KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE. 
762 
Douglas, Lift lord of Galloway, in 1455, it was by James II. 
ereffed into ?, royal burgh, and is now .governed by a pro- 
voft, three bailies, and a town-council. There are twenty- 
eight brigs and a iloops belonging to the port and diftridt, 
employed in foreign trade, as coafters, or in fifhing. In 
the environs are many traces of ancient camps, Britifh 
and Roman, and the ruins of a battery erefted by Wil¬ 
liam III. when his fleet lay wind-bound in this bay, as he 
■was going to raife the fiege of Londonderry. Here was 
an ancient cattle belonging to the Dowals lords of Gallo¬ 
way, when Gallou'ay was a regality, independent of the 
kingdom of Scotland. This caftle defcended with the 
other property of the lords of Galloway to Dervongilda 
heirefs of Allan, the laft lord of the regality, and was af¬ 
terwards annexed to the crown ; till James IV. by a char¬ 
ter, dated at Edinburgh, 26th of February, 1509, granted 
it, together with the caftle-mains, to the burgh of Kirk¬ 
cudbright. The mounts and dikes of this caftle are ftill 
remaining. By its fituation it evidently appears to have 
been conftrudLed to defend the'entrance of the river Dee. 
In 1S01, they numbered 2380 inhabitants : twenty-eight 
jniles fouth-W'eft of Dumfries. Lat. 54. 55. N. Ion.4. 5. W. 
' KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE, a divifton or county of 
Scotland, called the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, forms the 
eaftern, and by far the molt extenfive, portion of Gallo¬ 
way. The latter name was anciently applied to an inde¬ 
pendent principality, which included the greater part of 
Ayrfhire and Dumfrieslhire, but is now limited to the 
two counties of Wigton and Kirkcudbright. The ftew- 
artry is lituated between lat. 54.40. and 55.20.N. and 
contains 88,257 fquare miles, on 449,313 Scotch acres. 
It is bounded on the fouth by the Solway frith, which 
divides it from England ; by Dumfrieslhire and the eftu- 
ary of the Nith on theeaft; by the fame county and Ayr- 
fliire on the north ; and by the latter, with the (hire of 
Wigton and the bay of that name, on the weft. Kirk¬ 
cudbright has no iubdivilions, except that four of the 
moft northerly parilhes, Cavefairn, Dairy, Kells, and Bal- 
anaclellan, are commonly called the dijlriEl of Glenkens. 
The afpedt of the country, however, affords a very natu¬ 
ral diviilon into two parts. If a line be drawn from the 
centre of Irongray parifh to the Gatehoufe of Fleet, all to 
the weft and north, with little exception, is fo moun¬ 
tainous, that it may be very properly termed a highland 
diftritt; whiie the fouth and eaft exhibit a fine champaign 
and cultivated country. The parilhes are twenty-eight 
in number, the whole population of which, according to 
the parliamentary returns of 1801, amounted to 29,211 
perfons. Kirkcudbright, Gatehoufe of Fleet, Creetown, 
Caftle Douglas, and New Galloway, are the principal 
towns. Befides thefe, there are feveral confiderable vil¬ 
lages, which it will not be necefiary to particularize in 
this place. Kirkcudbright is the county town, and a 
royal borough, as is alfo New Galloway. Creetown, which 
is fituated at the upper part of Wigton-bay, has lately 
been conftituted a borough of barony ; fo likewife has Caftle 
Douglas, a thriving village, not much above thirty years 
old, but which now contains nearly a thoufand inhabitants. 
Some attempts have been made to introduce the cotton- 
manufactures here; but the high price of coals oppofes 
an almoft infurmountable impediment to ultimate fuc- 
cefs. The fame circnmftance operates, in no inconlider- 
able degree, againft the eftablilhment of manufactures, re¬ 
quiring large quantities of fuel in every part of the ftew- 
artry. Thole villages which are fituated on the coaft, 
however, being fupplied with coal from England, have 
made more rapid progrefs, even in the manufacture of 
cotton, than could realonably have been expefled. 
Though, as mentioned above, the greater part of this 
ftewartry is hilly ; yet, upon the whole, it contains few 
mountains remarkable for their iize or height. The moft 
lofty of thofe in the vveftern divifton is that called Cairnf- 
muir, within the pari 111 cf Minigaff, which rifes 1737 feet 
above the level of the fea, and is furrounded by feveral 
others of equal altitude, though lefs ftriking to the eye, 
from the greater elevation of the circumjacent grounds. 
