The Vale of Urr
By Rev. W.A. Stark, F.S.A., SCOT.
extract from 'The Gallovidian - Spring 1906'
From strong recollection, what pleasant reflection,
When I think upon the sweet days of my youth,
Before grief had wounded, or cares me surrounded,
Or knowing my life was to run so unsmooth.
When harmless excursions, and cheerful diversions,
No boundless ideas had begun yet to soar,
Ere sorrows had teased me, my fishing rod pleased me,
Which makes me to sing of the Water of Orr.
Untainted the breeze waves the sweet blooming heather,
Whilst lambkins are skipping on yonder green hills,
Where I and my schoolfellows oft met together,
And charmed with the sound of the clear purling rills
How easy the task that my teacher then gave me,
My memory retained it for once reading o'er;
But cares without number disturb my sweet slumbers
Since I left that clear crystal stream called Orr.
The low-roosted lark, in a fine summer morning,
How sweetly he sings when he soars to the sky;
Bright Phoebus mounts up, the high mountains adorning,
The plover and moorcock melodiously cry.
I changed to hard fortune from innocent sporting,
Through perilous dangers on far distant shore,
But thousands of treasure are not like the pleasure
In youth I enjoyed on the Water of Orr.
John Gerrond, author of this poem, was one of the poets whom the Vale of Urr has reared. We may well wonder that such a fair valley has not had more numerous singers. He was born in 1765 at a place called Knockdrocket, "the hill of the bridge," where the old muir road from Dumfries to New-Galloway crossed the water near Upper Bar. The copy of Gerrond's Works, which I have seen, was published at Leith by Archibald Allardyce in 1811, and in the preface he mentions that it contains the chief poems and songs printed in his first publication of 1802 and in his second of 1808. He was only ten years of age when his father, who was a blacksmith and innkeeper, moved his family and belongings from Knockdrocket to the village of Causewayend, now the town of Castle-Douglas, though it is worthy of mention that several previous generations of the Gerrans or Gerronds had lived at Knockdrocket. One is mentioned in parish records as far back as 1695. John Gerrond, the poet, who was also a blacksmith like his father, went to America. He stayed there only a few years, but tells the story of his adventures in the account of his life and travels given in his book. His fortunes fell to a rather low ebb in his latter days. He died about 1820.
If one were to attempt to piece together some matters of interest relating to the Vale of Urr, the attempt would be more likely to fail because of the multitude of subjects than because of their paucity. Topographical, antiquarian, historical, personal - how endless would the subjects be!
The Water of Urr (no doubt Orr is nearer the original and proper spelling and pronunciation, though some have insisted that the earliest way of all was Whur) takes its rise in Loch Urr, which is 670 feet above the level of the sea. As the whole length of the stream from its source to Castle Point, where it sinks into the Solway, including its windings, is not more than about 28 miles, its average fall is 24 feet to each mile. We need not wonder, then, that in time of spate it flows with much noise and speed, and that it soon empties its water, and for long periods in summer its upper reaches are nearly dry. Many hundreds of years since a lake dwelling or crannog was constructed in Loch Urr, which still remains. It was built by driving wooden piles well down into the bottom of the loch, and the interior space was filled in with brushwood and branches laid horizontally, also sterns of small trees, mostly hazel and birch. Having thus raised a platform above the level of the water, the surface was covered with stones. Upon this surface, we may reasonably assume, a covered building would be constructed of light wood. To this island abode the Celtic inhabitants of the district betook themselves in times of danger. A canoe, which was almost indispensable in such circumstances, was found not many years since at no great distance from the island. In course of time the battles of those early inhabitants came to an end, the district became more deserted, and eagles are said to have built their nests where the fugitive people once had lived. Later on we reach the attempts of Wallace to achieve the freedom of Scotland. One of his friends and faithful companions was Sir Christopher Seaton. According to the compiler of the account of the parish of Urr (1792), Sir Christopher resided on the banks of Loch Urr, where, it is said, the superiorities up till a recent date still belonged to the Seaton family. Still later came the period of the Covenanting struggle, and history tells us of one William Grierson of Loch Urr who took part in the engagements at Pentland and Bothwell. For this he was outlawed and reduced to terrible straits, being often in want of food and shelter. Falling in unexpectedly with a party of soldiers, ho received a charge of small shot in the face, which blinded him. Friends brought him back to his own countryside-not to his own house, for that had been seized. Here for a while the poor blind gentleman was kept in safety. But he was discovered, apprehended, and conveyed to prison at Dumfries and afterwards to Edinburgh.
