout in this part of Scotland* The outlet of its waters is by the lofty cascade, called the Gray Mare's Tail, falling over precipitous rocks, which have been computed in all at 400 feet elevation above the vale, — this waterfall being broken into parts. Geology and Mineraloffy. — The soil of the vales is alluvial^ and contains many rounded stones, with sand and gravel. The dry mountain soils are light, with grass and heath ; but the growth of peat-moss heath is interrupted by draining and burning. Grass mixed with heath grows to the summit of the mountains, the out- lines of which are curved and somewhat regular. The rivers and rivulets have opened scars in various places, exposing the mb- 108 DUMFRJES-SHIRE. strata; but these have not been at any time very particularly exa- mined. For the mineralogy of this parish, reference may be made to the survey of this county by Professor Jameson, and to the prac^ tical survey of the Bushbys coal-viewers, also to the sketch on the county map, inserted by the late General Dirom ; but this field seems to have been little explored, and probably may yet be found rich in future discoveries. Sandstone exists, biit is not worked ; and the same remark ap- plies to roqftng^late. Coal has not been found, nor lime, but neither of them has been duly sought for. A drift was put into Hartfell, in search of copper ore^ but without success. Gypsum occurs in thin veins, and also calcareous spar. The fine blue Moffat whinstone is one of the best for building, being rich in dif- fused quartz. No mne has been worked in this parish, and no adequate pains taken for the discovery of minerals, — the only trial for coal not having been well supported, nor made with judgment and perseverance. Zoohgy. — In former times, the hart and hind were found in this parish; the last hart was killed in 1754, having been long single. The roebuck and doe were also natives, but have long since disappeared. The eagle has become a rare bird, though still it may be seen occasionally floating over the summits of the high mountains. The blue hawk bred lately in the Bell Craig Linn. The fox continues to haunt in the hills and mountains, and to be destructive to lambs and poultry. It would be a wise mea- sure to employ all Jthe strength of the community here^ as for- merly in Dryfe, for destroying in season all sorts of birds and beasts of prey, and their broods, early in May, that being the proper time. Game appears liable to fluctuations, depending partly on the sea- sons, and partly, as is supposed, on the burning of the heath, and the care taken to destroy such creatures as are hurtful to the game; a task not easily performed, unless the shepherds take a part in it. Black and redgante, mthpartridgesy are found as usual in the pro- per situations. Ptarmigan are very rarely seen. The heron is often seen among the waters ; and wild ducks occasionally visit them. Wood pigeons are numerous; and there are common pigeons which have bred in remote parts or old towers, and have become wild. The domestic cattle are mostly of the Galloway breed, as reared for sale ; and of the Ayrshire kind, as kept for milk cows. A cow MOFFAT. 109 pasture at Moffat accommodates aboiit thirty of the resident families, enabling them to sell milk to Tisitants. The sheep stocks are large and excellent ; and are all, or nearly all, Qieviot^, only a few of the black-faced breed being now left in the most ex- posed pastures, and a few crosses of Cheviots and Leicester in the lower farms. A few goats^ for milk to strangers, have long been kept near the well. Pigs are not reared in this parish to any great extent. The fishings of all the rivers of Dumfries -shire have become of little value, since stake-nets were permitted in the Solway, on the plan most destructive of the fi^ as they enter these rivers; and it is not easy to understand why die old acts which were framed before the union of the kingdoms are still allowed to remain in force ; nor why, under these acts, new and more destruc- tive modes of taking the fish have been permitted. Strangers who think proper to ask permission, are seldom refused the liberty of trouting in any of the rivers near Moffat ; and every one should set his face against using nets to destroy the trouts, and still more against the mean and pernicious practice of killing the salmon in forbidden time, and in the season of spawning; a practice that led to the extinction of one poor family in Moffat long ago, that fa- mily having died out of putrid fever, occasioned by their living wholly on such unwholesome food. Botany. — The French or herb wiUotc, though a rare plant in many places, has become naturalized here. The scented woodruff appears in the rocky linns ; a few plants oi juniper exist ; the wild strawberry aiid raspberry appear in a few places ; cranberry in mossy bogs, and blaeberry and crowberry in the mountains. The knub^^^erry, otherwise called the Queens-berry, {Rubus chanuB^ morus^) would be far more plentiful if the sheep did not eat down the blossoms and leaves, and the fire occasionally bum the stems. The hag^rry has established itself, — and the white thorn, — ^tbeir seeds being carried and propagated by the birds, as manj^ other seeds are. Among those plants which grow naturally and sometimes luxu- riantly, though not cultivated, nor of much or any use, may be men- tioned the whin in stiff tilly bottomed soils ; the broom in light sand or gravel, both of which, though useful in former times, are now considered as weeds ; also the sweet gale or gall (Myrica) in wet turf bogs ; rfishes and carices in the same soils; and the ntarsh ma- 1 10 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. riffold{CaUiapalu8tris,)and queenofthe meadows {Spir . . - 62 ehiefly employed in trade, manufiMstures, or handicreft, - 151 reading in Mo£5u 920» in the country . . 1S8 Character and Habits of the Peapk.— The habits of the people are particularly decent and cleanly, and their language is among the best samples of English to be found in any Scottish village. The gray plaid, thrown round the body, or across one shoulder and under the opposite arm, is still common. Curling with heavy dressed stones on the ice is the favourite amusement in winter. There is a bowling green ; and a billiard table is prepared at the bath-rooms. A subscription and a circulating library furnish the people with books, exclusive of two daily newspapers and many others. There is hardly any smuggling or poaching; and low and gross acts of immorality are seldom heard of in Moffat IV. — Industry. The real rent of lands in this parish is about L. 8000; of which are paid from sheep L. 5750, and from corn and cattle, L. 2250. The sheep-walks comprehend, it is believed, about 34,200 acres ; the land in cultivation, about 3750 acres; natural woods, 200 acres, and plantations 250 acres. In all, 38,400 acres. This view of the proportion of the land in cultivation corresponds with what was reported in the Statistical Account of 1791, when it was considered as about 3000 Scotch acres, being nearly the same as 3750 acres English ; and in this respect there seems to be on the whole very little alteration. But though the extent of lands in culture is nearly the same, it is well known that the mode of cultivation is greatly improved. The noble author of a celebrated work on emigration was of opi- nion, that, for such lands as those of Moffat parish, it was only ne- cessary to have the shepherd and his dog. But a reasonable propor- tion of the lands in cultivation adds materially to the safety and value even of the sheep ; and they are indispensable to the com- forts and subsistence of that population, by whose labours shel- tering walls are erected for the use of the sheep stocks, and green crops and sown grasses raised for the support of stocks that re- quire it, — com and cattle entering into the system, with sheltering plantations equally beneficial to the owners and their flocks, and 1 16 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. advantageous to landholders and to the community. It is in conformity mth such an improved system of management that the agriculture of this parish is now conducted, and by a judi- cious and respectable tenantry. There are about 400 milch cows and 550 young cattle in the parish, besides the sheep, and from these and the crop lands must be made up the proportion of the rent. That part of the rent which is paid from sheep is very handsome, but the tenants are provided with suitable accommoda- tions; and by means of skill and capital, with lands of a sound qua- lity, and flocks of an established character, they are enabled to pay large rents, to employ many servants and artisans, and thus to divide, with their landholders and with the community, the be- nefits of their farming industry. Produce. — It is the common rule, that the gross returns from farms in general ought to rise to about three times the rents ; and this proportion holds in general as to arable and cattle farms; but the whole gross returns of this parish do not much exceed twice the rental, and this arises from the greater part being under sheep. 950 acres, supposed to be in oats, at 4 guineas the English acre, are L. 3990 220 English acres in potatoes are worth about L. 6, or L. 1320 110 do. turnips at L. 3, 880 ——880 acres of green crops in all, valued at 1650 250 do. of sown grass for hay (spring fed) at L. 2, L. 500 SSiO do. of meadow hay, do. do. 640 — — Making 570 acres in hay, valued in all at - 1 140 1850 acres in field culture and crops, estimated in all at L. 6780 400 milk cows grazed at L. 8 each come to - 1200 550 young beasts grazed at L. 1, 10s. average - 825 -950 black cattle grazed, the whole grazing, 2025 400 swine, the feeding crops valued above, surplus L. 1 each, - 400 50 young horses grazed at L. 8 each, - - - - 150 28,000 sheep grazed at 5s. each, average - - - 5750 Grazing of live stock, in all estimated at - « L. 8325 Woods 200 acres, plantations 250 acres, weedings and timber, of all L. 450 Gardens and enclosed pastures for stock, partly estimated, surplus, 600 And including bees, poultry, &c. computed above crops at 50 L. 1000 And the whole produce of 1850 acres in crops, being Ij. 6780 Woods and parks, gardens, &c. 1900 acres, a surplus of 1000 And that of hill pasture 84,700 acres of sheep-walk, 5750 With horses, &c. on a total of 88,450 acres, cattle, swine, &c. 2575 The total returns from lands in the parish arc about - L. 16,105 MOFFAT. 117 Manufactures, — There is a good corn-mill at Moffat ; also a sawing-mill for timber, and a fuUing-mill for cloth ; with various looms for making stockings ; and the necessary proportion of skilful tradesmen in the various branches required for the village and neighbourhood. The straw-plait for bonnets was recommended for trial at Mof- fat, and no situation appears more promising. The prices have fallen much, but still the manufacture would be of some use, both for sale and for wear. The material is cheap, and the labour is manual, so that it well deserves to be tried, and to meet encourage- ment. In the cleanly houses at MoSat, the young women might do something at bonnet-making, while the elder females worked at spinning and netting into stockings, of strong woollen yarn, or at any other work that can be furnished, so as to give them the credit and comfort of doing something for their own support, — an object of great importanoe and of growing necessity. Agricultural Society* — There is a farming association here, which, by stimulating attention to the improvement of stock, has been very useful, even at a time rather inauspicious. When the value of stock had sunk so far in proportion to that of money* as to render the payment of rents, without considerable abatement, hard* ly practicable ; even in these circumstances the intrinsic value of stock has been considerably improved, in consequence of the pub- lic notice excited by this Association. V. — Parochial Economy. Town^ Market, Sfc. — The police of the town was lately very inadequate ; but has been improved by the nomination of special constables and peace-officers. There are two residing magistrates in Moffat, and the court of Justices meets there once a-month* There is a weekly market ; but it were better if it were to be held only once a-month, when, of course, it would be more fully at- tended. Means of Communication. — The means of communication are excellent in the directions of Glasgow and Carlisle, and also towards Dumfries and Edinburgh. The road also to Selkirk by the lakes is good ; but though another line has been opened by Hut- ton, branching to Eskdalemuir, or to Dunnabie, the road to Loch- maben is still imperfect, and a direct line to Closeburn is wanting. An assorting Post^Office at Moffat is well kept and very useful, but a post conveyance by" Lochmaben to Annan is still wanted. The 1 18 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. mail-coach lines are only about 16 miles long within the parish ; all the roads and bridges are kept in safe order, and coaches cross one another daily in each of the lines to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Ecclesiastical State. — The church was rebuilt in 1790, and, by the liberality of James Earl of Hopetoun, it was put down on some ground of his own among aged and venerable trees, in a most appropriate site, and not in the church-yanL His Lordship also made the building laiger and handsomer at his own expense. It accommodates about a thousand sitters ; and contains two square seats allotted for strangers, and also a few pews for the poor. The manse was built in 1771, and an addition to it in 1810. The glebe is let at L. 25 rent ; and the stipend is now 17 chalders, or for the present year, L. 240 Sterling. In the continued indispo- sition of the Rev. Mr Johnston, he allows a sum for the regular services of the pulpit, which are performed by Mr Wilson, preach- er of the GospeL The parish church is attended by about 835 families ; and the number of communicants in the sacrament of the Lord's supper is seldom under and sometimes above 500. There is a Buigher meeting-house in Moffat ; but it cannot be very fully attended, or endowed, as only a small proportion of the parishioners are dissenters. Religious Societies, — There have been two religious or Bible associations in Moffat for many years ; one female and one male. These have contributed regularly for sacred purposes. A Sab- bath-school is taught in the afternoon, and well attended in the parish church. The collections at the parish church are respect- able, and are supported by liberal contributions from the .heritors ; there being many poor in Moffat, and a great want of employment for the industrious poor, especially in winter. Farmers are not made liable for one-half the siuns yearly assessed, most of the he- ritors paying the whole for their land. The collections at the meeting-house cannot be very great Education. — No situation appears more favourable than Mof- fat for the purposes of education. A boarding and day-school for girls would be very convenient, if all the branches they required could be well taught in the village. There are some arrangements in view as to the two principal schools, of which it were premature to mention particulars; only a conjoined seminary, out of both as an academy, would be very beneficial, and might also be expected soon to prosper. In the meantime, a subscription-school is well and MOFFAT. 1H> ably taught, though not very well attended ; and there are varioas other schools in the place. CharttabklnsHtutumSiSfc. — The Female Benevolent Society has done much good ; a friendly society did not succeed, nor a parish bank, chiefly from Ae low rate of interest One of these might now be tried again, with the aid and concurrence of David Jardine, Esq. agent for the Glasgow Union Bank, as he could transact without the former expense and risk of money-carriage, and that bank allows a half per cent, of interest more than some others. Poor. — The funds of the poor consist of about L. 50 per annum from church collections, from L. 50 to L. 60, which arise fromrlegal assessments, and of contributions over and above to the amount of about L. 20. The number of claimants is about 50. Hid. — The fuel mostly used is coal, from Douglas ; and the price per hundred weight in Moffat lOd. to Is. Miscellaneous Observations. A comparison of the present state of things with what it teas about forty years ago may be considered as one of the most interesting objects of this new series of statistical reports. Since the last Statistical Account was written, not only the po- pulation, as before shewn, has greatly increased, but the land rents have risen from Li.d300 to about L.8000; while in the country part of the parish most of the farm-houses and offices have been re- built, and a large extent of stone fences erected. Many of the cot- tages have been rebuilt also;, and most of these have been covered with slate roofs, as the farm-houses and offices have been. Around the village, important and attractive improvements have taken place. The lands have not only been improved, but villa buildings have been erected on a plan combining ornament ¥dth comfort; at the same time, many new houses have been erected ; one of which, now constructing by Mr Macmillan, merchant, is on a very superior plan. The church has been rebuilt, and the parish school. The new baths have been erected on a superior plan, with reading-room and bowUng^^reen. The meal-house and market have been opened up; a square in the centre of the village has also been opened with plenty of the finest spring water, in a cistern for public use. The streets are always kept in comfortable order; there is a regular market for beef and mutton; mail-coaches pass and repass daily, and post horses and carriages may be hired at the principal inn ; all the roads and bridges communicating with Moffat are now good, safe. 120 DUMFRIES-8HIRE. and easy ; and the lodgings for strangers are much improved, af- fording also far more extensive accommodation. Even the pub- lic roads and walks around the village have been considerably improved. Nuisances of all sorts are carefully interdicted, and measures taken generally for making such important and exten- sive improvements, as have raised the character of Moffat to be one of the most attractive watering villages, and one of the most comfortable places of residence ; and these improvements being under the eye as well as the patronage of the family of Annandale, who take pleasure, and have an interest, in the property of Moffat, there is no doubt of their being carried on as far as the public ought to expect In the cultivation of the arable soils a very great improvement has been made; and, by removing obstructions, duly manuring and working the lands, observing a proper improved rotation, and keep- ing down or destroying noxious weeds, — and farther, by cultivating the most valuable crops, it is not too much to say, that within forty years the returns of the arable soils have become far better, as well as more abundant. The single practice of feeding off sheep on turnip lands has been of incalculable benefit. As to stocks^ if the village cows be excepted, which are pastured, it is believed, in too great numbers, and if we also except some of the cottagers' cows, the quality of the cattle has been verj' much improved, and the sheep stocks perhaps even more so, within the last forty years ; and whatever the prices may now be, affected as these are by various causes, and among others by the^state of the currency, the improvement in quality has been certain and exten- sive. Let any one now look into the cottages, and he will find them nearly or fully as comfortable as the farm-houses were forty years ago; and let him compare the dress of the cottagers and their mode of living with that of the farmers at the above distance of time, he will find that at present they .are not greatly inferior. And yet it is certain there is a tendency to depression, chiefly arising out of want of employment and reduced rates of wages, both of which are partly to be ascribed to the influx of labourers from Ireland ; the remedy for which is neither very easy nor very obvious. The wandering poor are now sent to individual houses to be supplied with necessaries, and forwarded to the places to which they belong ; but they are not encouraged, as formerly, to wander across the country, and to haunt any where in it at their MOFFAT. 121 own diseretioiL Accordingly, the system otpubUe begffing haTing thus become less easy and less profitable, it is hoped that many of the wandering poor have returned to the places where they are known, and that some of them hare resumed habits of industry, for their numbers have been reduced in this neighbourhood; and this ought to enable the fanners and others, who formerly were sub- jected to such a burden, to give more tiberally into the coDections for the parish poor. The practice of irrigation has not been much tried in this pa- rish, perhaps on account of the sheep stocks, and the suspicion that rot among them would follow. But if lands are not watered in sum* mer, this does not happen ; and there is no danger at all if the water be not laid on before Michaelmas, nor continued past the first week of ApriL Anothermode of improving soft meadows, — by draining, levelling, and luning the soil, is of great importance ; and as it requires above Lb 5 per acre, landholders would act wisely in allowing the cost and carriage of lime, provided the meadows were not to be broken up, and were to be generally kept in pasturage, and not to be cut for hay above once in the three years. This plan would answer well with the new system of half-bred lambs, which has paid so abun- dantly hitherto ; and in order to carry it on to more advantage, a part of the hill grounds might farther be enclosed ofi^ and improv- ed in cultivation ; and by laying dovm well-limed into rich grass, to feed them to more advantage, and in quietness and seclusion from the other stocks. This would pay well, and furnish also useful em- ployment, and at least 500 acres mig^t thus be added to the lands in culture, perhaps even twice that extent. Of building materials at Moffat, the blue whinstone is particu- larly valuable ; it cuts better than granite, and lasts almost as long; it is so hard that the workmen strike fire with steel from it; they raL patched him with the huge key of the tower which she carried in her hand. "t* About seven years ago a considerable number of silver coins of various sizes, and one large gold one, (a double Jacobus,) were discovered by a person sowing grass-seeds in the cow-park of Good-hope. They consist chiefly of half-crowns, shillings, and sixpences, of the reign of Elizabeth, James, William, and Mary, and are now in possession of the proprietor at Raehills. A few other silver coins, chiefly half-crowns of James VI., and shillings of Elizabeth, were, much about the yame period, discovered in an earthen pot by a man who was clearing out the foun- dations of an old wall or dike near the fiirm-house of Kerse of KinneL JOHNSTONE. 159 apartments, is now erecting, which, when finished, will render it one of the most magnificent edifices in the south of Scotland. III. — Population. In 1755, the population was, by the return to Dr Webster, - 494 1791, - - - - - - 565 1601, by the Census, .... 740 1811, 904 1821. - 1179 1831, 1234 The increase of the population seems chiefly to have arisen from the establishment, about fifty years ago, of new small farms on the hitherto uncultivated moorlands of Mr Johnstone's estate ; from more recent grants of building leases to respectable trades- men and others ; and from the general prosperity of its agricul- ture. 1. Number of families ia the parish, - - - 202 of families chiefly employed in agriculture, - 109 chiefly employed in trade, manufi^tures, or banduaraft, 44 % Number of unmarried men* bachelors or widowers, upwards of 50 years of age, 32 of unmarried women, including widows, upwards of 45, - 44 Character and Habits of the People. — The prevailing popular games are curling in the winter, and quoits in summer ; for supe-» nor skill in both of which manly and exhilarating exercises, this parish has for some years past been confessedly distinguished. The people are cleanly in their habits, and seem never to foiget that a black and white home-made plaid (be it in the month of June or January, and the weather what it may,) is essential to complete their dress when they go abroad, to church or market. Oatmeal made into porridge or cakes, and potatoes used with milk, and occa- sionally a little mutton, or beef, or bacon, is the ordinary food of the peasantry, who are industrious in their callings, and in their circum- stances contented and happy. Though not much engrossed in lite- rary or intellectual pursuits, our inhabitants are yet an intelligent, mo- ral, and church-going population. Poaching of salmon in the river Annan, though not so common as it was thirty or forty years ago, is sometimes practised during the winter season, but chiefly by persons not resident in the parish ; and we fear that until the pro- prietors on the river in the upper district of Annandale, have a per- sonal interest in protecting the fisheries, by being allowed a chance of a share of the fish at the proper season, (which at present is 160 DUMFBIES-SHIRE. denied 4hem by the land-owners on the rirer's mouth,) all the united vigilance of all the water bailies whom they or their tacks- men may appoint, will never be able to check this demoralizing practice. IV. — Industry. Agriculture and Rural Economy. * — Number of imperial acres in crops, or occasionally cultivated, between 5000 and 0000 acres uneultimted, or in pasture, &c about - - 5000 waste land which could be profitably cultivated, 50O to 1000 undivided common, ..... Extent of land under plantation and natural wood, nearly - - 1500 In the plantations made by the late James Earl of Hopetoun forty years ago, Scotch firs were chiefly used, with a small portion of larch and spruce. It is found, that, on moderately good soils, the comparative value of the larch to the Scotch fir is as three or four to one ; and when the soil is mossy, and the bottom not very retentive, that the spruce is double the value of the Scotch fir. It is now quite understood, also, that very great injury is commit- ted, and actual loss sustained, by not thinning the plantations in due time, and by neglecting to drain them properly. In the lat- ter plantations less Scotch fir is used, and more attention paid to draining and thinning. From the older plantations, by means of two saw-mills, kept in almost constant operation, the neighbouring parishes and districts are supplied with wood for farm-buildings, palings, and other agricultural purposes, and quantities of the large larch have for these three years past, been sent to Lanca- shire and Cheshire for erecting railways. On the whole, these plantations, although they might have been perhaps more judi- ciously managed, may be reckoned a most profitable application of capital, whether we consider the great saving they occasion to the proprietor in the erecting of farm-steadings, &c or the direct proceeds of their annual sales, or the vast advantages which they afford by way of shelter, to the neighbouring lands. Rent of Land. — The average rent of the arable land in the pa- rish may be from 10s. to 12s. per imperial acre. There are not above 2000 acres of land fit for regular rotation for green crop. * To Charles Stewart, Esq. factor upon the estates of Annandale, we are under many obligations for his able assistance in framing this Report, but particularly for his extensive information and very accurate calculations on this head. JOHNSTONE. 161 There are only two regular sheep^farms, and of these the rent may be about 5s.- per sheep. Black-cattle being kept on the mix- ed arable farms, it is difficult to state the proportion of rent paid for them ; but for the last two years the annual return to the farm- ers, taking the average of young and old, does not exceed L. 2, 10s* each. Rate of Wages. — The general rate of a day-labourer's wages, without victuals, is Is. 6d. in summer, and Is. 4d. in winter; and of that of a mason or carpenter, from Is. lOd. to 2s, 6d. Full- grown farm-servants, besides board, receive from L. 4 to L. 6 ; and women from L. 2 to Li. 3 per half-year. Breeds of Live Stock, — On the two sheep-farms, the stock con- sists partly of Cheviot, and partly of short, or black-faced sheep; and on all the other farms, cows of the Galloway breed are kept, and their produce usually sold at one and two years old, excepting one farm, where a dairy stock of the pure Ayrshire breed is kept. The great- est attention has been bestowed for these last fifty years by the pro- prietor and his tenants in improving the breed of black-cattle. Bulls have been brought from the best districts of Galloway, and occasion- ally young queys of remarkable symmetry and beauty have been in- troduced, and it is generally allowed, and, in fact proved, from the numerous premiums annually awarded to our tenantry from the district or upper Annandale Agricultural Society, that this parish now produces the purest breed of Galloway cattle that is to be found in Diunfries-shire. It may be remarked, however, that the dairy farm above alluded to, on which thirty cows are kept, is considered to pay the tenant better than any of those on which the Galloway stock is reared, and the usual mode of management in the south practised. Hiubandry. — The reclaiming of waste land has been here car- ried farther than it ought to have been with profit, either to the landlord or tenant, it being found very difficult and expensive to keep up the fertility of the poorer soils. Much, however, remains to be done in the way of draining and top-dressing. The rotation of crops is very regularly observed. The land being allowed to remain four years in grass, two white crops are taken, succeeded by a green crop sown out with grass seeds. Experience has taught us that this system of management is the most proper for the medium soils of the parish ; but in the extremes of good and bad land, this course ought in some cases to be deviated from. The species oT grain called bear or big, so common about half a nUMFRlRS. L 162 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. century ago, is altogether banished from the parish, and barley sub- stituted in its room. Wheat is regularly cultivated in three or four farms only. Nearly the whole parish is under leases of twenty-one years, which commenced in 1814, and great prices being then calculated upon for agricultural produce of every description, the farms were anxiously taken at too high a rent, to afford an adequate remune- ration to the tenants. Mr Hope Johnstone was early aware of this circumstance, and has kindly made, during almost the whole currency of the leases, abatements of rent from 25 to 40 per cent, and thus at once given a powerful stimulus to the industry of his numerous tenantry, and afforded an instance of liberality equalled by few, and surpassed, we believe, by none of the landlords in the south of Scotland. Very few tenants have consequently quitted their farms during this period ; and it is a remarkable fact in our parochial statistics, that two-thirds of the whole present tacksmen and their forefathers have been in the parish for fifty years and upwards. During the last fifteen years, the parish has been almost wholly inclosed and subdivided with fences of hedge and ditch, and on most of the farms, neat, commodious, and substantial steadings of stone and lime, with slate-roofs, have been built ; audit is sup- posed that the proprietor has laid out from three to four years' rent on these improvements. Mr Johnstone has been at unusual pains to stimulate the spirit of enterprise among the tenantry on this part of his estates, and the increase of produce and general improvement have been re- markably rapid within these last twenty years. The inferiority of the soil of a portion of the farms, and the recurrence of defective crops in bad seasons, make, however, the progress of these im- provements less steady than it would otherwise be in a kindlier climate, and more propitious soil. Quarry, — There is only one freestone quarry in the parish, on a small scale, for the supply of stones for farm-buildings. Produce. — Average gross amount of raw produce yearly raised in the parish, as nearly as can be ascertained, is as follows : > Produce of grain of all kinds cultivated for the food of man or domestic animals, in- cluding fodder, and deducting seed, - - - L. 4600 Ditto of potatoes and turnips, and ditto, ... 1900 Produce of rye-grass and meadow hay, ... 1200 Carry forward, L. 7700 2500 5ao 100 300 1 1 eoo JOHNSTOXE. 163 Brought forward, L. 7700 Flax is now cuHlyated upon a very small scale, (and r^ularljr decreas- ng) and cannot be estimated abore - - . . 50 Pasture of 5pO cows and 700 young cattle, estimating 3 of the latter equal to 2 of the former, ..... Pasture of 1700 sheep, .... Pasture of horses bred for sale, exclusive of those kept for husbandry. Pasture of 50O pigs fed and sold for pork. The annual thinnings and periodical filings of wood may be reckoned to average ..... Total yearly value of raw produce, - L. 12,000 The gross quantity of pork sold, including the cottars' pigs, may amount yearly to L.^000. This, indeed, Js our staple commodi- ty, and by far the most important article of saleable farm produce in the parish. But, as the food of these pigs is included under the general heads of potatoes and grain, from the sum specified, we have deducted the value of those articles which they consume in feeding. The annual produce of gardens and orchards is extremely trifling, and the common vegetables in them are included in the head of green crop above stated. Manufactures. — There are a few of the various ordinary handi- craftsmen, such as 1 baker ; 7 blacksmiths ; 2 plasterers ; 1 slater ; 37 masons; 17 carpenters; 2 sawyers; 3 carters; 2 grooms; 1 cooper ; 1 corn-dealer ; 1 hosier ; 1 cow-keeper ; 1 miller ; 6 shoemakers ; 3 shop-keepers ; 4 tailors ; 9 weavers ; in all 99. Bacon is manufactured here to a very considerable extent At St Ann's Bridge not less than 516 carcases of pigs, weigh- ing 6000 stones, and averaging nearly twelve stones each, of fourteen pounds to the stone, have been this season manufac- tured into hams and flitches by Mr James Thorbum and Co. which has proved to be a very profitable investment of ca- pital. When sufiiciently dried and fit for use, it is usually car- ried to Longtown, where it commands a ready-money sale for the markets of Newcastle, Shields, and Sunderland, from whence part of it is shipped to London. It is said, indeed, that in the town of Newcastle alone, forty cart loads per week are, through the year, at an average, disposed of. The fluctuation in the price of this article is often rapid and unaccountable, even to the dealers themselves, and seems not to be so immediately affected by the rise or fall of other fat produce, as by the prosperous or declin- ing state of the manufactures, especially in the south. At Pan- 164 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. lands, too, carcases to the amount of 250, and weighing 2870 stones, were cured by Messrs Halliday last season, and the same manufacture has been carried on by them sometimes to, a less ex- tent, and sometimes to a greater, for upwards of thirty years past The breed of pigs has of late been so much improved in Annan- dale, and the mode of feeding and curing them so thoroughly un- derstood and practised, that its hams vie in flavour with the York- shire or Westphalia themselves, and far excel those lank ill-fed Irish which are imported in such abundance into the west of the island. Societies. — The only public association is a small farming society established in the year 1818, (and to which the principal proprietor makes a handsome annual contribution,) for giving premiums for improving the breed of Galloway cattle, draught horses, and pigs, and for other agricultural objects. To the spirit of emulation and of enterprise which this little society has evidently excited, is owing in a great measure that decided improvement both in the quality of the stock of various kinds annually exhibited, and in the general mode of parochial management. V. — Parochial Economy. Markets^ Sfc, — The nearest market-towns are Lockerby and Mof- fat, the former being situated at six miles distance from the south- ern, and the latter about the same distance from the northem ex- tremity of the parish. Means of Communication. — The nearest post towns are Moflat for the upper district of the parish, and Lochmaben and Lockerby for the lower. The great road from London to Glasgow, by Car- lisle, runs for five miles through the parish,— that from Dumfries to Edinburgh, via MofTat, runs five miles; and a turnpike road from Moffat to Lochmaben and Annan also runs about six miles from north to south nearly through its centre. The London and Glasgow, and Edinburgh and Dumfries mail-coaches, and an Edin- burgh and Dumfries stage-coach, travel on these roads. The Lon- don and Glasgow road is one of the finest and best kept in the kingdom, and has vastly improved our internal communication. The first bridge over the Kinnel at St Anns,* near Raehills, was built in the year 1782, rebuilt in 1795, and considerably widened • Both above and below St Anns, there are several very fanciful wooden bridges connecting the various beautiful walks which wind on each side, along the romantic banks of the Kinnel. 4 JOHNSTONE. 165 and improved in 1817. That over the Annaii at Johnstone Mills, consisting of one arch, in span above 80 feet, was built in the year 1818. Both of these bridges, with the others over the smaller streams, are kept in excellent repair. Ecclesiastical State. — The church is situated on the west side of the river Annan, and upon the eastmost verge of the parish, and is, like many other of our parish churches in Scotland, by no means centrical, or convenient for the greater part of the population. Its distance from the western extremity is seven miles, from the north- era, four, and from the southern, two miles and a-half. It was built in the year 1733, and rebuilt and considerably enlarged in 1818, and is now very comfortable and commodious. The only benefac- tion on record is that of L. 172 bequeathed by John Aitken, late fanner in Kirkbank, for behoof of the parochial schoolmaster, and placed, in terms of his will, under the uncontrolled management of the kirk-session. The money is, by a personal bond dated at Edin- burgh Idth March 1822, in the hands of the trustees upon the es- tate of Annandale, who have hitherto allowed for it five per cent, per annum. The church accommodates 500 persons, and there are at least fifty free sittings. The manse was built in the year 1 735, rebuilt about 1795, and enlarged and repaired at the expense of Lf.650 in 1809, when the present incumbent was inducted into u the living. The extent of glebe land may be about ten imperial acres, including garden and house steading, and may be valued at 20s. per acre. The amount of the stipend is L.165, Ids. l^d. per annum. The number of families attending the Established church may be 1 9 1 , and of persons of all ages at an average, 400. The number of persons attending the neighbouring dissenting meeting-houses may be 27. The average number of young communicants yearly at the parish church, from a private register kept by the minister for nearly twenty years past^^has been 25, and of ordinary commu- nicants of all ages, of whom a few are from other congregations, 400. An annual collection for religious purposes has been made for some years past upon the thanksgiving Sabbath, or that which im- mediately succeeds the dispensation of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and has been usually divided betw^een the Bible Society of Edinburgh and the Scottish Missionary Society. A moiety of it -^ was this year transmitted to the North American Colonial Society of Glasgow. The probable average amount of church collections 166 DUMFALES-SHiaE. yearly for charitable purposes, may be (exclusive of our collections and funds for the regular poor) from L.6 to L.8. Education, — There are three public schools in the parish, one (the parochial school) situated near the church, — another at Edge- moor, on the west side of the parish, and another on the northmost verge of the parish, at Cogriebum bridge. In the parochial school, besides the usual branches, Latin, Greek, and French are taught : in the other two, reading, writing, and accounts only. The salary of the parochial teacher was the maximum under the old act, but he being for some years in a state of insanity, and enjoying the whole salary, with the addition of L. 3 out of the Aitken mortifica- tion, in lieu of a house, in virtue of an agreement between his le- gal guardians and the heritors, and sanctioned by the presbytery of Lochmaben, it has hitherto been considered inexpedient to make any further arrangement. An interim teacher, appointed by the heritors, conducts, in his absence, the business of the school, and is remunerated by the fees and Candlemas offerings, with L.5, 12s. from the Aitken fund, which may, in all, amount to about L.27 per annum. The teacher at Edgemoor has a salary of L.14 a-year from Mr Hope Johnstone, which, with the school fees, may make his income about L. 24 yearly. The teacher at Cogriebum bridge receives no salary, but is dependent upon the fees of teach- ing and the Candlemas offerings alone. His income may be esti- mated at from L. 14 to 16 a-year. The parochial teacher posses- ses the legal accommodations in houses and land. The general expense of education per annum, for children under twelve years of age, may be 10s., for those above that age, )2s., and for those who are taught Latin, Greek, &c. 20s. There are no persons in the parish above six years of age who cannot both read and write.* Since the facilities of education have been increased, an evident improvement has taken place in the morals and general good con- duct of the parishioners, as is testified by our sessional records of discipline, &c. Literature, — A parochial library, consisting chiefly of books of divinity, biography, history, *&c. (and from which all novels are * We have also two Sabbath evening-schools. The one at St Ann's Bridge, and the other at the church, which meet during the summer months, and are open indis- criminately, and gratuitously, to children of all classes, who choose to attend. The average number of scholars at both has for some years past been 125, and there is reason to believe that these little religious seminaries have been eminently blessed to promote the spiritual interest of the rising generation amongst us. JOHNSTONE. 167 positively excluded,) was established by a general subscription in the year 1828. The funds were increased by a very handsome donation from the principal heritor, by means of which, with the quarterly subscription of the members, (chiefly heads of families,) it amounts to above 300 volumes. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The average number of persons receiving regular parochial aid is 16, and the annual sum allowed to each may average L. 2, 5s. They have all of them free houses, with plenty of peat fuel for the trouble of casting, and, through the kindness of the family at Raehills, who tsi^e a sort of hereditary and exclusive charge of the needy amongst us, our industrious females, who are able to do a little work, are provided with employment in the way of spinning, &c and, upon the whole, our poor are altogether well cared for. The whole amount of annual collections, &c. in* eluding the interest of L. 280, in the hands of the family of An* nandaie, for which 5 per cent is allowed, may be L. 65. Inns^ Sfc. — There are neither inns, nor alehouses kept here, nor do they seem to be required as a public acconmiodation. The proprietor, Mr Hope Johnstone, following out the views of his predecessors, has carefully prevented the establishment of dram- shops on his estates generally, and particularly in the parish of Johnstone ; and there is no doubt that, should this practice, so pa- triotic and enlightened, be generally adopted by influential persons throughout our land, much injury to the health and morals of the community would be prevented. Fvd. — The greater proportion of this article is dug from the extensive peat-n^osses in the parish ; the average labour and carriage of which may amount to about 30s. per annum for each householder. Coals are but little used, in consequence, chiefly of their great distance. Miscellaneous Observations. There are, we believe, few, if any instances of a parish uncon- nected with manufactures, and whose inhabitants depend exclu- sively for support upon the cultivation of the soil, increasing so rapidly in population as this has done within these last forty years. During this period the external aspect of the parish has been en- tirely changed, by its roads, its enclosures, and its improved sys- tem of husbandry, but more especially by the number of comfort- able dwellings erected for the accommodation of the labouring- classes. These houses have been built partly at their own expense, 1 68 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. with the assistance of timber, &c. from the proprietor, and are ge- nerally slated or flagged. * Labourers of industrious habits having possessed themselves of these tenements, with an adjacent piece of ground for keeping a cow, and growing potatoes for their families, at a moderate rent, are enabled to live in a degree of comfort and independence very superior, indeed, to what is enjoyed by the same rank who reside in villages, or who rent houses from year to year un- der the tenantry. And it is to be regretted that this system, so condu- cive to the happiness and morals of our peasantry, has not, at least on estates similarly situatedi been more extensively adopted. Nor has the want of employment, the frequent concomitant of increase of population, been hitherto materially felt among us. Great cau- tion, we allow, is at all times requisite so to limit the number of these possessions, as not to increase that population beyond the na- tural demand for labour, otherwise the evil which has been inflict- ed on our sister island, might soon pervade every parish of our land. Resident and enlightened proprietors, however, who have attended to this branch of political economy, will soon discover to what ex- tent this practice may be carried in their respective districts, with advantage both to themselves and to the conununity. While the population has increased so extensively, it is an extraordinary fact in our parish statistics, that its pauperism has been diminished. For, forty years ago, with a population of 565, the regular paupers upon the roll were ISjf whereas, in the year 1831, when the popu- lation has risen to 1234, the number upon our list at the half yearly distribution in November last, amounted only to 16. The nature of the soil and climate, and our distance from mar- kets and manure, have rendered it necessary for the proprietor to lay out the farms into moderate sizes. There is none, however, so small a$ not to afford ample employment for a couple of horses. Experiments are in progress by the proprietor, for ascertaining whether spade culture cannot be profitably introduced on particu- * Building leases are granted for 21 years at a nominal rent, the proprietor re- serving power to resume upon a year*s notice, on payment of a part of the sum ex- pended in building, in proportion to the period of lease at the time of resumption unexpired. Thus, supposing a house to cost originally L. 63, it could be resumed at the end of the first year on payment of L. 60, at the end of the second on payment of L. 57, and so on. And at the expiration of the lease the house becomes the property of the landlord. This arrangement has been adopted, first, to save original outlay on the part of the proprietor, and secondly, to operate as a check (which the system of teuing would not do,) to the introduction of disreputable persons into the parish ; and has been found satisfactory to both parties. f l^ide last Statistical Account, p. 222. JOHNSTONK. 169 lar soils ; but these are not yet so far advanced as to enable us to give the results. It is doubtful whether much improveroent can now be made on the general system of our husbandry, excepting, indeed, in so far as it may gradoally arise from the increasing skill and enterprise of the tenantry. The prevailing surnames in the parish are, JohnHane^ and Hal'' liday^ — of the former there are 109, and of the latter 46. The prevailing disease among us (if, indeed, any can be so call- ed,) is pleurisy, which sometimes shows itself, but generally in a mild form, in the months of September and October. But of those *^ putrid fevers" caught in olden times, partly by infection from our voracious ^ neighbours of the mountains,* who fed upon carrion^ and who, from habit, are said to have preferred it to sound and wholesome mutton, '^f we now happily know nothing. Finally, in this very populous, rural parish, we have neither /wA- Itc-kouse — nor meetinff-hause — nor resident fwrgeon — nor village — nor post-office — not prison — nor lawyer — nor beggary — specialties, we humbly conceive, not to be found united in any one parish of similar dimensions in Britain ; and of which, though some may be occasionally felt as parish privations, others are daily prized by us as distinguiBhed blessings. * Qmery, Who oould thew neigbboun be? or where, now, are die mountaiiw here re fe r led to? f Vide old Statistical Aceount, p. 217. Fdfmary 1834. THE UNITED PARISHES OF APPLEGARTH AND SIBBALDBIE, PRESBYTERY OF LOCHMABEN, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. WILLIAM DUNBAR, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name and Boundaries, — Applegarth is a compound of the words Apple and Garthy the last of which denotes, both in the Celtic and Gothic languages, an inclosure. In the Yorkshire dia- lect, as Mr Chalmers remarks in his Caledonia, Applegarth is the common appellation for an orchard. To the parish of Applegarth was annexed in 1609, that of Sibbaldbie or Sibbaldbye, which is supposed by Chalmers to have obtained its name during Saxon times, from its having been the Bye, or dwelling-place of some person called Sibbald. To Applegarth was attached also the chapelry of Dinwiddie, which, it is said, belonged of old to the Knights Templars, who had large possessions in Annandale. The parish extends 5 J miles in a northerly direction, and its breadth eastward is of the same extent. The parish contains in whole 17 g square miles. It is of a triangular figure, and is bound- ed on the N. by Wamphray ; N. E. and E. by Hutton ; W. by Johnstonemnd Lochmaben ; and S. by Dryfesdale, and that part of Lochmaben parish which lies on the east side of the river Annan. Topographical Appearances. — The high grounds in the parish, — for they cannot be called mountains^ and scarcely Ai7&, — lie on either side of the river Dryfe ; the western range commencing nearly at the southernmost boundary, and extending in a northern direction till it joins the Wamphray range ; the eastern range is a continua- tion of that called QuhytwooUen in Dryfesdale, running north- wards, and joining the hilly ground of Hutton. The highest part of the former range is' Dinwiddie hill, by barometrical measure- ment 736 feet above the level of the sea. Of the latter range, Adder-law is the highest ground, measuring 638 feet. APPLEGARTH AND 8IBBALDBIE. 171 Meteorology. — The following table exhibits the average tem- perature of the atmosphere for the last seven years, as ascertained by a thermometer at Applegarth manse, 180 feet above the level of the sea, from which it is distant 10 miles; longitude, 3** 12' W. latitude, 55® 13' N. The observations were taken at nine o'clock, morning and evening. March, April, May, June, July, Aug.. Sept. §\Oct. Nov, Dec. Jan. 3 K a j5 1825. 1826. aaee 1827. 36.75 37.66 42.1645.40 49. 50.75 52.6663.18 5ai6 64.30 56. 60.86 54.25155.37 182& 1829. 6a97 1830. 1831. 31.753aM3ai2 «')3.7596.10 3a63|3ai6 41.06 38.36 4a 042.10 46.32 44.08 42. 12 46.50 46.70 51.8752.7556.50 52. 052.27 57.33 57.75 5a50 5a80 60.30 59.66158. 15l5a90 60.30 s An. Temp. 45.01 4a 12 47.91 41.6044.6035.50 34.25 3&2530. 48.51 45.70 Medium 7 yean. 60. 0157.66 55.90|55w20f60.70 , 57. 055.1650.3052.1054.80 47.85^4a88 51 .37 47.61 45.50 4a2p 52.50 34 55/38.4814]. J8l45.08J39.56J 42.25139.40 36.6642.33 34.52 ao.67 46.05 34.4039.90 32.5033. 36.28 39.90 44.75 52.16 37.93 60.49 59.47 54.12 4a84 47.18 39.27 3a31 Medium of Seasons. \ Spring 40.31 ? Summer ^ 56.86 48.571 Autumn 54.18 Winter 39.92 The following table exhibits the quantity, in inches, of rain fallen at Applegarth manse, for the last five years, ascertained by a rain- gage placed on a garden wall 10 feet higk Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May, June. July, Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. 1827. 182a 3.60 1.06 3.06 1.84 2.40 2.75 1.84 3.40 ai5 2.09 3.25 5.39 Totol.33.77 3.ai 2.20 1.12 2.60 1.40 2.01 7.50 5.75 2.75 aoo a2o 4.50 1829. 1830. 39.87 0.25 1.15 1.35 a50 1.25 4.00 2.60 4.50 a75 5.00 2.50 1.50 1831. Average 5 years. 