The hill called Cairnbarrow, in the parifhes of Anworth 
and Kirkrnabreek, is 1100 feet in height, very little en¬ 
cumbered with rocks, and commanding a very beautiful 
and extenfive view, not only of the ftewartry of Kirkcud¬ 
bright and the fliire of Wigton, but alfo of the Ifte of 
Man, and the oppofite coalts of England and Ireland. 
Crowfeli, which terminates a lofty ridge of hills in the 
fouth-eaftern part of the county, was formerly one of the 
alarm-pofts for giving notice of the incurfions of the Eng- 
lifh. The elevation of Douglas-cairn, on the fummit of 
this mountain, is laid to be about 1900 feet, and Knock- 
endoch, which lunnounts the north wing, x joo feet, above 
the level of the fea. From this range of hills, the coun¬ 
try defcends towards the Ihore in the moft regular and 
beautiful manner, exhibiting a delightful view of well-in- 
clofed fields in a ftate of excellent cultivation. Immediately 
upon the fea, the {’cene is of a very diiferent defcription ; 
the coaft here, being remarkably bold and rocky, difclofes 
from the land, at low-water, lome grand and pidhirefque 
appearances; tremendous and rugged precipices; high 
and pointed fpires, under the bafes of which are paflages 
refembling the form of rude arches; large and regular 
amphitheatres, leading into caverns, the extent of which 
no human being has yet ventured to explore. 
The ftewartry of Kirkcudbright gives rife to feveral ri¬ 
vers, befides a number of fmaller itreams. The moft re¬ 
markable of thefe are, the Orr or Urr, the Ken, the Dee, 
the Fleet, and the Cree. The Urr, which is alfo called 
the Uurr or Whurr, flows from a lake of the fame nam,e, 
in the parifh of Balmaclellan, fituated in the diftribt of 
Glenkens. Hence it runs almoft diredtly fouth, and falls 
into the Solway frith near the village of Colvend. This 
river is navigable for vefiels of 80 tons burden, to the dif- 
tance of eight miles from its mouth. By means of it, 
therefore, coals, lime, and other articles, imported from 
England, are conveyed thus far up the county, and hence 
diftributed to the more interior parts. The dangers and 
difficulties, however, attending this trade, owing to the 
numerous fand-banks in the channel of the Solway, which 
are every day becoming more extenfive, oppofe powerful 
obftacles to its increafe, either here or at any other port 
on this coaft. One advantage poffeffed by this river, is a 
large bafon called Gibbs-hold, which it forms within 
land, about two miles from its confluence with the fea, 
where large veffels often fecure a fafe retreat during ftormy 
weather. The Ken, the fecond river above mentioned, 
takes its rife alfo in the northern part of the ftewartry, 
near the borders of Nithfdale. Flowing hence, at firft in 
a fouth-wefterly direction, it feparates the parifhes of Dai¬ 
ry and Cavefphairn ; then proceeding towards the fouth, 
with an inclination eaftwards, it falls into Kenmuir-loch, 
and forms a junction with the Dee. This river begins its 
courfe among the hills in the north-weftern divifion of 
the county. After receiving the Ken, it flows towards- 
the Solway frith, into which it difcharges itfelf, after pall¬ 
ing the town of Kirkcudbright. The Dee is remarkable 
both on account of its breadth and depth, particularly at 
the place called Kenmuir-loch. It is navigable to the 
village of Tongland, two miles above the town of Kirk¬ 
cudbright ; and, were it not for the number of rocks and 
fhallows with which it abounds beyond this point, might 
be made the means of introducing an inland navigation 
to the very centre of the county. A ftirvey was made 
lome years ago, with a view to lupply the defedts of the 
river by a navigable canal, but the plan was not fuccefi- 
ful in meeting the approbation of parliament. A l’niali 
canal, however, has been cut by thelteward of the county 
between the Dee and a lake called Carlinwark-loch, which 
is fituated above the fhalfows of Tongland, and furnifhes 
marl in great abundance. The Fleet and the Cree are 
alfo navigable for feveral miles. The former rifes out of 
a lake called Lochfleet, and pours its waters into the bay 
of Wigton, at a fhort diftance from the village called 
Gatehoufe of Fleet. The Cree takes its rife among the 
x mountains 