There are ten stone bridges, which cross the Water of Urr. The first is near Knocklearn, where the road branches off for Craigenputtock. Many a time, no doubt, Thomas Carlyle crossed the water at this point. It is only about two miles from where he lived. " In this wilderness," he said, " our estate stands forth a green oasis, a tract of ploughed, partly enclosed and planted ground, where corn ripens and trees afford a shade, although surrounded by sea-mews and rough-woolled sheep. Here, with no small effort, we have built and furnished a neat substantial dwelling: here, in the absence of professorial or other office, we live to cultivate literature according to our strength and in our own peculiar way." The second stone bridge is near the parish church. It carries the good highway, which connects New Galloway with Dumfries. The third is a private bridge leading to Corsock House. The fourth was built by Professor Clerk-Maxwell of Glenlair in 1862. At this place an old public road crossed the water in former days by stepping-stones. The fifth is known as Knockvennie Bridge. That Knock, or Cnoc, means a hill everyone knows, but what meaning had Vennie! Sir Herbert Maxwell-an authority on such subjects-describes Kirvennie as " dwelling of the monks," so that Knockvennie ought to mean " hill of the monks." Others, again, maintain that Knockvennie meant originally " the green hill." Who knows for certain? It might only have been " Vennie's hill." We have many people in Galloway called Macvennie. They are descendants of some man called Vennie. If Mr Vennie has had so many descendants why should he not have had a hill called by his name? Any way the hill has given its name to the bridge. Once upon a time there was an inn close to this bridge. Our forefathers required many more inns than we do. In the parish of Kirkpatrick-Durham, for instance, there were in the eighteenth century as many as seven " inns or alehouses," and they were said to be all " very well frequented." The sixth stone bridge is the Old Bridge of Urr. It conveyed the passengers of old days on their way between Edinburgh and Kirkcudbright. It consists of two arches, and seems to have been originally not wider than to allow two people on horseback to pass each other. At what date it was widened is not known, but the original part of it dates as far back as the 16th century. Only a few years ago masons were set to make some repairs, and in the course of their operations they unluckily blinded with cement certain holes in the foundation stones, which gave them all the appearance of having been at one time the base or lintel stones of some fortress window in which iron bars had been
inserted, and gave some credibility to the popular tradition that part at least of this bridge had been built of material brought from the ruins of Buittle Castle. The older part of the bridge looks down the river, and on an inserted stone bears the Royal Arms of Scotland, the lion and crown, with I.E., which stood for Jacobus Rex.
The seventh stone bridge is called the Ramhill Bridge, though I have not heard why it has received that name. It was built when the New Road or Coach Road was made, between 1800 and 1806. The new road was a great improvement on the former one, which crossed the water further down by the eighth bridge at Haugh-of-Urr. The old road is known still as the Military Road, because it was made by parties of soldiers sent by the Government of the day from various quarters for the purpose. The road had one merit, that of directness. No circumambulation or beating about the bush! It went straight on, passing through obstacles or surmounting them, as the case might be. Yet this Military Road, constructed about 1760, was an extraordinary improvement on the state of communications which existed previously, even more than the New Road mentioned above was upon it. It is related, for instance, that before the construction of the Military Road, Lord Hillsborough, being on his way from Ireland to London, was overtaken on the Corse of Slakes by a storm, when he and those who were with him, owing to the badness of the road, were unable to proceed and had to remain in their carriages during the night. There is a broad and level piece of ground below this Haugh Bridge connected with an incident of a time long ago. It was told in 1790 by an ancient dame who was in her 108th year. She said that King William's troops, who marched through Galloway on their way to Ireland before the Battle of the Boyne (1690), halted on the holm land beside the place where the bridge was afterwards built. She did not see them, but she saw on the ground where the horses had been feeding several poor people scraping up the black oats, which the horses had left.
The ninth stone bridge is the Railway Viaduct, where the snorting locomotive awakens the echoes of Barskeoch Hill. The tenth and last is Buittle Bridge, always busy with the traffic between the granite quarries of Craignair and Dalbeattie.
Craignair, with Urr rushing swift by the base of it,
Brawling and dark on its way to the sea.
So it is that now there are ten stone bridges. Excellent bridges most of them are. Before the Haugh Bridge was constructed, an old writer tells us there were only two-" the Water of Orr hath a stone bridge of two arches at Nether Killiewhaned and a ruinous timber bridge at Corsock."