0.20 1.80 1.80 3.90 2.60 1.20 4.40 2.70 6.50 1.50 5.70 1.70 1.75 2.25 aoo 1.20 0.12 2.90 2.60] 2.20 aoo 7.25 a70 4.25 31.33(34. 35.72 1.92 1.69 2.24 2L60 1.57» 2.53 a78 a 70 3.95t a94 a73 a45 General Average, 34.93 inches. Climate, S^c. — It may be remarked, that the temperature must be considerably influenced by the nakedness of the country, which from the N. W. round to N. E. is generally destitute of growing wood ; a deficiency, however, which is now in the way of being supplied. In the meantime, the cold winds from these quarters receive no check. * Driest month. I Wettest month. 172 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. and consequently, the temperature no increase from well-grown woods. The southern part of the parish, provincially called " the How of Applegarth," is on a low level, compared with the northern and eastern divisions, and interspersed with meadow grounds; yet the greater part of the adjoining lands being dry, and of a gravelly or sandy loam, this southern division is regarded as equally healthful with those of a superior elevation. There are no distempers pe- culiar to the parish, which may be justly regarded as very healthy. Hydrography. — The river Annan separates the parish from Lochmaben and Johnstone on the west ; and the water of Dryfe, in part of its course, from Dryfesdale, on the east. The Annan rises about 4 or 5 miles above Moffat, in that mountainous range which separates Dumfries-shire from Lanarkshire and Peebles- shire, and from the opposite side of which issue also the more famed waters of the Tweed and Clyde. The stream of the Annan runs a southerly course at a medium breadth of 90 or 100 feet, through 30 miles of fertile country, and falls into the Solway Firth about a mile below the town of Annan. The Dryfe rises in the northern extremity of the parish of Hutton, and runs in a south- erly and south-westerly direction, in a stream nowhere more than 30 feet in breadth, and generally very shallow, till it joins the Annan 1^ mile below •Applegarth church, at the distance of 15 miles from its source. Geology and Botany ."^ — The parish is intersected by the two hilly ranges already noticed, running nearly parallel, north and south ; and between them flows the Dryfe, which, running within the boundaries of the parish, is of more importance than the An- nan, when taken in connection with its geology. The Annan, though larger, and the origin of some fine tracts of alluvial land in the lower part of the district, is here but a bordering river, the banks of which present no very marked features. Looking at the Drj-fe, therefore, as the division between the two great ridges, we find the declivities of these ridges furrowed into deep channels, by which several streams descend rapidly to the river ; and the correspond- ing slopes on the opposite or outer sides of the ridges are also in- tersected by other streams, which make their way, those on the west side, to the Annan, the others to the Corrie Water, the east- • The whole of the facts stated under the heads " Geology, Botany, and Zoology,'* were kindly communicated to the writer of this account, by Sir William Jardlne, BarU of Applegarth. They are given at so great Icngtli a.s being common in a great measure to the surrounding district. APPLEGARTH AND SIBBALDBIE. 173 ern boundary of the parish. These rivers, though insignificant in themselves, are important as land-marks or marches ; and their banks being in many instances precipitous, and clothed partly with natural brushwood, and partly with planted timber, form the only localities where many of the native wild plants of the country are to be found. The two ridges present nearly the same geological formation. The old red sandstone appears on the borders of the western ridge, in the bed of the Annan, from Jardine-Hall down to the Milnhouse Bridge, a distance of 1^ mile ; below this, the river flows only through holm land. Between the two places above-mentioned, the banks rise often to the height of 20 or 80 feet, and are composed of gravel and broken red sandstone, in which are imbedded blocks of the latter of considerable size, and easily split into thin sections ox Jiags. Many of these banks are planted with larch, spruce, Scots fir, silver fir, oak, ash, elm, plane and beech. Of the firs, the first three, after growing thriv- ingly for twelve or fourteen years, make little more progress, and in fact soon begin to decay ; particularly the larch, which, though only from twenty to twenty-five years old, is almost dead, the wood having become of a cork-like consistence. The contact of the roots with the sandstone gravel appears to produce this effect in a shorter or longer period, according to its depth from the surface. The silver fir, oak, plane and beech, of the same age, thrive \i- gorously, the ash and elm, not so luxuriantly, unless their roots have reached the alluvial deposit. The alder may be considered almost a natural tree along these banks. The banks above described extend to a greater or lesser distance from the river, according to circumstances ; but the ground between them is always alluvial, interspersed with strata of river gravel, plainly indicating the various courses of the stream at former pe- riods. At the upper part of the parish these alluvial tracts are of considerable extent; and below the Milnhouse bridge, they form an extensive flat of rich soil, lying between the junction of the An- nan and Drj'fe. They are partly cropped, and partly in pasture and meadow. From the banks of the Annan, and the boundaries of the alluvial lands, the country north-eastward rises with gentle undulations, un- til it reaches the highest part of the great western ridge. A con- siderable part of the land on this declivity is sharp and good ; in many places, however, changing into a wet and tilly substratum, and on the higher portions of the ridge inclining to a black moory 1 74 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. earth. It is interspersed with nodules, — sometimes approaching to the size of boulders, — of white and greenish whin ; and, at a greater depth, with blocks of red sandstone. The sandstone appears again regularly in the beds of two streams which descend in a southerly direction from the ridge, and is there lost in the eastward division of the parish. The summits of the ridge consist of a kind of greywacke slate and greenstone, traversed by narrow veins of quartz, and as- suming on the eastern side a slaty structure. The intervening hol- lows in this acclivity are either low swampy meadows or peat mos- ses. The plants in this tract are varied, and in the lower hol- lows will be found all the more common moss and meadow plants. From the summit of this range to the Dryfe, the descent is sud- den and steep, and the land better wooded. The banks of the river are fringed with ash, elm, and oak, of which last a consider- able part is coppice about ten or twelve years old, and planted up with larch and Scots fir. The plants most worthy of notice in this descent occur in the ravines upon its sides, which are clothed with natural brushwood, and in the oak coppice. The Dryfe, nearly from its source, runs through a country com- posed of greenstone and greywacke-slate in different modifications, assuming in some places a softer texture, and the spotted appear- ance more peculiarly belonging to the Water-of-Ayr stone, for which it is sometimes used as a substitute. The rock then leaves the bed of the river, and may be traced along a small stream (the Mil- ton Bum,) north-westward to Ravencleugh, where it is frequently found veined with quartz, and becomes of a reddish colour, as if tinged with iron. In the opposite and eastern side of the river, it appears in two other small streams, (Hook and Rockhillflat burns,) and in the rounded hills which form the second or eastern ridge, rising between the Dryfe and the Corrie, presenting no marked features, and assuming nearly the same modifications of colour and texture. This eastern ridge rises from the Dryfe with neatly equal steep- ness with the western ridge, and reaches nearly an equal height. The ground towards the Corrie Water consists almost entirely of undulating round-backed hills of moor and sheep pasture, partially cultivated, and composed geologically, as stated in the preceding paragraph ; and as it approaches the river, it widens into a narrow plain of alluvial soil, and of rich productive meadows. This ridge is nearly without wood, except on the descent towards the Dryfe, where, as at Balgray and Hook, there are woods of considerable APPLEGARTH AND SIBBALDBIE. 175 age aiid extent. In these a marked difference is perceptible in re- gard to the growth of the firs on the greenstone, contrasted with those planted on the sandstone gravelly banks of the Annan. Larches thrive remarkably in Mary's Cleugh : spruces, silver firs, and Weymoutn pines, planted from twenty-five to thirty or forty years ago, still show every mark of vigorous and healthy growth ; and the splendid silver firs at Hook-bridge, and the gigantic larches in Mary's Cleugh, are fine specimens of their respective species at a more advanced age. The only remarkable trees in the parish are, — The silver firs, fourteen in number, growing at Hook-bridge, planted nearly seventy years ago, and measuring, the largest of them, 7 feet 4 inches in girth, and about 80 feet high ; Two larches in Mary's Cleugh, planted about seventy years ago, measuring in height at least 100 feet, and which grew three feet on an average annually for the first twenty years of their existence. An ash in Applegarth church- yard, the age of which is unknown, though tradition says it is be- tween two and three hundred years old ; it measures 14 feet in girth at a yard from the ground ; it is called the Gorget Tree, from the circumstance of its having, it is said, been used as a pil- lory in the days of yore. The iron staples which held the collar or gorget were visible not many years ago. Zoology. — The wild animals of the class Mammalia in Ap- plegarth, and which are common to the country in general, are about twenty. Among these, there are one or two that may be con- sidered as rarer species. In addition to Vespertilio emarginatus, the great bat {V. altivolans of White's Selbourne,) has been seen flying about the river with a rapid and powerful flight, and must rank as a very rare animal. Plecotus auritus is not uncommon. The water-shrew {Sorex fodiens) which is often accounted rare from its retired habits and difiiculty of capture, may always be found along the soft and sandy banks of the Annan. The otter is to be seen occasionally, and the fallow-deer sometimes stray from the woods of Raehills. The only animal certainly existing in this parish in former times, and which has now disappeared, is the badger. Thirty or forty years ago this animal was well known here; it was very fond of garden vegetables, particularly carrots ; and the last of the race were killed in the old gardens of Jardine-Hall. To the badger may perhaps be added the roebuck, the remains of which have been found in some of the mosses. Fishes. — An enumeration of the different species of fishes fre- DVMFRIES'SHIRE, iJie fi^'' AniUtD will include nearly aii those found in this ff\fi tributaiy streams contain only trout, pike, minnow^ gild a small propertion during autumn and winter of les- 1^ salmon. — The sea-lamprey (Petromyzon marinxu^) ^peHfU ascends the, river in the end of June and begin- ^ ly to spawn, and continues for a month and sometimes ijTie small river-lamprey wig. Nine-^e, is found early in the e^ ^^ sandy banks, and most frequently at the ^^016 small rivulet or ditch. This species is marked doubt- ^jac ^^ **® ^' ^^® lesser lampreys are yet confounded. ^tfcci^ of eels inhabit the river and ditches, and are gene- ^faOJoi^ as one. They are at once distinguished by the ^ fia h^ ^^^ snout, which in the one is broad and flatten- ifi tbe other narrow and sharp-pointed. Neither have yet ;terized properly, 'TgeO ^'^j^iAe is tolerably abundant, and is supplied from the lochs of ^ Heflj ^^^^^ hvLve communication with the Annan. They \/^\A0ti^ taken in the river of more than ten pounds weight, but ftf^ ^ fine and in good condition after a short residence. ^^u B^>^^ ^^ found in small numbers in the still parts and back- of ^^ "^ ®^' ^"* always of small size. They also are derived ^^* the Lochmaben lochs. ^^^he Chu^^ ®^ shellf/ is very abundant, swimming in large shoals in gashes or stiller parts of the river. They grow to a consider- * - si^fij *"^ spawn gregariously on the shallows in June and July. * The Common minnow, three-spined stickle-back, and loach, are ,11 abundant* Saltnff^^^^* — Tliis important family were formerly, it is well known, much more plentiful in the Annan than at present. About fifty years ago the fisheries in the parish were let, and the salmon were so abundant as to afford considerable emolument to the tacksman, and sport to the angler. At present, no part of the river within the parish would pay the expense of nets. Even at the mouth, where it -enters the Solway, the extensive fisheries long established there have fallen two-thirds in value. One cause of this diminution is to be found in the stake-nets erected at the river's mouth, which, by intercepting a great part of the fish, have almost annihilated the fishing in the upper parts of the river, and consequently de- stroyed the interest which the upper proprietors would otherwise have in preserving them from poachers during the breeding season. Another cAuse is the improper period fixed for close^fime^ which APPLEGARTH AND SIBBALDBIE. 177 commences too early, and opens again before the spawned fish, or at least the greater part of them, have reached the sea. The va- rieties in the Annan belonging to this family are common salmon in its various states ; the Sea Trout. — Two fish are confounded under this name, Salmo trutta and Sahno erioxj or gray. Both are easily distinguished from the gilse or young salmon by the size and length of the head, and the form of, the taiL They commence running from June to the middle of July, according to the season, and ge- nerally spawn in the lesser streams. The Herling {Salmo aBms) ascends the river during July and August, (though in wet seasons a few are got at the mouth in June,) and continues to run till September. They spawn early, chiefly in the smaller streams, and the kelted or spawned fish return to the sea before March, though they are sometimes met with so late as the middle of April. Experienced anglers are of opinion that in the early run of this fish many young salmon mix, and are killed indis- ' criminately with them in the Solway nets. It might be of advan- tage, therefore, that the herling-nets or houses of small mesh should not be permitted before the beginning of July, at which period all the gilses would have attained a size which would render a mistake nearly impossible. The herling weighs generally from 8 oz. to 1 lb. The Parr.-^This species, though often maintained to be the fry of salmon, is very distinct, and possesses characters much more de- cided than many of the others. It seldom exceeds six inches in length, and is oftener from three to five. It is gregarious. Some of them remain in the river during the ^ole year ; but the adult fish seem to remove to or near the salt water to spawn, thus per- forming a migration at variance with that of their congeners. At the end of February and in March, the males may be found on the confines of tide-way full of milt, and shedding it on the least handling. They are found in most Scottish rivers that have easy access to the sea ; a circumstance which seems essential to their health, and may perhaps account for their not being known above the Falls of Clyde, or any of its upper tributaries. The parr hsCs not yet been accurately described by naturalists ; and though it is almost every where abundant, its history is but imperfectly known. The Common Trout is abundant in all its river varieties. When in season it is a remarkably fine fish, sometimes weighing as much as 5 or 6 lbs., ordinary weight from 1 to 1 J lb. It spawns late. The only fish which now seems extinct in the parish is the perch. DUMFRIES. M 178 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. It was fonnerly found in Perch-hall Loch ; and the last got there was in 1814, when the loch was partially drained. Reptiles. — The reptiles found in the parish are, 1. Lacerta agilis^ common about Dinwiddie Hill and eastern moors. 2. Vipera com- munisy adder, occasionally seen on the eastern side of the Annan, occurring in dark and light-coloured varieties. * 3. Triton aquati- cus^ water-eft, common in ditches. 4. Triton vulgaris^ common eft, occasionally found in stone dikes. 5. Rana temporaria^ common frog. And 6. Bufo vulgaris^ common toad. Birds. — Besides the more common species, there are to be found in the parish the following Land Birds* — Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), an occa- sional visitant, passing to and from its eyries in the higher and wilder parts of the county. Merlin (F. (Bsahn) most frequently seen in winter. Moor-buzzard (Circus (eruginosus) ; one or two of these birds have occasionally frequented the Perch- Hall loch in the parish. They are rare in this county, and appear about the larger swamps and mosses at uncertain intervals. Hen-harrier, or ringtail, (C cganus), after the season of incu* bation leaves the hills, and, with its brood, visits the low country daily, roosting among whins and long heather. The four common owls are met with. The rarest is the short- eared {Otus brachyotos) ; it continues during the whole year, and breeds in the high grounds on the eastern border of the parish. The water-ousel (Cinclus aquaticus) is abundant on all the mountain streams, and migrates during winter in considerable num- bers to the banks of the Annan. Among the true thrushes, the missel thrush ( Turdus viscivo^ rolls) deserves notice, on account of its increase during the last few years. Fifteen years ago, they were rarely to be seen; but in consequence of the increased extent of plantations, they are now frequently met with in pairs, or in parties of five or six. A * Note by Sir William Jardine.-^AiiguisfragiH9 I have neyer found in the pa- rish, though there are several stations where it probably may be met with. It has been got in Raehills woods, and is particularly abundant in the woods of Craigieburn. The Nairix Dumfriiientis of Fleming, I have never been able to trace in this coun- ty, or indeed elsewhere. Rana esctUetUa I think I have seen, but cannot at present speak with certainty, it is not uncommon in Scotland. Ba^ rubeta or natter-jack is abundant at Southerness, in Galloway. I am not aware of another Scotch habitat of this species. 3 APPLEOARTH AND SIBBALDBIE. 179 similar increase has been observed in several other parts of the south of Scotland, and north of England. All the stone-chats (SaxicolcE) are to be found. The most un- common is jS. ntbicola, of which a few pairs may be met with about waste brushwood, or whin-covers, during the whole year. The red-start (Phaenicura ruticiUa), is an occasional summer vi- sitant, preferring those parts of the country which abound most in copsewood. Of the warblers, the three ¥rillow-wrens are found. The wood- wren {Silvia sibilatrix) is chiefly confined to the woods on Dryfe. Lesser pettychaps (S. hippolais) very rare. Greater pettychaps (S. horteTisis) abundant, and, though seldom observed, is often betrayed by its melody. The black-cap {S, atricapitta) is oc- casionally seen ; and the sedge-warbler (Salicaria phragmites) in marshes where there is a little cover. The golden-crested-wren {Reffulus cristatus) breeds here in small numbers; but during winter, when the migratory flocks have arrived, is very abundant. Of the Titmice, five species are abundant; but the marsh- tit {Parus palustris), and cole-tit (P. aier), and long-tailed-tit (P. caudatus)^ are found chiefly in winter. A few pairs of the latter breed about Jardine-Hall ; but the greater part seek the more extensive woods about Raehills, and return during winter to the lower lands. The gray wagtail {Motacilla boartda) is found here for a few weeks in spring and autunm, when passing to and from their breeding-places among the hills. The yellow wagtail (M.Jlava) very common on the banks of the Annan, and is particularly noticed here as being a bird extremely local in its distribution. The conunon meadow and tree pipits are abundant The common bunting (Emberiza miliaria) is migratory, and is met with in autumn in small flocks, and breeds in the lower pasture-lands. It also is a bird of local distribution. The snow-bunting (Plectro- phones nivalis) appears in the higher grounds in immense flocks during winter, and in severe weather visits the edges of the Annan, feeding among the sand or gravel. The mountain finch (FringiUa montifringilla) is a winter visitant in large flocks, delighting to feed on beech-mast The siskin (Carduelis spinus) appears at uncertain intervals in very large flocks. • The common linnet (Linaria vulgaris) abundant Of the lesser red-pole (Z/. cannabina) a few pairs breed, but large flocks arrive 180 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. in spring and autumn, and smaller parties sometimes remain dur- ing winter. The mountain linnet {L. montium) is seen but seldom. The northern linnet {L, borealis) has been seen only once or twice. It is not conmionly known in Scotland. Common starling {Stumtis vulgaris) is found in flocks during autumn and spring, but few in number, having diminished much of late years. In 1819 and 1820, flocks of many hundreds fre- quented the holms on the Annan, but of late not more than from ten to twenty have been seen together. The raven (Corvus corax) passes over occasionally, betrayed by his croak. The hooded-crow ( C. comix) is a rare visitant, and gene- rally found with the common corbie. The jack-daw (C monedu" la) is sometimes seen varied with white. The jay {Gamdus glan- darius) is very rare. Swallows abound. But the numbers of the window-martin (Hi- rundo ur&fca), and swift (Cypselus murarius)^ have diminished much since the old mansion-house of Jardine-Hall was pulled down; previous to which numerous colonies of swifts built in the rents of the walls, and two or three pairs of martins tenanted every win- dow. Now (1832) a few pairs only of each are to be found; a striking instance of the change of locality, which is constantly tak- ing place. The martins are strictly gregarious, living in large co- lonies, like rooks and herons. The spotted fly-catcher (Muscicapa grisola) common. The common night-jar {Caprimulffus EuroptBus) is frequently seen, and is abundant in the opposite parishes of Lochmaben and Johnstone. The land-rail, corn-crake, (Crex vulgaris)^ very abundant The king-fisher {Alcedo ispida) occasionally seen on the Annan during winter. The common creeper (Certhiafamiliaris) abundant in winter. In the breeding season it retires to the more extensive woods. The turtle-dove {Columba turtur) was once shot in Jardine-Hall garden. The pheasant {Phasianus torquatus) was introduced here about ten years ago, and is now tolerably abundant. The black-cock ( Tetrao tetrix), and grouse {Lagopus Scotictts)^ abound in the higher parts of the parish ; the former has, within these few years, extended to the lower district. The quail {Cotumix vulgaris) is occasionally met with in Sep- APPLE6ARTH AND SIBBALDBIE. 181 tember and October at the time of migration. In 1819 they bred here, and produced large bevies. Water Birds. — The common heron (Ardea) frequents the ri- ver from the heronry at Halleaths, a mile or two distant The bittern {Botaurus steUaris) once frequented this parish, but has not been observed of late years. It is still found, however, in Lochmaben and Johnstone. The water-rail {Rallus aquaticus) is met with in ditches and about Perch-hall Loch. The spotted gallinulo) or water-crake, (Crex porzana), is found around the same loch. The common coot (Fulica chiorapus) breeds there also, but leaves it on the ap- proach of winter. The common curlew {Numenius arquata) is very abundant in the upland pastures, where it breeds, retiring on the approach of winter. The green sandpiper ( Totanus ochropus) occasionally seen on its migratory passage. Common sandpiper ( T. kypokucos), dur- ing summer abundant both in Annan and Dryfe. Greenshank {T. glottis) is seen sometimes on the Annan. Conunon woodcock (Scolapax nisticola), and snipe {S. gallinago)^ and jack-snipe (5. gaUinula)^ all common, — the latter migratory. The lapwing (VaneUus cristatus) abundant Golden plover (Charadrius pluvudis) breeds in the parish, and is found in large flocks during winter. The common dotterel (C. morinetttts) was met with last spring in a flock of about twenty birds. A few pairs of the ring dotterel (C hiaticula) breed annually on the Annan. . Common cormorant {Pkalacrocarcue carbo) has been seen strag- gling up the Annan as far as Jardine-HalL Golden-eyed duck (Ckmgula vulgaris) ascends the river during winter in small flocks, most of them in the plumage of the first year ; they swim up the shallow streams, and destroy considerable quantities of spawn. The scaup (Fuligula marila) ; the tufted duck {F. cristata) ; pochard (F.ferina) ; pintail (Aruu acuta); and wigeon (Mareca penelope)^ are all found here. The first four are met with but seldom ; the last more abundant. The common wild-duck {A, bosckas)^ and teal {A. crecca)^ are abundant, but diminishing in numbers yearly. The wild swan (Cggnus Jerus) is sometimes seen in severe win. ters. The bean goose {Anser ferus) in flocks frequent the flat moors and holms in the same season. The white-fronted goose (A. erytkropus) is sometimes seen in small flocks. The goosander 182 DUMFRIES SHIRE. (Mergus merganser)^ male and female, ascend the Annan during winter in small flocks, in which, like the golden-eves, those of im- mature plumage, and females are most abundant. The little grebe (Podiceps minor) is common in the river dur- ing winter in pairs, or in small parties of five or six. The dusky grebe (P. comutus) has been met with once or twice. The red-throated diver {Colymbtu septentrionalis) has been once met with in immature plumage, or as the speckled diver of Bewick. The lesser black-backed gull (Larus marinus) is to be seen on the river during spring and summer almost every day. The common gull {L. cantis) in autumn and winter frequent the pasture and plowed fields in considerable flocks ; the greater part, in the plumage which gives them the name of winter-gull. The black-headed gull {L. ridibtmdus) breeds here, and comes occasionally during winter, frequenting the river, or following the plough. The common tern {Sterna hirundo) is sometimes seen fishing in the Annan in spring and autumn. II. — Civil History. Historical Events, — The only historical event worth noticing, connected with the parish, is stated in the following extract, from Chalmers* Caledonia, who gives as his authority, " the Royal Ward- robe Accounts :" " On the 7th of July 1300, Edward L who was then at Applegarth, on his way to the siege of Caerlaverock, made an oblation of seven shillings at St Nicholas' altar in the parish church at Applegarth, and another oblation of a like sum in the same church, at the altar of St Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, in honour of this martyr, whose translation was com- memorated on this day." Resident Proprietors^ ^c. — Sir William Jardine, Bart well known for his attainments in natural history, and particularly for his valu- able works on ornithology, resides constantly at his seat at Jardine- Hall in this parish. The land-owners are six, viz. Sir William Jardine, Bart., John Herries Maxwell, Esq. of Munshes and Din- widdie, John James Hope Johnstone, Esq. of Annandale, James Seton Wightman, Esq. of Courance and Lamonbie, Alexander Rod- gerson, Esq. of Sibbaldbie, and the Honourable David Williamson Robertson Ewart, one of the Senators of the College of Justice. Parochial Registers. — The earliest entry of baptisms is in Sep- tember 1694, — of marriages December 1694, and of deaths 1777. APPLEGARTH AND SIBBALDBIE. 18*^ From the first mentioned date to April 1715, the register is regular and complete ; from that time to 1749, none were kept; from 1749 to 1777, it was kept partially, and from the last date to 1832, it is regular and complete, in all the three branches. Antiquities. — Till within these few years, the traces were visible of the foundation of a large oblong building, on the moat of Ap- plegarth, now forming part of the minister's garden. Whether it had been, as it is supposed, the site of the church visited by Ed- ward ii> 1300, or of some humbler and more modern erection, can- not now be ascertained. . In trenching the moat for garden ground, a few rough squared blocks of red sandstone were dug up; and pro- bably it had undergone the operation of trenching at some former period, in order to procure building stones. A small portion of carved stone was found at the same time, and is now in the minis- ter's possession, in appearance part of one of those ornamental stone crosses which in former times, were the usual appendages of Romish churches, and many of which are to be seen still standing in front of ancient monasteries in the Highlands and Hebrides. Within 200 yards of the manse, and on a small eminence, stood till lately an arched vault, the remains of one of those border keeps so com- mon in the neighbourhood of the debateable land. It has now fal- len in. — About 500 yards farther to the eastward, there were found eighteen or twenty years ago, about four or five feet under the sur- face, the remains of a large chest, or rather its iron work, the wood having long since decayed, consisting of corner*bands, hinges, por- tions of the lock, &C. all of ihejleur-de'-lys pattern, besides a piece of ornamental work of iron, the purpose of which it is not easy to discover. It has been conjectured, in the absence of every thing like evidence, that this chest may have formed part of the equipage belonging to Edward, — as it is stated in the Caledonia, that the king waited some days at Applegarth the arrival of his baggage. These articles are now in the possession of Sir William Jardine. «— A venerable thorn called '^ the Albie Thorn," stands in a field within 500 yards of the church, which it is said was planted on the spot where Bell of Albie fell, while in pursuit of the Maxwells after the battle of Dryfe sands. — A similar memorial marks the spot, about half a-mile distant in Dryfesdale parish, where it is said Lord Maxwell himself, at that time warden of the Western Marches, was killed. — Part of the ruins still remain of the parish church of Sibbaldbie, now annexed to Applegarth. — Roman sta- tions are visible in several places. On Dinwiddie hill and on 184 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Gleugh-Heads hill, which is now planted, there are two of these stations still very distinct, and on White- Castle knowe, in the same range, there is one which has more the appearance of a beacon hill of British, than of Roman origin. A Roman road also tra- verses the parish in a northerly direction ; it may be traced in some places for several hundred yards above the level of the adjoining ground. It appears to have led from a strong station, in the farm of Dryfeholm, in the neighbouring parish of Dryfesdale, in the direction towards Moffat — Ten or twelve years ago, a goldcoin of James VL was found in the farm of Belcot Hill ; and a few months ago a French gold coin was dug up in the garden at Dinwiddie Mains, of Francis I. in a good state of preservation ; they are both in the hands of Sir William Jardine. Modem Buildings. — The only modem buildings worthy of note are the mansion house of Jardine- Hall, built in 1814; that of Hook built in 1806, a property formerly belonging to Edward Armstrong, Esq. now to John James Hope Johnston, Esq.; the parish church erected in 1761, and the manse in 1806. There are three corn-mills and one lint-mill. The materials employed in the erection of Jar- dine- Hall, and the manse and church, are red sandstone, taken from a quarry on Corncockle muir in Lochmaben parish. Hook house is built of greenstone, from the bed of the river Dryfe, with the ex- ception of the hewn work, which is of red sandstone. IIL— Population. From a minute statement in the handwriting of Mr Dugald Simpson, minister of Applegarth, in 1696, it appears that the exa- minable persons amounted at that period to 610. The whole po- pulation would therefore be somewhere about 830. In 1755 it amounted to 897 In 1777 to - - 943 But in 1792 it fell to . 741 In 1801 it rose again to - 795 In 1811 to - - 841 In 1821 to . . 94S and at last census in 1831, the population was 999. Tlie de* crease between the years 1777 and 1792 is attributed in the for- mer Statistical Account, and perhaps correctly, to the system adopted about that period by land-owners, of joining a number of small farms into one. The increase since that period may be as- cribed, partly to the improved system of husbandry creating a de- mand for labourers, and partly to the natural progress of popula- APPLEGARTH AND SIBBALDBIE. 18& tion, — ^the births in the parish nearly doubling the deaths, — a pro- gress kept in check, however, in a slight degree by emigration to Canada. It may be as well, perhaps, to remark here, in order to account for the small number of deaths compared with the births, that there are no towns, villages, or manufactories in the parish, and that all that portion of the population consisting of farm- servants is a shifting population, — most of them being at the health- iest period of life, and hardly any of them remaining in the pa- rish during life, — ^that is to say, long enough to add to the bills of mortality. 1. Number of fiunilies in the parity .... 161 of fiunilies chiefly employed in agriculture, - - 69 chiefly employed in trade, manufiu;tures, or handicraft, 87 2. Number of unmarried men, bachelors or widowers, upirards of 50 ycors of age, 5 of unmarried women, including widows, upwards of 45, - 9 3. The average number of births yearly, for the last 7 years, • - 23 of deaths, - - . . . Hi. of marriages, .... 7 4. The number of persons at present under 15 years of age, - - 893 upwards of 70, • . . 18 There are four fatuous individuals, and one deaf and dumb. Character, 4-c. of the People, — The habits of the people are sober and industrious; and, in regard to cleanliness, they may justly claim their full share in the improvement in this respect, acknowledged to have taken place among the Scottish tenantry. From the high prices of agricultural produce during the late war, and the consequently high rents, the landholders of Applegarth and Sibbaldbie considered their tenants as justly entitled to im- proved accommodation. The farm-houses, accordingly, are near- ly all new, and in general very commodious ; and the occupiers, in their improved circumstances, encouraged by the liberality of their landlords, and willing to second them in matters so materially con- nected with their own comfort, furnished their houses in a style of neatness strikingly contrasted with their condition twenty or twenty- five years ago. Habits of cleanliness were almost, of course, natu- rally formed, and now happily influence both their in-door and out-door arrangements, their dress, and in general their whole style of Uving. At the same time, they are altogether free from the error of living above their means. Indeed, it has been alleged by some of the high-spirited fanners in some neighbouring parishes, that they go to the opposite extreme. It would be well, perhaps, if we could say of Scotch husbandmen in general, what may be 186 nUMFRIES-SHIRE. said with truth of the farmers of Applegarth, that they have not discarded the good old habits of simple and economical living. The ordinary fare of the tenantry is certainly changed so far, that none of them now breakfast but on tea and coffee, or dine without animal food on their tables. Yet it is in strict moderation, and suitable only to their means ; and their meals, under ordinary circumstances, are never followed by wine or ardent spirits. The common food of the tradesmen and day-labourers is, of course, a degree more economical. In truth, to the man whose days' wages do not exceed 2s. the meal-chest and [the potatoe-bing must al- ways be the great resource. Yet many of this class, while deep- ly sensible of the value of such a resource, and thankful to Provi- dence for its general abundance, are not without additional com- forts of a substantial kind. Some of them are able to purchase a sheep, or a portion of a fat cow, to be salted for their winter store ; and in a parish where almost every cottar keeps a pig, and some a milch cow, anything like severe destitution can hardly be supposed to exist. All classes of the people enjoy, there- fore, in a reasonable degree, the comforts and advantages of that kind of society to which they are inclined. The present depres- sed state of agriculture bears hard on the tenants of Applegarth as on others. They find, that, to make money by farming, is at present out of the question ; and the tenant who can pay his rent without encroaching on his capital, if he has any, considers him- self fortunate. In these circumstances, they can hardly be expect- ed to be contented; but they may be resigned to an evil which it is not in their power to remedy. The other classes, — tradesmen and labourers, — are too intimately connected with the tenantry, not to share with them in their feelings and deprivations. Poaching in game cannot be laid to the charge of the inhabit- ants of this parish ; and though the same cannot be said, with re- gard to poaching in the salmon fisheries, it is certain that even that is on the decline. IV. — Industry. Agriculture and Rural Economy. — Of the 11,500 imperial acres of which the pariah coiisistB, there are either cultivated or occasionally in tillage, ..... 7992 Of lands waste, or in permanent pasture, a portion of which has been at one time in crop, but not within the last 50 years, and including 60 or 70 acres of moss, there are, ... . . 8777 Of these 3777 acres, a few hundreds might, by a judicious application of c»- APPLEGARTH AND SIBBALDBIE. 187 pital, be rendered more productive, and, in fact, such improYement is now in partial operation. Acres incurably barren, or redaimable only at a coat disproportioned to the profit, included in the above, ... from 1^ to 200 In undivided common, - - - ... Underwood, 831 It may be observed here, that, on the Dryfe division of the parish, there was formerly a considerable extent of old wood, chiefly oak and ash, which was cut down about twenty years ago, and the ground replanted with larch, and other species of the fir tribe. On Bal- gray, the value of the timber annually cut and sold amounts to about L. 50. The management of the young woods throughout the parish is of the most approved kind. The land, previous to its being planted, is thoroughly drained and well-fenced, and thin- ning and pruning carefully attended to. As a natural conse- quence, the plantations are all in a very thriving state. Bent qfZjondy Wagesj Prices^ S^c. — TTie average rent of the arable land may be from 16s. to 186. per imperial acre. There is in the parish almost every variety of soil, and while some of it, consisting chiefly of alluvial tracts, is let as high as L. 2, there is much more at 12s., 10s., and even as low as 7s. and 6s. per acre. The gross rental of the whole parish is L. 6680. As to the ave- rage rent of grazing it is difficult to speak with perfect accuracy. But, perhaps, for the summer, it may be at the rate of L. 3» or L. 3, 10s. for a cow or full-grown ox ; from 5s. 6d to 5s. 9d. for hill-fed sheep; and from 10s. to 15s. for those grazed on richer pasture, during the whole year. The average rate of wages of good ploughmen, exclusive of board and lodging, is about L. 12 per annum; of women-servants, L. 5 ; of day-labourers, without victuals. Is. 6d. per day during summer, and Is. 4d. in winter. In hay and com harvest, the wages rise to 2s., and occasionally a little more. To masons, carpenters, and other trades requiring apprenticeship, from 2s. 6d. to 3s. is given. The wages of day-labourers generally, in this parish, are kept low by the competition they encounter from the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages, and especially from Irish labourers domiciled there. The rate of mason, carpenter, and other mechanical work, is as follows : Building ruble wall, including materials and carriage, per rood of 86 yards, - - . - . . - UdOO Hewing, including cost of stone, per foot, - - - 7 Plastering, per square yard, . - - - 8 1^0 3 7 2 3 1 6 1 9 2 3 6 2 10 1 1 10 8 2 ]2 6 I 11 6 1 5 1 188 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Flagging, per yard* ..... Diking with dry stone, per rcMxi of 19 feet, from 58. to Slating with Welsh slate, per yard, ... With Lancashire do. per yard, . ... Carpenter work ; roofing, with Soots fir large couples, per yard. With small do. ..... With American timber. Is 9d. to . - . Flooring and joisting per yard, ~ ... Windows, per foot, - - ... Doors, full mounted, from 128. 6d. each to . * . Farm cart, with iron aile^tree, .... With wood do. - - . . - Lothian plough, complete, .... Scotch plough, . . - - Pkiir of harrows, complete, . . . . Wheelbarrows, ....... Breeds of Live Stock, — Except on one dairy farm, where the stock is Ayrshire, the cattle kept here are of the Galloway breed. They are well suited for this country, being hardy, good feeders, capable of attaining to a large size, and much in request for the markets in Norfolk, Suffolk, &c. where they are fattened for Smith- field. Much attention has of late years been paid to the improve- ment of these animals in this parish as in the rest of the district, and we now rival Galloway itself in the purity of our breed and the symmetry of our bullocks. This improvement has been effected by the introduction of the most approved stock from their indige- nous pastures by the allurement of high prices for their bulls and cows. Of sheep, the Cheviot breed constitutes the stock on the hill pasture in the parish, while on the lower and arable lands there are some small stocks of the Leicester breed. But the chief ptir- pose for which any species of this kind of stock is kept here being to eat off the turnip crop, and for which Highland wedders are ge- nerally purchased, equal attention in breeding sheep to that be- stowed on black cattle is not paid. Husbandry. — The course of husbandry pursued is the system in more or less perfection, of alternate white and green crops, though in many instances with a considerable portion of the farm in pas- ture This is rendered necessary by the pretty extensive rearing of cattle. Turnips have been, for the last few years, cultivated largely, and consumed on the ground by sheep,— a valuable inno- vation on the old.system, and one which has increased materially the produce of com crops. If any ^^ specialty" distinguishes the agri- culture of the parish,' it is the quantity of pork produced. Through- out all Annandale this is an important article of commerce, and by APPLEGARTH AND SIBBALDBIE. 189 no Other parish is it supplied more abundantly or of better qua- lity than by Applegarth. No fewer than 620 carcases are here fed and sold annually ; and averaging them at fourteen imperial stones each) and assuming the average price to be 5s. per stone, there is thus for this one commodity brought into the parish every winter L.2170, a sum amounting to nearly one-third of the rent of the arable land belonging to it. The animals are reared chiefly on po- tatoes, — they are grazed during summer, and fattened on boiled potatoes and oatmeal. The following may be considered as the most prominent defects in the husbandry of this parish, as well as of the country in general. Sufficient attention is not, generally speaking, bestowed on the drain- ing of the land, nor on cleaning it when under naked fallow or green crop, nor on rearing and preserving the fences, of which proprie- tors would do well to take the chief charge on themselves ; whiles at the same time, the course of cropping is rather severe on many of the farms. Neither is sufficient care taken to increase the dung- bill, that *^ mother of the meal chest." Too many cattle are kept during winter, and consequently they are on short allowance. Lime, also, is, owing perhaps to the great distance of the limekilns, in general bestowed in too stinted measure ; and though the dose is more frequently repeated than in districts where the mode of ap- plication is better understood, the effect is by no means so benefi- cial as when a sufficient quantity is administered at once. It is not doubted, however, that most, if not all of these defects, would soon be remedied, if agriculture were once more in a prosperous state. Already, in fact, in some of our farms these defects are hardly dis- cernible. At an early period, and until the middle of the last century, several of the lai^st farms in the north-eastern quarter of the parish were occupied by a number of small tenants, who ploughed exclu- sively onlhe hill grounds, to the extent of some hundreds of acres more' than Ls now even occasionally cultivated. A change of sys- tem about 1760 and 1770, threw these farms entirely into sheep- walks, occupied each by one tenant ; and they continued in a state of pasturage, becoming gradually coarser and more unproductive, till within the last ten or twelve years, when the occupiers have found it advantageous to lime and break up extensively, generally laying out the land immediately in grass for sheep pasturage. And these tracts of land being in most cases possessed by able tenants, the cultivation will probably extend to all the dry ground in simi- lar circumstances. 190 pUMFRIES^SHIRE. Ewbanking, — In the way of embanking, much permanent bene- fit has been secured by the extensive operations of the late Sir Alexander Jardine, who protected from the floods in the river An- nan a very considerable breadth of the richest lands in the parish, thereby fitting them for the growth of wheat, their natural and most profitable produce. The embankments are carefully kept up, and nothing farther remains to be done in that way. The ordinary duration of leases is for fifteen years ; and for nine- teen or twenty-one years where the lands let are unproductive, or require great outlay by the tenant The general management and productiveness of the land have in- creased much of late years. Soon after the commencement of this century, farmers, stimulated by high prices, began to give attention to the accounts of better and more liberal systems of agriculture, which were emanating from more improved districts ; Roxburgh- shire and the Lothians particularly. The example was followed, and, conjoined with favourable markets, created capital which was in many cases freely employed in farther ameliorations. Rents, as leases expired, kept pace, or nearly so, with the rise of prices and increased produce. But when these flourishing times began to change in 1815, and continued to decline in subsequent years, the rents did not by any means fall in equal proportion. Since that period, many of the seasons have proved unfavourable, as in 1816, 1823, and 1830. Many of the tenants have been stripped of their former gains, and an effectual bar placed in the way of any thing like very extensive improvement One great obstacle to improvement on the part of the tenants is the diminution of their capital in consequence of the fall of prices, unproductive seasons, and disproportioned high rents. These over-stretched rents are not attributable to the landlords, who them- selves, heavily burdened, naturally take what they can obtain in the market from good tenants. The fact seems to be, that there are too many engaged in agriculture, or, in other words, the competi- tion for farms is so eager, that land has not been allowed to fall to its fair value. Profits, therefore, are nothing, and, in too many instances, less than nothing; so that tenants find it difficult to car- ry into effect plans which appear and would prove beneficial. In these circumstances, the aid of the landlord seems indispensable, at least where extensive improvements are contemplated. But the fluctuating nature of the times during the last fifteen years, in respect to agriculture, and the fall of rents, — for fallen they APPLEGARTH AND SIBBALDBIE. 191 are to a considerable extent in this parish, even to the amount of 30 per cent — operated injuriously here. At the same time, however, landlords hold out every other encouragement, by pre- ferring judicious and liberal tenants, assisting such to some ex- tent, admitting no unfair restrictions in leases, and, in short, by every indulgence and accommodation that can be devised, short of heavy outlay. The late Sir Alexander Jardine expended, with great judgment, more money than any other proprietor of the day, in building farm-steadings, and inclosing and subdividing his estate. When he succeeded to this fine property in 1806, the farm-houses were comfortless, ill-thatched huts, and the inclosures few, and of the most useless description. He instantly applied himself to re- medy these deficiences, and in a very few years produced in the property the most marked and beneficial change. About thirty farms, constituting nearly the whole of his estate in this parish, re- ceived new steadings of the most convenient and substantial kind. And though the increase of produce may, in a few instances, have rendered additional offices necessary, the commodious and liberal scale of the farm-buQdings in general, mark him the foremost man of his day and district as an enlightened improver of landed property; and his character as the kindest of landlords is stamped on the hearts of the Applegarth tenantry by the memory of countless acts of beneficence. Produce. — Average gross amount of raw produce raised in the parish, as nearly as can be ascertained, is as follows : PfXNluGe of gndn of all kinds, whether cultivated for the food of man or domes- tic animals, including straw, ... L. 11931 13 10 Of potatoes, turnips, cabbages, beet, and other plants cultivated in the fields for food, - .... Of hay, whether meadow or cultivated, ... Of flax, .... Of land in pasture, rating it at L. 3 per cow, or full-grown ox, graz- ed for the season,— at I&u per ewe, or fiiU-grown sheep, pastured liir the year, - - - - - Of gardens and orchards, .... Of the annual thinning and periodical felling of woods, plantations, and copse, ..... Total yearly value of raw produce raised, - L. 21291 7 Societies. — There are two associations in Annandale for the im- provement of husbandry, particularly of the breed of cattle, one in the upper, and the other in the lower district. Of this last district 3818 8 9 2170 5 55 4305 13 30 80 192 DUMFRIES-SUIRE. Applegarth Cprms a portion, isuid many of its premiums have been gained by tenants in the parish. V. — Parochial Economy. Markets and Means of Communication, — There is no market- town or other town in the parish; but the towns of Lockerbie and Lochmaben are in the immediate neighbourhood. The great road from Glasgow to London by Carlisle runs through the parish to the extent of five miles ; and on this road the Glasgow and London mail-coach travels daily. An additional light-mail has been recently established, drawn by two horses, and travelling at the rate of eleven miles per hour. There is also almost every year an opposition coach on the same line of road. Two bridges cross the Annan; one on the Glasgow line, at the 6dd mile-stone from that city and dlst from Carlisle, built in 1818; the other on the road leading from Dumfries, across Annandale into Eskdale, re- built in 1827, both in excellent condition. There are also two good stone bridges, and a wooden one for foot passengers, over the Dryfe, in the Sibbaldbie part of the parish. Ecclesiastical State, — The church is situated at the lower ex- tremity of the parish, almost within a stone's cast of Lochmaben parish on the west, and of Dryfesdale on the south; — of course very inconveniently for the greater part of the population ; many of the people having to travel four, five, and some even six miles, to attend the public duties of the Sabbath. The church was built in 1760 ; the seating was renewed in 1808, and a private gal- lery built, by Sir Alexander Jardine. The walls were stoothed, or done with lath and plaster, in 1822 ; and it is now in a very to- lerable state of repair, and can accommodate 380 sitters. There are no free sittings. The manse was built in 1805. The glebe consists of six and a-half acres of good land, and would let for a guinea and a-half per Scots acre. The stipend consists of seventeen chalders of victual, half in meal and half in barley, payable accord- ing to the fiars of the county. Converted into money, the stipend, at an average of the last seven years, is L. 280 per annum. There is no place of public worship besides the parish church. There are 129 families, comprehending 892 individuals of all ages, be- longing to the Established church ; and 23 families, comprehend- ing 107 individuals, belonging to the Secession. The average number of communicants is above 200. Collections have been made for the Highland Schools and India APPLEGARTH AND SIBBALDBIE. 