Kirkcudbrightshire | |
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.jpg) Threave Castle, by theRiver Dee | |
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| Country | Scotland |
| County town | Kirkcudbright |
| Area | |
• Total | 899 sq mi (2,328 km2) |
| Ranked 10th of 34 | |
| Chapman code | KKD |
Kirkcudbrightshire (/kərˈkuːbriʃər/kur-KOO-bree-shər), also known as theCounty of Kirkcudbright or theStewartry of Kirkcudbright, is one of thehistoric counties of Scotland, located in the southwest of the country.
Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire functioned as anadministrative county forlocal government purposes. Since then, its territory has formed part of theDumfries and Galloway council area. The name continues to be used for certain ceremonial and legal purposes: it remains aregistration county for land registration, and from 1975 to 1996 a lower-tierdistrict known as theStewartry covered most of the historic county. The same boundaries are still used today for thelieutenancy area of the Stewartry, and theDumfries and Galloway Council maintains a Stewartryarea committee.
Historically, Kirkcudbrightshire formed the eastern portion of the medievalLordship of Galloway, which retained a measure of autonomy until its full incorporation into the Kingdom of Scotland during the 13th century. In 1369, the area east of theRiver Cree was placed under the jurisdiction of a steward based inKirkcudbright, from which it derived the name "Stewartry of Kirkcudbright." The remainder of Galloway was administered by asheriff seated inWigtown, giving rise to the county ofWigtownshire. Kirkcudbrightshire was occasionally referred to as "East Galloway."[1]
The county is bounded to the north byAyrshire, to the west by Wigtownshire, to the south by theIrish Sea and theSolway Firth, and to the east byDumfriesshire. Itscounty town isKirkcudbright.
The country west of theNith was originally peopled by a tribe ofCelts calledNovantae, who long retained their independence.[2]
AfterGnaeus Julius Agricola's invasion in 79 AD, the country nominally formed part of theRoman province ofBritannia, but the evidence is against there having been a prolonged effective Roman occupation.[2] There was a Roman temporary marching camp at Shawhead, in Kirkpatrick Irongray.[3]
After the retreat of the Romans, the fate of the Novantae is unknown. By the 6th century, Galloway was part of theBrythonickingdom of Strathclyde.[4]
During the ninth century, the region was part of theKingdom of Northumbria. Ahoard that has been attributed to either a Northumbrian metal-worker, or a Viking campaigner, was deposited near Talnotrie c.875-900.[5][6][7]
During the next two hundred years the area was subject to incursions by Danes, Saxons and Scandinavians.[2]
AfterMalcolm Canmore defeated and killedMacbeth in 1057, he married the dead king's relative, Ingibiorg, a Pictish princess, (the view that there werePicts in Galloway in historical times cannot be wholly rejected) an event which marked the beginning of the decay of Norse influence.[2] The Galloway chiefs became lieges of the Scottish king, while retaining some independence as the sub-kingdom or semi-autonomousLordship of Galloway. Following the death of LordAlan of Galloway in 1234 the area was brought fully under the control of the Scottish crown.[8]
In 1308 the district was cleared of the English and brought under allegiance to the king, when the lordship of Galloway was given toEdward Bruce.[2]
In 1369Archibald the Grim,Earl of Douglas, was given the part of Galloway east of theRiver Cree, where he appointed a steward to administer the area, which became known as the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. The following year, he acquired the rest of Galloway west of the Cree, which continued to be administered by the king's sheriff, and so became known as the Shire of Wigtown. This led to the local custom of referring to Kirkcudbrightshire as"The Stewartry" andWigtownshire as"The Shire", which continued into the 20th century.[8][9]
In 1455Threave Castle, the most important fortress in Galloway, which Archibald the Grim had built on the Dee immediately to the west of the modern town ofCastle Douglas, was reduced and converted into a royal keep.[2]
As the Douglases went down the Maxwells rose, and the debatable land on the south-east of Dumfriesshire was for generations the scene of strife and raid, not only between the two nations but also among the leading families, of whom the Maxwells, Johnstones and Armstrongs were always conspicuous. After theBattle of Solway Moss (1542) the shires of Kirkcudbright and Dumfries fell under English rule for a short period. The treaty ofNorham (24 March 1550) established a truce between the nations for ten years; and in 1552, theWardens of the Marches consenting, the debatable land ceased to be matter for debate, the parish of Canonbie being annexed to Dumfriesshire, that of Kirkandrews toCumberland.[10]
McCulloch and Gordon families were ofCardoness Castle, Anwoth Parish and Rev.Rutherford[11] was minister ofAnwoth.
After theunion (1707) things mended slowly but surely, curious evidence of growing commercial prosperity being the enormous extent to which smuggling was carried on. No coast could serve the "free traders" better than the shores of Kirkcudbright, and the contraband trade flourished until the 19th century. TheJacobite risingsof 1715and 1745 elicited small sympathy from the inhabitants of the shire.[12] In the 1760s amilitary road was constructed from Bridge of Sark,[13] nearGretna, Dumfries and Galloway toPortpatrick byMajor William Caulfeild.