In Loch Urr, where the river commences its course, three parishes meet-Glencairn, Balmaclellan, and Dunscore-and as the river flows southwards it has upon its right bank the old parishes of Balmaclellan, Parton, Crossmichael, and Buittle; on its left the old parishes of Dunscore, Kirkpatrick-Durham, Urr, and Colvend. In addition to these, two quoad sacra parishes, Corsock and Dalbeattie, have been carved out of the old parishes. The hills which surround Loch Urr and contribute streams to feed its waters are Bogrie, 1416 feet; Craes, 1134; Craigenvey, 1038; and Craigmuie, 875. The chief hill on the right of the Water of Urr is Blackcraig in Balmaclellan, 1332. On the left is Auchenhay, 869; and from the west side of the Long Fell of Kirkgunzeon, 1310, burns supply Kirkgunzeon Lane, which joins the Urr at Dalbeattie.
Balmaclellan has not wanted its poet,' and he did not forget
The Upland Vale
By Revd. George Murray, 1812-1881
Urr's upland vale of old was bare,
No village trim, no mansion fair
Gleamed in the sun ; no copsewood green
Its mantle spread to clothe the scene!
In spring the wanderer on the hill
Might hear the curlew whistle shrill,
In summer's prime and autumn's weather
Enjoy the sunshine and the heather.
See hardy goats and harmless sheep
Browse on the moor and mountain steep;
But when cold winter darkly lowered,
And its fierce torrents madly showered
On the lone wild, 0 then, I ween,
It was a bleak and joyless scene.
Look yet again, how bright the scene
Here wealth and art and taste have been
With wizard hand and magic spell
To work vast change and work it well.
Broad pathways stretch o'er vale and hill,
Fair bridges span the foaming rill,
Fenced are the fields, and drained, and now
The ploughman holds the steady plough ;
And showers and sunshine bless the soil
That well rewards the peasant's toil.
Crogo's old Tower has mouldered long,
In its dark hall is heard no song
Of lowland maid or minstrel grey,
Only at night when ebbs the day,
Under the pale moon's silver beam
Is heard the owlet's mournful scream.
'Twere sad to muse by castle old
On names long dead or hearths long cold,
Did not the eye where're we roam
Behold some sweet, some fairer home
See hamlet trim and peasant's cot
And homestead gay grace many a spot ;
And high o'er all see Corsock Towers
Shaded 'mid pine and birchen bowers,
Like some tall chieftain stern and high
Of lordly form and eagle eye,
Look proudly forth o'er dale and down,
O'er valleys green and hills of brown.
Corsock - Captain Henry Liston Murray Dunlop-is the principal mansion house and property in the upper part of the valley. It is a place of considerable antiquity. The earliest known mention of it is in a charter from King David II. about 1346. For three hundred years there were Neilsons of Corsock, a worthy, and at one time influential, family, now mostly forgotten. The first of these was John Neilson, who, along with his wife, Isabel Gordon, was declared proprietor in 1439. The most distinguished of this family was also a John Neilson, who for his unswerving attachment to the Church of the Covenants was cruelly persecuted, fined, and harassed in various ways, driven from his home, as also
were his wife and children, tortured with the savage " boot" (a practice not used in Scotland for forty years before), and finally put to death at Edinburgh, 14th December, 1666. The last of this family was still a John Neilson, who sailed for South Carolina in 1748, no doubt hoping to retrieve the fortunes of his household, now fallen to a low ebb, and who died there in 1749. Between 1749 and 1846 there were at least two families who succeeded in possession of Corsock-Wylie and Fletcher. In 1846 the property was bought by John Murray, Edinburgh. He died in 1849. His only child married Alexander Dunlop, who added his wife's name to his own, and was known as Alexander Murray Dunlop. The descent of this gentleman from the Dunlops of Dunlop, in Ayrshire, is interesting :
Dunlop of Dunlop, c1610.
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Dunlop of Dunlop, c1640.
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Rev. Alexander Dunlop, d. 1677,
Minister of Paisley.
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Rev. William Dunlop, 1654-1705,
Principal of the University of Glasgow,
and brother-in-law of Principal Carstares.
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Alexander Dunlop, 1682-1747,
Professor of Greek, University of Glasgow.
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John Dunlop, 1730-1805.
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Alexander Dunlop of Keppoch, d. 1766.
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Alexander C. S. Murray Dunlop, M.P.