193 MissioDy and will probably be repeated; the amount of each wasabout L. 8. Occasional collections have been made for other pubUc charities ; and a yearly subscription of one guinea is given to the Dumfries Royal Infirmary, Edxtcation. — There are three schools in the parish ; two of them parochial, and the third a boarding-school for females. In the first school, the branches taught, besides the ordinary ones, are Greek, Latin, French, geometry, geography. In the second the learned languages are not taught In the ladies' school, the branches taught are English, writing, arithmetic, French, geo- graphy, drawing, and needle-work. The parochial teachers have salaries, — the one the maximum of L.34, 5s., the other L. 17, 2s. 6d« The fees of the larger school may amount to nearly Li. 30, of the smaller to L.I5. Both teachers have substantial dwelling-houses and gardens. Hie lowest amount of expense of educating a child in these schools, as respects the mere ele- ments, is 8s. per annum; and the highest, including all the ad- vanced branches, L. 1, 10s. All the children in the parish up- wards of six years of age can read, or are attending school for that purpose. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The average number of persons receiving parochial aid regularly is 10. Among these the sum ex- pended is JL 30, 10s., making the average annual allowance toeach individual L. 3, Is. It may be proper to notice, that three of these paupers are in such circumstances of age, disease, and destitution, as to require among them L. 15, 9s. thus reducing the average al- lowance of the other seven to L. 2, 3s. each. There are also se- veral indigent persons who receive occasional aid, to the amount of L. 7, 68. 2Jd. Total sum expended annually, L. 37, 16s. 2Jd. The average annual amount of church collections for the last se* ven years, is L. 26, 2s. 4Jd. ; of interest of capital, L.3, 12s. 9Jd. ; of donations, L. 9, 7s. ; and from other sources not permanent, Lfc 1, 13s. lOJd. Li addition to these funds, there is a sum mor- tified to the poor on the estate of Applegarth, by Sir John Jardine in 1 745, of Lb 3, 6s. 8d. per annum. Total funds, L. 44, 2s. 8|d. Generally speaking, there is an unwillingness to seek parochial re- lief. But it must be acknowledged that this independent feeling is not so strong as it was thirty or forty years ago ; nor is there so ready a disposition, as ought to prevail among the substantial classes, to prevent their poorer relatives from coming on the poors* rolL Fairs^ Inns, Sfc. — In 1685, Sir Alexander Jardine, then pro- DUMFRIES. N 194 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. prietor of Applegarth, obtained a Parliamentary grant of the right to hold four annual fairs and a weekly market at the village of Applegarth. These fairs have long since ceased to be held ; but what is said to be the site of the market cross is still visible, and has witnessed within these thirty years the legal process of poinding cattle. There is but one inn, or public-house, in the parish; and it is frequented chiefly by travellers on the Glasgow road. The reprehensible practice of allowing toll-keepers to take out the spirit licence prevailed here for a year or two ; but now malt-li- quor only is allowed to be there sold. But even this privilege, af- fording as it does an opportunity of dealing clandestinely in ardent spirits, ought not, and it is hoped will not, be continued. Fuel. — The ordinary fuel is peat Every tenant having a right to fuel by his lease, the expense consists solely in working and leading it, — perhaps at the rate of 8d. or lOd. per cart-load. Coals, of which not a great deal is used, are brought from Annan, a distance of eleven miles from the south boundary of the parish. To that town they are sea-borne from the collieries of Cumber- land. Miscellaneous Observations. The difference between the present state of the parish and that which existed at the time of the last Statistical Account, is, as may naturally be expected, very great, though, from the want of mi- nuteness in that account, it is not easy to point out in many par- ticulars the precise degree of improvement The mode of living is more comfortable ; while the good old habits of domestic eco- nomy have not been impaired. The management of the land is more judicious, and of course it is greatly more productive. In one particular, the improvement is striking ; at that period there was little or no wheat raised in the parish, and but a small quan- tity of artificial hay. Now the yearly value of the former article grown in Applegarth will amount to between L. 5000 and I^ 6000, and of the latter to L. 1000 at least. The rental at the same pe- riod was between L. 2000 and L. 3000 ; it is now nearly L. 7000, and was a few years ago L. 8000. March 1834. PARISH OF TUNDERX5ARTH. PRESBYTERY OF LOCHMABEN, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. THOMAS LITTLE, A. M. MINISTER, I. — Topography and Natural History. Name^ Boundaries^ 4-c. — The name of this parish has been com- monly rendered '^ Castle of the Garden f* but more probably it is nothing more than the British and Irish Ton-der-garth^ which literally means ** the inclosure at the oak-hill.'' The form of the parish is very inconvenient ; its extreme length being about 12 or 13 miles, and its breadth varying from about 1} to 2 miles. It lies on the left bank of Milk- Water, the windings of which form two triangles, both obtuse. It is bounded on the west by the parishes of St Mungo and Dryfesdale, and the united parishes of Hutton and Corrie ; on the north-east by Westerkirk ; and on the south by Middlebie and Hoddam. Tapoffrapkical Appearances, — Its surface is undulating, and pre- cipitous throughout There are no hills of any altitude deserving particular notice, with the exception of Grange Fell and Grieve, which are about 900 feet above the level of the sea. The valleys are so deep by attrition and other causes, as to form very strikingly marked features in its varied landscape. In its whole length it is beau- tifully picturesque along the banks of the Milk, affording many very fine subjects for the pencil, especially in the neighbourhood of the nianse, and some places farther down. The climate partakes gene- rally of the character of the district, which is proverbially moist. Geoloffy and Mineralogy. — There are no indications of coal in this parish, nor is there any trace of sandstone. The formations are composed of transition rock, alternating with transition-slate and clay-slate, occasionally passing into greenstone ; subordinate to all which is greywacke in very thick beds. These are the ge- neral characters of the rocks where they appear, from the south- west end of the parish for about eight miles. There is no iron- stone, or limestone, or basalt. The amygdaloidal range passes to the south on the borders of the parish from Torbeckhill by Burns- wark, Newfield, &c. overlying coarse-grained sandstone, colours 196 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. varying from bright-red to gray and streaked, and sometimes pear- ly white, as at Bumswark. In this last are nodules of a dark- brown colour, from the presence of oxide of iron. This range, however, though bordering on Tundeigarth, is in the parishes of Middlebie and Hoddam. Peat abounds in the upper district of the parish ; but in the lower district it has of late years been very scarce. The soil is various ; but where cultivated is generally fertile, though in some places rather hard, thin, and rocky. There is very little holm or table-land. Towards the hills, the soil is cold, with a till or gravelly subsoil, and indurated clay. The greater part of the lands are much exposed to west-north-west and easter- ly winds; and, rising abruptly from the Milk, have very little shelter. More than one-half of the surface consists of fertile sheep-walks. A trial was made for lead some years ago on the farm of Hazzle- berry, and a level was^riven some distance into the hill. There were indications of the ore in a vein of iron mica ; but the search was not successful, and was finally abandoned. A search was also made for lead many years ago in Grange Fell, with similar suc- cess. Another trial was made in the bottom of a very deep glen on the estate of Crawthwaite, the property of George Graham, Esq. by a level which remains still open, or was so lately. Anti- mony was actually found. Some fine specimens of the ore were for many years in the possession of the late Thomas Johnstone, Esq. of Grange. It is probable the ore was not found in sufficient quantity to warrant the expense of farther search. The strata of the whole glen and hills on each side are transition-slate and clay- slate, the latter greatly abounding : the debris of it covers the slopes of the mountains. It is to be regretted that so few trials have been made in this part of the country, especially for coals, which are believed by all to exist in abundance. Were coals found in the neighbourhood of the many lime quarries, the price of lime would be much reduced. They are at present brought from the north of England by sea, and are very dear. The man who dis- covers coal in this part of the country will be entitled to be ranked among the benefactors of his countrymen. II. — Civil History. Accounts of the Parish. — There is a document in the possession of the family of Grange, containing an account very illustrative of border manners, at the period to which it refers.* • From this document it appears, that at the funeral of Thomas Johnstone of Purbsiehall, which Was some time prior to 1629, a fight took place between the TUNDERGARTH. 197 Historical Notices. — The church and parish of Tundergarth appear to be of ancient establishment^ seeing the advowsons never belonged to the Bishops of Glasgow. The manor of Tunder- garth seems to have belonged to the family of Johnstone^ where they had a castle, of which, however, no part now remains. The prevailing name was formerly Johnstone. The lands and patronage of the church belonged in the reign of James IV. to Lord Her- ries, in whose family they remained till the union of the crowns. From Lord Herries they passed to Murray of Cockpool, whose successors, the Viscounts of Stormont, held them in the reign of Charles IL The patronage at present belongs to Lord Mans- field. . Land'Cwners. — The property in this pariah is very much divided. The chief landed proprietors are Thomas Beattie, Esq. of Grieve, John Swan, Esq. of Whitstonehill, and William Johnstone, Esq. of Grange. Parochial Blisters, — The parochial regbters have been very irregularly kept hitherto ; but measures have now been taken to have them regularly kept in future. Antiquities. — In regard to antiquities, the oldest seemingly of which this parish can boast is a Roman road, discovered a few years ago on the north side, and passing from the Roman camp on Bumswark Hill, in a direction north-west. Traces of it have been found from thence to Closebum ; that being the tract by which the Romans under Agricola forced their way into Strath Cluid. The road was covered with about nine inches of earth. It is formed of broad flat stones, well packed together with water- sand in the interstices. It is about eight feet wide. There are still to be seen in many places small entrenched camps or Birrensy as they are called. They are all on elevated situations; generally of a round form, very prominent, and in good preservation ; and they consist of a strong vallum and fosse, with- out any outworks* The area seldom exceeds an acre, and is often less. It is conjectured that they were constructed during the long feuds and border wars by the Septs or lairds, to protect them- selves and cattle from the English, and from oHe another. It is. probable, however, that some of these may be of an earlier date, Johmtones of Tundergarth and those of Lockerbie, m which three of the latter family and two of the former were killed. A feud, it is said* existed at the time between the two fiunilies^ and to prevent any quarrelling, the fiunily of Tundergarth were not innted to the ftineral. Howerer, some of them came to the borying-ground, and a quarrel, as had been dreaded, taking place, the consequences were as we have stated. 198 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. and may be what are called British Fortifications ; many of them still retain the name of Castle. In breaking up some of these in the lower part of the parish, especially at Castlehill and Cairn- hill, opposite the manse, urns have been found containing human bones and ashes. Some of these urns were in a good state of preservation. There appear to be some Druidical remains on the farm of Whitehplm, the property of Mr Swan. They consist of seven erect stones, forming a semicircle, and are by the common people called the Seven Brethren. Among these remains, bones have been found ; but whether human or not, has not been ascertained. About a mile distant from these remains, on the property be- longing to the same gentleman, there existed until lately two cairns of pretty large dimensions ; and there was one of similar form and size also on the estate of Grange. When the stones were car- ried away for building fences and other purposes, there were found in the heart of them human skeletons, contained in something re- sembling stone coffins. In the neighbourhood of that on the property of Mr Swan, there are several tumuli resembling graves. III. — Population. The population, as ascertained by Census of 1801, was 484 of 1811, . 522 of 1821, - 518 of 1831, . 530 • 1. Number of fiunilies in the parish, .... 97 of ftmilies chiefly employed in agriculture, - - 47 chiefly employed in trade, manufiM^tures, or handicraft, 23 2. Number of unmarried men, bachelors or widowers, upwards of 50 years of age, 13 of unmarried women, including widows, upwards of 45, - 7 There were lately 9 persons above eighty years of age, 3 of whom were in their eighty-fifth year, and 1, a female, in her eighty-sixth year, all in the upper district of the parish. Several individuals have been known, within the memory of the present generation, to have reached their ninetieth year and upwards. The number of proprietors of land of L. 50 a-year in value, and upwards, is 19 or 20. The total number of proprietors in the parish is 27, of whom 13 are resident Charajcter of the People. — The people in general are sober and industrious ; seem satisfied with their condition and circumstances ; * The difference betwixt the population as here stated, and the account of it as given in when the census was last taken, may be owing to the season of the year when Use two accounts were taken. TUNDERGARTH. 199 and, as there are no great landed proprietors or farmers among them, they seem all pretty much on a footing of equaUty. Poaching in game has certainly prevailed to a considerable extent ; and though strong measures have been of late taken for its suppression, it will always prevail, to a certain extent, where property is so much di- vided. IV. — Industry. Agriculture and Rural Ecanamy. — Land cultivated, .... 2829 Imp. Acres. Never cultivated, . - - - 7643 Capable of b^g cultivated, ... 230 In undivided common. ... Under wood, ... - Planted. Larch, Scots fir, epruoe fir, interspersed with some little oak, ash, and other aerts of Aanrf wood, 97^ Indigenous. Birch, thorn, mountainous ash, hazel, &c 62 1504 The average amount and value of gross produce yearly raised in the parish, as far as can be ascertained, is as follows :— Of grain of all kinds cultivated for the food of man and of the do- mestic animals, .... L.2425 Of potatoes and turnips (no fields of cabbage, &c.) cultivated in the fields for food, .... 1675 5 Of bay, meadow and cukivated* ... 1055 16 8 Of flax, &C. cultivated for the arts, none. Of land in pasture, rating it at L. 2, lOs. and L. 3 per cow, grazed for the season ; (with a small exception, at 258. for cattle fed on coarse ground ;) at 58. per ewe, or fidl-grown sheep pastured for the year, ..... 2648 No revenue firom woods worth mentioning ; no gardens ; no or- chards ; no mines ; no fisheries, or sources of other profit than has been mentioned. L.7804 1 8 At an average, 167 swine may be fed annually, which, at L. 3 each, will amount to L. 501. The rental of the parish is about h. 3000. L/ive Stock. — The sheep kept in this district are all Cheviot ; and the cattle are generally of the Galloway breed. A good deal of attention has been paid to the improvement of sheep for these last twenty years, by procuring the best Cheviot rams from the east border. It has been found of late to answer a good purpose, on some particular farms, to cross a part of the ewes with Leicester rams. Though their lambs do not answer to be kept here as store- sheep, they conunand very high prices for the English market. 200 DUMFRIES-SHIBE. Much attention has also been paid to the breeding of black-cattle, by selecting the best Galloway bulls that can be got in the district B4Jiie ofLaibouT^ — The rate of labour is for men during summer, Is. 8d. per day, and for women, 1&, — ^sometimes less ; and during winter for men, Is., and for women, 6d. Artisans are paid from Is. 8d. to 2s. 6d. per day. V. — Parochial Economy. MarkeUTown^ Sfc. — Lockerby, in the adjoining parish of Dry- fesdale, is the nearest market-town, and is distant about a mile and a-half from the nearest part of the parish. Means of Commvnicatioru — The locality of the parish does not require many roads. The principal one runs about two-thirds of its whole length. It is generally kept in .very good repair, but the line of it is the worst that could have been chosen. Our fore- fathers seem always to have preferred carrying their roads over the tops of hills. Such is the road here. But a new one following the line of the Milk is projected, which, if made, will be the most picturesque and beautiful in the country. Ecclesiastical State. — Considering the length of the parish, the situation of the church is perhaps as good and convenient as any that could be chosen. The church was built upwards of sixty years ago, and is at present in a very good state of repair. It was late- ly stoothed and seated of new, and is at present one of the neatest and most comfortable in the district. It is to be regretted that, when the heritors repaired the church, they did not at the same time repair the wall round the burying ground, which is at present in a very ruinous state. The church affords accommodation for the legal number of sitters and no more. The manse was built, it is said, about a hundred years ago* Several additions were made to it during the life of the late incum- bent ; but every thing seems to have been done in a very injudi- cious and insufficient manner. It is at present in great need of repairs. There are about eight acres of glebe land, including the garden and the ground on which the manse and offices stand. Of these nearly six acres are very good arable land; the remainder consists of pas- ture ground, and the precipices on the side of the Milk, which are covered with natural wood. The average value of the arable and pasture land may be about L. 2 per acre. The stipend, according to the decreet of the court, is only six chalders of victual, half meal and half barley, and L.70 in TUNDEBGARTH. 201 money, with L. 8, ^. 8d* for communion elements. But as the money stipend was converted into grain at the average fiars' price for seven years, and part of the heritors surrendered the teinds, it con^sts of about Lb 56 in money, and somewhat more than fifty-six double bolls of victual, barley, and meal. There are very few dissenters of any description in the pa- rish, and these few do not originally belong to it, but have come from other parts of thia country. The people in general seem at- tached to the Establishment. Hiey have perhaps kept as close to it since the revolution, and have had as few grounds for being dis- satisfied, as any other in the district. The churdi is in general very well attended. The number of communicants may be about 150 or upwards. Education* — There is one established school in the parish, where the usual branches are tau^t The salary is the maximum. There is also the interest of JL 100 for behoof of the free school of the parish. The interest of this sum is usually employed in paying for some of the poorer children. The parochial school- master is provided with the usual accommodations, as directed by law. The school fees are for reading and writing, 2s. ; for arith- metic, 3s. 6d. ; and for Latin, 58 ; and the amount actually received is about L. 20 per annum. The charges for other branches are regulated by those of the adjoining parishes. The people can all read and write; they are in general very sensible of the benefits of education, and desirous of having their children instructed in the ordinary branches. The two extremities of the parish lie at rather too great a distance from the school. This is an evil that cannot easily be remedied, as the funds of the parish and population are not adequate to the support of two re- spectable established schools. Piwr cmd Parochial Funds* — The poor are supported by the col- lections in the church, which may average about Lb 13, the interest of L. 100, and a voluntary contribution by the heritors of 10s. on every 100 merks valuation. How the L. 100 was acquired is not very certain. Whether it has accumulated, or part of it was originally mortified, cannot be ascertained. The number of poor at present on the roll is 4. They receive 6s. 8d., 3s. 6d., and ds. 4d. per month, according to circumstances. Besides these there is a fatuous person, for whom the parish pays L. 10 per annum. Occasional demands in addition to what is now stated are made upon the funds. There does not appear to be any growing dispo- sition to apply for parish relief. 202 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Inns^ 8fc. — There is no house licensed to retail ale, or any kind of ardent spirits in this parish. There was one licensed for this purpose some years ago. But so many complaints were made against it, that measures were taken by those concerned to prevent a renewal of the license. Miscellaneous Observations. Since the last Statistical Account was written a great improve- ment, though not to the extent that might be wished, has taken place in the parish. The mode of husbandry has been altered and im- proved much since that time, and many of the farms have been bet- ter inclosed and subdivided with hedges and other fences ; and where capital has been liberally applied, some of the farms, con- sidering the nature of the soil, are in a high state of cultivation. It is to be regretted that this parish is so bare of wood, as it would be much benefited by additional shelter. A good deal has been done in several places of late ; but of these we can only par- ticularize a few. There are, for example, some fine old trees on the estate of Whitstonehill, principally ash, which seems to be particularly well suited to the banks of the Milk. Some young plantations have lately been put down on the same estate, which are thriving well, but their extent is rather limited. Considerable plantations have also been made of late on the estate of Pierceby Hall, the property of G. Rogerson, Esq. There is also a consi- derable quantity of fine old timber and young wood on the estate of Gibsontown. The late proprietor, John Johnstone, Esq. ex- pended a considerable sum of money, and with great taste and judgment, in improving and beautifying his property. It is now one of the most pleasant and desirable places of residence in the neighbourhood. The improvements, however, on the estate of Grange, the property of William Johnstone, Esq. are chiefly re- markable. About eighteen years ago, that gentleman planted ex- tensively ; and the plantations, which consist of timber of all sorts, are thriving uncommonly well. If the same spirit and taste had been displayed by all the other proprietors as by those above men- tioned, Tundergarth, from the nature of its surface and localities, would have been one of the most beautiful parishes in the whole district February 1834. PARISH OF SAINT MUNGO. PRESBYTERY OF LOCHMABEN, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. ANDREW JAMESON, M. W. S. MINISTER, L — Topography and Natural History, Name and Boundaries. — The ancient name of this parish was Abermilk ; the British designation Aber^ signifying the confluence of waters, agrees with the situation of the parish, which is a kind of peninsula formed by the junction of the rivers Milk and An- nan. The inquisitio of Earl David found, in the year 1116, that the lands of Abermilk belonged of old to the episcopate of Glas- gow. The Bruces having built a castle on the Water of Milk in the twelfth century, the name of the parish was changed to that of Castlemilk. The parish under this new name is mentioned in the year 1170 by Pope Alexander; and in 1290, William de Gos- ford, the parson of Castlemilk, swore fealty at Berwick to King Ed- ward I. The church of the parish was dedicated to God under the invocation of St Mungo, the canonized founder of the see of Glasgow ; and most probably the people gave the name of their favourite patron to the parish, as being more in unison with their religious feelings than a designation which brought to their remem- brance only the haughty baron or his feudal requisitions. Since the alteration of the religion of Scotland, the nsune of St Mungo has always designated the parish, except, perhaps, during that pe- riod of intolerance when the appellations Saint and Devil were es- teemed synonymous terms. The parish, situated in the upper ward of the ancient stewartry of Annandale, extends from north to south about 4 mile?, and from east to west about 2 J miles, containing 7| square miles ; is bounded on the south by the parish of Dalton ; on the east by Hoddam ; on the north by Tundergarth ; and by Dryfesdale on the west Topographical Appearances. — The surface of this parish is uneven, being elevated into two hill ridges, and depressed by their accompany- ing vales. On the south of the parish, the high wooded grounds of 204 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Kirkwood in Dalton, and Nutholmhill in this parish, form a beau- tiful vale a mile lon^, through which the river Annan flows in a ser- pentine course. In the centre of this enchanting vale, and on the bank of the river Annan, the manse and church, embowered in wood, are situated. The manse stands 90 feet above the high water- mark at Annan by the barometer. Nutholmhill, elevated 200 feet above the sea, sinks gradually into a plain eastward at the.junction of the Annan and Milk, and westward near the village of Lockerby. Directly east, and nearly parallel with the ridge of Nutholmhill, rise the eminences named Barrhill and Breckenhill. Barrhill sinks into the level of the holms of Hoddam on the east ; whilst Breckenhill, stretching westerly, sinks into the bed of the Milk on the confines of the parish of Tundergarth. This ridge extends about two mOes, and is in its highest parts elevated 250 feet above the sea. Through the highly cultivated and richly wooded valley formed by these hills, the Water of Milk takes a serpentine course of three miles, on the bank of which is built the modem mansion of Castlemilk. In the north of the high land of Breckenhill, after a slight depression, the ground suddenly rising up again, forms the classical table-shaped hill of Bumswark in the parish of Hoddam. Mfiff^Vy* — '^^ climate is rather moist, from the parish being only si^ miles from the Solway Firth, and the quantity of high I^i0IIjk1 contained in and surrounding the parish. The most pre- valent winds are from the south-west. Although the climate is mild ffota the sudden alternations of temperature to which the parish is expo^9 inflammatory complaints are not uncommon ; the very flimsy nianufacture, which has supplanted the coarse fabric of our forefathers, gives rise to many glandular diseases, consumptions, and complaints of the liver and stomach. The great improvement which has taken place within these thirty years in the construction of houses, their comparative cleanliness and capability of ventila- tion, have greatly tended to diminish disease among the aged ; whilst vaccination (now very generally adopted) has no less dimi- nished death in early life. A somewhat singular atmospherical phenomenon passed over this parish some years since. Avery smart shower of rain from the south-west, originating in the maritime parish of Caeriaverock, crossed this parish in the same direction, and spent itself on the confines of the parish of Tundergarth. The rain was salt water ; aikd from the heat of a clear sun immediately after the shower, in a short time evaporation left slight incrustations of on grass and tree. A whirlwind over the Solway, then at high 3 ST. MUNGO. 205 ;i¥ater, had doubtless elevated the water which thus fell so far in- land. An account of the phenomena was published in one of the earlier volumes of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. Hydrography* — The River Annan takes its course through this parish in a south-eastern direction, separating it from the parishes of Dalton and CummerUrees for three miles. Many fine springsof water are found here, flowing generally from under secondary trap rock or sandstone, on which the trap rocks rest The Saint's Well, close by the church, is a powerful spring flowing from the amygdaloid of Nutholmhill at a great depth; for its temperature (48^) is nearly the same in summer as in winter. The Water of Milk divides the parish nearly in the middle, running in a south-eastern direction for nearly three miles. Geology and Mineralogy, — The geognostic appearance of this parish being of the most interesting nature, will apologize for the length of the following remarks. The valley of Annan or Annandale conmiences above the village of MoffsBit, in the tremendous hollow of Errickstane, and terminates near the manse of this parish, — a distance of fully twenty-three miles. Several lateral vales termi- nate in this vale. The lateral vale of the Milk terminates with- out it, a little way above the confluence- of the Milk and the Annan on the north-east part of this parish. The sides of these vales are generally smooth and covered with vegetation. The bottom, though sometimes rocky, is generally covered with alluvial soil, forming the best land in the county. The valley of the Annan was probably at some former period a hollow in the transition rocks, in which a great river (vastly greater than that which now exists) flowed; but by the formation of the floetz or secondary trap rocks across its commu- nication with the ocean, it appears to have been converted into a lake. The water of the lake, after the retiring of the ocean, ap- pears to have worn a passage through the opposing rocks, and at length has passed from the state of a lake to that of a river. This river has gradually deepened its channel, and left its original out- let by the house of Dormont, and flows out by the deeper and more circuitous channel, through which it now reaches the sea. The great height of the original banks of the Annan, and the great dis- tance at which they are situated, prove the former magnitude of the stream ; whilst the- banks and masses of water-borne gravel, form- ing the lands of Edge and Hard^ve in Dalton, and Newfield in Ruthwell parishes, declares the magnitude of the body of water from which they derived their origin. 206 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. In this as in Canoby parish, we have distinctly laid open the great connecting links of the various formations which compose the mineral history of this county. The transition rocks which compose the mountains of Mofiat, and stretch southwards, inclose the vale of Annan ; and, after being hid by the soil, are discovered again in the bed of the Annan at Williamwath ford, and near the Kettleholm bridge in the bed of the Milk. The transition rocks can be traced from Williamwath ford to the Almagil liills in Dal- ton parish ; whilst the same rocks on the Milk, after being covered for some miles by soil and the secondary rocks, are again discovered forming the base of Burnswark in the parish of Hoddam. The transition rocks in this parish are greywacke, which occurs mas- sive in the Annan ; whilst in the bed of the Milk the greywacke alternates with greywacke-slate. This rock in its slaty form has not yet been found so thin and solid as to be applied to economi- cal purposes. The independent coal formation makes its appearance in the bed of the Annan, at the head of the St Mungo glebe. Slate-clay and sandstone are traced lying over the transition rocks. This junction is beautifully laid open by a small quarry on the glebe. At Dalton Hook, a quarter of a mile up the river Annan from this ford, there occurs a large mass of conglomerate limestone, which evidently belongs to this series of rocks. This limestone is com- posed of fragments of compact grayish-coloured limestone, quartz, and greywacke, cemented by a clayey basis. The sandstone of this formation is here white; and the same coloured sandstone oc- curs at Cone, in the parish of Kirkpatrick, and at Cowdens, in this parish, though in the latter situation its colour is rather grayish- white. This formation again appears at Rotchell to the south- east of the manse, continues from that point to the shores of the Solway Firth, and extends through the lower part of Annandale and Eskdale. At Whitehill, on the north border of this parish, the independent coal formation may be traced in beds of clay ironstone, slate-clay containing impressions of shells, and ash gray-coloured limestone, containing petrifactions, principally mytuhtes. Secondary trap formation. — In this parish, and, indeed, through the whole county, only individual rocks which compose this forma- tion are found ; but no where is the series complete. Nutholm hill is composed of porphyritic amygdaloid. This rock can be traced on both sides of the river Annan, to the little hill of Whiny- rigg, where it terminates, and is succeeded by the coal formation. 4 ST. MUNGO. 207 To the west and south of Nutholm hill, the amygdaloid is traced to the bed of the Annan, at the head of the glebe, where it can. be distinctly seen, lying on the white-coloured sandstone already mentioned, and the slate-clay of the coal formation; from this point it can be traced to the manse of Dalton, where the greywacke again appears forming the mountain-arm which stretches along the bot- tom of the vale of the Annan. On descending Nutholm hill to- wards the Milk, the amygdaloid can again be traced, extending to the bed of the Milk, lying over a very coarse sandstone, and clay ironstone, which are deposited immediately above the greywacke, a gunshot above the Kettleholm bridge. The amygdaloid here dis. appears, and is not met with again, till we reach Barhill, on the opposite bank of the Milk ; there it lies over a sandstone similar to that observed on the banks of the Annan on the glebe, which sandstone rests on greywacke. From Barhill, the amygdaloid con- tinues to stretch along the high ground to Bumswark, resting in many places on very coarse-grained conglomerate sandstone, which again rests on much inclined strata of small-grained greywacke. The amygdaloid of Nutholm hill has its cavities filled with green earth, whereas much of the same rock forming Barhill has its ca- vities filled with calcedony. In the year 1825, the plough turned up some pieces of rich galena, on a farm belonging to the estate of William Camithers of Nutholm, Esq. and the tenant on making a search collected about I cwt. of beautiful ore. The ground where this valuable dis- covery was made, Ues on the north bank of the Annan, and about fifty feet above the bed of the river ; the soil in which it was depo- sited is loose gravel, over a till (ferruginous clay) subsoil, and this is laid over the sandstone which has been mentioned as lying im- mediately under the amygdaloid and resting on the transition rocks. From the probability that a vein of lead ore might be found, a pro- fessional examination of this spot was made by J. Wyatt, Esq. of Foolow, Derbyshire, and specimens of the ore submitted to the exa- mination of Professor Jameson of Edinburgh. The result of this in- vestigation was a resolution to form a joint-stock company, in small shares, in order to undertake a thorough examination of the land where the ore was found. Mr Wyatt procured a mining-tack for the pro- jected company. The greater number of shares were subscribed for ; and nothing was awanting but the acquiescence of the conti- guous proprietors, to justify the company commencing their mining operations. The ground being surrounded by the property of no 200 DUMFRIES-SHIBE. Much attention hafi also been paid to the breeding of black«cattle, by selecting the best Galloway bulls that can be got in the district. Baie ofLabotar^ — The rate of labour is for men during summer, Is. 8d. per day, and for women, Is., — ^sometimes less ; and during winter for men, Is., and for women, 6d. Artisans are paid from Is. 8d. to 2s. 6d. per day. V. — Parochial Economy. Market-Town^ ^rc, — Lockerby, in the adjoining parish of Dry- fesdale, is the nearest market-town, and is distant about a mile and a-half from the nearest part of the parish. Means of Communication. — The locality of the parish does not require many roads. The principal one runs about two-thirds of its whole length. It is generally kept in .very good repair, but the line of it is the worst that could have been chosen. Our fore- fathers seem always to have preferred carrying their roads over the tops of hills. Such is the road here. But a new one following the line of the Milk is projected, which, if made, will be the most picturesque and beautiful in the country. Ecclesiastical State. — Considering the length of the parish, the situation of the church is perhaps as good and convenient as any that could be chosen. The church was built upwards of sixty years ago, and is at present in a very good state of repair. It was late- ly stoothed and seated of new, and is at present one of the neatest and most comfortable in the district. It is to be regretted that, when the heritors repaired the church, they did not at the same time repair the wall round the burying ground, which is at present in a very ruinous state. The church afibrds accommodation for the legal number of sitters and no more. The manse was built, it is said, about a hundred years ago. Several additions were made to it during the life of the late incum- bent ; but every thing seems to have been done in a very injudi- cious and insufficient manner. It is at present in great need of repairs. There are about eight acres of glebe land, including the garden and the ground on which the manse and offices stand. Of these nearly six acres are very good arable land; the remainder consists of pas- ture ground, and the precipices on the side of the Milk, which are covered with natural wood. The average value of the arable and pasture land may be about L. 2 per acre. The stipend, according to the decreet of the court, is only six chalders of victual, half meal and half barley, and L. 70 in TUNDERGARTH. 201 money, with L. 8, 6s. 8d. for communion elements. But as the money stipend was converted into grain at the average fiars' price for seven years, and part of the heritors surrendered the teinds, it consists of about L. 56 in money, and somewhat more than fifty-six double bolls of victual, bisurley, and meal. There are very few dissenters of any description in the pa- rish, and these few do not originally belong to it, but have come from other parts of thiB country. The people in general seem at- tached to the Establishment. Tliey have perhaps kepi as dose to it since the revolution, and have had as few grounds for being dis- satisfied, as any other in die district The church is in general very well attended. The number of communicants may be about 150 or upwards. EduGoHon. — There is one established school in the parish, where the usual branches are taught The salary is the maximum. There is also the interest of L. 100 for behoof of the free school of the pari^. The interest of this sum is usually employed in paying for some of the poorer children. The parochial school- master is provided with the usual accommodations, as directed by law. The school fees are for reading and writing, 2s. ; for arith- metic, 3s. 6d. ; and for Latin, 58 ; and the amount actually received is about L. 20 per annum. The charges for other branches are r^ulated by those of the adjoining parishes. The people can all read and write ; they are in general very sensible of the benefits of education, and desirous of having their children instru<^d in the ordinary branches. The two extremities of the parish lie at rather too great a distance from the school. This is an evil that cannot easily be remedied, as the funds of the parish and population are not adequate to the support of two re- spectable established schools. Poor and Parochial JV^iub.-— The poor are supported by the col- lections in the church, ^diich may average about K 13, the interest of Lb 100, and a voluntary contribution by the heritors of 10s. on every 100 merks valuation. How the L. 100 was acquired is not very certain. Whether it has accumulated, or part of it was originally mortified, cannot be ascertained. The number of poor at present oh the roll is 4. They receive 6s. 8d., 3s. 6d., and 3s. 4d. per month, according to circumstances. Besides these there is a fatuous person, for whom the parish pays lu. 10 per annum. Occasional demands in addition to what is now stated are made upon the funds. There does not appear to be any growing dispo- lution to apply for parish relief. 216 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. the sessional funds, except to the diseased and aged, has always been avoided. The trustees on the parish roads, by an agreement with the session, have engaged to repair the parish roads only during the winter and early spring months ; and to employ only such indivi- duals to labour on the roads as, but for this work, would require aid from the session ; also, to apply the conversion money in the payment of horse and cart labour on the roads. The heritors and fanners also agree to furnish horse and cart labour for the public use under certain regulations, and free of all expense, to the trus- tees. The labourers employed on these roads are paid 2d. per day below the ordinary rate of wages, to make the scanty fund last longer, and to prevent all who can get work elsewhere and better wages, from burdening the fund. Poor women are also by the trus- tees employed in gathering stones and filling carts on the roads, at a fixed rate. In order to give efiicacy to this parochial ma- chinery, the minister was empowered by the whole of the heritors many years since, to object to any individual or family acquiring a residence in the parish whom he might judge likely to become a burden upon it; and, in case any heritor should refuse to re- move the individual or families, against whose residence in the parish the minister objected, the heritor so refusing was bound by a solemn deed, jointly executed by the whole heritors, to free the session and other heritors of all expense, in the event of such a person ever at any future time requiring to be supported. Act- ing under these few and simple regulations, this session during the incumbency of the present iftinister has not only comfortably sup- ported the poor without any aid from the heritors, but laid up a sum, which, under judicious management, will render any assess- ment for the poor unnecesssiry. The poor, it is to be regretted, are not now so shy in asking sessional aid as they used to be. Alehouses, — There is but one public-house in the parish; and though kept with as great regularity as possible, still it is a source of much evil. Miscellaneous Observations. The annual rent of this parish by a valuation made under the authority of the late Lord Minto in the year 1746, wis L.d7d, Is. 5 j\d. ; in the year 1794, when the last report was drawn up, it amounted to L. 1800 ; and now it is estimated at L. 4000. The population at last report was 640, and then there were 8 paupers and 22 dissenters; now the population is 791, and there are 12 ST. MUNGO. 217 paupers and 38 dissenters. The last report stated, that rents were from L. 20 to L. 80 per annum, now they are from L.50 to L. 390. At the time of last report the want of a bridge over the Milk to open a communication with the Solway Firth was complained of; the parish roads were also said to be bad ; and coal was 20 miles distant. Now there is a bridge over the Milk, the parish roads are excellent, and English coal at Annan (only 8 miles distant) are abundant At the time of the last report, there were only nine houses slated ; the greater number were built of mud and stones : only three houses had a parlour and carpet : and hardly an eight- day clock or silver spoon was seen in the parish. Now there are only a few old cottages unslated : all the houses built of stone and lime : ten houses have carpets on the sitting-room : hardly even a cottage wants an eight-day clock: and every tenant and many cot- tagers have silver tea-spoons. At last report, the church \vas a ruin, without bell, pews. Bibles, or utensils for administering the sacraments, and the minister officiated occasionally in a shepherd's plaid ; there was no school-house, master, or provision for one ; now everything necessary is provided for the church ; there is an endowed school, and well-educated schoolmaster ; and the minister is attired in that popish rag^ a gown. Formerly the Seceders would not be present when any Established minister was celebrating any divine ordinance, and the Episcopal clergy, in terror of the people, performed the rites of btirial in private ; the present incumbent has been sent for, to attend on the sick and dying Seceders, and the funeral rites of the Episcopal church are performed openly in our churches and burial grounds. February 1834. PARISH OF RUTHWELL. PRESBYTERY OF ANNAK, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. HENRY DUNCAN, D.D. MINISTER. L^- Topography and Natural History. Name^ Boundaries^ S^c. — " The parish of Ruthwell,'* says Chal- mers,* "derived its name from the Anglo-Saxon Rith, a rivulet, and fVeald^ a woody place, as we learn from Somner. The Kirkton,t which was a baronial burgh, stands on a rivulet which falls into the Solway Frith about a mile below. The remains of the ancient woods, whence a part of the name is derived, still exist. In vul- gar speech, and even in the chartularies, the name of Rithwald, or Ruthwell, has been abbreviated into Ryval or Rival" Other derivations of the name have been conjectured ; but whatever may be thought of the etymology of the first syllable, that of the second seems to be confirmed by the nearly corre- sponding terminations of the adjoining parishes of Mousewald, Torthorwald, and Tinwald, all extending along the morass of Lochar, — a morass which runs into each of these parishes as well as into Ruthwell, and which the numerous remains of imbedded trees amply prove to have been at some distant period a continuous forest. The parish is bounded on the south by the Solway Frith, and by the river Lochar, which stream divides it from Caerlaverock both in this direction and on the west; on the north-west by Mousewald ; on the north by Dalton ; and on the east by Cum- mertrees. It is about five miles and a-half long, by two miles and a-half broad, containing somewhat less than fourteen square miles. Topographical Appearaticesj Sfc, — In its surface the parish is * Caledonia, Vol. iii. p. 191. f There is, properly speaking, no Kirkton, The village in question stands half a mile nearer the Solway than the church, but the rivulet passes them both. Chal- mers speaks erroneously of the woods as << still existing along the bank of the rivu- let/* They are, in fact, a mile distant from it ; but they may have been at one time contiguous. RUTHWELL. 219 generally flat and uninteresting, the elevations that occur not ris* ing in any instance more than 80 or 90 feet above the level of the sea. The sea^beach is low, and consists of a clayey sand, known in this quarter by the provincial name of sketch. This substance extends for several miles into the Frith, with so slight a declina- tion, that the tide at low water recedes entirely out of sight, and leaves to the eye a barren and cheerless waste. The climate, on account of its vicinity to the sea and to the Lochar Moss, may be considered as somewhat moist ; but certain- ly it is not unhealthy. There are no prevailing distempers pecu- liar to the parish. Many of the inhabitants live to an advanced age : and not long ago an old soldier died at the age of 103, if calculated from the statement contained in the certificate of his discharge, or of 110, if we rely on his own constant averment as to the date of his birth. Of the winds, the south-west is the most violent ajid the most pernicious to vegetation, as is distinctly indi- cated by the inclination of the trees. Springs. — There is a mineral spring at Brow, near the shore, where the Lochar falls into the Solway Frith. It is chalybeate, and of no great strength; but was formerly a well of some celebri- ty, and, notwithstanding the miserable accommodation for lodgers, of some resort. Here, is a stone table, at which it is said that Lord Stormont, the father of the celebrated Earl of Mansfield, sat with his son and drank to his health when he took leave of that future ornament of his country, on quitting his native land to push his fortune at the English Bar. On that occasion, the old noble- man is reported to have jocularly told his son, that he did not wish to see his face in Scotland again till it should be surrounded with the chief justice's wig, — ^a jest to which the event has given almost a prophetical character. Here also is the humble cottage in which the ill-fated poet Bums spent some of the latest days of his life, in the vain hope of restoring a broken constitution, by imbibing the salutary water, and breathing the pure sea air. Geology. — The geological and mineral condition of the parish is marked by no peculiarity worthy of extended notice. The prin- cipal rock is a coarse limestone, which about forty or fifty years ago was worked to a considerable extent, but which has of late been entirely disused, having been justly superseded by the far purer lime of Kelhead, lying within four miles. About the period above-mentioned, some attempt was made to discover a workable vein of coal on the farm of Belridding, in the 220 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. parish, but without success, although strong indications appeared of the presence of that useful mineral, at least to a small extent. The existence of such large^. coal-fields on the opposite coast of Cumberland, where geological indications are in many respects si- milar, has induced a very sanguine belief that a spirited search would in all probability not be made in vain. Soil — The soil is various, consisting, however, generally of a strong gravel, intermixed with vegetable mould. Towards the west, on the low ground near the sea, and on the banks of the Lochar, a sluggish stream, there is a considerable tract of clayey soil, mingled with sand, which has in remote ages obviously been under the action of the sea, being originally of the same quality with the sketch at present washed by the tide. On soil otthis na- ture, the extensive morass of the Lochar Moss, already-mentioned, is known generally to rest. In one place, shell marl is to be fowid, and attempts have been made to convert it to purposes of agricul- ture, but the expense of obtaining it has been thought to exceed its profit. Zoology, — Of the zoology of the parish little can be said that is not contained in the former Statistical Account It is there stat- ed with truth, that the woodlark and bullfinch, as well as the other common birds of the district, are to be found in the woods of Comlongon. To this we shall only add, that various kinds of pheasants have within a very few years been introduced to these woods, where they were increasing rapidly so long as they were protected, but during the last year their numbers have been great- ly diminished by poachers. The fish on this coast are salmon, which are caught in small quantities at the confluence of the Lochar with the sea, by means of stake-nets ; flounders of a large size and good quality, of which there is an abundant supply ; and occasionally herrings, as well as a few cod and skate. The ordinary kinds of game, such as hares and partridges, are plentiful. Some grouse are to be met with on Lochar Moss ; and woodcock and black-cock are in their season by no means uncom- mon ; nor is the fox a stranger to Comlongon woods. II. — Civil History. » Land-o\oners. — The principal land-owner is the Earl of Mans- field, who derives his origin from the Murrays of Cockpool, an an- cient family, the chief of which was in the reign of James IV. RUTH WELL. 221 created Earl of Annandale. This latter branch, however, became extinct, along with the title, in the second generation, when Vis- count Stormont, the direct ancestor of the present proprietor, suc- ceeded to the estate in this parish as heir of line. Lord-Justice Mansfield was a younger son of this family; but by his talents and virtues justly earned for himself an earldom along with a large for- tune, both of which descended to his nephew, the present earl's father. Antiquities — Runic Monument. — The most remarkable antiquity in the parish is a Runic monument, which stands in the garden belonging to the manse of Ruthwell. This curious relic of former times is accurately represented in the accompanying engraving, which is taken from a drawing made by the writer of this article. It con- sists of a column inscribed partly with Runic, and partly with Roman characters, which is believed to be almost the only unequivocal vestige of Anglo-Saxon sculpture in Britain. * It has been no- ticed by various authors, such as Hickes, Gordon, Pennant, and Chalmers; but all of them have given inaccurate and deficient de- scriptions of it, and the plates which have been engraved to repre- sent it, are very defective. Chalmers, without assigning any reason for the conjecture, sup- poses the pillar to have been probably erected by some of the fol- lowers of Halfden, the Dane, a chief who made predatory incur- sions into Scotland in the years 875 and 876. It appears, however, from the form of the characters that ^he Runes on this monument are not Danish, but Anglo-Saxon, — ^a discovery which seems first to have been made by Wilhelm Carl Grimm, a learned German grammarian, and which necessarily overturns every theory of its Danish origin, and establishes that its date must be sought for during the period of the Heptarchy, or at least before the language or the learning of the Anglo-Saxons had, by foreign conquest and admixture, undergone any violent change. Of the early history of the column, however, little or nothing is known, but what may be gathered from internal evidence. On in- spection, the first thing that strikes an inquirer is the remarkable fact already mentioned, of the union on the same stone of two dif- ferent alphabets, the Runic and the Roman ; and this naturally suggests the question, whether or not any essential change may have * Gordon in his Itincrarium, calls it a Danish monument, and says, he has heard of another such pillar in Scotland, but he does not say where it is situated ; and ChaU mors speaks of thb as the only genuine one. 222 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. taken place in the form and character of the monument since its first erection ; but such an investigation can only be superficially made in a work of this kind.