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Elected county councils were established in Scotland in 1890 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1889. Kirkcudbrightshire County Council established its headquarters atCounty Buildings, 121–123 High Street, Kirkcudbright, being a converted pair of late 18th century houses. A large extension was built in 1952 to the rear of the building facing Daar Road.[14]
Kirkcudbrightshire was abolished as an administrative county in 1975 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973. A two-tier system of regions and districts was put in place instead, with the area becoming part of theDumfries and Galloway region. Most of Kirkudbrightshire became part of theStewartry district. The twoparishes ofKirkmabreck andMinnigaff in the west of the county went instead to theWigtown district, while the five parishes ofKirkbean, Kirkpatrick Irongray,New Abbey,Terregles, andTroqueer in the east of the county went to theNithsdale district.[15]
Further local government reform in 1996 saw the Stewartry, Wigtown and Nithsdale districts abolished and their functions passed to Dumfries and Galloway Council, which continues to operatearea committees based on the pre-1996 districts, subject to some boundary changes where ward boundaries no longer follow the pre-1996 district boundaries.[16] The former Stewartry district is used as alieutenancy area under the name the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright.[17]
Kirkcudbrightshire has a shoreline on theSolway Firth, between the riversNith andCree. Inland, the area has many hills, with its highest point beingMerrick 843 metres (2,766 ft).[18]
There are many "burns" and "waters", but their length seldom exceeds 7 or 8 miles (11 or 13 kilometres). Among the longer rivers are the Cree, which rises inLoch Moan and reaches the sea near Creetown after a course of about 30 miles (50 kilometres); the Dee or Black Water of Dee (so named from the peat by which it is coloured), which rises inLoch Dee which after a course mainly S.E. and finally S., enters the sea atSt Mary's Isle belowKirkcudbright, its length being nearly 36 miles (58 kilometres); the Urr, rising inLoch Urr on theDumfriesshire border, falls into the sea a few miles south ofDalbeattie 27 miles (43 kilometres) from its source.[19]
Silurian andOrdovician rocks are the most important in this county; they are thrown into oft-repeated folds with their axes lying in a north-east–south-west direction. The Ordovician rocks are graptolitic black shales and grits of Llandeilo and Caradoc age. They occupy all the northern part of the county north-west of a line which runs some 3 m. north of New Galloway and just south of the Rinns of Kells. South-east of this line graptolitic Silurian shales of Llandovery age prevail; they are found around Dalry, Creetown, New Galloway, Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright.[19]
Overlying the Llandovery beds on the south coast are strips of Wenlock rocks; they extend from Bridgehouse Bay toAuchinleck and are well exposed in Kirkcudbright Bay, and they can be traced farther round the coast between the granite and the younger rocks.Carboniferous rocks appear in small faulted tracts, unconformable on the Silurian, on the shores of the Solway Firth. They are best developed about Kirkbean, where they include a basal redbreccia followed by conglomerates, grits and cement stones of CalciferousSandstone age.[20]
Brick-red sandstones ofPermian age just come within the county on the W. side of the Nith at Dumfries. Volcanic necks occur in the Permian and basalt dikes penetrate the Silurian at Borgue, Kirkandrews, etc.[2]
Most of the highest ground is formed bygraniteplutons which have been intruded into the Ordovician and Silurian rocks; the Criffel pluton lies aboutDalbeattie and Bengairn, another mass extends east and west between the Cairnsmore of Fleet andLoch Ken, another lies north-west and south-east betweenLoch Doon and Loch Dee and a small mass forms the Cairnsmore ofCarsphairn.[2] Much granite was quarried from Kirkmabreck, nearCreetown for dock construction from 1830 on.[21]
Glacial deposits occupy much of the low ground; the ice, having travelled in a southerly or south-easterly direction, has left abundant striae on the higher ground to indicate its course. Radiation of the ice streams took place from the heights of Merrick, Kells, etc.; local moraines are found nearCarsphairn and in the Deagh and Minnoch valleys. Glacialdrumlins of boulder clay lie in the vales of the Dee, Cree and Urr.[2]
 | This sectionis largely based on an article in the out-of-copyrightEncyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, which was produced in 1911. It should be brought up to date to reflect subsequent history or scholarship (including the references, if any). When you have completed the review, replace this notice with a simple note on this article's talk page.(January 2025) |
The climate and soil suit grass and green crops rather than grain. The annual rainfall averages 1,160 millimetres (45.7 in). The mean temperature for the year is 9 °C (48 °F); for January 4 °C (39 °F)and 15 °C (59 °F) for July.[2]
Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway was incorporated on 21 July 1856; the act was obtained by theGlasgow and South Western Railway.[22] It opened on 7 November 1859 and was substantially closed, under theBeeching cuts, on 14 June 1965.[22] ThePortpatrick Railway was authorised on 10 August 1857. By 12 March 1861, the line connectedStranraer toCastle Douglas, where it joined the newly constructedCastle Douglas and Dumfries railway.[22] The branch to Portpatrick opened the following year, on 28 August 1862, with the Stranraer Harbour branch, which opened on 1 October 1862; although building work continued on the line for another five years.[22] TheKirkcudbright Railway was a railwaybranch line linkingKirkcudbright to theCastle Douglas and Dumfries Railway atCastle Douglas. It opened in 1864, and closed in 1965.
TheBeeching cuts cut off the Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway and Portpatrick Railway in 1965 resulting in an adverse mileage increase via theGlasgow South Western Line to reachStranraer Harbour (forLarne Harbour andPort of Belfast) fromDumfries,Carlisle and theWest Coast Main Line toLondon Euston, and leaving the county without any railwaypermanent way.
The Stewartry is composed of the following 28 civil parishes.[24]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Kirkcudbrightshire".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 831–833. | This sectionis largely based on an article in the out-of-copyrightEncyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, which was produced in 1911. It should be brought up to date to reflect subsequent history or scholarship (including the references, if any). When you have completed the review, replace this notice with a simple note on this article's talk page.(January 2025) |
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