Mr Alexander C. S. Murray Dunlop was Member of Parliament for Greenock 1852-1868, and legal adviser to the Free Church. He was the author of the Claim, Declaration, and Protest, generally known as the Claim of Rights, which was adopted by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1842, and was the immediate cause of the Secession of 1843. He has been described as a slim-made man, of a fair complexion and a weak voice, which prevented him from being powerful as a popular speaker. The present proprietor is his only surviving son, at one time an officer in the army and now favourably known as an enterprising and liberal landlord. He has remodelled and practically rebuilt Corsock House. The old house was stated to have been built between 1611 and 1630.
Scattered over the whole of this valley there have been raised and usually ramparted works called now motes, which have been ascribed by antiquarians to various authors. The works are still here in different stages of decay, but they cannot tell their history; yet they clearly belong-many of them-to a time when fortified places were required for purposes of protection. That they were not all intended for such purposes seems proved by the fact that some of them were so small that they could have been held by a very small body of defenders, and might easily have been compassed round and besieged by a few assailants. Probably these smaller mounds were intended for seats of justice. On the east side of the Water of Urr, about a mile down from Corsock House, there are distinct remains of one of these works. It is quite circular and has a central mound. Since the day when that old mote was made many things have happened at Arkland. There were Maxwells, of Arkland in the old times, not inconsiderable people. Indeed, a writer in the beginning of the eighteenth century says that the heritors of any consideration residing in the parish were " Maxwell of Arkland and Neilsone of Barnkylie." One of those Maxwells had a son, apparently his only son, named Robert, whose name will be long remembered. This Robert Maxwell was one of the pioneers of agricultural progress in Scotland. After his schooldays (probably at Drumhumphry School) and a training in practical work at home, he went to Edinburgh, and was one of the founders of the "Society of Improvers in the Knowledge of Agriculture." This Society, of which he was an active and leading member, advocated the planting of potatoes (little known in those days), drainage of fields, enclosure of arable lands (fences were then rare), and the introduction of root crops, such as turnips, to alternate with the system then in vogue. His father, who belonged to the old school, refused to allow him to experiment with Arkland, but Robert took on lease the farm of Cliftonhall, near Edinburgh, and experimented there to his heart's content. For twenty years Maxwell carried on his experiments, working, as it turned out, for posterity-not for himself. The farmers of Scotland are reaping the benefit now of his labours and sacrifices. He himself fell deeply into debt. His father died, and Robert succeeded to the estate, which had been in the family for long. It was sold to pay his debts. Then he started as a lecturer in Edinburgh on agriculture, and conducted business as a land-measurer, while his wife kept a small shop. To illustrate the state of farm matters in Scotland before his efforts had begun to introduce new methods, he used to tell this story. He was visiting in Kincardineshire. A farmer, who was proud of the state of his ground, was showing off his results to Maxwell and asking him to admire his crops. " It's nae marvel they are guid," he said, " for it.'s only the auchteent crop sin' it gat gweedin' " (i.e., only the eighteenth crop since the land was manured).
Less than a mile further down the water, on the same side as Arkland, stood the old Castle of Marcartney or Makartna, which is the oldest form of the name that I have seen (1502). Close to the farm of Wee Park the ruins of the castle are still visible. It was a place of some extent and strength. Very probably this property received its name from a family named MacKartan (1244) or MacCartney, but the Gordons were well known proprietors from the middle of the sixteenth to the end of the eighteenth century. These Gordons were a branch of the Earlston (Dairy) family. One of them, William Gordon of Holm and Marcartney, was a companion in persecution of John Neilson of Corsock, and suffered like him in the despoiling of his goods, though not to the deprivation of his life. Walton Park-Colonel James Campbell Barker-a sheltered and now greatly enlarged residence has been built upon the same property at a different part.