* On referring to the plate, it will be seen that the pillar has four faces, two of which contain on the margins Runic ; and the other two, Roman characters ; and that on the sides inscribed with the latter, there are Christian figures and emblems, of which the Runic sides are destitute. This singular combination must strike the an- tiquarian as affording ^ prima facie evidence that the sculpture has been executed at two different periods. But there are other cir- cumstances which, combined with this, will leave little doubt on the mind of an unprejudiced inquirer, as to the remodelling of the mo- nument at a period subsequent to its first erection. These circum- stances are, Is/, That the monument consists of two separate blocks of sandstone, and that the upper stone containing the cross is of a redder hue than the lower stone, and has evidently been taken from another quarry, which could scarcely have happened, had both been formed at the same time. 2^^, That there is a bar or border at the top of the lower stone, running horizontally round all the four sides, and containing inscriptions, which divides the vine work on the Runic sides into two compartments, and awkwardly interrupts its elegant convolutions, — an intrusion which can only be satisfactorily accounted for on the supposition that, when first erected, the pillar was at this point to terminate, dcf, That the sculpture on the Runic sides, both in elegance of design and skill of execution, greatly exceeds that on the Roman sides, and indicates a high- er state of the art. From all these circumstances, there ap- pears to be satisfactory evidence that the pillar has, since its first erection, undergone a great change ; that it consisted at first only of one block, terminating with the bar already mentioned, the up- per stone containing the cross, having been added at a later period ; and further, that, making allowance for the waste of time and vio- lence, the sculpture on the Runic sides is in its original form, but that the Christian figures, along with the Latin inscriptions on the Roman sides, were probably cut at the time of its change of shape, having perhaps originally contained carved work of a different kind. The writer was at first inclined to think that the original design * The antiquarian reader who wishes for Airther information tlian b here given, is referred to the Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland for the year 1892, where he wiU find an article, of which the present is an abridgement, drawn up by the writer of this account. RUTHWELL. 223 of the column might not have been of a religious nature, and might even have preceded the establishment of Christianity in this part of the country ; and also, that the Runic inscription, which has hitherto baflled all attempts of the learned to interpret it, had pro- bably been mutilated, and rendered illegible by narrowing the sides of the column in the process of alteration. But the very ingenious and apparently successful efforts of Mr Repp,* which are after- wards noticed, and which reflect so much credit on his learning and antiquarian talent, lead to an opposite conclusion in both these respects. The later history of this remarkable column is not much more indebted to tradition than that of a more early date. In the for- mer Statistical Account of this parish, mention is made of a report which still prevails, of its having been set up in remote times at a place called Priestwoodside, (now Priestside,) near the sea, from whence it is said to have been drawn by a teain of oxen. What- ever truth there may be in this, it is at least certain, that at a very early period it was erected in the chui'ch of Ruthwell, where it remained, and was held in the highest veneration, till the Reformation ; and where, even after that period, it was preserved from demolition till the middle of the seventeenth century, pro- bably by the influence of the Murrays of Cockpool, the ances- tors of the Earl of Mansfield, who had espoused the cause of the Stuarts and of the Episcopal party, in opposition to that of the Presbyterian. In 1642, however, when the latter were triumphant over the court and its satellites, by whom they had been at once cajolled and oppressed ; and when the progress of the dispute be- tween Charles I. and the country party, which was rapidly coming to a crisis in both kingdoms, had greatly inflamed men's minds, — an order was passed by the General Assembly of the church f for the destruction of this ancient monument, as idolatrous. This order must have been but partially and reluctantly obeyed by the local authorities. The column was, indeed, thrown down and broken in several places, probably by its fall, and some of the emblems, which were peculiarly obnoxious, because objects of Popish idolatry, such as the crucifixion, were at the same time perhaps nearly ob- literated; but, after this act of obedience was performed, it was al- • Mr Thorleif Gudmandson Rei>p, A. M., F. S. A., Scotland, a Danish gentleman, and one of the librarians of the Advocates' library, f This order is dated 27th July 1642, at St Andrews, where the General Assembly then sitting. 3 224 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. lowed to lie on the spot, where it fell, and probably served for more than a century as seats to part of the congregation, who weekly assembled to worship God under more simple forms, and with a purer faith, than those which had rendered it an object of adora- tion. In 1772, when inspected by Mr Pennant, it was still lying within the church; but soon after this, it was removed to the church- yard, — the increasing population, and the improved taste of the times, having rendered necessary better accommodation to the wor- shippers. In its new situation, it became more exposed to injury, and when the present incumbent acquired the living, he found it undergoing such rapid demolition, that he resolved to preserve it by transferring it to a place of greater security. This resolution was carried into effect in the summer of 1802, when it was erected in a garden which he had begun to form in the immediate neigh- bourhood of the church-yard. Previous to this, however, a discovery had been somewhat smgu- larly made of a part of the column which was amissing, both when visited by Gordon and by Pennant. A poor man and his wife hav- ing died within a day or two of each other, it was resolved that they should both be buried in the same grave, which, on that account, required to be made unusually deep. The grave-digger, in the course of his labour, came to a fragment of sandstone of consider- able bulk, which was found, on one of its sides, to contain the up- per part of the image of the Supreme Being, with the Agnus Dei in his bosom; and on the reverse, a representation of the up- per part of two human figures in the act of embracing. On com- paring this fragment with the monument, it was discovered to coin- cide with that portion of it which Pennant mistook for the top of a cross, the limbs and flowing robes of the image of the Deity being that which he describes as '^ the lower part of a human figure in long vestments, with his feet on a pair of small globes." It had probably been surreptitiously buried along with the body of some Popish votary, from an idolatrous belief in its supernatural virtues. The only large fragment of the column which seems to be irre- trievably lost, is what contained the transverse arms of the cross, which may probably have been much shattered by the fall, when the whole was thrown down, or entirely destroyed by the zeal of the agents of the General Assembly. It was, however, quite evi- dent at what part these arms must have originally projected ; and the writer of this article flattered himself that he could restore them in nearly their former shape, which, in the year 1823, by the aid RUTHWELL. 225 of a country mason, he attempted to do. In this he was guided by the fonn of the capital, which is nearly entire, and which, be- sides, being in all probability a counterpart of the arms, contains on two opposite sides segments of a circle corresponding with simi- lar segments in the stone immediately below, — evidently indicating that the circle was originally completed, and formed the centre of the cross. The engraving precludes the necessity of a detailed account of the sculpture, but'it may be proper to take some notice of its prin« cipal features, as well as to give an explanation of the iiiscriptions as far as they are intelligible. By referring to the plate it will be observed, that the two faces of the column which contain Ronic characters are in many re- spects very similar to each other. Not only do we find on either side a vine winding up the centre in graceful serpentine undula* tions, with branches enriched with fruit, starting from it at every turn, in regular and flowing curves, mi animals of difierent kinds curiously and artfully sculptured, in the act of feeding ; but what is particularly worthy of remark, because evidently done with some design, the animals on the two sides, though in different attitudes, are of similar kinds, and succeed each other in the same order. First, there is an imaginary animal with the head, body, and wings of a bird, and a long flexible tail like that of a quadruped ; then comes a four-footed animal, next a pair of birds, and above these two reptiles, of the lizard species, the latter devouring the stem, while aU the rest are feeding on the grapes. With regard to the Runic inscriptions, a new light, as has already been noticed, has been thrown on the subject, by the learned and ingenious Mr Repp, who has published a Latin letter on the sub- ject in the Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, to which the reader is referred. A very brief outhne of that paper must at present suffice. It appears that only one specimen of Anglo-Saxon Runes has hitherto been generally admitted as authentic This is the Exeter manuscript, noticed by the learned Hickes in his Thesaurus. Mr Repp has discovered that in the Runic inscription, on the Ruth- well monument, an alphabet is used, differing only in a few minute particulars from that of the Exeter manuscript, — but widely dif- ferent from the Norse or Islandic Runes employed by the Danes. « He has been enabled, by employing this Anglo-Saxon alphabet,, to translate parts of sentences, and several detached words, such DUMFRIES. P 226 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. as Cristpason mitk seretum^ xi. punda nude, t. e, the vessel of Christ [or baptismal font] of eleven pounds weight, with orna- ments. Radih pedra Therfusa aqrran^ i. e. by authority of the Therfusian Fathers, for the devastation of the fields. Kua xiiu i. e. 13 cows. AshlafardkaU i* e. the vale of Ashlafr. Menboat^ the expiation for an injury. In confirmation of the interpretation of that part of the inscription rendered by Mr Repp " the vessel of Christ, &c." it may be pro- per to observe, that there is preserved along with the column an orna- mented circular stone, which, according to a probable tradition, was originally used as the pedestal of a baptismal font, or font for holy water. The writer's conjecture is, that this vessel stood before the pillar on the circular stone ; and this is the more probable, from the well known fact, that in Roman Catholic countries, a similar arrangement is in the present day exceedingly common. The Roman side contains inscriptions in Latin, chiefly taken from the vulgate version of the New Testament, and all of them bearing reference to the figures on the compartments which they surround. Turning to the face of the column represented on the right hand of the plate, we find in the lowest compartment a very mutilated representation of the crucifixion, with the margin which contained the inscription, entirely destroyed. Immediately above this, are the figures of the Angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. Of the legend, nothing remains but two complete words, and a few imperfect letters ; yet these seem sufficient to enable us to ascer- tain the whole which appears to have been a quotation from the vul- gate translation of Luke, 1st Chapter, 28th verse. It runs thus,* ^^ Et iNGREssvs *ANG£Lvis ad eam dixit, ave, gratia plena! Domi- nus tecum: BEnedicta tu in mulieribus." In the next compartment, Christ is represented in the act of curing a blind man. The legend appears to have been partly taken from the vulgate of John, 9th Chapter, 1st verse, and to have stood as follows : " et praeteriens vioit hominem caecum a na- TiBiTATE (nativitate) et Sanavit aB iNFiRMiTate. The mistake of substituting a b for a v in " nativitate," may perhaps suggest some conjectures as to the language, or at least the dialect spoken when the sculpture was made. The next representation is that of the woman wiping the feet of « Jesus with her hair. The inscription is from the vulgate of Luke, 9th Chapter, 37 and 38 verses, attvlit AlabASTRVM vngventi et * In tbb and the other inscriptions, the legible letters are printed in Roman capitals. RUTH WELL, 227 STANS RETRO SECTS PEDES EIVS LACRIMIS COEPIT RI6ARE PEDES EIVS ET CAPILLIS CAPITIS SVI TER6EBAT. The rest of the inscriptions on this side are altogether illegible, and the sculpture does not seem to require any particular explana- tion. The figure with the bow and arrow may, however, be ad- verted to as particularly remarkable. Commencing now at the bottom of the other Saxon face, we find both the sculpture and inscription of the first compartment entire- ly destroyed. The next contains a figure, supposed to be that of the Virgin riding on an ass, and carrying the infant Jesus in her arms, with a shapeless mass in the upper comer on the left, which may have been the representation of an angel or of Joseph. An inscription of which the commencement (maria et io) only re- mains, gives credibility to the conjecture that the figures were in- tended to represent the flight of the holy family into Egypt. Next come the figures breaking a loaf of bread with the inscrip- tion SES PAVLVS ETAf******** FREGERUnT PANEM IN DE- SERTO. It is not easy to conjecture to what scriptural or tradi- tionary event this refers. The allusion in the next compartment, however, is sufficiently evident. It contains a figure of bur Saviour trampling on the heads of two swine, with the Greek letters IHZXPZ on the transverse border, while on the right hand margin we find IVDEX AEQVITATIS SERTO SALYATOREM MVNDI and OU the left, BES- TiAE ET DRACONES coGNOVERVNT iNDE. If " scrto" be a mis- spelling for certo^ as is probable, the translation will be ^^ Jesus Christ the Judge of Righteousness. Him assuredly to be the Sa- viour of the world, beasts and dragons knew from thence," allud- ing to the miracle of the devils (dracones) sent into the herd of swine (bestice.) Immediately above this on the upper stone, is the image of the Father^ with the Agnus Dei in his bosom, and his feet on two globes, indicating probably his power over the world which now is and that which is to come. The only letters of the legend which can be deciphered, are doramvs, doubtless adaramtis. The in- scription round the eagle at the top of the cross is altogether effaced. • Besides the Runic monument, of which so lengthened a de- scription has now been given, there are in the same garden, two ■f Pennant read ** et an,"* and conjectured it to have been originally angehrunh erroneously supposing it to have been a continuation of the inscription on the same side immediately above it. 228 DUMFBIES-SHIRE. sculptured stones about the size and shape of common grave-stones, but without any inscriptions, each containing the figure of an or- namented cross, rising in the centre on a pedestal, and on the right side a sword of ancient form ; while on the left side, there appears on the one the coulter and sock of a plough, and on the other a bugle-horn attached to a baldrick or belt, by a ring. The figures are very rudely carved. These remains are said to have been originally placed in a church-yard of a small chapel or preceptory, belonging to the Knights of St John, which we are informed by ancient records was erected at a place still tilled from that circumstance the Kirkstile, about a mile distant from the parish church, though no traces of it are now to be found. These memorials of the dead were found '' by the present incumbent lying in the parish burying-ground, whence he removed them, and they now form part of the wall of a summer-house attached to the fruit-wall, which separates the garden from the church-yard. In the wall of the above-mentioned summer-house are also in- serted some very remarkable specimens of a phenomenon which has excited considerable interest and speculation among geologists, — that of distinct tracks of animals of various sizes in sandstone. These specimens are three in number ; and one of them, where the foot-marks are particularly distinct, has been pronounced by * Dr Buckland to be the track of a large tortoise. They were taken from the quarry of Corncockle Muir, in the parish of Loch- maben, where many other appearances of a similar kind have been discovered in the act of quarrying ; some of them so deep below the surface of the quarry as forty-five feet Most of these have un- fortunately been destroyed by the workmen, who were altogether ignorant of their geological importance. * Before leaving the head of antiquities, it may be proper to men- tion the ancient residences of the predecessors of the Earl of Mansfield ; and this we shall do in the words of the late John Mur- ray, Esq. of Murraythwaite, himself a cadet of that old family, who drew up the report of this parish for Sir John Sinclair : ** The only ancient building in the parish is the castle of Comlongon, the seat of the Viscount of Stormont, f which, although erected some centuries ago, is still entire. It was a considerable place of * See account of these impressions, by the writer of the present article) in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for 1828. t Now Earl of Mansfield. 3 BUTHWELL. 229 strength before the union of the crowns ; is 60 feet square, and 90 feet high, with battlements and port-holes in the walls. The walls are of sufficient thickness to admit of small apartments within them, and the hall and larger rooms are still occupied, as the roof is standing.* The castle of Comlongon was for many ages the residence of the Murrays of Cockpool, — ^a family of great eminence in Annandale, as some of them were wardens of the western border; and Cuthbert Murray of Cockpool was one of the commanders of the Scottish army that defeated the Duke of Albany and the Earl of Douglas when they invaded Scotland. The remains of an old castle are also to be seen at Cockpool, within half a mile of Comlongon, which was likewise a seat of the family.** ParochicU Registers. — In the parish register of births, the firstentry was made in the year 1723. This public document does not appear to have been very regularly kept at any time, and the irregularity was increased at one period by the very impolitic tax which was imposed on the r^istration, and at another, by the irritation among the lower orders consequent on the extension of the militia service to Scot- land, — ^the register having become unpopular by being employed for the purpose of ascertaining the ages of the young men subject to the ballot The yearly average of the births may be 23 or 24^ though the parish raster does not exhibit so high an average, it being necessary to make some allowance for the negligence of parents in obtaining registration for their children. 26 births were registered in 1829, and 21 in 1830. No accurate account can be given of deaths and marriages, from the want of parish registers of these events. III. — Population. By return to Dr Webster in the year 1755, the population was 599 By the census of 1801 > .... 996 1811, .... 1184 1821, .... 1285 1881, .... 1216 No cause of a local nature can be assigned for the increase up to 1821 ; and it must be attributed almost solely to the general improvement of agriculture, which has so materially added to the amount of the common necessaries of life, and at the same time im- proved their quality. It is true, indeed, that, since Dr Webster's * The inside of the castle is now quite ruinous. 230 DUMFBIES-SHIRE. census, a small village has arisen, which took its origin in an at- tempt to work the lime quarry already alluded to, but, at the high- est calculation, this has not added more than 100 to the number of the inhabitants. The following returns are copied from a census of the parish taken by the present incumbent in the years 1824-5, since which period the population has been nearly stationary. It shows a po- pulation somewhat under that of the Government census; but as it was taken with great care, and each family was separately enrolled, the writer is inclined to rely on its correctness. A common source of error in the returns to Government arises from the circumstance, that the inhabitants frequently state to the schoolmaster the whole number of children belonging to their respective families, whether residing^ in the parish at the time or not, — a mistake which must swell the amount, by causing many individuals to be counted more than once. The difference in the present instance probably arises from that source. The minister's census only includes the num- ber actually residing in the parish at the time it was taken. . Number of the population residing in towns, - none. in Tillages, - 280 in the country, 867 1147 Males. Females. Number of ofl&pring under 10 years of age. 131 135 Ditto of servants ditto, 2 2 Ditto of other inmates, ditto. 14 12 In all under 10, 147 149 Number of population above 10 years, viz. Heads of fiuniUes, . . . . 163 211 Offspring, - . . . 144 176 Servants, .... 50 44 Other inmates, ... 25 35 382 469 Add under 10 as above, 147 149 529 618 Making the whole population in 1824-5, - 1147 Of the heads of families, there were 143 married couples, 41 widows, 1 1 widowers, 9 bachelors, and 27 spinsters, being in all 231 families, which latter number differs only by one from the statement in the census of 1831. The same private census exhibits the trades and occupations of the inhabitants as follow : RUTHWELL. 5 S3 1 Proprietors of land. 1 Weavers, 11 MiDister» 1 Tailors, 4 Preacher, 1 Shopkeepers, 2 Tutor in a fiunily. 1 Miller, ... 1 Schoolmasters, 3 Hinds, or lann.senrants, who live Farmers, 44 with their fiunilies, 9 Lahourers, 58 Gardeners, 2 Smiths, 4 Cottagers, bttng day-labourers, &c. 66 Shoemakers, 5 Carriers, 2 Carpenters, 6 Skters, ... 2 Innkeepers, 2 Toll-bar keeper. 1 Nailer, 1 Servants residing in the families. 98 Masons, 5 On comparing the Government census of 1821 with that of 1831, it will appear as if the population of the parish had retrograded during that period. There is reason to beUeve, however, that there is a mistake here, independent of that already noticed, occa- sioned in the census 1821 by counting the volunteers first sepa- rately and then over again, according to their respective occupations. On rectifying this mistake, it will be found that the number of in- habitants has been, during the last ten years, very nearly stationary. The following is the average number of persons of diifTerent ages. Under 15 years of age. - 466 Between 15 and 90, - 282 Between 30 and 50, - 242 Between 50 and 70, - 117 Upwards of 70, - - 40 n47 There is but one resident proprietor of land in the parish, and his estate, which he holds in his own possession, may amount to about Lf. 200 a-year. There are four other heritors, and the pro- perty of each exceeds the yearly sum of L. 50. The number of unmarried men, (bachelors and widowers,) up- wards of 50 years of age, amounts to 7; and of unmarried women upwards of 45, to 49. Estimating by the private census of the writer, there were in 182^24, 143 married couples in the parish, whose offspring, male and female, amounted to 586, which makes an average of some- what more than four children residing in married families. If we include the unmarried heads of families, the average number of children will not amount to more than two and a-half. Were we to take into account the children still alive who have left the pa- ternal roof, the average would of course be greater. Character of the People, Sfc. — The intellectual, moral, and reli- A 232 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. gious character of the people is such as generally prevails over the agricultural districts of Scotland, and honourably distinguishes the peasantry of this country from the same class of inhabitants in any other country of the world. The day-labourers, especially those who have faunilies, suffer numerous privations with exemplary pa- tience. They are in general sober, active, and industrious ; but the want of constant employment prevents them from acquiring many of the comforts and conveniences of life, and not unfrequently reduces them to severe distress. About half a century ago, when the Isle of Man was a separate principality, many temptations were held out for smu^ling, which some of the inhabitants of this parish, as well as of the neighbour- ing district, had not sufficient virtue to resist ; but this irregularity has long ceased. Poaching in game, however, still continues to be a source of animosity between the lower and higher ranks of society.* There is no insane person in the parish, nor any who, in the strict sense of the word, can be called fatuous, though there are two or three individuals obviously deficient in their intellectual powers. One of these was till lately exceedingly remarkable for the extent of his memory, and his powers of mental calculation, — faculties which have been much impaired by frequent epileptic at- tacks, to which he is subject. There is one poor woman blind, and another who was born deaf and dumb, besides whom there is one man who lost his hearing by disease. IV. — Industry. Agriculture and Rural Ecorwtny. The number of acres standard imperial measure in the parish which are either culti. Tated or occasionally in tillage, is - - - SSOOf The number of acres of mosa which never have been cultivated, and which re- main constantly waste, or in pasture, or are used for peats, - 1400 The number of acres at present subject to be overflowed by the tide which might be made good arable land by embanking - - 1000 The number of acres in a state of undivided common, - - none The number of acres under wood, - - • - SQQX Acres in the parish, - - 8420 Of the above 1400 acres of moss, perhaps one-half mi^t be profitably improv- ed, amounting to 700, .... 700 * When the present incumbent was setUed in the parish upwards of thirtjr years ago, cock-fighting was a favourite amusement among the less respectable class of the people. He used every efibrt to put an end to this demoralizing practice, and hap- pily succeeded. t 174 of these acres have been brought into cultivation since 1825. X 203 acres of these have been planted since 1Q12. BTTTHWELL. 233 The kinds of trees generally planted or indigenous in the parish are oak, * ash, larch, Scotch fir, birch, alder, &c. The Earl of Mansfield keeps a forester, under whose judicious management he receives from his woods by periodical felling, by thinning, and by preparing bark, an income of from L. 500 to L. 600 a-*year. Htubandry^ Sfc. — With regard to the state of husbandry, the common breeds of sheep and cattle, rate of labour, and the price of different articles of raw produce, this parish differs little from the parishes in the yicinity, and, to avoid .inconvenient repetition, the reader is referred to the Accounts of these parishes for infor- mation on such subjects. The farm-buildings and inclosures are far from being in a satisfactery state, which circumstance certain- ly operates in various ways as an obstacle to improvement The duration of the leases, however, which is usually fifteen years, is thought to be equitable at once to the landlord and to the tenant The following is an account of the land in lease, the rental, the farm produce, and the Uve stock of the parish, as contained in the private census already-mentioned, taken by the writer in 1823-24. Land on lease (exclusive of moos) - . 5500 8cres.f Rental, .... L 4527 15 White crop (of which 179 acres are in wheat) - 12d5 acres. Green crop, .... 269 acres. Number of horws, - . - * 174 cattle, . . - 815 sheep, ... 978 pigs, ... 868 The average gross amount and value of raw produce raised yearly in the parish may be as follows : Produce ofgraln of all kinds, &c ... L. 5500 of potatoes, turnips, &c - - - - 2220 ofhay, &c. - - . - . - 500 offlax, ..... . 000 oflaod in pasture, &c at L. 2 per cow, and 68, per ewe, 1830 of gardens and orchards, - - - • 50 ofannual thinning of woods, &c. ... 500 The rest nit Total yearly value, &c. - L. 10,100 * It may not be improper to record here^ that some boys transplanted a young oak on the day of the first anniversary of the battle of Waterloo to a spot a few paces in front of the manse door, under the roots of which a bottle was afterwards deposited, eontaining an inaeription, which some antiquary of a future age may delight to find ■nd to decipher. This tree bears the name of the Waterloo Oak. •f* This is independent of the minister's glebe, which consists of thirty«six acres, nearly five of which are occupied with a garden, pleasure-ground, and plantation round the manse, the rest being all arable, and sulqected to a rotation of five years. 234 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Considerable improvements have been made by various fanners on portions of the moss lands within their respective farms; and it may be proper to mention one tenant in particular, who, by wedge-drain- ing and judicious cultivation, has reclaimed many acres from a state of waste and unproductive morass, and converted them into good arable ground. Some valuable land has also been reclaimed along the shore of the Solway Frith ; but this has hitherto been done on a very small scale, though there can be no doubt that Lord Mansfield might, with much profit to himself, as well as advantage to the parish, gain from the tide by that operation a tract of fertile soil little short of a thousand acres. This extensive improvement was spoken of so far back as the time when Sir John Sinclair's Account was drawn up, and has of late been again under consideration, but with- out any prospect of being soon carried into effect ; and yet it ap- pears to the writer that there could scarcely be a more beneficial investment of capital. * V. — Parochial Economy. Villages. — This is entirely a country parish, lying between the towns of Dumfries and Annan, from the former of which the church is distant about ten miles ; and from the latter, seven. There are two small villages in the parish. The one, called the village of Ruthwell, containing nearly 180 inhabitants, and the other, called Clarencefield, containing about 100. The village of Ruthwell was made a burgh of barony by charter of James VL to Sir John Murray of Cockpool in 1509, with the privilege of holding fairs and markets, which has long been disused. It is a place without trade or manufacture. * The practice of making salt by filtrating the sea sand or tleetchy described with sufficient accuracy in Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account, and detailed by the writer of this more at large in Dr Singer^ Agricultural Survey of Dumfiries-shire, has altogether ceased along this coast since the removal of the salt duty, as it has, by this means, become much cheaper to purchase salt than to manufiwture it after the method pursued here. The act of the Scottish Parliament, on which the Annandale saltmakers founded this right to exemption from duty, is dated I2th July 1671, and proceeds on a supplication by Adam Newall, ** in behalf of some people and tenants in Annandale, who, by their industry and wholesome labour, doy from sand, draw salt, and who, in r^ard to the painfulness and singularity of the work, have been free of public imposition or exaction; until the year 1656, or thereby that the late usurper, contrary to all reason, equity, or former practice, forced from tbem an exac- tion, to their overthrow and ruin, and thereby dispossessed them, so that they are in a starving condition.** Several attempts were at different times made, to subject the Annandale salt to the payment of the usual duty, but without success. RUTHWELL. 235 Means of Commvnication. — The access to the parish is easy, as it is traversed by one of the great toll roads leading from Dum- fries to Annan and Carlisle, which is kept in excellent repair. A heavy coach passes and repasses daily along this road through the towns already-mentioned, which affords a ready means of convey- ance to all parts of the kingdom. There is also a runner who re- sides in the parish, and who goes regularly with letters and parcels to Dumfries and Annan on alternate days. Sabbath excepted, as well as a carrier, who drives his cart to the former town twice, and to the latter once, a-week. Besides these modes of communica- tion by land, there is a creek at the debouche of the Lochar, where small vessels find access, and by means of which the inhabitants are usually supplied with coal from the opposite coast of Cumber- land. Ecclesiastical State. — The parish church is situated within the precincts of the glebe, about a mile and a-half from the eastern extremity of the parish, and between five and six miles from its western extremity. As the two viUages, however, lie towards the east, each about half a-mile distant from the church, its situation could not be considered as inconvenient, were it not that on the west the Locharwoods quarter stretches to a considerable distance in a long stripe, bounded on the one side by the stream of the Lochar, and on the other side by the morass of that name, and rendered difficult of intercourse by the badness of the roads. This place of worship was about a century ago a miserable building thatched with heath. When the present incumbent came into possession of the living (in 1799) it was scarcely in a better con- dition ; for, though slated, it still remained without a ceiling, and was of most inconvenient dimensions, being within the walls 96 feet long, and only 14 broad. Soon after this period, it under- went a thorough change, 30 feet having been taken off its length, and ten feet added to its breadth. It was even then, however, fi- nished in a very slovenly manner, and has since undergone, at dif- ferent times, considerable repairs, which have at last rendered it comparatively comfortable, though still, in point both of acconuno- dationand of architecture, much inferior to some of the neighbour- ing churches, and to the average state of these public buildings throughout the country. It affords easy accommodation for about 420 sitters. There are only ten or twelve sittings unappro- priated ; but the acconunodation of the villagers and cottagers has 236 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. been liberally attended to, so far as the contracted room would admit The manse was built a little more than a century ago, and soon after the accession of the present incumbent, received considerable repairs, with the addition of two rooms. The glebe contains somewhat more than thirty-six acres, but the land is only of moderate quality, though it has been much im- proved within the last thirty years by enclosing, draining, and cultivation. It might let at present on lease for dOs. or d5s. an acre. The whole teinds of the parish were granted to the living, by decreet of the Court of Session in 1821, — amounting to L.262, 18s. lOg^od. Except five or six individuals, the whole inhabitants of the parish belong to the Established church, and their attendance is in gene- ral constant and exemplary. There are in the parish between 300 and 400 regular communicants. Education. — There are two parochial schools in the parish, be- sides one or two schools taught occasionally by private individuals, on a very small scale. The chief parochial school is in a very thriving condition, and, when most numerously attended, contains about 200 scholars. The average number may be about 150. Be- sides the ordinary branches, the classics and French, as well as geography, mensuration, &c are successfully taught in this aca- demy. The other parochial school, which is established in the more remote and almost detached district of Locharwoods, has for some time been in a languishing condition, owing to the precarious health of the teacher. He has, however, of late procured an as- sistant, whose instructions between 20 and 30 scholars at present attend. The salary of the principal schoolmaster was fixed by the heri- tors and minister (when convened under the statute, after the strik- ing of the average) at the value of two chalders, being L.d4) 4s. 5d« and that of the other schoolmaster, at the value of half a chalder, being L. 8, 1 Is. 1 ^d. ; but, as the legality of this latter decision has been justly disputed, the question as to the power of altering it is at present under consideration. The school fees were, in the year 1803, settled by the presby- tery of Annan, for all the schools within its bounds, as follows, viz. For English reading, per quarter, 2s.; for reading and writing, 2s. 6d. ; for reading, writing, and arithmetic, 3s. 6d. ; for the classics, RUTHWELL. 237 5s. The amount of fees actually received by the parochial school- master may be L. 45 a-year. The writer believes that there is not a single native parishioner upwards of six or seven years of age who cannot read; nor does he know of any individuals who have settled in the parish from a dis* tance by whom this advantage is not enjoyed. There are several females of the lowest class who cannot write, but, so far as he knows, not a single male above the age of ten or twelve. Besides the weekly schools, there are three Sabbath schools re- gularly taught in the parish, one in the manse dpring winter, and in the church during summer; another in the village of Ruthwell; and a third in the school-house of Locharwoods; at which, collec- tively, about 120 scholars are instrucjed in the first principles of religion. These schools have been attended with the happiest effects, forming, as they do^ a more intimate and salutary connec- tion between the minister and his youthful parishioners, and serv- ing to impress upon the minds both of parents and children the paramount value of a Christian education. Such institutions have, indeed, been objected to, from a fear lest they should take reli- gious instruction out of the hands of parents, or at least render these natural guardians less alive to the duty of personally incul- cating on their offspring the truths and obligations of our holy faith. But the experience of the writer has led him to form a di- rectly contrary opinion ; and he can confidently affirm, that since the introduction of Sabbath schools into the parish, his people have been visibly more attentive than formerly to the pious instruction of their children at home, — a fact which he considers of unspeakable importance, and which he believes to be consistent with the expe- rience of all who have heartily adopted the system. Literature. — A parochial library was established in the parish about thirteen or fourteen years ago, when a number of appropriate books were procured by subscription ; but there were only a few individuals, beside the minister and principal schoolmaster, who took a warm interest in the scheme ; and the subscribers having gradually dropt off, it is at present entirely disused. An attempt, however, is now making to revive this useful institution, which pro- mises to be much more successfuL * Meanwhile, a library connect- ed with the Sabbath schools is in active operation, which furnishes • Since writing the abore the library has been revived with every prospect of success. 238 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. the means of improving reading not only to the children connected with them, but also to their parents, of which they eagerly avail themselves. Charitable and other Institutions. — There are two friendly socie- ties in the parish, the one for males, and the other for females, — the former of which has been in existence about thirty-six years, and the latter upwards of thirty. They are both in a flourishing condition in point of numbers;* notwithstanding the members have been so imprudent as to make a division of part of their funds on two several occasions during years of scarcity, — a measure which the minister, who has always taken a leading interest in both in- stitutions, did every thing in his power to prevent. Where the ne- cessity of relieving the pressure of immediate want was so strong, it was scarcely to be expected that his remonstrances should have been effectual, especially as the example was set by almost all the neighbouring societies. It is, however, to be hoped that the wise provisions of the Friendly Society Act passed in 1829, will operate as an effectual check on such improvident conduct for the future. How far such institutions serve to promote industry, it may be dif- ficult to say, — but that they are productive of other advantages of great importance, cannot be doubted. In this parish, they have been a powerful means of preserving in the minds of the people a spirit of independence, and of restraining the evils of pauperism, which in other places the circumstances of the times have contri- buted so largely to extend. Savings Bank, — A parish or savings hanky has been established in this parish since the year )810.f The funds of the institution * There are about 130 members in the male society, and about 90 in the female. "f The circumstances which led to the formation of this institution are thus detail- ed in as essay on parish banks, published by the author in 1815 : '* About the be- ginning of the year 1810> the founder of that establishment had been anxiously em- ployed in examining the different plans which had from time to time been suggested for ameliorating the condition of the lower orders ; and in the course of his inquiries, he happened to meet with a pamphlet giving an account of a scheme called by the inventor, (John Bone, Esq. of London), ** Tranquillity,** of a nature perhaps too com- plicated for general adoption. One of the proposed provisions of this plan, however, was an economical bank for the reception of the small savings of the industrious. The benefit which might result from carrying a plan of this latter kind into effect imme- diately appeared to the writer in a very strong light, and he determined, as the best means of ultimately introducing it to general notice, to try, in the first place, the effisct of its operation in the very contracted sphere of his own parish. In this attempt there were discouragements of a peculiar kind, which it will not be improper to state, that the success of the experiment may appear in its true light. In point of local circum- stances, mdeed, there are perhaps few parishes in Scotland where the scheme might 4 RUTHWE LL. 239 have been gradually progressive, and at last settlement in May 1833, amounted to the sum of L. 3143, 2s. 2d. giving an average yearly increase since the commencement of somewhat more than L. 146. The average amount invested yearly is L. 600 ; with- drawn yearly, L. 400. Banks for savings have now got so firm a footing in the united kingdom, and have extended themselves so rapidly to other coun- tries, that it seems superfluous in this place to detail their advan- tages. But it is to be feared that these institutions have in many instances operated to the injury of Friendly societies — ^kindred establishments which every person acquainted with the circum- stances and wants of the lower orders must regard as useful aux- iliaries,^ and not as rivals. The latter are in truth the only protection to individuals belonging to the labouring class of the community, in the event of their being overtaken by sudden illness, or disability, before they could have made any considerable accumulation in a sarings bank. Associations^ Sfc, — Two societies for religious purposes, one male and the other female, have, for a number of years, subsisted in the pa- rish ; but the unhappy disputes which originated from the miscon- duct of the managers of the British and Foreign Bible Society have cooled the ardour of many, and reduced both societies to little more than a mere nominal existence. The annual average amount of their joint contributions may perhaps have been from L.8 to L.10. not have been tried to greater advantage than in the parish of Ruthwell. One of these dis- couragements arose from want of resident heritors, who might countenance the under- taking with their approbation, and support it with their purse and influence. But there was a still more formidable difSculty to encounter. Notwithstanding by far the greater part of the inhabitants are poor yillagers, or cottagers, without manu&ctures, or any other means of subsistence, than such as are usually to be found in a remote country parish, there were a great majority of the adults (no fewer than 900 individuals, out of a population of 1 100) already connected with friendly societies, within the bounds of the parish. It was well known that by far the greater part of these individuals were obliged to strain every nerve for a bare subsistence, and, so far from being able to lay up any additional savings, found at times extreme difficulty in fulfilling their engage- ments to the established societies. As these institutions were under the immediate superintendence of the author, he was not ignorant of the facts stated ; but they did not seem to him to constitute an objection sufficiently strong to deter him from mak- ing a trial of the projected scheme. He knew from experience that he had to deal with a scaler, virtuous, and well-informed population, and, on this single favourable drcumstance, he founded the conviction, that his attempt would not prove altogether abortive. He was not disappointed, the scheme was drawn up and put into execu- tion, with the advice and oo-operation of some of the most respectable inhabitants of the parish ; and in the period of four years and a-half, the funds of the institution have risen to upwards of L. 1160." / 240 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. The Annandale Society for the Conversion of the Jews also holds its meetings in this parish. Its annual contribution to that object is about L. 10 or L. 12. To these societies may be added one instituted for the purpose of purchasing school-books for the use of poor scholars. These books are not given, but lent to the children, who are required to return them when no longer needed in the school. Much good has been effected by this association at a trifling expense. Besides the sums thus raised, about L. 6 or L. 7 may be an- nually obtained in church by extraordinary collections for religious and charitable objects. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The following tabular view of the state of the poor in this parish drawn up in 1827, for the infor- mation of the heritors, will afford a more distinct account of the situation and circumstances of those who receive parochial aid than could easily be done by any other mode of representation. The only alteration made on it worth mentioning, is the substitution of numbers in place of the names of the individuals. Poor roll of the parish of Ruthwell for the year ending in Oc- tober 1827 : Tk- . ' ^ j^^rft^i Annual Olher meant of tupport. No. Age. Ground of Clakn. allowance. F. * 1 86 Old, feeble, and no children. L. 1 5 Lodges vagruits. F. 2 85 Ditto, a son who resides at a distance, and gives her very little, - - - 1 2 Of No other means except the charity ofher neighbours. F. 3 54 Blind, - - - 1 19 A married daughter. M. 4 78 His wife bedrid, - - 15 His own labour. F. 5 74 Old and feeble, - - I 9 A daughter deaf and dumb. M. 6 74 Feeble, and in bad health, - 12 His wife works a litde. F. 7 74 Old and feeble, - -10 Works a little. F. 8 64 Incapable of much exertion, - 10 Works a little. F. 9 59 In bad health, - - -13 Teaches a few children. F. 10 82 Old and feeble, - - 1 5 A daughter married, but deserted by her husband, and left with children. F. 11 64 Feeble, and without relations, i 5 Works a little, M. 12 61 In bad health, - - - 1 1 Begs. F. 13 70 Two feeble old women, . - 15 Spin a little. F. 14 47 In very delicate health, and without relations, - - 14 Spins a little. F. 15 70 Old and feeble, - - - 1 5 Her son a labourer, with a Carry forward, L. 18 large family. * F. marks the females, and M, the males. i* The sum advanced for this pauper was afterwards recovered, by legal steps, from her son. RUTHVVELL • 24 Brought forward. L. 18 F. 16 81 Old and feeble, o A widowed daughter. F. 17 71 Old and feebly - - . 5 A daughter. F. 18 61 Paralytic and helpless, 9 Her children work a little. M. 19 80 Feeble^ but industrious, - 8 Works a little. F. 20 78 Old and feeble. 5 A daughter. F. 21 77 Old and feeble. 17 A daughter. F. 22 89 Old, feeble, and blind, Pauperg pariUUiy tupported 1 5 A son with a large femily. hy the setsion. L. 26 14 F. 28 61 Deranged, and requires con- * ttant attendance, - L. 7 16 No other means except cha- rity, F. 24 84 Bedrid for many years, - 5 4 Relations and other charity. F. 25 89 Bedrid, - - 3 18 Her son a labourer with a femily. M. 26 81 Btind and puvlytie, - 3 18 CMfJly supported by the sion, - - L. 20 16 Partially supported as aboTc, 26 14 Total for enrolled poor, L. 47 10 Besides the enrolled poor, it is frequently necessary to extend the assistance of the session to indigent individuals, 'vrho, from sickness or other causes, fall into temporary want; but the whole snm year- ly expended by the session (exclusive of extraordinary demands in 3^rs of scarcity) does not amount to more than L. 54 or L. 55 a- year. To meet this expenditure, the church collections amount to about L. 25 yearly, — ^a sum by no means small, when the nature of the population is considered, which is entirely agricultural. The heritors supply the remainder on the private application of the mi- nister, by an annual contribution, altogether voluntary, without any stated meetings, or any nice adjustment of their subscriptions, to the relative value of their property in the parish. Indeed, of the five heritors by whom the whole land of the parish is possessed, two contribute very little to the support of the poor; the kirk- session choosing rather to throw themselves on the generosity and good sense of those who are willing to give, than, by calling legal meetings, to bring a permanent and necessarily increasing poor rate on the parish interior consisted usually of often a ground floor, which contributed to the safety of their cattle, and of two or more upper apartments, with narrow apertures ex- ternally for windows, but rapidly enlarging towards the inside, that the inmates, perhaps, might be the better able to annoy the enemy. The most remarkable stood near Stonehouse, on the banks of the Kirtle, at Old Graitney, at Westhill, and at Hirst ; but the names and the deeds of the chieftains whom they sheltered are forgotten and unknown. From an inscription in the church-yard, it appears that a near relation of Sir William Wallace is buried there ; and the ashes of many of the Johnstones of Annandale are said to repose within the precincts of the ancient church. The form of some, and the sculpture on others, of the tombstones, appear to indicate their great antiquity ; while many epitaphs, and particularly one, of two brothers, who died at the advanced ages of 110 and 111, point out the longevity of the parishioners. At Redkirk Point, near the farm of that name, once stood the church of Redpatrick or Redkirk, which, like most others in this vicinity, anciently belonged to the see of Glasgow. Of that church or church-yard not a vestige now remains. The tide and river whirl- ing violently round that headland have swept them entirely away ; but some old people yet remember the unwelcome sight of bones and coffins protruding from the banks, or collected (torn the beach in- to a trough, which had been used as a font in the days of popery.