24 JAMES CLERK MAXWELL. [CHAP. II. 



CHAPTER II. 



GLENLAIR CHILDHOOD 1831 TO 1841. 



THAT part of the old estate of Middlebie which remained 

 to the heirs of Maxwell was situate on the right or 

 westward bank of the Water of Orr, or Urr, in Kirk- 

 cudbrightshire, about seven miles from Castle-Douglas, 

 the market-town, ten from Dalbeattie, with its granite 

 quarries, and sixteen from Dumfries. It consisted 

 chiefly of the farm of Nether Corsock, and the moor- 

 land of Little Mochrum. But, before building, Mr. 

 Clerk Maxwell by exchange and purchases had 

 added other lands to these, including the farm of 

 Upper Glenlair. The site chosen for the house was 

 near to the march of the original estate, where a 

 little moor-burn from the westward falls into the Urr. 

 The two streams contain an angle pointing south-east, 

 opposite the heathery brae which hides the village of 

 Kirkpatrick Durham. There, on a rising ground above 

 the last descent towards the river and the burn, a 

 mansion-house of solid masonry, but of modest dimen- 

 sions, had been erected. It was built of dark -gray 

 stone, with a pavement and a "louping-on-stane" of 

 granite before the front door. On the southward 

 slope, towards the burn, was a spacious garden-ground 

 and a plantation beyond it, occupying the den or 