A little below Marcartney, on the west side of the Urr, stands Glenlair, a beautifully situated and imposing mansion-Major James Wedderburn Maxwell. Glenlair House was built by John Clerk-Maxwell, who belonged to the family of the Clerks of Penicuik. He was an advocate, and lived in Edinburgh up to his 36th year. The remainder of his life was mostly spent at Glenlair, where he died in 1856. His son, Professor James Clerk-Maxwell, born 1831, was one of the most eminent scientific men of his day, famous on account of his original researches and discoveries in regard to light, magnetism, and electricity. lie was successively Professor of Natural Philosophy at Aberdeen, 1856 ; Professor of Natural Philosophy, King's College, London, 1860 ; and Professor of Experimental Physics in the University of Cambridge, 1871. The mere names of his scientific publications would occupy a large space. Though engrossed in his studies, Professor Clerk-Maxwell was singularly plain, simple, and modest in his ordinary ways. Gentle and yet penetrating, he combined personal humility with most unusual intellectual power. He had a rare and racy mode of expression, and some of his sayings are still remembered-this remark, for instance, made to an intimate friend : " Old chap, I have
read up many queer religions. There is nothing like the old thing after all." His sayings reminded one of the fact that one of his ancestors was the famous John Clerk of Eldin. John Clerk was an advocate in Edinburgh, and, though a thoroughly educated Scotsman, he retained, as many Scotch people used to do, his native peculiarities of speech. Pleading on one occasion in the House of Lords, one of the judges - the famous Lord Mansfield - interrupted him with much apparent politeness" Excuse me, Mr Clerk, but do you spell water in Scotland with a double t ?" " No, my lord," was the immediate reply, " but we spell manners with two n's." At another time, but this was in the Court of Session in Edinburgh, a young advocate, carried away with his own enthusiasm, was denouncing a deliverance of the Court, and ventured to say, "My lords, I am astonished at your deliverance." Some of the judges were indignant, and stopped him; but John Clerk exclaimed, " Dinna be angry with the young man, my lords. if he had kent ye as lang as I hae, he wadna, be astonished at anything ye wad dae." Professor Clerk-Maxwell, leaving no family, was succeeded in Glenlair by his cousin, Andrew Wedderburn Maxwell, who greatly enlarged the house. On his death a few years since, his son came into the property. Still travelling down the water, we come next to Kilqhuanity (in its oldest known form Culcounady)-Robert W. Fergusson, Esq. The earliest proprietors here of whom there is any trace were called Durham, and seem to have given their name to the parish in which Kilqhuanity is situated, so that it is still Kirkpatrick-Durham. To them succeeded McNaughts. Fergus McNaught is mentioned in 1488 and again in the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland in 1494. The last of the McNaughts to live at Kilquhanity was John, who died in 1680. According to a tradition handed down in the district, he was busy mowing hay in the meadow-land between the front of the house and the river when some one cried to him that there was a large salmon in the pool. He immediately, scythe in hand, began to run towards the pool, but unfortunately was tripped by the long handle, and the blade piercing him he died.
After his death, and during the absence in America of the next heir, who was hopelessly involved, Thomas Murdoch, known as Laird Murdoch (also proprietor of Cumloden), was for a time in possession of Kilqhuanity. It is a curious fact which may interest some who are fond of tracing genealogies that the late Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury,, was a descendant (great-grandson in fact) of Laird Murdoch, and that the present Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Randal Davidson, is a descendant (in the sixth generation) of Rev. Gabriel Semple who was minister of Kirkpatrick - Durham nearly at the same time as Laird Murdoch lived at Kilqhuanity.
As we descend the water, if we are on the. east side of it, we see a wooded knoll crowning one of the western hills. It is the mote of Halferne in Crossmichael. The prospect from that place of defence was a very wide one. It was an outlook from which an advancing enemy could be seen in almost any direction for many miles. Above us on our left are the well-preserved remains of the Doon of Urr. This is usually called a Roman fort, and, whatever was its history, we know that eighty or ninety years ago some pieces of ancient armour were discovered here, but as their value was not understood they were broken up or lost. This Doon of Urr is 373 feet above sea level, nearly circular, and about 170 feet in diameter. It is surrounded by a rampart of earth and stone. It is the highest part of an isolated hill, and commands a view which is extensive and beautiful. The remark has been frequently made, and certainly applies in the ease of these two motes of Halferne and Doon of Urr-that from almost every one of these artificial strengths others are visible,. which gives force to the theory that they were places in which watchers were stationed who-could communicate by beacon-fires with one another. Now, if we remember that these motes were numerous over the whole Stewartry, we can see how an alarm could be raised and almost immediately spread from eastern to western border, and from the northern mountains down to the Solway.
The mansion house of Auchendolly-Colonel Archibald Hume-stands beautifully on the well-wooded slope of the Crossmichael side of the Urr, nearly opposite the Doon of Urr. The old name of the part where the house stands was Largnean-pronounced Larnane. In Pont's map of 1654 it is Ardnien. The former proprietor of Largnean was Rev. Ninian Wight. Auchendolly was, and is still, the name of one of the farms.