* A camp of a round shape is still distinctly visible near Barrasgate. A square camp of large dimensions may also be easily traced on the farm of Raebumfoot Camp-house, on the Glasgow road, which is supposed to pursue the track of the old Roman one leading to Middlebie and Birrenswark, in all likelihood indicates the site of one of a strong chain of fortifications erected by that ambitious and enterprising people. On the farm of Old Graitney, and at no great distance from * The two parishes were united in 1609, and there is still a Bible in the old Eng- lish character in the possession of John Graham, Springfield, which bears on its roar- gin that it was presented to the church of Graitney in 161 1« only two years subse- quent to the union, by Viscount Stormont, the ancestor of the Earl of Mansfield. Tlie print is beautiful, but the leaves are much mutilated, and many books, both of the Old and New Testaments, have been lost. GBAITNEY. 267 the confluence of the Kirtle and the Solway, was seen not many years ago a number of white stones placed upright, and inclosing half an acre of ground, in an oval form. One of them, the larg- est, is all that now remains, as some suppose, of a Druidical tem- ple, the rest having been removed for the cultivation of the soiL This has obtained the name of the Lochmaben Stone ; it measures 8 feet in height and 21 in circumference, and must have been brought from a considerable distance. Its appearance resembles granite, but, with the exception of a very hard incrustation where it is exposed to the external air, it is of a much softer and gravel- ly composition. Alliances between the two kingdoms are said to have been formed in ancient days within the limits of this temple. Eminent Men. — Mr Gait, who was ^minister of Graitney for sixty years, seems to have been a man of primitive piety and sim- plicity of manners, and his memory is still delightfully cherished by the aged inhabitants. He was also a man of superior classical attainments, as certain manuscripts, particularly the book of Job in Latin verse, and a diary, minutely kept, in prose, now in the hands of the Misses Gibson, Edinburgh, amply testify. Parochial Registers* — lihe parochial registers of baptisms, mar- riages, and transactions of the kirk-session, among which last are interspersed many remarkable occurrences, such as the advance and retreat of a division of the rebels in 1745, stories, and tales of wonder, are extremely accurately written by Mr Gait, and are pretty voluminous. They commence in 1 730, and continue for sixty years, after which there is an almost entire deficiency in the minutes of session. III. — Population. Since the year 1755^ when Dr Webster made a census, the popu- lation has been nearly doubled ; and since the period of last Statis- tical Account it has exactly 99 of an increase. It now amounts to 1909. The increase is chiefly to be attributed to the encourage- ment given to manufacturers during the late war, and the facility afforded to the building of cottages by landholders, particularly by Sir John Heron Maxwell in the village of Springfield, which, though commenced only in 1791, contains now about 500 inhabitants, al- most entirely cotton-weavers. Number of people in the country, villages, Average of births for the last seven years, 1009 900 60 J 268 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Number of families in the parish, ... 960 of families chiefly employed in agriculture, - 141 chiefly employed in trade, manufactures, or handicraft, 1 12 other families, - - - - - - 107 There are no resident' nobility in the parish, but several very ex- tensive farmers. Of these one pays L. 1000 per annum, and many about L. 500. A curious mode of killing salmon once was practised by the in- habitants of this parish. Bands of horsemen, armed with long spears, assailed the finny race. One man in particular, called Graham, arrived at such an amazing degree of dexterity in the sport, as to be able at full gallop to transfix the prey, and call forth the wonder of his associates. Sir Walter Scott in his tale of Red- gauntlet has recorded such a scene. IV. — Industry. Land cultivated or occasionally in tillage, - - 10,000 imp. acres. Never cultivated, about ..... SCO Capable of being cultivated with profit, - - - 1 00 Under wood, whether natural or planted with fir, ash, or oak trees, 60 Rent of Land, — Average rent per acre 21s. The real rent of the parish is L. 9000. The usual rate of grazing is L. 3^ lOs. per ox or cow, and 15s. per ewe for the year. RateoffVoffes. — Men-servants' wages half-yearly, L.6, 6s.; maid do. L.2, 15s. ; day labourers, Is. 6d. ; masons, ds. ; joiners, 2s. 6d. Prices. — Wheat sells at the average rate of 7s. 6d. per imperial bushel; barley, 4s.; oats, ds.; meal. Is. lOd. per imperial stone; beef, 5d. per lb.; mutton, 5d.; pork,4^d.; butter,10d.; cheese, 5d. Husbandry and Produce. — A rotation of five years, viz. oats, green crop or fallow, wheat or barley, grass and pasture, is the com- monly adopted method of husbandry. The general duration of leases is fifteen years, — a term which seems very favourable both for tenants and proprietors. During the late war very considerable alterations took place in regard to the size of the farms and the state of enclosures. Wliere 100 farmers occupied land, not more, now, than half the number fill their places ; by which means certainly, the general aspect and fertility of the district have been much improved ; but the system has had the necessary effects of forcing many families into cot- tages, to seek employment in Manufactures, or to find their usual occupations in a foreign land. Produce. — The average gross amount and value of raw produce, raised yearly in the parish, is nearly as follows : GRAITNEY. Wheat, 350 acres. L.d600 Barley, 600 - 4200 Oats aooo . 15000 Potatoes and tamips. 600 - 4000 Hay, aoo . 1800 Flax, &c. 10 . 100 Pasture, aooo - 9000 Gardens, &c. ao - aoo Plantations, 60 - 5250 Fisheries, ■• 250 Acres, 7d40 L. 38500 Horses, 400 _ 4800 Cows, 400 • 2800 Young cattle, 600 - 1800 Sheep, 100 - 100 Swine, 1000 Total, f " 2000 L. 50000 269 Manufactures. — The manufacturers in this parish are chiefly cotton weavers employed by Messrs Dickson and Fergusson of Car- lisle. The yarn is brought regularly every fortnight, and distri- buted to about 120 families, or 600 persons, men, women, and child- ren, who all work at the looms, six days a-week and twelve or fourteen hours each day ; by which they usually are able to earn 7s. or 8s. per week, instead of their former high wages of L. 1, 10s. By diligent labour, and punctual payments, they are thus barely able to support their families by a mode of subsistence which ap- pears to have a tendency to weaken the body, to depress the mental powers, and engender a spirit of improvidence and disaffection. NavigatioTu — Vessels of 100 tons burden arrive at various places along the coast from the pits in Cumberland, and discharge coals to the yearly amount of 600 tons, together with an equal quantity of slate ; and grain and potatoes are exported to a very large amount, chiefly to Liverpool and the other places on the coast of Lancashire. V. — Parochial Economt. In the village of Gretna, which was a burgh of barony, there for- merly was a cattle-market, and it is not many years since the market- cross was thrown down. Annan is the nearest of the Scotch towns to this parish. Carlisle, nine miles distant, is an excellent market for grain, and for produce of all kinds, and much resorted to week- ly by the inhabitants, especially of the eastern part. There are 270 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. four villages in the parish of considerable magnitude} Springfield, Gretna, Rigg and Browhouses. Means of Communication. — The highways between Glasgow and Carlisle, and between the latter place and Portpatrick, run through the parish, the latter intersecting its whole length. The old road to Carlisle, which is still the nearest to Longtown, Brampton, and Newcastle, crosses the Glasgow road at the village of Gretna, where there is a post-oflSrce, which, however, is connected only with Carlisle. This renders correspondence from Scotland more ex- pensive and tedious than it ought to be. The roads, both public and parochial, are kept in the best order. There are three brid- ges, one over the Kirtle, and two over the Sark, which were recently and very substantially built. There are no regular harbours, though vessels of 120 tons arrive occasionally at Sarkfoot, Port-Stormont, Redkirk point, and Browhouses, for the purposes of exporting grain and potatoes to the coast of Lancashire, and of importing slate and coals from the coast of Cumberland. Ecclesiastical State, — The church having been continued at Graitney when the parish of Red- Kirk was united to it, is thus rather inconveniently situated for the parishioners in the west, ^ho are five miles distant. It was built in 1790, has excellent walls, roof, seats, and galleries, but still requires flooring of wood or stone and an enclosure. It afibrds accommodation for 1 000 sitters, and, as in other country parishes, the accommodation is free. The manse was built 126 years ago, and underwent some repairs when the church was built. It has lately undergone a thorough repair, and been enlarged by an addition of two excellent rooms. The glebe con- sists of 13 Scotch acres; amounting in value to nearly L. 18 per annum. The stipend is 16 chalders, one-half barley, the other meal, payable at the rate of the county fiars, and varies from L. 200 to L. 300 a-year. There is one meeting-house erected at Rigg by members of the Associate Synod. The people are not very remarkable for their regular attendance at church; on an average there are 400 communicants. The church collections amount to L. 30 a-year, and L. 15 more may be received for other religious and charitable objects. Education, — There are two schools with equal salaries of L. 25 attached to them, — ^both commodiously situated. A new school and dwelling-house for the schoolmaster has been lately erected at Gretna village, and may be regarded as a pledge of the future li- GBAITNEY. 271 berality of the heritors. There is much need of the extension of a similar favour to the western district of the parish. There are also three private seminaries, the teachers of which are solely de- pendent upon the number of their scholars ; altogether, 250 child- ren may be taught in these schools. There is also a Sabbath school, attended by about 140 scholars, which is maintained chief- ly by donations from the heritors. The Earl of Mansfield, the pa- tron of the parish, contributes L. 5 a-year, and the other heritors an equal sum to this institution, which is generally allowed to have been productive of the happiest effects, in the moral and re- ligious improvement of the rising generation. Charitable Inititutions^ §*c. — There is a friendly society in this parish, the object of which is to provide for the support of those who, by sickness or old age, are rendered incapable of earning a livelihood. It was instituted nearly fifty years ago, and is chiefly composed of labourers and mechanics, though others encourage it by their contributions. Each member contributes a small sum quarterly, which has gradually accumulated to a very large amount. Poor. — The poor are maintained by church collections and the voluntary contributions of the heritors, who meet with the minister every half year to inspect the rolL The average number of those who receive parochial relief is 30. They are of two classes, which contain nearly equal numbers ; the occasional poor, who are sup- plied from the church funds quarterly ; and the regular paupers, main- tained chiefly by the contributions of the heritors, which are strictly regulated according to the respective valuations of their estates. The average sum of L. 80 per annum is thus conferred, but it varies according to the number and necessities of the applicants for re- lief. The generality of the people regard such means of support as no degradation, and feel much inclined to force the heritors to a legal assessment, which can only be prevented by the firmness of the kirk-session, the unity of the heritors, and by their regula- rity in meeting and contributing according to the real wants of the poor. These feelings on the part of the people are mainly to be at- tributed to the practice of our English neighbours, whose stand- ard of independence has been sadly lowered by the operation, or rather by the abuse, of poor rates. Inns. — Four of the inns in this parish may justly be regarded as useful for the refreshment of travellers passing through the pa- rish ; in particular, that of Gretna^iall, which is the largest and most commodious, and where post horses, chaises, and every other 272 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. accommodation may be had. But there are twelve or thirteen other houses licensed to sell ale and spirits, which have a manifest tendency to demoralize the people. Fuel — Peat from the Solway moss, or the borders of Kirkpatrick- Fleming, is commonly used as fuel ; though coal is also obtained in considerable abundance from the coast of Cumberland, and from the neighbourhood of Brampton suid Canobie. Peat costs Is. 6d. per cart load ; coal, when brought from a distance by sea, costs ds. per cart load, and when conveyed by land about 2s. less. A rail- road between Annan and Brampton, or between the former town and Carlisle, would be of great service to the whole neighbour- hood, and a more level tract for that purpose cannot perhaps be found in the kingdom. Miscellaneous Observations. The most remarkable variations between the present state of this parish and that which existed at the date of the late Statistical Ac- count are, an increase of population to the number of 99 ; an im- mense enlargement of the farms, whose value has been more than doubled ; a great increase in manufactures ; a diminution of houses in country places, and a rapid extension of villages; a departure from a pretty general spirit of resistance to the revenue laws, and the signs of a growing amelioration in religion and morality. Till- within these last four years cock-fights were very common, with all their vile accompaniments, and more particularly at the village of Rigg. Thirty years ago, the contraband trade with the Isle of Man, with all its terrific results, prevailed. But if smuggling now exists at all, it is chiefly to be attributed to the wretched system which establishes an inequality of excise duties betwixt the differ- ent parts of the same kingdom. Instead of one school with a salary of L. 20, there are two hav- ing each a salary of L. 25 a year, besides the usual wages, which may amount to an equal sum, payable by the scholars. Prices of labour and raw produce of every description have undergone a pro- portionable alteration. For the improvement of the parish in a commercial and agricul- tural point of view, the formation of a rail- road to join that between Carlisle and Newcastle, and the award of prizes to the best ma- nagers of farms, and to those who pay greatest attention to the breed of cattle, may be suggested. For the general welfare of its inhabitants in a moral and religious state, the diminution of licensed tippling-houses, and the abolition of irregular marriages, may be GRAITNEY. 273 strongly urged. The far-famed marriages of Gretna Green are celebrated) it is said, to the number of three or four hundred an* nually. The parties are chiefly from the sister kingdom, and from the lowest ranks of her population. The existence of the law by which the practice has been generated is certainly a reproach to our country, whether marriage be viewed as a civil or as a sacred contract. It dispenses with that solemnity which is required for the ordinance in Scripture ; and it presents opportunities for bigamy and abduction. Parties have been known to betake themselves hither, from the north of Scotland itself, to celebrate a marriage which, a few lines written by a magistrate, a lawyer, a shoemaker, or a sexton, and signed by two witnesses at home, might have effected equally well, according to the present law of Scotland. Scarcely one instance in two years occurs of a couple belonging to the pa- rish being thus unlawfully united; and, when cases of the kind did occur a few years ago, the parties generally went to a neighbouring justice of the peace. Great numbers resort to these altars of Baal, whose priests are numerous in this district and others, more parti- cularly about Annan and Coldstream. Their number, indeed, has sadly injured the trade, for the fees are now only half-a-crown a-pair. One of these functionaries, who breaks stones daily on the verge of England, has the best chance of succeeding, for he accosts every party as they pass, and tries to strike the best bargain, Tippling-houses have each their rival priest, some of whom satisfy the parties by merely giving lines signed by witnesses, and others by jabbering over a portion of the service of the church of England, Wherever such irregularities are practised, they are calculated to bring all law and aS religion into contempt and ridicule. The evil can only be remedied by an amendment of the law ; making proclamation of banns necessary to a valid marriage throughout the united kingdom; and surely, were the General Assembly of our church to send up a petition to Parliament on this subject, such pernicious practices would be prohibited by legislative enact* ment Revised March 1834. DUMFRIES. PARISH OF KIRKPATRICK-FLEMING. PRESBYTERY OF ANNAN, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. ALEXANDER MONILAWS, MINISTER.* I. — Topography and Natural History. Name, Boundaries, Sfc, — The parish of Kirkpatrick-Fleming includes the old parishes of Kirkpatrick and Kirkconnel, which were united after the Reformation. It evidently derives its name from St Patrick, who was claimed by Scotchmen as their country- man, but honoured by Irishmen as their tutelary saint. The name of the lord of the manor, Fleming, during the fourteenth and fif- teenth centuries, was added to the name of the present parish, to distinguish it from others of the same name. It extends from north to south about six miles, by a general breadth of three miles, and therefore contains eighteen square miles. Its figure, which is ex- tremely irregular, especially towards the west and south comers, may be said to resemble a parallelogram, or a rhomboid. The pa- rish is bounded on the east and north-east by Halfmorton, on the south-east and south by Graitney, on the west and south-west by Annan and Dornock, and on the north and north-west by Middlebie. Topographical Appearances. — Its surface, which rises gradually from south to north to a moderate height above the level of the Solway, is diversified with a pleasing variety of waving elevations and fertile vales ; and adorned by many a well cultivated field, sur- rounded and sheltered either by fine hedge-rows or thriring plan- tations. Three divisions, running from the north-west and south- west in an easterly direction, are distinctly marked. The south division is separated from the middle one by the romantic vale of the Kirtle; and the middle division is separated from the northern one by a vale, which commences at Burnfoot, near Springkell, and runs along the banks of Logan-bum. In these divisions, there are some points of view looking west, south, and east, which afford most extensive and beautiful prospects. This Account has lieen drawn up by the Rev. Thomas Landells. KIRKPATRICK-FLEMING. 275 Meteorology. — The temperature of the atmosphere in general, and in some particular seasons, is remarkably mild. The thermo- meter ranges from about 28° in winter to TG"" in summer on Fahren- heit's scale. In different seasons, it has been found to stand above 80^ The rains which prevail most, are towards the beginning of August and the end of September; they are well known by the names of the T^tnmflja and equinoctial rains. Frequent and strong gusts of wind, accompanied with heavy rains from the west and south, are often experienced. In the winter months, too, continued and heavy rains frequently fall. But the rain which falls in this quarter is vastly different from the cold rains and hoar-fogs to which the eastern coasts are exposed. The vnnds that prevail in summer and harvest are from the west and south, and in winter and spring from the east and north. It has long been observed here, that when the heavy and extensive clouds, which sometimes rest upon the summit of Skiddaw, to the south of this parish, are borne on the wind, and carried northwards; and when the clouds, which often encircle the top of Cnffel, which lies westward in East Galloway, are driven towards the land, rain soon follows. Hence the old rhyme, When the mist takes the sea Fair weather it will be; But when the mist takes the land We expect rain off the sand. Snow, of which there are seldom heavy falls, does not lie long. Though the climate is variable and uncertain, yet it cannot justly be said to be unpropitious either to plants or animals. Many per- sons are grievously afflicted with rheumatism in the spring, and to- wards the end of autumn. But as the country around this is level and open, and rarely infested with fogs, the air, upon the whole, is pure ; and as it lies at a short distance from the Solway Frith, a considerable portion of it is low and warm. The farmers generally begin to sow about the middle of March, and to reap towards the middle of August. Epidemic diseases and malignant fevers seldom make their appearance. Hydrography. — This parish is abundantly supplied with peren- nial springs of the purest water, which is generally of a soft quality. These springs flow from sandstone, in some places of a dark red, in other places of a gray colour, and occasionally from limestone ; or they issue from gravel-beds or fissured rocks. About a quarter of a mile from the mansion-house of Springkelli there is a very re- 270 DUMFRIES-SIURE, markable spring, which Mr Pennant, in 1772, said was the largest that he had ever seen, except the famous spring at Holywell, in Flintshire. Near the Gair farmstead, which is built on a ridge considerably elevated above the level of Springkell House, and near to limestone rock, several streams which issue from springs are ob- served to sink into the ground, and entirely disappear from the view. It is generally believed that these streams, during their pas- sage through subterraneous fissures, become united, and burst vio- lently out in one large stream in the present garden of Springkell. There are four mineral springs in this parish, of which three are nearly of the same nature and qualities. The first, distinguished by the name of the Branteth Well, is situated in the north-east part of the parish, in a moss of considerable extent. Its waters having at different times been subjected to a chemical analysis, were found to be strongly impregnated with sulphur. Its smell is most offensive, and its taste disagreeable. It is used with great success in scrofulous and scorbutic cases. The late Sir Humphry Davy stated some years ago that it was very similar to the Moffat Well. The other three mineral springs are all of the chalybeate kind, and do not differ materially from each other. The Highmoor Well, in all probability impregnated with a sub- stance not possessed by the others, has often been used with advan- tage in bilious and other stomachic complaints. The second of this kind, distinguished by the name of Charley's Well, upon the farm of Goukhall; and the third by that of Wyesbie-hill Well, — ^are ex- actly of the same nature and qualities, and are said to possess all the power and medicinal virtues of the famous Hartfell Spa near Moffat ♦ Kirtle is the only river in this parish. It has its source in a val- ley, which is formed by Winterhope-hill on the one side, and the farm of Kirtlehead on the other, in the parish of Middlebie ; and running towards the north corner of Kirpatrick- Fleming, divid^ the two parishes for a space of more than four miles, and, then crossing the parish in a south-east direction, falls into the Solway to the east of Redkirk, in Graitney. Its length is about 18 miles ; . its breadth at a medium, where it divides this parish from Middle- bie, above 23, and after that 30 feet In it there are trouts, eels, and perch. In the south of Scotland it would be difficult to find another river of equal size to the Kirtle, which has its banks more richly • See Account of Moffat. KJRKPATRICK-FLEMING. 277 covered with natural wood, or more highly ornamented with plan- tations, gentlemen's family seats, and ancient towers. Geology and Mineralogy. — This part of the country is of second- ary formation. " It consists of dark-red, brown, yellow, and, in some places, of gray or white sandstone, in some parts dipping to the south, and in other parts to the west, disposed in thick strata, and frequently containing vegetable impressions. A great quan- tity of limestone, dipping to the west, ranges through this district from east to west. It is covered by, and alternates with, sand- stone, and contains a variety of shells." In the limestone quar- ries of Caldronlee, casts of bivalve shells and other organic re- mains of various forms are often found. Some of these strongly resemble the shape of a ram's horn. The cover of the rocks is almost always of the old alluvial kind, composed of clay, sand, and small water-worn stones, with angular pieces of the red sand- stone, upon which it generally rests. Its common colour is red, or inclining to red. In this parish there are some flow-mosses of considerable depth and extent. Out of thes^ mosses many large trunks of trees, chiefly oaks, have repeatedly been dug. The soil in the under part of the parish being underlaid with rock, with gravel, or with sand, is generally light and kindly. In many parts it consists of a strong red earth, with a large mixture of sand, to a considerable depth. When this lies upon a gravelly bottom, as is generally the case along the side of the river, it is reckoned land of the first quality. A soil nearly the same, but more shal- low, is frequently to be met with upon a bottom inclining to clay and gravel. The same kind of earth, with a very small mixture of sand, frequently makes its appearance upon a strong brick-clay bottom, exceedingly cold, and almost impenetrable by water. Nearly two-thirds of the land of this parish consist of moss, varying in depth from six to eighteen inches, resting upon a bed of clay. As a subsoil, clay is found below the green sward of ridges, and under peat-mosses, and soft bogs, and is generally either white, blue, or red. There is also found a small portion of whitestone land, which is well-known in this district as a soil naturally barren, though ca- pable of improvement in various degrees. Many trials have been made near Springkell to discover coal, but they have hitherto proved unsuccessful. Mr Robert Bald, min- ing-engineer, Edinburgh, in a report which he gave in 1829, re- garding the minerals on the estate of Springkell, observes towards 27B DUMFRIES-SHIRE. the end of it, *^ I cannot take upon me to say that no workable coal will be found on the Springkell estate, next to Chapel-hill, but, from my experience, and comparing the strata at Springkell with those of the coal districts of Scotland, I have little or no hope of a workable coal being found there." Trees. — The soil, particularly along the banks of the river, is con- genial to oak, ash, plane, beech, elm, alder, birch, to Scots fir, larches, and various species of ornamental trees. Near the mansion-house of Springkell, there are different trees above 150 years of age, which measure from 9 to 1 1 feet in circumference, taken at 3 feet from the ground. At Wyesbie-house, there are three aged and wide-spreading oaks, which measure about 10 feet in circumfe- rence. In a holm, too, near Mossknow-house, there are two or- namental ashes, and an aged beech, which are 10 or 11 feet in circumference. II. — Civil History. Land-otoners, — Sir Patrick Maxwell, Bart., and Colonel Graham are the chief land-owners ; who, along with the other heritors, give, by their example and countenance, great encouragement to their tenants to persevere in improving their farms. Parochial Registers* — The parochial register of marriages com- mences in 1709; and that of baptisms in 1713. These registers, though not voluminous, appear to have been regularly kept. Historical Events and Antiquities. — In former times this parish, rich in feudal associations, was undoubtedly the scene of bloody contests and cruel rapine. In feudal times, various causes of jea- lousy and discord subsisted among the chiefs of clans, and gave rise to as many wars. During these endless contests, the country seems to have been filled with castles and places of strength, erect- ed for the security of the inhabitants, not, in general, against fo- reign forces, but against internal hostilities. The square towers, which were built near the frontier of England, were chiefly used by their possessors, in all probability, as places of security against the formidable inroads, and fierce attacks of the English. In this neighbourhood the towers were generally of a square form, and three stories high. The roof was covered with square flags ; with a gentle tapering towards the top, and surrounded by battlements and parapets. The old tower of Woodhouse, having been unroof- ed and greatly rent for many a year, is now in a most ruinous con- dition. About three years ago, its south side fell down, during a KIRKPATRICK-FLEMING. 279 Stormy night, with a dreadful crash. * Within a space of four miles round this tower, there are no fewer than seven of the same kind. The family of Flemings, who appear to have been more distinguish- ed for their gallant defence of their native country, and nobly re- pelling a foreign foe, than for that predatory manner of life, which, in these times, was styled the ^^ spirit and joy of the borders," in the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth centuries, posses- sed certain lands in this parish, by the tenure of defending them at all times against their southern neighbours. At a place called Bedhall, on the left bank of the Kirtle, stood the baronial man- sion of the ^^ bold Flemings." Towards the conclusion of BalioVs reign, in one. of Edward's incursions into Scotland, the tower of Redhall was attacked by an English army. It was at that time occupied by no more than thirty Flemings, who, in spite of every at- tempt, held out against a close siege of three days. Having nobly defended it to the last extremity, they all chose, rather than sub- mit, to expire in the flames which had been kindled by their foes. Not the smallest trace of this tower, which was entirely demolished in the beginning of the last century, now remains, "f Within the burial ground of Kirkconnel a part of the old church, which is said to have derived its name from Connell, a Scotch saint, who flourished about the commencement of the seventh century, is still standing. The church-yard is situated in a rich holm of very considerable extent. Here is the scene of the impassioned and pathetic tale of ^< fair Helen of Kirkconnel-Lee," which has been so often told both in prose and verse. X About seventy years ago, a man who was citing peats near Cove, found a piece of gold, about eighteen inches under ground, worth about L. 12. On one end of it was plainly seen the word Helenus, in raised Roman capitals, evidently efiected by a stamp, and on the other end, in pricked or dotted characters, were ob- served the letters M. B. Some gave it as their opinion, that it * This is reported to have been the first house in Scotland to which Robert Bruce repaired, when he was flying from Longsbanks. Bruce, at his departure thence, having taken along with hixn one of the sons of Irving, the gentleman by whom the house was then possessed, first made the youth his secretary, next created him a knight, and lastly, made him a present of the lands of the forest of Drum, as a reward for his fidelity and services, f For a fiuther account of the antiquities of this parish, particularly the cross of Merkland, and Dunskellie grotto, see MS. preserved among the Archives of the Churchi I See Account of Middlebie. 280 DUMFHIES-SHIRE. had been used as an ornament for the wrist, while others thought that it had beed used as a fibula for fastening a garment. Modem Buildings, — In the north-west part of the parish stands the mansion-house of Springkell, which was erected in 1734, in the Grecian style of architecture, about 200 or 300 yards to the eastward of the place where the old family residence and village of Kirkconnel stood. The present mansion-house, the seat of Sir Patrick Maxwell, Bart was greatly enlai^ged about sixteen years ago, by the addition of a handsome wing to the east, and a corre- sponding one to the west end. The building is remarkably elegant, and the surrounding grounds are tastefully laid out. — A mile dis- tant from Springkell, on the right bank of the Kirtle, is the tower of Blackethouse in Middlebie, formerly possessed by a family of the name of Bell. — About half a mile below this, on the left bank, is situated the house of Alderbeck, which now belongs to the proprietor of Springkell, and is occupied by a most respectable and enterprising tenant Langshaw, the seat of John -Barker, Esq. is situated about a mile from this, on the same side of the river, and is a neat and commodious house. — About half a mile from Lang- shaw, Wyesbie, the residence of Mrs Mair, is delightfully situated on the same side of the river. — At a short distance from Wyesbie stands the ancient family seat of the Irvings of Bonshaw, on the right side of the river in the parish of Annan. The old mansion- house is built near the edge of a steep rock, which rises to a con- siderable height above the bed of the Kirtle. — On the same side of the river, Robgill-tower, belonging to James Smail, Esq., and Formerly possesseH by the late Sir Emilius Irving, Bart., is situated about half a mile from Bonshaw, on the northern confine of the parish of Dornock. The scenery around Robgillhouse, of which the old tower forms a part, is most picturesque and beautiful. — Cove, the romantic seat of Francis Irving, Esq., built in 1724^ Broatshouse, the residence of William Batty, Esq. lying about two miles south-west of Cove ; and Newtonhouse, the residence of Matthew Rea, Esq. standing about a quarter of a mile eastward of Cove, — are substantial and comfortable buildings. At a short distance from the church is Mossknow, the mansion-house of Colonel Graham. The situation of the house, which is a hand- some modern building, is enriched by fine plantations, and an ex- cellent garden. An extensive and fertile holm, intersected by the Kirtle, and beautified by straggling trees of considerable size, opens to the south. 3 KIRKPATRICK-FLEMING. 281 For many years past, the houses here have regularly been built of stone and lime, and covered with slate ; and the clay-houses, once numerous, have almost all been pulled down, except towards the east and south ends of the parish ; and more modem and com- modious dwellings erected in their place. IIL — Population. Aocording to Uie census by Dr Webster in 17d5, the population last Statistical Account, 1792, census of 1821, 1147 1542 1696 1831, - - 1666 From 1821 there has been a decrease of thirty. Since the cen- sus was taken in 1821, a number of families in the north part of the parish left their farms, which were afterwards let annually as pasture ; and emigrated to other parishes or to America. This, in a great measure, may be assigned as the cause of the decrease. 1. Number of fiimilxes in the parish, ..... dl>4 of families chiefly employed in agriculture, - . 149 chiefly employed in trade, manufiM;tures, or handicraft, 78 2. Number of unmarried men, bachelors or widowers, upwards of ^ years of age, 17 of unmarried women, including widows, upwards of 45^ • 55 a. The average number of births yearly, for the last 7 years, - - 45 ofdeaths, ..... 30 ofmarriages, ... - ]5 4. The number of persons at present under 15 years of age. - - 666 upwards of 70, - •- • 71 The number of proprietors of land of the yearly value of L. 50 and upwards, is 12. Habits and Character of the People. — The habits of the people are in general cleanly, and their dress is of late years greatly im- proved. Gray plaids are frequently worn instead of greatcoats. The ordinary food of the farm-servants at their meals is oatmeal porridge for breakfast, butcher-meat, with potatoes and bread, for dinner, and porridge for supper. The food of mechanics is nearly the same. The cottagers commonly make use of tea or coffee for breakfast and supper, but seldom have it in their power to purchase butcher-meat for dinner. Though farmers and mechanics, manu- facturers, and agricultural labourers have various difficulties with which to struggle, yet they appear, upon the whole, to be tolerably contented with their situation and circumstances in life. The in- habitants of this parish are, with few exceptions, possessed of a good deal of penetration, and a great fund of common sense, and are well acquainted with the principles of that religion which they profess. The farmers are a respectable class of men, — industrious 282 DUMFRIES^SHIRE. in their calling, — just in their dealings, — and obliging in their manners. The people in general are sober, pious, and regular in their attendance upon public worship. They are kind and hospi- table to strangers, and ever ready to relieve the distressed. IV. — Industry. Agriculture and Rural Economy. — llie total number of imperial acres in the parish is - - 11 ^73 Acres in the parish cultivated, or occasionally in tillage, - - 8.061 In rough pasture, ....... 2,009 Flow-moss, -.-..-.- 900 About 400 acres of that moss, by proper drainage and surfiswe-culture, might be converted into meadow or pasture-ground. Capable of being cultivated with a profitable application of capital, - 1,400 Under wood, .. . .-- .. 605 The trees which are planted or indigenous are chiefly Scots firs, larches, beeches, birch, alder, oak, and ash. The general management of the wood is such as reflects very great credit on the judgment and taste of the several proprietors. Rejit of Ijand.-^The average rent of the arable land per acre is 18s. dd. ; of grazing, for cow or ox, at the rate of L.d; full- grown sheep, 10s. Rate of Wages. — Labourers have commonly Is. a-day in sum- mer, and 9d. in winter, vrith victuals; or Is. 6d. and Is. dd. with- out victuals. -Masons receive Ss. and carpenters 2s. 6d. per day without victuals. Husbandry, — The common mode of rotation is six years. But it is neither rigidly enforced by the land-owner, nor strictly adher- ed to by the tenant. The manures which are principally used for meliorating the soil and raising crops are lime and dung collected upon the different farms. Lime can be conveniently carted from Donkins and Blacketrigg, in Middlebie, and from Caldronlee, near Springkell, in this parish, at Is. 2d. per Carlisle bushel, which contains a little less than three Winchester bushels. The crops to which most attention is paid in the greater part of this parish, and which, indeed, most liberally reward the labours of the hus- bandman, are barley, oats, and potatoes. Bariey may be consider- ed, in a great measure, as an article for the market Wheat, of which there is not much sown, generally answers well, as it is ne- ver sown but when the land is in high cultivation. Turnips are here a precarious crop, except on the best land. A crop of po- tatoes, even in common years, is the most valuable that is raised. An immense number of swine is annually fed in this quarter. KIRKPATRICK-FLEMING. 283 ^^ By means of draining, many acres of unproductive morass and wet land have been brought into a state of luxuriant fertility. By its proper application, land, which before the art was intro- duced was considered valuable, has been rendered doubly so ; and by draining alone our climate has been greatly ameliorated." Though a great deal has been done in this neighbourhood by pro- prietors and tenants for the improvement of land, by removing sur£sice and under water by means of open, covered, and tile drains, yet much still remains to be done. Leases of fifteen years are ge- nerally given on improved farms ; but when a farm has to be en- closed and drained, a lease of twenty-one years is considered suf- ficiently short. The rents of a small number of farms here are from L. 440 to L. 200 ; of a great number from L, 200 to L. 50 ; and of some from L. 50 downwards. The farmers are in general acconmaodated with comfortable houses and convenient offices. The improvement of moss by a covering of clay was introduced into this quarter, and tried with excellent efiect about twenty-eight years ago, by William Blacklock, who was then farmer of How- gillside, upon the estate of Springkell. '^ After the land has been ploughed into ridges of 14 or 18 feet wide, labourers with spades widen and deepen the furrows from 15 to 18 inches, and throw the substratum of clay upon the ridges. The moss is thus press- ed down, and its depth diminished. This is repeated next season, and gives new soil for a second crop, equal to, if not better than the first Lime is applied in different quantities, according to the nature of the soil. On clay lands, from 50 to 60 Carlisle bushels of shells (nearly 3 Winchester each) ^re floured and spread ; and for moss, from 20 to 80 are found to be sufficient as one dose, which must be repeated every rotation of seven or eight years. Where moss is from 18 inches to 2 feet deep, it is first ploughed very thin, and laid over quite flat. It is allowed to lie in that po- sition till the plants rot a good deal, and limed upon the face. It is again ploughed a little deeper in the same furrows, and sown with oats. After the crop is removed, it is ploughed a third time, and clayed as above for the second crop, and the same operation is repeated for a third crop, amongst which grass seeds are sown* The expenses of each claying are found to be about L. I, 5s. per acre, by which, and the ploughings, the moss loses fully one-third of its depth, and the surface becomes firm for the feet of cattle."^ Quarries. — In the immediate vicinity of Springkell there is a * Letter from Mr Easton, who was some time ago factor at Springkell^ to J)r Singer. 284 DUMFRIES*SHIRE. great quantity of excellent lime-rock. Caldronlee-quarry is trough - shaped, and its line of bearing is westerly, u e. the longitudinal Une of trough, — ^and the strata rise very suddenly both to the north and south. It is in beds; and its thickness is about 30 feet. It rests upon slate-clay of a grayish colour, and the upfil- ling of the trough is of the same kind of slate-clay, conforming with the dip and rise, or trough of the Ume-rock. The terrage or cover is thick, particularly in the centre of the trough. Here are four good draw-kilns. The coals for burning the Jime are brought either from Canobie, nine miles distant, or by sea from the colUeries of Cumberland to Annan, whence they are carted eight miles to the kilns. The price of a Winchester bushel of shells is about 4Jd. Near Blacketrigg, which is on the border of Middlebie parish, and about one mile distant from Springkell, is a marble quarry, from which large blocks have been raised for marble works. In Sprmgkell House there are several mantel-pieces and tables of this marble. The colour is gray, tinged and clouded with red. As it is susceptible of a high polish, it is pleasing to the eye, and very suitable for mantel-pieces and pavement for saloons. This marble rock is overlaid by the common sandstone, as it appears at the farm-stead of Blacketrigg. In this parish there is a great abundance of freestone, very dif- ferent both in quality and colour. In the north part of the parish, near to the farm-building of Blackcleugh, the rock is quartzy sand- stone, with beds of soft red marly rock, both of a deep red colour. The dip is westerly, with a declination of at least one in two. The rock of Snabb-quarry, situated near the north boundary of the estate of Springkell, is a good quartzy sandstone of a whitish colour, and has very little cover of earth. The dip is to the eastward of north. The quarry of Craigshaws consists of sandstone of a white colour, occasionally mixed with yellow. Its dip is moderate, about one in five westerly. There are only about four feet of peat-earth above it. The quarry of Branteth consists of rock of nearly the same colour, having a westerly dip. At Sarkshields there is a quarry of . the hard chocolate-coloured sandstone, which is wrought for the roads in that neighbourhood. The dip is to the north. Along the banks of the Kirtle, there is in general nothing to be seen but the red coloured sandstone; dipping westerly, with subordinate beds of soft red-coloured marly rock, which gives a deep red colour to the alluvial cover. The best freestone quarries here are to be found upon the estate of Cove. In one of these quarries the rock is red KIRKPATRICK-FLEMING. 285 sandstone, with a subordinate bed of very white sandstone. In another the rock is of a fine gray colour, occasionally mixed with yellow. It dips to the S. S. W., and has a cover of considerable depth. It admits of a fine polish, and is very durable. Within the last twenty years, the principal stones which were used in building the splendid bridge of Carlisle, and also the magnificent mansion of Kinmont, in the parish of Cunmiertrees, were carted from these quarries. Many ship-loads, too, have at different times been sent to Ireland. Produce^ — The average gross amount and value of produce year- ly raised in the parish, as far as can be ascertained, is as follows : 2687 imperial acres of grain of all kintU, at T^. 4 per acre} 1152 acres of potatoes aad turnips^ &c. at L. 4» \5S5 acres of bay, whether meadow or ctiltivatedy at L. d, lOs. Pasture land, at L. I, lOs. per acre, - - Rough pasture, at ^s. 74d. .... Four gentlemen's gardens, - - - Twenty kitchen gardens, ... Woods, &C. 605 acres at 1 Is. per acre. Lime quarries, ..... Freestone quarries, - - - « L. 10748 4608 5372 10 2687 2009 150 60 382 15 150 100 Number of draug|it horses, 220 Cows, - - 782 Toung cattle from 1 to 2 year old, - 1167 Mares and foals, - 50 Sheep, - - 600 14.26217 5 Average price of each. L. 16 7 Acres impcriaL 2346 at 3 acres each, 1750} at li acre, - 3 10 300 at 6acrea each, for a mare & foal, 9 300 at 4 an acre each, - 16 4696total acres of pasture. 900 3 Of swine^ The real rent of the parish is L. 7369. Manufactures. — About 150 cotton-weavers, who are employed by Messrs Ferguson and Dickson, Carlisle, are here the only ma- nufacturers. They work six days a-week, and twelve hours per day. Each of them earns about 7s. per week. These individuals, not being crowded together in great numbers, suffer no very mate- rial injury either in their health or morals from the line of life which they follow. V. — Parochial Economy* liLxrket'Tawns, 4-c. — Those to which the people of this parish resort are Ecclefechan, in the parish of Hoddam, and Annan, about five miles distant from the centre of this parish; also Carlisle, dis- tant thirteen miles, to which many of the inhabitants go weekly. The post-towns are Ecclefechan and Annan. 286 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Means of Communication. — The road from Carlisle to Glasgow, and to Edinburgh by Moffat, runs through the middle division of the parish, five miles in length ; and in the western comer, near Langshaw, crosses the road, which runs from Annan to Edinbuigh by Langholm and Selkirk, in a northerly direction, four miles in length. A road which was opened up some years ago from Annan to Langholm, by Stapleton, Beltenmont, and Chapelknow, runs from the south-west in an easterly direction, nearly four miles in ' length. The Glasgow mail passes this every morning from Car- lisle to Glasgow, and every afternoon from Glasgow to Carlisle. Four bridges have been thrown across the Kirtle, and connect this parish with Middlebie on the north-west There is one also over the Kirtle at Beltenmont, and another over a rivulet at Cleugh- side, which joins this parish, to Domock on the south-west, with two on the Glasgow road. All these bridges are in excellent con- dition. Ecclesiastical State, — The situation of the church, though sur- rounded by the most densely peopled part of the parish, is not con- venient for the inhabitants of the northern division, which is distant from it about five miles. It was partly rebuilt fifty-six years ago, and then put into a state of complete repair. But at present its interior part is in such a miserable condition as again to require a thorough repair. By a decided majority of the heritors, it is thought that a new church should immediately be built The sittings are all free, and can accommodate about 600 individuals. The manse and offices have been greatly improved within the last twenty years; and the glebe, which consists of 6| imperial acres of superior, and 17^ of inferior land, is worth L.20 a-year. As the teinds are ex- hausted, the present incumbent agreed some years ago to receive from the heritors a fixed sum of L. 210 yearly. There is no chapel of any kind here. The number of families attending the Establish- ed church is 290, and of persons of all ages, 1595. Thirteen fami- lies, or 71 persons of all ages, attend dissenting chapels. Of that number, those who are of the Relief persuasion attend a chapel at Waterbeck, in Middlebie; and those who belong to the United Se- cession church attend either a chapel at Ecclefechan, in Hoddam, or one which was lately erected at Rigg, in Graitney. Divine ser- vice at the Established church is well attended by both the higher and lower orders. The average number of communicants is 300. The average amount of yearly contributions for religious and cha- ritable purposes is L. 14; of church collections yearly, L. 30. KIRKPATRICK-FLEMINO. 