86 CoRRiES OF Annandale. 



persecution ; and that He had now taken home some of His 

 most eminent servants, who laboured more abundantly than 

 many, whom now their eyes should see no more in this world. 

 . After sermon, all the Irongray people came about 

 him to condole ; he took them kindly by the hand, one by one, 

 and promised a visit to their parish ; but his heart being over- 

 charged with sorrow he could offer them no comfort then " 

 (Black. Mem., 239-240). 



The Early History of the Corries of Annandale. 



By Christopher Johnston, M.A., Ph.D., LL.D., &c., 



Professor in Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., 

 U.S.A. 



The old parish of Corrie, conjoined in 1609 with Hutton, 

 gave its name to a family which, after playing an important 

 part in the affairs of Dumfriesshire for several centuries, at 

 length met with the fate of so many families of distinction. 

 In the fifteenth century the elder line, the Corries of that ilk, 

 adhered to the Douglases in their struggle with the Crown, 

 and losing their extensive possessions through fine and for- 

 feiture, soon dropped into obscurity. The cadet branch of 

 the house, the Corries of Newby and Kelwood, about the same 

 time sold their estates in Dumfriesshire and removed to Ayr- 

 shire, where they flourished for some time, but ultimately 

 their lands passed to female heirs. At present the descen- 

 dants of this ancient stock, scattered through the two shires, 

 own not a foot of the ancient possessions of their race. A 

 certain Peter de Currie, who flourished about 1180, may have 

 been of this family ; otherwise the earliest authentic ancestor 

 of the Annandale Corries appears to be a certain Hugh of 

 Corri, who was present at a curia regis of King William the 

 Lion* (r. 1 165-12 14). The same Hugh frequently occurs in 

 the well-known charters of the Bruces, lords of Annandale-, 

 published in Bain's Calendar of Documents Relating to 



* Acts of FarVt. of Scotland, i., 66. 