Near the Bridge of Urr is Croys-Miss Skirving. Probably, a cross stood hereabout in old days. Hence the name Croys. It was once known as Nether Kilqhuanity. The late Adam Skirving of Croys was a man of extensive knowledge and sympathies. He was an antiquarian of some repute, was fond of all outdoor pursuits, and at one time was an enthusiastic Volunteer. He was justly proud of the fact that in the starting of the Volunteer movement he was the first in the district to present himself, and therefore was Number One. He lived to a good old age, and his death was widely lamented. Further down than Croys, on the same side of the water, we come to King's Grange-Mrs Gladstone. The name of this property strikes one as unusual. Had there been a former proprietor called King, one might have supposed that he had given his name to the place, but there is no trace of such. Besides,' the property has borne this name at least since 1590. The fact is, however, that there are traces of the Royal presence in this district. Buittle was a Royal residence, and the Royal arms are to this day upon the: Old Bridge of Urr, with the letters I.R., no doubt for Jacobus Rex. The tradition that part of the Old Bridge was built of stones brought from Buittle Castle may explain how the-Royal arms and initials came there. Shall we say that when Buittle was a Royal residence, King's Grange was the Royal farm.
Facing King's Grange on the other side of the Urr is Mollance--John Neilson, Esq. The names of John Napier, John Hall, and John Lindsay Scott were associated with Mollance during the nineteenth century. The house was built in 1749, when, according to John Maxwell 'of Munches, labourers had only sixpence a day, and the best masons one shilling. Mollance recalls to one's memory Mons Meg, which some maintain is (mysteriously) shortened for Mollance Meg. This large cannon, which is 13 feet long and 2 feet 31/2 inches within the bore, and now to be seen of all men in Edinburgh Castle, was constructed, we are told, at the Buchan Croft, near the Three Thorns of Carlingwark, by a country blacksmith named Kim, assisted by his sons, for use in the siege of Threave Castle. The first charge of Kim's cannon, it is said, consisted of a peck of powder and a stone ball the weight of a Carsphairn cow! As a reward for constructing this monster, the legend goes on to say, the King, James II., granted to Kim the forfeited lands of Mollance. We may well be doubtful of the accuracy of this story. For Mollance in those old days most probably belonged to the Church, and was not likely either to have been forfeited or to have been bestowed upon a layman except by the Church. Besides, any intelligent person who looks at Mons Meg can perceive that it could not have been made by a country blacksmith, even with the aid of seven sons. He could not have possessed the appliances necessary for the construction of such a huge engine. But over and above such reasons, there exists proof that Mons Meg was conveyed to the siege, not manufactured in the district. In the Exchequer Rolls of the year of the siege the expense of conveying the "great bombard" to the Castle of Threave and of taking it away again was marked down and can still be read. The following is an exact translation of the entry: -" For various expenses incurred in the carriage of the great bombard to the siege of Threave Castle and for various necessary things purchased there and expended upon the said bombard and for the return of the same to Linlithgow-59 lib. 18d."
Not far from the Ramhill Bridge are two handsome houses, Chapelton-James Biggar, Esq., and Corbieton-William Biggar, Esq. The former is on the east, the latter on the west side of the river. In Pont's map of 1654 the latter is spelt Corbettoun, which suggests that its name was given to it by a former proprietor called Corbet. Messrs James and -William Biggar are the sons of the late Thomas Biggar of Chapelton, one of the best known and most respected men of his day in the Stewartry. He was born at Skinford, parish of Dunscore, in 1811. In the year 1829 he came with his father to King's Grange. In the conduct of his business as a seed and manure merchant he displayed extraordinary energy and tact, and was noted for his honourable and straightforward dealings. In 1860, his business had extended and prospered, he bought Chapel ton and soon after entered on a lease of King's Grange and Nethertown. He also built large premises at Dalbeattie Port. He was also a successful breeder of Galloway cattle. He died in January 1900.
All that is mortal of the father sleeps
Where winds are chanting their perpetual psalm
Around the old-time church, and memory keeps
His presence nigh, amidst the healing balm
Poured on the wounded hearts by Him above,
Who only chastens where He deigns to love.
Below Chapelton is Spottes - Alexander Young Herries, Esq.--hidden among trees near the junction of the Spottes burn with the Urr. At the end of the eighteenth century one Michael Herries was owner of Spottes. He bad no surviving family, and being on intimate terms with Doctor Muirhead, his parish minister, he proposed to leave his property to the minister's elder son, William. He asked Doctor Muirhead to accompany him to Edinburgh to see the will drawn out. He did so, and the two gentlemen went to the office of Mr Alex. Young, W.S. The name of William Muirhead was duly inserted in the will, and in event of his dying without heir, the name of his younger brother, Charles, was added. Mr Young then suggested that it might be as well to add another name, as one never knew what might happen. It chanced that Mr Young's own little boy was in the room, and Mr Herries, laying his hand upon the child's hear, said, " Oh, well, put this youngster in." This was done, and in the course of a few years after Mr Herries's decease both William and Charles Muirhead died without heirs, and the little boy, now grown to manhood, became proprietor of Spottes under the name of William Young Herries.