287 Educ€Liian. — There are two parochial schools and two Sabbath schools. Kirkpatrick school-house was built fifty-eight years ago, and is kept in good repair. The late Dr Graham, of Mossknow, grand- uncle of its present proprietor, mortified L.5 a-year to the teacher of this school, for which sum he is bound to educate eight poor children. The branches of instruction generally taught in each of the schools are English, writing, book-keeping, arithmetic, geo- graphy, moithematics, Latin, Greek, and French. The salary of the teacher of Kirkpatrick shool is L. 25, 13s. 3Jd. ; amount of school fees L.36 ; amount of other emoluments, L. 12. The salary of the teacher of Gair school, which was built in the north part of the parish about thirty years ago, is L.25, 13s. 3Jd.; amount of school fees L.2d; amount of other emoluments L. 2, 10s. Both the teachers have the legal accommodations. The expense of education per quarter is, for reading, 2s. ; for reading and writing, 2s. 6d.; for arithmetic, English grammar, geo- graphy, and writing, ds. 6d. ; higher branches, 5s. The Sabbath school taught in Kirkpatrick church is attended by 170; and that which is taught in the school-house of Gair is attended by 80 scholars. These schools are supported chiefly by donations from the heritors. A greater number of professional men, and others holding respctctable situations of life, has received the elements of a liberal education at Kirkpatrick school, than at almost any other grammar school throughout the whole of thi^ dis- trict. Libraries, — A parochial library, and two libraries for the use of those children who attend the Sabbath schools, were here insti- tuted at the commencement of this year. Savings Bank, — A savings bank was established in 1827. The average increase of this bank yearly is X>.45. The amount yearly invested is L. 80 ; — yearly withdrawn L. 35 ; and the investments are generally made by farm-servants. Poor. — The poor are maintained by church collections and le- gal assessments. Of persons who receive parochial aid, the ave- rage number is 30, and the average sum allotted to each per year is L. 4, 13s. 4d. Of contribudoiu srising from church collections, the annual amount is L. 30 From legal assessments, - - - - 110 00 L. 140 The assessment, of which the proprietor pays one-half, and the tenant the other half, tends to increase. The poor being al- most always compelled by necessity to seek relief from the heri- 288 DUMFRIES'SHIRE. tors and kirk-session, are not apt, therefore, to consider it as de- grading to do so. Inns. — In this parish there are four small inns or public-houses, which evidently have a pernicious effect upon the morals of a small portion of the people. FueL — Peat is commonly used as fuel; |>ut a considerable quantity of coal, which is carted either from Canobie or Annan, is also here consumed. The price of a cart-load of coals is 10s. 6d. ; and of a cart-load of peats. Is. 4d. Twenty-seven cart^-loads of peats are considered sufficient for a cottager's family, which has only one constant fire. Miscellaneous Observations. That unprofitable mode of cultivation which prevailed in this parish forty years ago has, in a great measure, been abandoned, and a more extensive and liberal system of agriculture has been adopted in its stead. Many acres of moor-ground have been turn- ed over with the plough, and rendered tolerably productive, and a considerable portion of flow-moss has been converted into ver- dant meadow or pasture by drainage and surface-culture. The improvement, which has been made upon the south-west part of the parish, and also upon that whic;^ lies to the north of the Glas- gow road, and is bounded by the Langholm road on the north- west, is most striking. In 1792, the real rent of the parish was L. 2870, and now it is L. 7369. The houses of proprietors and farmers, of mechanics and cottagers, have been vasdy improved within the last thirty years. A great change for the better has also taken place in the language, the dress, and the manner of living, of the inhabitants. As the soil still admits of extensive amelioration, much might be done in accomplishing that end by men possessed of capital, skill, and enterprise. A line of commu- nication from Sarkshields, near Springkell, to Kirkpatrick church, by Gilshaw's flow, is greatly wanted. In all probability that line of road will be formed ere long. Farms here above L. 150 a-year are the bane of the comfort, happiness, and independence of the lower classes. Proprietors and fanners, by supplying la- bourers with constant employment at all seasons, by giving them a fair remuneration for their industry, and by discountenancing vice wherever it appears, and encouraging piety and virtue, will, unquestionably, promote both the welfare of the lower orders, and the general good. . February 1834. PARISH OF HODDAM. PRESBYTERY OF ANNAN, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. JAMES YORSTOUN, MINISTER.* L — Topography and Natural History. Name, Boundaries, Sfc. — The present parish of Hoddam com- prehends the parishes of Hoddam, Luce, and Ecclefechan, which were thrown into one in the year 1609. In the charters of the twelfth century, we find the name spelt Hodholm and Hodolmj the Anglo-Saxon word for the head of the holm. This is very character- istic of the situation of the old parish of Hoddam, which lay along the east bank of the river Annan, at a point where the land is flat and rich, and in every respect a holm. Luce was situated below this, on the opposite side of the river Mein. It is supposed to have de- rived its name from the luxuriance of its herbage, the British word Uys, and the Scoto-Irish word Itis signifying herbs, weeds, &c. Ecclefechan is supposed to have derived its name from the Latin word ecclesia, and an Irish abbot called Fechan, ^ho is said to have lived in this quarter somewhere about the seventh century. For- merly it used to be spelt Eglisfechan ; and in a manuscript account of Dumfries-shire (in the Advocates' Library) it is called Ecclesia Fechanis, Each of these parishes in former times was furnished with a church, but scarcely any thing but the respective cemeteries now remains. When the three parishes were united, an entirely new church was erected in a central situation. That, However, was taken down about sixteen years ago, and a more substantial struc- ture substituted in its place. The present parish is bounded on the north by Tundergarth and St. Mungo, on the east by Middlebie, on the south by Annan, and on the west by Cummertrees. Its form is somewhat quadrangular, and its extent is in length about five miles, in breadth about three and a-half, and in square miles eleven and a quarter. • This Account has been drawn up by the Rev. W. Walhicc Duncan, Assistant MinUter. DUMFRIES. 1' 290 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Topographical Appearances. — In point of scenery, it far surpasses most of the neighbouring parishes. Surrounded by gently swel- ling hills on all sides, it forms an extensive plain, for the most part in the highest state of cultivation, intersected by numerous thriving hedges, and interspersed with clumps of trees. In the parish itself, there are no hills worthy of mention but that which is called Bumswark, in the north of the plain. Hiis remark- able eminence, 740 feet above the level of the sea, being consider- ably higher than any other within many miles, commands one of the most beautiful, and, at the same time, one of the most extensive, views in Britain. From its summit, on a clear day, may be seen the Isle of Man, the whole of the northern coast of Cumberland, ¥rith its noble range of mountains, part of Westmoreland, of North- umberland, and even sometimes the mountainous part of Yorkshire. The greater portion of this parish is exceedingly well sheltered by the hills of Woodcockair and Repentance, Brownmuir, Clinthill, Bumswark, and some others. The parish may be regarded on the whole as remarkably healthy. Hydrography. — The rivers connected with this parish are the Annan, the Milk, and the Mein. The first of these, in its course along the western boundary of Hoddam, is in general about 100 feet broad, and abounds in pools, some of which are 15 or 16 feet deep. The Milk, which is one of the tributaries of the An«>^ nan, washes only a small corner on the north-west of the parish. Its direction is ffom the north-east, and the extent of its course is about fourteen miles. The Mein, which is scarcely lai^ge enough to deserve the name of a river, runs directly from the east, and, after a course of five or six miles, joins the Annan nearly at right angles. This stream sometimes changes its channel, and frequent- ly overflows its banks, thus causing considerable annoyance to those through whose farms it directs its course. Embankments are found to be very precarious, owing to the gravelly nature of the soil. Geology arid Mineralogy, — The minerals in which this parish chiefly abounds are slate-clay, clay-ironstone, sandstone, limestone, amygdaloid. Of the first of these there occur in the neighbourhood of £cclefechan several varieties, containing numerous impressions of shells, and sometimes also of ferns. Its general colour is grayish- black and ash-gray, and it is in some instances so compact that the slaty texture is with difficulty to be discerned. Some beds of clay-ironstone, which occur along a stream a little above Eccle- fechan, «ilternate with greenish-gray and reddish-brown coloured HODDAM. 291 sandstone, and are from three inches to a foot in thickness. Im- mediately above this, we come to thin beds of clay-ironstone, pearl gray-coloured slate-clay, and grayish-white and reddish-brown sand- stone, lying on beds of slate-clay, which alternate with beds of limestone containing nmnerous petrifactions, but chiefly mytulites chamites, and corallites. Still higher up the stream, we come to beds of limestone from one to two feet thick, alternating with beds of grayish-black coloured slate-clay and of grayish-white coloured sandstone. It may be mentioned particularly that the coal for- mation is to be distinctly observed in various parts of the parish, but especially towards the north. Several attempts hai^e already been made to obtain coal (a great desideratum here,) but hitherto without success, owing, doubtless, to the want of funds sufficient for carrying on the work. At present some of the speculators are employed in sinking a pit, on one of the banks of the stream al- ready aUuded to, about three quarters of a mile above Ecclefechan. They had not gone far down, when they pierced one vein of coal (about an eighth of an inch thick,) and though they have since descended about seventy or eighty feet, without meeting with any more, they are still in great hopes of ultimately arriving at an abundant store of an article, for the supply of which at present the inhabitants of this part of the country * are so depenc^nt on their English neighbours. At Barhill (north-west comer of the parish) porphyritic amyg- daloid appears reposing on sandstone, which again reposes on greywacke. It continues along the whole of the ridge which runs between this hill and Burnswark, and is to be observed in several places lying on coarse conglom^ate and sandstone, which reposes on very much inclined strata of very compact small-grained greywacke. On the west side of Burnswark, at a considerable height, a grayish- coloured sandstone appears, mariced with reddish-brown spots, and covered by slate-day, and on the due north side (higher up the hill) there are to be seen fragments of grayish-white coloured sandstone, but the highest part of this hill is composed entirely of amygdaloid, f The soil may be classed under three kinds. Firsts the holm land, which lies along the banks of the Annan and Mein, and * The great, alxnost Uie only, drawback which this parish nistains is the want of coab. The cheapest and best are generally to be procured at Annan, (Etc miles dis- tant,) but a horse draught of them can rardy be obtained for less than lOs. or 1 Is, f See Jameson's Mineralogical Survey of Dumfries-shire. 292 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. which consists of a deep rich loam collected by those rivers, and is exceedingly fertile ; Secondly^ the large plain in the body of the parish, which is composed of a light and gravelly soil, and produces very rich 312 chiefly employed in agriculture, - - 71 trade, manufactures, or handicraft, 108 2. Number of unmarried men, bachelors or widowers, upwards of 50 years of age, 42 women, including widows, upwards of 45, 58 S. The average number of births yearly, for the last 7 years, - - 36 marriages, ... .7 4» The number of persons at present under 15 years of age, • 653 upwards of 70, - - 43 5. The ntmiber of villagersy ... . 750 of those who hVe in the country, . . - 832 Habits and Character of the People. — The people, on the whole, are sober and well-disposed. They .enjoy in a more than ordi- nary degree the comforts and advantages of society, fearing God and honouring the king. The immoral part of the community is wonderfully small, considering the populousness of the village, and the temptations to which they are consequently exposed. IV. — Industry. Agriculture and Rural Economy. — The soil of this parish (as has been already remarked) is generally very productive, even by nature. It has been well called the garden of Annandale ; but besides this it has more of the advantages which good farming bestows than most of the parishes in this county. The larger proprietors have lately adopted the systefn of throwing several small farms into one of great extent and high rental, thus se- curing men of considerable capital for their tenants, and conse- quently conducing to the ultimate improvement and increased value of the land. The following table will give a pretty correct view of the agricultural concerns of this parish : Total number of Scotch acres in the parish, - - - 5727 The number of acres cultivated, - - - - - 5143 uncultivated,* - - - - 584 under wood, - - * - 50 • Of the uncultivated land, the hill of Burnswark constitutes the greater part, and it is almost entirely used for grazing sheep. 294 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Average produce of gniia of ell kinds, in imperial bushels ^ . 42990 Number of acres in poutoes and turnips, - • - . 60O in hay, (meadow and cultivated,) - . 750 of land in pasture, - . . . 2947 used for grazing black cattle, at the rate of two acres per cow, or fiill-grown oi, - . 2497 used for grazing sheep, at the rate of one acre per shee}), (with lambs,) . 4jO The yearly rental of the parish, in houses as well as land, is about L. 7000. V. — Parochial Economy. Markets, 4*^. — Once at least every month a market is held in the village of Ecclefechan. But these' markets or fairs have not been nearly so well attended ever since the establishment of a weekly market in Annan, which took place about fifteen or twenty years ago. A pork market, which has just been commenced here, and which is to be held every week throughout the winter, promises to thrive exceedingly well. The village is advantageously situated for such a market, as almost every cottager in the neighbourhood keeps a hog or two, which he fattens sometimes to a great size. There is only one regular butcher in Ecclefechan, but he generally ma« nages to afford a sufficient supply to the place. There are 3 join- ers, 3-blacksmiths, 4 cobblers, 1 baker, 2 haberdashers, 2grocers9 and 4 innkeepers. But the manufacture of ginghams constitutes the principal means of subsistence to the inhabitants of this village. Means of Communication* — In this respect the parish enjoys many advantages. There are carriers from Ecclefechan to almost every place of any importance within a circuit of at least fifty or sixty miles. Ope goes to Edinburgh regularly once a-fortnight, besides whom there are others who occasionally go. The con- stant passing and repassing of the Glasgow and London mail-coach affords great regularity and facility to communication. There is a reading-room in the village, to which every one may resort for the trifling sum of one penny per visit There is one large beautiful stone bridge over the Annan, two of smaller dimensions over the Mein, besides a considerable number, though of very ins^nificaqt dimensions, which span the stream at Ecclefechan, and give a pe- culiar appearance to the village. Besides the highway, (which, between the point where it enters the parish, and that at which it leaves it, is about three miles long,) there are five cross roads, all of which are almost equal to turnpike. The hedges and fences, too, are well kept in general. HODDAM. 205 EedesiasHcal State.-s^The site of the parish church, though ori- ginally ^well chosen, is now considered inconvenient for the greater part of the population, being upwards of a mile from the village, with very few houses in its neighbourhood. It was built in the year 1817, is furnished with complete stoves, three galleries, and a ves- try, above which General Sharpe has a small room for himself and family. It is seated for the comfortable accommodation of about 500 individuals ; the seats, however, having been apportioned ac- cording to the valuatioti of the respective properties, none who do not belong to the families of heritors or tenants, (the minister and schoolmaster, with their families, excepted,) have any rightful ac- commodation in the church, so that not a few are driven to the al- ternative either of betaking themselves to the dissenting chapel, or staying at home. The manse, which was repaired in 1795, has since received se- veral important additions made by the minister himself, afid is at present, with the offices belonging to it, in excellent condition. The stipend is about L. 250, paid in money, and the value of the three glebes amounts to about L. 30 per annum. The number of families attending the Established church is 272. The average number of communicants about 200. There is one dissenting chapel in the parish, whose congregation is connected with the Burgher associa- tion. The minister is paid by seat rents and collections. The sti- pend of the present incumbent is understood to be L. llO, exclu- sive of an excellent house, garden, and offices, to which is attached a field of nearly an acre in extent. This is one of the oldest dis- senting congregations in the south of Scotland, and some of its members are very respectable in their station, and easy in their circumstances; but most of them belong to the surrounding parishes, the number of families attending the chapel from this parish being only about 40. There are two Sabbath schools in Hoddam. One of them is conducted by the members of the Establishment ; the other by dissenters. Each of them contains nearly 100 scholars. The probable average amount of collections at the church for religious imd charitable objects cannot, independent of ordinary church collections, hitherto have been much more thai^^L. 8 per an- nuHL There are only two objects in behalf of which stated yearly collections are made in this way. The one is the Sabbath school just mentioned ; the other is a female Society for the relief of the aged and infirm. 29ri DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Education, — The parochial school, we regret to say, is not well attended. This, however, cannot be said of the unendowed semi- naries, whiclr-are three in number, and at which most of the u^ual branches of education are taught The salary of the (>arochial schoolmaster is L. 35 ; and the yearly amount of fees which he actually receives cannot, it is believed, exceed L. 12. The parish school-house is large and most commodious m every respect, and yet those parents who can afford it almost universally prefer sending their children to the other schools, where the fees are larger. Poor, — There are two separate mortifications belonging to the poor of this parish. The one, consisting of L. 1 1 19, 19s. 4d. Scots money, given by the Rev. J. Alexander in the year 1701 ; the other, consisting of }000 merks, given by John Sharpe, Esq. of Hoddam in the year 1715. Of these two sums the accumulated interest has amounted to a capital of L. 468. This sum at pre- sent yields (at dg per cent.) L. 16, 18s. 6d. Besides this, the in- terest of the two mortified sums already-mentioned (which are lying on the estate of Hoddam) amounts to L. 6, 2s. 6d. The weekly collections at the church produce about L. 35, and the oc- casional loan of the hearse brings upwards of L. 3 more per an- num. It will be seen that about L. 60 is obtained every year in these different ways. Yet this is not sufficient to meet the wants of the paupers (regular and irregular) with which this pari$h abounds. The fact is, pauperism is not here considered at all so degrading now as formerly ; and this (taken in connection vrith the enlargement of the farms, and the extraordinary number of old {)eople in the parish,) may, in some measure, account for the alarming fact, that, within the last seven years^ the voluntary (for as yet there is no legal *) assessment has increased from L. 18 to L. 140 per annum, and this although the population has been all the time on the decrease. The annual average number of persons receiving parochial aid is 24, and the annual average sum allotted to each individual is L.7, 10s. — L. 5 of which is taken from the as- sessed sum, and L. 2, 10s. from the session funds. * The aboTe-menttoned sum of L. 468 has now fallen into the hands of the heri- tors) whose olject is, by its immediate distril;mtion, to obtain the power of exacting a legal assessment. Marchj 1834. PARISH OF SANQUHAR. PRESBYTERY OF PENPONT, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. THOMAS MONTGOMERY, MINISTER. L — Topography and Natural History. Name. — The name Sanquhar is compounded of Caer^ signifying a fort, and Sean^ old, — ^both terms having reference to a fort which existed here in the ancient British times. This etymology seems more probable than any other that has been assigned. The original Sean-caer or ckaery was in the thirteenth century spelt Sene^char or Sanchery as appears by the charters of Robert I. and David II. Afterwards it was changed to Sanquhar. ExterUj Boundaries. — The parish is about 18 miles in length and 5 in breadth. By exact measurement, it contains 61:^ square miles. It is bounded on the east by the parishes of Crawfurd and Craw- fiirdjohn ; on the north by Kirkconnel : on the west by Kirkcon- nel, New Cumnock and Dairy; on the south by Penpont and Durisdeer. Topographical Appearances. — Its figure is verj* irregular. At the east comer, is the Lowther or Lodder Hill, 3180 feet above the level of the sea, and connected by a chain of high hills with Hart- fell, near Moffat. At the west comer, is Biack-larg Hill, 2890 feet above the sea, and united to a range of high land at the junction of the counties of Galloway and Ayr. The parish is generally hilly. It is formed into two divisions, nearly equal, by the river Nith. Each side of this river is bounded by a range of hills, ris- ing generally with a gradual declivity. Some of them are covered mth grass and others with heath. The hollow between these two ranges of hills forms a vale of very considerable beauty, extending in length about five miles. The prevailing winds are from the west and south ; and with these the greatest quantity of rain falls. The climate is cold but healthy.^ Rivers. — The Nith is the principal river in the parish. The tributary streams which flow into it in this parish are the Crawick and Menock on the north and east ; the Killoe and Seuchan on the west and south. PUMFBIES. u 298 DUxMFUIES-SHIRE. Mineralogy — Coal Mines. — In the valley of the NIth, in the pa- rishes of Sanquhar and Kirkconnel, coal is found in great abund- ance, extending about seven miles in length and two miles and a- half in breadth. Sandstone of a reddish shade, about six feet thick, generally overlaps the coal; but sandstone and blaes of different shades are found in many places. The coal appears to be a con- tinuation of that which is found in Ayrshire. It cannot be supposed to have any connection with the coal in Canobie or Cumberland ; for in proceeding down the Nith the valley contracts, and the tran- sition rocks commence about a mile and a-half below the town of San- quhar, near Eliock, and where the whole of the secondary strata of the valley of Sanquhar terminate. Three seams of workable coal have been discovered, averaging severally in thickness 3 feet 8 inches 4 feet, and 4 feet 6 inches, and varying from 4 to 32 fathoms in depth. The greater part of the coal field is the property of the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry. In this part the workings are at present carried on in three pits, and about sixty men are em- ployed. The water is carried off by levels. No steam or other engines are found necessary. Tlie range of the coal seams is in the direction of the river Nith, north-west by south-east, and is bounded on each side by transition rocks. It dips to the north-east by north about one foot in twelve. It is frequently found intersected by whin- stone dikes, one of which, from 12 to 36 feet thick, and ranging S.£. and N. W., may be traced on the surface about a mile in length. A small dike, a few falls above the old bridge over Crawick stream, maybe also mentioned. It runs nearly north and south, and changes the former bearing of the metals separating the strata, which dip nearly east on both sides of it. The breach of the strata which constitutes the dike depresses the metals on the east side so much that they are considerably separated from those on the west side. On the east side it is called a down-dike, and on the west side an up-dike. Such, indeed, is the general effect which all dikes and slips of a similar nature produce on the metals in coal fields, where they frequently occur. The third seam of coal mentioned above has been wrought to the greatest extent by the side of the Cra- wick stream, in the moor of Sanquhar, which till lately was a com- monty.* It is remarkable that, in this seam under the bed of the river, and to some distance on each side, tfTere were found thou- sands of bodies resembling fishes of different kinds, and varying in * Professor Jameson, at page 89 of his Mineralogy of Dumfrics-shire, says that, a little above Crawick Bridge, there are examples of columnar glance coal, which in some places is seen passing into graphite or black-lead. SANQUHAR. 299 size, having heads, tails, fins and scales, lying in all different ways. When broken they were discovered to be, in substance, sandstone. They lay at the chstance of about eleven or twelve fathoms below the bed of the river, which consists of regularly stratified sandstone. Impressions of shells and of several vegetable substances continue to be met with, both in the coal and in the metals lying above it. Coal continues to be wrought near this place, but has been found to be much intersected with whin dikes. It is the public proper- ty of the buigh of Sanquhar. A steam-engine has been found ne- cessary to clear the workings of water. About twenty men are em- ployed in them. Coal has been discovered also in several small properties near the town of Sanquhar, but at present is not wrought in any of them. In the whole of the basin of Sanquhar, the coal is generally of a good quality, but improves as it lies farther from the surface. At all the pits now mentioned it is sold at 5s. per ton. It may be stated also that C. G. Stuart Menteath, Esq. of Close- bum, has in the town of Sanquhar a depot for coal, which he brings ID considerable quantity from his pits at Mansfield, in the parish of New Cumnock, a distance of about eleven miles. Including this, about 16000 tons may be considered the average of the quantity sold yearly at Sanquhar. Zjead Mines of fVanlackhead. — At the east end of the parish, about nine miles from the town of Sanquhar, are situated the lead mines of Wanlockhead, the property of the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry. They join the mines of Leadhills, belonging to the Earl of Hopetoun, in the parish of Crawfurd and county of Lanark. The workings of both include a circle of about two and a-half miles. The surface is bleak and mountainous, and about 1500 feet above the level of the sea. The rocks which generally prevail are greywacke and greywacke slate, often of a yellowish colour at the surface, but black toward the centre. They are some- times so hard as to strike fire with steel, but easily exfoliate when exposed to the weather. When exposure is continued for a few years they fall to powder. Wanlockhead has long been famous for its lead mines. They are said to have been discovered by Cornelius Hardskins, a Ger- man, in the minority of James VL, when the Germans were em- ployed in searching for gold in that place. Sir Bevis Bulmer, mas- ter of the mint under Queen Elizabeth, with concurrence of the Scottish monarch, is said to have employed 300 men in that work in the neighbourhood of Wanlockhead and Leadhills several years dOO DUMFRIES-SHIRE* during summer, and to have collected of that metal to the amount of L. 100,000 Sterling. Many heaps of sand and gravel cast up then, are still to be seen on the banks of several streams, near the places now mentioned. The search, it is said, became unprofitable when the wages of a workman exceeded fourpence per day. A mine has been cut a considerable way into one of the mountains, close by the Wanlock stream; which is supposed to have been cut in search of gold. For such as wish to procure a little in a state of pu- rity, or for the purpose of being formed into a ring, &c. it is still collected by the miners, though not in any great quantity. It is generally found at the bottom of the glens, ofagranular form, dis- seminated among rocks, and mixed with sand and gravel. During the last four years, two specimens have been found which weighed respectively ninety and sixty grains. The lead-mines at Wanlockhead were opened up by Sir James Stampfield, about the year 1680, and were wrought by him with some success, but not to any great extent, till the Revolution. In 1691, he was succeeded by Matthew Wilson, who procured a lease for nineteen years, and wrought the vein called Margaret's in the Dodhill. He carried his workings quite through that hill, from Whitecleuch to Wanlock stream, and was very successful in his discoveries. He was again succeeded in 1710, by a Company for smelting lead ore with pit coal. They had a lease for thirty-one years, and wrought to a considerable extent in the veins of Old Glen- crieff and Belton-grain, but were not very successful in their ope- rations. At length, after much discouragement, they had the good fortune to find out the veins of New GlencriefiT, where in a very short time they raised a great quantity of lead-ore. In 1721, a numerous Company was formed, of persons residing in different parts of the kingdom, under the name of the Friendly Min- ing Society. They entered into partnership with the smelting Com- pany, for working the mines upon a farther lease of fifteen years, in addition to the one already obtained by the latter company of thirty- one years. The two companies thus united, carried on their ope- rations in all the four principal veins then known, and to conside- rable extent, till 1727. They then separated from each other, and prosecuted their works in different grounds. The smelting company entered on the east side of the Wanlock stream, and \i- gorously continued their operations till 1734, when, having suffer- ed great loss, though they had raised much lead, they resigned their lease. An individual partner in the company, however, Mr SANQUHAR. 301 Wightman, retained liberty to work in the southern part of their boundary. He confined his operations to the south end of Mar- garet's vein. But they were very unprofitable, and terminated with his death in 1747. The mining liberty which had been possessed by him was unoccupied till 1755, when it was entered on by the firm which still continues, Messrs Ronald Crawford, Meason and Company, by whom it was wrought extensively, and with much success. They continued their operations in Margaret's vein forty- three years. For carrying off the water they erected three steam- engines. The first was in 1778,-and supposed to be the second erected by Mr Watt in Scotland. The Friendly Mining Society, having resigned their lease in 1734, were succeeded in the boun- dary which they had possessed, by Alexander and William Telfer, who obtained a lease of the northern part of their grounds for twenty-one years. They succeeded in raising great quantities of ore, which sold at a high price. At the expiration of their lease in 1755, Messrs Ronald Crawford, Meason and Company, were also their successors, who now possessed the whole of the mining liberties at Wanlockhead. This enterprising and eminently suc- cessful company continued the works which had been left by Messrs Telfer till 1775. About this period they discovered good ore in Belton-grain vein above water level, and continued working there till 1800. Then finding the ore above water level to be mostly wrought out, they were under the necessity of erecting one steam- engine, a second in 1812, and a third in 1817. The expense of erecting these engines, and supplying them with coal, which was brought from the parish of Kirkconnel or the west end of the parish of Sanquhar, a distance of about ten or twelve miles, must evidently have been very great But still, the works were profitable till about five years ago, when the free trade system was introduced by legislative enactment, and foreign lead was allowed to be imported to Britain, without being subject to the payment of duty. From that period, the price of lead being much lower than formerly, the company must have suffered great loss. The veins have also presented great poverty. Cove vein, which is the present scene of labour, has never been rich. During the period which clasped from 1823 to 1827, the company sunk forty fathoms under level, and erected two steam-engines under ground, but the quantity of ore found did not answer their expectations, and was not commensurate with the ex- pense incurred in raising it. The five engines last mentioned possessed collectively 268 horses power. Previous to the erection 302 DUMFRIES-SHfllE. of these and of those on Margaret's vein, the water was raised from the mines by hand-pumps and water-wheels. The steam-engines have now all been removed, and a water pressure engine has been erected, which is succeeding remarkably well. It carries away all the water which was formerly removed by the two steam-engides under ground, — it works with little attention, requiring merely that the water be kept regularly upon it, and thus greatly lessens the expense which was formerly incurred. The Company at their com- mencement in 1755 had a lease Qply of nineteen years; but an Act of Parliament was obtained afterwards, authorizing the extension of it till 1812, which was subsequently extended thirty years farther. Accordingly, about seven years only of the present lease have now to run. The present lessees are, the Marquis of Bute, who has three shares, and Mr M^Leod, who has one share, — in all four shares. The great advantage of these works to the surround- ing country must be evident, when it is mentioned, that the com- pany during the last fifty years have expended at Wanlockhead, exclusive of their expenditure for materials in other places, the sum of L. 500,000. By the terms of their lease, they delivered a sixth part of the lead raised to the proprietor as rent or lordship. But by a new agreement, on account of the unfavourable circumstances which have been mentioned above, they deliver a much less quan- tity. During the last fifty years, 47,420 tons of lead have been raised ; and to show how various the success of the Company has been, it may be mentioned, that in the year 1809 there were rais- ed nearly 1037 tons of lead, which sold at L, 32 per ton. In 181 1 its price was L. 24 per ton. In 1829 and 1830 respectively, there were raised 596 and 461 tons, when its price was only L. 13 per ton. The number of persons employed in the works at present is as follows: 4 overseers and clerks, 154 miners, 12 washers, 8 smel- ters, 10 smiths, carpenters, and engineers, 20 boys who assist in washing ; amounting in all to 208. The work is let by bargains, generally for three months ; that Is, the workmen receive a cer- tain stipulated sum for the quantity of ore per ton, which they raise, or for the fathom of dead work which they perform in that time. They relieve each other by courses every six hours, and in twenty- four hours the same course does not go to work more than once. Each miner, on an average, may be supposed to earn at present about L. 20 during the year. Agreeably to the contract of lease, some spare pickmen are always at work, for making new discove- ries of lead. SANQUHAR. 303 The veins or mineral depositories hitherto wrought, as has been mentioned, are five in number, viz. Old Glencrieff, New Glen- crieff, Bel ton-grain, Margaret's^ and Cove. They lie parallel, and distant from each other about 120 fathoms. Belton-grain, which lies nearest the east, is about 300 fathoms from Cove. They have been wrought to the depth of 60, 75, 93, and 136 fathoms from the surface. The tops of the veins lie generally to the west, and they slope or hade eastward at an angle from thirty to forty-five de- grees from the horizon. According to the language of the miners they hade one falhom in three or sometimes in two ; by which is meant that they make one fathom in horizontal length, to three or two in height They do not generally run straight forward, but in a winding direction. From this cause, none of the drifts are straight lines, but vary in working southward, from five to fifteen de- grees east to south of fifteen degrees west of south. In all the workings the medium point is found to be almost south and north, so that the veins cannot be said to vary much in their course. The rocks which they traverse lie in beds at the same angle with them- selves. These are the indurated argillaceous mountain rock, or what miners call the gray and blue whinstone. The veins are from a few inches to 4 feet in width. The bearing and the barren parts are very various in their length. The former are found from one or two to 70 or 80 fathoms, as in Belton-grain. The latter are sometimes more and sometimes less extensive, and when they do occur are called checks by the miners. The length and depth of the bearing parts always maintain a proportion to each other. The length, however, is generally something more considerable than the depth. None of the veins have been found to contain much ore beyond the depth of 100 or 120 fathoms. They generally contract in their extremities, and diminish in their course toward the bottom. Clay beds are found occasionally to interrupt them. The course of Belton-grain vein may be tvaced on the surface, by the ground being somewhat slackened or hollowed. Nothing similar or peculiar in any way is perceivable on the surface of the ground over any of the other veins. The structure of the veins is very various. The ore frequently lies in a regular form, but sometimes it is irregular, and mixed with what are called vein stones, as lamellar heavy spar, calcspar, rock- cork, &C. The ores are, lead glance, blende, manganese ochre, cop- per pyrites,' green lead-ore, white lead-ore, lead-vitriol and brown hematite, all in small quantities except the lead-ore. The ton- i 304 DUMFRIBS-SHIRE. tents of a bearing vein are often found as follows : On the under or lying side, is lead glance or common galena, then a layer of ochre of manganese several inches thick, above it a layer of quartz interspersed with iron pyrites, then another layer of manganese mixed with quartz, pieces of lead glance and carbonate of lime fol- lowed by grey wacke, which constitutes the walls of the noine. Be- sides lead glance or common galena, the following minerals are also found, viz. sulphate, phosphate, carbonate, and arseniate of lead. The vanadiate of lead has been found in the refuse of the old workings, where it was for a time taken for arseniate of lead. These different specimens are now and then found occupying the same drusy cavity, and when seen before being injured or remov- ed from their relative position, exhibit a fine lustre and beautiful crystallization. The druses or laengh holes, as they are termed by the miners, are also frequently studded with quartz, carbo- nate of zinc, &c Sulphuret of zinc or zinc-blende is found incon- siderable quantity in some of the veins, particularly in Margaret's. Specimens of iron also occur, as ochry red iron-ore, but iron is al- ways reckoned by the miners as unfavourable to their prospects in procuring lead. The lead glance at Wanlockhead was found by analysis to contain a small quantity of arsenic, antimony, and silver. The last mentioned was from eight to ten ounces in the ton of lead- ore. Lime^ Sfc. — Limestone rock has been discovered between the town of Sanquhar and Wanlockhead, on the farm of Castle Gil- mour. It is presented in a stratum about 4 feet thick ; above it, is one of freestone 2^ feet thick ; and under it, is one of blaes. It has been attempted to be wrought, but not with much advantage, nor to great extent. In that neighbourhood are also found ma- rine marl, a stratum of marine shell about 4 feet thick, containing nodules of limestone, and a seam of coal about 40 inches thick, regularly stratified, but of inferior quality, being combined with a large proportion of pyrites. The extremities of the parish are oc- cupied by mountains of transition rocks. The valley of. the Nith contains only secondary strata. The sandstone is generally white, but in some places is strongly tinged with red. It is rather coarse in the grain, but for the most part is well adapted for the pur- poses of building. Soil, — The soil in the valley of the Nith is of good quality. It is generally dry and gravelly, and in some places is loamy. A great part of the land farther distant from the river mentioned, on SANQUHAR. 305 both sides, partakes much of clay and moss, and is in a great pro- portion wet and boggy. It is generaUy of a deep soil, and well adapted for grazing. ^ fTood. — A great part of the parish is destitute of plantations and uninclosed. Of the lands belonging to the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, 282 acres are covered with natural wood, which are chiefly the banks of the streams. The trees are but small ; they are merely shoots from the roots of large trees, cut down about forty years ago, and are chiefly oak, birch and hazel. Of the estate of Eliock, belonging to Henry Veitch, Esq. about 450 acres are planted. A large proportion of the trees are full-grown, and many of them very old oak. This proprietor, by careful and judicious management, has greatly improved his plantations, and made many additions to them. They lie on the west side ot the Nith below the town of Sanquhar, and extend to a distance of several miles. The trees of which they consist are very various, as Scotch larch, silver, spruce, and balm of Gilead fir, oak, elm, ash, mountain-ash, birch, beech, Swedish mapple, hazel, &c IL — Civil History.* Burgh of Sanquhar. — Sanquhar was a burgh of Barony, accord- ing to one account, from time immemorial, and according to others from 1484. In 1596, at the request of Robert Crichton, Lord of Sanquhar, it was erected into a royal burgh, and is governed by a provost, three bailies, a dean of guild, a treasurer and eleven coun- cillors. In its political capacity it is joined to Dumfries, Annan, Lochmaben, and Kirkcudbright Castle. — The old castle of Sanquhar claims particular notice. It is situated on a steep bank, in the immediate vicinity of the town of Sanquhar ; toward the south it is a very picturesque ruin, and ap- pears to have been a strong square building with towers at the corners. Close to it, was a large deer park ; on the north, was a deep fosse and drawbridge ; on the west, were the gardens, in which is still visible the fish pond with an island in the middle. At a short dis- tance south from the castle, is the moat or ancient court-hall where the barons met to distribute justice. Tradition bears, that the castle was for some time in the possession of the English in the reign of Edward L, and was recaptured by Sir William Douglas of Douglasdale by stratagem, who put the garrison to the sword. * An account of all the paruhes in the Presbytery of Penpont was written about tbti beginning of the last century, by the Rev. Mr Viae, author of the History of the Rebellion in Scotland in 1715. His account of this parish, however, is now unfor- tunately lost. 306 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Historical notices* — The first Lords of Sanquhar were of the Ross or Roose ^£1111117, cadets of the Earls of Boss, Lords of the Isles of Scotland. Robert de Ross was the last of the line at San- quhar who bore that name; William, second son of Thomas Lord of Creighton, who flourished in the reign of Robert Brus, mar- ried his daughter, Isobel, by whom he had a son. The father hav- ing come to the possession of the title of Lord of Creighton died in 1360, and his son by this lady became Lord of Sanquhar. Sir Robert Creighton, great grandson of Isobel de Ross, was appointed by James III. in 1464, heritable sheriff of Dumfries-shire. In 1630, the barony of Sanquhar was purchased by Sir William Dou- glas of Drumlanrig, on which he had a mortgage. The Queens- berry family for some time resided in the castle of Sanquhar be- fore that of Drumlanrig was built.* Eminent Men, — Mr Robert Crichton of Eliock, connected with this parish, was an eminent lawyer and advocate to Queen Mary and King James VI., and a Lord of Session. His eldest son, James, went abroad when young, and was intimately and exten- sively acquainted with literature and science, and so eminently ac- complished in all kinds of bodily exercises, that he was the wonder of the age, and generally known by the appellation of the Admi- rable Crichton. The apartment in Eliock House in which he was born has been carefully preserved in its original state by the suc- cessive'proprietors.f Parochial Registers. — A register of births in the parish has been kept from 1757, but it is very defective, particularly near the pe- riod of its commencement Many are not recorded. III. — Population. The population of the parish was in 1755, • 1998 1786, - 2500 1800, . 2350 1811, - 2709 1821, . 8026 183J, - 3268 Of the population in 1831, 1536 were males, and 1732 were females. Among the chief causes of the increase of population may be mentioned, the greater numbers which have been employed * Near Sanquhar Castle there was found about fifty years ago a stone with the following striking inscriptions : " Here lies the good Sir John Ross of Ryehill ; Here lies the good good Sir John Ross ; Here lies the good good good Sir John Ross.*' f Mr Robert Crichton, immediately after the birth of this his illustrious son, hav- ing sold Eliock to the fiimily of Dalziell, afterwards Earb of Carnwath, removed to Cluny, an estate which he had acquired in Perthshire. From this circumstance it has been erroneously supposed by some that the Admirable Crichton was born at Cluny. 1 SANQUHAR. 307 in the lead and coal mines, in the more extended cultivation of the land) and in the operations of a carpet-manufactory, — the success attending the inoculation of children with the cow-pox, — and the improYements in cleanliness and the manner of living, among the people. In 1831 the number of the population residing in the burgh part of the parish was 1527, in the landward part, 1741. Of this last mentioned number, 675 resided in the village of Wanlockhead. The number of unmarried men, bachelors, and widowers upwards of 50 years of age, •>«.••• 36 of unmarried women upwards of 45, . . . 177 of persons employed in agriculture as occupiers or labourers, 106 manufactures, retail trade and handicraft, 246 of professional and other educated men, - - - 24 of labourers not agricultural, - - ... S80 of proprietors of land of the yearly yalue of L. 50, • 5 llie yearly average of births for the last seven years, • • 100 of deaths for the same period, . - . 60 of marriages^ also for the same period, - - 23 No nobility reside in the parish, and very few individuals or fa- milies of independent fortune. The number of inhabited houses is 575. One only is build- ding. There are two persons insane or fatuous ; three blind. During the last three years there have been nine illegitimate births in the parish. IV. — Industry. Agriculture, — Imp. acres. There are in the parish, either cultivated or occasionally in tillage, - 5563 never cultivated, and constantly waste or in pasture, 31530 capable of being cultivated with a profitable applica- tion of capital, ... . . 1500 in a state of undivided common, • . . 181 under wood, either natural or planted, - - 735 The general kinds of trees planted are Scotch and larch fir. X)f those which are indigenous, oak, birch, and hazel are the most common. Rent of Land. — The average rent of arable land per acre in the parish may be estimated at Ids. The average rent of grazing may be considered at the rate of L. 3 per ox or cow grazed, and at the rate of 4s. per ewe or full-grown sheep pastured for the year. The rate of labour, winter and summer, for different kinds of farm labourers is about 7s. 6d. per week. Stock. — The number of horses in the parish is computed to be 190, and of cattle 960, including in both all ages. There are 21,000 sheep. Of these 100 e^re of the Leicester; 2000 are of 308 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. the Cheviot ; and the remainder are of the black-faced, short woolled breed, which are commonly kept in this part of the country. They are all generally in good condition and well managed. Of late, several of the farmers, instead of smearing them with tar mixed with butter or palm oil, have poured on them the juice of broom and tobacco. By this new process, the wool is found to be greatly improved, nor has the health of the sheep suffered in so far as trial has yet been made. Draining^ ^c. — The extensive draining of the high and low lands which has now been effected has been found most beneficial for improving the grass and other crops in quantity and quality. The sheep and cattle are found also to thrive much better in conse- quence of this method. Leases — Mode of Husbandry. — The leases in general extend to nineteen years, and include in their articles the most approved methods of husbandry. They require, among other things, a re- gular rotation of different kinds of crop, wherever the soil admits of them. Farm-Buildinffs and Fences. — Many of the farm-buildings are not in the most desirable state, in respect of extent and conve- nience. In three years, however, about five-sevenths of the leases expire, when there is the prospect of the houses being rebuilt on the most approved plans, and put into the best condition. The enclosures and fences are generally in good order. One great obstacle to the cultivation of the land is the long distance which lime has to be carried, — a distance of eight, nine, or sixteen miles. Notwithstanding of t^is, however, a considerable quantity of lime is brought, and great improvements have been made in the cultiva- tion of the land, both in the manner of conducting it and the extent to which it has been carried. The management of stock also is now much better understood than formerly. Quarries. — Freestone quarries are opened up in many parts of the parish, but none to any great extent. The coal pits present nothing peculiar, in respect to the manner in which they are wrought. It may be mentioned that in smelting the lead-ore at Wanlock- head, a small quantity of lime in powder is mixed with it. Peat, coal, and charcoal are used as fuel. The operation of smelting, on account of the great heat of the furnace, is not found to be very favourable to the health of the persons immediately employed in it. The smoke which arises from the furnace is most destructive of animal life, and is carried off by a long flue. SANQUHAR^ 309 Produce. — The average gross amount of raw produce raised in the parish, as nearly as can be ascertained, is estimated as follows : Produce of o«ts and barley » whether cultivated for food of man or the domestio anuDBlS) • • • • • Lto 4231 Of potatoes and tumipSy • • • . . 1200 Of hay, whether cultivated or meadow, . . . 1902 Of land in pasture, rating it at L. 3 per cow or full-grown ox, and at 48. per ewe, or full-grown sheep pastured for the year, . 6000 Produce of the annual thinning and periodical felling of woods, 400 Produce of mines, including coals, quarries, and lead, . . II, 015 Total yearly value of raw produce, L. 25,406 Carpet Manufactory. — A very extensive manufactory of carpets is carried on at the village of Crawick-mill. There are at work 30 looms of the newest and most approved construction, with all the other machinery required for preparing the yam, as dyeing, carding, spinning, warping, &c. The number of persons employ- ed in the work is as follows, — 62 men, 39 women, 12 boys, and 10 girls, in all 123. They work generally about ten hours per day, earn on an average 12s. per week, and appear to be in a comfort- able condition. They manufacture annually about 4000 stones Tron weight of wool, and 10,000 pounds of English worsted yams. Upwards of L. 2000 are paid to them yearly as wages. About 60,000 yards of carpeting are wrought by them during the same period, — which, sold at 2s. 3d. or 2s. lOd. per yard, according to quality, bring, at the medium between the two prices, L. 7625. Also, about 20,000 yards of tartan cloth are wrought annually in the town of Sanquhar by the Crawick-mill Carpet Company, which, sold, at an average, at Is. 4d. per yard, bring L. 1333. A few of the carpets are sold in the neighbourhood; some are sent for sale to London; but the greater part to North and South America, to Hamburgh and St Petersburgh. The Company who carry on this work are entitled to the gratitude of the community in general, but especially of the neighbourhood, for their enterprise and industry, the regularity with which all their business is managed, and the correctness of conduct which they require and encourage in their workmen. Cotton Weavers. — In the town of Sanquhar, there are about 100 cotton-weavers. The yarn is forwarded to them by manufacturers in Glasgow. The sewing and embroidering of muslin with cotton, by females, is carried on in the parish to a considerable extent About 300 are engaged in the employment. Their webs are sent also from Glasgow. The knitting of stockings and mittens was formerly a branch of manufacture of considerable extent in the parish, but is now al- 310 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. most entirely discontinued. The stockings were wrought in a pe- culiar manner on wires, — were mostly party-coloured, and of great variety in the pattern. V. — Parochial Economy. Totm, Villages^ Sfc* — The population of the town of Sanquhar amounts to 1400. The trade carried on in it is chiefly the weaving and sewing of muslin ; other articles made and sold are mostly for the use of the inhabitants there and in the neighbourhood, and consequently the trade in them is very limited. The public re- venue of the burgh amounts at present to about L. 40 yearly, and arises from imposts paid on different articles of merchandize and live stock brought within its boundaries, and from an uncultivat- ^ ed commonty of 181 acres. The coal mines in this commonty, and in the part which has been allotted to proprietors, though let and wrought, have yielded little or no revenue to the burgh for several years. The village of Crawick-mill is situated in the burgh part of the parish, about half a mile north-west from the town of Sanquhar, on the banks of the Crawick stream. It con- tains 124 inhabitants, and is in a thriving and prosperous state. The only other village in the parish is Wanlockhead, and is in the landward part. The number of the population there is 675. These are all either engaged in the lead mines, or in some way dependent upon them. It can scarcely be supposed that any would volunta- rily choose to reside there at so high an elevation. Means of Commtmicatian^ Sfc. — In the town of Sanquhar, are kept two post-chaises and one car for hire. There is also esta- blished in that place a post-office. Letters are dispatched and arrive to and from Thomhill on the south, and to and from old Cumnock on the west daily. The revenue annually is about L. 160. There are two turnpikes in the parish, and the length of the roads on which they are placed is 12 miles. About 9 miles of parish roads are also in a state of good repair. On the turn- pike road, there pass daily one coach from Glasgow to Carlisle, and another from Carlisle to Glasgow. There are eight bridges in the parish, or over streams at its boundaries, which are of consi- derable extent and in good repair. With the exception of two which are old, they have all been built within the last twelve years. One of them, which is over the Nith, is made of wood, and of a very ingenious construction, — on which horses with loaded carts pass with ease and safety. There are in the parish two carding, two corn and barley-mills. The sort of fence most common is the SANQUHAR. 311 Galloway stone dike, which is built wholly of dry stones, and generally from 4^ to 5J feet high. There are a few thorn hed- ges, but they are found not to suit well where sheep are graz- ed. Paling and wooden bars are also often used as fences. The bars are generally 6 feet long, 4 feet in height, when fastened in the ground, and being moveable are found highly useful where only a temporary fence is required. The parish is particularly fa- voured with the means of building stone dikes, as either sand or whinstone of good quality is found in every part of it in great abundance. The fences are generally in good repair. Ecclesiastical State. — The parish church is situated at the west end of the town of Sanquhar. It is not very centrically placed for the greater part of the population. It is of elegant architecture, and was built about eight years ago, on an elevated situation, which over- looks the valley between Sanquhar and KirkconneL The interior is highly convenient, and affords accommodation for 1000 sitters. The free sittings are about 60. The manse and o£Sces were built nearly at the same time with the church, are very commodious, and in good repair. The glebe extends to 19 acres, which may be valued at L. 2 per acre. The stipend is 18 chalders, one-half meal, and the other half barley. At Wanlockhead there is a chapel which accommodates 250 sitters. An ordained clergyman in connection with the Established Church preaches and dispenses the ordinances of religion there. It has no constitution as a chapel of ease, — but is properly a preaching station for the accommoda- tion of the miners. The stipend of the clergyman amounts on an average to L. 65 a year. Of this sum about one-third is paid by the proprietor of the mines, — and the remainder by the men who are employed in them. Every one engaged in the mines, who earns at least Is. per day, is bound to pay 4s. yearly, to the minister sta- tioned there. He is also provided with a dwelling-house, and a small piece of land. In the town of Sanquhar, there are two chapels in connection with the United Associate Secession church; and also one in which a few Anabaptists meet for divine worship. These three places of worship are supposed to contain about 900 sittings, A great proportion of those who sit there, probably the one-half, reside in this parish, and the other half in the surrounding parishes. The average number of communicants at the Established Church, including those who reside at Wanlockhead, is nearly 750, and of those who attend there, 1700. Divine service is generally well attended at the parish church, and in all the chapels. 312 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. The number of families in the parish attending the Established Church is 551; attending the Secession chapels and the chapel of the Anabaptists, 164. Societies. — A society is established in Sanquhar for Bible, Mis- sionary, and other religious purposes. Its annual income is about L. 30, — one-half of which is collected at church on a day previous- ly intimated, and the other half is contributed by the members of the society. Education. — The total number of schools in the parish is eight: of these, one is parochial, one is endowed, and the other six are unendowed. They are attended by about d20 scholars. Gram- mar, geography, book-keeping, Latin, Greek, and French are taught in several of them. The wages per quarter for each scho- lar vary from 2s. to 4s., according to the number of branches which are taught. The parochial teacher, by the liberality of the heritors, has much more than the legal accommodation, in regard to house-room, — having six apartments with cellars. He has also two spacious school-rooms, airy and well-lighted. His salary is the maximum, being fully L. 34; and the fees actually paid to him may amount to L. 15 per annum. He has, besides, the interest of L. 100, mortified by the late Rev David Martin, who was a native of this parish, and a clergyman in the church of England. The number of persons above fifteen who cannot read is 2. The num- ber under fifteen who cannot write is 396, and above fifteen 350. In some parts of the parish, the children are so distant from any of the public schools, that they are prevented from attending. In these circumstances, a teacher is generally engaged by one or a few families residing near each other, and not unfrequently one or other of the parents assumes this office, when unable to make any better provision for their children. Libraries, — In the town of Sanquhar, there is a subscription library, consisting of books, for the most part, of useful knowledge. It was commenced in 1800, and contains 1460 volumes. The number of members is 178. The annual payment of each is 4s. and the sum paid on admission 10s. 6d. So many have given in- timation of baring demitted to read for the present, probably on account of the pressure of the times — that not more than L. 26 may be considered as the amount of the whole sum paid during the year. At Wanlockhead there is also a subscription library. It was commenced in 1756. The number of members is 105, who can now number 1300 volumes, which in general are well chosen. SANQUHAR. 313 It was begun, and is supported almost entirely by, the miners and other inhabitants in that village, and has contributed much to pro- mote the intelligence for which they have long been distinguished. Each member pays on admission, 5s. and annually 2s. The annual amount of the sums received is L.10, 18s. In both of these libraries, some of the most esteemed periodical publications are regularly re- ceived. The opportunities for reading thus so abundantly afforded in both divisions of the parish, have been of great service for the religious, moral, and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants. Savings Bank. — A savings bank was established in the town of Saiiquhar in 1819. The amount invested yearly on an average of the kst three years is L. 1175, 10s. 6d. The average amount yearly withdrawn for the same time is L. 1158, 9s. The total amount now lodged is nearly L. 5000. Investments are generally made by servants, labourers and tradesmen. Poor. — The number of persons receiving parochial aid is about 50, and the average sum allotted to each is about L. 1, except when under sickness. The annual amount of contributions for their relief, under the management of the kirk-session, is L. 70, of which sum about one-half arises from church collections, and the other half from voluntary contributions, interest of money, and dues col- lected by the kirk-session. The heritors have not yet been called upon to make any legal provision for the poor. Few solicit paro- chial relief, except from necessity. The more wealthy parishioners generally manifest a charitable disposition, which produces a reci- procal good feeling in the poor, and excites them to make exertions for supporting themselves by their own industry. Jailf 4rc. — The jail in Sanquhar has three apartments for pri- soners, and is far from being in a secure state. Debtors are some- times confined in it for a few weeks, but such as are lodged for cri- minal offences are sent off as soon as convenient to the jail at Dum- fries. Four fairs are held annually at the town of Sanquhar, at regular intervals. These have been continued for ^ long period, but they are now merely nominal ; for few persons attend, and little business is done. There are also yearly a shew of sheep, and three cattle markets, which are tolerably well attended. They have been but recently established, and promise to be of considerable utility. Inns, %c. — There are in the parish twenty-one houses in which spirituous or malt liquors are sold by license, the effects of which on the morals of the people are far from being salutary. Coal DUMFRIES. X 314 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. is almost the only sort of fuel which is used in the parish, except in the remote parts, where peat is easily procured, and the carriage of coal is long and difficult. Miscellaneous Observations. Since the period when the last Statistical Account was written, very considerable and important changes have taken place. Stock of all kinds, but especially sheep and cattle, have been improved. A much greater extent of land is in cultivation, and that too cul- tivated in a more judicious manner. Such a quantity of grain and other kinds of produce is now raised in this district of coun- try, as to be sufficient for the supply of the inhabitants. The great distance from lime, it must however be acknowledged, is a great bar to the farther breaking up of waste land, or the successful cul- tivation of what has already been broken up. Manufactures have also been considerably increased during the last forty years; but are far from being yet carried to the extent to which they might be carried with advantage. The banks of the streams afford many eligible situations for impelling machinery by water. Coal and stone for building are cheap and abundant It must be allowed, however, that the possession of the land by few proprietors is not fa- vourable to the calling forth of a spirit of enterprise, however great may be the natural advantages. The distance from water carriage, and the thinly peopled state of the country, are also obstacles to the extensive establishment of manufactures in this parish, which do not exist in many other districts of the country. October 1835. PARISH OF KIRKCONNEL. PRESBYTERY OF PENPONT, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. JAMES RICHARDSON, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name. — Chalmers, in his Caledonia, derives the name of this parish from the saint to whom the church was dedicated ; and the name Conel he considers as an abbreviation or corruption of Con- gel. RIRKCONNEL. 315 Extent^ BouTidaries. — The parish is bounded on the W. and N. W. by the parishes of New Cumnock and Auchinleck, in the county of Ayr ; on the N. and N. E. by the parish of Crawford- john, in the county of Lanark ; on the S. S. E. and S. W. by the parish of Sanquhar. From east to west, the parish extends about 8 miles, and from north to south, not less than 15 miles. Topographical Appearances, — On the right and left banks of the river Nith, there is a continued range of hills, irregularly formed, and of considerable height, distant from the river on each side about two or three miles, and affording excellent sheep pasture ; many of them capable of cultivation almost to the top. Upon crossing the ridge of these hills to the north and south, the soil becomes cold and swampy, or consists of a peat-moss covered with grass and heath, intersected by narrow valleys, deep ravines and winding rivu- lets. From the base of these hills towards the river, on both sides, there is a gentle slope. From the elevated situation of this parish, and the number and height of its hills, one might expect a moist and cold air, with late harvests and early frosts. The extensive draining, however, of the hill pasture, and the agricultural improvements which for a long time past have been going on, have completely prevented these ef- fects. The soil under cultivation is much diversified. It consists partly of a light gravelly mould, loam, clay, or mixture of moss and clay, and deep rich soil, especially on the holm lands upon the banks of the rivers. Minerals. — This parish abounds with coal of the very best de- scription, which some years ago was wrought to a considerable ex- tent ; but, with the exception of one coal pit for smith work, the present tacksman has removed his coal operations to the parish of Sanquhar, which is nearer the seat of general demand. Several beds of lime and ironstone have been found in the parish ; but no attempt of any consequence has been made to ascertain how far it would be profitable to proceed. Mineral Waters, — There are two mineral wells in this parish upon a farm called Rigg- The one is said to be of the same quality as the Kirkland spaw in Galloway ; and the other, called Riggburn, resembles Hartfield spaw near Moffat : but, in both instances, tKe water of this parish is the stronger. These wells are little re- sorted to, because they have been much neglected : but the water is often sent to very distant parts of the country. 316 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. 11. — Civil History. Eminent Men. — The late venerable and highly esteemed George Jardine, Esq. Professor of Logic in the University of Glasgow, was for a short time, in early life, parochial schoolmaster of Kirkcon- nel. The session minutes under his hand bear date 1759. A few years previous to his death, he visited this scene of his early la- bours, and such of his old friends as were then alive. He be- queathed for the behoof of the schoolmaster of Kirkconnel, in all time coming, the sum of L. 50, the interest of which was to be paid to him, and the capital laid out on the most advantageous terms.* Antiquities^ S^c. — Of antiquities or natural curiosities, this parish cannot boast much, — except baptismal font stones, which are found in diflferent parts. It is said that St Connel, who built the kirks of Kirkbride and Kirkconnel, was buried on the top of that range of hills called Glenwhurry ; but the writer never could discover the smallest vestige of the saint's grave. In the parish, there are se- veral cairns of stone, — some of which have been removed^for the purpose of building stone dikes, to save the expense of quarrying, and were found to contain a quantity of human bones f. III. — Population. In 1 755, the population amounted to - - . 899 At the time of the last Statistical Account, - 1000 In 1811, 1099 1821, 1100 1831, 1111 The small increase of population during the periods above stated has in a great measure arisen from the recent division of the parish into more extensive farms, than formerly,— one farmer now occupy- ing the land which perhaps had been held by eight or ten farm- ers. The whole village holds of the Duke of Buccleuch ; but, no building feus having been granted, every householder is a tenant at will : he pays a small annual rent, and remains in undisturbed possession. * Archibald Macnab, Esq. merchant, laid out a considerable sum in improring and beautifying a small property in this pari^ which had belonged to his ancestors. During the greatest part of his life he was much engaged in mercantile transactions in Germany. While in the execution of his plans, he was overtaken by a storm, and perill- ed in the Elbe during the late war. In this part of the country, he was much and deservedly respected, and the small property of Holm, which belonged to him was sold and purchased by His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch. ■f A few years ago, when a road-maker was levelling down the sides of a gravel pit upon a very small knoll, about 200 yards west from the bridge which is thrown over the river Nith at Kirkconnel village, he came upon an earthen urn of Roman fabric, filled with human bones, which, upon being exposed to the air, were reduced to powder. The urn was broken to several pieces before he was aware. KIRKCONNEU 317 R. P. 6,091 1 10 542 14 18,511 25 104 2 19 178 3 22 12 3 22 48 37 25,489 39 Character of the People, — The people of this parish, in general, are sober and industrious. Their character cannot be more ac- curately described than in the words of my late respected prede- cessor in his Statistical Account. ^^ They are acute, deliberate, cool, steady, serious, and well acquainted with the principles of Christianity." In no case have they ever, even in turbulent times, manifested a turbulent spirit ; they have always shewn a loyal dis- position, and a readiness to submit to the laws of their country. IV. — Industry. By a late measurement, the number of acres belonging to His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry in this parish is as under, viz. A. Arable, • Low pasture, • IliJl pasture, • Meadow, Under wood. In roads, Occupied by bouses. The property of the other heritors in this parish does not ex- ceed 1000 acres in extent ; of which, from 300 to 400 are arable. Husbandry. — Aregular rotation of crop is observed by the tenants, in terms of their leases. An iron plough upon an improved plan is generally^used. For seed, the red and early Angus oat is em- ployed ; and sometimes the potato oat is sown where the soil is considered suitable. Barley and wheat are seldom sown, on account of the great distance from a regular market. Sowing generally commences in the month of March, or as soon after as the weather permits. Harvest is generally finished by the middle of Septem- ber, and sometimes by the end of August. Upon each acre of green crop, the farmer generally lays down from thirty-five to sixty bolls of lime, with a proportional quantity of manure, such as the land requii*es ; and frequently, before breaking up pasture land, it is limed at the same vate ; and for every Scotch acre, eight bushels of seed oats are allowed. The expense of ploughing, sowing and harrowing an acre of land, amounts to about 15?. ; of weeding, reaping, carting home, thrashing, cleaning and carrying the produce to market, L.1, i4s.6d.; and for tear and wear of farming utensils for do. annually, 6s. The average produce of an acre of land is about thirty-eight bushels. Cattle, — The cows which are kept for dairy purposes are all of 318 DUMFRIES-'SHIRE. the Ayrshire or Cunningham breed, and amount to about 560. Up- on good pasture, each cow is expected to produce from sixteen to eighteen stones of what is usually called Dunlop cheese; but, as the pasture varies, the average may be fixed at twelve stones per cow. During the last eight years, cheese of the above description has varied in price from 7s. 6d. to 9s. 6d. per stone. The num- ber of followers or young cows is about 160, of which 113 are usu- ally reserved for keeping up the stock, and the remainder sold to dealers from the south, when rising three years old. About 1 13 cows are either stall fed for the butcher, or sold as early calvers to cowfeeders ; or such as answer the purpose are kept through win- ter, and fed on grass the following summer for the butcher. Every milk cow, in many parts of this parish, requires from two to three acres of pasture, where the land has not been properly laid down, — also house feeding, which consists of clover and tares in the season, and turnips in autumn and at the end of the year. Dur- ing winter, each cow requires not less than 160 stones of hay, ge- nerally meadow. From the extensive agricultural improvements which have been made and are still going on in this parish, few or none of the west Highlanders or Galloway breed of cattle are grazed or fed in this parish for the English market as formerly. Sheep. — Most of the farms in this parish have a great quantity of hill pasture as well as arable land. The hills are stocked with sheep of the black-faced breed, — these being found more suitable for the climate than any other. Upon an average, the number of sheep kept in this parish, on the different farms, amounts to from 11,000 to 12,000. The number of lambs reared annually is about 7000, — of which 2000 are reserved for keeping up the stock, and the remainder carried to market, the average price of which, for seven years immediately preceding 1834, amounted to about L.5 per score; and the price of sheep for the above period, about L. 1 1 per score. Every score of sheep generally produces fpur stones of wool, which was sold, during the years stated, at 7s. per stone; but, in 1834, wool was greatly in demand, and prices exceedingly high and much beyond the real value. Every 600 sheep require a shepherd, who is generally allowed a certain number of sheep as part of his wages ; and such shepherds as are married, and do not live in the houses of their employers, are allowed, besides a number of sheep, pasture fot one or two cows, a house, and a certain quantity of meal, — which in all may amount RIRKCONNEL. 319 to nearly L. 30 per annum. The expense of smearing a score of sheep may be about 5s, and pasturage L. 4 per annum. Rental — Heritors, 8fc. — The rental of the property in this parish of the Duke of Buccleuch (who is nearly the sole proprietor) amounts to L. 4 160, 7s. 6^d ; that of the other heritors, (who are only four in number,) does not exceed L. 450.* The total valuation of the parish is 6964 merks Scots. Employments — Wages, — With a very few exceptions, the working classes of the community are mostly employed in agricultural pur- suits or as day labourers. A few families are employed in working coals in the adjoining parish, and may earn from Is. 8d. to 2s. per day. The latter are sober, industrious, well-behaved, and well-in- formed, and by no means of that description of character which is generally ascribed to their craft. As the time employed in their mining operations is not above six hours, they generally spend their spare hours either in reading, or in working where they can find employment, in order to add a little more to their gains for the sup- port of their families. There are the following trades in the parish: masons, 2; tailors, 6; shoemakers, 4; weavers, 15; stone-dikers, 6; blacksmiths, 10 ; house-carpenters, 4 ; corn-miller, 1 ; innkeepers, 5 ; flesher, 1 ; merchant, 1 ; cooper, 1. There are no public works of any description within the parish, except an iron-plating forge, upon a very small scale, and employ- ing about eight or ten men in its various departments. Produce, — The average gross amount of raw produce yearly raised in the parish, as nearly as that can be ascertained, is as follows : Produce of grain of all kinds, including fodder, deducting seed, Of potatoes, turnips, 6cc. .... Ofhay, .... Dairy produce, . . . Sheepy wool, and 1 tixibs, young cattle. Gardens and orchards, . ... Total yearly value of produce, L. 17,562 V. — Parochial Economy. Means of Communicatiofi. — The roads are in a good state of repair ; but bridges are much wanted on the great public road in the upper district of this parish. A public coach runs daily through this parish from Glasgow to Carlisle, and from Carlisle to Glas- * A small portion of land, not amounting to more than three-fourths of an acre, was held under charter so far back as the year 1444; the reddendum of which " unus solidus monetae rcgni Scotis," is to be paid " ministro ministranti ad altare beatse Yirginis;" and afterwards by clare constat from Lord William Cricbton of Sanquhar to the mi- nister of the parish and hb successor in office. L.7830 1880 1292 2800 «i2&0 480 320 DUMFRIKS-SUIRE. gow, which both enlivens the country, and affords great accommoda- tion to the inhabitants of this district engaged in business, — ^as, by means of it, they can have daily access to any part of the kingdom. There is also a regular post daily from the south in the morning, and from the west in the afternoon. The letter-car- rier goes from Sanquhar, the post-town, to old Cunmock, every morning; and leaves the letter-bag at Kirkconnel in passing; and upon returning from Cumnock to Sanquhar he delivers his letter-bag here, and takes the post-bag for |he departure of the post from Sanquhar to Dumfries. The present arrangement is good ; but, were a mail-coach to start from Dumfries via Thorn- hill, Sanquhar, Kirkconnel, New and Old Cumnocks, Ochiltree, Ayr, and Kilmarnock, there is every reason to believe the contrac- tors would be indemnified for their expense, and that district of country would receive much benefit Ecclesiastical State. — Of this parish His Grace the Duke of Buc- cleuch and Queensberry is patron.* The stipend amounts to 15 chalders, at the county fiars' conversion, one-half meal and one-half barley, together with L. 8, 6s. 8d. for communion elements. The glebe is of considerable extent, but of very inferior soil in many places ; and part of it is liable to be flooded in winter, by the melt- ing of snow from the overflowing of the Nith. There is abun- dance of free teinds. f The only Dissenters in the parish from our national church are Presbyterians under the different demoninations of Cameronians and United Secession; — of the former, there are only two families, and * Chalmers, in his Caledonia, states, that the church of Kirkconnel at one time be- longed to the abbot and monks of Holywood, who held the rectorial revenues to their own use, and a vicarage was established for the service of the church. In Bagimont*s Roll, as it stood in the reign of James, the vicarage of Kirkconnel, in the deanery of Nith, was taxed with L. 5, 6s. 8d. At the epoch of the Rcfbmation, the rectorial re- venues of the church of Kirkconnel were held by Lord Crichton of Sanquhar for the payment of the small sum h. 20 (Scots) yearly, to the abbots and monks of Ho- lywood. Small, however, as this sum was, his Lordship withheld it for many years, and they were unable to enforce payment. After the Reformation the patronage and tithes of the church of Kirkconnel, with the other property of Holywood Abbey, were vested in the King, by the general annexation act, and granted to John Murray of LochmabeOf Act Pari. iv. 575 ��� 665. In the reign of Charles II. the patronage of Kirkconnel was transferred to the Duke of Queensberry, and, upon the death of the last Duke William, came with a very princely property and title into the Noble &mily of Buccleuch. i* It appears that Mr John Carmichael was ejected from his charge of this parish in 1662, when Episcopacy was violently obtruded upon this kingdom. In the year 1681, Mr Samuel Moat, the Episcopal incumbent, was also oblig«i to leave his charge^ because he could not take the oath required by the Test Act. From that period, the vacancy was protracted until the year 1732. llie present church was built in the year 1729, and removed nearly two miles south from the site of the old church, being more centrical and convenient for the parish. Mr Peter Rae, then minister of Kirkbride^ within the presbytery of Pont, was admitted minister of Kirkconnel, and the parish of Kirkbridc suppressed> and divided betwixt the parishes of Sanquhar and Durisdeer. KIRKCONNEL. 321 of the latter, six or seven. The inhabitants are much attached to the Established Church, and are a church-going people. A few years after the induction of the present inciunbent, which took place in I8O39 the present church was considerably enlarged for the accommodation of the villagers. Since that time, the church, manse, and offices have undergone complete repair, and at present, perhaps, there is not a more comfortable place of worship within the county. The offices were rebuilt, and are in good condition. Education. — Besides the parochial, there are at present several private schools in the parish ; and the number of scholars who at- tend these different seminaries, and were present at the annual examination, amounted to 159 : but the average number during the year may amount to 170. The branches of education taught are only English, writing, and arithmetic The Scriptures are regular- ly read, and the children daily repeat the Shorter and other Ca- techisms usually taught in schools ; and weekly, they recite portions of Scripture. The salary of the parochial schoolmaster is the minimum, with a good house and garden ; he has, besides, the in- terest of different small sums of money, for which he is to teach one or two orphan children when any are in the parish, or such whose parents are so indigent as not to be able to pay the school fees, which are extremely moderate. The fees which he actually receives may amount to L. 30 per annum. Poor. — The most necessitous of the poor receive some supply in aid of their own industry, from the weekly collections made in the church, which annually amount to from L. 16 to L. 20. This, together with a small sum laid out at interest, is all that can be calculated upon for their relief. There is no assesment for paro- chial relief, nor is there any occasion for it The farmers are ex- tremely attentive to the poor, by occasionally sending meal and potatoes to be distributed by the session among them ; and the heritors occasionally send donations for the same purpose.* The * In the year ]817f when markets were very high and provisions scarce — and when many of the hibouring class, from the rate of wages, were unable to procure support for Uiemselves and fiimilies, a parochial subscription was voluntarily entered into, aided by the reudent and non-resident heritors; by means of which, a fund was rais- ed to a considerable amount, with which provisions were purchased, at a considerable distance, by fisumers in the parish, and brought by them free of expense. Such of them as had any stock of meal or potatoes for sale, reserved the same for the behoof of the parish. By this means, a store of provisions was formed; and a committee of management was appointed, who met weekly to consider the cases of the applicants; and from the representations laid before them, instructed their store-keeper to give out a certain quantity of provisions gratis, to the most necessitous ; to others at re- duced prices, according to their circumstances ; and such as could afford to pay re- ceived the article at prime cost, llie quantity of meal served out and sold, as above stated, amounted to 1950 stones, (besides potatoes and pot-barley,) within the space of 322 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. average number of persons receiving parochial aid is 10; and the average yearly allowance to each L. 1, 4s, Miscellaneous Observations. In the former Statistical Account of this parish, it is stated, that there were then not 700 acres under the plough ; and now there are no less than 6391 acres, 1 rood, 10 poles, fit for every purpose of husbandry. Still, however, there is a great want of shelter and enclosures with belts of planting judiciously laid down. In the measurement of his Grace's property in this parish, it is stated that there are upwards of 178 acres under wood; but that wood consists chiefly of brush and sproutings of trees formerly cut down, and is confined to the sides of deep ravines and the banks of the different rivers. The valuable part of the wood, many years ago, was set up to public sale by order of the late William Duke of Queensberry; and the purchasers were not required, by the arti- cles of sale, to enclose the wood, so as to preserve the young shoots from being destroyed by the sheep or black cattle. No doubt, in some places, these young shoots have got the superiority over their enemies ; yet there is not a single tree of any considerable value within that portion of this parish which originally belonged to his Grace. The present Noble proprietor, however, has done much, and is still going on improving his princely property in Nithsdale, by planting, draining, and enclosing, and by erecting commodious farm-houses and offices to his numerous tenants. These improve- ments first commenced near his own residence atDrumlanrig Castle; but, from the great progress which has been made, there is every reason to hope that his Grace will soon carry them into this upper district; and, when these are once completed, it may be safely asserted, that there will be few more pleasant country districts, or more delightful tours than from Dumfries by the bank of the Nith to New Cumnock in Ayrshire. More than twenty miles of that road, without intersection, passes through his Grace's property. When these improvements shall have been completed, many of the disadvantages arising from an unfriendly climate will be removed. For the advancement of agriculture, every facility is afforded by good roads, and a constant supply of lime from Ayrshire, about six miles distant from the centre of this parish. In the north-east district, there is a regular supply of lime during summer from the farm of six months, the time required. In consequence of this plan, the needy were well supplied with wholesome food, and, upon closing the whole concern, the sum neces- sary for reducing the price of provisions was found to be not much to every individual contributor. 3 DURISDEER. 323 Whitecleuch, parish of Crawfordjohn, which adjoins the parish of Kirkconnel. The road to that limework, at present, is not in good repair ; but in the course of a few years, it is expected that that district of the parish will be completely opened up with excellent roads, sufficient to convey the mail-coach and carriages of every description from Portpatrick to Edinburgh and Glasgow, by con- necting it with a new line of road already made in Galloway. From the survey and measurement taken, it is said, that the above line will shorten the distance about thirty miles. October 1835. • PARISH OF DURISDEER. PRESBYTERY OF PENPONT, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY. THE REV. GEORGE WALLACE, MINISTER. I. — Topography and Natural History. Name^ Sfc. — Durisdeer probably derives its name from Duris, which signifies a door, and deer, a forest, — so that Durisdeer may mean the door of the forest, or the opening to and from the forest. It is well known that this district was in former times entirely co- vered with wood. Extent — Boundaries, ��� The parish is fully 8 miles in length ; about 6 in breadth ; and contains 28^ square miles. It is bound- ed on the N. W. by the parish of Sanquhar ; on the S. W. and W. by the parish of Penpont ; on the N. N. E. and E. by the parish of Crawford ; and on the S. and S. E. by the parish of Morton. Topographical Appearances. — On the east side of the parish, next the march of Clydesdale, there is one range of mountains which nms from the N. E. towards the S. by the S. W. The highesti point of the range is the Lowthers, which is 3130 feet above the level of the sea. The temperature of the atmosphere is rather cold. The climate is generally dry, and consequently healthy. Besides the Nith, which runs through this parish, there arc five considerable burns or waters in the parish, viz. the Enterkin, the Carron, the Hapland, the Maarburn, and the burn at Crarie Knoll. The rocks of which the hills are composed, are commonly called whiny the greywacke of geologists ; and the plain or low land is of 324 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. sandstone of a red colour, and very soft The soil in general is deep and fertile, in many places inclining to a reddish colour. There is some wet heavy land, but in general it is dry, and in some places gravelly and sandy ; the greatest part is of a loamy nature. 11. — Civil History. Ancient Families. — Mr Crawford, in his History of the Family of Stuart, tells us, that James, High Steward of Scotland, was mar- ried to Dunbar, daughter to the Earl of March, then one of the most potent families in Scotland, by whom he had Walter, his son and heir, and James, who obtained from King Robert Bruce the barony of Durisdeer. It was afterwards possessed by one of that name, who is designed Sir Robert Stuart of Durisdeer ; but what relation he bore to the said James, whether he was lineally de- scended from him, or was only a singular successor, is uncertain. Indeed, Sir James Dalrymple, in his Collection, says, I think this ^' Sir Robert hath been the son of James Stuart, formerly men- tioned, for I find a charter by King Robert II. to Robert Stuart of Inermath of the barony of Durisdeer." The family of Rosyth was lineally descended from the said James Stuart Their mansion- house was the Castlehill, which appears to have been a very strong place, especially before the use of fire-arms. It was situated at the bottom of a steep hill, on the north-east, and had a deep fosse on the south-west side, and could easily have been surrounded with water ; and therefore most probably it was built by the government for public service, in defence of the country against its enemies, especially against the English *. Immediately before the place went into the family of Queensberry, it belonged to Meuzies of Castlehill. Family of Queensberry, — The first charter of the family of Queensberry was granted by James Earl of Douglas, 'Lord of Lid- desdale and Drumlanrig, to William Douglas, his son, in which he gives him the hail lands and barony of Drumlanrig, to be holden ^blench of his Lordship, for serving as a knight in his army. This charter is sealed but not dated; — wherefore, after the said Earl's de- cease, John Swinton Lord of Mar, and Margaret Countess of Dou- glas and Mar, his'spouse, by their letter on parchment, dated the 5th of December 1389, with one consent and assent, promise never to * Hector Boetius, in his History of Scotland, mentions, that when King David Bruce, who had been taken at the battle of Durham, and kept nearly eleven years prisoner in England, was ransomed and restored, this castle of Durisdeer, as also the castles of Dumfries, Dalswinton, and Morton were, upon a paction betwixt the Eng- lish and Scots, demolished, because they were found troublesome to the Englisli. 4 OURISOEER. 325 quarrel nor trouble the said William Douglas, son to the said um- qulill Earl, in his possession of the lands and barony of Drumlan- rig. There is also a charter or letter of confirmation, dated Croy- don, the last day of November 1412, written by King James the First, under his seal or signet, confirming to Sir William Douglas of Drumlanrig, Knight, all the lands he was possessed and charter- ed of. The privy-council of Scotland confirmed this charter in favour of William Earl of Queensberry and his heirs, by their act, dated at Edinburgh the 2d day of February 1639. The first of this family who arrived at the degree of nobility or'peer- age was William, the eldest son of Sir James Douglas of Drum- lanrig, Knight. Upon the 20th of July fOOd, he married Lady Isobel, daughter of Mark Lord Newbattle, by whom he had three sons and a daughter. This William, upon a commission from the Chancery in the year 1615, was served heir to three of his predecessors, who were knights. Sir James Douglas his father, Sir William his grandfather, and Sir James his great-grandfather. By a patent, dated 1st April 1628, he was created Viscount of Drumlanrig, and Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tibbers. And by another patent, 13th June 1633, he was created Earl of Queensberry, Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tibbers. And by a charter under the Great Seal of Scotland, dated 7th July 1636, in the twelfth year of King Charles the First, in favour of William Earl of Queens- berry in liferent, and James Lord Drumlanrig, his son and his heirs in fee, of the earldom and estates of Queensberry, the same are of new erected into one whole and free earldom, lordship, barony, regality, &c to be called then and in all time thereafter the Earl- dom of Queensberry and Lordship of Drumlanrig. James, the Second Earl of Queensberry, upon the 3d June 1630, married Lady Mary Hamilton, who, shortly after, died with- out issue. He was married again on the 26th March 1635, to Lady Margaret Stuart, daughter of John the great Earl of Tra- quair, by whom he had two sons and five daughters. William, the third Earl of Queensberry, upon the 8th of October 1657, married Lady Isobel Douglas, daughter of William Marquis of Douglas, by whom he had three sons and a daughter. By a patent, dated the 11th of February 1682, he was created Marquis of Queensberry, Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Vis- count of Nith, Torthorwald, and Ross, Lord Douglas of Kinmount, Middlebie, and Domock ; and by another patent, 3d November J 326 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. 1684, he was created Duke of Queensberry, Marquis of Dum- fries-shire, Earl of Druralanrig and Sanquhar, Viscount of Nith, Torthorwald, and Ross, Lord Douglas of Kinmount, Middlebie, and Dornock. Duke William died at Edinburgh 1695. James, the Second Duke of Queensberry, married lady Mary Boyle, daughter of the Earl of Burlington, by whom he had three sons. He was honoured by Queen Anne to be her Majesty's High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland, which agreed upon the articles of Union with England, anno 1707; and by her he was afterwards created Duke of Dover, Marquis of Beverly, and Baron of Rippon. He died at London the 6th of July 171 L Charles, the third Duke of Queensberry and second of Dover, (born at Edinburgh 1700,) married Lady Catherine Hyde, daughter of Henry Earl of Rochester, by whom he had two sons and a daugh- ter. Duke Charles died on the 22d October 1778, without any issue surviving him, and was succeeded by William Earl of March, who enjoyed his property and titles till his death in 1810, when the Duke of Buccleuch succeeded as heir of line and entail. Family ofMenzies of Enoch. — Among the ancient families in the parish of Durisdeer, that of Menzies of Enock is considerable* The barony of Enock lies on the east of Drumlanrig, betwixt Nith and Carron ; and the mansion-house stood on a point of the ground betwixt a deep ravine and Carron. On the lintel of the gateway was carved the year 1281. James Menzies of Enock was married to Catherine Douglas, daughter of Colonel William Douglas, second son of William Douglas, the first Earl of Queensberry. He dis- poned to his eldest son James, who had then got a captain's com- mission, the barony of Enock, with the reservation of his own and his lady's liferent of some part of it ; and his son Captain James sold it to James Duke of Queensberry anno 1703^ and bought the estate of Stenhouse. Family of Hunter of Balagan. — Another ancient family in this parish was that of Hunter of Balagan, (who was also proprietor of Drumcroul, and some say of Auchensel.) The house stood two miles north-west from Drumlanrig, on the west side of the Maar- burn. As to the antiquity of this family, it is reported, with what truth I know not, that, when King Robert Bruce was lying with the Scottish army near Glenwharne, and the English army at the moat in Balagan Holm, a man named Hunter, carrying a trumpet, and another, named M^Gachen, bearing a pair of colours, came from the Scotch army to the head of the glen called Balagan ; DURISOEER. 327 and that the one blew his trumpet, and the other flourished his co- lours in sight of the English army, who, apprehending that the Scottish force were immediately upon them, were so much affright- ed, that they fled out of the country. For which achievement, King Robert gave Hunter the lands of Balagan, and to M^Gachen the lands of Dalwhat. If this tradition be true, the family of Bala- gan would appear to be a very old one. The last of them, it is said, usually contended with James Menzies of Enock for prece- dency. But the family is now extinct It terminated with three daughters, one of whom was married to Hunter, of Polmood, in Tweeddale ; another to James Graham, of Shaw, in the parish of Hutton, in Annandale ; and the third to William Charteris, of Brigmoor, Commissary of Dumfries. Families of Douglas ofDalveen and Douglas ofCa^shogle, — Two other ancient families who bad their estates and residences in the parish of Durisdeer, were Douglas of Dalveen and Douglas of Cash- ogle. They were both cadets of the house of Drumlanrig. All these lands are now in the possession of the noble family of Queens- berry. There are only three other land-owners in the parish ; and their properties are small. Parochial Register, — The date of the earliest entry in the parish register is 20th July 1758. It was formerly kept very irregularly. Antiquities. — About a mile above the church, in the wall path, there are the vestiges of a Roman camp, which appears to have been a summer station connected with the great one at Tibbers, to guard the pass from Lanarkshire. A Roman road passed along the wall path referred to into Crawford moor to Biggar. The castle of Drumlanrig, built about the end of the seventeenth century, is the only mansion-house, if so it may be called, in the parish. III. — Population. Population in 180] , . 1 148 1811, . 1429 1821, . 1601 1831, • 1488 The population residing in the village \b, . . • 126 And in the country, ... . • 1362 The yearly average of births is, . • . • 34 of deaths, . • • • • 12 of marriages, . • . • ^ • 10 Number of individuals of independent fortune residing in the parish, . 3 proprietors of land of the yearly value of L. 50 and upwards, . 2 unmarried men upvrards of 50 years of age, • • 10 women upwards of 46, . • • 37 328 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Numberof families in the parish, . . . .291 persons employed in agriculture, as occupiers or labourers, 164 manufijctures, retail trade, or handicraft, 60 other educated men, . t • • 10 There is one insane person, two fatuous, one blind, and one deaf and dumb. There have been three illegitimate births in the parish during the last three years. IV. — Industry. Agriculture and Rural Economy, — Number of acres in the parish, cultivated or occasionally in tillage, - 7^96 never cultivated, being hill pasture, - d554 under wood, 500 of vhich are natural, - 2000 All kinds of trees are planted, but principally hard wood, and they are so arranged that in the thinning they shall finally consist of oak only. Rent of Land, ^c. — L. 1 is the average rent of arable land. The rent of grazing an ox or cow is L. 4 ; and a ewe or full-grown sheep 4s. for the year. Stock, 4*^. — The conmion breeds of sheep are the black-faced; and of cattle, the Galloway. The duration of leases is nineteen years. The farm-buildings are good, having been built within the last two years ; and the enclosures are now in the course of being rebuilt There are no quarries but such as have been opened for the material to build farm-steadings : the stone is in general red sand- stone, very soft ; in one or two instances it is white and much harder. Produce. — The gross amount of raw produce raised in the parish is as follows : Grain, - - - - L 6895 Potatoes and turnips, - 1921 Hay, meadow and cultivated, - 3373 In pasture, ... 2865 Annual thinning of plantations, 200 Total yearly value of produce, - L. 15254 V. — Parochial Economy. Marhet'-Toums, ^c.*- There are no market or other towns in the parish. The nearest is Dumfries, which is twenty miles distant There is only one village. No post-office. The length of turnpike roads in the parish is six miles. One stage-coach travels through the parish to Glasgow every lawful day, and one to Edinburgh three times a-week. Ecclesiastical State. — The parish church is very inconveniently situated, being on the very east side of the parish. It was built in 1720, and is not at present in a good state of repair. It affords DURISDEER. 329 accommodation for 350 persons, and all the sittings are free. The manse was built in 1763^ and repaired partially in 1826. The extent of the glebe is 22 acres, and, with the manse and garden, may be L. 30 per annum in value. The stipend is 15 chalders of victual, one-half meal, the other barley, with L. 100 Scots for communion elements. The average amount of the stipend yearly is L. 240. The number of families attending the Established Church is 206, and divine service is in general well attended. The average number of communicants is 260. The number of fami- lies attending the chapel of Dissenters and Seceders is 85. Education, — There are two parochial schools and two private : branches taught are, Latin and Greek, English, writing, arith- metic, and book-keeping. The salaries of the parochial teachers are, L. 30, Is. 6d and L. 24, 12s. and the yearly amount of fees paid to each may be Li 10. One of the parochial schoolmasters has the legal accommodations ; the other has neither a dwelling- house nor school-house. Poor. — There are, at present, 17 persons receiving parochial aid. The highest sum allowed per annum is L. 4, and the lowest L. 1. The annual amount for the support of the poor is L. 40 ; of which sum L. 24 arise from church collections, and the remainder from mortifications for the behoof of the poor. A disposition to refrain from seeking parochial relief certainly prevails. Jftfu, Sfc* — There are five houses licensed to sell spirits. Fuel, — Coal is principally used for fue^kthough some occasion- ally use peat The coal is procured at Sanquhar, at 7s. or Ss. per cart load — about ten hundred weight Miscellaneous Observations. The improved mode of agriculture, the new farm-steadings, the enclosures, and the increased facilities of internal communication by roads and bridges, are the most striking differences betwixt the present state of the parish and that which existed at the time of the former Statistical Account October 1835. DUMFRIES. PARISH OF GLENCAIRN. PRESBYTERY OF PENPONT, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. JOHN BROWN, MINISTER. 1. — Topography and Natural History. Namey Boundaries^ S^c. — Glencairn, whose ancient orthogra- phy was Glencame, seems to be compounded of GZen, which in the Erse signifies a valley, and Catm, a collection of stones ; the name corresponds exactly with the appearance of the parish, and seems to refer to the great hollow along which the river flows. The parish is about 15 miles long, and about 3^ miles broad, and consequently extends to 52^ square miles. It is bounded on the south by the parish of Dunscore ; by Balmaclellan and Dairy on the west ; by Tynron on the north ; and Keir on the east ; and is of a rectan- gular figure. Topographical Appearances^ ^c. — There are many ranges of hills in the parish, most of which run nearly from west to east. The upper ranges are mostly covered with heath, but the greater proportion afford excellent green pasture. The valleys are in a high state of cultivation, and produce luxuriant crops of all the sorts of grain cultivated in this country. The height of the highest hills varies from 1000 to 1500 feet above the level of the sea. There are three valleys in the upper district of the parish, each ex- tending to about six miles in length, which meet at the village of Minnyhive; and a fourth of greater breadth, which extends seven miles towards the lower end of the parish. The hills are chiefly of the transition class of rocks, and their appearance is charac- teristic of that series. The parish, from its proximity to high hills on the west, is fre- quently visited with such copious rains as sometimes to inundate the low grounds, and occasion considerable damage in the harvest months : and in general the atmosphere is moist The climate, however, is mild and salubrious, and the people in general healthy. Hydrography. — On the farm of Lochurr, there is a lake which d GLENCAIRN. 