Past the village called the Haugh of Urr we see the Manse of Urr-.Rev. David Frew-a house of many fragrant memories. Many worthy ministers have dwelt upon that grassy slope. The first after 1688 was John Hepburn, a staunch upholder of what he called the "good old ways," with no fewer than thirty four grievances, which he stated in print and expounded on all possible occasions. Sometimes his protests against what he deemed errors became intolerable, and in consequence he passed three years in the Edinburgh Tolbooth and Stirling Castle. In 1705 he was deposed by the General Assembly for sedition and schism, but in 1707 he was reponed. It is said that one of his acts of protest against Roman Catholicism was to search for and gather together all the popish books in the parish and burn them on a hill near the church. In the same protestant spirit he raised a volunteer corps in 1715, and marched at the head of it to oppose the advance of the Jacobites. The banner which was then displayed is still in Urr Manse. Succeeding John Hepburn in the ministry came Christopher Wright (formerly schoolmaster and precentor in Kirkpatrick-Durham), Thomas McKinnel, James Muirhead, D.D., Alexander Murray, D.D. (afterwards Professor of Oriental Languages in the University of Edinburgh), John McWhir, George M. Burnside, and John M. Sandilands.
Close to Urr Manse is Redcastle, where lived Robert Kerr, who has been called " The Ploughman Poet of Urr." He was born 1811, and died 1848. He is best known as the author of the touching little poem " My First Fee," but his most ambitions work was "Maggie o' the Moss," which sets out in this wise
Among yon hills, where winding Orr
Flows gently to the Solway shore,
Where moats and camps may still be seen,
Where trystes and tournaments hae been,
There stood a cottage called " The Bent,"
Where lived a couple weel content.
A cheerfu' body was the dame,
Wha never travell'd far frae hame,
Or fashed wi' ither folk's affairs,
Or stories told of them or theirs,
But minded what was maist becomin'
Her wark, like ony decent woman.
We cannot pass the Mote of Urr without a word.' No more perfect specimen of an ancient mote exists, except Old Sarum, near Salisbury. No one need dogmatise on the interesting questions opened up by the aspect of this remarkable structure. It is evidently in great part artificial, and it is known to be of considerable antiquity. The probability would seem to be that this and many similar structures were formed in the first instance for the purpose of serving as places of defence by the early Celtic inhabitants of Galloway. It is possible, not to say probable, that the Carbantorigum of Ptolemy, which he says was between the Nith and the Dee, was this very Mote of Urr. If so, it may have been a place of strength before the Romans entered the district, because the first syllable of Carbantorigum seems to be the Gaelic caer-fortress. Although the Romans did not effect any permanent occupation of Galloway, yet no one disputes that they advanced in force as far as the Water of Urr, at which time no doubt the old inhabitants were driven from the mote and it was held by the Romans. Roman coins have frequently been found in the neighbourhood. At a later date this and similar structures are supposed to have been places of judgment. Instead of going as people do now-a-days to Dumfries or Kirkcudbright on court days, and with the help of lawyers thrashing out a case before the Sheriff, the litigants assembled in the open before the chief, who sat in state on the mote, and they argued the pros and cons until he saw sufficiently into the merits to give his decision.