331 is the source of the river of that name. Its greatest depth is about ^ or 5 fathoms, aud its circumference about 3 miles ; it abounds ^th pike and a large species of trout The water has a black appearance, as the neighbouring ground abounds with moss. The scenery has a bleak aspect, all the hills around being covered with heath. In this parish, there are the following waters, all taking their rise from the high hills on the west, viz. Castlefaim, Craigdarroch, and Dalwhat, which all meet a little below the village of Minnyhive. When united, they assume the name of Cairn* The Cairn flows in a south-east direction, till it unites with the Nith, about a mile above Dumfries, seven miles distant from the Solway Frith. The length of each of the three waters above-mentioned, till they form the Cairn, may be 6 or 7 miles ; and the Cairn runs about 16 miles till it joins the Nitb. IL — Civil History. Ijond'-owners. — Sir jflobert Lawrie, Bart, of Maxwellton ; Ro- bert Cutlar Ferguson, Esq. of Craigdarroch, now M. P. for the stewartry of Kirkcudbright ; John Walker, Esq. of Crawfordton ; and Gilbert CoUow, Esq. of Auchenchain, are the chief heritors ; and there are upwards of 30 smaller proprietors whose rentals may be stated at from L. 600 to L. 50. Parochial Registers. — The earliest register is one of births and marriages, and commences in 1693; with a variety of deficiences, it has been continued to the present time. Antiquities. — There isatumulus commonly called the moat, about half a mile from the church, which, in Grose's Antiquities of Scot-* land, is called the Bow Butts, and, as is generally supposed, was em- ployed as a place for the exercise of archery. There is a cross in the centre of therillage of Minnyhive, made of freestone, about 14 feet high, consisting of a pillar about 9 feet high, rising from a circular pedestal about five feet high, — ^which, from its date, appears to have been erected in 1638. A charter was granted about the same time, constituting the village of Minnyhive a burgh of barony, with power to hold a weekly market. Modem BuUdings. — A monument was erected in 1828 to the memory of the Rev. James Renwick, the last of the martyrs, who was executed at Edinburgh in 1688. This monument is situated within a quarter of a mile of the rillage of Minnyhive, upon rising ground, about 100 yards from the place where he is supposed to have been bom. It is about 25 feet high, and built of hewn stot^e ; it cost nearly h. 100, which were raised by subscription. 332 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. Mansion'Hous€s.-^The chief seats in the parish are, Maxurell- ton House, belonging to Sir Robert Lawrie, Bart*, and Craigdar- roch House, belonging to Robert Cutlar Ferguson, Esq. M. P. ni. — Population. In 1755» the population was 1794 In 181 1, . 1666 1791, . 1600 1821, 1881 1801, 1403 1881, . 2068 The increase since 1801 may be ascribed to the iofiprovements which have been made upon the land, and the influx of strangers into the villages of Minnyhive and Dunreggan, — who have become feuars. There are residing in the villages of Minnyhive, Dunreggan, and Kirkland, 951 The number of fiunilies in the parish is . • • . 441 of independent fortune, . • . • 6 chiefly employed in agriculture, . . . 173 in trade, manu&ctures, or handicraft, 113 Yearly average of births for last 7 years,* .... 40 marriages for same period, . . • .13 Number of bachelors and widowers above 50, ... 49 of unmarried women upwards of 45, . . .137 Average number of children in a family, . • . 4| Number of insane, fatuous, blind, deaf or dumb, . . 7 During the last three years there have been thirteen illegiti- mate births in the parish. IV. — Industry. Agriculture and Rural Economy. — Number of acres cultivated or occasionally under tillage, - 7000 which have never been cultivated, - - 266U0 improvable, « ..... IQOO in undivided common, ..... 1 under wood, - .... gQO Rent of Land. — Of the 7000 acres of arable land, 2000 may be estimated at L. 1, 10s. per acre ; 2000 acres at L. 1 per acre; and 3000 acres at 15s. per acre : total amount L. 7250. Average rent of grazing per ox, L. 2 per annum ; per cow, L. 5 ; per ewe, 4s. Husbandry. — The mode of husbandry generally pursued is that of the sixth and seventh rotations. The first crop is always oats ; second, potatoes or other green crop; third, generally barley; fourth, rye-grass, to be cut for hay, then pastured from one to three years. The improvement of which this appears susceptible, would be — to cultivate fewer potatoes and more turnips, the same to be eaten down with sheep, and also what rye^grass could be spared from the horses, — the ground being generally of a light gravelly soil, and consequently well adapted for that system of management The only land in the parish that can be reclaimed with advan- tage, is generally high and covered with heath, bent, or brechans; The registering of births is sometimes neglected by the poorer classes. 4 GLENCAIRr^. 333 and the general course of improvement pursued, is to lime it for one or two years before, at the rate of fifty mea led " Culton*s nook." It is in the vicinity of the fiirm of Chapel, but within the borders of Glencairn parish. DUNSCORE. 341 red in the old church-yard of DuDscore, the ancient burying-place of the family. Friar^ Corse. — Friars' Carse, which was anciently dependent on the rich Abbey of Melrose, also demands a brief notice. In Catholic times it was a cell or monkish residence, of which, although there are no remains, there are still a number of antique stone figures, such as adorned Catholic chapels and churches, placed in the ayenue leading to the preseat dwelling-house. There is a small loch on the property, with an artificial island in it ; and Grose says, that the loch was the fish-pond of the friary, and that the monks concealed their valuables in the island when the English invaded Stranith. After the Reformation, the estate of Friars' Carse was acquired by the laird of AUisland or EUisland, an ad- joining farm. So far back as 1465, Cardinal Antonias confirmed a charter by the monastery of Melrose to John Kirkpatrick of Allisland of the thirty-six pound land of Dalgoner, including Kil- lilago and Dempsterton. But whether Friars' Carse itself was included in this conveyance, or was so early alienated from the monks, we have not been able to learn. From the Kirkpatricks the whole property afterwards passed to the Maxwells of Tinwald, to whom it belonged in 1634. In the time of the poet Burns, who resided some years in this parish, and was tenant of EUisland, the estate of Friars' Carse belonged to the Riddels of Glenriddel. Burns was a frequent visitor of the late James Riddel, Esq., and the original copy of his poem of the " Whistle," in the poet's own handwriting, is still at Friars' Carse, where it was composed, and is now in the possession of Mrs Crichton. The husband of this lady, the late Dr Crichton of Friars' Carse, left an immense sum, (about L. 100,000) at the disposal of his widow and other trustees, to be applied to charitable purposes. The trustees at first con- templated the endowment of a College at Dumfries, but various difficulties having presented themselves against the execution of this scheme, the erection of a Lunatic Asylum for the county, with several other minor objects, is now imderstood to be resolved upon. Such an institution will be of inunense benefit to the south of Scotland, and be well worthy the benevolent intentions, while it will be eminently calculated to perpetuate the name, of the donor. Bogrie and SundayweVL — There are two old square towers still standing in the upper part of Gleneslin, and on opposite sides of the glen, at a point where it contracts to a narrow pass. The names of these towers are Bogrie and Sundaywell, and both 342 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. of them anciently belonged to distinct families of the name of Kirk or Kirko, and sometimes also spelt Kirkhoe. That of Sundaywell is still inhabited as a farm-house. Hiere is a stone over the door bearing the initials L K., and opposite S. W.^ meaning John Kirk of Sundaywell. Under these initials, and at the bottom of the stone, which is in the shape of a heart, is the date 1651. In the troublous times of persecution, this house was a favourite resort of the Covenanters, to whom the proprietor at that period, the same John Kirk who erected the tower, seems to have been particularly friendly. Mr Blackadder, and others of the ejected ministers, were in the habit of visiting Kirk, and preaching at Sundaywell. And Kirk himself, in all likelihood, was present at the celebrated communion dispensed in the bosom of the hills of the neighbouring parish of Irongray, at which John Welch, who had been driven from the cure of that parish, presid- ed, — of which communion an interesting, though rude, memorial re- mains to this day, consisting of rows of stones placed in the form of sacramental tables. For Blackadder was residing at the time with Kirk at Sundaywell, and preached the preparation sermon on the preceding Saturday in " Meiklewood mooi^* — a district partly within this parish, and in which the ruins of an old house, bearing the name of the " Preaching Walls," still remain. Eminent Men. — It may here also be noticed, that the famous John Welch, grandfather of the minister of Irongray above-men- tioned, and son-in-law to John Knox, was a native of this parish* His father was laird of Collieston, a small property belonging to the family of Welch for several generations, and situated in Glenes- lin of Dunscore, and not in the parish of Irongray, as erroneously stated in the ** Scots Worthies." It now belongs to William Copland, Esq. Chtcrch Lands. — A very considerable portion of this parish an- ciently belonged to the Catholic church. Mr Chalmers, in his Caledonia, (Vol. iii. p. 51, note,) has the following statement: '^ At Dunscore there was formerly a lake where none appears at present. In 1236, Alexander 11. granted to the Monks of Melros ^ lacum de Dunscor in valle de Nyth, et quicquid continetur, infra eundem lacum.' " And he refers to the Chartulary of Melrose, 1639, as his authority. This seems to define the extent of the church lands, and it may also help to determine the site of the quondam lake. For as it included beneath it the whole church lands in the parish, it seems DUNSCORE. 343 not improbable that it formed the upper boundary of the estate of Dalgoner, which actually lies in a sort of natural basin or low ground, in which there is a peat-moss. And a tradition also ob- tains, that there was a loch in this very neighbourhood in ancient times. In point of fact, Dalgoner and Killilago form the extreme upper boundary of the church lands of Dunscore — ^which, accord- ing to a decree of valuation of the parish, dated 21st March 1634, are designed " the thirty pound land of the Monkland of Melrose,'' and comprehend the following, ^^ Dalgoner, Killilago, Bessiewalla, Laggan, Edgarton, M^Cheynston, M^Cubbingtoo, Milliganton, Kilroy, Fardingwell, Dempsterton, Newton, Poundland, Sweir, Portrack, Friars' Carse, and AUisland." These lands, as Chalmers farther informs us, were gifted to the monks of Melrose by Affrica, daughter of Edgar, son of Dunevald, and grandson of Dunegal of Stranith (the strath or valley of Nith.) And, according to the same author, this Edgarpossessed the lands of Dunscore under Wil- liam the Lion, and was succeeded in them by hissaid daughter, Af- frica, who gifted so large a portion of them to the church. It ap- pears, however, that the church itself, ur benefice of Dunscore, be- longed to the monks of Holywood, betwixt whom and the monks of Melrose a dispute arose concerning the right to it. But this controversy was settled in 1257 at Kirkmahoe by William, Bishop of Glasgow, who decided that the Church belonged to the monks of Holywood, but that the Abbot of Melrose had a right to the tithes of their own lands which they had acquired from Affrica. In Catholic times, the cure was served by a vicar, and in Bagimont's roll the vicarage of Dunscore, in the deanery of Nith, was taxed at L. 4» The vicar enjoyed a manse and glebe. On 12th August 1566, the church lands of Dunscore were dis- poned by John Welch, (the last) vicar of Dunscore, with consent of the commendator of the monastery of Holywood, to Cuthbert Grierson of Laytb, and this conveyance was confirmed by a char- ter of James VI., of date 12th November 1574. Heritors. — There are no fewer than 47 proprietors of land in this parish at present ; but many of the properties, of course, are small. III. — Population. It is stated in the former Statistical Account, that in 1791 the population of this parish was 1033; and that, by Dr Webster's re- port, about forty years prior to that date, it amounted to 651. But in 1730 it amounted to 750, so that if Dr Webster's report be cor-' 344 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. rect, the population must have decreased 99 betwixt the years 1730 and 1750. The present number of inhabitants, according to last census, is 1488. Of these the greater part reside in the country, and follow agricultural occupations, — for there is only one village deserving the name, situated at the church, and containing 211 in* habitants, so that the remaining 1277 dwell wholly in the country. Annual average of births for the last seven years, . 90f marriages, - - . 12^ deaths, - - . 17f Number of persons under 1 5 years of age, according to last census ( 1831 ,) - 559 upwards of 70, - - . - . 33 There are many substantial families in this parish, and the num- ber of proprietors whose estates yield a rental of upwards of L. 50 a year amounts to no less than 40, of whom 18 are non-resident Number of families in the pari&h, - ... 291 chiefly employed in agriculture, - - 168 in trade, manuBictures, and handicraft, * 5S During the last three years, there have been 5 illegitimate births in the parish. IV. — Industry. Agriculture. — The number of acres in the parish, either cul- tivated or occasionally in tillage, exceeds 5300 ; the number which have never been cultivated may be about 5900, of which only a small proportion could be added to the cultivated land. But a considerable part might be improved by drainage and levelling, and rendered productive as meadow. The number of acres under wood is about 440, of which 60 are of natural wood, and the rest plant- ed chiefly with larch and Scotch fir. The plantations are well managed, and annually thinned. The greater part of the wood has been planted within the last thirty years. Rent of Land. — The average rent of arable land in this parish does not exceed L. 1, 4s. per acre. The average rent of grazing is at the rate of L. 3 per bullock or cow, and 4s. per ewe or full* grown sheep. Produce. — The average amount and value of raw produce year- ly raised in the parish may be as follows : — Grain of all kinds, - . . L. 7894 1 8 Potatoes, turnips, and cabbages, . 3907 10 Hay, meadow and sown grass, - > ^161215 Pasture, 3075 9 Gardens and orchards, (very trifling.) Annual thinning of plantations, say . 100 L. 15,989 15 8 Husbandry. — Husbandry has made great advances of late years in reclaiming waste land, draining, fencing, and manuring. The DTJNSCORE. 345 duration ofle&ses is generally fifteen years, and sometimes nineteen. A gradual improvement has taken place in reference to farm-build~ ings. The old thatched houses have in a great measure disap* peared. All the new houses are either slated or covered with thin flags or slabs of the red freestone peculiar to the county. The dwelling-houses are also enlarged in regard to accommodation, al- though for the most part confined to one story, and the farm of- fices are more extensive and commodious. The dry stone dike is the most prevailing enclosure, and the farms in general are well subdivided. Manufactures. — With the exception of country weaving, there is no manufacture carried on in this parish. About five years ago, a distillery was erected on a pretty extensive scale, and actively car- ried on for two years, when the proprietor died and the concern was given up, without any prospect of being renewed. It consumed for the time a large quantity of grain, and in so far as it afforded a ready and convenient market, would have proved a benefit to the farmer, had it been continued. But being far removed from fuel, and labouring under other disadvantages, it is doubtful whether it might ultimately have proved a profitable concern. There was once an agricultural society in the parish, but it broke up some years ago, and no attempt has been made to revive it. V. — Parochial Economy. Market-toum^ Sfc. — The nearest market-town to this parish is Dumfries, which is about six miles from the lower end, and nine from the village of Cottack, in the centre of the parish before-mention- ed, in which is situated the church. The post-town of Minnyhive indeed, is only seven miles distant from this village, but the usual communication is through Dumfries, as being most ponvenient. Means of Communication. — The turnpike betwixt Dumfries and Glasgow passes through the eastern part of Dunscore for three miles, and sends off a branch from the lodge of Friars' Carse, which goes right up through the whole extent of the parish, and nearly bisects it lengthways, passing the church, and leading out on the west through the parish of Balmaclellan to New Galloway. There is also another good road, which passes through four miles of this parish, leading from Dumfries to Ayr by Minnyhive, along which a stage-coach has lately commenced running, going to Ayr the one day, and returning the next to Dumfries. All the roads are kept in a good state of repair, and there are no tolls within the parish of Dunscore, except one side bar as a check to the toll of Newbridge, DUMFRIES. Z 34G DUMFRIES-SHIRE. in the parish of Holywood. Coaches travel daily along the turn- pike road both to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Dalgoner Bridge, with a span of 80 feet, as already mentioned, is the only bridge within the parish of any extent Ecclesioitical State. — The parish church fs conveniently situated in the village of Cottack, at nearly equal distances from the two extremes of the parish. It was built in the year 1823, and is in good repair. It accommodates 850, but there are not above 10 free sittings. The manse was built in 1814, and is also in good condition. The glebe consists of about fifty-one acres, and may be worth L. 60 per annum. The stipend is the minimum, with L. 12, 128. in addition, being a voluntary augmentation given by the heri- tors in 1793. The parish church formerly stood at the eastern or lower end of the parish, five miles from Dumfries. But in 1649 it was removed to its present situation, nearly in the centre of the pa- rish, and nine miles from Dumfries ; but the original edifice was taken down, and a new one erected in 1823, which is of a Gothic style, with an elegant square tower in the western end. In Popish times, there was a chapel in Gleneslin, at the distance of seven miles from the site, which the church then occupied, and there was a church-yard attached to both church and chapel. That which attached to the chapel has now entirely disappeared, and has not been used in the memory of man, but there is a farm in the vici- nity which bears the name of Chapel to this day. The burying- ground, however, which surrounded the old church at the lower end of the parish, is still in use. In this burying-ground Grierson of Lag, as already mentioned, and the ancestors of other ancient families, lie interred : so that there are two church-yards in the parish. There is one Dissenting chapel in the parish, in connection with the Relief synod, the minister of which is paid by the collections and seat rents. The number of families adhering to the Established Chnreh, . 5250 belonging to various Dissenting bodies. Relief, Seoes- . sion, and Reformed Presbytery, including 1 of Roman Catholics, . 41 Divine service is uniformly well attended in the Established Church, and the average number of communicants is about 450. The average amount of money raised yearly for religious and charitable purposes, both by subscriptions and church collections. DUNSCORE. 347 exclusively of the ordinary collections for the parish poor, may be about L. 15. Education. — There are three parochial schools in this parish, in which all the ordinary branches of instruction, including Latin and Greek, are well taught. Prior to the year 1828, there was no assessed salary paid by the heritors, but the maximum is now given, and is divided into nearly three equal portions. But besides the assessed salary, L. 300 was mortified about a century ago by a Mr Grierson of Edinburgh, of which the interest is equally divided among the three parochial teachers. In 1807, a farther sum of L. 50 was bequeathed to the centre school at the church by Mrs Janet Dobie. And in 1829, Robert M^Kinnel, Esq. of M^Mur- doston, left L. 200 for behoof of the school in the lower district of the parish, and L. 50 for that at the church also. The interest of Mr Grierson's L. 300 was all the salary which the teachers enjoy- ed previous to 1828^ except Janet Dobie's legacy after the year 1607. The teachers have no dwelling-houses; but two good school-rooms were lately erected by subscription, and the third was at the same time thoroughly repaired. All the schools, therefore, are at present in good condition. There are few, if any, children above six years of age, who have not been entered at school ; and none above fifteen are known to be without the elements of com- mon education, to the value of which the people are fully alive. The school in the upper district is nearly four miles from the west- ern extremity of the parish, at which several families reside. These families, however, are nearer to one of the parish schools of Bal- maclellan, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright Literature. — There is no general library in the parish, but ju- venile libraries for the children attending the Sabbath schools have existed for some years, and have been productive of benefit among the youth, many of whom have acquired a taste for reading. Nor does the habit of reading prevail among this class only, for the pa- rishioners generally are substantially educated, and fond of books. Poor and Parochial Funds. — The average number of persons receiving parochial aid is about 25. The sums each receive vary from L. 1 to L. 3 a-year, or from 5s. to lOs. every second month. But, besides these allowances in money, there are always some distributions of meal, fuel, and clothing in the winter season, both from the ordinary funds, and from the benefactions of one or more leading heritors. The annual rec^pts for the relief of the poor are from L. 60 to 348 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. L. 70 ; of which about L. 44 are raised by the ordinary church col- lections, and the remainder chiefly consists of the interest of l^a- cies or mortified money, but partly also of the fees levied for pro- clamation of the banns of marriage, &c But out of this fund the salaries of the session-clerk and treasurer, the precentor and church officer are all paid, — besides support to the poor. Of late years, the number of poor has rather been on the increase — ^yet a disposition to refrain from seeking parochial relief still pervades many among the poorer classes. And the great majority of those who receive aid are the aged, infirm, and sick. Occasionally, however, hea- vier burdens than usual, such as the support of natural children, fall upon the funds ; but there has never been occasion for any kind of assessment. Inns, — At present there are two inns in this parish, both at the village of Cottack, one of which is necessary for the accommodation of travellers, but one of them might also be well dispensed with ; yet, with a few exceptions, sobriety and industry prevail among the peasantry. The fuel most generally used is peat, which is got within the pa- rish, as already observed. Sea-borne coal is procured at Dumfries, and Scotch coal is driven from Sanquhar, a distanceof twenty miles, but it is always to be had at Mr Whigham's depot at Allanton, within the parish. This gentleman rents the Duke of Buccleuch's collieries at Sanquhar ; and, to the great convenience of the neigh- bourhood, keeps a constant supply on hand, by means of his coal waggons, which are constantly plying on the road ; and he always distributes a quantity to the poor in winter. The better sort of families use a great deal of coal in addition to peat. Miscellaneous Observations. Since the last Statistical account was drawn up, the population has increased by 575, being more than one-third of the whole num- ber of souls. The inhabited houses have increased by thirty-six, while the greater part of the former houses have also been renewed and much enlarged and otherwise improved. There is also a new manse, a new church, and two new school-houses built. The teach- ers have received an addition of L. 17 of salary each, and are much superior to their predecessors in respect of qualifications, — at least generally speaking; for it must be allowed, that, under all the disadvantages of the old system, the schools were occasionally filled with able teachers. — The old Scottish plough has been almost uni- versally supplanted by the improved iron one, and the number of { CAERLAYEROCK. 349 ploughs employed in agriculture has been increased by at least one- third. The annual funds for supporting the poor have advanced from L. 23 to L. 70, although still arising from the same voluntary sources. And the number of poor persons receiving parochial re- lief is doubled. Both the face of the countrv* and the intellectual state of the people, have been greatly improved. October 1835. PARISH OF CAERLAVEROCK. PRESBYTERY OF DUMFRIES, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. ROBERT GILLIES, MINISTER. L — Topography and Natural History. Namej Boundaries, Sfc. — Antiquaries differ as to the import of the name of this parish. Chalmers considers it to mean ^* the castle with the rotundity or buttress jutting out," while, according to Baxter, it signifies ** the castle close upon the sea." It was an- ciently spelled Caerlaverock, and this appears the more correct or- thography, — although at present it is as frequently written Carlave- rock. The situation is entirely peninsular. Connected with Dum- fries on the north-west, it stretches toward the English coast From this, it is separated by the Solway, which is here about twelve miles in breadth. The Nith on the west, and Lochar on the east, are the other boundaries. The Nith is generally fordable at low vater, and, in very low tides, people may wade across to the adja- cent parish of New Abbey. But on the other side of the parish, the extensive moss through which the Lochar flows, forms an in- superable barrier to all communication, except during the driest months of summer, and even then only to pedestrians. The parish of Caerlaverock is about 6 miles in length, and nowhere more than 2 in breadth. It is in the form of an elongated hill, de- scending gradually to the Nith on the one side, and the Lochar on the other, and terminating in the Blackshaw flat towards the Solway. About six miles are washed by the tide, which flows up the Nith as far as Dumfries. The shore is a sandy mud, which used formerly to be laid on t&e land as a substitute for lime. The 350 DUMFBIKS-SHIRE. climate is moist, — which may be partly occasioned by the extensive Lochar morass, and partly by the neighbourhood of the towering Criffel Geology, — Almost the whole parish lies upon a bed of red sand- stone. This stone is easily wrought, and at the same time durable. According to tradition, and, I may add, probability, New Abbey was built of Caerlaverock stones. A quarry on the glebe has long been famed for producing very superior grindstones ; it is only oc- casionally wrought, and that to a trifling extent. Neither coal nor limestone has hitherto been found in this parish. There are some faint indications of the latter mineral, and many believe that the former might also be found. This is, indeed, not improbable, when we survey the geological map of the kingdom. The same coal- field in all probability extends from the English side to Sanquhar. This, I am informed, was the opinion of an eminent engineer; but it is right to add, that he also conceived, from the nature of the dip, that the mineral was so deeply buried in the centre of the bed, that it would be in vain to hope that it could be worked to advan- tage. A good deal of land has been reclaimed from the Lochar moss, and the operations of the husbandman have disinterred many massy roots of oak, which for centuries had been buried under a stratum of peat twelve feet deep. Below the mossy stratum, sea sand mixed with clay and shells may, in many places, be recognized. Canoes, similar to those used by the North American savages, when first visited by Europeans, have been found in this vicinity. Coins of different dates, some as old as the time of Edward L, have been found in the neighbourhood of the church, and in other places. The soil is in general a light loam, and what is rather un- common, the worst soil is generally in the valleys. There is a con- siderable portion of peaty soil ; but where the situation admits of draining at a moderate expense, by a liberal application of lime, it is rendered tolerably productive. II. — Civil History. Eminent Men. — Dr John Hutton, first Physician to Queen Anne, was a native of this parish. He was originally ^' a herd-boy" to the Episcopalian minister of Caerlaverock. The clergyman, per- ceiving his superior talents, generously promoted his education, and fanned his youthful ambition. Hutton directed his attention to the science of medicine. He was fortunately the nearest sur- geon at hand when the Princess of Orange met with a fall from her horse in Holland. His services were put in requisition, and CAE R LAVE ROCK. 351 • exerted successfully both for himself and the royal princess. His fortune was now secured, but he did not forget the scene of Iiis boyish days, and first humble avocation. At his own expense, he built a manse for the minister, bequeathed for charitable purposes L. 1000 Sterling to this parish, and also left a valuable library to the presbytery of Dumfries. This library originally contained the identical prayer-book which was used by the unfortunate King Charles when on the scaffold. It is much to be regretted that this interesting volume is now amissing. Land-ewners. — There are only four landed proprietors, viz. the Rev. Alexander Houston Douglas, Esq. of Bawds ; Robert Thor- bum, Esq. of Kelton ; James Connel, Esq. of Conheath ; and William Constable Maxwell, Esq. of Nithsdale, to whom the whole parish, with the exception of about 600 acres, belongs. Unfor- tunately for us, this gentleman has a much finer property in Eng- land, where he resides. He enjoys at present the honour of being High Sheriff of Yorkshire. Our only resident heritor is Mr Con- nel of Conheath. This gentleman does not disdain the ordinary duties of the eldership. Happy would it be for Scotland, as well as for themselves, did her gentry more generally show such at- tachment to the venerable institutions of our church. Parochial Registers. — These seem to have been kept, sometimes with more, sometimes with less accuracy. Antiquities. — The castle of Caerlaverock forms to the antiquary the most prominent object of interest. This venerable pile, one of the most magnificent of its kind, was formerly, before the inven- tion of gunpowder, a place of immense strength, though destitute of natural bulwarks. It lies near the shores of the Solway. Its foundation is not many feet above high water-mark, and it has neither rapid river nor lofty rock to aid the resources of art Its form is unconunon, being triangular. It is surrounded by a double moat, and when this difficulty had been vanquished by the prowess of the assailants, portcullis after portcullis, to the number at least of three, presented a barrier to their farther progress. Connected with this, we may notice the still visible remains of a plan for dis- charging a torrent of molten lead on the heads of the besiegers. From this, we may form some idea of the mode of warfare, and the consequent methods of defence adopted and practised among our fathers. Their object was to render their abodes inaccessible, ex- cept under peril of life, to all but the formally invited guest* In this respect, there is now a most important and salutary change. 352 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. 9 Our object, now, is not, to fortify our gates, but to render them ac- cessible to all. Caerlaverock Castle will be found amply and faith- fully described in many works. A pretty full account of it has been lately given in the Picture of Dumfries by Mr M^Diarmid, and formerly by Grose, Pennant, and others, to which the reader is referred. This castle has stood several sieges ; but to take notice of all these would be inconsistent with the object of this work. We find, according to Grose, that after the siege by Cromwell, the castle contained eighty-six beds, forty carpets, and a library worth L. 200, which enables us to form some idea of its ancient splendour. The Jkurs-de-lis^ conspicuous on the windows of the banqueting hallj are a proof of the intimacy which formerly existed between France and Scotland. In the reign of Edward L, Caerlaverock sustained its most formidable siege. The whole army of that dis- tinguished warrior was drawn out for two days against it before it surrendered. The length of time was not remarkable ; but it is worthy of being recorded, that the defendants were only sixty in number. The discovery of this circumstance, it is said, occasion- ed no small surprise among the troops of Edward. III. — Population. In 1755 the population of the parish was - - 784 ] 777 there were 440 males and 553 females, in aU - 902 1791 there were 454 males and 501 females, in all - 955 18J1, 1170 1821, 1206 1881; 1271 The present population is about 1300. The increase is in a great measure owing to the establishment of Glencaple quay, for the accommodation of such vessels as cannot ascend higher up the Nith. From this quay also, for several years, a steamer has run to Liverpool : — the " Nithsdale," a splendid vessel, which com- menced plying this season, accomplishes her voyage in one tide. On sailing days, Glencaple is visited by upwards of thirty vehicles filled with intending passengers and friends. There is also another cause which probably has produced some increase in the popula- tion. The extensive provision which is made for the poor, renders it a desirable object for the labouring-classes from other parishes, to acquire a residence in this. The number of families in the parish, • . . • • 272 chiefly employed in agriculture, • • 90 in trade, manufactures, or handicraft, 76 The number of births from 12th August 1833 to 12th August 1834 is 33. The number of deaths for the same period is 14, CAERLAVEROCK. 353 but they are only registered when the interment takes place in the parish churchyard. No distinction in the register having been made as to marriages, where the parties settled in the parish, and tbose where one of the parties left the place and took up a residence in another, — no satisfactory return as to marriages can be made. Character of the People. — The moral character of the people is decidedly good, partly owing to our abundant supply of schools, by which the benefits of education are extended to all, the children of the poor being taught gratis ; and partly to the want of alehouses, of which there is not one in the parish except at the shore, where, on account of the shipping, it seems indispensable. Poach- ing was, at one time, extensively practised in the parish, though not much by the inhabitants. Now that game is all but absolutely extirpated, poaching of course has ceased. Smuggling also existed to a very great extent about fifty years ago, — now it is unknown. IV. — Industry. AffrictUture. — The following information has been kindly com- municated by the factor of the principal proprietor and three of the most intelligent farmers. The total number of acres, Scotch measure, is 4640. Mr Maxwell's property consists of 3972 acres, which is let at L. 3930, lOs. so that L.41, lOs. are wanting to make the rent L. 1 per acre. Judging of the rest of the parish by this estimate, the rent may be stated at Ji. 1 per acre to a fraction. imperial acres. A. R, F. Of the whole parish there are in wood, 126 18 moss and nux>r, 75 2 27 meadowy • 37 3 Id marshy • . . 252 37 Number of acres arabib, . , 5323 13 A considerable quantity of ground was some years ago planted on Conheath, by J. Connel, Esq. and the plantations are now thriving and remunerative ; but it does not appear that trees ge- nerally attain to a great size in this parish, unless in extensive plantations, or on spots peculiarly sheltered. Rent ofLaTuL^The average rent of land in the parish may be stated at L. 1 per acre. Live-stock. — The Galloway breed of cattle is the favourite one, and only a few Ayrshire cows are kept The Leicester breed of sheep is the one chiefly attended to, the enclosures not being suffi- ciently strong for the wild black-faced or Highland variety. 354 DUMFRIES'SHIRE. Htubandry. — The rotation of crops generally pursued is, \st^ oats; 2^^, potatoes or turnip ; 3^ oats, barley, or wheat, according to the nature of the soil; 4^A, hay; 5M, pasture, then oats again. Fal- low is seldom resorted to except in the low flats, where the wetness of the soil renders this process necessary for the extirpation of weeds. All the leases on Mr Maxwell's estate are for fifteen years. A term of nineteen or twenty-one years would be more advantageous both for landlord and tenant A great number of the farm-buildings has of late been substantially rebuilt ; if there be any defect in these, the out^houses perhaps are not sufficiently extensive. The greatest im- provement in agriculture in this parish is the introduction of bone manure, and the consequent extended and extending culture of tur- nips. Another stimulus is given by steam navigation, which enables the farmer to transport his sheep, fattened on the turnip crop, to Liverpool, at the rate of Is. a head. A great obstacle to the im- provement of the meadow land on the banks of the Lochar, not only in this but also in neighbouring parishes, consists in the keep- ing up of a paltry mill, which yields only a rent of about L. 20 per annum. The ^* weir" of this mill raises the water in the Lochar for miles in its serpentine course. Were this obstruction removed, and the course of the Lochar straightened and widened, many acres which at present lie waste, would be submitted to the plough, whilst, with regard to such places as are occasionally under cultivation, the farmer would not run the risk of having the produce of the year washed away or rotted on the ground by the autumnal floods.* Quarry, — There are no mines of any description in the parish, and only one freestone quarry, which is wrought The rent of the quarry is L. 8 ; the value of the produce L. 100. Fisheries^ Sfc. — Pike, eel, and roaches, abound in the Lochar. Ex« cellent flounders are caught in the Nith; but the only fishery of any importance is that of salmon. These continue to be taken in small quantities by the " liester" Stake-nets yere erected many years ago, but the right to do so was lately disputed, and an interdict pas- sed by the Court of Session. Upon an appeal, however, the in- terdict has been lately removed, and it is to be hoped, that, both for the interests of the parish and the public at large, the decision of the Court will be finally reversed. The rent of the salmon fishing is about L. 30 ; the produce above L« 100 in value when * This view is also adopted by other writers in this work ; as will be seen by refer- ring to the accounts of Tortborwald and other neighbouring parishes. 4 1087 10 306 5 945 87 10 7 10 dOO CAERLAVEROCK. 355 sold* About L. 40 yearly may be received from the sale of white fishy of which flounders are the chief. Produce. — It is not easy to give an accurate account of farm pro-* duce. The produce of the land in corn and cattle may be esti- mated as being upon the whole equal at least to that of arable land in Scotland on an average. The rearing of pigs in this and the neighbouring parishes is carried to a greater extent than common; — almost every cottar keeps a pig, which enables him to pay his rent, and also furnishes him with manure for potatoes. 1450 Soots acres, white crop, at an average of wheat, barley, and oats, in the proportions raised in the parish, at L. 4, 4b. per acre, L. 6090 870 da green crop, at L. 4, 5s, per acre,^on an average of potatoes and turnip, and allowance made for the small quantity of bare fallow, 8697 10 435 do. sown with grass-seeds, and cut for hay, 120 stones at 5d. per stone to the acre, or at L. % 10s. 4S5 do. sown out and depastured, 1st year at 15s. per acre, 1260 do. d^Mstured for 2 or more years at Ids. over head (including 100 acres of marsh land,) 80 do. meadow, at L. 1, ds. per acre, 00 do. moss and moor, at 2b. 6d. per acre, 100 do. wood, at L. 3 per acre, * Total produce in grain, &c . L. 12,491 5 The real rent is L. 4650, lOs. and assuming that for every L. 100 of rent 6 calves are reared and sold when one year old, the number will be 279 one year olds, which at L. 3 a.hea4 will yield • • • L.837 8 pigs for every L. 100 of rent,— in all, 372 at L. 2 a-head, will give 744 Amount of Hve stock raised, • Bring forward grain, &c. . • Amount of agricultural produce properly so called. Amount of white fish, chiefly flounders, salmon, • • ■ * Quarry, • • . . • Total produce, • Manufactures. — There are no manufactures in this parish. Ship-building, however, is carried on to a small extent ; and two Tessels of about sixty tons burden maj be annually launched. Navigation, — For an account of the navigation the reader is re- ferred to the statistics of Dumfries, — as Glencaple quay can only be considered a subsidiary port to that of Dumfries. Vessels bound for Dumfries, but unable from their burden to reach the place of their destination, here unload, — which furnishes employ- ment for a number of carriers. * This is not the return of the periodical thinnings, but is caleuUUed from what the plantations may be supposed to yield in the course of thirty years. L.1581 12491 5 L.40 100 100 L. 14,072 940 5 • L. 14,312 5 356 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. V. — Parochial Economy. The nearest market-town is Dumfries, to which the inhabitants repair every Wednesday, — perhaps in greater numbers than is ab- solutely requisite. There are in Caerlaverock seven villages, viz. Greenmill, Bankend, Glenhowan, Shearington, Blackshaw, Glen- caple, and Kelton. Most of these, however, are going to decay. Bankend, from its central situation in the parish, may probably continue; and Glencaple, from steam navigation, will likely increase There are no turnpike, rail-roads, or canals in this parish.* Ecclesiastical State. — The situation of the church, although nearly at one extremity of the parish, cannot be greatly complained of, — no person having to travel much above three miles to it. It is almost exactly five and a-half miles from Dumfries, and within three minutes walk of the manse. It was built in 1781. The walls are very substantial, and the form is in good proportion. It has one gallery in front, and it would admit of two additional side galleries, which, if erected, would amply accommodate all the po- pulation that will likely accumulate for years to come. The walls are liable to damp, the floor is not laid, and the passages are also very narrow ; and altogether the interior of the church would re- quire to be remodelled. It affords accommodation for about 470, and no rents are charged for any of the sittings. The manse was built a. d. 1708, not by the heritors, but by Dr Hutton. Since the date of its erection, it has been repaired more than once, partly at the expense of the Hutton Bequest, partly at that of the late incumbent, and partly at that of the he- ritors. When the last Statistical Account was compiled, my pre- decessor writes, ^* it is yet in decent condition ;" and as houses do not improve by age, the writer regrets to state that he cannot say much in its praise. A little was done in repairs by the heritors three years ago ; but it continues excessively damp, and, though not very deficient as to the number of apartments, it is very inconvenient as * During spring-tides, and particularly when impelled by a strong south.wester, the Solway rises with prodigious rapidity. A loud booming noise indicates its ap- proach, and is distinguishable at the distance of several miles. At Caerlaverock and Glencaple, where it enters the Nith, the scene is singularly grand and imposing ; and it is beautiful to see a mighty volume of water advancing foam-crested, and with a degree of rapidity which, were the race a long one, would outmatch the speed of the swiftest horses. The tide-head, as it is called, is often from four to six feet higli, chaf(fid into spray, with a mighty trough of bluer water behind, swelling in some places into little hills, and in others scooped into tiny valleys, which, when sun-lit, form a brilliant picture of themselves. From the tide head proceed two huge jets of water, which run, roaring along, searching the banks on either side, the antennae, as it were, which the ocean puts forth, and by which it feels its way when confined within narrow limits."— 3fZ>Kir»ii the present pa- rochial teacher; and two assistants are kept in his school Under his auspices, this establishment has acquired considerable celebrity as a commercial academy. The other two schools are situated at the extreme ends of the parish — the parochial one being centrical. They are supported out of the Hutton bequest and other mortifica- tions, of which some account will afterwards be given. The pre- sent teachers, Messrs M^William and Beattie, are both very re- spectable men, and deserving of much better situations. Each re- ceives L. 20 per annum, but the school fees are low, and not well paid in any of the three schools. The ordinary branches are taught, with the addition of French, Greek, Latin, and the higher branches of mathematics in the parish school. The people are fully alive to the advantages of education, and none are ignorant of the arts of reading, writing, and common arithmetic No addi- tional schools seem to be required, although it has been found necessary to enlarge the dimensions of the parochial school. This operation is now in progress. Library. — Tliere is a parochial library, which was instituted two years ago by the present incumbent It has been supported hitherto by two grants of L. 10 each from the Hutton bequest ; one collection in the church; and the annual payment of Is. from each reader. The number of volumes exceeds 200 *. Poor. — The number of persons receiving parochial aid is about 70. These receive from L. 1, 10s. to L. 7 yearly. The division is made twice a-year ; but some are of opinion, that a monthly division would be more beneficial to the poor themselves. A few pounds appear a great sum to a very poor person ; hence, * Dr Hutton*8 deed of mortification provides that part of the surplus revenue shall he devoted to " the buying of Bibles, with other pious and religious books, for the use of buch poor as are not able to purchase the same.** It occurred to the writer that this might be fairly construed into authority for instituting and sup- porting a parikh library. A query to this effect was therefore distinctly put to coun- sel, and the writer felt ranch pleasure in finding the following remark in die Opinion of the Solicitor- General, Mr Cockburn, with which Mr Cuninghame, the present So- licitor-General, agrees. " In the first place, they,** via. the trustees * o C g ^ "T; O B 13 rt © be G 2 « a ^ a* c -13 •C " «S o S g-g^" ^ B * oT •s o B 0) O "XS <4-i bl)5 G.2 2 i 2 £ _ o o >^ © ^ G ^ O -tid © ® -a P 4^ Co OOOOOOOOOO^O ooo^oooooooo ©©©-«©©©©e©f-^ -^^OOO'^©C0O — ©© ^^P«©9l91©'*OGlO© •-hO«-^0©0©©0'-i©© 00©C4Q4O©©OO-^OO 0^©©0©©'-^0000 G0^©©©^000«-^0© ©©©©©'"^OO'^OO© C>|f-4©00000^000 gHO'^O©©©"^©©©"^ Of-«0'^0©©0©©©-« ©e — c4©©C4©^oeci ©©©©^^O*^©"^©^-© ©l©^©©©*©!*^© — «© C0'^C<©©C^^C^©©O-« •38*5 i I I ^ i g ° ^-s I"- 12 I 00 >* e ^^ & o ^ - -3*0 ^ 8 •c^ « c !«* S a-5 iS I 00 S v & ^ 3 101 -2 -o I »2 h 1^ r »^ fc. w »— ** fl* 5 I 12 E 8 «S O 5 S 1^ 3 o • S e (^t^(0-^C4aoco'*4*^eooQQO I go »^ C ^ B I = 58 8 I 8^ I eo -? n S a» c i± ce eo If 00 »^ l> cS I 00 00 <^eo^oo©oooo©© ©©o>r«r« I ga6 ^4 i^i AJSl s 522 2 2S222222 2223 g § CS • Nil cient time for making any great improvement, and these, if nmde, are scarcely finished, and the farmer has hardly begun to en- joy the fruits of them, when, by their being brought again in* to the market, they become a temptation to a new bidder. On the Duke's farms, this is indeed corrected ; for there, there is no exposure to public roup, nor private offers made. A certain per centage, in proportion to the sales of the former lease, is either added to or taken from it, as the rent of the lease ensuing : this is offered for the acceptance of the tenant, and if he has a son to succeed him, behaves well, and can pay his rent, he is never re* moved. In this way, let the leases be of what length they may, im- provements are constantly carrying on : farms become a kind of liferent property to the possessors, who improve them for their children's children, and yet it is understood that the Duke's farms are not, on the whole, cheaper than others. But the security of the system is all the charm. In the building of houses, the Duke gives wood, slate, and lime ; but the carriage of these from the places where they are usually sold, and all the other expenses of building and finishing, are the work of the tenant. On farms differently constituted, every permanent improvement ought to be made by the landlord. In general, the farm buildings on the Duke's estates in Eskdale are commodious and in good repair ; and I add with pleasure, that the paternal interest which the fami- ly of Buccleuch has ever taken in the welfare of its tenantry, is gratefully felt by the latter, and has a powerful effect on their ge- neral character. Few are more honourable in their dealings or better informed. Draining. — The most general improvement on sheep farms here is surface draining. The drains are generally made from 16 inches to 2 feet wide, and 1 foot deep at an average. The expense of mak- ing them is from 6s. to 7s. 6d. per 100 roods of 18 feet each ; and when the soil, after some years, has become compressed, and the sides of the drains have beguu to meet, they are commonly widened and cleaned out for from 4s. to^ds. per 100 roods. A considerable degree of skill is requisite in laying them on. If they run too slow, they cannot clear themselves of flying bent and other impurities; and if too rapid, they run into gullies. The best rate of motion is a medium between these two. Experience has taught that they ESKDALEMUIR. 409 should be of considerable length, to collect a sufficient quantity of water for keeping them clear; and, where the ground will allow it, they are commonly made to run up the water rather than down ; that is to say, when draining the wet side of a hill, facing the east, for instance, with a bum running south at the bottom, — in place of beginning the drains at the north end, in a parallel direction from north to south, as the burn runs, — it is better to begin them at the south end of the hill, and make them run north into some ravine or syke on that side, communicating with the bum. You can thus make the draining more level, by having gained the difference of level on the north end, above that on the south. The advantages of these drains, on sheep farms containing much bog, are incalcu- lable. The grounds which retained the wet after rain, or were locked up by every frost, by having their surface moisture quickly carried off, afford a dry bed for the sheep, and better grasses for their support, and have banished that most destructive of all diseases, the rot. In this parish, there are on some of the farms between 30,000 and 40,000 roods of these drains ; and in the whole parish, there are nearly 400,000 roods of drains. Embanking. — But, besides surface drains on hill lands, the straighting and embanking of the Black and White Esks, with se- veral of their tributary streams, have been of material advantage. There is a long embankment of the Black Esk on the farm of Kil^ bum, and one of shorter dimensions, of the Grarwald water, below Thickside ; but the principal one is that of the White Esk on the farms of Nether Cassock, Davington, and Buracleugh, extending to nearly two miles, and done at great expense. By it, an exten- sive holm or haugh, of more than 100 acres, which, in many places, was a sour swamp and much overflowed every flood by the river, — has been dried and rendered productive both for crops and hay. Mole-catchinff, — Mole-catehing, which, in my former Account, was merely mentioned as a thing proposed, was in the summer of 1797 carried into effect, on the whole of the Duke of Buc« clench's farms hi the south country. Messrs Fleming and Thom- son from Lancashire undertook to catch, for fourteen years from that date, on the following conditions : For every 100 acres of arable land, 10s. annually for each of the first three years ; and 5s. annually for each of the remaining eleven ; and for every 100 acres of sheep pasture, Ss. 4d. annually for each of the first three years, and 4s. 2d. for each of the remaining eleven. The plan is continued still, but at a lower rate ; for, the first fourteen years re- DUMFRIES. D d 410 DUMFRIES-SHIRE. quired four times the number of hands that are needed now. As everything on the Duke's estate is done systematically, the pro- portion due by each farmer i& paid at the rent day to the cham- berlain, after deducting the board of the mole-catcher, and handed over to Mr Fleming, who regularly attends. Several other pro- prietors and tenants have agreed with Mr Fleming, at the Duke's rates. One advantage is obvious to the most superficial observer. Before the moles were caught, their usual run was along the back