Still on the western side of the Urr, as we near the town of Dalbeattie, are all that remain of the Castle of Buittle-a mere fragment of a famous stronghold, some pieces of the walls and vaulting. The editor of the Gallovidian has recently given an interesting account of the history of this place. A few lines mostly of recapitulation will therefore be all that is necessary here. When Alan, the last " king " of Galloway, died' in 1234 he left three daughters, one of whom was married to John Balliol of Barnard Castle, Yorkshire, who eventually became lord of what is now Kirkcudbrightshire. This John Balliol lived at Buittle, then mostly spelt Botel. The word Botel meant a, dwelling. We meet with the same word in the compounds - Newbattle (formerly Newbottle), Morebattle, &c. The wife of John Balliol was Devorgilla, whose memory is preserved in the Old Bridge of Dumfries, Sweetheart Abbey, and Balliol College, Oxford. At Buittle Castle their son, John Balliol, for a brief time King of Scotland, was born. He became King after the death of Alexander III. and the Maid of Norway, in virtue of his nearest descent (as adjudged) from David I whose grandson, the Earl of Huntingdon, was father of Margaret, the mother of Devorgilla. John Balliol, son of Devorgilla, was crowned King in November 1292, and abdicated in July 1296. After his abdication and removal to captivity in London, Buittle Castle was held for the English, but was captured for King Robert the Bruce by his brother Edward in 1312. It is stated that in 1346 Edward Balliol, having recovered the estates of his ancestors in Galloway, took up his residence in Buittle Castle, the family seat ; but in 1356 he surrendered his rights to the throne of Scotland, along with his private estates, to the King of England for 5000 merks with £2000 a year. This possession of Buittle by Edward Balliol was only for ten years, and by the King of England was only nominal, for the Douglases, who now held the lordship of Galloway, and were in great power, had obtained the lands of Buittle in 1307, resumed them in 1356, and held them till their fall in 1455, when their estates were forfeited. Buittle then became a Crown possession, and remained so till about 1550, when it passed to the Maxwells, and its further history was merged in the history of Munches.
Munches-W. J. H. Maxwell, Esq. In Pont's map, 1654, it is spelt Muinshesh. Munches formed part of the large estate of Buittle. About the beginning of the 16th century Robert Maxwell, who was tutor to James V., obtained from Queen Margaret, mother of the King, a grant of the lands of Buittle, which included Munches, and these lands (or most of them) have belonged to the Maxwells ever since. Broad - minded and sagacious, the members of this family have exercised a remarkably good influence over the whole district It is told of one of them, George Maxwell, 1637-1683, who was a Roman Catholic, and lived in critical times, that with a liberality of mind then uncommon he used his influence to protect the persecuted Presbyterians, and even saved many of their lives. About 1780 George Maxwell of Munches and Alexander Copland of Collieston were the founders of the " village " of Dalbeattie. One of the distinguished men of this family was John Maxwell of Terraughty and Munches. He was second son of John Maxwell of Brecon-side, and great-grandson of the sixth Lord Herries. He was born in 1720, and on the death of his father, while he was yet a child, his mother took up her abode in Kirkpatrick-Durham, where he attended the parish school, at that time held in the church. When school days were over, he was sent to Dumfries and apprenticed to a joiner. Being a lad of great force of character, he pushed his way forward till he became a builder in Dumfries on his own account, and was able to take large contracts not only in the town, but in the surrounding country. He obtained also the factorship of several large properties. In course of time he was a man of very considerable wealth. Amongst other purchases, he bought Portrack in Holywood and Terraughty in Troqueer. He was twice married. His first wife was Agnes, daughter of William Hannay, Dumfries ; his second Agnes, daughter of William Maxwell of Munches. His second wife succeeded to Munches on the death by accident of her brother in 1793, and she settled the succession to Munches upon her husband. Consequently, upon her death in 1809, he became proprietor of Munches as well as Terraughty, &c. He was the writer of an often-quoted letter, written in 1811, in which he gave an interesting and graphic account of the condition of the people of Galloway during his early years. On his 71st birthday Robert Burns commenced an address to him in these words:
Health to the Maxwells' veteran chief !
Health aye unsoured by care or grief.
Inspired, I turned Fate's sibyl leaf,
This natal morn,
I see thy life is stuff o' prief,
Scarce quite half-worn.
He died in 1814, aged 94. The late Wellwood Herries Maxwell, at one time M.P. for the Stewartry, was greatly esteemed as an enlightened and generous landlord, and as one who took an intelligent and useful interest. in all public affairs. There is a small volume of rhymes written by J. M. McCulloch of Ardwall (circa 1800), and published by J. Nicholson, Kirkcudbright (undated). It is very scarce,. but Mr Harper, Castle-Douglas, has a copy which he kindly showed me. It is called " The Rivers of Galloway," and contains some curiosities. One of the rivers reviewed by Mr M`Qulloch is " The Water of Orr." He begins his survey at the estuary, and proceeds upwards : we have preferred to travel with the water southwards. Regarding the estuary of the Urr, at which we have now arrived, Mr McCullcch says:
Orroland is seen, as well as Port Mary,
Likewise the Airds and Bield Balcaey;
The Monkland lies on the right hand,
On the left lieth rough Colvend.
Collin is seen, wi' hills o' Bengairn
Over the haven town of Auchencairn ;
Bard by our last-named town
Is Torr and Maxwell's Orchardtown.
